Star Wars Rebels May Answer Your Questions About Ahsoka Episode 4's Big Cliffhanger

This article contains spoilers for "Ahsoka" episode 4, "Fallen Jedi."

There are certain elements of "Star Wars" animation that would simply never work in live-action. For example, a character like Bendu, the mystical being who occupies the space between the light and dark sides of the Force, looks fantastic on "Star Wars Rebels," but would probably come off as little more than a giant blob of desaturated CGI in the more visually grounded world of "Ahsoka." (Mind you, I'm assuming that animatronics are off the table — because I would absolutely love for, say, Jim Henson's Creature Shop to craft a practical Bendu like the puppets they made for the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie.) That is not, however, the case with the World Between Worlds from "Rebels."

Less commonly referred to as the Vergence Scatter, the World Between Worlds is composed of infinite pathways and doors that lead to specific moments and places in the "Star Wars" timeline. It's a setting that has a minimalistic and circular design that readily lends itself to the high-definition LED video walls of the StageCraft sets (also known as The Volume) where "Ahsoka" and most of the other live-action "Star Wars" shows are filmed. Not only that, it's a place that Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) — former Magistrate of Calodan and faithful servant of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) — seemed to allude to directly during the second episode of "Ahsoka," suggesting it would be showing up in the near future.

This brings us to episode 4, "Fallen Jedi," which may have treated us to our first-ever live-action viewing of the World Between Worlds with its cliffhanger ending ... unless it didn't. Let's break it down.

Upon losing her duel with Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and getting knocked into the ocean on Seatos, "Fallen Jedi" ends with our girl Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) awakening in what certainly looks a lot like the World Between Worlds. There are glowing pathways surrounded by endless darkness just like in "Rebels," and Ahsoka even comes face to face with her late master, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). But if "Star Wars" animation fans can pause for a second in between tearing up over the emotional reunion they've spent years anticipating, they may start to question things a little.

There's a lot about the World Between Worlds that "Rebels" leaves up in the air. "Rebels" lead Ezra Bridger was able to access the realm through an ancient Jedi temple on Lothal — currently the only known place where the realm can be reached from the world of the living — and even managed to pull Ahsoka to safety into it through one of its countless doors. Did Ahsoka stumble upon what could easily be one of numerous previously unknown access points on Seatos? Or did Anakin enter the World Between Worlds and pull her there through a door, just as Ezra once did? "Rebels" established that Loth-wolves and other mystical entities with strong ties to the Force can travel through the World Between Worlds, so it's absolutely plausible a deceased Jedi could, too (especially one with some major unfinished business like Anakin).

The other possibility is Ahsoka has landed in the Netherworld of the Force, a concept that was introduced via dialogue during "Revenge of the Sith" (although it was rattling around in George Lucas's brain since as far back as the early 1980s, when he was writing "Return of the Jedi"). As later "Star War" media would clarify, this is where the souls of the living venture after their bodies die. It's also a realm that Jedi can use to return to the physical universe from as Force Ghosts, as Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and even Anakin have done before.

Anakin looks noticeably un-ghost-y when he greets Ahsoka at the end of "Fallen Jedi," though that doesn't really clarify things. Do dead Jedi appear as corporeal beings in the World Between Worlds? "Rebels" doesn't say either way. However, we can reasonably assume that Ahsoka isn't fully deceased by the time the episode wraps up. This could mean her encounter with Anakin occurs at a nexus point between the Netherworld and the physical universe ... which might turn out to be exactly the same thing as the World Between Worlds. Either way, with "Rebels" co-creator Dave Filoni serving as head writer on "Ahsoka," it appears we're about to get a whole lot more insight into this fascinating area of "Star Wars" mythology very soon.

New episodes of "Ahsoka" premiere on Tuesday nights on Disney+ at 9:00 PM EST.