Some more hardcore fans might call this a continuity error between the live-action and animated worlds of Star Wars, but Dawson explained that there was a very good reason for the tweak. Ultimately, it came down to designing a headpiece that would complement the character’s demanding stunts.
“[Dave Filoni] was like, ‘No, but we’re working with stunts and everything, and we want to be able to do all of that practically.’”
In other words, the acrobatic stunts and climactic duel in The Mandalorian season 2 episode “The Jedi” would have been much more difficult to shoot had live-action Ahsoka been encumbered with longer montrals and head tails.
Lucasfilm character concept designer Brian Matyas echoed just that when asked in 2020 about changes to Ahsoka’s appearance for The Mandalorian: “From animation to live action I did a ton of design exploration for her and their appropriate size for the actor with consideration for stunts and movement.”
Dawson goes on to reveal that she was also given the choice to not change her natural brown eye color to the character’s blue one, but she was all in: “When I put the contacts on, it went from cosplay to embodiment.”
Ahsoka is scheduled to hit Disney+ sometime in 2023, but it’s possible we’ll see more of her before then on The Mandalorian season 3, which will arrive later this year.
