'Ahsoka': We've Already Seen The Beginnings Of History Repeating Itself

WARNING! SPOILERS for Ahsoka 1x06, 'Far, Far, Away'

The sixth episode of Ahsoka was a big one, with many big moments and reveals. Morgan Elsbeth and Co, with a captive Sabine Wren in tow, sucessfully locating the exiled Grand Admiral Thrawn and his forces. Meanwhile, Sabine is also able to track down her missing friend Ezra Bridger, who's brave actions in the Star Wars: Rebels finale led to Thrawn's exile in Peridea to begin with.

However, an equally meaningful part of the episode comes in one of its smaller moments. As they track Sabine, Baylan Skoll discusses his plans with his apprentice Shin Hati, explaining that the rise and fall of the Dark and Light sides of the Force are a continuous cycle, on he intends to stop. Unfortunately, as the timeline slowly creeps toward the eventual rise of The First Order, we know Baylan isn't wrong. Worse, there are already signs of history beginning to repeat itself, throughout both The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.

The New Republic forces are stretched too thin, leading to prejudice in who receives help

During the third season of The Mandalorian, Captain Carson Teva visits Colonel Tuttle to request permission to take a New Republic squadron to clear out a pirate invasion on Nevarro. Tuttle is already reluctant to grant this, given a backlog of submissions for help from other planets, and when Imperial spy Elia Kane brings up the fact that Nevarro has chosen to remain independent rather than sign the New Republic Charter, Teva's request is shut down entirely. The New Republic is stretched enough as it is helping 'their people' to worry about others.

This was also something of an issue in the prequels, where those planets that erred closer to Republic values were more likely to receive support. This led to the rise of the Separatist movement among lesser supported planets, and eventually, War.

The scene above also highlights another problem.

Imperial Infiltration

Due to the earlier mentioned issue of New Republic personnel being stretched thin, they are perhaps not as picky about who takes jobs among them as they should be. Imperial equipment is repurposed for republic use, and many reformed Imperials work within the New Republic. One New Republic Senator almost brags at the fact that there are former Imperials at nearly every level of the government.

Unfortunately, the Senate's rather blase attitude to this means some not-so-reformed Imperials have been able to infiltrate the Republic. Elia Kane is one obvious example, while Ahsoka and Hera deal with another in Ahsoka's second episode, 'Toil and Trouble'. We can assume that some of these Imperial infiltrators will eventually aid in the birth of the First Order.

Similarly, Palpatine played a long game in his quest to transform the Republic into his Galactic Empire, with his senate position, and later the granting of emergency powers which he uses to fully approve production of the Clone Army.

Ignored Warnings

In 'Time To Fly', the third episode of Ahsoka, General Hera Syndulla attends a meeting with several New Republic Senators, requesting approval for a mission to help Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren thwart Morgan Elsbeth and her followers. Hera warns the Senate that Elsbeth may have the means to bring about the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Unfortunately, most of the Senators dismiss Hera's warning, claiming Thrawn is dead, and accusing Hera of only being interested in Elsbeth's plot due to a remote chance at saving Ezra Bridger, who disappeared with Thrawn.

Of course, as of 'Far, Far, Away' we know Thrawn is most definitely not dead. These Senators will likely end up wishing they had listened to Hera.

A similar situation occurred in the lead up to the prequels. Dooku expressed his fears of a returning Sith presence to the Jedi Council, who dismissed his concerns, believing the Sith remained extinct. The Council was, tragically, wrong. A Sith, Darth Maul, killed Dooku's beloved former Padawan, Qui-Gon Jin. Dooku, devastated, blames the Jedi for Qui-Gon's death and falls to the Dark Side, becoming another pawn in Palpatine's eventual rise to the position of Emperor.

Clones-R-Us

The Clone Army, born from the DNA of Jango Fett, plays a major role in the Star Wars prequels. Initially loyal to the Republic and Jedi Order, the Clones ultimately turn on and slaughter many Jedi when Palpatine orders them to execute 'Order 66', an important step in his road to seizing power. The Clone Wars series offers a layer of tragedy with the reveal that Order 66 was the result of a behaviour modification chip embedded in the brain of every clone, meaning they had no control over their actions.

In The Mandalorian season three, it is revealed that Moff Gideon has been cloning himself. This serves to foreshadow the eventual arrival of Supreme Leader Snoke, a figurehead for the First Order created through cloning, and of course, the eventual clone of The Emperor himself, the final villain in Rise of Skywalker.

History is definitely repeating, but hopefully we'll have plenty more adventures with the Filoni/Favreau shows before the timeline crashes into the sequels.