Tales of the Jedi episode 6 centered on Ahsoka Tano hiding from the Empire using the alias Ashla, with this name proving that the former Jedi was not the best at staying hidden from Imperials. Tales of the Jedi episode 6 opened with Ahsoka secretly attending the funeral of Padme Amidala on Naboo, before being given a secret comlink by Bail Organa should she ever need help. The remainder of the episode took place on a farm where Ahsoka was attempting to forge a life away from the Empire under the name Ashla.
However, this name may not have been the best for Ahsoka to use if avoiding the Force-sensitives of the Empire was her primary goal. Ashla is actually a name that has many connotations in Star Wars’ expanded lore, often linking to Force-sensitive concepts. As the Empire’s Inquisitors were all former Jedi that had fallen to the dark side, it is likely that any Inquisitor hearing of a potential Jedi in hiding using the name Ashla would know the claim was instantly legitimate, due to the alias’ heavy connections to the Force itself.
What Ahsoka’s “Ashla” Alias Means
Firstly, the word Ashla is what the Lasat race of the Star Wars universe calls the Force itself through a deity of their culture. The Lasat were seen briefly in Star Wars: Rebels thanks to Zeb Orrelios, with that show confirming that the Lasat believed that Ashla was a spirit of the galaxy and a personification of the Force. Star Wars: Rebels also houses another use of the name Ashla, which was used by the mysterious Bendu. In Star Wars: Rebels, the Bendu refers to himself as “the one in the middle”, utilizing the Force but neither the light nor the dark side. In doing so, he states that the Jedi use Ashla and the Sith use Bogan, the light and dark side of the Force respectively.
Using Ashla in reference to the light side of the Force, and Bogan as the dark, comes from the two moons of Tython. Tython was a planet shown in The Mandalorian and has a strong connection to the Force. All of these uses of the word Ashla in wider Star Wars lore prove that Ahsoka’s usage of the word was misguided. While it makes sense for a former Jedi to want to align herself with the Force in some way through using the alias of the light side itself, it may have slipped Ahsoka’s mind that this could have alerted the Empire, and Tales of the Jedi’s Inquisitor, to her Jedi origins more easily.
Why Didn’t The Inquisitor Just Ask For The Jedi’s Name?
However, luckily for Ahsoka, Tales of the Jedi establishes that the Inquisitor did not ask for the Jedi’s name that he was tracking. Upon confronting Ahsoka, the Inquisitor quickly deduces that she is indeed Ahsoka Tano, though gives no hint of knowing the name Ashla that Ahsoka was using. If the Inquisitor had simply asked the village boy who turned Ahsoka in for the Jedi’s name, it is likely that the word Ashla would have let the Inquisitor know that the case was legitimate. This would have avoided the burning of the village and interrogation of the village boy that the Inquisitor did through fear that the boy was lying about the Jedi. Regardless, whether it be through Ahsoka’s first usage of the Force to her misguided use of the name Ashla, Tales of the Jedi explored a lot about the beloved character’s backstory, including how the alias may have required a bit more thought on Ahsoka’s part if she were aiming to evade the Empire completely.