Easter Eggs You Missed In Star Wars: Tales Of The Jedi

"Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi" is the latest "Star Wars" animated project led by "The Clone Wars" creator Dave Filoni. The limited series consists of six short episodes that shed light on the stories of the unconventional paths of two Jedi — Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton). These three stories start off during the Galactic Republic era and span all the way until the frightening nascent days of the Empire. They tell of the ways both of these former Jedi lost their faith in the Jedi Order and how dramatically their paths diverged. 

Throughout the series of 15-minute episodes, "Tales of the Jedi" drops a handful of fun Easter eggs and references for every level of "Star Wars" fan. From references to the most iconic characters and images in the series to callbacks to specific moments on "The Clone Wars," the latest animated series is fully in conversation with the history of the franchise. These are the coolest Easter eggs you probably missed the first time around while watching "Tales of the Jedi." 

"Tales of the Jedi" begins with an episode that tells the story of Ahsoka's childhood. Not only do we get scenes with an adorable baby Ahsoka, but we also get insights into what her family life was like before the Jedi took her from them. The episode tells the story of the life and struggles of Ahsoka's family but focuses on her mother, whose voice actress has a bit of history with the "Star Wars" franchise.

Ahsoka's mother, Pav-ti, is voiced by Janina Gavankar, who also voiced the main character of "Star Wars: Battlefront 2," Iden Versio. In the controversial "Star Wars" game from 2017, Gavankar played an Imperial officer who leads the Inferno Squad in the war against the Rebellion. The actress has gone from playing an Imperial villain in her first appearance in the series to the mother of one of the purest heroes in the galaxy. In this episode, "Life and Death," Pav-ti shows where Ahsoka got her relentless and enduring spirit from, proving not everything can be taught by the Jedi council. 

In the fourth episode of "Tales of the Jedi," entitled "The Sith Lord," we watch Dooku's final fall to the dark side. The catalyst for this, as the episode implies, is the death of Dooku's onetime apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn. When Dooku first learns of Qui-Gon's death, we see him standing beside a tree in the garden of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. This golden-leaved tree is more important than a casual viewer might think — it is a Force-sensitive uneti tree known by the Jedi as the Great Tree. It lived for hundreds of years under the care of the Jedi until the fall of the Galactic Republic and rise of Emperor Palpatine.

The inclusion of this tree is actually an Easter egg for viewers of the only other show where the Great Tree makes an appearance — "The Clone Wars." This callback to "Clone Wars" is especially meaningful since the first appearance of the Jedi's Great Tree is in "The Wrong Jedi," the final episode of "The Clone Wars'" fifth season, where Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order. Since this series is about Ahsoka, it makes a lot of sense for this for Easter egg to be here. The symbolism of including the tree is even stronger when you consider that in this episode of "Tales of the Jedi," Dooku makes the choices that lead him to leave the Order.

In "The Sith Lord," we also see Dooku turn the final corner into the arms of the dark side of the Force. Already working with Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), we see Dooku leaving the Jedi Temple to meet up with his secret dark master. But it is in this hangar that eagle-eyed viewers will catch a reference to the very first pair of characters to ever appear in "Star Wars." Yes, we are talking about everyone's favorite droids, C-3PO and R2-D2. 

As he leaves the Jedi Temple after a talk with Yaddle (Bryce Dallas Howard) following Qui-Gon Jinn's death, Dooku walks down a hangar hallway to retrieve his ship. On the opposite side of the hangar, there are a pair of droids stumbling along — one is an astromech and the other is a taller protocol droid. The designs are older, since this episode takes place immediately after "The Phantom Menace," but these two droids are definitely meant as an Easter egg referencing C-3PO and R2-D2 for any viewers playing close attention. 

At the start of the fifth episode, Ahsoka Tano is training in front of her mentors — Obi-Wan (James Arnold Taylor), Plo Koon, and of course a tardy Anakin (Matt Lanter). But there are two other people at the showcase as well.  As she shows off her saber skills, we eventually cut to two characters — an older woman Jedi and her young boy Padawan. This boy is a younger version of one of the main characters in Filoni's animated series "Star Wars Rebels." If you watched that show, you know there's only one Jedi who this could be — Caleb Dume, who later takes on the pseudonym Kanan Jarrus after he is forced into hiding. 

As fans are pointing out on Twitter, this shot of a young Jedi and his female master is an Easter egg featuring the "Rebels" Jedi. Caleb is young, with a Padawan robe and braid, but his master Depa Billaba is unmistakable from her appearance in the first episode of "The Bad Batch" (via Fandom). Fans who have been following the characters in the most recent "Clone Wars" follow-up will also recognize young Caleb from this episode as well. The fated master and apprentice appearing and enjoying Ahsoka's impressive moves is a nod to one of the great characters from "Star Wars" animation.

