Who is Ahsoka Tano, the character played by Rosario Dawson for The Mandalorian

She made her debut in the 2008 film, overwhelmed by critics, but over time, thanks to the animated series of the same name and her rebellious character, she managed to win the affection of the public. Brief bio of Anakin Skywalker's padawan

Rosario Dawson literally bewitched the audience, as evidenced by the reactions on social media, who were inundated with enthusiastic comments on how the 41-year-old actress managed to play one of the most iconic and innovative characters of the universe created in his time by George Lucas: Ahsoka Tano.

And to say that at the beginning, when she appeared, the young alien Togruta did not convince the public. Rather.

In 2008, in The Clone Wars, the first animated film of the saga, the public reacted negatively, they did not like this padawan, whose design was closely connected to San, the wolf-girl created by the great Miyazaki in Princess Mononoke. After all, George Lucas had taken a risk that was not for nothing but that had to be faced, given that the female adolescent audience had been substantially almost always ignored by the saga.

Princess Leia was certainly a fantastic character, but already mature , a young woman. Padmé Amidala never became particularly popular, given her passive and obvious nature.

Ahsoka instead was a student, a little girl, the new responsibility imposed by master Yoda on Anakin Skywalker, with the hope that the talented but often immature “Chosen One” matured.

However, in the animated film, she appeared as superficial, too cute, in short, a fairly flat character with little hope of evolving into something meaningful. The costume was criticized, defined as too "risque", which contributed to making the young woman a sort of alien, irritating, pedantic spice-girl, with whom the series re-proposed the old cliché of the bungling teenager who had to be saved by a figure paterna.

Many expressed the hope that the character, not present in Revenge of the Sith, would also be shelved in the animated series on the Clone Wars, but the production decided to insist.

It took very little time for this choice to turn out to be perfect.

Ahsoka Tano from the beginning of the series, began a path of profound evolution, basically managed to conquer the public because it was in all respects the female version of what Anakin had once been as a padawan. Ahsoka was brave, intelligent, shrewd, good-hearted but also rash and stubborn, driven by a deeply nonconformist and independent spirit.

In short, she was anything but the good girl of the class, and her relationship with the master Skywalker (who nicknamed her crafty), gradually became more and more complex and profound, so much so that it can be said that from episode to episode, his presence awakened the most unconventional and independent part of Anakin's character.

On numerous occasions, Ahsoka disobeyed orders from the Jedi Council or Palpatine himself when she deemed it necessary, often involving her Master in perilous adventures.

An exceptional warrior, capable of keeping head to enemies of the caliber of a Grievous or an Asajj Ventress (with whom he had a very special relationship), at first he had a normal sword like all the others. However, in a short time, he will add another one, with a shorter blade and a different color, often holding them in reverse. This is not something casual, but rather connected to her personality, histrionic and original, to her being always poised between rebellion and compliance with the rules.

Ahsoka will then be the victim of a plot hatched by another padawan: Barriss Offee, whom he considered a friend. Unjustly accused of treason and put on trial, she will finally be saved by Anakin, but disappointed by the Jedi Order, she will decide to leave anyway.

This turning point is still today indicated as one of the most shocking and decisive moments of the saga, because Ahsoka's abandonment conditioned Anakin's future decisions, certainly favored his passage to the dark side, in virtue a common disillusionment with the Jedi Order. According to many, if they had stayed together, they would have reformed the Order and defeated the Sith conspiracy.



However, from that moment on, Ahsoka would have embarked on a path separate from that of a Jedi, yet parallel to it. She would return in the finale, surviving Order 66, managing to escape, and then reappear in the animated series Rebels, now a woman and one of the most important warriors of the rebellion.

Still in Rebels, he would embrace the tragic truth: Darth Vader, the sower of death and hammer of the Rebellion, was none other than his former teacher Anakin Skywalker. Their final confrontation remains one of the most iconic and legendary moments in the Star Wars universe, wrapped in a symbolism of enormous impact.

On balance, Ahsoka has had the incredible success she has had, because it linked to the concept of rebellion against authority, in the healthiest and most genuine sense of the term.

It is never she was a purposeless anarchist or a tough girl and that's it. Armed with a strong critical conscience, over the years in addition to growing, measuring herself against her fears and accepting failures, Ahsoka (although so young and inexperienced) always saw clearly how the Jedi order was turning into a cold war machine and bureaucratic, in which empathy and a sense of honor were often set aside in the name of realpolitik.

Her figure, in addition to giving the female universe a much more complex and multifaceted model than a Leia, is more heroic and dynamic of a Padmé, in fact it shows us a constant process of emancipation, a strong desire to change the world and improve it.

Many have read in it a great connection with the youth protest in its various manifestations, from '68 to recent years, in which the new generations have returned to the front row against the "system", against a world that is too unfair, where the elites are increasingly distant from real people.

Like them, after all, the in the end it did not succeed ta to change things, not from within. But this did not mean that she gave up, nor did she give up being what she was: a free spirit. Her bending the rules, her dignity and self-love, have always made her the symbol of a critical conscience, of a morality in the highest and most noble sense. Also for this reason, seeing her again in The Mandalorian was wonderful.