The 332nd Company, known colloquially as Ahsoka's Clone Troopers or Ahsoka Loyalist Troopers, was a company that existed as a part of the 332nd Division within the 501st Legion of the Galactic Republic. Its troopers were recognized by the unique design of their helmets. The company saw action during the latter stages of the Clone Wars, having been established in anticipation of a planned invasion of Mandalore.
After Bo-Katan Kryze and Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi Padawan, requested assistance from Republic forces to reclaim Mandalore from the Shadow Collective led by former Sith Lord Maul, Tano's comrade, Clone Commander Rex, established the new company out of respect and allegiance. Given that Tano no longer held an official rank within the Grand Army of the Republic following her departure from the Jedi Order, Rex was formally appointed as commander, with Tano acting as a civilian advisor. Despite this arrangement, the clones, including Rex, deferred to her authority and adorned their helmets to mirror her facial markings.
The company bolstered the Republic troops during the invasion, achieving victory over Maul and the Shadow Collective. However, during the return journey to Coruscant aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal, Order 66 was executed, and the 332nd Company attacked Ahsoka Tano and Maul, who was being held as a prisoner. They failed to kill either Force-user, and all but Rex of the troopers perished when the ship crashed on a moon.
The 332nd Company was a clone troopers infantry company that belonged to the 501st Legion within the Grand Army of the Republic. Clone Captain Rex led it, later being promoted to Clone Commander to command the newly formed 332nd Division, created for the Siege of Mandalore. As a component of the division, the 332nd Company shared the 332 numerical designation. As a company of the Republic, it was composed of four platoons, including one platoon that was present when Ahsoka returned.
The company's clone troopers were outfitted with Phase II clone trooper armor, bearing the standard blue markings of the 501st. However, their helmets were painted red-orange, stylized to resemble Ahsoka Tano's facial markings and skin tone. This was to show their friendship with Tano, a heroic former Jedi Commander, and resulted in them being informally called "Ahsoka's Clone Troopers" or "Ahsoka Loyalist Troopers."
Throughout their missions and skirmishes, the 332nd Company employed infantry weapons, jetpacks, and specific military vehicles, primarily LAAT/i gunships for transportation, and AT-TE walkers, which were with the company at times. The company was stationed on the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal.
After the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano's departure from the Jedi Order, she later returned to serve the Galactic Republic in 19 BBY. Tano, along with members of the Mandalore resistance, arrived to propose a joint operation to remove the Shadow Collective and renegade Sith Lord Maul from Mandalore. Following the meeting, Tano met with her former master, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.
Skywalker escorted her to a hangar, where Captain Rex and the company were waiting. Rex called them to attention. Tano was surprised to see their helmets painted to resemble her face as she walked among them. Skywalker explained that they had customized their helmets as soon as they learned of her return. Captain Rex added that, while the paint job was basic, it was effective, and they were happy to have her back.
Given that Tano was no longer a Jedi Commander within the Grand Army of the Republic, and thus not officially allowed to command a unit of Republic forces, Captain Rex was promoted from Captain to Commander. This allowed him to lead the new division, which was designated the same as the company, and have Tano as an advisor.
In preparation for the siege, three Venator-class Star Destroyers appeared above Mandalore and deployed a large number of LAAT carriers and LAAT/i gunships carrying infantry, including the 332nd Company. Kom'rk-class fighter/transports escorted the Republic ships.
Almec, the Prime Minister of Mandalore and a puppet of Maul, prepared his Mandalorian super commandos and readied Sundari's defenses. As the Republic-Mandalorian attack force approached the capital city, several gunships and transports were shot down by incoming missiles. Shadow Collective commandos used jetpacks to intercept gunships, and troopers along with Mandalore resistance warriors flew out to repel them. The surviving ships landed at Sundari, deploying infantry troops, and a battle began.
The invaders pushed back the Shadow Collective commandos, who retreated into the Undercity, pursued by a squad of 332nd Company troopers. Ahsoka Tano and Captain Vaughn led the group through the tunnels. Having lost track of the Shadow Collective, they were vulnerable as they tried to find their bearings. Rook Kast, a Mandalorian super commando, revealed herself and fired a missile, knocking Tano down. She told the clones to wait as they ran past her, but Vaughn didn't hear her warning. By the time she reached the clones, they had been ambushed and were all killed, including Vaughn.
The Mandalorian super commandos then emerged from the tunnels and surrounded Tano, along with Maul. He was surprised to see her instead of Kenobi or Skywalker. As he spoke, Tano secretly transmitted a beacon from her wristcomm to alert Commander Rex of her location. Rex led a squad of 332nd Company troopers into the Undercity, following the signal to rescue her. Rex and his men rescued Tano, but Maul and his followers escaped.
