That ending was rude (affectionate).
Recap
Ahsoka thinks that they might have to destroy the map to Ezra if it means preventing Thrawn’s return and asks Sabine if she can count on her for that. Sabine insists that she can. Huyang is busy trying to fix the ship when Skoll’s forces arrive. Ahsoka and Sabine join the battle outside to dispatch the enemy, but they know they have to meet them head-on while Huyang continues repairs and calls for support. He requests that they don’t split up, and they promise they won’t.
Hera has decided that she will be giving aid to her friends with or without New Republic sanction, and tells one of her lieutenants to manage the next staff meeting without her. She boards the Ghost with Jacen and Chopper, flanked by a small squadron of X-wings that includes Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), and sets off. Sabine and Ahsoka find Marrok and Shin Hati in the woods and separate to fight them off. Ahsoka dispatches Marrok, but Sabine insists she can handle Shin on her own, so Ahsoka continues on to find Baylan Skoll. Baylan knew Anakin and tells Ahsoka that he will protect the map because he knows this is the right thing, even if it starts a war—he believes that sometimes destruction is necessary to make way for creation, but won’t elaborate further. Ahsoka and Baylan begin to duel, and Ahsoka pulls the map from its pedestal, stopping the computations for the Eye of Sion’s jump.
Shin knocks out Sabine and heads back to her master. Seeing Shin, Ahsoka assumes that Sabine is dead and knocks the apprentice unconscious, preventing her from retrieving the map. Sabine arrives and grabs the map, threatening to destroy it. Baylan knocks Ahsoka off the cliffside and tells Sabine that he knows she doesn’t want to destroy the map—that it’s her only link to Ezra Bridger, the only family she believes she has left after Ahsoka’s lack of trust in her caused the death of her family. Sabine relinquishes the map, and Baylan puts it back on the pedestal, completing the calculations. He then destroys the map so no one can follow them.
Huyang fixes the ship’s communication system to call for help only to learn that Hera and her forces have already arrived. They find the Eye of Sion and cut it off. Baylan, Shin, and Sabine arrive on the hyper-ring ship, and Elsbeth insists that they make the jump, knocking the Ghost and X-wings apart and destroying several of them. Hera and her remaining fighters are left to decide what comes next. Ahsoka meanwhile wakes in the World Between Worlds and comes face to face… with Anakin Skywalker.
Commentary
They faked us out, they distracted us with promises of flashbacks so we’d forget that there was still every chance that Ahsoka was going to see… Force Ghost Anakin? (The Force has done some uncanny de-aging on the poor guy, but we’ll have to let it pass.)
They’ve got a lot more explaining to do, of course, namely why is Anakin surprised to see Ahsoka in this space? Because this is the live-action premiere of a spot simply known as “World Between Worlds,” which showed up in Rebels—Ezra used it to (accidentally) rescue Ahsoka from her confrontation with Darth Vader, which makes her meeting Anakin here hilariously ironic. The space is kind of a Force nexus that potentially connects to all points in space-time? So, y’know, if it connects to other galaxies, Ahsoka could potentially just appear on the Eye of Sion to rescue Sabine.
Unless she means to rescue Ezra and return the favor.
Which brings me back to Anakin’s surprise because it’s never been indicated that this was any kind of netherworld or afterlife space. And if it is, that’s kinda huge for a number of reasons, namely the fact that it is accessible to Force-users when they’re alive? But I guess we’ll get more of that when we finally hit next week’s episode.
It’s genuinely bemusing that Filoni cannot resist a hallmark of the animated shows, being that if someone tells you not to do something… you’re going to do it immediately and the consequences will probably be bad. We’ve got two specific requests here, the first when Ahsoka asks Sabine not to risk galactic war and be willing to let Ezra go and destroy the map if it seems like Elsbeth is nearing the completion of her plan. The second is Huyang telling Ahsoka and Sabine not to separate because they’re “better together… in my opinion.” They promptly do both of those things, in reverse order to spice it up.
Buy the Book
The Jinn Bot of Shantiport
Look, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t set these things up, I’m just saying that there’s a tendency to make these comments right before they’re relevant instead of loading that setup ahead of time—even if both of these conversations had occurred in the previous episode, it would have diminished the silliness significantly. But instead we get two very obvious “please don’t do this thing” discussions that you know everyone’s going to forget at the relevant moment. Y’all. Come on.
