5 Ways 'Forces of Destiny' Season 2 Changes 'Star Wars' Canon

Although the bite-sized animated episodes of Star Wars: Forces of Destiny mostly seemed designed to impart helpful lessons for young children, the newest season does have a few big impacts on what you thought you knew about Star Wars canon. Like The Clone Wars and Rebels, the animated adventures in Forces of Destiny canonically count. Last season, this meant completist fans finally got an explanation for Leia’s bespoke Ewok dress, more details about Rey’s scavenger rival Teedo, and an accidental Albert Camus reference with Jyn Eso from Rogue One.

Though Maz Kanata doesn’t reveal how she got ahold of the Skywalker lightsaber, there are five tangible reveals in these episodes that do alter the way fans view existing events in the saga. Plus, for older fans, there was one outrageously obscure easter egg everyone missed. From The Empire Strikes Back, to The Last Jedi, and even Attack of the Clones, here’s what you need to know.

Spoilers for Forces of Destiny ahead.

5. Ahsoka Knew About Anakin and Padme’s Secret Love Affair

In Revenge of the Sith, it seems like Obi-Wan Kenobi is somewhat aware that Anakin Skywalker is doing it with Padme Amidala, despite the fact, all the Jedi have some kind of celibacy oath. But, now it looks like Anakin’s apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, also knew about everything, too. In “Unexpected Company,” Anakin and Padme try to contrive a reason to be together alone, but Obi-Wan sends Ahsoka along as a third wheel. Ahsoka quickly gets hip to what’s going on between these two, but obviously, keep their secret. This detail just makes Ahsoka and Anakin’s friendship even stronger than before, but it also might fuel certain kinds of fan fiction.

4. Maz Kanata Met Leia Before Return of the Jedi

Come on. Maz Kanata is totally going to be in Solo: A Star Wars Story, right? In the Forces of Destiny episode “Bounty Hunted,” we learn that Maz helped Leia and Chewie score some bounty hunter armor which Leia would later use to disguise herself and infiltrate Jabba’s palace. This episode establishes that Maz was also kind of elderly thirty years prior to The Force Awakens, and was easy for criminals like Chewie and Han to track her down during the time of the Rebellion. This makes a cameo from Maz in Solo plausible, only because it seems like she is secretly everywhere.

This episode also gently retcons a bit of 1996 Star Wars Legends canon. In the fourth issue of the comic book series (and novel, and video game) Shadows of the Empire, Leia and Chewie got the bounty hunter armor from the cyborg assassin Guri, and even Chewie was briefly disguised as a bounty hunter, too. The author of this article had a fan-letter published in this specific comic book issue, so this retcon is a pretty big deal.

3. Finn Honed His Piloting Skills Dodging Space JellyFish

Finn’s lack of piloting skills are the whole reason why he and Poe Dameron became lovers fast friends in The Force Awakens. But how come Finn can suddenly pilot one of the speeders on the surface of Crait at the end of The Last Jedi? Turns out, on their way to Canto Bight, Finn and Rose encountered a bunch of jellyfish monsters in space. Rose has to fix BB-8, and Finn is left to fake it at the controls of the shuttle. Without using the Force or anything, he pretty much just figures it out. It’s not the most convincing explanation, but it’s better than nothing?

2. Rey Learned One Key Jedi Skill By Practicing on a Porg

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker gave Rey some grief about moving rocks around with the Force in The Last Jedi. But, Rey’s skills at levitating objects with her mind didn’t come just from practicing on the rocks on Luke’s island. Instead, in the episode “Porg Problems,” we learn that Rey had to quickly levitate a Porg to prevent it from making off with her lightsaber. This has the effect of temporarily allowing the normally flightless Porg to look like it’s flying.

1. Luke Didn’t Want Yoda in that Backpack

The biggest deal in this batch of Forces of Destiny episodes is without a doubt, the return of Mark Hamill as the voice of young Luke Skywalker. This story gives a brief glimpse into Luke’s training on Dagobah with Yoda during the events of The Empire Strikes Back. For decades now, fans have loved seeing Yoda inside of that little backpack on Luke’s shoulders, but now, it turns out Luke didn’t want Yoda there at all. This episode is memorable also because it proves Mark Hamill still knows how to channel that young Luke brattiness perfectly.

Bonus: Look! It’s Skorr the Bounty Hunter from classic Star Wars comic strips!

One easter egg which was probably only noticed by hardcore fans was the brief appearance of an alien who looks a lot like Skorr from old Star Wars comics. In 1981, The Los Angles Times Syndicate published a Star Wars comic strip titled “The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell.” Like Forces of Destiny today, this comic strip filled in a few details only mentioned in The Empire Strikes Back. On Hoth, Han says “the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind.” And this comic strip retroactively explained that line! The bounty hunter was named Skorr and he was bad news. Now, in what is probably a tribute to comic book artist Al Williamson, Skorr seems to appear lurking in the foreground shadows as Leia and Chewie search for Maz Kanata. This makes sense since Leia and Chewie soon encounter the bounty hunter Boushh. Which begs the question: are Leia and Chewie meeting Maz on Nar Shaddaa, better known as “the Smugglers’ Moon?”

Forces of Destiny is streaming on Disney’s YouTube channel now. However, a special episode will air on the Disney Channel on March 25.