Bryce Dallas Howard Hints at Romance and Adventure

A brand-new Ahsoka season 2 update from Bryce Dallas Howard, one of Star Wars’ best TV directors, has made this upcoming season of the show even more exciting. Ahsoka season 2 is reportedly wrapping filming this week, and Star Wars veteran Bryce Dallas Howard has been confirmed to have directed two episodes of this new season.

Howard has directed episodes of several of Star Wars’ best TV shows, including The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew. It will be thrilling to see how Howard’s expertise and directorial vision manifest in this upcoming season of Ahsoka, but equally exciting is the fascinating hint that Bryce Dallas Howard dropped about Ahsoka season 2’s plot at Los Angeles Comic Con this past weekend.

Bryce Dallas-Howard Used One Surprising Word To Describe Ahsoka

Bryce Dallas Howard’s comments about Ahsoka season 2 included that this new season is ‘beautiful, thrilling, adventurous, and romantic,’ and it’s the latter description that has particularly caught attention. Specifically, Howard said:

“I just finished shooting two episodes this summer for Ahsoka season 2. It is so good. It’s beautiful, it’s thrilling, it’s adventurous, it’s romantic. It’s all the things you wanted from an epic story.”

The notion that Ahsoka season 2 will be “romantic” is surprising because season 1 didn’t really offer many opportunities for romance. In fact, assuming there aren’t any massive character introductions in the new season, there are very few options whatsoever for romance.

Some might guess that Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren could strike up a romance, as they had at times seemed to be leaning that way in Star Wars Rebels, but they ultimately had a brother/sister dynamic later on in the show. Moreover, in the Ahsoka season 1 finale, Ezra was back in the main Star Wars galaxy, while Sabine was trapped on Peridea.

However, a much more popular Ahsoka season 1 romance theory was between Sabine and Shin Hati. Although they were introduced as adversaries, with Shin being the apprentice of Baylan Skoll, this ‘ship’ quickly became popular within the Star Wars fanbase. Once the finale saw Shin trapped on Peridea as well, theories and rumors only grew.

Will Star Wars Finally Give Us A New Romance?

Rey and Ben Solo kiss in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Whether Star Wars would actually confirm a romance between Shin and Sabine is questionable for various reasons. For one, Star Wars has generally steered clear of explicitly queer relationships on screen. The closest the franchise has come is an on-screen kiss between two women in the background of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In The Acolyte, Osha and Mae had two mothers, but it was never confirmed that they were actually romantically linked. This would therefore be quite the leap for Star Wars, although it’s one that many in the fanbase have long wanted to see. This would also mean the shows and movies finally catching up with the books, which have long had queer relationships.

However, this would also mean the first new major relationship in Star Wars in quite some time, particularly in terms of live-action. The most recent substantial on-screen relationship (or what seemed to be a romantic relationship) was Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Rey, although Star Wars has since tried to walk that back, calling their Rise of Skywalker kiss a kiss of ‘gratitude.’

There have been other relationships, such as Cassian Andor and Bix Caleen in Andor, but romance has rarely seemed like the focus; the last time that really felt true in live-action was the prequel trilogy, 20 years ago. A Sabine Wren and Shin Hati relationship in Ahsoka season 2 would therefore break brand-new—and thrilling—ground in Star Wars.