Ahsoka cheekily references one of Star Wars' most controversial retcons

Ahsoka episode 7 was full of cameos and callouts to the wider Star Wars universe, including one particularly cheeky sequel trilogy nod. We’ll be getting into that and other spoiler details from the latest episode of the Disney Plus show below, so make sure you’re up to date before reading any further.

After their touching reunion last week, Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger had a lot to catch up on, with the fall of the Empire and all. As they traveled with the Noti, Sabine caught him up on all the details of the Battle of Endor, including the death of a certain Emperor Palpatine.

However, it seems showrunner Dave Filoni couldn’t resist a cheeky nod to the sequel trilogy’s big twist. "The Emperor died?" Ezra asks, to which Sabine cryptically replies: "That’s what people say." We see what you did there Filoni...

The cheeky reference sets up Palpatine’s very controversial return in The Rise of Skywalker. The big twist came after Supreme Leader Snoke died in The Last Jedi, and proved very divisive among Star Wars fans (to say the least).

Ahsoka viewers were loving the meta detail though, with plenty sharing their thoughts on Reddit. "Should have looked into the camera for that line," quipped one, while another added: "The way I pointed at the screen like I was Leonardo DiCaprio." Predictably too, it also started off a debate about the sequel trilogy, but let’s not open that can of worms here…

This isn’t the first meta-reference we’ve had in the show either, with Ahsoka episode 6 featuring a very tongue-in-cheek call-out to the Skywalker Saga. For more on the series, which is nearing its season finale, check out our guides to: