Liked Ahsoka? (Or need more context?) Try these.

Star Wars is an intricately connected universe, for the most part. There’s just no getting around it. There’s so much canon content out there (not to mention a gargantuan Legends collection), it can be downright intimidating or confusing. If you’re just getting into Star Wars, or just watch the movies and live-action shows, there may be some gaps that leave you scratching your head a little bit. The Ahsoka series was supposed to be “non-Rebels fan-friendly,” but let’s be honest: it’s a much richer experience if you know a little bit about these characters. Or a lot. Here’s some content you may want to explore for further enrichment:

Ahsoka, by E.K. Johnston. This book came out a few years ago and details what Ahsoka did in the year after Order 66. Basically, she tried to keep a low profile (duh), worked on a farm planet and met two sisters and their friends who get mixed up in some Imperial trouble, and of course tries to help them. She also confronts an Inquisitor, and meets up with Bail Organa, who convinces her to help in the early formation of the Rebellion. It also shows how she got her two white lightsabers. An abbreviated version of these events happen in the animated series Tales of the Jedi (see below).

Tales of the Jedi. This animated series came out this past year and focuses on two characters: Ahsoka and Count Dooku. Each character gets three short stories (about ten minutes each) dedicated to them at crucial points in their lives. The Count Dooku episodes are great, and since we don’t see much of him (besides the audio drama Dooku: Lost, and as a baddie in Clone Wars), it’s worth watching just for those. But the Ahsoka shorts are pretty good, too. The first one is about baby Ahsoka and how her family found out she was Force-sensitive; the second is the abbreviated version of the Ahsoka book I mentioned above; and the third is how Anakin (inadvertently) trained her, along with Captain Rex’s help, to survive Order 66. Pretty good stuff.

Rebels. Okay, so the Ahsoka series has been described as “Rebels Season 5” and I can’t argue with that. If you want to know more about not just Ahsoka (who really only appears in a handful of episodes here) but Sabine, Hera, Ezra, and Thrawn (as well as Kanan Jarrus, Jacen Syndulla’s Jedi father), this is the series to watch. It takes place in the years before A New Hope and chronicles a Rebel cell consisting of the Ghost crew. As I’ve mentioned before in talking about Rebels, the first season is the hardest to get through–as most of these animated shows are, they’re targeted, at least initially, to younger viewers, and the first season attests to that. But they’re also designed to grow with its audience, getting more mature, complex, and a bit darker as it goes on. It truly has some of the best Star Wars out there. The finale shows how Ezra and Thrawn got stranded on Peridea in the first place.

Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka meet the Daughter

Clone Wars, specifically the Mortis and Dathomir arcs (but almost all of it is worth watching). This one’s kind of a monster, because it’s seven seasons with 15-22 episodes each. It took me longer to get into this one, as again, it starts out kind of kiddie, but does grow with its audience. By the last four episodes of season seven, it’s outstanding. But for Ahsoka-series purposes, if you want more on the Nightsisters, or need more context for the Mortis gods, check out these episodes:

For Dathomir and the Nightsisters:

Season 3 Episodes 12-14: Nightsisters, Monster, and Witches of the Mist

Season 4 Episode 19: Massacre

(The witches also make an appearance in Rebels–Season 3 Episode 11: Visions and Voices)

For Mortis and the Father, Son and Daughter: Season 3 Episodes 15-17: Overlords, Alter of Mortis, and Ghosts of Mortis.

Ahoska herself is in a lot of the episodes, obviously, as she is Anakin’s padawan, so if you want to get to know her better and her relationship with her master, this is the one to watch.

A New Dawn, by John Jackson Miller. This is a little further afield, but if you’re interested in early rebel Hera and how she met Kanan, this book tells that story. It’s a good book about Kanan and Hera working together and with others against an Imperial villain named Vidian, but they hadn’t met the rest of the ghost crew yet, so I was a little disappointed in that. But overall, a good read.

