Purrgil Explained: Star Wars Space Whales Are Rewriting Hyperspace Canon

When Han Solo yells “Punch it,” maybe, what he’s unknowingly saying is: “Let’s follow hyperspace routes established by space whales a millennia ago.” In the third episode of , or like a super wormhole from Deep Space Nine. And yet, we’re told this technology isn’t too different from existing hyperspace tech within the home Star Wars galaxy. In the Rebels episode “The Call,” Hera said: “When I was young, I was told amazing stories of creatures that lived in the stars, traveled between the worlds. Old pilots said it was the purrgil who inspired us to jump from system to system. But I don’t believe it.”

So, in theory, Rebels already asserted this idea back in 2016. Jumping between star systems (within the same galaxy!) was, maybe, inspired by purrgil migrations too. What Ahsoka is doing now is simply doubling down on that idea and making these space whales even more integral to Star Wars than ever before.

If and when Ahsoka actually has us arrive in this new, distant galaxy via a massive hyperspace ring, Star Wars will, interestingly, be opening up its continuity in a way it hasn’t in a very long time. The text on the screen of the episodic Star Wars films tells us of a galaxy far, far away, meaning a singular galaxy. But now, with the history of hyperspace being refined and rewritten, it seems Star Wars history will soon include several galaxies, all of which may, or may not, have any similarity to anything we’ve seen before. With the help of the purrgil, Ahsoka is, quite literally, helping Star Wars go where no Jedi has gone before.

Ahsoka streams on Disney+.