At Tuesday's Clone Wars Season Two press junket staged at Lucasfilm's Big Rock Ranch, we got to sit in on a round-table discussion with Ahsoka voice actor Ashley Eckstein who shared a little of what we can expect from the Padawan when The Clone Wars returns next week:
Changes for Season Two:
"Anakin definitely gives Ahsoka a lot of his trust, so in the beginning of the season, they're still together and he's still checking up on her a lot. But there's one instance at the end of season two where he just drops her off and says 'Good luck Snips.' So she definitely grows up a lot, and he entrusts her a little more."
"The biggest difference for Ahsoka that I like in season two is that, in season one, she's more of just a tag-along who gives her snippy opinion here and there and who has a good idea now and then -- but they keep her on a very tight leash. In season two, she's given actual missions and actual storylines and a lot more freedom. She steps into the spotlight a little more. Where I feel like she was definitely the sidekick in season one, they put a lot on her shoulders in season two."
Ahsoka's appeal:
"We didn't know if Ahsoka would just be popular with girls or who would really take to her. It's been boys and girls, which has been really neat -- the boys are just as fascinated as the girls. I was happy that girls really took to Ahsoka, but they don't necessarily see her as a girl -- they see her as a Jedi. In my opinion -- and in Yoda's opinion -- she was the best Padawan for the job, and it had nothing to do with being male or female. I'm glad that the kids have looked past that."
Will Ahsoka follow Anakin's path to the dark side?
"She definitely becomes more and more like Anakin as the series goes on. Especially in season two, you see Anakin all over Ahsoka's personality. Her fighting style becomes more like Anakin, she's very spontaneous, very headstrong, kind of thinks outside of the box like Anakin. But I think Ahsoka, for where she is right now at her core, is far from the dark side. She wants to do everything the Jedi way, the right way, the positive way, the moral way. She wants to be the best Jedi that she can be. While she thinks outside the box like Anakin, she's not going to the dark side. I don't see the dark side in her at all yet, really. But who knows?"
On Ahsoka's fate:
"I trust Dave Filoni, and I know he's going to make the best decision possible for the storyline and what makes sense. I really put it in his hands. I've heard several different theories -- the theories where she dies and the theories where she lives. One theory where she died literally had me welling up with tears because I have become so attached to this character and care so much about her that to hear her come to her demise, I get very emotional."
Cast recordings:
"They said we will do whatever we can to get all of the actors in the same room at the same time -- we really feel that that's important. I truly don't believe we would have achieved the same relationships with our characters that we have now if we hadn't been in the same room. We're very, very close. You know, Matt Lanter is working on 90210, and unfortunately for that one episode, there was nothing they could do. He was just not able to make it and we felt like a piece of the episode was missing because he wasn't there standing next to us. So, it sounds cheesy, but after four years we've developed a really close bond very similar to our characters. We have each other's back."