Of course, this is all to point us in the direction of the thing that ostensibly led to Ahsoka and Sabine’s falling out—Sabine lost her family due to Ahsoka not “trusting her.” We know that this is running concurrently with The Mandalorian and we’ve seen how fragmented their people are, so it makes sense that Sabine’s family didn’t make it, but the details are blurry timeline-wise. The Siege of Mandalore occurred at the end of the Clone Wars and scattered the remaining Mandalorians to surrounding worlds, one of which housed Sabine’s family and the rest of Clan Wren. Sabine handed the darksaber over to Bo-Katan Kryze during the building of the Rebel Alliance, believing she was unfit to wield it. Perhaps Sabine’s family died when the darksaber was taken by Gideon?
It’s a shame that we’re not getting a little deeper on these issues, because Sabine’s desire to fight Shin doesn’t come off as anything other than a really bad idea. She needs help right now. She’s maybe not ready to face down the person who almost killed her the last time they fought. And Ahsoka’s fear at the thought of possibly losing Sabine when she sees Shin emerge from the forest is not given the weight it’s due. Her cold reaction is a reflection of the sort Anakin used to have whenever she was in danger, and that connection is important going forward. Ahsoka is learning what it feels like to be responsible for someone in the same way—it deserves more time to marinate in the narrative.
Baylan Skoll has the sort of gravitas only Ray Stevenson can provide, but I’m worried that his reasoning is going to fall short of being interesting. There have been plenty of SFF villains who hold to the “you must destroy to create” line of thinking, but they’re rarely as smart as they think themselves in the long run. (See: Thanos et al.) Also, I’m hoping that there’s some real pathos behind this choice, but given how rough-sketch Star Wars antagonists have been of late (I’m looking directly at Obi-Wan Kenobi and how they undercooked Reva to a shameful degree), I’m not holding out hope. At least Stevenson’s presence is giving where the script might not.
And that comes through primarily in the fight between them because they are, interestingly, the same sort of fighter. Most lightsaber duels hinge on one of the combatants being impatient and flying into the fight. Here we’ve got two masters who know that the goal is to wait and discover your opponents weaknesses. Ahsoka rarely faces someone on her level this way, and you can tell that she’s actually enjoying interplay, at least on an intellectual level.
As opposed to Marrok, who tried to do that ridiculous spinning lightsaber trick the inquisitors always go for, and was quickly (correctly) dispatched for it. I love that they went this route in the build up to her fight with Skoll because it’s a fear tactic, and it should only work on people who are inexperienced and terrified. Ahsoka is neither, and the move she pulls on him is pure Obi-Wan in that moment: Short, to the point, and deadly. And yes, I really enjoyed watching Ahsoka use a single blade more in this episode because her combat influences are far more obvious when she’s not using both blades. We don’t need it all the time, but once in a while it makes for a great payoff.
(Why did Marrok evaporate in smoke? I… got nothing. Maybe this is the new standard for dark side deaths. Maybe Marrok is just smoke in a suit of armor. Idk.)
Bits and Asides
- Huyang putting his hands on his droid hips and admiring his own repair work. Huyang fighting evil henchman like a pro. Huyang giving advice and calling for help and being a general MVP. Just… him.
- Big lol at the Eye of Sion needing to “dial in” its hyperspace calculations just like a Stargate.
- Fandom was apparently rooting for Inquisitor Marrok to secretly be Galen Marek aka Starkiller—who was Vader’s apprentice in the video game The Force Unleashed. I’m just as glad they didn’t go that route, namely because the introduction of the Inquisitors to canon means the idea of Vader having an apprentice is just unnecessary. (And if you’re gonna do that, you better use it as an excuse to introduce Mara Jade, dammit.)
- Jacen has a bad feeling because he’s clearly Force-sensitive like his dad and ask me about how I’m feeling knowing that Hera has to raise that kid without Kanan when she could really use his help. Or, you know, Ezra’s help, as his unofficial big brother. (Don’t ask me how I’m feeling about Sabine thinking that Ezra is the only family she has left when Hera and Zeb are still around. That’s your best mom and your carnage-buddy uncle you’re leaving out, Sabine.) Also my whole heart to that kid for asking why he has to do what he’s told when mom doesn’t because I’m sure Kanan also asked Hera this question and was similarly rebuffed.
- So Carson Teva is one of Hera’s, huh? It’s wild knowing this does more for his bonafides as one of the good guys than anything we’ve seen on The Mandalorian combined. Because Hera is that good and anyone who’s on her team is automatically elevated.
