'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Season 7 Episode 11 reveals why Ahsoka Tano survived the Jedi purge of Order 66
Spoilers for 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Season 7 Episode 11 'Shattered'
In 'Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,' Darth Sidious' (Ian McDiarmid) wiping out of the Jedi was nearly absolute. He turned the Order's most powerful member, Anakin Skywalker (played by Hayden Christensen in the film, voiced by Matt Lanter in the series) to the Dark Side and had him slaughter the Jedi's child apprentices. Order 66 saw the Jedi wiped out entirely by the clone troopers they had come to rely upon.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor in the film, voiced by James Arnold Taylor in the series) and Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz in the film, and Tom Kane in the series) were some of the few Jedi left alive and immediately went into hiding. In 'Star Wars: Rebels' however, we see that Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) was one of the very few to have survived as well, and now we know why.
Having left the Jedi Order last season, it has been assumed by some that Ahsoka's survival was in part due to her no longer being considered a Jedi, and was thus exempt from Order 66. However, as we find out in this episode, the order extends to her as well, and the clones immediately pull their weapons on her. The person who saves Ahsoka's life is her long time friend and ally, Captain Rex (Dee Bradley Baker).
While he is unable to resist his program entirely, he first sends some of the clone troopers away and manages to hold off on actually shooting Ahsoka for as long as he can. This resistance lasts only seconds, but Rex gives Ahsoka just enough time for her to make her way to safety. It's those precious few moments that made all the difference between life and death.
In 'Revenge of the Sith,' we see that Order 66 takes immediate effect. Not a single clone puts up any resistance, and the Jedi are blindsided, killed before they have a chance to process the betrayal and fight back. What makes Rex different is not his strength of will (when he succumbs, he succumbs entirely), but his friendship with Ahsoka Tano. The other Jedi never made close, personal connections with the clones, seeing them as soldiers, or tools, giving the clones little to no motivation to resist their new directives. The only Jedi Master who made a personal connection to the clones was Anakin — and his turn to the Dark Side made him exempt from Order 66 anyway.
Ahsoka remained a close friend to Rex right up to the very end, and it's that friendship that saved her life. Her compassion is something the other Jedi had lost in their attempts to distance themselves from personal feelings. If the Jedi had more compassion, it's possible that things may have turned out very differently, as the Jedi Order has many members who are just as good at defending themselves as Ahsoka, if not better.
This episode of 'The Clone Wars' is another mark of the Jedi's hubris — if they had taken the opportunity to see the clones as more than tools of war, they made have just had a fighting chance.
The final episode of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' airs May 4, on Disney+.
