Star Wars Ahsoka Ending Explained: Mortis Gods, Dathomir, and How It Sets Up Season 2 (2024)

This Star Wars: Ahsoka article contains spoilers.

It all comes down to one final battle in the Nightsister fortress on Peridia. Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra have managed to make it through the barrage of laser fire from Grand Admiral Thrawn’s Star Destroyer and are now climbing up the tower. Standing in their way are a horde of undead Night Troopers and the newly inducted witch, Lady Morgan Elsbeth, who now wields the powerful Blade of Talzin. But while the heroes are able to slice and shoot their way through these obstacles, including taking down Morgan once and for all, they’re ultimately too late to stop Thrawn’s escape.

We watch as the Chimaera zips away from Peridia, while Ahsoka, Sabine, and Huyang are left stranded in this new galaxy with no way to get home. Instead, they’ll have to figure out a new path in this unexplored part of space, just as Thrawn and the Great Mothers arrive in the galaxy far, far away, specifically the planet of Dathomir, the adopted home world of the Nightsisters, where the next phase of their plan will unfold.

While the heroes technically lose the battle in Ahsoka season 1, the finale ends with a bit of hope for the war ahead. Ezra Bridger, who’s been stranded on Peridia for years, finally makes it back to Hera and the New Republic by hitching a ride on Thrawn’s ship. And even if Ahsoka and Sabine are now lost in space, their bond as master and apprentice is stronger than ever. Sabine even manages to wield the Force before the end!

In final scene of the season, Ahsoka reassures Sabine that everything that’s happened, even their defeat on Peridia, was meant to be. They’re meant to be on Peridia, even if they’ve not yet discovered what the Force intends for them through this journey. They’re wise words that even make Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost smile in the very last shot of the episode.

But what does it all mean for season 2 and/or the movie Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni is set to direct? What is Thrawn planning on Dathomir and where is Baylan headed on Peridia? Let’s break down these mysteries and what might be next for Star Wars…

Dave Filoni was so insane for these parallels my heart will never recover from this 😭😭 #Ahsoka #TanoTuesday #AnakinSkywalker #Anakin pic.twitter.com/dNnm4rnRl8

— 𝙶𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎✖️✖️// GEN V ERA💥⏳🥀🐉 (@giselleb1234) October 4, 2023

What’s Next for Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra?

Thrawn comes out victorious in the finale, but the final minutes of Ahsoka still sort of play out like a happy ending for our heroes. Ezra reunites with Hera, a heartwarming and cathartic moment considering their long history. After all, Hera was essentially Ezra’s mother figure on Rebels, a leader he often turned to for advice. It’s ironic that, even though they haven’t seen each other in about a decade, they’ll basically have to pick up where they left off in the Rebels finale, with Thrawn and the Empire once again threatening the galaxy.

Still, plenty has changed in the galaxy in Ezra’s absence and he’ll have to learn to navigate and come to terms with how things are done under the New Republic. But the fledgling government has also regained a powerful ally, another Jedi who can help in the fights to come. Time will tell if this also means Ezra will be brushing shoulders with Luke Skywalker and perhaps even Grogu in future seasons…

As for Ahsoka and Sabine, they’re left in an uncertain but exciting place in their story. While they’re now stranded very far from home, they also have a brand-new galaxy to explore, a place presumably free of the continuity restrictions that usually come with Star Wars stories set between the Original and Sequel Trilogies. It feels like their part of the show is getting a bit of a blank slate to go in new and unexpected directions, especially when we’ve only visited a single planet in this second galaxy. Thrawn calls Ahsoka a “ronin” in the finale, which is an old Japanese word for samurai who didn’t have masters and were “wanderers” or “drifters.” That’s exactly the role Ahsoka can play on Peridia and beyond, taking us to the unexplored corners of the Star Wars universe, There’s a lot of potential here!

On a more personal level, Ahsoka’s spiritual journey this season taught her some important lessons about letting go of the past, particularly the dark shadow cast by her own master. Ahsoka chooses to embrace the good side of Anakin Skywalker. It’s why she also embraces Sabine in the finale, despite the many ways her padawan disobeyed her throughout the season and the anger Sabine feels after the Great Purge of Mandalore. Like Anakin before her, Ahsoka will back her padawan no matter what. That Sabine is finally able to wield the Force just after these two heroes strengthen their connection feels significant!

Ahsoka and Sabine will certainly need to trust in each other to face their next big challenge on Peridia…

The Mortis Gods! #StarWars pic.twitter.com/cUGcxGdLlv

— The Star Wars Academy (@TheStarWarsAcad) October 4, 2023

What Does Baylan Want With the Mortis Gods?

Ahsoka kept Baylan’s true mission pretty close to the chest. We knew that he had signed up to help Lady Morgan find Thrawn so that he could reach Peridia, a place he’d first heard about in Jedi fairytales. When he finally reaches his destination, Baylan immediately loses interest in Thrawn’s cause, choosing to abandon the battlefield completely in the penultimate episode and ditching his own apprentice Shin in the process. It’s not until the final minutes of the finale that we finally get a sense of what he’s been looking for all along.