Any number of Thrawn books by Timothy Zahn. I think there’s well over a dozen Thrawn books, counting canon and Legends. Of course, there’s the original Legends books Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command, as well as Outbound Flight and Spectre of the Past. I read the Legends trilogy ages ago when they first came out, but they didn’t particularly wow me and I never much got into Legends. I tried reading the first canon novel (pictured above) but could only get halfway through it, lol. I don’t know, I just can’t get into “book Thrawn.” It’s very Sherlock Holmesy, with Thrawn lecturing his underlings about how he understand his enemies and why he’s doing what he’s doing. I just don’t care for it. But plenty of people adore the books and how Thrawn is portrayed in them. There are currently two trilogies: Thrawn, Alliances, and Treason; and then a prequel trilogy comprised of Chaos Rising, Greater Good, and Ascendency. I haven’t read any of the books, but from what I understand, Thrawn joined the Empire to help his people, the Chiss, fend off an invasive alien species called the Grysk. Some people see Thrawn as a hero for this; and while I understand that as a protagonist, he needs to have some redeeming qualities, he still does evil things in the name of his goal. He’s still a bad guy, and that’s okay, because at least he’s an interesting one. I prefer the Rebels version of Thrawn, but you might enjoy getting to know him better in these books.

Marvel Kanan comic. Kanan is not even in Ahsoka, so this is another reach, but if you’ve watched Rebels and you’re interested in Kanan, there’s a comic that shows him as a Padawan (with his original name, Caleb Dume) with his Master, Depa Billaba, during Order 66. The first episode of The Bad Batch begins with them on the planet Kaller when the order comes through, like in the comic, but it does change it a little bit, from what I understand. I’m not a comics person, and I haven’t read it, but it’s another connection you might be interested in.

Speaking of The Bad Batch, we also meet a young Hera in Season 1 Episodes 11 and12; her father is Cham Syndulla, the freedom fighter on Ryloth, who we meet in the Clone Wars. If you’re a completionist, here you go, lol.

There’s one other small thing I’d like to mention, and that’s concerning Senator Hamatsu Xiono. You know, that slimeball Senator that Hera trades barbs with, and who seems to be a secret Imperial sympathizer (and may well be). He’s the father of Kazuda Xiono, the young Resistance pilot in the animated series Resistance. The Senator himself only makes a brief appearance, and the show truly is targeted to younger viewers (I watched and liked it, anyway), so it may not be for you. Just one other connection I wanted to mention.

That’s about all I can think of, and that’s plenty to chew on if you decide to investigate. Some people don’t like having to watch other things or read books to understand a show or movie in Star Wars, and I get that, but it’s kind of what I love about it: the interconnectedness. Anyway, hope this list is helpful to you if you want more out of Ahsoka.

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.

Most Intriguing Character Award Recipient

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!

Symbols in Star Wars Rebels

I’ve been rewatching Star Wars Rebels, and although this is my third rewatch, I’ve never looked into the various symbols I’ve noticed in the show until now. So here’s a few of them and their possible meanings:

Starbird or phoenix on Ezra’s jacket: Ezra has a very obvious symbol on the back of his orange and yellow jacket. With a little snooping around on Google, I found that it’s been compared to the Skywalker Sound symbol, below. Kind of like a little easter egg to those in the know.

By the way, the Skywalker Sound symbol can be found in Attack of the Clones, on Coruscant during the speeder chase.

Ezra’s jacket symbol could also be a precursor to Sabine’s phoenix symbol, below.

Sabine’s phoenix symbol: Perhaps Sabine was inspired by Ezra’s jacket, or she came up with this herself, but it’s the symbol that came to represent the Ghost crew Rebels, as well as Phoenix Squadron later.

The Rebel Alliance later adapted the phoenix symbol into their own, below:

Kanan’s armor: It’s been suggested that the symbol on Kanan’s shoulder armor is reminiscent of the symbol for the Jedi Order, below. It makes sense that Kanan would want to honor his former Order, without calling attention to himself as a Jedi.

Kanan’s symbol is also found on the forehead of the lothwolf, which I never noticed before I looked it up. Kanan has a deep Force-level connection to this animal, who calls himself Dume (which is Kanan’s real name: Caleb Dume). The name Dume, while spelled differently, is an obvious foreshadowing of Kanan’s fate, although I don’t care for the connotation. Kanan selflessly sacrificed himself for those he loved; that’s far from being doomed, in my opinion.

