Ahsoka Season 2 Trailer Breakdown: Thrawn's Return, a Mystery Mortis-Marked Jedi, and Every Easter Egg I Spotted

I found so many details in the new trailer for Ahsoka season 2 that I had to go through it frame by frame, and there is a lot here for fans of Rebels, Clone Wars, and the Thrawn novels to dig into. This trailer answers some long-standing questions while opening up new mysteries about the gods of Mortis, Grand Admiral Thrawn's military campaign, and Ahsoka's own unfinished business with the Jedi Order.

The trailer opens with New Republic U-wings delivering untested infantry to Dathomir, the planet where Thrawn, the Great Mothers, the Nightsisters, and the night troopers relocated aboard the Chimaera at the end of season 1. We have seen Dathomir's red, misty surface in animation and video games before, but this is our first live-action look at it, and I think it looks pretty good. That said, I have heard the budget for season 2 is reportedly even less than season 1, which is surprising given the talent involved. Part of why Lucasfilm can still pull this off is that they work in-house and rely on a massive asset library built over decades, so they are not designing brand new ships or worlds every time, just upgrading existing hardware with minor tweaks. They also lean on fog of war to save cost, the same trick used in Ahsoka season 1 episode 5 for the Battle of Teeth, and something Disney Plus also used for the Daredevil Born Again hallway fight.

The Dathomir Assault Looks Like a Massacre Waiting to Happen

As the night troopers march forward unbothered even when some get shot down, I noticed a New Republic trooper on the left of the screen actually taking a few steps back in retreat. The mountains in this sequence appear to be half-buried coffins, most likely the same ones being transported away from Peridea in the season 1 finale, which I believe contain the dead Nightsisters the Great Mothers are about to resurrect with their witchcraft. I have a bad feeling this is going to be a massacre for the New Republic, and I feel for these recruits being sent into what looks like a death trap. Ezra Bridger and Chopper appear to be there to witness whatever happens.

A Mystery Saber-Staff Wielder With Mortis Markings Confronts Anakin and Ahsoka

The trailer cuts to a Clone Wars-era flashback with Ariana Greenblatt again playing teenage Ahsoka and Hayden Christensen returning as Anakin. I got a close-up look at their new snow jackets at D23, and the design includes what I think might be banana fur lining the hood along with a Jedi Order patch, meaning the Order itself manufactures gear for snowy climates. Anakin's coat also has a leather glove high on his right forearm to cover his cybernetic arm and hand from that period. Force ghost Anakin asks Ahsoka "what troubles you," suggesting she is only now remembering some other mission from among the dozens fought during those three years.

The reason she is remembering now seems to be a hooded figure standing in the trees who ignites a double-sided blade whose hilt can split apart into a middle section, similar to Maul's saberstaff. I believe I have seen this exact hilt design before on a Jedi Temple Guard in the 2015 comic Kanan: The Last Padawan. The blade glows teal, and I would not call this figure a Sith, but either a Jedi who foresaw Order 66 and killed his own clone troopers first, or a Jedi with different loyalties, because his facial markings look to me like the markings of the Son of Mortis. Since Ahsoka and Sabine are set to follow in Baylan Skoll's footsteps toward a giant statue of the Father of Mortis on Peridea this season, and since we have long theorized Dave Filoni will finally show us Mother Abeloth, I am left wondering whether this Jedi also encountered the Mortis gods and chose to follow the Son's path, and whether this memory happened before or after Ahsoka and Anakin's own Mortis experience. My assumption is that it happened after. During the duel, the figure's hilt reconnects into a Maul-style grip and he force-throws a log that Ahsoka dodges before Anakin slices it in half. Back in the present, force ghost Anakin tells Ahsoka he is always walking by her side, which fits the idea that ever since Vader redeemed himself in Return of the Jedi, his force ghost has been quietly strengthening Ahsoka, including during her encounter with Grogu on Corvus.