Soon after, a detachment of the 332nd Company was sent to reinforce C-deck. They were ambushed and massacred by the Shadow Collective. Maul took Jesse, an ARC Trooper, hostage to torture him for information. Later, after a critical duel between Tano and Maul, the Shadow Collective surrendered, and the siege ended with a Republic victory.
After the battle, with Maul in custody inside a Mandalorian vault, Republic forces returned to the Tribunal to transport Maul to Coruscant. However, Order 66 was executed during the journey. All clone troopers, including those in the 332nd Company, suddenly became hostile towards Tano, determined to kill her and Maul.
When Order 66 was issued, Rex fired on Tano. She deflected the shots with her lightsabers and narrowly escaped the room, while under fire from multiple troopers of the 332nd Company. Rex ordered the troopers to search the ship for her. The 332nd Company split into squads and hunted the ship. During the search, Ahsoka, with the help of onboard astromech droids, abducted Rex, knocking him out and taking him to the medical bay. She held off hostile clone troopers while Rex's inhibitor chip was surgically removed. After the removal of his chip, Rex was no longer affected by Order 66. He and Tano made their way to the hangar, fighting off troopers of the 332nd along the way.
Meanwhile, Maul, released by Tano as a diversion, fought his way to the hyperdrive room, killing many 332nd Company troopers, and collapsed the hyperdrive mid-jump, causing the Venator-class Star Destroyer to fall out of hyperspace in pieces. He walked to the hangar and was confronted by more clone troopers. He used the Force to pick up metal siding to impale or decapitate them. A group of 332nd Company troopers, including Ridge, tried to intercept Maul as he moved towards the hangar, but failed. Ridge was knocked down, and another clone was impaled by a piece of the wall.
When Ahsoka and Rex reached the main hangar, a formation of the remaining clone troopers, led by the ARC Trooper Jesse, was waiting. The formation included the remaining troops of the 332nd Company and other 501st units. Rex and Ahsoka devised a plan: Rex brought Ahsoka down to the clone troopers at gunpoint, claiming that she was no longer a Jedi, so they had no reason to kill her. Jesse and Rex argued about the matter, and then Jesse accused Rex of treason.
However, the debate was a diversion to buy time, and at that moment, Tano's group of astromechs dropped the hangar lifts some of the troopers were standing on. This surprised the clones, but they recovered and opened fire on Tano and Rex. The droids kept changing the elevation of the hangar lifts to disorient them. By then, the vessel was about to crash into a nearby moon. Ahsoka and Rex escaped in a Y-wing, and Maul in a Nu-class attack/transport shuttle, but the clones on board were all killed when the ship crashed on the surface of the moon. Rex and Tano visited the crash site and buried the clone troopers they could find.
Years later, around 17 BBY during the early reign of the Galactic Empire, Skywalker—who had fallen to the dark side of the Force and become the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader—visited the crash site during an Imperial excavation. He observed the helmet of a 332nd Company trooper in the snow and retrieved one of Ahsoka Tano's lightsabers which lay in front of the helmet. While he kept the lightsaber, he left the helmet abandoned in the snow.
As a component of the 501st Legion, the 332nd Company was under the command of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Clone Captain Rex, who had previously been joined in command by Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano before she left the Jedi Order. When the 332nd became part of the newly formed 332nd Division, Rex was named its Clone Commander. Besides Rex, Captain Vaughn was among the officers in the company. Clone Lieutenant Jesse also held command in the unit and overall division. Clone trooper Ridge was also assigned to the 332nd Company. As a company within the Grand Army of the Republic, the unit at full strength consisted of 144 clone troopers organized into four platoons. While Ahsoka Tano was still respected by the clones of the 332nd and commonly addressed as commander, her role in the company and 332nd Division was that of an advisor. Nevertheless, she was allowed to attend new briefings and meetings.
The 332nd Company debuted in the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, specifically in the episode "Old Friends Not Forgotten." When The Walt Disney Company cancelled Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a four-episode arc focused on the Siege of Mandalore was still in production. The company was first identified as the 332nd Company on April 14, 2020, in a StarWars.com blog post authored by Brendan Nystedt.
The production numbers for the arc were 7.21, 7.22, 7.23, and 7.24, and it was intended to depict Ahsoka Tano and this company of clone troopers attacking Mandalore. As part of the production, Dave Filoni created a sketch of the helmet worn by the company, which was displayed at Celebration Europe in 2016. The sketch was labeled "332nd." A portion of the arc was adapted into the prologue of the 2016 canon novel Ahsoka.
On July 19, 2018, the return of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was announced, with twelve new episodes that would include the Siege of Mandalore. The company's helmet was featured on the poster for the revival season and appeared in completed animation in a trailer shown during Celebration Chicago in 2019.