During the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and the original trilogy, Ahsoka Tano was not present in the main storyline and her whereabouts were largely unknown within the timeline. After her duel with Darth Vader on the Sith temple of Malachor in Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale, she was presumed dead but was actually saved by Ezra Bridger through the mystical "World Between Worlds," a dimension outside of normal space and time
. Following this, Ahsoka returned to Malachor but disappeared into the ruins, and it is unclear how long she remained stranded there before eventually finding her way back to the galaxy
. She was absent during the Galactic Civil War and the original trilogy's major events, which take place roughly between 0 and 4 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin). Her next known appearance is in The Mandalorian season 2, set about five years after the fall of the Empire, and later in her own series
. The real-world reason for her absence is that Ahsoka was created after the original trilogy was completed, debuting first in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and thus was not part of the original films
. In-universe, her survival and disappearance into the World Between Worlds serve as a narrative explanation for why she was not involved in the original trilogy's events, allowing her story to continue beyond that era without contradicting the films
. In summary, during A New Hope and the original trilogy, Ahsoka was effectively off the main stage, surviving but hidden, with her story picking up again after the fall of the Empire