- Did I cry seeing the Ghost exit the fleet surrounded by X-wings? No comment.
- I really hope they’re not about to live-action introduce the Yuuzhan Vong, but seeing how they were re-upped in the new canon due to the Thrawn books… it’s possible. Prepare yourselves.
Next week, Anakin Skywalker has some explaining to do.
I have been refreshing and refreshing waiting for this, haha.
-I really wish they had let Kiner score Kenobi. (Or at least given Holt some more creative control, because her Loki score is excellent and I know she can do so much better than the middling score we got for that show) – I was seriously digging the prequel vibe a lot of the score had.
-I really thought for a minute Ahsoka was going to respond “…as One” when Sabine said “Together…”. Would have been a fun nod to all of us mourning the Starcruiser closing.
-So Marrok is just…a Nightsister-fueled zombie, basically? I mean, I never thought it was going to be Starkiller or some of the crazier theories, but it does seem like they were building him up to be somebody important. Ahsoka’s take down of him was beautiful, though. Shin also seemed genuinely distressed at his defeat so maybe we’ll still learn some more about where they came from.
-I really loved the whole fakeout Sabine did with the Force and relying on her Mandalore weapons (and I’m glad Sabine hasn’t just magically been able to have huge proficiency with the Force, even if she CAN be attuned to it). And Shin obviously has her own tricks!
-Not at all surprised that Sabine couldn’t make the ‘hard decision’ and I’m not yet convinced it was the wrong one. I completely understand where Ahsoka is coming from in terms of balancing the greater good of Thrawn’s return vs. Ezra, but, but, but – how many times in these kinds of stories is the balance usually a *personal* act of love recognizing the importance of a singular person? Whether it’s Luke’s own actions in the original trilogy, or something like Lord of the Rings where it’s the “stupid” and non strategic action that wins the day, greater good aside…I have a feeling (at least I’m hoping) that Sabine’s decision to not abandon Ezra is what will ultimately bear fruit here.
-This is a minor gripe, as I really am intrigued by Baylan and Shin…but I kinda wished Baylan would explain what his actual goal is. Like, what his the ‘greater good’ HE is trying to bring about, and what is it about the Jedi he has lost faith in, etc? I’m sure in some ways he’s also intentionally keeping stuff close to the chest, but it also seemed to be needlessly vague/cryptic.
-Another gripe, although in some ways I understand this is a feature, not a bug, but especially combined with the short episodes, I really wish these shows gave us more of a chance to really sit with the characters, their feelings and their motivations. (It’s one thing I feel like Wheel of Time is doing a MUCH better job of, especially watching them together). I’ve felt this way about the past several Marvel/Star Wars show. For example, we learn in a throwaway line that Sabine’s family DID die on Mandalore. How does she feel about that? Does she blame herself or Bo-Katan? Does she think the curse is her fault, just like she created the weapon that almost destroyed her people before? Does she blame Ahsoka for not letting her go there? What was that all about?
-For that matter, Ahsoka herself is still a bit of a cypher. I still want to know if she’s actually met Luke by this point and knows Anakin was redeemed. We know this is after Mando season 2, but is it before/after BOBF/Mando season 3? Or during? (This is also relevant to Sabine, as the restoration of Mandalore is something that would be of interest to her or at least relevant to her emotional state, even if she doesn’t want to go…)
(To be clear, this isn’t hampering my enjoyment of the show, per se, I just want more!)
-I loved the little echo of ‘this is the only way’ in Baylan’s exchange with Sabine. (And of course we have to have a ‘Do it!’)
-I don’t know how I feel about this, and I guess we’ll see how it plays out, but I have a feeling that the show will end with Thrawn’s apperance (we know he shows up from the trailers) and MAYBE we’ll get a glimpse of Ezra, but it’s all gonna be a cliffhanger that will be set up for the movie. I do hope the show feels at somewhat self contained and not just a set up for a movie.
-And of course, the elephant in the room – ANAKIN! Specifically my favorite version (I have a huge thing for that haircut, lol). I’m honestly not even going to talk about uncanny CGI (would anybody have really complained if they had just let Hayden look a little older?), I just want to enjoy the moment. I legit teared up. I knew he was in the show and I figured it would be a flashback, and while of course that would be fun, in some ways it felt unsatisfying to me – what I really want to see is something NEW in their relationship, and in Anakin’s development (if one can still be said to develop after death) – what is his Force ghost up to, do they get closure in their relationship, has he been able to reflect on his life, etc? So, I have a lot of thoughts/feelings but am also trying to keep my expectations reasonable in terms of what the next episode could be.
