Star Wars once introduced time travel, and it almost destroyed the saga’s timeline. The Star Wars universe values a strict canon quite a lot, especially compared to franchises like Marvel or DC. Disney’s Star Wars canon means that there are dozens of non-canon Star Wars stories. However, there is no such thing as an alternate Star Wars timeline or an established Star Wars multiverse.
The Star Wars animated series tend to be more innovative and imaginative compared to the big live-action releases. The animation format helps translate bold concepts into compelling stories. That is something shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and the non-canon Star Wars: Visions have accomplished. Some concepts, however, can be way too ambitious. For example, Star Wars Rebels’ World Between Worlds risked changing the franchise’s canon forever.
Star Wars Rebels’ World Between Worlds Was A Closed Loop (Thankfully)
Star Wars Rebels season 4, episode 13, “A World Between Worlds” introduced actual time travel in the Star Wars universe. After teasing how important Lothal was to the Emperor for four seasons, Rebels finally revealed what made Lothal so special. Despite the hidden Jedi Temple and the strong connection to the Force, Lothal also held an incredible secret. The Mortis gods painting, which recreated the mysterious characters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Mortis arc, was secretly a door to the World Between Worlds. The World Between worlds was a plane of existence placed aside from time and space, through which a person could interact with the flow of time.
Essentially, each door in the World Between Worlds was a portal to a different point in the Star Wars timeline. Thanks to the World Between Worlds, “season 2 Ahsoka” was saved from Darth Vader by “season 4 Ezra.” In other words, Ahsoka escaped from Vader during “Twilight of the Apprentice” by traveling into the future. Time travel exists in Star Wars, and it has been used in a major capacity. Fortunately, Rebels closed its time travel Pandora’s box right away. Ahsoka always escaped from Malachor, as seen during Rebels season 2’s finale. Therefore, the World Between Worlds was a closed loop rather than something that could break the Star Wars canon.
Why Adding Time Travel To Star Wars Is So Tricky
Time travel will make any franchise more complicated. If an event from the past can be changed, then retcons are no longer retcons – they become part of the canon. Unlike Marvel or DC, both of which have featured countless different continuities through the decades, Star Wars tries to follow the same timeline. Even during the Expanded Universe, when there was no such thing as a definitive Star Wars canon other than the stories George Lucas was involved in, continuity was important. There were degrees of canon and other details that tried to keep the Star Wars universe concise. After Disney bought Lucasfilm, Star Wars was given a single, definitive canon.
By dealing with time travel in Rebels season 4, Star Wars risked destroying its consistent canon for the first time in decades. Obviously, there will always be a few inconsistencies in the Star Wars timeline. Likewise, Star Wars‘ Expanded Universe was always its own thing compared to what Lucas was doing, even though the former informed the latter in many ways. Still, establishing that Ezra could pass through a time portal to save a past version of Ahsoka could change everything. Suddenly, any alternate Star Wars timelines were possible. What if someone had used the World Between Worlds to prevent Anakin from falling to the dark side?
Will Ahsoka Revisit The World Between Worlds?
Ahsoka’s World Between Worlds experience strongly suggested that this mysterious realm could not actually change the past. Instead, Ezra saving Ahsoka was part of a closed loop, something that was always destined to happen. Even still, the implications of Rebels’ “A World Between Worlds” episode are significant. Could other major Star Wars events have been the result of a closed loop caused by time travel? Are there other forces cable of interacting with the timeline? Star Wars Rebels never answered those questions, and the door to the World Between Worlds was sealed forever. Now, however, Star Wars’ time travel could be revisited in Ahsoka.
The Ahsoka series’ logo evokes the World Between World aesthetics. However, it can also be just a reference to the Jedi Temple on Lothal. Either way, the upcoming Ahsoka show would be the perfect opportunity for Star Wars to revisit the World Between Worlds. Ahsoka is the only known Star Wars character who has experienced time travel. In addition, the World Between Worlds is the reason why Ahsoka was able to escape Vader in “Twilight of the Apprentice.” What happened to Ahsoka between her time travel experience and the Rebels epilogue is a Star Wars mystery that the Ahsoka show can answer.
