Ahsoka Theory: Shin Hati Is The Most Important Person To Luke Skywalker's Future
After decades of content within the "Star Wars" franchise, there are some works that are considered canon, while others are dubbed "Legends." While most of the "Legends" stories aren't a part of the official "Star Wars" canon, there are a few concepts Disney plucked from the out-of-continuity lore to use in its own storytelling. Saving Boba Fett from his disappointing end in "Return of the Jedi" is one of the more popular examples of this. Fans could be seeing another, in theory, as they watch "Ahsoka" on Disney+ — Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) could possibly take the place of one of the most important characters in Luke Skywalker's "Legends"-continuity life: Mara Jade.
Mara Jade Skywalker is a conundrum in the world of "Star Wars." While she is a powerful Jedi in her own right, she ends up becoming the wife of Skywalker and the mother of Ben Skywalker. The fact that Luke allowed himself to fall for someone echoes his father's path — The Jedi Code of Conduct prohibits emotional attachments for reasons arguably demonstrated by Anakin's shift to the dark side. Nevertheless, Luke follows in his father's footsteps and falls for Mara.
A Reddit "Ahsoka" Episode 7 response thread began positing the possibility that Shin Hati could actually be the canonical version of Jade. Redditor u/Zerset wrote, "With everything else that's been pulled from Legends, I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up the Mara-Jade of the series. Maybe not married to Luke, but filling the role regardless." It may feel like a reach at first glance, but if we look deeper into the two characters, we might find some flame to accompany the smoke.
She's strikingly similar to Mara Jade
Shin Hati appears in the series as the apprentice of the fallen Jedi, Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) as they do the bidding for Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). In their search for Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), they come face to face with Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) multiple times. At first, Shin runs Sabine through with a lightsaber; later, she becomes frustrated at her master for going back on his word. She is difficult to read. At times, she scans more like a Jedi; other times she acts more like a Sith.
Mara Jade, while becoming one of the more powerful Jedis in Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order, also starts out on the wrong side of the galactic battleground. When she's young, she's pulled from her parents by Palpatine to become an assassin known as the Emperor's Hand. She wreaks havoc on the opposition until the destruction of her master. She then turns her attention to vengeance before realizing it's the Emperor's telepathic hold over her that causes her desire for vengeance. She spends time as a smuggler and works alongside Luke before they finally marry, and he resumes her training in The Force.
There are some solid comparisons one can draw between Mara and Shin. The first is both their connections to the Empire and their work as assassins for the top of the Imperial chain of command. The second is their ambiguous connection to the Force — sometimes they behave like Jedi; other times they act like Sith.
Could Shin follow the same path?
On Reddit, u/jjackson25 responded to the theory that Shin could be the canon version of Jade with their own idea of how the notion could fit. "I actually theorized a long time ago that it was entirely possible that Luke had a relationship at some point between RotJ ["Return of the Jedi"] and when we find him in TFA ["The Force Awakens'], and things went south, and he pulled away due to the 'Jedi are forbidden from attachments' thing and she up and left. Unbeknownst to either of them, she was pregnant. His failure to uphold the Jedi way and form a romantic attachment to her as well as push her away both weigh on him heavily, which is part of the reason he snaps and tries to kill Ben."
The idea that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) could have had a wife in the past could explain the way he became a recluse. If he fell in love with another Jedi and she fell in battle or was killed by another Jedi or seduced by the dark side, it would explain why he would abandon his mission to rebuild the Jedi Order. It would also explain the loss of hope he displays in the sequel trilogy. And it would explain the desperate measures he eventually took with Ben Solo (Adam Driver) to avoid repeating the mistakes of his father.
If the story goes down the same path with Shin, and she is instrumental in helping Luke rebuild the Jedi Order, then we have two things to look forward to in the future. The first is the recasting of a young Luke. The second is the story of Luke's fall from a hopeful future to a hermit who attempts to kill his nephew.