#bro i've watched those episodes probably easily ten times and i still fight the urge to full-on weep when jesse's helmet is in shot

[licorishh]

This is brought up alllllll the time in fics as, like, a moral dilemma or something, but think about it. Think about the butterfly effect of Ahsoka letting Maul out of his cell on the Tribunal.

If she hadn't done that,

1. She would be dead.

2. Rex would still have his chip and either be dead or a slave to the Empire for the rest of his life.

3. Every clone on the ship would either be dead or a slave to the Empire for the rest of his life.

4. Wrecker would've either annihilated the rest of the Bad Batch when his chip went off, or, if they'd somehow survived, their chips could've gone off at any time. We don't know that Tech's guess about them being immune was actually correct, especially since it was disproven at least in Wrecker's case.

5. Number 4 means that Omega would also be dead.

6. If the Bad Batch and Omega were dead by this point, then subsequently, Mount Tantiss would never have been destroyed, Hemlock would still be alive, and Project Necromancer would continue with no real setbacks.

7. Number 6 means that Emerie would never have had the opportunity to see firsthand why what she was participating in was so horrible, and thus, she would've remained a slave to the Empire for the rest of her life.

8. Number 5 and number 6 mean that Crosshair would never have escaped Mount Tantiss and he would've been a slave to the Empire for the rest of his life.

9. None of the clones Rex ends up finding and helping in the Bad Batch would've found out about the chips and removed them, thus rendering them slaves to the Empire for the rest of their lives.

10. Number 7 means that the children Emerie helps in the end would've continued to be experimented on and remained slaves to the Empire for the rest of their lives.

11. The clone cadets on that planet in the beginning of season 3 of TBB never would've made it off-world.

12. Wolffe never would've found out about his chip and removed it, and he would've been a slave to the Empire for the rest of his life.

13. Many years later, Ezra and Kanan would've died on Malachor, so nothing that they do after that for the rest of Rebels would've ever even happened. Kanan would not have been blinded because Maul would not have been there, but I'd argue being dead is a lot worse.

14. Number 13 means that Thrawn would have won, and if Thrawn had been present during the events of the original trilogy, the Rebellion would've stood no chance, and the Empire's victory would've been resound and indisputable. The deaths of Jyn, Cassian, Baze, Chirrut, Bodie, and all the other rebels on Scarif would've been for nothing.

15. Number 14 means that Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and everyone else would've either died or been made prisoners of war.

16. Number 15 means that Vader would never have turned to the light side.

17. Number 15 also means that Palpatine would never have died, and the galaxy would have no hope.

Like... do you see where I'm going with this?? There's so much I didn't even mention because I can't just remember the entirety of Rebels off the top of my head, but... dude. If Ahsoka hadn't let Maul out, LOOK what would never have happened. Can you imagine???