Kanan’s mask: I often wondered about the symbols on Kanan’s mask after he was blinded. Clearly they look like some sort of eyes, and I thought maybe they were meant to represent wolf eyes, since he’s connected to the lothwolf.

After some Google research, I was surprised to learn that some clones, including Rex, were bestowed with the symbols on their helmets after distinguishing themselves on the battlefield. They’re called “Jaig Eyes,” which I never knew. I love it when I learn something new about Star Wars!

Those are the most obvious symbols that I’d wondered about. I already knew Fulcrum’s symbol, the Empire symbol, etc. I thought it was pretty cool to learn about these (finally!)

Did you know what these symbols meant, or is it new to you? Any I missed? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Hello my friends, and happy weekend!

So I’m almost done with Heir to the Empire. I’m so close, lol, but not quite done at the time of this writing. I’ve made it to the big battle of the Sluis Van Shipyards, and am in the middle of that fight right now, which is right at the end. I’ve been reading this book in fits and starts, so it’s taking me a little bit of time to get through it. But it’s been entertaining and fun; and I love how canon has been borrowing stuff from Legends. For example, in this book Thrawn has some aliens called the Noghri working for him to find Leia, and one in particular, Ruk, serves him; in Rebels, Thrawn has a single Noghri working for him–also Ruk–to find the Ghost crew. Neat.

I’ve been continuing my rewatch of Rebels and am almost done with Season Two. On my first viewing Ezra kind of annoyed me, but now I just love that kid, lol. I love them all, but Kanan remains my favorite (big surprise). It’s wonderful to see his arc of reluctant teacher who doesn’t want to get involved to devoted Master and selfless Rebel. My rewatch has been why I haven’t done as much reading lately. 🙂 I’m working on a post about the symbols in Rebels that I hope to publish on Sunday, so stay tuned.

I was excited to see an excerpt and cover reveal of the upcoming canon novel Shadow of the Sith from Starwars.com. If you haven’t read the excerpt, do yourself a favor and go here to read it. There’s a surprise in there that will blow your mind! The book releases June 28th of this year.

Here’s the cover:

Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, and Ochi of Bestoon. Great cover.

That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Rebels: Season Two Review

Rebels Season Two Spoilers Ahead!!!

I’ve been rewatching the animated series Rebels, and I’ve just finished Season Two. Not only is it longer (22 episodes rather than 15), but it was so much more emotionally satisfying. Several familiar characters make an appearance (or reappearance), and the finale was amazing. But we’ll get to that.

So much more happens in this season, and this post could be unbearably long if I mention everything, so I’ll try to point out the most important events and highlights.

So now the Ghost crew are a part of Phoenix Squadron, led by Commander Sato, along with Ahsoka. Hera and the rest of the crew are all gung-ho about it, but Kanan isn’t so sure–he’s reluctant to join the nascent Rebellion, remembering the Clone Wars and what happened to the Jedi because of it.

They receive a transmission from Minister Tua on Lothal–she wants to defect and she needs their help. She’ll give them important intel in exchange. But before they can retrieve her, she’s killed, engineered by Vader in a plot to draw the Rebels out. Kanan and Ezra end up fighting Vader, and it’s clear to them they are way out of their league–he’s more powerful than anyone they’d ever encountered. They hightail it out of there, but they’re stuck on Lothal. Lando makes another appearance here, as he owes them a favor, and he gets them off the planet.

They escape, but Vader tracks them to the fleet. Ahsoka, on board the Ghost, feels his presence, and he feels hers; he murmurs, “The apprentice lives,” in apparent surprise. Ahsoka is shocked and passes out; later she tells Kanan and Ezra that she doesn’t know who he is, but I don’t particularly believe her. She suspects Anakin, I think, but says nothing to the others.