Thrawn Declares War on the New Republic in a Chilling Public Broadcast

Lars Mitchell returns as Grand Admiral Thrawn, and in this trailer he looks perfect. I was trying to figure out why his face reads so much better here than in season 1, and while he does have a different hairpiece, I think it mostly comes down to lighting, since the sunlit bridge of the Chimaera matches how we remember him from the Rebels finale far better than the artificial lighting of his season 1 arrival. Thrawn addresses "citizens of the glorious Empire" and only refers to the New Republic as the Rebel Alliance, smugly acting as though the Empire never ended and refusing to acknowledge the New Republic's legitimacy, exactly like his voice in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn novels. I compared it to General Cornwallis returning years after Yorktown to address "subjects of King George" and declare war on "the rebel you call President George Washington." We see the Chimaera in Dathomir's red clouds joined by several other Star Destroyers, one of which has an attachment on its nose that I think is some kind of cannon or super laser capable of destroying large ships like the Mon Calamari cruisers we later see wrecked in the space battle. The presence of multiple destroyers tells me the Imperial Shadow Council is still in flux as of Mandalorian season 3 and the Mandalorian and Grogu film, and I am guessing Gilad Pellaeon is still holding remaining warlords together while waiting for Thrawn's return. The woman standing beside Thrawn could be Commodore Karyn Faro from Zahn's 2017 Thrawn novel and comic series, and I would love to see her or Eli Vanto show up properly. Elsewhere, General Hera Syndulla walks with Senator Xiono and Ezra in a pilot flight suit as they react to the broadcast.

Thrawn's Office Is Packed With Lucasfilm Easter Eggs

Thrawn sits casually with a drink in his commander's chair, surrounded by collectibles from Star Wars Rebels, including sculptures of the Ysalamiri, the four-eyed lizards that project anti-Force bubbles in Zahn's original novels and were able to block Luke's Force powers. I also spotted what looks like a Mortis tablet and the white and gold Jedi Temple Guard mask he had in Rebels. From the show we know his office also contains the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Clone Commander Gree's helmet from Revenge of the Sith, one of the troopers Yoda beheaded on Kashyyyk during Order 66, a bust of an Abednedo, a digital version of Ralph McQuarrie's Lothal concept art, and once included a Kalikori stolen from the Syndulla family before Kanan and Zeb helped steal it back for Hera.

Thrawn's Hyperspace Fleet Suggests a Full Military Campaign, Not a Quick Defeat

Hera and Senator Xiono react to a holographic display of three Star Destroyers traveling through hyperspace rings, suggesting Thrawn is leaving Dathomir to attack a core world, possibly Corellia or even Lothal. My read is that these episodes will follow Thrawn's full military campaign rather than having him thwarted immediately, and honestly, I kind of want him to win at least a little bit.

TIE Bombers Drop Mole Miners Packed With Resurrected Nightsisters

TIE bombers swarm out of a Star Destroyer above a blue-atmosphere planet that I think could be the shipyard in orbit of Corellia, based on a floating tower structure in the background. They drop plasma mole miners, the same type Thrawn acquired in Heir to the Empire, though this time they successfully burrow into a New Republic ship and release Nightsisters like a virus. One wields a bowcaster, and I saw concept art of her and other unique Nightsister designs at the Ahsoka booth at D23, right down to braids, a top knot, and gnarly teeth befitting the reanimated dead. When one of them dies she screams and turns into bright green mystical energy, the same effect we saw with Marrok in season 1, and I will admit I am kind of rooting for the Nightsisters. In the same sequence I also spotted what I believe is a Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, first introduced in the Droids cartoon, apparently now flying under a New Republic logo, which would make this its first live-action appearance.

My Theory: The Great Mothers May Be Reviving All of Dathomir

We see a pod zipping toward Dathomir past two of its four moons as conflict lights up the red clouds and a huge storm brews to the side. I have a theory that ties this to a later shot of a green-atmosphere planet elsewhere in the trailer. My guess is the Great Mothers' resurrection magic could be reviving the entire planet, restoring it to the kind of natural, green wonder described in the Book of Boba Fett, where it is said the witches of Dathomir once rode gnarly-tooth creatures through its forests. If that is right, the final title shot showing Ahsoka above Dathomir with skirmishes lighting up the surface could actually be showing us that transformed, revitalized world.