-I could have sworn it was Matt Lanter’s voice at first, but maybe it was just Hayden trying to emulate him? I didn’t see that he got credited for it.
-My husband and I were kind of joking about this, but it would be kind of funny of in the World Between Worlds they saw a glimpse of the sequels, particularly the part where we know they both intervene/speak. Filoni has always been a bit cagey about if Ahsoka’s voice at that moment meant she was dead or not, so it is he kind of thing I could see him establishing as her just doing from the World Between Worlds. Or maybe she will just decide to stay there at some point, as she has a connection to it and the Daughter, as a kind of guardian. Who knows. The next two episodes will definitely be interesting (at least I hope they are).
-Fallen Jedi is such a perfect title – could refer to Baylan, Ahsoka, Sabine….Anakin :D
This was okay, but I’m getting a little tired of these “series” that are really just a single long serialized movie. I found myself wishing the pacing were more like Rebels, where each episode was usually a complete story but there was an evolving arc and character development on top of that. When each episode is just one chapter in a single story, it feels like we’re getting less. (Well, as long as there’s real substance to the individual episodes, instead of meandering like The Mandalorian tended to do this past season.)
I wasn’t bothered by Ahsoka and Sabine splitting up, because it was necessitated by the situation rather than something they did out of personal reasons. And as for Sabine choosing to go with Baylan instead of destroying the map, I’m on her side. Destruction is a crude solution, one that takes away options. At least this way, she’s still got a variety of options to turn the tables, save Ezra, and maybe even stop Thrawn. Plus, of course, we knew it was inevitable anyway, since there’s no story if they don’t go after Thrawn and Ezra.
Gotta say, though, another thing I’m getting tired of is the formula where the heroes spend all season trying to stop the villains from achieving something, only to fail at every turn and only barely manage to stop the villains once their plan comes to fruition. It’s kind of contrived and makes the heroes seem ineffectual. A better plot structure might be something driven by the heroes’ own pursuit of a goal, with setbacks caused by the villains along the way. That way, the story building to its climax doesn’t depend on the heroes failing over and over. It can be a back-and-forth where the heroes win some and the villains win some.
As for Marrok, I find it strange that the fans had so much expectation of him turning out to secretly be someone important. I mean, Star Wars has a ton of helmeted characters in it, so much so the series-logo title cards on their streaming shows are a procession of helmets and droid heads. And the only time a helmeted character’s identity was a plot-relevant surprise was with Vader, and maybe borderline with Kylo Ren (and Leia’s brief bounty hunter disguise in ROTJ). Most of the helmeted characters in SW are just themselves, no mystery or surprises. So why did people expect Marrok to be anything more than just another faceless goon? Unlike Lisamarie, I didn’t get any sense that they were building up Marrok, since he didn’t do anything in the story except follow orders and fight the heroes. He got his own poster, but so did everybody else, even Hera’s son.
I am a bit surprised that Zeb wasn’t part of Hera’s X-Wing escort along with Carson, given that Zeb & Carson were serving together in that Mando episode. On the other hand, I’m glad to see the Ghost after all. After seeing Hera use the Phantom II in the first couple of episodes, I wasn’t sure we’d see the main ship. I wonder if they built any of its interior besides the cockpit, which is all we’ve seen so far.
I was going to say that it felt like some of the shots/framing seemed to suggest he was more than just a mook, but then again, this show also gave us a lingering reaction shot to a cup, lol.
And it’s possible I was thinking about it from a more meta-level…why include him, as opposed to another assassin droid? And specifically, why include an Inquisitor, in an era where the Inquisitors should be long gone? It just kind of begs questions on what his story is. I suppose it’s just to provide another reasonably difficult opponent for the duo, but it did feel like an intentional choice that speaks to some other interesting backstory.
Perhaps it’s just to illustrate the Nightsister re-animation magick though (I’m 99% sure that’s what the green smoke indicated). Or maybe there is still more to it!
Was it clear that the Anakin we saw in the World Between Worlds was “force ghost Anakin”, and not pre-Revenge of the Sith Anakin entering the World Between Worlds at some point? The entire conceit of the World Between Worlds is that it intersects with different points in time and space.
I did not notice the blue-tinted transparent haze that typically indicates a force ghost when watching that last scene, but it’s possible it was present, and I overlooked it due to the dark lighting of the World Between Worlds setting.
