Star Wars: The Mandalorian: How Bo-Katan Knows Ahsoka Tano

In The Mandalorian‘s second season, Din Djarin is on a quest to reunite the Child with his people. Those people are the Jedi, the ancient enemies of the Mandalorians. In the show’s latest episode, “Chapter 11: The Heiress,” Din Djarin meets Bo-Katan Kryze and two other members of Clan Kryze. Though they follow different Mandalorian traditions, Bo-Katan and Din made a deal. Bo-Katan would provide information about a Jedi after Din assisted her clan with stealing an Imperial weapons transport ship. After the mission’s success, Bo-Katan tells Din how to find Ahsoka Tano, a one-time member of the Jedi Order. But if the Mandalorians and Jedi are traditional foes, how does Bo-Katan know of Ahsoka?

The answer goes back to Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which took place long after the final Mandalorian-Jedi conflict, and the rise of the pacifist New Mandalorians to power. At the time of the Clone Wars, Bo-Katan’s sister, Duchess Satine, ruled Mandalore. Satine was close with Obi-Wan Kenobi, friend and former master of Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi master teaching Padawan Ahsoka. However, Bo-Katan was not part of the New Mandalorians. Instead, she was a part of Death Watch, the militant faction that wanted to restore Mandalore to its warrior ways.

Things changed when the leader of Death Watch formed an ill-advised partnership with Darth Maul that ended with Maul taking control of Mandalore. Refusing to bow to the former Sith, Bo-Katan left Mandalore with a small resistance force. In the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Bo-Katan saw her opportunity to reclaim her homeworld when she crossed paths with Ahsoka. Bo-Katan knew that retaking Mandalore would require assistance from the Republic. Though no longer a member of the Jedi Order, Ahsoka agreed to plead Bo-Katan’s case to Obi-Wan and Anakin. Though the Jedi could not participate in the fight themselves, they acquiesced to deploying the 501st Legion under Captain Rex’s command to Mandalore to fight with Bo-Katan and Ahsoka. The assault was a success, with Ahsoka personally defeating Maul. Bo-Katan wouldn’t soon forget the former Jedi’s aid.

Bo-Katan and Ahsoka also have a shared friend in Sabine Wren, the Mandalorian member of the Spectre cell of the Rebel Alliance. In Star Wars Rebels, Sabine, wielding the Darksaber, aided Bo-Katan in achieving a critical victory against the Empire’s occupying forces. She then bestowed the Darksaber on Bo-Katan as Bo-Katan became the new Mand’alor, leader of the united Mandalorians. After the fall of the Empire, Sabine and Ahsoka embarked on a journey in search of Ezra Bridger, the Force-sensitive Specter who saved Ahsoka’s life and later disappeared during a battle against Admiral Thrawn. We don’t know what happened to Sabine or if their mission was a success, but Sabine is one more thread connected Bo-Katan to Ahsoka.

The Mandalorian debuts new episodes on Fridays on Disney+.