The Imperials burn Tarkintown on Lothal in retaliation, and the Rebels decide not to go back there; they don’t want to endanger anyone else. Ahsoka asks the Ghost crew to find an old friend of hers, believing that he can help them find a new base. The friend turns out to be none other than Captain Rex, along with two other clones: Gregor and Wolf. They’re in “retirement” on some desert planet, clomping around on some old Republic walker that has seen better days.

Kanan absolutely does not trust them, and understandably so. He’d seen clones turn on the Jedi and kill his own master, Depa Billaba. Rex states that he didn’t betray his Jedi, and explains that he and the others removed the chips in their heads that commanded the clones to kill their former generals, but Kanan’s prejudice runs deep. The others seem to like the clones, though. They need to fight some Imperials off, and the clones go back with them to the fleet. The reunion between Rex and Ahsoka is wonderful to see; and although it takes Kanan a while to come around, I love that Rex becomes an honorary member of the Ghost crew.

Unfortunately, Vader has sent out more Inquisitors, and they encounter two of them–Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother–on an old Republic medical frigate they’ve gone to in order to get medical supplies. They escape, but encounter them again when they discover they’re after Force-sensitive babies. They manage to rescue the kids, and we get to see a fabulous display of Ahsoka’s skills as she duels them both before escaping.

Ezra starts to feel a bit overwhelmed with his Jedi training with Kanan, on top of soldier training with Rex (and the chores Hera gives him on the Ghost), and while trying to escape his responsibilities he encounters Hondo Ohnaka. Since the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, Hondo has come down a few notches in life–no longer the leader of a formidable pirate gang; he scrapes by in whatever way he can, smuggling and making deals with other pirates. He’s as funny and selfish as he was in Clone Wars, and he’s so fun to watch. He takes a shine to Ezra, who he considers to be his young protege in the art of the con.

Meanwhile, Hera brings an experimental B-Wing into the fleet, to be perfected and mass produced, and she becomes Phoenix Squadron Leader. Kanan and Rex go on a mission together to save Ezra and Commander Sato from the Imperials, and start to bond a little bit; Kanan even calls Rex his “friend.” Sabine has an adventure with an old friend, who’s now an enemy, and then becomes her friend again. I can’t remember her name, but she has gorgeous lavender eyes.

Ezra has Force visions about his parents, and is convinced they need to go back to Lothal. They encounter Ryder Azadi, the former Governor of Lothal, imprisoned by the Imperials–along with Ezra’s parents. He tells Ezra his parents heard the message of hope he sent out in Season One, and was inspired to help the other prisoners escape. But they themselves didn’t make it. It’s assumed they are dead, and Ezra deals with his grief.

Kanan comforting Ezra, as Ryder Azati looks on

Princess Leia shows up on Lothal as an ambassador from Alderaan, bringing three ships full of medical supplies and relief aid. Of course, she expects the Rebels to “steal” her ships, and in this way she helps the Rebellion in the best way she can. She’s about Ezra’s age here, and they have an adventure in getting the ships off Lothal for the Rebellion, without making Leia look guilty. She’s pretty good at making the Imperials look like fools.

In trying to find new, safer hyperspace routes, they encounter a group of Mandalorians on Concordia Dawn called The Protectors that work for the Empire. They take its leader, Fen Rau, prisoner, and get use of the hyperspace route. Zeb finds out he’s not the last of his people, and they help two survivors find a safe haven beyond the Outer Rim. They go on a mission with Hera’s father, the famed Twi’lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla. Father and daughter have a strained relationship, but they resolve their differences and get a new ship for the fleet to boot. On a mission to get fuel for the Ghost, they encounter space whales called Pergil, and Ezra makes a Force connection with them (they’ll become an important plot point in a future season). Imperial Agent Kallus and Zeb are stranded on a frozen moon, and have to work together to escape with their lives (the experience leaves an impression on Kallus that bears fruit later).