@Lisamarie – regarding Shin’s distressed reaction to Marrok’s demise: I read that as shock at his (relatively) easy/quick defeat, and a resulting shake to Shin’s confidence and resolve. She comes across as insecure or somewhat unsure about herself (or perhaps about her mission?), particularly in her interactions with Skoll; with occasional boasts and taunts (mainly to Sabine) during combat to build up her confidence. As such, I suspect Marrok was included mainly as a comparison point for 1) demonstrating Ahsoka’s high level of skill, by beating an actual force user relatively easily; 2) showing how much more skilled Skoll is as a foil for Ahsoka; and 3) introducing Shin’s doubt and/or self-conflict.
I’m not sure what to make of Anakin. I don’t think he’s a force ghost, but I also don’t think he’s the living Anakin who somehow entered the World Between Worlds from a point in time before he was barbecued on Mustafar. The lightsaber on his hip was Vader’s saber hilt, NOT Anakin’s- which Obi-Wan took and would eventually give to Luke. Vader didn’t construct that saber until after he was disfigured and wearing all black. I’m wondering if there is some sort of Force/Celestial trickery happening in what Ahsoka is seeing.
I’m also glad that Marrok wasn’t someone important, and appears to have been a Nightsister reanimated corpse. Though, I do think there’s a way Starkiller could have worked as an Inquisitor. Sam Witwer has laid out a hypothetical plot where Vader hid Starkiller among the Inquisitors, in plain sight, instructing him to complete his missions effectively but not stand out enough to catch the emperor’s eye, then Vader would give him extra training in secret. Which could have been cool. But it is a bit of relief to just have him be a rando, and I like this route shows us more of the Nightsister’s capabilities.
@5 – I’ve seen conflicting info about whose hilt it actually is. That said, the Imperial March playing at the end of the scene is at least enough of a hint that all may not be as it seems. (Although I hope it is, I don’t want it to be some BS trick.)
@1 I think this is definitely supposed to be post-BoBF. My brother and I had a discussion about whether Ahsoka ever learned that Anakin had been redeemed before death. I figured that was one of the first things Luke would want to tell her, but her reactions to hearing his name and seeing him make me think she didn’t know. The only conclusion I could draw is that Luke didn’t think she knew Anakin had become Darth Vader, and didn’t want to be the one to tell her. I think there’s a real possibility that she’s about the learn the truth.
There were two things about Anakin’s appearance at the end that make me a little wary: he appears to be carrying Darth Vader’s lightsaber instead of his Jedi one, and while his theme from Episode I played immediately on his reveal, the episode ended on three clear notes from the Imperial March. I’m very curious to see what version of Anakin we’re going to get. I’m hopeful it’s not just a vision or an echo, but his actual consciousness visiting in the WBW. And I hope they contrived an excuse to stop using the de-aging technology next episode, kind of like Q in Star Trek: Picard.
I thought there was a very clear mystery surrounding Marrok (his Databank entry on StarWars.com even calls him “mysterious”), and now I wonder if he was a red herring to make us think he was supposed to be a big mystery so we’d be surprised when he turned out to be some kind of zombie or something. Ultimately, he was kind of pointless and I’m a little disappointed by that.
@4/pcal6vb: “I did not notice the blue-tinted transparent haze that typically indicates a force ghost when watching that last scene, but it’s possible it was present, and I overlooked it due to the dark lighting of the World Between Worlds setting.”
Or maybe that’s just how they appear in the physical plane, while this is something more supernatural.
“regarding Shin’s distressed reaction to Marrok’s demise: I read that as shock at his (relatively) easy/quick defeat, and a resulting shake to Shin’s confidence and resolve.”
It looked more to me like she was shocked by Marrok disintegrating into dust — she probably didn’t realize he was a Nightsister-animated zombie or whatever.
@7/Chase: “I thought there was a very clear mystery surrounding Marrok (his Databank entry on StarWars.com even calls him “mysterious”)”
Maybe there was a clear mystery for people following online materials, but limiting it to the actual show, I didn’t get any impression he was more than just muscle.
I loved that Huyang seemed to learn how to fight from playing with “Rock’em Sock’em Robots.”
All this build up for Marrock, and they were just blowing smoke at us.
Even Ahsoka had a chance at the map orb, but chose to help Sabine instead. And I am concerned Sabine will be so distraught, she will opt for some form of noble sacrifice before all is said and done.
I think Ahsoka is only mostly dead, and will leave the place between the worlds when she wakes up.
