#The Mandalorian EP Responds to Ahsoka Tano’s Live-Action Debut

Ahsoka Tano’s arrival on The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 5 almost featured a “Baby Yoda” shoutout.

Ever since The Mandalorian Season 1 Episode 1 aired, fans were quick to call The Child “Baby Yoda,” a reference to Yoda from the Star Wars lore. 

And Mandalorian executive producer David Filoni wanted to mark Rosario Dawson’s arrival as Ahsoka by playing into that in some way.

“[O]ne of the most compelling things about introducing Ahsoka is that she is one of the few, few people that we could encounter in a story and she would say, ‘All right. I met someone like [the Child]. I’ve only ever seen one other being like this,’” Filoni explained in a new interview with Vanity Fair.

“I had to stop myself from doing something ridiculous like have her say, ‘Is that a Yoda baby?’ It almost demands to be said.”

Instead, Ahsoka explained that she had come in contact with someone similar.

“I’ve only known one other being like this — a wise Jedi master named Yoda,” she told Din, who is our titular Mandalorian.

It was a wild installment, bursting at the seams with revelations, and it perfectly set up the final three episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2.

Dawson herself explained in the same interview that her casting was down to the fans.

“Someone tweeted me and fan-cast me,” Dawson said. 

“I retweeted back and I was like, ‘Absolutely, yes please’ and ‘#AhsokaLives.’ And apparently that got the attention of someone who has been doing the Star Wars press for years.”

“She forwarded it to Dave Filoni. That kind of started a whole thing. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, did I just get fan-cast in something?’ And then nothing happened.”

Added Filoni:

“That was the first time and I looked at Rosario and I thought, Huh. Yeah, I think maybe she would make a good Ahsoka. I just kept loosely aware of what she was up to, and she was doing some Marvel things.”

“But I’d seen interviews with her where she would talk about wanting to play the character and her excitement, so it was interesting.”

The Mandalorian Season 2 airs new episodes Fridays on Disney .

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.