Star Wars Confirms What We All Suspected About Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Hera's Son, Jacen

By Savannah Sanders Updated:
Hera Jacen Syndulla Ahsoka

Star Wars fans were right about Ahsoka's youngest star and Hera Syndulla's son, Jacen.

Jacen Syndulla first appeared in Star Wars Rebels' epilogue where he was revealed to be the son of Hera (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead in live-action) and the late Kanan Jarrus, the Order 66 survivor and Jedi Knight who trained Ezra Bridger

Ashoka brought Jacen to live-action through young actor Evan Whitten while also teasing an important aspect of his character. 

Ahsoka Confirms Jacen Syndulla Theories

Jacen Syndulla
Star Wars

Amidst the search for Ahsoka and Sabine in Ahsoka Episode 5, Jacen tells Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Hera that he hears clashing lightsabers over the ocean. 

Not only is this where Ahsoka fell in Episode 4, but Jacen hears this battle while Ahsoka is fighting Anakin Skywalker in the World Between Worlds.

In a way, it's similar to how Leia Organa hears Luke Skywalker through the Force on Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back

In addition to Jacen being proven right when Ahsoka is finally located, Huyang actually confirms Jacen's "abilities," explaining that his father was Jedi. 

Star Wars fans first suspected Jacen's Force sensitivity in earlier episodes, such as when he expresses interest in being a Jedi and tells his mom when he has "a bad feeling."

While the "I have a bad feeling about this" is a frequently used line in Star Wars, Jacen's delivery is different and suggests he senses the future. 

However, Star Wars Rebels, not Ahsoka, may have been the first time young Syndulla's abilities were teased.

When delivering the Rebels epilogue, Sabine - and Ahsoka's Padawan - describes Jacen, saying, "Born to fly, just like his mother. And, well, we all know what his father was like."

Is Jacen Syndulla Star Wars' Next Jedi?

Hera Syndulla
Star Wars

There's no denying Ahsoka is making every effort to communicate Jacen's Force abilities. 

The problem is that Ahsoka takes place before the sequel trilogy in which Ahsoka's characters have little to no presence - Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Evan Whitten's mother-son duo were nowhere to be found. 

This is also prior to Kylo Ren's destruction of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple and his students, which is why the trilogy's second film is called The Last Jedi.

While Jacen's Jedi prospects are up for debate, back in 2018, Star Wars Rebels and now Ahsoka showrunner, Dave Filoni, claimed the character's name was a way "to honor the expanded universe character of Jacen Solo:"

"It seemed, in a very small way, naming him 'Jacen' was a way to honor the expanded universe character of Jacen Solo who just really isn't there anymore as the timelines have changed. I thought that's a little bit of a wink to people that I know that was an important character. And maybe, in some way, that lives on through this character. I don't know yet."

In Star Wars Legends, Jacen Solo was the son of Han and Leia Organa Solo who eventually fell to the Dark Side. 

Whether any of Jacen Solo's history manifests through Jacen Syndulla is unknown. But given what Star Wars' latest Disney+ series has established thus far, Jacen's future with the Force likely lies with this groundbreaking new galaxy and Ezra Bridger. 

After all, if anyone were to train Jacen, it should be Ezra since he was trained by Jacen's father. 

Hopefully, answers won't be long in coming now that Ahsoka is Peridea-bound.

New episodes of Ahsoka drop on Tuesdays on Disney+.

- In This Article: Ahsoka
Release Date
August 22, 2023
Platform
Actors
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Natasha Liu Bordizzo
- About The Author: Savannah Sanders
Savannah Sanders joined The Direct as a writer in 2020. In addition to writing for The Direct's Star Wars, Marvel, and DC teams, Savannah specializes in the relationship between Disney's blockbuster franchises and the Disney Parks.