And remember, Ezra and Thrawn traveled to the far galaxy by hitching rides on purgills, so Our Heroes do have a way to follow the bad guys.
I’m delighted that Marrok just ended up being a rando or a zombie or whatever and not some legacy character in disguise. It reminded me of the delight I felt when Snoke was just offed in the middle of The Last Jedi instead of being revealed as Darth Plagueis or whatever other weird theory was going around (of course they undercut my happiness when in the next film they decided he was a clone puppet of Palpatine’s).
People are complaining that Anakin was de-aged here, but then other people were complaining that Anakin wasn’t de-aged when he appeared in the Obi-wan show. Obviously there’s just no pleasing everyone.
@2 “This was okay, but I’m getting a little tired of these “series” that are really just a single long serialized movie. “
I feel like that’s just most streaming shows these days. I honestly feel like most of these streaming series would work better as films anyway, and this one isn’t shaping up to be an exception.
Let’s get the visuals out of the way first. This was the best lightsaber battle since Revenge of the Sith. Both of them in fact. Seeing Ahsoka in action in this one was exactly like seeing Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s duels in the prequel era. When it comes to live-action, this has been the best directed show of the Disney+ era. And we have Spider-verse’s Peter Ramsey to thank for this particular one. Very smart choice of Filoni to hire directors with very distinct skills from both animation and live-action (a later Ahsoka episode is being directed by Mad Men/Agent Carter ace director Jennifer Getzinger).
I’ve always had issue with streaming era shows being set up like 10 hour movies, but not this time. While you can see the story dragging a bit on Ahsoka at times, the conflict, the stakes and action more than make up for the slow pace, especially when you have a climax as terrific as that hyperspace jump. I was genuinely terrified over Hera, Jacen, Chopper and the squadron’s fate.
Now imagine if they had actually collided with the ring during its jump. It would have been as catastrophic as the Holdo maneuver on Last Jedi. But the resulting energy spike and gravity wash more than did its share of damage to the squadron. And it made me realize something when we saw Jacen’s fearful reaction. Live-action Star Wars hasn’t exactly given viewers a lot of stories that place children in direct danger. On Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon’s first order is for Anakin to hide in a cockpit and stay there until the fighting’s done. On Clones, Boba was a clone raised as a son, but still as viciously capable of violence as dad Jango. And other than Cindel Towani’s kidnapping and rescue in the Ewok movies, we haven’t really seen Star Wars deal with that issue. I wonder if we’ll see Hera emotionally grappling with the rash decision to put hers and Kanan’s only child in direct danger like that.
It makes perfect sense for Sabine to go against Ahsoka’s wishes. She’s always been the biggest rebel of the Rebels crew, and Ezra has always been the closest one in terms of playful and rebellious spirit. No wonder she misses him the most.
Ahsoka being the Obi-Wan of the duo keeps in line with her history. She wasn’t the standard Jedi, being Anakin’s apprentice and all, but she was never opposed to the Jedi code either. She left the order because they royally dumped her when she needed and deserved a fair trial over that particular situation. But she would still have a hell of a time trying to be a mentor to someone like Sabine, whose rebelliousness and penchant for improvising reminds us more than a bit of Anakin Skywalker.
Obviously, a lot of my impressions depend on what the next four episodes bring to the table. But so far, I’m impressed. And I hope we get more into Baylan’s backstory. I like the way Stevenson plays him, and I like his character under pressure. Also, nice of him to keep his word and stop Shin from throttling Sabine (the actress the plays Shin is good – she looks and sounds genuinely terrifying).
And I just heard the next episode will be playing in theatres Stateside. I wish I could be anywhere near those selected AMC venues right about now. More than any other SW Disney+ offering, this is a show that deserves the big screen treatment. No one has a visual grasp of SW in the current era like Filoni does (we can add Ramsey though).
On the hyperspace jump, since the Ghost and the X-Wings were inside the ring when it jumped, I expected them to get pulled into hyperspace along with it. I mean, isn’t that the whole point of a hyperspace ring, that it takes what’s inside along with it? Well, I guess you have to be attached to it.
When I hear the name Shin Hati, it sounds to me like she’s the Hideaki Anno remake of the original Hati.
@7 – honestly, that would be really unsatisfying for me in some ways (that Luke just…didn’t tell her) but I’ve never been a huge fan of the direction they took Luke in this timeline anyway. (I’m not even talking about his temptation in TLJ or his struggles with despair and failure, but just the whole concept of doing a copy/paste Jedi Order).
