Contains spoilers for episodes one and two of AHS°KA.

The AHS°KA series has debuted with its two episode premier, and there are several interesting Easter eggs for fans to enjoy. It’s not surprising for a series featuring many of the same characters, but there are a lot of references to the animated series Star Wars Rebels. While some of these are there just for fun, there are others that might have a deeper meaning and bigger impact on the story in the future.

Shin Hati/Darth Maul

Sent to Lothal to find Sabine Wren, Shin Hati makes use of probe droids to track down the former rebel, with a scene that calls back to The Phantom Menace. Standing on the Lothal plains facing away from the camera, Shin is approached by one of her probes which delivers information on Sabine before cutting to a frontal shot of the Force user. The cinematography of this scene is an almost shot-for-shot homage to the one involving Maul on Tatooine as he searches for Qui Gon Jinn.

Ryder Azadi and Jai Kell

Some major characters from Rebels like Hera and Sabine have returned for this series, but there are smaller characters as well, including two who cameoed in the premier. The first is Ryder Azadi, governor of Lothal and a member of the Rebellion who had a recurring role in the animated show. It’s a nice touch that Clancy Brown has returned to play Azadi in live-action after providing his voice in Rebels.

The second is a much smaller character, Jai Kell. He was a student at the Imperial Academy at the same time Ezra Bridger was infiltrating the institution disguised as a cadet to gather information. He later helped to liberate Lothal and is now the planet’s New Republic senator. It’s only a small part but one Rebels fans will appreciate.

Sabine’s hair cutting scene

After deciding to join Asoka on her mission, Sabine dons her Mandalorian armour and cuts her long hair into a much shorter style. While this might seem like a practical choice to fit her helmet better, for Rebels fans, the scene has much more significance. In the series, Kanan Jarrus performs a similar ritual, shaving his beard and cutting his hair shortly before he takes part in his final mission to save Hera, and gives his life in the process. With so many parallels between these scenes, it makes you wonder what the future has in store for Sabine.

Lothal Ghost crew mural

Another great inclusion is the mural of the Ghost crew on Lothal painted by Sabine Wren in her distinctive style. This features in the epilogue of the Rebels series in a scene that’s also recreated here, as Ahsoka returns for Sabine and the two of them begin their quest to track down Thrawn and Ezra.

Hallway scene

One of the very first scenes in Star Wars was the Imperial stormtroopers boarding the Tantive IV and fighting the Rebel troopers through the ship’s hallways. A similar scene was also in Rogue One, as Vader massacred the Rebels as they tried to flee with the Death Star plans. It’s become a classic style of scene that’s been recreated in series such as The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian.

Now we have a similar scene in the first episode of AHS°KA, as Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati board the New Republic ship and begin taking down its crew in the narrow hallways on their mission to rescue Morgan Elsbeth. This scene also features Baylan saying “We are no Jedi”, a callback to Ahsoka’s famous “I am no Jedi” line from the Rebels episode ‘Twilight of the Apprentice part 2’.

Rebels references

As mentioned above, the AHS°KA show is connected to Star Wars Rebels in so many ways, leading to several small Easter eggs that only fans of the series will notice. These include the Lothal E-Wing pilots using Spectre callsigns, as the Ghost crew did in the series. There’s also Sabine’s white Lothcat, and the Lothal comm tower, all of which give small but significant tie-ins to the animated series.

Thanks for reading!