Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi erases significant queer character from Ahsoka novel
There was always going to be growing pains with Lucasfilm’s acquisition from Disney, particularly how the move led to swathes of stories from Star Wars authors and creators to suddenly have their work stripped down and chucked in the ‘Legends’ bin. But Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi on Disney+ has sunk to a new low by erasing a queer character of colour.
First, let us explain. Disney’s newest venture into the world of Star Wars is Tales of the Jedi; an animated anthology from David Filoni and Charles Murray. The series follows Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku through different periods of their lives and the choices that they make. For the most part the series has been received rather well, however the good faith of queer fans in particular was all but lost by the end of episode ‘Resolve’ – an episode that (mostly) follows the beats of E.K Johnston’s novel, Ahsoka.
In the novel, Ahsoka is on the run from the Empire after Anakin Skywalker’s turn to the Dark Side. In order to hide from Order 66, she hides on a rural planet but is forced to use her Jedi powers and lightsaber to protect villagers, which effectively outs her and causes the Sith Inquisitors to come look for her. Along the way she meets a character called Kaedan Larte, a black queer woman who develops feelings for Ahsoka. Nothing ever comes of these feelings, but it is implied (and confirmed later on by Johnston) that Ahsoka does feel the same way, but simply doesn’t act on it.
In Tales of the Jedi’s ‘Resolve’ however, there are major differences that we won’t get into the nitty gritty of, but can confirm it does arguably strip Johnston’s Ahsoka of its Canon status, pushing it to Legends instead. That comes with its own frustration, but what has really annoyed queer Star Wars fans in general is how ‘Resolve’ not only erases Kaedan Larte from existence, but replaces them with a white, nameless character. Kaedan was a determined and kind queer, Black woman, two things that Star Wars is incredibly lacking in. For them to be erased like was an active choice; one that has upset fans of Ahsoka greatly.
Overall, it’s disappointing that the creators and Disney chose to adapt the Ahsoka novel in a way that rid fans of an exciting character like Kaedan. Tales of the Jedi could have included them, but once again Disney went for the safer option of shoving queer characters into a nameless role, thereby ridding them of their identity.
“Ahsoka was an important novel as it featured marginalized people in the BIPOC and queer communities.” Hope Mullinax from Dork Side of the Force explained in their own piece about the retcon of the Ahsoka novel. “I’m upset at the choice that was made at Lucasfilm to create two new characters for “Resolve.” This is an active decision that Dave Filoni and the team made. Because remember, his words were, “It was always the same story.”
It’s a shame that once again queer characters and the community surrounding Star Wars has once more been pushed to the side, especially considering Disney employees condemnation of the company and its erasure of LGBTQ+ stories.
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