Plus, I thought it was kind of ‘common knowledge’ in that continuity anyway; everybody knows Leia is Vader’s daughter because it got leaked so far. Maybe they don’t know Luke is related? It just seems like a lot of unnecessary omission.
But I’m also kind of miffed that we never get any of that interaction ON SCREEN anyway. So, yeah, I really hope the next episode IS some kind of Skywalker closure, taking those lessons and moving the Jedi order forward. The LEGO summer vacation special honestly did a better job of that, haha.
Shin didn’t knock Sabine out she used a smoke bomb and ran away.
@AlanBrown If Ahsoka is only mostly dead we can look forward to a Billy Crystal cameo next week.
Anakin says he didn’t expect to see Ahsoka so soon and I could only assume that she’s at least a little bit dead.
Baylan Skoll’s beard is outstanding, not to slight Ray Stevenson’s seductively understated line delivery and general bearing.
I don’t know about Star Wars Fandom at large — or who Galen Marek is/was — but Marrok’s full mask said to me that either he was actually this Ezra guy they’re looking for, brainwashed, or his level of stuntwork was so constant and individuality so negligible that it didn’t make actuarial sense to show his face, perspective from someone who didn’t watch Clone Wars or Rebels due to not being able to stand the animation style.
@12. ChristopherLBennett: “When I hear the name Shin Hati, it sounds to me like she’s the Hideaki Anno remake of the original Hati.”
LOL. When I see or hear the name Ahsoka, I wonder if Japanese folks think it’s hilarious or just stupid.
I’m really scratching my head at how Sabine can hold her own (at least for a while) in a lightsaber duel with Shin. Twice now. Isn’t the lightsaber only a Jedi weapon because Jedi incorporate precognition into their use of the weapon? Deflecting laser bolts and dueling other lightsaber users. Not sure how someone without Jedi abilities, like Sabine, can last a few exchanges with a Force user. They have precognition; they can see where you will attack from. I imagine it would be trivial for Jedi to counter someone without that ability.
Can we talk for a moment about how Hera takes her son with her on a mission she can be pretty darn-tootin’ sure is going to involve combat? If she didn’t think it was going to be a fight, she wouldn’t have taken a wing of fighters with her. Seems like a pretty clear-cut instance of child endangerment.
@18: They didn’t show it very much here (possibly because we’ve already had our fare share of Mandalorian gadgets and tricks in that other show), but Sabine’s Mandalorian armor is designed (as is all Mandalorian armor) specifically for fighting Jedi. There was a scene in Rebels (I think season 4) where she trains with the darksaber in concert with her armor.
@19 – yeah, I thought it was a questionable decision, myself. It was a little funny (in a dark way) because we’re also watching Wheel of Time right now, and the opening scene of that show also involved a very questionable scenario to bring a child to.
Maybe Jacen is more skilled than we realize/can hold his own/helps pilot? I don’t know. Maybe she thought they would just be investigating? (Why bring the squadron, then?).
@16/Arben: “…someone who didn’t watch Clone Wars or Rebels due to not being able to stand the animation style.”
Those two shows had extremely different animation and design styles. I wasn’t a fan of TCW’s strange desire to mimic the woodenness of Gerry Anderson Supermarionation, but on my recent Rebels rewatch, I was very impressed with the detailed design and expressive character animation. Which is interesting, since the first time I saw the show, on a standard-definition TV, I found it too cartoony and bouncy. In high-def, I’m able to appreciate the subtleties much more.
“When I see or hear the name Ahsoka, I wonder if Japanese folks think it’s hilarious or just stupid.”
I’m sure they don’t. You’re probably thinking of “Ā, sō ka?“, meaning “Ah, is that right?”, but that has a double-length “A” vowel and a Japanese rendering of Ahsoka’s name would use a single one, and possibly a single “O” as well. It’s a distinction that Japanese speakers would hear more clearly than English speakers (e.g. the difference between yuki, snow, and yuuki, courage).
If anything, “Ahsoka Tano” would sound very ordinary to Japanese ears. Tano is a real Japanese surname (as is Yoda), and Ahsoka is close to the Japanese given name Asuka (although that’s pronounced more like “Aska”) or the surname Asaka.
Although South Asian folks probably see “Ahsoka” as a misspelling of Emperor Ashoka’s name (though that’s pronounced more like “A-shoke”).
@18/Austin: “Isn’t the lightsaber only a Jedi weapon because Jedi incorporate precognition into their use of the weapon?”
