What is the World Between Worlds in Star Wars: Ahsoka?

The fourth episode of Star Wars: Ahsoka is out now on Disney+, and it contained some major developments. “Fallen Jedi” ended with a series of gut punches, including Jedi outcast Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) being defeated by Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson), a Sith lord intent on bringing the nefarious Grand Admiral Thrawn back from exile.

Ahsoka’s defeat at the hands of Baylan was a dramatic affair that ended with her falling off a cliff overlooking a rocky ocean shore. However, the show is called Ahsoka, so you know that’s not going to be the end of her.

In the episode’s final scene, we see Ahsoka wake up in an otherworldly dimension where she’s reunited with her former master Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). This strange place is the World Between Worlds, and Ahsoka’s arrival there signifies that things are about to get weird on this series.

What is The World Between Worlds in Star Wars?

The World Between Worlds was first introduced in the fourth season of Star Wars Rebels. In episodes 12 and 13 of Rebels season 4, Ezra Bridger discovers a door in a Jedi temple which he’s able to activate using the Force. This leads him to the World Between Worlds, which is a dark dimension lit only by pathways between various portals.

In essence, the World Between Worlds allows travel to any time and place in the Star Wars universe. Ahsoka Tano has a special connection to this place as well. During his time there, Ezra follows a Convor to a gate which shows him Ahsoka’s climactic duel with Darth Vader which occurs earlier in the series. Up until that point, Rebels left Ahsoka’s fate ambiguous; we never saw how her fight with Vader played out. But in the World Between Worlds it’s seemingly confirmed that Vader killed her.

Ezra interferes and saves her life, reaching through the portal and pulling Ahsoka out of her own time and into the World Between Worlds. Ahsoka then has to talk Ezra off the ledge when he wants to use time travel to save the life of his former master Kanan Jarrus, since Kanan sacrificed himself to save all his friends. Reversing that would mean they all died instead.

Following all of this, Ahsoka and Ezra go back to their own respective timelines. Ahsoka’s connection to the World Between Worlds is strong, and she’ll no doubt recognize it once she gets over her shock at seeing Anakin Skywalker.

Did Star Wars: Ahsoka die in Episode 4?

Despite the fact that the World Between Worlds is a weird plane that allows for things like time travel, so far we’ve only seen living people go there in the Star Wars universe. We saw Ahsoka fall from the cliff, but we don’t actually see her die. Given that she’s now in the World Between Worlds, it’s likely that she somehow survived.

However, this is all complicated by the return of Anakin Skywalker. Because he most certainly is dead; don’t forget that Ahsoka takes place after Return of the Jedi. So is he a Force Ghost, there to guide Ahsoka the way Obi-Wan Kenobi once guided Luke Skywalker? Is this some echo of Anakin? Until Episode 5 premieres, we can only speculate.

One thing we know is that the World Between Worlds allows for travel to anywhere and any time. That means that even though Baylan Skoll destroyed the map to the galaxy where Thrawn is in exile, Ahsoka may still be able to reach it by using the pathways in the World Between Worlds.

It’s a lot to process ahead of Episode 5. If you want to learn more about the World Between Worlds, we’d highly recommend checking out Rebels season 4 episodes 12 and 13, “Wolves and a Door” and “A World Between Worlds.”

Both Ahsoka and Star Wars Rebels are streaming on Disney+.

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h/t Decider