Warning! This article contains spoilers for Ahsoka episode 6.
Ahsoka episode 6 introduced brand-new visuals for hyperspace travel which is explained by the method of travel and the new locations introduced in Star Wars. The first half of Ahsoka began setting up that hyperspace travel would be vital to the overarching story of the season. Considering Thrawn and Ezra Bridger were lost to another galaxy and the early attempts at foiling the creation of the massive hyperspace ring named the Eye of Sion, Ahsoka has focused more on lightspeed travel than many Star Wars projects of late.
This only continued by Ahsoka episode 6’s ending with the travel to new galaxies and the continued exploits of the Purrgil. However, Ahsoka episode 6 included one notable difference concerning hyperspace travel. Rather than the usual blue and white hues of traveling at lightspeed, Ahsoka and Huyang’s journey was littered with rainbow colors splashed throughout the hyperspace lane, begging the question of why it looked so different from the usual portrayal in Star Wars.
Ahsoka’s Hyperspace Colors Are Likely Because Of The Purrgil
The different hyperspace colors utilized in Ahsoka episode 6 can be explained through the one major difference in lightspeed travel in the episode: the Purrgil. Ahsoka episode 6’s travel to a second Star Wars galaxy has been the first time it has been shown from the view of the Purrgil. As such, it can be assumed that the multicolored hyperspace lane is how the Purrgil themselves see lightspeed travel.
Another possibility is that Ahsoka and Huyang are traveling to another galaxy. In using a slightly different visual palette for lightspeed travel in Ahsoka episode 6, the show adequately sells the idea that its characters are entering an entirely different galaxy from the one usually showcased in Star Wars. The rainbow-hued lightspeed visuals in Ahsoka episode 6 differentiate hyperspace between the prime Star Wars universe and the new location of Peridea.
Ahsoka Has Massively Changed Hyperspace & Star Wars’ Purrgil
Through these elements found in Ahsoka episode 6, the show has changed the concept of hyperspace and the Purrgil completely. From the new lightspeed visuals that have changed forty years of Star Wars’ visual language to the concept of intergalactic hyperspace travel, Ahsoka is vastly changing the status quo of the franchise for the better. Through these plot points, Ahsoka is recontextualizing hyperspace travel in a way no other Star Wars projects besides the novel series of The High Republic have done before.
Regarding the Purrgil, Ahsoka episode 6 gave a disturbingly dark update on their intergalactic travel. It was revealed that the Purrgil travel to Peridea to die with the ring around the planet consisting of the bones of deceased star whales. This Purrgil graveyard put an incredibly dark twist on the migration cycles of the Purrgil introduced in Ahsoka‘s earlier episodes which adds more context to the life cycle of the space whales that have proved so vital to the show’s proceedings.
New episodes of Ahsoka release every Tuesday at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Disney+.