The Great Mothers Line Up More Nightsisters and Night Brothers

We get a lineup of night brothers including Enoch and another Nightsister with a bald head and tusks standing before the three Great Mothers, Klothow and Elrikoss, as they connect their red beams the same way they did on Peridea in season 1. I think we are about to see the rest of the dead Nightsisters rise from their coffins. Ahsoka tells Sabine on Peridea that she had a vision and saw war, though the editing and similar vocal pitch of Rosario Dawson and Natasha Liu Bordizzo make the exchange feel almost like one person talking. Sabine's longer hair suggests time has passed since season 1, and I am hoping we spend less time on Peridea's flatlands and more time in its mountains and caves.

Ahsoka and Sabine Open a Mysterious Peridea Cave

Three B-wings fire synced ion cannons on the Chimaera, which is surrounded by an Eye of Sion hyperspace ring, while other New Republic ships engage in the battle. Ahsoka and Sabine ride up to circular runes on Peridea resembling World Between Worlds designs, and Ahsoka opens a moss-covered disc in a yin-yang formation that leads into a cave that looked far shallower from the outside than it turns out to be.

Baylan Skoll's Mysterious Power Ties Back to the Mortis Gods

We get our first proper look at Baylan Skoll, now played by Rory McCann, taking over the role following Ray Stevenson's passing. In a blizzard, Shin calls out to her master, but he ignores her and ignites his orange saber as if preparing to fight her. Force ghost Anakin explains that Baylan claimed to have knowledge of "a power, one that could end wars." I find it fascinating that Anakin apparently has some history with Baylan, and my assumption is Baylan started out with altruistic goals but is now being exploited by a power that goes beyond the dark side, something I think ties back to the Mortis gods, possibly Abeloth. I believe a lot of this material was originally intended for the scrapped Duel of the Fates version of Episode IX involving Matt Smith's character, and it looks like Dave Filoni is finding a way to work it back into the lore this season.

Ezra, Zeb, and Huyang Return Alongside New Ship Designs

Ahsoka and Sabine explore a chamber with beams of light and a floor pattern echoing the World Between Worlds, guarded by old droids they fight later in the trailer. We also see more of the New Republic fleet over what I again think is Corellia, along with Chopper in a hangar bay and an emotional reunion hug between Ezra and Zeb. I am wondering whether this is Zeb after his role helping Din Djarin in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and whether that means Jaster Grev could also be somewhere on this base. Ezra launches an RZ-2 A-wing, an upgrade from the RZ-1 he flew in Rebels, and I like that the ship design reflects the shift from the Rebellion era to the New Republic. He flies beside an E-wing that I am hoping is piloted by Zeb.

Force Ghost Anakin Puts Ahsoka's Jedi Identity on Trial

Ahsoka recalls walking away from the Jedi at the end of Clone Wars season 5, saying "I'm sorry, Master, but I'm not coming back." Another flash of the snowy forest shows Anakin looking anguished and confused, tied to whatever we are going to learn about the mystery Jedi with the Mortis tattoos. Force ghost Anakin tells Ahsoka "this is your trial," which I think means finally closing the book on her unanswered questions from the Mortis arc, likely requiring her to understand Baylan's own misreading of those gods. Ahsoka and Sabine also fight off spindly, spiked creatures on Peridea that remind me of something out of a creepypasta. Ezra locks blades with Enoch, while Shin duels Huyang, who wields a General Grievous-style four-bladed droid arm weapon. Since Shin apparently went through Jedi initiate rituals like everyone else, I am hoping for a moment of recognition between her and Huyang, who once took her to Ilum to choose her kyber crystal.

Is Ahsoka a Jedi or Not? The Trailer Finally Asks Directly

Force ghost Anakin poses the blunt question, "Are you a Jedi or not?" I am glad the show is finally forcing this issue, since Ahsoka told Bo-Katan in Rebels "I am no Jedi," yet The Mandalorian episode featuring her return was titled "The Jedi," and Ahsoka season 1 marketing listed Jedi as one of her descriptors. I am hoping the season firmly answers the question, and honestly, I kind of hope the answer is no. We also see Sabine's flamethrower mount in action against the temple droids, and in the concluding space battle the planet below the TIE fighters has a green atmosphere rather than Dathomir's red one, which feeds back into my theory about a revitalized Dathomir, or simply confirms that Thrawn's campaign is moving from world to world.

Do you think Baylan Skoll's mysterious power connects to the Mortis gods, and should Ahsoka finally be confirmed as a Jedi by the end of this season?