Summary
- The World Between Worlds, a powerful Force nexus, offers access to multiple points in time and space, and may play a significant role in the upcoming Ahsoka series.
- The Star Wars Book introduces a subtle retcon, calling the World Between Worlds a "netherworld between worlds," suggesting it may be a realm that includes the afterlife.
- This retcon could explain Ahsoka's role in the Star Wars story, potentially making her the protector of both the Living and Cosmic Force and linking her to attempts to draw Palpatine's spirit from the afterlife on Exegol.
Star Wars has teased a new retcon for Star Wars Rebels, one that has some significant ramifications for both Ahsoka Tano and Emperor Palpatine. Having been introduced in the animated series, the World Between Worlds is a major nexus in the Force offering great power in the galaxy far, far away. However, there may be an additional component to the cosmic realm that has yet to be explored on-screen.
Capable of accessing multiple points in time and space, the World Between Worlds is one of few instances in which time travel has been explored in Star Wars. Having only been used once in the known canon thus far, a return of the powerful Force nexus has been teased for the upcoming Ahsoka series which is set to continue many of the hanging threads from the series finale of Star Wars Rebels. Keeping that in mind, The Star Wars Book by Cole Horton, Dan Zehr, and Pablo Hidalgo offers some key insights that seemingly change the very nature of the World Between Worlds and what its power can fully do.
Star Wars' World Between Worlds Explained
Transcending both time and space, the World Between Worlds is a vergence in the Force in which moments in the past, present, and future can be accessed via a collection of portals and pathways, appearing within a vast sea of stars. The World Between Worlds was also theorized to exist by the earliest Jedi with diagrams and theorems having been written down in the Sacred Jedi Texts. These writings can be seen in detail in the Star Wars 100 Objects book as well as the visual dictionary for The Rise of Skywalker.
As seen in Star Wars Rebels season 4, Ezra Bridger accessed the World Between Worlds using a Jedi Temple on Lothal via a mural depicting the Force beings known as the Ones who lived in the Force realm known as Mortis. Hearing voices from across the Star Wars canon, Ezra was drawn to a particular moment in his past when Ahsoka dueled Darth Vader on the Sith world Malachor. Reaching through the portal and saving Ahsoka, both Tano and Bridger were able to close off the Force nexus after Emperor Palpatine himself tried using them to access the vergence.
Palpatine gaining the power of time travel as a Dark Lord of the Sith would be a dark prospect considering all he could accomplish. However, the destroyed gateway to the powerful nexus on Lothal might not have been the only access point to the World Between Worlds. It stands to reason that there may have been others hidden across the galaxy to be found in future Star Wars projects.
A Subtle Star Wars Retcon Suggests The World Between Worlds Is A "Netherworld"
With Star Wars Rebels having concluded in 2018, The Star Wars Book published in 2020 offers a subtle retcon for the World Between Worlds. In the book, the vergence is called a "netherworld between worlds" when referencing the Imperial agents who excavated the Lothal temple on Palpatine's orders. As such, there are some key implications considering the word "netherworld" and its use elsewhere in the Star Wars canon.
The use of the "netherworld" is rather unusual as Star Wars has traditionally associated the term with the idea of an afterlife, a great beyond maintained by both the living and cosmic aspects of the Force. As such, The Star Wars Book raises the possibility that the World Between Worlds is a realm in which different planes of being can be accessed, including the afterlife itself. The World Between Worlds is essentially a microcosm of the interconnected Living Force which springs from and feeds into the Cosmic Force. It follows that the afterlife would be a part of it, just as it is a part of the Force itself.
This Retcon May Explain Ahsoka's Role In The Star Wars Story
This "netherworld" retcon may help explain Ahsoka's role in the Star Wars canon and her overall purpose in the Force, going beyond her past as a former Jedi. Having left that part of her life behind by the time she helped start the Rebellion as seen in Star Wars Rebels, the upcoming Ahsoka series will hopefully reveal the Force's will for the hero beyond her work to prevent Grand Admiral Thrawn's return and rise to power with the Imperial Remnant during the New Republic Era. This is perhaps where the Worlds Between Worlds will come in with its ability to access realms beyond the physical and living.
If the World Between Worlds is indeed a way to enter the afterlife it could hint that any future potential dealings Ahsoka has with the vergence could make her its legitimate protector, by extension making her a direct guardian of both the Living and Cosmic Force. This idea could also link Ahsoka to attempts made to draw Palpatine's spirit from the netherworld of the Force, having survived after his demise in Return of the Jedi by somehow maintaining his spirit and placing it in a waiting clone body on the Sith world Exegol. As such, The World Between Worlds might have been how he did it given its "netherworld" status.
Is Exegol Another Gateway To The World Between Worlds?
Retconning the World Between Worlds as a netherworld may also explain Exegol's status in the Force. A hidden Sith world located in the Unknown Regions, Palpatine's Sith Eternal cult resided on the sinister world while constructing Palpatine's fleet for his Final Order. This was also where Palpatine had his cloning experiments and bodies ready to host his spirit after he died. As a result, Exegol's own status as a vergence may be connected to the World Between Worlds in the Star Wars canon. After all, the Secrets of the Sith book features Palpatine's belief that the nexus was a conduit between the living and the dead.
Exegol was similarly established as a vergence in the Force where the boundary between life and death is unusually thin. It's possible that this is because Exegol perhaps holds another gateway to the World Between Worlds, just like on Ezra Bridger's homeworld of Lothal. This also fits with the framework of the Star Wars Book, which discusses this in a section on "The Pathway to Immortality" that runs from Lothal straight to Exegol when discussing Palpatine and his plans for cloning and resurrection as seen in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.