My Thoughts on the Ahsoka Series

So the Ahsoka series finale aired a couple weeks ago and I have thoughts, lol.

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably watched the show, but just be aware that SPOILERS are ahead (and I won’t recap the plot of the show, just react to it).

The bottom line is, I enjoyed the show. A lot. I’m an Ahsoka fan, and a big Rebels fan as well, so this show was satisfying to me in many ways. There were a few things that niggled, and I’ll mention them, but for the most part, I’m happy. In the way that Andor was great in its gritty drama, this one was great at what Star Wars does best–weird, mystical, goofy, space opera fun that made me love it in the first place.

The first few episodes, I wasn’t sure. Ahsoka seemed….lackluster. But then I realized, well yes, of course, she’s depressed or whatever. She’s been through a lot. But the crux of her problem was that she let fear take over: fear that Anakin’s weakness was within herself as well. That the violence she experienced in the Clone Wars would cause her to be vulnerable to the dark. And she feared she’d pass that vulnerability onto her Padawan, Sabine, who she already feared would take vengeance on the Empire for destroying her home world and her family (which we learn about later). So she abandoned her, which also seemed very un-Ahsoka-like.

The fact that Ahsoka was training Sabine to be a Jedi was a surprise to me. Really? Sabine? Of course Sabine trained with the Darksaber with Kanan in Rebels, but I thought it was just to become proficient with it. Even though Kanan had said to Hera that the Force is in all of us, I didn’t really get the idea that Sabine had any natural talent in it. And she doesn’t, really, as Huyang seems to love telling her. So yeah, it was kind of a curve ball to me. I thought, why isn’t she training Jacen, who clearly has Force powers and wants to be a Jedi like his father? Thoughts on this later, but okay.

So Ahsoka’s got issues, and that will be her story arc for the series–how will she get her mojo back and again become the optimistic Jedi we see in the animated series? That the lesson came from Anakin himself in Episode 4 was so fitting, and just fantastic. And the way he did it was so Anakin–he didn’t just sit down with her and have an Obi-Wan-like conversation about it: “Look, Ahsoka, you’re letting fear drive you, and that will lead you down the dark path.” Nope, he literally came at her and made her work for her insights. Total drama queen Anakin, and it was great.

I liked the symbolism of her coming out of the water, as if being baptized and reborn; and when she wakes up and puts on the white, we finally start to see the Ahsoka we knew, as well as the Ahsoka we suspected she’d become: “Ahsoka the White” at the end of Rebels. But there’s still work to do.

So Sabine has been mercilessly criticized for giving the map to Baylan so he could destroy it and going with him willingly to Peridea. The idea being that she’s risking the galaxy by helping Thrawn come back for selfish reasons, namely finding Ezra. And yes, that is what she did. And yes, perhaps it was the wrong thing to do. Okay, not perhaps, it clearly put the galaxy in danger. But I’m willing to cut her a little slack. Let’s review: she thought Ahsoka was dead; her entire family was dead and Mandalore destroyed; besides Hera and Zeb, she had no one left. And Ezra, her adopted brother she loved, left her a message saying he was “counting on” her. Talk about pressure! Here was a way to find Ezra. She didn’t have time to think about it–Baylan would have killed her, too and gotten the map anyway. Haven’t we all made questionable decisions in the heat of the moment? Perhaps it was selfish, but she didn’t just do it for herself. She did it for Ezra, too, to give him at least a chance of coming home. And this Star Trek fan remembers this line from Wrath of Khan: Sometimes, the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. Anyway, that’s my defense of Sabine, lol.

So let’s talk about the villains here. And there’s quite a few: Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, Morgan Elsbeth, Thrawn, and the Nightsisters.

Baylan and Shin were the most interesting to me, especially Baylan. Clearly, he’d been a Jedi, raised at the Temple, an Order 66 survivor (I think? Or did he leave earlier?). But what was he now? A mercenary. Okay, but he also has a Padawan learner. So he hasn’t completely given up the Jedi ways. He’s a little snobbish about it, calling Ezra a “bokken” Jedi (a Samurai term used for wooden training swords), trained in the wild and not the Order. He clearly doesn’t want to kill Ahsoka, though he will if need be. But he is most definitely not a Jedi, as he and Shin indiscriminately kill New Republic officers in their very first scene. By his own admission, he admires the “idea” of the Jedi Order, but not the reality they became. Fair enough, but damn, Baylan, that’s pretty dark. But they’re not Sith, either. Dark Force users? That’s the closest I can come up with, but that’s still not quite right. I don’t think they call upon the dark side of the Force when they fight (but I could be wrong?). And don’t even mention “Gray Jedi” to me. There’s no such thing. You can’t use the dark side of the Force and call yourself a Jedi. Period. Anyway, Baylan is a cipher throughout most of the show, clearly after something, his alliance with Morgan and Thrawn a means to an end, but we don’t know what that is until we get a clue in the finale. That’s what makes him so intriguing, and I wanted MUCH more of him. And now with Ray Stevenson gone, I’m not sure what they’ll do with the character. It’s heartbreaking.

