Ahsoka fans spot a heart-breaking Rebels reference with Jacen Syndulla

Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels — (Image credit: Disney)

Ahsoka episode 3 has given Star Wars Rebels a shout out in the most heart-breaking way. A warning that the following will contain spoilers for the episode and for Rebels!

In the new installment, we're finally introduced to the live-action version of Jacen Syndulla. He's the son of Hera Syndulla and the late Kanan Jarrus – while Hera appears in Ahsoka, Kanan died before the live-action show takes place on the Star Wars timeline. He had a heroic death sacrificing himself to save his friends from the Empire, losing his life in a fiery explosion.

One very distinctive thing about Kanan's outfit was his pauldron, which was a dark green with a white painted symbol. When we meet live-action Jacen, he is wearing a very familiar item on his shoulder.

Look what he's wearing! from r/StarWarsAhsoka

"Thanks, I wanted to start off this morning by crying," says one Redditor in response to the tearjerker of a parallel.

"It's too small to actually be Kanan's (and I doubt much of it survived) but it does look like a kid's version of it," thinks another fan, though Kanan wasn't actually wearing the pauldron when he died.

So far, Kanan hasn't been mentioned outright in the show, but we can probably expect him to get a real shout out or two as the series progresses – especially if Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren succeed in finding Ezra Bridger, considering Ezra was Kanan's Padawan.

Ezra is stranded somewhere in a distant galaxy, last seen vanishing with Grand Admiral Thrawn after a bunch of purrgil took them both into hyperspace. Morgan Elsbeth, Baylan Skoll, and Shin Hati are on the hunt for the Imperial.