The Mandalorian season 2 featured the well-known Star Wars characters Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze, but only one of them was recast for the show. Adding to the original cast of The Mandalorian, showrunner Jon Favreau debuted key characters from the franchise's animated series into live-action productions for the first time. While Bo-Katan was portrayed by Katee Sackhoff, the actress who originally voiced the character on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels, the role of Ahsoka Tano, originally voiced by Ashley Eckstein, was recast to be portrayed by Rosario Dawson.
The recasting raised questions in Star Wars viewers' minds. Why change the portrayal of Ahsoka but not Bo-Katan? It doesn't help there was some controversy around the announcement of Dawson's casting in The Mandalorian due to an allegation of transphobic behavior and a related lawsuit. Additionally, Ahsoka holds a special place in the hearts of the fandom, leading more to interrogate the recasting.
Part of the answer as to why Ahsoka was recast but not Bo-Katan lies in Sackhoff's own experience in sci-fi productions. Not only did she have roles voicing Bo-Katan in the two prior Star Wars series, Sackhoff has played major live-action characters before. Most notably for sci-fi viewers, she portrayed Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in the 2004 series Battlestar Galactica, a show which has its own strong following and one which would overlap significantly with the Star Wars fandom. She also had starring roles in other action franchises The Chronicles of Riddick and 24. Casting Sackhoff in the live-action role meant bringing a beloved star who is already recognized, experienced, and appreciated into the Star Wars universe. Everything seemed to work out just right for Sackhoff and Bo-Katan. Despite all this, Sackhoff thought the role would be recast for the show, expecting a star like Scarlett Johansson would portray the live-action version of Bo-Katan. She and Mandalorian viewers are thankful the casting was carried across from the role's original portrayal.
The case is different for Ahsoka. Voicing a character is just one element in favor of an actor portraying the live-action version. The Ahsoka Tano seen in The Mandalorian has evolved from her Clone Wars beginnings – she's older, more experienced, and wiser. The creators clearly wanted to convey this with a different actress portraying the character. Furthermore, Eckstein is great and popular with the fandom, but is primarily recognized as a voice actress. The live-action debut of Ahsoka was an episode full of physical feats, including a tense and demanding duel with episode villain Magistrate Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). Dawson is an experienced live-action actress with credits including a main role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Daredevil and other connected series. Beyond all, this she was also a popular fan-cast for the role and had even expressed interest in portraying Ahsoka on Twitter as early as 2017.
Of course, none of this necessarily means that Lucasfilm needed to recast the role. But, all things considered, it clearly made sense to bring another actress of acclaim with live-action experience into the role to bring Ahsoka into a new era and further develop her character across the shows in which she appears. This is an especially prevalent concern given Dawson will be heading up her own series focusing on Ahsoka Tano to premiere in the next few years on Disney+. All told, it seems like the right choice was made for both roles in The Mandalorian season 2.
