Time travel has been part of the Star Wars galaxy since 2018, and it looks set to play a major role in the franchise's future – particularly in the upcoming Ahsoka Disney+ TV show. Time travel is a common science-fiction and science-fantasy trope, but it needs to be handled with care. Because time travel is only theoretical in the real world, every franchise has to establish its own "rules," and it's very hard to handle them consistently. Take the example of Avengers: Endgame in the MCU, where even the film's writers and directors don't agree on the temporal mechanics.
Star Wars has generally been wary of time travel. It was featured occasionally in the old Expanded Universe; Paul S. Kemp's novel Crosscurrent featured an event where ancient Sith were transported to the present day, while the Legacy of the Force series created a whole new Force-power called "Flow Walking," which potentially allowed a Jedi to change the past. These ideas were abandoned when Disney branded the old Expanded Universe non-canon (or "Legends"). Time travel was subsequently avoided – at least until Star Wars Rebels season 4, in which Ezra Bridger accessed a mysterious realm called the World Between Worlds. This mysterious plane of existence transcends time and space – and appears to be a canon use of time travel. But how does it work?
