Warning! This article contains spoilers for Ahsoka episodes 1 and 2.
The Eye of Sion has been introduced in the Ahsoka series. The device comes as an essential piece of finding Grand Admiral Thrawn, Ahsoka’s primary objective in the new Star Wars series. It’s since been revealed that Thrawn’s location is in another galaxy, one that can only be reached by the Pathway to Peridea. This has set Star Wars into new territory with the opportunity for extragalactic travel, something that was once retconned from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and is now making a triumphant return.
The question that remains is how exactly one travels the Pathway to Peridea to get to another galaxy. While hyperspace serves travelers well when reaching other parts of their own galaxy, it cannot simply carry them to a galaxy outside their own. The ships and other vessels already established in Star Wars aren’t suitable for the kind of power and precision required to jump between galaxies, as traveling through hyperspace is complicated enough. The Eye of Sion serves as the answer and the solution, but mystery still shrouds exactly how it will accomplish that task. This is everything that’s currently known about the Eye of Sion.
The Eye Of Sion Is Designed To Travel Between The Galaxies
The Eye of Sion, at its core, serves the purpose of extragalactic travel. Its massive magnitude makes it unfitting for the simple jump to hyperspace within one galaxy, as its large size makes it unsuitable for simple galactic travel. It still may very well be possible for the Eye of Sion to jump within one galaxy, but the massive build would make that task clunky as compared to using a normal-sized starship. Everything from the ring’s design to the parts it requires serves the sole intent of taking someone at least as far as one galaxy to the next, especially with it serving a powerful purpose that hasn’t yet been seen in the Star Wars universe.
The open design of the Eye of Sion contributes much to its intended purpose. With the Pathway to Peridea acting as a guide, the Eye of Sion serves as a gateway that controls the flow of the traveler or travelers. The circular design of its ring also resembles, in part, the map that Sabine Wren unlocked to find Thrawn’s location in the first place. From its golden color to the way it charts stars across galaxies, both the Eye of Sion and the map are designed like a keyhold and its key, respectively. Its circular design, however, also serves another purpose in addition to utilizing familiar technology.
The Technology is Based On A Jedi Hyperspace Ring
It was especially common during the Clone Wars for Jedi to use hyperspace rings for travel. With Jedi starfighters favoring a sleeker design to keep themselves nimble in space battles, they didn’t have their own hyperdrives to take them to lightspeed, and thus the hyperspace ring served the purpose of getting them from one part of the galaxy to the next without having to maintain that technology on the actual ship. The only type of starfighter that could make the jump without a docking ring is the Naboo N-1 Starfighter, such as the one Din Djarin uses in The Mandalorian.
Rather than making a simple jump through hyperspace, however, the Eye of Sion requires the most powerful hyperdrives that were once found on Super Star Destroyers. This is revealed in Ahsoka episode 2, when Hera Syndulla is questioning why workers on Corellia are continuing to manufacture and ship out hyperdrives of such a massive scale. Instead of weighing down a huge starship with such power, it makes sense to favor the design of the actual hyperspace rings the Jedi once used. This is the same design and technology the Eye of Sion borrows from, though it also borrows something else.
The Eye Of Sion Riffs On Lord Of The Rings
It’s no secret that Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni is heavily inspired by Lord of the Rings. Ahsoka herself has long since stood as his representation of Gandalf, with the original epilogue of Star Wars Rebels featuring Ahsoka in white robes and a staff that makes a perfect parallel to Gandalf the White. It comes as no surprise, then, for the Eye of Sion to be golden and evocative of the Rings.
Filoni even takes a step further with the name, which is clearly an ode to the Eye of Sauron. Both stand as powerful symbols and threats of evil, a warning to all travelers of what and who they serve. Even Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth herself could serve as a Saruman figure in a way, a witch whose intent on protecting both her Eye and the person who’s inspired it.
Is The Eye Of Sion Designed To Fit Around A Starship?
The Eye of Sion is, again, quite massive. It has the potential to fit nicely around a large starship, whether its design requires it or not. This could be for the villains’ purpose of bringing Grand Admiral Thrawn back to their galaxy with them, as he initially disappeared aboard his Star Destroyer, the Chimaera. Should Thrawn still have his ship with him, then the size and fit of the Eye of Sion would allow for him to bring the Chimaera back with him. Otherwise, it seems that Morgan Elsbeth has already made herself at home in a makeshift bridge of sorts within the ring that could give her the control necessary to make the jump without the assistance of a starship.
There are still many unanswered questions about the Eye of Sion, but its design and background already imply many things about its purpose. The ring will require a massive boost of power to travel between galaxies, as it needs to not only get there, but also return to the galaxy from which it came. This is presenting the exciting opportunity for viewers to finally see how extragalactic travel can be possible in the Star Wars universe, and what consequences it might reap. The Eye of Sion will stand as an important part of the journey in Ahsoka for everyone involved, whether it be in the present or the future of the galaxy.
Ahsoka releases new episodes Tuesdays at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Disney+.