Those pesky Inquisitors keep finding them, so Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka go to the Jedi Temple on Lothal to find answers on how to deal with them. Kanan ends up fighting a Jedi Temple Guard, who turns out to be the Grand Inquisitor from Season One. Turns out, he’d been a Guard before Order 66, but became an Inquisitor afterward. He symbolically “knights” Kanan after Kanan admits to his fear that he can’t protect Ezra forever; he can only do his best. Ezra finds himself with Master Yoda, and talks with him about the war; only after Ezra insists that they must fight the Empire does Yoda tell him to go to Malachor. Ahsoka hears Anakin’s voice: “Why did you leave me? Do you know what I’ve become?” Her suspicions and fears about who Vader is, and her guilt over her potential part in it, hits home.

Chopper finds a new friend in AP5, and old Republic droid who now does inventory work for the Empire. They help each other on an adventure, and AP5 suggests a new planet for the Rebel base. It seems perfect at first, but then they discover it’s inhabited by–what else?–giant spiders. But they find a way to keep them away from the base itself.

The last two episodes of the season, “Twilight of the Apprentice” Parts 1 & 2, are the best episodes of the season, and possibly one of the best arcs in the entire show. Following Yoda’s advice, Kanan, Ezra, and Ahsoka go to Malachor, a “forbidden” planet to the Jedi. It contains a Sith Temple, and here they end up meeting Maul, who’s been slinking around there for years, apparently. They encounter three Inquisitors as well–Seventh Sister and Fifth brother, and one other–and they’ve gone there to find “the Shadow,” or Maul.

Basically, Ezra gets separated from Kanan and Ahsoka, and meets Maul, who wants to use Ezra to get to the Sith holocron inside (as well as turn him to the dark side and have him become his apprentice). Ezra, innocent child, believes that Maul wants to help them, and once they get the holocron, he uses it to activate the Temple–he thinks he’ll get the knowledge they seek, but it really turns into a battle station. Ezra realizes this too late, and in the meantime, Maul has blinded Kanan in battle. They’ve managed to kill the Inquisitors and fend off Maul, but Vader shows up for the holocron, and they’re in real trouble. Kanan and Ezra together retrieve the holocron while Ahsoka battles Vader, and it’s this riveting and heartbreaking encounter that makes this episode epic.

During the course of the duel, Ahsoka realizes that Vader is, in fact, Anakin. As the Temple starts to crumble around them, she tells him, “I won’t leave you. Not this time.” Ezra calls her name, but she closes the temple door on him, and they have no choice but to escape without her. We see an enigmatic scene of Vader leaving the Temple, and Ahsoka going into it. It’s a bit vague as to what actually happened, but it becomes more clear in a future season.

So I’ve already written WAY too much, but suffice it to say this was a great season, with an amazing season-ender.

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Rebels: Season One Review

Rebels Season One Spoilers Ahead!!!

Now that Season 2 of The Mandalorian is over, I decided to rewatch Rebels. I’ve just finished Season 1, and thought I’d just do a basic recap rather than an episode-by-episode review (there are 15 episodes in the season).

Rebels takes place in the few years leading up to A New Hope, when the Empire is in full control but some pockets of rebellion have flared up in response to their heavy-handed rule. Most of the main action takes place on or near the planet Lothal, an Outer Rim world run by the Imperials.

Obviously as Season 1 starts, we meet the Ghost crew: Hera Syndulla, the Twi’lek pilot, daughter of Cham Syndulla, who was a freedom fighter on Ryloth during the Clone Wars; Kanan Jarrus, the human male we quickly learn is a Jedi who somehow escaped Order 66; Zeb, the fierce Lassat who is often the muscle of the group, and who is the last of his kind thanks to the Imperials; and Sabine Wren, a young artistically-inclined Mandalorian woman who formerly attended the Imperial Academy on Mandalore but left when she became disillusioned with the Empire; and Chopper, their feisty, mischievous, and sometimes rude droid who sounds like the adults on the Peanuts specials. Their main mission is simply to make trouble for the Imperials and to help those who may need it; at this point, they are unaware of any other rebel cells at work. There is, however, a contact that Hera gets information from, a mysterious figure called “Fulcrum.”

