Who Plays Young Ahsoka in the Disney+ Series?

Ahsoka's fifth episode revisited Ahsoka Tano's youth, bringing Star Wars: The Clone Wars' version of the character to live action. But who played her?

The fifth episode of Ahsoka delivered on fans expectations in a big way. After Episode 4 ended with Ahsoka waking to find herself in the World Between Worlds, where she was confronted by her former master, Anakin Skywalker, Episode 5 took a trip into the master-and-apprentice duo's history. Throughout a series of flashbacks to key moments in the Clone Wars, Anakin attempted to impart one final lesson on his old Padawan. These Clone Wars sequences introduced a younger version of Ahsoka Tano to live action for the first time, with a younger actor portraying her.

The version of Ahsoka who appears throughout the flashbacks in "Shadow Warrior" is the character as Star Wars fans first knew her, on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Bringing this younger Ahsoka into live action was a risky move in some regards; while the passage of time and new experiences has meant Rosario Dawson could reinterpret the older Ahsoka she plays, there was less room for deviation from the younger version of the character, with whom fans are far more familiar. However, Ahsoka was fortunate enough to find the perfect young star to bring The Clone Wars' iteration of Ahsoka Tano to life in live action for the first time.

Ariana Greenblatt Plays Young Ahsoka

Ariana Greenblatt plays the young Ahsoka Tano on Ahsoka. Her first appearance in the role comes as something of a surprise, following Anakin's first bout of lightsaber combat with Rosario Dawson's older Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds. After Anakin severs the platform Ahsoka is standing on, she falls into the depths of the World Between Worlds, only to awake in her younger body in the midst of the Clone Wars. Greenblatt is then tasked with portraying a version of Ahsoka who is something of a composite of The Clone Wars' version of the character and Dawson's iteration.

If the creators of Ahsoka were looking for an actor with blockbuster potential to play the younger version of the title character opposite Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker, they certainly found it in Ariana Greenblatt. Greenblatt has recently shot to stardom with an impressive resume of recent performances. She previously appeared in the Marvel Studios blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War, where she played the younger version of Zoe Saldana's Gamora -- apparently starting a trend of playing younger versions of alien heroines with unnatural skin tones.

More recently, Ariana Greenblatt appeared in Greta Gerwig's Barbie opposite Margot Robbie. Greenblatt played Sasha in Barbie, the angsty young girl Robbie's Barbie meets when traveling to the real world, whose mother (America Ferrera) is the owner of Robbie's Barbie doll. Greenblatt also appeared in this year's 65, which saw her in a starring role alongside fellow Star Wars alum Adam Driver. Her appearance as Ahsoka Tano had been kept under wraps ahead of Ahsoka Episode 5's debut.

What Ariana Greenblatt's Role Means for Ahsoka

The introduction of Ariana Greenblatt as a younger Ahsoka Tano allowed Ahsoka to explore some familiar moments from The Clone Wars, as well as new facets of the World Between Worlds, all through the eyes of the titular Jedi. During her scenes on Episode 5 of Ahsoka, Greenblatt's version of Anakin Skywalker's apprentice is seen during two key moments from The Clone Wars. The first is the Battle of Ryloth, where a mistake Ahsoka made saw many of her Clone Troopers killed in combat. The second is the Siege of Mandalore, one of the final campaigns of the Clone Wars, in which Ahsoka played a vital role in securing victory against the forces of Darth Maul.

Greenblatt's presence in these scenes emphasizes just how young Ahsoka was during the Clone Wars, when she was trained to be a warrior by Anakin Skywalker. Given the stylization of The Clone Wars as an animated series, it can be easy to forget that Ahsoka was only a child when she began her Jedi training under Anakin. Greenblatt is 16 years old -- she would have been 14 or 15 when filming her scenes for Ahsoka -- and her portrayal of the character fans came to know so well throughout The Clone Wars stresses the point that Ahsoka was an impressionable child, just starting to find her own way in the galaxy, when she became a Padawan.

These Clone Wars sequences are made up of a mixture of scenes that appear to be pure flashbacks and moments in which the older Anakin and Ahsoka are inhabiting their memories of the war. Greenblatt proves her acting credentials in a big way here, not only bringing to life Ahsoka as she was seen on The Clone Wars, but also convincingly portraying Rosario Dawson's version of the character as she takes on her younger appearance. The sequences saw the World Between Worlds being used in a way it hasn't been before. While Star Wars Rebels suggested this mysterious realm simply allowed Force-wielders to look upon moments from across time as they happened, "Shadow Warrior" sees Ahsoka actually reliving her past.

Ariana Greenblatt's Young Ahsoka Could Return for Future Star Wars Projects

There can be no doubt that, in her first surprise appearance as Ahsoka Tano, Ariana Greenblatt did a perfect job of realizing the character first introduced by Dave Filoni and voice actor Ashley Eckstein on The Clone Wars. To only give Greenblatt one appearance as Ahsoka Tano would feel like a waste of her talent and her note-perfect interpretation of the character. She may well already have a future in Star Wars mapped out, with several upcoming projects presenting potential opportunities to revisit Ahsoka Tano in her youth.

Three episodes of Ahsoka remain and there's a chance that these will include further flashbacks to Ahsoka's training during the Clone Wars, meaning Greenblatt may have already shot more scenes as the young Jedi opposite Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker. There is also a possibility that Dave Filoni's upcoming Star Wars movie, which is likely to feature Ahsoka Tano, will include further flashbacks to Ahsoka's past with Greenblatt in the role. Her appearance in Ahsoka certainly proved she could carry a larger story as the iconic young Jedi and fans would likely be thrilled to see it happen.

New episodes of Ahsoka are available to stream every Tuesday on Disney+.