Yes but as Buffinator already pointed out the WBW was previously depicted as a place that your physical body would enter, not your "spirit." Plus Anakin just shattering an entire bridge (which I assume would had have some other important purpose prior to Ahsoka standing on it) suggests to me that it was every bit a part of the vision as the other locations she traveled to.
From a certain point of view...
. I also think that narratively it adds so much more weight if it is Anakin's teachings that allow her to be at peace with his fall to the darkside - afterall she had been unable to move beyond it on her own.
He was walking her through her memories. That's why there is misty framing around the periphery, she could only see what she remembered.
Vader on Dagobah wasn't just a manifestation of Luke's fears though, it was created by the Force itself which was particularly concentrated in that one cave. So while it was playing on Luke's internal fears it was also running the show independent of him, and that's what I think was going on with Ahsoka. I think the Force itself took a moment to address Ahsoka's state of emotional and spiritual limbo and forced her to make a choice through a vision of Anakin.When Luke faced Vader in his test, Vader was silent and reactive to Luke. He was just a manifestation of Luke's fear.
Ahsoka experienced her 'vision' following a near death experience. Anakin spoke to her directly, he set the tone of the lesson by igniting his lightsabre first and demanding that she choose between life and death. He even said that this was her final lesson, it wasn't framed as a test or trial. Why include the world between worlds if that was just a vision and not actually taking place there at all.
I think there is enough ambiguity and magic to the experience that it could be Anakin or hand waved away as her subconscious or some midichlorian force dream. But it's a bit arrogant of her subconscious to teach herself the final lesson
In any case I love the mystical element that this episode injects back into the force to allow us the scope to approach this from all the different angels that we have. As a wise character once said, 'it must be big the force' (translated from colloquial gungan).
If he was guiding her through her memories then why would he have taken her to Mandalore and then have to be explained by her where and when they were?
Because you've put more thought into this than Filoni did.
I fear that you may be correct.
Yep! And those questions barely even scratch the surface of how many it would raise. I like to imagine a few of the ways some of that might've come up with Ahsoka talking to the real Anakin:
This was Filoni's version of a Christmas Carol and Anakin was playing each of the Ghosts. He first showed her present, paralysed with guilt over abandoning Anakin and fearful that if she were to embrace her emotions that they would lead her to follow in her master's footsteps. Next was her past as an uncertain padawan in her first battle, again guilt that her decisions / failures had caused the deaths of many clones as she took her first harsh steps on the journey as a child soldier, a jedi of the Republic. Next he showed her at the Siege of mandalore, where she had developed into a capable and powerful warrior directly before her triumph over maul. She had become what Anakin had trained her to be, a leader and a weapon of war. Lastly it was the possibility of her futures, life or death, Light or dark, fear or freedom. She misunderstood her master's legacy, fearing that it was inevitable that she would fall just like him - however, Anakin showed her that she was more than his training and his own failings and that he was more than that as well. He showed her the options but she alone had to make the choice. That was the lesson.
Oh man, I feel a great disturbance in the PT fandom. As if thousands of ironwezy's and Bravomites who thought Anakin was real suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.Yep! And those questions barely even scratch the surface of how many it would raise. I like to imagine a few of the ways some of that might've come up with Ahsoka talking to the real Anakin:
"So, you can help people close to you get through their struggles with guilt to send them back with greater resolve? Boy, your son Luke sure is lucky to have you here if he ever goes through anything like that!"
"And any future grandkids struggling to understand your legacy, you'll be able to keep them from being genocidal maniacs, right? I mean, you just intervened in what should've been my death to make sure I'm better equipped to go deal with the forces of evil, so no way you wouldn't do the same for your family members, right?"
"Thanks for helping me get ready to go deal with Thrawn! Good to know if *somehow* Palpatine returns, you'll intervene to help those closest to you. Surely you'd be of greater need in that scenario, huh Skyguy?"
"By the way, if you're here to finish my training, isn't that going to make it harder for people to keep insisting I'm not a Jedi?"
I must say I'm a bit surprised at the sentiment from some PT fans that my interpretation "ruins" those scenes. As if Anakin's story was incomplete unless he somehow returned...wasn't his appearance at the Endor celebration enough? I would think more would be happy at the notion that the Force (and by extension much of the mythology of SW) is ambiguous and cool again...
More like Reva Infested lolOh man, I feel a great disturbance in the PT fandom. As if thousands of ironwezy's and Bravomites who thought Anakin was real suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
I must say I'm a bit surprised at the sentiment from some PT fans that my interpretation "ruins" those scenes. As if Anakin's story was incomplete unless he somehow returned...wasn't his appearance at the Endor celebration enough? I would think more would be happy at the notion that the Force (and by extension much of the mythology of SW) is ambiguous and cool again...
Then the cherry on top is just the fan service of Hayden coming back to play a version of his character in a much more respectable way that allows *his* involvement in the franchise to be somewhat redeemed and end on a high note with not only his great performance but also a highlight real of live-action Clone Wars imagery and a much cooler duel than the whirly twirly ROTS battle and Reva invested Obi-Wan showdown.
I thought that's what I typed, lol. Fixed.
PT fans are presumably also OT fans, so yeah, there shouldn't be any need for better Anakin closure than the end of ROTJ. And by virtue of being OT fans, they should also have no problem embracing the lore consistency of the Force itself facilitating a vision experience for those who have learned to connect with it. To the contrary, having the real Anakin willingly show himself in Vader gear *should* make them hesitant to embrace that, IMO.