They quickly pick up a sixth member in Ezra Bridger, a teenager who grew up on the streets of Lothal. Ezra interrupts one of their theft missions, and Hera and Kanan recognize that he’s special–and a bit annoying–and ask him to join the crew. He’s not sure at first, used to being on his own, looking out only for himself, but when Kanan realizes he has Force powers–powers that he unknowingly used to survive on the streets–he agrees. Kanan, who never even got to finish his own training before Order 66 killed his Master, Depa Billaba, agrees to train him in the ways of the Jedi. We even get to see a hologram of Obi-Wan Kenobi sending out his message of hope to any surviving Jedi, from a holocron that Kanan has in his possession.

Sabine and Hera fight off some monsters.

We also meet the Imperials and Ministers of Lothal, but the main antagonists are Agent Kallus, member of the ISB (Imperial Security Bureau)–he kind of reminds me of a blond Wolverine–and the Grand Inquisitor, who shows up after Kallus reports a Jedi in the rebel faction. I have to say this guy looks really cool: bald, burning Sith eyes, sharp teeth, and a wicked double-bladed lightsaber that spins on an axis. When Kallus and the Grand Inquisitor fail to capture the Rebels or the Jedi, they bring in the big guns: Grand Moff Tarkin shows up to lay down the law and demand results.

One of the main story threads of Season 1 is the question of Ezra’s parents: who are they, and what happened to them? And will Ezra ever see them again? We find out they were ordinary citizens who spoke out against the Empire, and as a result, they were arrested and taken away. Ezra was only seven years old at the time. He’s fifteen now (born on Empire Day), and he has no idea if they are dead or alive; although on one of their missions, they encounter an old friend of his parents, a Rodian named Tseebo, who tells him his parents are alive, but that remains to be seen.

In one of my favorite episodes, Kanan and Ezra visit a Jedi Temple located on Lothal. Kanan wishes Ezra to be tested to see if he’s ready to become a Jedi. In the Temple, Ezra must face his fears: his fear of Kanan being killed by the Inquisitor, fear that his new friends ridicule him behind his back, fear that he’s just not ready to become focused and disciplined enough to learn and will fail Kanan. He ends up hearing the voice of Yoda, who gives him a few words of wisdom before a kyber crystal falls into his hand. Kanan himself hears Yoda, and must face his own fears: the fear of not being able to train Ezra, of failing him. The fact that he couldn’t complete his own training, that he was never Knighted as a Jedi and is perhaps incapable of training Ezra, weighs heavily on him.

Ezra makes his own lightsaber from the kyber crystal, and it’s quite a unique one: it’s part blaster, part lightsaber. Clunky, but useful.

There are a few appearances of familiar characters: the crew meets R2D2 and C3PO early on, who are working for Bail Organa. Kanan briefly meets Bail when he returns the droids, but he doesn’t know who he is. Bail is keeping an eye on this particular rebel cell, to see what they do and how they may play a part in the Rebellion he’s trying to build.

They also meet Lando Calrissian and become involved in one of his schemes, which seems sort of out of the blue, but it pays off in Season 2.

As the season starts to head toward its conclusion, we meet Senator Trayven of Lothal, who Ezra in particular greatly admires. He seems to be sending out messages of hope for those who hate the Empire, but when they meet with him it turns out to be a trap. They escape, but are disappointed and Ezra is heartbroken. They decide to commandeer the Imperial communications tower to send out their own message of hope.

However, during the mission, Kanan is captured by the Inquisitor. He sacrifices himself so the others can escape. They want to go after him, but Hera receives a message from Fulcrum, who tells her not to risk it, and that they must focus on the bigger picture. They decide to go after him anyway, of course.

Kanan and Ezra battle the Grand Inquisitor

He’s being held on a Star Destroyer in orbit around Mustafar, and they hatch a plan to retrieve him. Kanan and Ezra end up facing the Grand Inquisitor in a lightsaber duel; in the end, the Inquisitor dies–hanging from a ledge, he lets himself fall into a fireball below as Kanan looks on.

The crew is rescued from a TIE fighter assault by Bail Organa and his fleet of ships, and Fulcrum shows up as well–revealing herself to be Ahsoka Tano.

Back on Lothal, an Imperial shuttle arrives in Capital City, and Agent Kallus greets Darth Vader, who has arrived to clean up the mess and try to capture the Rebels that have been evading capture.

