The shadow of Anakin Skywalker looms large over the penultimate episode of Ahsoka. First we see this in his former apprentice, who undergoes a total transformation after having defeated death a second time and confronted her fears about turning into her master by literally fighting Anakin’s ghost. The comparison to Gandalf the White is very apt, as Ahsoka not only changed her wardrobe after exiting the World Between Worlds but experienced a shift in her whole demeanor. No longer the brooding, Über-serious warrior, Ahsoka is back to smiling, cracking jokes, and pulling death-defying stunts just because they look fun. She is now truly Anakin’s apprentice — in her resilience and her power, but also her sense of fun and adventure. This is the Ahsoka viewers fell in love with 15 years ago, and it is good to finally see her back.
Anakin’s shadow also looms over a subtle but important moment of panic in Thrawn’s face and voice when he realizes who Ahsoka is and who her master was. After his introduction last week, the show spends a good portion of this episode truly showing why Thrawn is considered one of the best Star Wars villains and the smartest man in the universe. He pulls calculated 4-D chess moves anticipating his enemies’ movements. What is different this time is that Thrawn uses the dark powers of the Great Mothers to track Ahsoka, no longer a skeptic to the Force, which makes him more dangerous than ever before.
And yet the moment he reads who Ahsoka’s master is, Lars Mikkelsen’s voice cracks for a split second as the Chiss admiral recoils in momentary panic. It is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, but the moment tells you a lot about Thrawn — and about Anakin’s might. The elder Skywalker was a big enough deal that he’d scare Thrawn into immediately changing plans and avoid a conflict. Anakin was crazy, and Thrawn figures that his apprentice probably is too. Indeed, rather than come at Ahsoka with all the might of the night troopers, he shoots some missiles, sends a couple of disposable troops, then turns the fuck around and runs the hell out of this place. Still, this is Thrawn, the smartest guy alive, so he turns a momentary panic into a winning move, using the fight with Ahsoka as a distraction to finish loading his army of soon-to-be zombies on his ship and preparing to make his grand escape. Ahsoka’s momentary win is also her big loss, because the Heir to the Empire is ready to unleash horror on the galaxy (the other galaxy, presumably the one that’s slightly less far, far away).
Meanwhile, Sabine catches Ezra up on the major events he missed while living with his cute hermit turtle friends. She mentions the Battle of Endor bringing the end of the Empire, and that the Emperor died — well, or at least that’s what people say, which is a good little nod to how, somehow, Palpatine returns in a couple of decades. Sadly, she omits the most important event Ezra missed, Jabba’s death! And at the hands of Princess Leia in a metal bikini, no less!
Eman Esfandi is just perfect as live-action Ezra, capturing the character’s particular blend of arrogance, sass, and playfulness while also carrying a bit of madness from being stranded alone for a decade in another galaxy. When Sabine tells him Ahsoka took her in as an apprentice, his first reaction is “Why?†before doing a double take and congratulating her.
Trouble arrives, of course, when Baylan and Hati find Ezra and Sabine with a group of bandits they apparently recruited. In a rather surprising moment, Baylan decides to skip the battle, leaving his apprentice behind as their goals and ambitions lie in opposite directions. He still faces off against Ahsoka — and seems genuinely happy to see her still alive — but the duel is cut short when Huyang fires at him. We don’t know where Baylan is headed, but he remains the best and most compelling part of the show.
As for the fight, it is fantastic. Sabine initially tries to give Ezra his lightsaber back, but it seems our young Jedi grew in his exile, as he rejects the lightsaber and says, “The Force is my ally,†declaring that he doesn’t need a weapon. Instead, he gives us the live-action equivalent to Mace Windu obliterating thousands of droids with his bare fists in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars, using martial arts combined with the Force to take down both the bandits and even Hati herself. It is a phenomenal fight and continues to show why Ezra rules. He’s not just powerful — he’s still funny, joking with Hati about taking them as prisoners when they are surrounded and about to be shot down. After the fight, we finally get the heartfelt reunion between Ezra, Sabine, and Ahsoka, who are unaware Thrawn just got everything he needs to wreak havoc on the New Republic.
In another galaxy, Hera is subject to a hearing in front of the New Republic Security Council for disobeying orders. Senator Xiono remains a very sketchy guy, seemingly obsessed with just jailing Hera for daring to speak of the threat of the Empire. Thankfully, she is saved by a familiar face — C-3PO! This is an excellent choice, as he is here representing Leia, but without the need for an ill-advised CGI Carrie Fisher recreation. Turns out Leia sent out an official statement saying she did authorize Hera’s mission. It is a lie, but it is enough to free Hera.
We are almost at the end of Ahsoka, and it seems like the story will have to be continued in a second season before the eventual movie. That is well and good, but I am worried that the show will not have a satisfying conclusion and we’ll look back and see this was nothing but eight hours of setup. Even Rebels, which is definitely the biggest blueprint for Ahsoka, had satisfying season endings.
The Jedi Archives
• Finally we get a mention of the events on Mandalore from season three of The Mandalorian, though Xiono instantly dismisses those concerns.
• This is an episode full of name-drops. We hear Zeb is now training recruits, and and we see Ahsoka watching a hologram recording of Anakin from the time of the war (which we saw in Rebels) to train Ahsoka, in which he mentions Dooku, Grievous, and Asajj Ventress — in her first live-action mention.