Star Wars: Ahsoka Season One-Episodes 7 and 8

• Based on Star Wars created by George Lucas
• Series created by Dave Filoni
• Disney+

Cast

• Ahsoka Tano-Rosario Dawson
• Young Ahsoka-Ariana Greenblatt
• Sabine Wren-Natasha Liu Bordizzo
• Hera Syndulla-Mary Elizabeth Winstead
• Baylan Skoll-Ray Stevenson
• Shin Hati-Ivanna Sakhno
• Morgan Elsbeth-Diana Lee Inosanto
• Huyang-David Tennant (voice)
• Ezra Bridger-Eman Esfandi
• Jacen Syndulla-Evan Whitten
• Mon Mothma-Genevieve O’Reilly
• Senator Hamato Xiono-Nelson Lee
• C1-10P “Chopper”-Dave Filoni
• Grand Admiral Thrawn-Lars Mikkelsen
• Anakin Skywalker-Hayden Christensen
• The Great Mothers Klothow, Aktropaw and Lakesis-Claudia Black, Jeryl Prescott and Jane Edwina Seymour respectively
• Anthony Daniels-C-3PO

Trapped in another galaxy with Grand Admiral Thrawn, Ahsoka Tano must prevent his return.

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Part Seven: Dreams and Madness

• Directed by Geeta Vasant Patel
• Written by Dave Filoni
• September 26, 2023

When it comes to narrative, Dreams and Madness is short on that but filled with a lot of great Star Wars action. Every element they use here is done with the spirit and energy that one would see under the hand of George Lucas. It’s fun and maybe a bit over the top and just very energetic. I’m not calling this a lighthearted romp. But it has a sense of fun to it. High adventure to it like a movie serial or an adventure film.

As this is the final episode before the final episode, I’m just trying to figure out will the next episode be a cap on the whole story yet leave threads dangling for a potential second season or top off little if anything. I’m left with a feeling it’s the latter and not the former. I’m not against dangling threads. I’m against nothing really answered. You need to wrap up things so that a season feels complete but leave enough room that you can build something off of. Not hard to do but it is becoming a lost art. 

Previously Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) had talked about a power that the Night Sisters feared and that’s what is driving them from their planet. That’s what he went in search of but in this episode he instead escorts his apprentice (Ivanna Sakhno) to Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Ezra’s (Eman Esfandi) reunion and says “Smell ya later, nerd!” before going off on his own. It does nothing to advance the plot of his quest.

Regular necessary announcement of not having finished Rebels so maybe I am unaware of something. Why did Ezra refuse to take the lightsaber from Sabine? It seems like a Jedi might want to take his weapon and use it. Without it all he can really do is push people around until they get tired of it and stay down in a fashion similar to a Steven Seagal movie and push objects/people with the Force. That isn’t nearly too effective against an opponent who is using Force abilities combined with lightsaber skills. Is the Feloni still trying to water down what it means to be a Jedi? 

The interaction between Ezra and Sabine felt stiff and wooden. Not natural at all. However Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) came off much better in those moments. Not great, but much better. But the real highlight of the good guys in this episode was Huyang (voice of David Tennant) who much like C-3PO and R2-D2 is not the focus of a scene but often a scene stealer. I would love to see him in future projects and become a new linking thread for Star Wars. 

Speaking of C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) it was good to see him making a brief return to Star Wars in the capacity of helping out Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). It’s nice to see Senator/General/Princess Leia get a mention and thus the spirit of Carrie Fisher still active within the Star Wars universe. It was also good to see that one jerky senator (Nelson Lee) get a virtual middle finger. 

Despite my issues with Dreams and Madness it’s a good episode that hits all the right Star Wars notes and just very satisfying. My major issue is I don’t see how they conclude everything with one episode left. But I am anticipating the final episode.

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Part Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord

• Directed by Rick Famuyiwa
• Written by Dave Filoni
• October 3, 2023

I went into The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord fully expecting a cliffhanger of some sort. It is a given in this day and age of streaming shows with connected narratives in shared universes that not much gets wrapped up. It either is to feed into the next season or some project in the larger fictional universe. I accept it and can even be okay with it but leaving too much dangling upsets me because I am watching to see a story with a beginning, middle, and end. I need SOME conclusion.

