Does The Mandalorian's Ahsoka Tano Episode Hint At Ezra Bridger's Star Wars Return?

Ahsoka Tano has finally joined The Mandalorian, played by The Defenders alum Rosario Dawson. Outside of her live-action debut — a story big enough to dominate headlines in and of itself — the character also dropped a handful of other massive tidbits throughout the episode, giving fans more than enough speculation to chew on for weeks.

Full spoilers up ahead for the latest episode of The Mandalorian, "The Jedi." Proceed with caution if you have yet to see Chapter 13!

Right away, Tano explains that Baby Yoda's real name is Grogu, finally giving a name to the face that's puffed up Disney's bank accounts by millions over the past year. Fast forward towards the end of the episode, and it's revealed Tano knows Grand Admiral Thrawn is still alive, all these years after the end of Star Wars Rebels. As we know Tano is actively hunting down Thrawn — who's yet another fan-favorite character, mind you — an additional live-action debut could be in the works: the return of Ezra Bridger.

Bridger was last seen in the events of Rebels, in the moments immediately following the Liberation of Lothal. At the time, Bridger had just been dragged into hyperspace by a purrgil, alongside Thrawn and his Star Destroyer, the Chimaera.

After dabbling in Lucasfilm's animation department for the better part of 125 years, Dave Filoni has found an expanded role on The Mandalorian, one which has directly led to the introduction of characters like Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff). Though Filoni himself has yet to reveal any additional information about Bridger's fate, he did seemingly tease the character's survival during a panel at Star Wars Celebration last year.

"This was the first time we really got to end a series in the animation division," Filoni said, adding that it had to be a "true expression of what I was taught about Star Wars and it's deeper meaning... I wanted it to resonate with George [Lucas'] overall sense of structure."

"I'm very proud of Rebels," he concluded.

Between the introduction of Tano and Bo-Katan, in addition to the surprise Thrawn namedrop on Friday, it's entirely possible we not only get a Bridger mention by the end of the season, but a full-on appearance.

New episodes of The Mandalorian are added to Disney+ every Friday.

What other characters from animation or the novels would you like to see appear in live-action? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!