And that’s Season One, which I seemed to enjoy more the second time around, probably because I already know and love these people, whereas at first I wasn’t sure. I’m looking forward to getting into Season Two, which gets even better.

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Rewatching Star Wars: Rebels

Now that The Mandalorian is over for at least a year, the question is: what’s next on my Star Wars viewing list? Movie marathon? (A marathon, for me, is one movie per day, so an 11-day period of Star Wars). Nah, I want to rewatch one of the animated series, where I can get 2-3 episodes in per day.

I thought about rewatching the Clone Wars, but I wasn’t up for that massive project (7 seasons, some with 22 episodes). Not yet. Maybe as a lead up to The Bad Batch, which will come out some time next year.

No, for now I decided to rewatch Rebels, which is shorter, but no less awesome. There are so many tie-ins from that show in The Mandalorian: Bo-Katan, the Dark Saber, Ahsoka, Thrawn. It’ll be great to go back and relive those moments.

I don’t think I’ll review each and every episode on this blog, but perhaps one post for each of the four seasons. Until then, enjoy a few images and moments from the show:

Do you like Rebels? What’s your favorite moment(s)? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!

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Ahsoka Tano: From Padawan to Rebel

My next installment of Women of Star Wars: Animated Edition is Ahsoka Tano.

Ahsoka Tano is Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan in Clone Wars. She’s a young togruta with big blue eyes, and presumably was going to be Obi-Wan’s new Padawan since Anakin had achieved Jedi Knighthood. The particulars of how she became Anakin’s apprentice rather than Obi-Wan’s is detailed in the Clone Wars movie; turns out that Ahsoka has a slight rebellious streak. Despite his initial resistance to taking on a padawan, Anakin himself says to her: “You may not have done well as Obi-Wan’s padawan. But you might do okay as mine.”

The pair make a good team, despite being a bit too similar and getting on each other’s nerves at first. Ahsoka calls him “Sky Guy” and Anakin calls her “Snips”, referring to her initial snippiness.

I’m going to say right up front that I much preferred Clone Wars Anakin over movie Anakin (they almost seem like different characters to me), and I think Ahsoka has a lot to do with that. The fact that he has someone to feel responsible for makes him grow up a little bit; he also comes to care for her and risks his life many times for her. I just find it kind of funny when he dispenses sage Jedi wisdom, like stressing patience, when he can’t even take his own advice!

Ahsoka had some great arcs in Clone Wars; she grew from an impetuous, eager youngster who wanted to prove herself into a thoughtful, cunning, and brave Jedi warrior. But I feel she really came into her own when she actually walked away from the Jedi Order. Accused of murder, expelled from the Order, and put on trial, she’s eventually exonerated (with help from Anakin). But when the Jedi Order welcomes her back in, she refuses to rejoin them. Her hurt and betrayal at their lack of loyalty opens her eyes to other options; she decides to find out who she’s supposed to be and what she’s supposed to do on her own.

Ahsoka’s decision to leave the Order devastates Anakin. He understands, but Anakin himself values loyalty to a fault. Ahsoka knows this, and her guilt at leaving him comes back to haunt her in Rebels.

While Ahsoka is absent from Clone Wars during Season 6, she returns in the seventh and final season. After a much-too-long arc with the Martez sisters, she meets up with Bo-Katan, who enlists her help to liberate Mandalore from Maul. Her confrontation with Maul is thrilling and satisfying. It’s during the trip back to Coruscant with the imprisoned Maul that Order 66 takes place. It’s Ahsoka that liberates Captain Rex from the inhibitor chip in his brain that forces him to attack her, and together they escape the other clones who want them both dead. (Maul, unfortunately, escapes).

The final few scenes of Season 7 Clone wars is haunting and heartbreaking, with Ahsoka contemplating the death of clones she’d fought with, and the devastation of the Jedi Order. She drops her lightsaber into the snow. Later, Darth Vader picks it up, wondering, perhaps reminiscing, watching a lone bird circle above, Anakin’s eye just visible through the red lens of his mask. This whole sequence gives me the shivers.

