Do you need to watch Star Wars Rebels before Ahsoka?

The first two episodes of Ahsoka were released on Disney Plus last week with the latest set to arrive on Tuesday. The latest Star Wars spin-off miniseries serves as sort of a continuation of the beloved Star Wars Rebels CG-animated series. Set after the events of Return of the Jedi, it follows the fan-favorite Jedi, Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat following the fall of the Empire.

Although Ahsoka is a standalone miniseries, one of the big questions heading into it is whether or not you need to watch Star Wars Rebels to understand what's going on.

Do you need to watch Star Wars Rebels to understand what's happening in Ahsoka?

The general consensus is that you don't need to watch Rebels to understand what's happening in Ahsoka; however, watching the animated series will help you appreciate the story more.

Although Ahsoka does feature many references to both Rebels and The Clone Wars, including many of the characters you'll meet, you don't necessarily have to watch either series. The first two episodes of Ahsoka do a perfectly good job of recapping the important details you need to know while setting the stage for the entire series.

Even Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni, who also created Star Wars Rebels, acknowledged that you wouldn't need to watch Rebels before Ahsoka, but did add "you really should."

And to a certain extent, he's right. First of all, Rebels is an amazing show with some of the best storytelling and characters in the Star Wars universe. You'll just appreciate Ahsoka more with the knowledge of Rebels.

But it's also a major time commitment. Star Wars Rebels ran for four seasons, totaling 75 episodes. Even though episodes are just 22 minutes long, that's still a lot to sit though, especially if you aren't a major fan of CG-animated shows.

If you aren't a fan of animation and don't feel like sitting through the entire series, Filoni offered a single season (and episode) that's most important to Ahsoka. Speaking to Collider, he said Season 4 was the most important for providing context to Ahsoka.

""I would start with the episode 'Jedi Night', where the sad thing happens to Kanan, and even if you didn't understand what that was, it would propel you forward. If you just watch season four, you'd be set. You can start with that and you get that these rebels are fighting this tyrannical emperor. And that would get you everything and everybody you need.""

So there you go. If you want to watch Ahsoka on Disney Plus, you don't need to watch the entirety of Rebels, but it would help if you at least watched the fourth season of it. But heck, if you're going to do that, you might as well watch the entire thing. Odds are you'll be hooked anyway if you watch Season 4 and will want to go back and watch the entire thing.

As a whole, the entirety of Star Wars Rebels has an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. With just two episodes of Ahsoka out on Disney Plus right now and only one new episode every week, there's plenty of time to go back and binge Rebels.