Covering my (Starkiller) bases

The concept of “Starkiller” has spread across the Star Wars Universe in many forms, first appearing as the original surname of Luke Skywalker before it was changed to Skywalker. Most recently it was utilized as the name of a giant planet-sized weapon in the Disney canon that the First Order built out of the planet Ilum to be a star system destroyer in a similar vein as The Death Star.

The Legend of Galen Marek

However, one the other uses of the name Starkiller came from Lucasfilm’s 2008 video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. In this game, “Starkiller” was the name given to Galen Marek after he was taken in secret as Darth Vader’s apprentice.

Sadly, although some attempts have been made on occasion, Starkiller; Darth Vader’s apprentice was decanonized alongside a swath of incredible and significantly important characters when Disney bought Lucasfilm back in 2012, and has not be re-canonized since.

With that said, Starkiller isn’t Skywalker’s only apprentice. Ahsoka Tano was the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker during the age of the Republic, up until she left the Jedi Order not long before the rise of the Empire.

Ahsoka’s Connection

Ahsoka Tano and Galen Marek are characters I’ve been longing to see interact with one another for a very long time. Their connection runs deeper than simply being the apprentices of Anakin Skywalker. On the surface, there’s the obvious: both were trained by Anakin/Vader respectively. Both favor a reverse grip in lightsaber combat, and both started off with a single lightsaber before later upgrading to dual wielding. Going a bit deeper, both are credited with being instrumental in being a part of the team(s) that formed the Rebel Alliance against the Empire.

Mortis and The Ones

Another intriguing connection, albeit one that hasn’t born tangible fruit; during the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan find themselves on the mysterious planet of Mortis, home to luminous beings (Read: Gods) known as The Ones. The Father, The Daughter and The Son; Bendu, Ashla and Bogan. Physical manifestations of The Force. As the result of some complicated story plots Ahsoka is imbued with the life force of The Daughter - her deep connection to The Ones and The Force are character aspects that are still referenced in her appearances since. It’s admittedly more of theory territory than canonical fact, but it’s reasonable to view Ahsoka as filling in The Daughter’s shoes, becoming a representation - or at least a harbinger, if not direct avatar - for the Light Side of the force.

Bendu and (Bogus) Bogan

That in and of itself is interesting considering the fact that Anakin Skywalker is The Chosen One - a manifestation of the Force meant to bring Balance, filling in the same role as The Father. It becomes even more interesting when considering the tenuous connection Starkiller has to The Ones. Galen Marek never encountered Mortis or The Ones on either of his adventures as Darth Vader’s Apprentice, however, it should not be ignored that Sam Witwer - Starkiller’s voice actor - also voiced The Son during the Mortis Arc on Clone Wars. (Bonus trivia, he also voiced Darth Maul in the show, and has voiced Palpatine on several occasions in much of the Lego shows as well!) Although Starkiller doesn’t have the same direct link to the Mortis Gods, given the fact that in the original canon he was born after The Son’s death on Mortis, I’m sure theories could be made to form a connection, but that’s beside the point.

May the Force be With You

Ahsoka Tano and Starkiller are both immensively powerful force users that trained under the guidance of Anakin Skywalker. One trained under him on the Light Side of the Force, one trained under him on the Dark Side of the Force. Since we haven’t gotten any Ahsoka and Starkiller content in canon, I wanted to use this test shoot as an excuse to lightly explore their connection and to see them interact with one another, and I even threw Anakin in the mix for some Force Family Photos.

I also threw in a couple of other related characters like Marrok, the ghostly Sith Inquisitor from the Ahsoka series who many (myself included) were convinced might be a re-canonized Starkiller…before he was promptly killed never to be seen again. I also included Ezra Bridger who, beyond his existing connection to Ahsoka Tano, also happens to fall into the category of “Starkiller-esque spiritual successors” if you look closely at his arc, and the people who surround him (ever compared Kanan Jarrus to Rahm Kota?), but Starkillerisms aside, I also just really like Ezra.

You never know what can happen in the World Between Worlds

For me, seeing Ahsoka and Starkiller side by side, even in toy form, is a way of exploring what could (and should) have been.