To me, Morgan Elsbeth was more interesting in The Mandalorian, in her brief appearance there. She’s fine here, but she didn’t really shine until her duel with Ahsoka in the finale, after she’d been transformed by the Nightsisters and given the Blade of Talzin. I guess I just like to see Diana Inosanto in glorious action. Other than that, the character falls flat to me. It’s a shame she died just when she got interesting.

So, Thrawn: I thought it worked. Lars Mikkelson provided a great voice for Thrawn in Rebels, and it was nice to hear that same voice here. And he was great in live-action as well, despite that little pot-belly people keep harping on. Give the man a break; he’s been in exile on a dreary witch planet for ten years. I’d probably binge-eat, too, if I could, lol. So he looked and sounded great, but he wasn’t given a chance to show anyone who hasn’t seen Rebels or read the books why he’s so feared in the first place. Clearly, he’s different, more methodical, making carefully considered decisions. I guess that’s enough for now, and later (either in a Season 2 or Filoni’s movie) we’ll get to see his military genius in action.

The Nightsister Mothers are, let’s face it, weird, and it’s strange to see Thrawn working with them, but I have a feeling he didn’t have much of a choice in his situation. Also, he was defeated by mystical forces before (the Bendu and the Purgill in Rebels, not to mention Jedi) and won’t make that same mistake again. His Night Soldiers are creepy, especially Enoch with that weird mask. At first I thought they were zombies right from the beginning, maybe made of smoke like Marrok was, but I guess not, because it was only later they came back to life through Nightsister magic. Clearly the Mothers are helping Thrawn for their own purposes, and I think Thrawn is smart enough to know that. It will be interesting to see how that relationship plays out later.

Okay, back to our heroes: Ezra!!! Oh, how I’ve missed this kid, who’s all growed up now. His reunion with Sabine was typical of their relationship, I think, with some teasing at first and then a warm hug. It was telling, though, that Sabine avoided answering his questions about how she found him. He was happy to be found, but I think he’d be a tad upset that she basically undid his sacrifice by coming back for him only to unleash Thrawn again. (I still understand her decision, though).

It’s typical Ezra that he’s been living with some adorable natives of Peridea and has protected them from raiders. When Thrawn’s forces attack, he refuses to take his lightsaber back from Sabine and says, “The Force is my ally!” while making classic goofy Ezra faces. Eman Esfandi is perfectly cast as Ezra; it’s as if he’s been plucked straight from the animated series. Next to Baylan Skoll, it’s one of my favorite performances in the show.

Despite claiming the Force is all he needs, he ends up constructing a new lightsaber with the help of Huyang, and the fact that it’s similar to Kanan’s is wonderful.

The finale was….fine. Ahsoka got to duel Baylan again, and then she dueled Morgan (there were a ton of lightsaber fights in this show, and I loved it). Sabine finally uses the Force, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It kind of seems out of the blue when she couldn’t even twitch a cup a short time ago; but I suppose it’s no different than Luke calling his lightsaber to him in the wampa cave.

Ezra gets on Thrawn’s ship, but Ahsoka and Sabine are left behind. Shin is seen overlording some raiders, and Baylan is on the outcrop of a statue of the Father (with the Son next to him, and a damaged Daughter on the other side), looking out over the mountains toward a shining light in the distance. I’ve seen fan theories on social media that what Baylan was looking for was Mortis, and I thought, “Nah!” Yet, here we are. But for what purpose? Time will tell.

Thrawn goes to Dathomir, and Ezra escapes the Chimaera on a shuttle and gets to Home One (and I was so nervous he wouldn’t, after all his repetitions of “I can’t wait to go home.” Don’t jinx it, Ezra!). Chopper recognizes him at once, even though he still has a trooper helmet on (for that dramatic entrance, you see). I don’t understand why we couldn’t see Ezra and Hera embracing after all these years. Let us have that sentimental reunion, Filoni, lol. Anyway, now I’m hoping Ezra will be the one to train Jacen. It’s fitting for him to train the son of his Master.

Ahsoka sees the Force ghost of Anakin at the end–not a hologram, not a murderous Force-vision, but Anakin himself, so that was nice. I loved seeing Hayden Christianson so much in this series; I hope we see more of him.

There’s so many other things I loved about this show, little things that I could go on and on about: young Ahsoka played by Ariana Greenblatt, seeing Rex, Threepio, Morai, slimeball Senator Xiono, Purgill, the Nodi, the wolf creatures, even Sabine’s tooka cat; but this post is long enough, so I’ll end it here. All in all, I think this show worked, but I’m saying that as an Ahsoka and Rebels fan. I have no idea how viewers new to these characters feel about it, but I don’t particularly care, lol. This has been a love letter to Rebels fans, like it or not.

So those are my rambling and disjointed thoughts on Ahsoka. What did you think of the series? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!