Just because Jedi can incorporate Force abilities into a lightsaber fighting style doesn’t mean they’re essential to the use of the weapon; they just enhance it. We’ve seen how Sabine uses her armor and its weaponry to compensate for her lack of Force abilities. She doesn’t need to deflect bolts because her beskar blocks them.
@19/Ecthelion: “Seems like a pretty clear-cut instance of child endangerment.”
Ezra was 14 at the start of Rebels, and Sabine was 16. Hera took both of them on combat missions regularly. The Bad Batch showed the 10-year-old Hera getting involved in a dangerous mission, and she was active in the Free Ryloth Movement by her teens. So Hera grew up in an era when it was not uncommon for children to be involved in dangerous situations.
And let’s keep in mind that Star Wars is meant as entertainment for children and families. In children’s fiction, the rules about what kind of danger children can get involved in tend to be flexible. Look at The Bad Batch and Omega.
@20, 22 – Not sure how her armor has anything to do with her being able to go toe-to-toe with Shin in a lightsaber duel for longer than a few passes. If she was being hit repeatedly on the armor, sure. But keeping up with her with just the lightsaber? There’s no logical reason Shin would be stalled by Sabine when, presumably, her precognition should make such a duel very trivial. Otherwise, Jedi/Force-users are getting really nerfed just to make Sabine look good.
@13 As of now, the novel Bloodline says that Anakin’s fall wasn’t public knowledge until almost 20 years after the current crop of shows when it was revealed by First Order sympathizers to destroy Leia’s political career. Not even Ben Solo knew the truth.
I have a feeling Thrawn and the bad guys will deploy a whole army of nightsister-powered Marrocks to take over the galaxy. They will be to this conflict what the droid army was in the Clone Wars, lightsaber fodder that allow mayhem without guilt.
@23/Austin: “Not sure how her armor has anything to do with her being able to go toe-to-toe with Shin in a lightsaber duel for longer than a few passes.”
Well, the obvious reason is that beskar is uniquely capable of blocking a lightsaber blade, so Sabine can survive saber hits that would dismember anyone not wearing the armor. But my point is that the Force merely enhances a Jedi’s swordfighting abilities rather than being an absolute requirement. Sabine’s armor and weapons enhance her swordfighting in a different way that compensates for her lack of the Force. We’ve seen this both in Rebels‘ “Trials of the Darksaber” and in this very episode — Sabine using her wrist-mounted grappling line to retrieve her fallen lightsaber the way a Jedi would with the Force.
More fundamentally, I’m not sure where you get the idea that precognition is an integral part of lightsaber combat. According to Wookieepedia, precognition has rarely been mentioned in SW canon, and almost exclusively in prose and comics. Its articles on lightsaber combat indicate that only some styles integrate the Force, but it’s Force telekinesis, not precognition.
@13 – ah! Thank you – I knew that had happened (and was part of Ben’s alienation from his family), I Just didn’t realize where it fell in the timeline.
@10 – My complaint about de-aging Hayden Chrisensen to play Anakin Skywalker isn’t that it looks bad, it’s that it’s completely unnecessary! The in-universe time between Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi is 23 years. The amount of real-world time between the premiere of Revenge of the Sith (2005) and the premiere of Ahsoka is . . . 18 years! In other words Hayden Christensen today is about exactly the right age to play Anakin/Vader at the age he was when he died, which is the way force ghosts have always presented themselves.
This show is kind of goddamn nonsense unless you are steeped in decades of Star Wars lore, much of it not even canon anymore. It barely has a plot; it’s just a bunch of references, and meaningful glances that only carry weight if you have watched every other Star Wars thing in existence.
@28 Well, you know, apart from that nonsense in the Fiddled Edition of Return of the Jedi, where instead of looking the age he did a few minutes earlier, Anakin’s force ghost looks like a young Haydn Christensen.
@10
That’s not all streaming series. The One Piece live action recently released feels like a sped up version of the anime or the manga. There are clear arcs, each focusing or introducing one of the Straw Hat Pirate crew, basically around 2 episodes each.
Some Star Wars and MCU series, on the other hand, feel like stretched out movies. Obi Wan Kenobi felt like one, as did Secret Invasion. This was not the case of Mandalorian, which feels like a Satudary Morning Cartoon, and Wandavision, which used the episodic nature to forward the mystery of the series much better.
Ahsoka feels kinda like a stretched out movie. I could see someone editing to make it work as a 3h30 movie later.