I hoped despite this reality though most plotlines would get resolved to one extent or another that it felt like there was some conclusion to things. Aside from Ezra (Eman Esfandi) reuniting with Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)-and that seems like a subplot in comparison to the return of a dangerous Imperial commander who is bringing along some Night Sisters-not much was resolved. And it kinda makes the former and not the latter the point of the series and Ezra/Hera more important than the title character of Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson).

What was this mysterious power that was calling to Baylan (Ray Stevenson)? We don’t know. Aside from some visuals reminiscent of LOTR we do not get an idea. And worse considering Stevenson’s passing we will not see a proper resolution. I am guessing blank slate (Ivanna Sakhno) will take his place in that.

Much like the earlier episodes of the series The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord felt like half an episode stretched out to meet the subjectively determined length of a single episode for this series. There was a great deal of traveling and looking but not much happening in those moments. Or maybe that was just part of the telegraphing of what was to come.

The whole plot of the episode is less about stopping Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) from making it back to Galaxy Star Wars and more about getting on his ship to get back to get home. And it feels like they were trying to drag out events as long as possible so some if not all the characters miss the ride. And guess what happens? I might be forgiving if they all barely made it which would have been keeping in the general aesthetic of Star Wars but while Ezra gets on, Ahsoka and Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) along with Huyang (voice of David Tennant) get left behind. Shocker. Never saw it coming.

Speaking of Sabine, she finally shows some force ability when she pulls a Luke-on-Hoth-in-the-ice-cave to get her lightsaber. After that she gets a serious upgrade as if she suddenly developed all this skill. For seven episodes she could not do squat and now she has enough skill and power to help Ezra onto Thrawn’s ship using the Force.

The zombie Stormtroopers were cool. And I guess that explains what they were loading onto Thrawn’s ship this whole time. But at the moment it feels more like a one-episode gimmick than it does the basis for much else.

I can’t say I was particularly excited by much of the action here. The battles didn’t spark. The action was not bad, but it all felt like the prelude to a bigger sequence which never came. Aside from a sick burnout by Thrawn and pals when they said “Peace bitches! We out!” we got nothing beyond a generic firefight with the zombies.

And the disposition of Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) felt almost inconsequential. She not only was the reason for Thrawn having a way back to Galaxy Star Wars but in this episode got a serious power upgrade by the Night Sisters of Peridea. And then she was killed. From upgrade to death in not more than twenty minutes and I am being generous.

You can say Filoni was holding cards close to his vest and maybe he was. But the issue is we got nothing in the end. It was so much setup but no resolution. There needs to be a payoff and this lacked one.

The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord main problem is it doubled the length of what should’ve only filled half an episode while also providing little resolution to anything. It was okay, but not great and provided no payoff for everything we went through.

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Ahsoka was limited in what it could do and how big it could get. These were major events that couldn’t go off in very epic directions because the show is set prior to the sequel films. It was constrained. It started weak but got stronger only to end as weakly as it started.

Often in the show they mistook character as having an attitude as a personality. Sabine in particular was a victim of this as she had an attitude for most of the series rather than any individual characteristics that separated her from Ahsoka. Ahsoka often displayed elements of a individual personality with occasional hints of her motivation behind decisions but as her prominence in her own show faded so did that. Ezra was just there to give them a goal but lacked much definition. Thrawn who is a master strategist appears to be repeatedly going hat-in-hand begging the Night Sisters for help!

The best crafted individual in this whole series was Huyang. Complex and layered. Wise and humorous. He was a teacher as well as a listener. You felt everything he did he did because he wanted to and not because that’s what he was built for. He cared and felt.

Ahsoka started out as the focus of the show but as events in the story unfolded and the narrative progressed she fell more and more into the background with the locating of Ezra Bridger and returning him to Galaxy Star Wars becoming more important than anything she was doing or even the character herself. And the ending certainly placed him as a more significant character than it did Ahsoka.

The show itself could’ve benefited from fewer episodes. The narrative would’ve been much tighter and even with the weak ending it still would’ve been an overall better story. I don’t think the ending as tepid as it was would’ve harmed this season like it did if they had done that. The cliffhanger would have had punch rather than make Star Wars: Ahsoka Season One a teaser for a possible Star Wars: Ahsoka Season Two.

Star Wars: Ahsoka Season One is not bad but certainly did not end as strongly as it was looking like it might. It will not disappoint though but it is more aimed at Rebels fans than at the general Star Wars fan.

May The Force Be with You!