Throughout the series, Baylan has hinted that what he truly wants is a new beginning, a fresh start for the galaxy, a way to break from the constant wars between light and dark. After surviving the Clone Wars, Order 66, and the Galactic Civil War, Baylan wants to free the galaxy from this endless cycle.

But how does he plan to do that? In his only scene in the finale, we see Baylan standing on the arm of a giant sculpture of a familiar Star Wars character, while he looks on at a light emanating from a faraway mountain. This moment confirms what many fans suspected: Baylan’s real mission involves the Mortis Gods, the three otherworldy beings — The Father, The Son, and The Daughter — who represent the physical manifestations of the light and dark sides as well as the balance of the Force. Although all three of these beings died in The Clone Wars arc in which they were introduced, references to them have continued to pop up across Dave Filoni’s work, including in Rebels, where a painting of the Mortis Gods was actually a doorway into the World Between Worlds.

Twelve years after their debut, we still don’t know very much about the Mortis Gods. But we do know they wielded great power, especially the Father, whose role was to maintain the balance between the Daughter (light side) and the Son (dark side). If Baylan is seeking to end the cycle of war he finds himself trapped in, and truly spark a new beginning, perhaps he’s searching for a way to bring back the Mortis Gods on Peridia and restore that balance. But who knows what the repercussions of restoring these gods might be.

That’s likely where Ahsoka and Sabine will come in. Ahsoka shares a bit of history with the Mortis Gods, especially the Daughter, who sacrificed her life to save Ahsoka in The Clone Wars story. In fact, meeting these beings was a defining moment for her as a Jedi padawan. The owl-like convor we catch a glimpse of in the Ahsoka finale is named Morai. She’s watched over Ahsoka ever since the Daughter passed her life essence on to the young padawan. When Morai pops up, it’s usually to guide Ahsoka to the next part of her journey. Perhaps Morai will lead Ahsoka and Sabine to the same place where Baylan is headed in season 2?

Of course, we must note the untimely passing of Ray Stevenson earlier this year. It’s anyone’s guess how the show will navigate Stevenson’s absence in a potential season 2 or the New Republic movie. Either way, Stevenson’s commanding performance as Baylan was one of the major highlights of Ahsoka season 1 and he will be missed.

Live action Dathomir! #StarWars pic.twitter.com/9iNjvrPf3W

— The Star Wars Academy (@TheStarWarsAcad) October 4, 2023

What Is Thrawn’s Plan on Dathomir?

After Thrawn makes his escape, he immediately heads to Dathomir, the Nightsisters’ home away from home in the galaxy far, far away. This is where these witches set up shop after making the pilgrimage from Peridia. Until most of the Witches of Dathomir were wiped out during the Clone Wars. Part of Thrawn’s plan seems to be to rectify that massacre for his own gain.

During the back half of the season, we watched as Night Troopers loaded Thrawn’s Star Destroyer with coffin-like containers from the Nightsister catacombs. Presumably, these are dead witches the Great Mothers want to resurrect once they reach Dathomir. We’ve already seen them resurrect Thrawn’s forces, turning them into even more dangerous zombies. Imagine the damage the Imperial Remnant will be able to inflict on the New Republic with zombie witches.

But for the Great Mothers, this is likely about more than just working with a powerful new ally. By reviving their sisters on Dathomir, they’ll be able to finally rebuild the coven after decades of near extinction. The return of the Nightsisters in earnest is bound to have huge ramifications for the galaxy as a whole, something the Hera and Ezra portion of season 2 would likely explore.

Ahsoka Season 2 Renewal Status and the “Heir to the Empire” Movie

Ahsoka‘s cliffhanger ending suggests Lucasfilm intends to tell plenty more stories with these characters in the New Republic era. Yet, it remains unclear whether we’ll see what happens next in a second season of Ahsoka or as part of the movie Filoni will direct for Lucasfilm. The show hasn’t been renewed for season 2. The movie, which some fans have taken to calling “Heir to the Empire” even though it’s actually untitled, doesn’t have a release date, either. Deadline reports that it’s hearing a season 2 is more likely to happen before the movie but that the studio hasn’t yet made a final decision due to the ongoing actors strike.

In the meantime, there’s a third, less ideal option, considering how the strikes have delayed other Star Wars shows ahead of Ahsoka season 2 in the production pipeline. Instead of waiting years for a second season to be written (remember writers, including Filoni himself, were on strike for months as well) and filmed, Lucasfilm may choose to continue part of Ahsoka‘s story in one of the other Mandoverse shows, such as the upcoming Skeleton Crew or (much more likely) The Mandalorian season 4 since it’s the flagship series of the New Republic era. In the same way The Book of Boba Fett resolved a cliffhanger from The Mandalorian while fans waited for season 3 of the latter, we could see Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra, and Hera’s adventures continue in future seasons of other shows set in the same time period. Of course, this proved to be a confusing and controversial storytelling choice when Lucasfilm did this with Boba Fett and Mando, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the studio isn’t so keen to try that approach again.

Star Wars: Ahsoka is streaming now on Disney+.

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John Saavedra is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Den of Geek. He lives in New York City with his two cats.