SPOILER ALERT: Nothing but SPOILERS below, so turn back or proceed with caution.
We knew that J.J. Abrams was going to squeeze a ton of Easter Eggs into ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’, and he’d already teased one regarding Ahsoka Tano. Still, when the scene arrived in which Rey is roused by the voices of Jedi past, it took me too long to realize what was happening, so I wasn’t able to listen closely enough. Thankfully, this being the Internet, answers were readily available.
So who were those voices? Pretty much everyone you expected and more!
In September, just hours before it was supposed to take place, Disney pulled the plug on a planned ‘Star Wars’ panel at FanX Con in Salt Lake City, which was to feature special guests Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) and Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader). By that point, we already knew that McDiarmid’s character would factor into ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, but why forbid Christensen from appearing? Hmmmm…
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Now we know! Christensen’s Anakin is among the voices speaking to Rey, alongside Ewan McGregor‘s Obi-Wan Kenobi, who says, “Rey, these are your final steps.” This is a throwback to that scene in ‘The Force Awakens’, when various voices speak to Rey (which I kind of forgot about), and Obi-Wan tells her, “Rey, these are your first steps.”
As for Anakin, he urged Rey to “bring back the balance as I did.” Not sure you’re the best example, Vader.
Also heard are Liam Neeson as Qui Gon Jinn…
Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu…
And Frank Oz as Yoda!
But that’s not all, and this is where Abrams cut really deep and honored all aspects of the ‘Star Wars’ universe, not just the movies.
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Just before the release of ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, Abrams teased that fans of Ahsoka Tano should pay close attention, and here is why! Ashley Eckstein returned to voice Ahsoka, the beloved fan-favorite from ‘The Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’. And she didn’t come alone.
Freddie Prinze Jr.‘s Kanan Jarrus from ‘Rebels’ could also be heard during this sequence.
Sadly, this means that Ahsoka is dead in the time of ‘Rise of Skywalker’, but that makes sense, because the previous film was called ‘The Last Jedi’. Fans should just be happy that she has finally been acknowledged in the movie continuity, considering she proved to be such an important character in the prequel cartoons, it was a little awkward that she’d never so much as been mentioned in the movies. But that’s the problem with prequels.
Ahsoka and Kanan were stars of their respective cartoons, but also heard during the voice montage were supporting characters, Olivia d’Abo as Luminara Undall, Jennifer Hale as Aryla Secura, and Angelique Perrin as Adi Gallia.
All three are characters from ‘The Clone Wars’, but they have appeared in the flesh in the prequels, however, they never spoke. So Abrams enlisted the familiar voices from the cartoon for this scene.
Just for the record, in the prequels, Mary Oyaya played Luminara, Amy Allen portrayed Aryla, and Gin Clarke embodied Adi.
McGregor is set to return as Obi-Wan in his own live-action Disney+ series, which will likely arrive in 2021. Ahsoka Tano will appear again in the revival of ‘The Clone Wars’, also due on Disney+ in 2020.
Did you recognize these Jedi voices in ‘The Rise of Skywalker’? Or does this make you want to go see it again so you can pay closer attention to this scene?
Source: Vulture
