Newly-released concept art from Star Wars Rebels is secretly the key to Ahsoka Tano‘s entire story. Created by George Lucas and Dave Filoni, Ahsoka Tano has become one of Star Wars‘ most enduring characters. Her story has primarily been charted by Filoni, an experienced artist who loves to sketch out concept art of his ideas.

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con is partly a celebration of Lucasfilm Animation’s 20th anniversary, and the studio has wheeled out some stunning concept art. One shows a key scene from Star Wars Rebels season 2’s two-part finale, in which Ahsoka and her friends plunge into the depths of the Sith world Malachor.

The art mirrors what actually happens in the story itself, with Ahsoka able to read the Sith language – albeit with difficulty. The ground then cracks beneath the heroes, who plunge into the caverns of Malachor. Crucially, though, Filoni describes their descent as “falling into purgatory.“

Purgatory Is The Key To Understanding Ahsoka’s Experience At Malachor

What’s Really Going On In Star Wars Rebels?

In Catholic tradition, purgatory is best understood as a sort of “intermediate state” between life and death, in which beings destined for heaven are purified of their sins. Some traditions suggest purgatory is a like physical realm; the experience of purgatory is often compared to a refining fire, leading to a popular image of purgatory as a place of torment.

Filoni’s notes suggest that Ahsoka’s experience on Malachor is purgatorial, which makes sense; Ahsoka confronted the legacy of the Sith in Malachor’s caverns, even dueling Darth Vader himself. She came within an inch of losing her life, only rescued by Ezra Bridger via the World Between Worlds.

Star Wars Rebels suggests that Ahsoka’s experience was a transformative one. When she’s next seen, in the Rebels epilogue, she’s portrayed as Ahsoka the White; symbolically purified of darkness, committed now to the light side of the Force. It’s just what you’d expect from someone who has gone through purgatory.

Ahsoka Season 1 Subtly Retconned The Purgatory Story

Ahsoka The White’s Origin Was Changed

Ahsoka season 1 subtly retconned Star Wars Rebels‘ epilogue scene. We actually got a live-action recreation of the scene, featuring Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano and Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s Sabine Wren; but, crucially, Ahsoka was yet to undergo her transformation into Ahsoka the White. It was an odd choice, taking viewers by surprise.

Showrunner Dave Filoni’s decision did make sense in the end, though; it was because he wanted to earn the transformation in live-action, by instead showing Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan become Ahsoka the White. Defeated by Baylan Skoll, Ahsoka once again found herself in the World Between Worlds, confronted by Anakin Skywalker’s Force Ghost. She emerged a different person, transformed and purified.

Ahsoka Had Two Purgatory Experiences, Not One

The First Began The Process, The Second Completed It

Curiously, this means we have two purgatory experiences for Ahsoka, not just one. The first, in which she confronted Darth Vader, is incomplete and abbreviated. It comes to an abrupt end when Ezra Bridger saves her life. The second is years later, with Anakin Skywalker’s Force Ghost helping his former Padawan confront her fear of the dark side and choose life.

Dave Filoni studied under George Lucas himself, and so it’s appropriate that there is something of a “rhymescheme” between the two purgatory experiences. In the one, Ahsoka cracks Darth Vader’s mask, revealing a hint of the Anakin behind the Sith Lord; in the second, we see a chilling glimpse of Vader’s silhouette, the Sith Lord behind Anakin. They’re inversions.

Perhaps there’s a sense in which Ahsoka had never truly left purgatory before her encounter with Anakin’s Force Ghost. As many long-term viewers complained, the live-action Ahsoka Tano initially lacked the joy and vibrancy of the original Ahsoka; she only regained this after she’d met Anakin once again, dealing at last with the fact her master became Darth Vader.

What Will Ahsoka The White Be Like?

A Very Different Ahsoka… But A Familiar One As Well

Ahsoka Tano has now completed her time in purgatory (by whatever interpretation you prefer). She is now Ahsoka the White; purified, no longer struggling with the weight of her past but instead choosing to live on. That is neatly signified by the end of Ahsoka season 1, in which she finally felt confident to take Sabine on as an apprentice again.

Does this mean Ahsoka is going to be a very different character? Or, instead, does it mean she’s going to be more like the Ahsoka we saw in the original Clone Wars animated TV show – bolder, more spontaneous, with energy and joie de vivre? That would fit well with the purgatory analogy, for Christian teaching often compares childlikeness to purity.

The Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale aired in March 2016, meaning we’ve now seen the completion of a story that’s been in the works for a very long time. It will be a delight to see who Ahsoka Tano is, given she’s finally completed her time in purgatory.