Ahsoka shakes up a 50-year-old Star Wars theory

There is in Star Wars principles that are believed to be irremovable. We can travel faster than light. The Force is an all-pervading energy, which a chosen few are able to manipulate. Aliens do exist. And Han Solo shot first. At least this is the case in the very first version of Star Wars. Then George Lucas had other plans.

But sometimes things change. It turns out that the series Ahsoka has just shaken up one of the oldest theories of Star Wars, which is almost as old as the work itself. We guess this little revolution from episode 1, released on August 23, 2023 on Disney +. But it is especially episode 2, broadcast the same day, which drives the point home.

Naturally, the remainder of the article contains major spoilers for the series and on Star Wars. We cannot advise you enough to come back here once you are up to date. For others, the sequel happens under this anti-spoiler image which has been cleverly added to prevent you from inadvertently coming across information you don’t want to read.

We can go beyond the galaxy

Historically, it was always assumed that there was only one galaxy in Star Wars. At least, that there was only one in which it was possible to travel. After all, there was no need to look elsewhere: there are already billions of stars and many more planets to explore. Also, areas remain unexplored, such as the Unknown Regions.

episode two ofAhsoka comes to shake up this rule implicitly accepted by the community: the galaxy is not alone in the universe and it is possible to look elsewhere. An exchange between Morgan Elsbeth (an Imperial dignitary and ally of Thrawn, played by Diana Lee Inosanto) and Baylan Skoll (a Dark Jedi played by Ray Stevenson) illustrates this new cosmological reality.

” This place wasn’t built by the Jedi observes Baylan Skoll as he finds himself in some strange ruins. ” Whose work is it? “, he launches to Morgan Elsbeth. She answers with an enigmatic sentence: Of an ancient people who inhabited a distant galaxy “. She then triggers the artifact she has in her possession, to display a star map.

In the center, the Star Wars galaxy that we know. ” This is our galaxy “, she confirms. Then the artifact develops further, under the rather worried gaze of Shin Hati, Baylan’s disciple. The device then projects much more information: scattered stars, but also a very precise spiral galaxy. ” And this is our destination adds Morgan Elsbeth.

It is in this other galaxy, probably very distant (it is difficult to estimate the scales involved, but they are undoubtedly measured in hundreds of thousands of light-years), that Grand Admiral Thrawn was banished, at the end of the animated series Rebels. This is where Ezra Bridger is, who was wanted by Ahsoka Tano for decades.

According to Baylan’s statements, this other galaxy could be called Peridea. He speaks indeed of the “passage for Peridea”. According to Baylan, the children of the Jedi temple called him that because of old stories. Fairy tales “. The Dark Jedi also displays his circumspection: I feel great troubles on this path “. Their nature remains to be discovered.

“In a galaxy far away”….

This exchange between Morgan Elsbeth and Baylan Skoll reshuffles the canon cards somewhat, because the impression that predominated in Star Wars, it was that everything happens in one and the same galaxy. If there are any others (there are leads in Star Wars that point in this direction, but they were never really developed), they are not visited or visitable.

Some will point out that the theory that there is only one galaxy in Star Wars doesn’t quite hold. After all, the credits of Star Wars opens with ” Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away “. The use of the indefinite article “a” and not the definite article “the” suggests that it is a galaxy among others.

Of course, this formulation, combined with other clues or allusions, never completely closed the door to the hypothesis of other clusters elsewhere in the universe. It should however be noted that these clues and allusions did not go beyond the stage of the clue or the allusion. It had never been so clear until now in the official history of Star Wars.

A theory jostled by allusions and clues

Thus, at the turn of a scene from episode II, Attack of the Clones, we can see on the screen that Obi-Wan Kenobi consults a space map visibly showing three galaxies, including his own. The Jedi Knight then points to the galaxy from above, which he refers to as “Rishi’s Maze”. This is considered a companion galaxy, or dwarf galaxy.

This sequence, however, only lasted a few seconds, and was mainly used to advance the plot, which was about something else. Some of these galaxies have earned nicknames: Companion Cresh, Companion Grek or Companion Besh. For the Galactic Empire, these are mostly elements that are part of the Unknown Regions.

Another scene that has sown doubt is the epilogue of episode V, The Empire Strikes Back. We see the galaxy from afar, from a Rebel Alliance ship. The Millennium Falcon then plunges into the galaxy, which appears to be thousands of light-years away. All around, on the celestial vault, you can see stars and, no doubt, galaxies.

The fact is that these galaxies have hardly been exploited in the official account and are rather a matter of curiosity. A few other media have certainly mentioned the existence of other galaxies, but these works do not have in any way the impact that a series like Ahsoka. We are indeed talking about a novel for one and a virtual reality video game for the other.

Moreover, these galaxies were perhaps considered much too far away to be explored, which, in fact, amounted to the same thing: what good is it to know that there are other galaxies, if these are forever out of reach ? In a way, this had the effect of limiting the horizon of the adventure to a single galaxy.

The immense distances involved are also confirmed by the Ahsoka series, as Morgan Elsbeth oversees the establishment of an exceptional hyperspace project to reach the galaxy in which Thrawn is located. A sign that the universe may contain other nebulae, but they are not quite close.

The Yuuzhan Vong exception

What about the extended universe, downgraded by Disney in 2012 following the takeover of the license Star Wars ? It’s basically the same thing: everything took place in the main galaxy and what was beyond this cluster was hardly ever mentioned. There was one notable exception, however, with the New Jedi Order story arc: The Yuuzhan Vong Invasion.

These intelligent, humanoid aliens have come from another galaxy (called the Yuuzhan Vong galaxy, but they come from the planet Yuuzhan’tar) in search of conquest and refuge. They arrived 25 years after the Battle of Yavin, which concludes Episode IV, A new hope. On the other hand, the heroes of Star Wars did not make the reverse journey, visiting that of the Yuuzhan Vongs.

This bow is now out of canon and no longer counts. As for the various elements, slipped here and there, into the official narrative on other galaxies, they were anecdotal and did not fundamentally call into question the rule that everything happens in one and the same galaxy.

With the series Ahsoka, everything changes. The old cosmic boundaries are jumping.

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