'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Season 7 Episode 6: Ahsoka and Rafa have a lot more in common than they realize
Spoilers for 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'
Now that she's left the Jedi Order, the question remains of what Ahsoka Tano's (Ashley Eckstein) life is like as a civilian, removed from the Clone Wars. Who is she without the Jedi, and without the war? In the latest episode of 'The Clone Wars,' we get a glimpse at the kind of person Ahsoka might have been in a drastically different life - through Rafa Martez (Elizabeth Rodriguez).
On the surface, Ahsoka and Rafa couldn't be more different. Rafa appears to be in a constant state of borrowing tomorrow to pay for today, and she doesn't care what ethical and moral lines she has to cross in order to do so. She is living a life that is slowly leaving her deeper and deeper into a pit of unintended but foreseeable consequences and refuses to take responsibility for her actions. Ahsoka, on the other hand, has always been clear on her moral values, taken responsibility for her mistakes - but for the first time in her life, her future is very, very unclear.
In this episode, a lot of attention is drawn to the similarities between Ahsoka and Rafa. Both, obviously, care for Trace Martez (Brigitte Kali Canales), and mistrust anyone who might be a bad influence on her, or put her in danger - even if that ironically means that they're immediately suspicious of each other. They're both tactical minds, both of them think 'Silver Angel' isn't the best name for a ship, and both of them have the ability to see ahead to the more dangerous consequences of their actions.
Unfortunately, both of them also have their blind spots. For Rafa, it's crime. She turns a blind eye to the dangers she puts herself into, and the evils of the people she's working with. Ahsoka Tano, for her part, is blind to the practicalities of the life people lead in the lower levels of Coruscant - the people living there literally can't afford the higher morals she holds herself up to.
What would Ahsoka's life have been like if she'd grown up on the lower levels of Coruscant, with no hope of a Jedi apprenticeship in her future, no credits, and a younger, idealistic sister to protect? How long would it have been before she had to cross some moral lines to keep that sister safe? More importantly, how long would it have taken before she started to turn a blind eye to the evils around her just so that she could keep herself and that sister safe?
It's impossible to say for sure, but at the end of the day, Rafa and Ashoka aren't as different from each other as they would like to think.
The next episode of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' airs April 3, on Disney+.