We don’t see Ahsoka again until Rebels, after 15 years have passed. It wasn’t until the book Ahsoka, by E.K. Johnston, came out that we knew what she’d been up to in the meantime. After Order 66, Ahsoka and Rex parted ways, agreeing it would be safer for them both to do so. She wandered from place to place, hiding her identity and Jedi abilities, calling herself Ashla and repairing droids and mechanicals for a living. It’s in this book that she ends up facing an Inquisitor and defeating him. She takes his double-bladed lightsaber and makes them her own, “healing” the red, bleeding kyber crystals and turning them white. She also meets up with Bail Organa, and decides to join the Rebellion in a specific capacity: running his intelligence networks as Fulcrum. It’s a good book, and I recommend it.

It’s in Rebels that we see the fully adult Ahsoka Tano, when Fulcrum’s mysterious identity is finally revealed. She comes to know the whole Ghost crew, and is reunited with Captain Rex. These are some of my favorite scenes of Rebels. When they learn of the existence of a Dark Lord of the Sith, Ahsoka feels something familiar about him, and has her suspicions. She’s believed Anakin dead all these years, but her confrontation with Darth Vader in a Sith Temple on Malachor proves to her that Vader is, indeed, her former Master. “I’m not leaving you,” she says. “Not this time.” At these words, we see Vader pause, as if she’s gotten through to Anakin somehow. But only for a moment. “Then you will die,” Vader replies. She only survives the duel because Ezra, in a later timeline, pulls her through to the World Between Worlds.

We don’t see Ahsoka again until the final episode in Season 4, when she appears at the very end to meet with Sabine. They’re going to search the galaxy for Ezra, who disappeared with Thrawn in the last battle on Lothal. When they were in the World Between Worlds fleeing the Emperor, Ezra says, “When you get back, come and find me.” “I will,” Ahsoka replies. “I promise.” Ahsoka Tano keeps her promises.

What do you think of Ahsoka Tano? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!

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Rebel Love

After watching The Clone Wars (and absolutely loving it), I moved on to Rebels. I’d heard good things about it, but I wasn’t sure. How can anything top Clone Wars? I’ll probably just be disappointed…but I knew Ahsoka made an appearance, along with Captain Rex. Darth Vader, Maul, even Obi-Wan. How could I stay away?

So I gave it a try. The first few episodes, I thought, hmm, I don’t know. It’s not really catching me. But that’s how I felt with Clone Wars at first. So I kept watching. And I’m so glad I did. As Season One drew to a close, I knew it had me.

Season Two was when things really picked up, and it only got better from there. I just finished Season Four, and I got a little emotional that it was over, at how wonderful it was, and the questions I still had.

I thought I’d highlight a few favorite moments from the show:

❤️❤️❤️❤️ — Ahsoka’s and Rex’s reunion (cue lump in throat).

I thought the Grand Inquisitor was pretty cool.

Yes yes yes yes yes I love my intelligent, calm, collected blue boyfriend 💙 — I was never very interested in Thrawn, but now I am. On to the Thrawn books!

redteamdoyle: “kallus + fucked up ”(GIF set) — I kind of liked Agent Kallus even before he became a Rebel.

Star Wars Rebels - Kanan Jarrus Also Wookiepedia is a great star wars informational site, use it all the time — Every single scene with Kanan Jarrus. Every. Single. Scene.

Star Wars: New Look at Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Maul Rebels Rematch — This confrontation also gave me goosebumps. Obi-wan is simply amazing.

I’m in love with the lothwolves. (I like the lothcats, too).

Jacen Syndulla: Answers to All the Big Questions After the bombshell finale revelation that Kanan and Hera actually had a son, I found myself pouring through all the Kanera moments in the rest of the... — I didn’t see this coming at all, but it delighted me.

Ezra Bridger is lucky to have these two women who care about him, that’s all I can say. Except maybe “sequel series, please.”

There are so many more fantastic moments in this show, I could go on and on, but these were at the top of my list. Rebels truly exceeded my expectations, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, you’re really missing out on some great Star Wars moments.

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