The Jedi are the beating heart of the Star Wars universe. First appearing in George Lucas’s original trilogy in the form of “Old Ben” (AKA Alec Guinness’s Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi), the Star Wars Jedi eventually became an immensely fleshed-out entity within the Skywalker Saga and beyond. From the honorable guardians of the galaxy during the High Republic Era to the mysterious figures hiding from the Galactic Empire, these Force users are the fulcrum on which Star Wars hinges upon.
Star Wars’ latest foray into the television world, The Mandalorian — which takes place around five years after Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) — featured some Jedi alongside its leading bounty hunter hero. But one of the more powerful characters may not be who you think.
While Luke Skywalker made a name for himself as one of the galaxy’s most powerful Jedi during Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) onwards, director Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian introduced a new Force wielder into the live-action Star Wars canon. Grogu — “Baby Yoda” to most — stole the hearts of Star Wars fans when he debuted in 2019, and despite his small size, the character showed himself to be a formidable opponent.
There was even that scene when a young Luke Skywalker returned to the world of Star Wars, to collect Grogu from Pedro Pascal’s, Din Djarin. It would be easy to get lost in this must-see moment of two Force powerhouses colliding on-screen, but fans would have seen The Mandalorian‘s most powerful Jedi three episodes earlier in Dave Filoni’s “Chapter 13: The Jedi”.
That’s right, Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano is perhaps The Mandalorian‘s strongest Jedi. While there a lot of arguments that suggest Luke Skywalker is more powerful than Ahsoka — he did bring about the end of the Galactic Empire, after all — Ahsoka’s past history in the Star Wars universe points to her having the upper hand when it comes to the ways of the Force. It should be noted too, that fans know so little about Grogu, that he could actually be even stronger than both Ahsoka and Luke, but only time will tell on that one.
Originally voiced by Ashley Eckstein, Ahsoka was introduced into the live-action Star Wars Saga in The Mandalorian season 2. Before this, the Jedi saw her debut in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and continued her journey in the animated series follow-up, Star Wars Rebels. Her appearance in The Mandalorian signaled a continuation for her Rebels storyline, battling against the magistrate, Morgan Elsbeth, to secure information around her master, the villain Grand Admiral Thrawn — who as we know vanished along with the Jedi, Ezra Bridger, at the end of the series.
Let’s first establish some context, Ahsoka is around 17 years older than Luke Skywalker, so of course, she has had more time to learn the ways of the Force, but her experience during the Clone Wars and beyond showed that she was more than just her years. Frequently going up against users of the dark side like Maul — who she defeated on Mandalore — and Asajj Ventress, Ahsoka proved herself to be a mighty Jedi and army general.
Later on, she would even go on to face her old Jedi Master, Anakin Skywalker, after his devastating downfall to become Darth Vader. While she did lose against Vader, their toe-to-toe duel highlighted to fans that Ahsoka had come a long way since her “Snips” years.
In The Mandalorian, it is Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze who points Din Djarin and Grogu towards Corvus and Ahsoka. This could be because Bo-Katan only knows specifically of Ahsoka’s existence as one of the last remaining Jedi, or it could be because of their own personal bond which began in the final season of The Clone Wars. Or, it could be that Bo-Katan knows Ahsoka is the only one strong enough to protect Grogu against Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and his army of Dark Troopers.
Indeed, the finale of The Mandalorian season 2 displayed Luke Skywalker’s heroic Force powers and lightsaber skills against the Dark Troopers. He arrived on-scene following Grogu’s distress call from Tython in “Chapter 14: The Tragedy” — which also saw the return of Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). It’s hard to see anyone rivaling Luke’s immense power. That being said we are yet to see Ahsoka go up against anything like the Dark Troopers yet, but her attack on Calodan, and her defeat of the magistrate, was just as equally impressive.
The time and experiences Ahsoka has had increasingly point to her being one of the most powerful Jedi in the Star Wars universe. After all, she did train under Anakin Skywalker, who in turn learned the ways of the Force from Obi-Wan Kenobi before Palpatine AKA Darth Sidious infected his mind. So, not only did Ahsoka have powerful Jedi training her — even Grand Master Yoda taught her for a while before she became Anakin’s Padawan — but her survival of Order 66 and her tenure as one of Star Wars‘ forces of good, has cemented her as the credible suitor for the galaxy’s most powerful Jedi.
We are likely to see more of Ahsoka’s powers, and explore her Star Wars history, in the upcoming Disney+ series, Ahsoka. — which joins The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian season 3, among others, in Star Wars‘ slate of new TV shows.
Do you think Ahsoka Tano is more powerful than Luke and Grogu?