There are multiple moments in "Tales of the Jedi" where Ahsoka's fight choreography is used as a callback to other moments. The first of these comes in the series' fifth episode, "Practice Makes Perfect." After feeling like the council's training isn't pushing Ahsoka enough, Anakin enlists Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) and a small squad of clone troopers to help him set up a more intense session. This leads to a brutal training montage where Ahsoka fends off an overpowering group of clones. "Clone Wars" viewers will feel an eerie tingle while watching this, as it should remind them of Ahsoka fighting off clones in the series finale during Order 66. 

The episode even makes a visual callback to that final arc of "The Clone Wars" in its training montage. At the very end of the montage of Ahsoka becoming stronger, we see her jump in the air and perform a front flip spin maneuver exactly like the one she does when the clones attack her during Order 66 (via Twitter). However, in "Tales of the Jedi," the move exposes her and soon Ahsoka is knocked out by a stun blast again. In "Clone Wars," the clones aren't so lucky and — in a retroactive turn of fate — she makes quick work of them by knocking them unconscious.

While not a major player in "The Clone Wars," Jesse stands by Rex and Cody in some of the most memorable arcs in the series. The clone soldier is recognizable by his dedication to the Republic and its logo, which is plastered on his helmet and tattooed on his face. He is an important clone until the end when he leads the charge to hunt down Rex and Ahsoka in the final moments of the Republic after Order 66 is called. He falls in the crash that Ahsoka and Rex escape from in the series finale of "The Clone Wars." 

Jesse makes an important appearance in "Tales of the Jedi" that calls back to his role at the end of "The Clone Wars." Fans have connected a few dots here. In the training montage from Episode 5, Jesse is the first to knock out Ahsoka. He says, "Sorry commander," which fans have identified (via Twitter) as a callback to "Clone Wars." This also serves as an Easter egg when you realize that the last time we saw Jesse, he was knocked out and sent flying by Ahsoka — the inverse of what happens in "Practice Makes Perfect." While she fails here, Ahsoka passes the final test Jesse gives her in the end. 

Another easily missed detail tying Jesse into this episode comes at the very end, when Rex gets ready to pretend to surrender Ahsoka to the clones. In this scene, a clone voice says "Hang on. We have Tano and the commander." An investigative fan decided to turn on the subtitles for this sequence and discovered the clone who speaks those lines is also Jesse.

The final episode of "Tales of the Jedi" opens on a grim and dreary event — the funeral of Padme Amidala. In the shadows lurks Ahsoka Tano. As she grieves for her friend, she is spotted by Bail Organa, who later approaches her with a request. But these two aren't the only iconic "Star Wars" characters at the funeral. Another original trilogy staple and "Andor" favorite who appears in "Tales of the Jedi" is Mon Mothma. 

This currently very relevant character will wind up spearheading the Rebellion, but in "Tales of the Jedi" she is still just a senator and friend to Bail Organa, who you can see her standing next to at the funeral. Organa and Mothma eventually become leaders of the Rebellion, but at this moment they have yet to understand the Empire that is to come. The Death Star doesn't blow up Alderaan for about another 15 or 20 years, give or take.

We can't help but feel that the name Ahsoka uses in the final episode of "Tales of the Jedi" is a sly reference to long-time Ahsoka Tano voice actress Ashley Eckstein. The events of "Resolve," the series finale, take place during the rise of the Empire, some short time before the events of "Star Wars Rebels." After she meets with Bail Organa at Padme's funeral, Ahsoka runs away and goes back into hiding. In the next scenes, we see the ex-Jedi living in a village community where she is eventually forced to slip and use her Force powers to save a life, thus exposing her. 

In this village, one of the villagers calls Ahsoka by a different name — "Ashla." This pseudonym is definitely similar to Ahsoka, but long-time "Clone Wars" fans will recognize it as even more similar to the name of Ahsoka's voice actress, Ashley Eckstein. Even though Rosario Dawson plays Ahsoka in "The Mandalorian," Eckstein is still the actor many fans most closely associate with the character, and she returned to voice Ahsoka in "Tales of the Jedi." This little Easter egg is almost certainly a nod from Dave Filoni and the writers of the series to one of their beloved colleagues.

In this final lightsaber battle of the short series, we once again see Ahsoka pull a combat move as a callback to another one of her epic moments. At the end of "Resolve," Ahsoka is forced to save the burning village that has sheltered her and its villagers when they are threatened by a Sith Inquisitor. This duel-wielding villain with a skull raven mask head (Clancy Brown) is a brand-new Inquisitor to the "Star Wars" universe. But when he faces off against Ahsoka Tano, she makes mincemeat of him with a skillful, impressive maneuver. 

As the deathly Inquisitor makes moves towards Ahsoka, she grabs his circular saber hilt and de-ignites his blade. She then kicks him back and pulls the saber from his hand. As a fan pointed out on Twitter, this is exactly like the move she uses to dispatch an Inquisitor back in "Rebels." Unlike the family friendly violence in "Rebels," this time Ahsoka ends the combo with a much more brutal finisher — cutting the Inquisitor's head clean off.