Ahsoka Episode 5: The Siege of Mandalore explained

Kayla Harrington
Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka Episode 5 features the famous animated battle The Siege of Mandalore, but what happened during it?

Star Wars spin-off show Ahsoka‘s fifth episode, featured glimpses of an iconic battle from the animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

The episode — titled Shadow Warrior — sees Ahsoka, Sabine, and Huyang track down Morgan Elsbeth and her crew as they plot to bring back Grand Admiral Thrawn.

While a lot of things happened in the episode including the uncovering a major betrayal, the sequence that caught fans’ eyes was the depiction of The Siege of Mandalore, an iconic battle in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But, what happened during the battle? Here’s everything we know.

What happened during The Siege of Mandalore?

The Siege of Mandalore is the final battle that occurs at the end of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7.

The battle stand as the final arc of the series as this arc happened in the last season of the show. The siege begins with Ahsoka being contacted by Bo-Katan Kryze so she could receive help from the Republic in reclaiming Mandalore from Crime Lord Darth Maul.

Maul, who controlled Mandalore by proxy via puppet leader Prime Minister Almec, had planned to use the battle as a trap for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, as he wanted to finally take his revenge on Obi-Wan and kill Anakin so that Darth Sidious wouldn’t make him his new Sith apprentice.

However, though Ahsoka went to help Bo-Katan alongside Clone Commander Rex and half of the 501st Clone Battalion, Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi left her side to go rescue Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who had been kidnapped by General Grievous, during the Battle of Coruscant.

The battle ended with Ahsoka engaging in a light saber duel Maul, after which he was arrested and Bo-Katan becoming Regent.

Ariana Greenblatt as Ahsoka in Episode 5

However, though Ahsoka and Rex completed their mission to stop Maul, Palpatine —who is actually Darth Sidious — approved the issuing of Order 66, which labeled all Jedi as traitors to the Galactic Republic and subject to execution by the Grand Army of the Republic. 

The order disrupted their plan to transport Maul to the Jedi High Council, as Rex now had orders to kill Ahsoka. Though the two were friends, as a clone, Rex couldn’t disobey the order thanks to the biochip implanted in his brain that didn’t allow clones to act out their free will.

Plus, Order 66 led to the rise of the Empire, which rendered the victory essentially meaningless. And the Empire ended seizing control of Mandalore anyways and occupied the world by establishing an Imperial Academy there.

Ahsoka Episodes 1-5 are available on Disney+ now, which you can sign up for here. You can check out our other coverage below:

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About The Author

Kayla is a TV and Movies Writer at Dexerto. She's huge fan of Marvel (especially if Wanda Maximoff is involved), shows that make you laugh then cry, and any cooking show found on the Food Network. Before Dexerto, she wrote for Mashable, BuzzFeed, and The Mary Sue. You can contact her at kayla.harrington@dexerto.com