Pav-ti Tano

"You must face death, Ahsoka. Do not fear it."

―Pav-ti Tano to her daughter Ahsoka, during her child's first ritual hunt^[1]

Pav-ti Tano was a Togruta female who was the partner of Nak-il Tano and mother of Ahsoka Tano. Living on the planet Shili, she believed in the traditional ways of her people and wanted to take Ahsoka on her first hunt when she was just a baby. Venturing into the forests and hunting a kybuck to teach her daughter about life and death, Tano was able to kill the creature, but a predatory raxshir soon arrived and took Ahsoka. Pav-ti was distraught, and the village sent out several members to search for her missing daughter. That night, Ahsoka returned, riding on the back of the beast, who delivered her back to the village before silently departing. As a relieved Pav-ti and Nak-il comforted their daughter, the village elder Gantika proclaimed that the baby was a Jedi.

Biography[]

Motherhood[]

"Ahsoka."

―Pav-ti Tano speaks her daughter's name for the first time^[1]

Pav-ti Tano was a Togruta^[1] female^[2] who lived in a village on the planet Shili.^[1] One night in 36 BBY,^[4] Tano gave birth to a daughter who^[1] sher^[3] bore with her partner Nak-il Tano. Many villagers came to visit the mother and her newborn on the evening of the baby's birth, including the village elder Gantika. It was then that Pav-ti announced that she had named her daughter Ahsoka.^[1]

One year later,^[5] Pav-ti decided that, as per traditional Togruta custom, Ahsoka had reached the age where she was ready to join her mother on her first ritual hunt in the forests of their homeworld. Donning a blue cloak, carrying a backpack, and securing her baby across her chest, Pav-ti walked outside as Nak-il was working on their roof. Her partner wondered if their young daughter was really ready for the adventure, although Pav-ti strongly believed in her people's traditions. Nak-il believed the old ways were for the old and not for them, but Pav-ti was resolute in her stance and warned Nak-il not to offend the spirits of their ancestors. Nak-il smiled and accepted his partner's beliefs, wishing them a good hunt.^[1]

The hunt[]

"Look, Ahsoka. Everywhere there is life. Value it. Honor it."

―Pav-ti Tano to Ahsoka, referring to Shili's forests^[1]

Togruta ritual — Pav-ti prepares to take Ahsoka on her first ritual hunt with the blessing of Gantika.

On their way into the forests for the hunt, Pav-ti and Ahsoka encountered Gantika, who marked the foreheads of both mother and child with blue paint for luck. During their journey through the forest, Pav-ti emphasized the value of the life that surrounded them to her daughter. Eventually, Pav-ti discovered a herd of kybuck in the long grass and shot one with her blaster rifle. With the kybuck incapacitated, Pav-ti approached and told a distressed Ahsoka that she must face death. She then comforted the animal before plunging a knife through its heart, causing a quick death for the beast.^[1]

Raxshir attack — Pav-ti and Ahsoka are stalked by a raxshir.

Pav-ti prepared to take its body back to the village in order to feed her fellow Togruta villagers when a predatory raxshir approached her and her child. Pav-ti attempted to ward off the feline before fighting it off with the butt of her rifle. When the raxshir discovered Ahsoka however, Pav-ti began to fire at it. The sounds of her rifle alerted the villagers of trouble, and a group of them rushed into the forest to help her. She then used her knife to try and scare the creature off, although the raxshir managed to knock Tano to the ground. It was then that her people arrived and attempted to shoot the beast. The raxshir leaped away, but not before grabbing Ahsoka by the scruff of her collar, leaving Pav-ti in much distress and Nak-il to comfort her. Several members of the village began the search for Ahsoka.^[1]

Ahsoka is Jedi — Pav-ti and Nak-il discover that their infant daughter, Ahsoka, is a Jedi.

By the evening, the Togruta had still not managed to find Ahsoka or the raxshir, leading Nak-il to suggest going out in force to rescue his infant daughter. It was then that the villagers heard the raxshir approaching them. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that Ahsoka was riding the beast. In disbelief, Pav-ti cautiously approached the raxshir and, as the creature bowed, took her baby from the raxshir's back. She thanked the animal before it left back into the forest. Nak-il ran to his partner and daughter's side as their people surrounded them. Pav-ti asked Gantika how her daughter's seemingly miraculous return could have happened. Gantika smiled and promulgated that Ahsoka was a Jedi, shocking her parents.^[1]

At some point, a young Ahsoka was discovered by Jedi Master Plo Koon and taken to the Jedi Temple^[6] on the planet Coruscant^[7] to train as a member of the Jedi Order.^[6]

Personality and traits[]

"Are you sure she's ready?"
"Nak-il, it is custom."

―Pav-ti and Nak-il Tano discuss the prospect of Ahsoka's ritual hunt^[1]

LifeAndDeath — Pav-ti was a nurturing mother who valued the traditions of her people.

Pav-ti Tano was a Togruta female with orange skin, white and blue lekku, and blue eyes. She also had white markings on her face. Pav-ti strongly adhered to her people's old traditions and practices unlike her partner Nak-il, who was more laid back. Pav-ti was able to speak both Togruti and Galactic Basic Standard.^[1]

Pav-ti was a gentle and caring mother, and fiercely protective of her infant daughter Ahsoka. She felt her people's values of recognizing life and facing death were important, taking Ahsoka on her first ritual hunt to teach her of their ways despite Nak-il's initial protests.^[1]

Skills and abilities[]

She was able to use a blaster rifle with ease, managing to incapacitate a kybuck in one shot. She could also wield a knife which she used to stab the kybuck through the heart, causing it a swift and painless death. Pav-ti was also able to fend off and survive an attack from the predatory raxshir.^[1]

Equipment[]

Pav-ti wore a white long-sleeved shirt, a blue cloak, light blue pants, and brown boots. She had a belt with pouches attached to it. During the hunt, Pav-ti made use of a walking stick while venturing into the forest. She later used both a blaster rifle and a knife on the hunt, wielding both weapons capably.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

"If you're just down to have fun, you get roped into things. Because it's a giant galaxy but it's actually cared for by a very small village."

―Janina Gavankar, on becoming Pav-ti Tano^[8]

Life and Death Poster — A poster for the episode "Life and Death," in which Pav-ti Tano first appeared.

Pav-ti Tano first appeared on the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi episode "Life and Death,"^[1] released on Disney+ on October 26, 2022.^[9] She was voiced by Janina Gavankar,^[1] who had notable previous experience in Star Wars voicing Iden Versio in the 2017 video game Star Wars Battlefront II.^[10] She was announced as having the role at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim on May 28, 2022, appearing at the show's panel.^[11] As someone with previous work in the franchise, Gavankar described herself as a caretaker to the story and was happy to help further it in new and exciting ways. She described the show as minimalistic, quiet, and reserved.^[8]

Although Pav-ti did not appear until Tales of the Jedi,^[1] a reference to Ahsoka Tano's mother was first thought of by Dave Filoni during script-writing for the fourth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, specifically for the episode "Escape from Kadavo,"^[12] which premiered ten years before Tales of the Jedi.^[13] In an earlier version of the script, Filoni, the show's supervising director, included a scene of the Togruta governor Gupat Roshti telling Ahsoka that he knew her parents, implying that Ahsoka's instinct to save the people of Kiros was thanks to them. However, the idea was dropped because the writers did not want to flesh out Ahsoka's backstory. Filoni also stated that he felt that Roshti saying that felt like a "mean" thing to do.^[12]