The series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars finally addresses a long-standing mystery by revealing the fate of Ahsoka Tano and Maul amid the rise of the Galactic Empire.
It’s true that we had our doubts about the final season of the hit animated series. After all, anything the Mouse House does in the world of that galaxy far, far away ends up getting picked apart by fans and ultimately proves to be divisive, and for good reasons, too. Yet, Dave Filoni and his team somehow managed to stick the landing and deliver a near-perfect ending to the story of the Prequel era.
In fact, the last four episodes absolutely knocked it out of the park in terms of action and building up to the tragic events of Order 66. From Anakin and Ahsoka’s reunion in “Old Friends Not Forgotten” to Maul and Ahsoka’s mo-capped lightsaber duel in “Phantom Apprentice” and the first ten minutes of “Shattered” that perfectly set up Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side and the destruction of the Jedi by Order 66, The Clone Wars managed to keep a suspenseful and emotional atmosphere throughout the last story arc.
“Victory and Death” – serving as the series finale – instantly picks up where the show left off and depicts Ahsoka and Rex as they fight their way through the Venator-class Star Destroyer. After struggling for some time with Arc Trooper Jesse and the rest of the 501st, Ahsoka and Rex finally manage to escape on a fighter, leaving behind the burning mothership to crash-land on a nearby moon. Maul, on the other hand, who single-handedly destroyed the ship by wrecking the hyperdrive, escapes on a shuttle.
In the aftermath, Ahsoka drops her blue lightsaber near the crash site and leaves everything behind alongside Rex, leading to an epic and nuanced final scene that featured Darth Vader as he picked up the lightsaber and realized that his old Padawan was dead. And thus, the story of Star Wars: The Clone Wars came to a definitive close.
As for when we’ll see them next, Maul finally met his death at the hands of Ben Kenobi on Tatooine (Star Wars Rebels) but we don’t exactly know what became of Ahsoka prior to the events of the Sequel Trilogy. Fingers crossed, though, that we’re going to see her make a comeback later this year in the second season of The Mandalorian.