Why Did Ahsoka Leave The Jedi Order? A Star Wars History Lesson – /Film

One could argue Ahsoka’s schism from the Jedi was a gradual process. Having been taken from her home planet of Shili to train at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant at a very young age (she was literally an infant when her connection to the Force became apparent, as seen in the terrific animated anthology series “Tales of the Jedi”), Ahsoka knew little of life outside of the Jedi prior to becoming Anakin’s Padawan. Fighting alongside him and his peers during the Clone Wars gave Ahsoka a crash course in different cultures and ways of living across the “Star Wars” galaxy. It also taught her that the Force, much like our personal moral codes, is not binary, and the line between right and wrong, or the light side and the dark, can be much fuzzier than she realized growing up.

Even so, Ahsoka was dealt quite a rude awakening when she found herself falsely accused of bombing the Jedi Temple (an attack that left several Jedi and Clone Troopers dead, among others). Convinced it was up to her to clear her own name, Ahsoka fled into the underbelly of Coruscant, even allying herself with Count Dooku’s former apprentice and her sworn enemy, Asajj Ventress. Things didn’t work out, though, and Ahsoka was ultimately captured, expelled from the Jedi Order, and found herself on trial for the crime under the threat of no less than the death sentence. Luckily, thanks to Anakin, the real perpetrator was exposed: Barriss Offee, a fellow Jedi and a close friend who Ahsoka had even reached out to after going on the run, unaware of her treachery. Now that’s a twist worthy of a space opera like “Star Wars,” right?