Ahsoka – Part Four: Fallen Jedi Review

We’re now officially halfway through Ahsoka, and right one time we have the split between our two heroes. Huyang warned you guys to stay together, Ahsoka and Sabine. But no, you split up and now Sabine has given into her desire to see Ezra once more (who is decidedly not the now dead Marrok the Inquisitor), allowing Baylan, Shin, and Morgan to gain the correct jump coordinates to reach Thrawn – and allegedly Ezra, although who knows just how honest Baylan might be*. As for Ahsoka, well, she’s off in the World Between Worlds (first seen on Rebels), communing with her dead master, Anakin. Oh, and Hera and a couple X-Wings are hanging out at Seatos after being unable to stop Morgan’s ship from jumping. Needless to say, we got a heck of a lot of plot movement this week, setting us up for an interesting back half of the series.

*In his scenes with Ahsoka, Baylan made much of the fact that she has a history of leaving a cause when things get hard, something he brings up to Sabine as well as a means of getting her to trust him and his promise. But, for an episode titled “Fallen Jedi,” all the Jedi that we encounter would fit that bill. Ahsoka, who did indeed walk away from Anakin and the Jedi Order. Baylan who managed to survive Order 66 and is now working for Morgan in hopes of gaining incredible power as a result of his loyalty toward her. Shin for following her Master into the darker side of the Force. And Anakin, who fell the farthest of them all. So, Sabine’s choice to trust Baylan doesn’t seem like the smartest on the surface, even though his way allows her the chance to see Ezra again. Like so many Star Wars characters before her, Sabine is willing to take a short cut and trust someone who likely doesn’t have her best interests at heart solely because she doesn’t like the alternative presented by her Master. And we all know how well that has worked out, historically, for other characters.

One complaint I have – and it’s a rather minor one, as I’m certain we’ll get more time between the characters in the coming episodes for reasons I’ll get into in a bit – is that I wish we had more time between Ahsoka and Sabine hashing out their differences. Sure, we got the basics (Ahsoka abandoned Sabine during the early days of her training, much like she has walked away from others in her past – a theme I suspect we’re going to dive into in her coming conversation with Anakin), but there wasn’t much in the way of true conversation and connection. Yes, we need to save the real big moments of connection for the climax of the series – I understand how shows like this one work – but there were some opportunities to get a bit more into their relationship before this split. After all, they rarely interacted at all in Rebels, so much of their relationship here happened between the end of that series and the beginning of this one. Which means even major Rebels fans are in the dark about just what brought them together to train and what broke them apart. While the connection between Ezra and Sabine is a key element of this series, the relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine has been presented as the central one of this story. We could have used a bit more time to flesh that out.

But, as I mentioned, I suspect we won’t see these two separated for very long. If you aren’t familiar with the World Between Worlds, it’s a mythical pathway that allows those who access it – in Rebels, it was Ezra who made it in and saved Ahsoka from her duel with Vader in the past and brought her to the future – the ability change events to right things in the past and move between time. While it’s not really time travel, it’s about as close as you can get in Star Wars. And with Ahsoka there, she can presumably travel the path that will take her to Thrawn. Perhaps Anakin will be able to guide her, one last time? But either way, we will not be denied our big show down between Ahsoka and Thrawn, even if we know who’s going to win that one in the end. But before Ahsoka arrives, Sabine is going to get the chance to spend some time with the bad guys. Sure, she’s their prisoner, but Baylan has already taken an interest in her – both as Ahsoka’s latest padawan and as someone who is willing to sacrifice the many for the needs of the one. Everyone knows she lack true Force power, but she still has the ability to be corrupted by her own wants and needs. And that can make her malleable. After all, she’s a highly trained Mandalorian from a high house – she’s useful if you get her on your side. And this might be a good time to point out that in the helmet opening, the Mandalorian helmet was bathed in red, not blue. Just saying.

The story continues to be the tightest live action offering from Dave Filoni thus far. The narrative continues to be clear – the goal is to find Thrawn – and the dialogue feels very reminiscent of the original trilogy (which means it’s all well and good, even if it could be punched up a bit). But, most importantly, Ahsoka has felt fun. This is the type of Star Wars story most of the fanbase has been looking for for awhile. We’re getting lightsaber fights, good characters being seduced by villains, and a hero trying to find her way to redeem herself in her eyes and in the eyes of those who matter most to her. And a major character is communing from beyond the grave! It’s Star Wars at its most basic, but most fun. I’m continuing to enjoy the heck out of Ahoska, taking it for what it is: A characters study of an interesting character as she hunts her white whale.