After last week’s adventure into the past of Ahsoka herself, this week the series provided the character (and Rosario Dawson) a bit of a respite as the bulk of the story moved on to Peridea and the arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn to the world of live action Star Wars (portrayed here, as in animated form, but the exceptional Lars Mikkelsen). Although the series was keen to remind us in Ahsoka’s one scene that she continues to worry that Sabine’s choice to pursue Ezra rather than take steps to protect the galaxy from Thrawn at all costs might signal something more dark to Sabine’s fate than simply a young person’s short-sighted desire to find her lost family member (and, considering that helmet of hers continues to flash red in the opening credits, Ahsoka might not be overreacting here – especially in light of her recent journey into her past relationship with Anakin, another person who was all too willing to place the fate of one over the fate of the many). But that’s something we’ll get to delve into during next week’s penultimate episode, I’m sure. This week, it was all about Sabine and her journey to find Ezra reaching its close.
And how lovely was it to see how happy those two were to see one another again after all these years? I’m sure Ezra has a heck of a story to tell – Thrawn’s desire to have him taken off the game board permanently speaks to the idea that he’s been a continual thorn in Thrawn’s side over the years in some way (as does Ezra’s creation of his own tiny Rebel Alliance). But boy, is Ezra going to be disappointed when he hears just how Sabine managed to arrive in Peridea – the deal with Baylan, the handing over of the map, the encounter with Thrawn. Ezra was willing to risk his life to ensure that Thrawn was banished from the galaxy and Sabine was willing to give him a way back solely to see Ezra again? That’s not what Ezra would have wanted – no matter how much he wants to go home.
And, come to think of it, just how are they planning on getting home? We now know that the purrgil come to Peridea to die at the end of their lifecycle. Is it possible that some survive to return? Sure, but it sounded pretty much like a one-way trip via purrgil to get here – at least it certainly was for Thrawn and Ezra, or else they would have hitched another ride at some time. So, the only way anyone is getting back to the prime galaxy is via Morgan’s ship’s hyperspace capabilities. Which means there’s bound to be some skirmish in the next two episodes to see just who gets to hitch that ride.
Now, while the Ezra and Sabine reunion was all well and good, the most interesting portion of the episode, to me, was the interactions between Baylan and Shin. Yes, we got a bit more about Baylan’s past – how the burning of the Jedi Temple was the moment he realized he needed to get out. But it was his insistence that the same patterns repeat themselves over and over in the galaxy that piqued my interest. After all, we know he’s right in terms of what’s to come in the Star Wars timeline – Luke trying to restart the Jedi Order, the First Order rising and the Jedi falling, then Rey deciding she wants to restart the Jedi Order. To quote another great sci-fi series, all of this has happened before and all of this will happen again. Baylan is participating in this action solely to achieve some type of power – many are positing that he wants access to the World Between Worlds, but we still don’t quite know what – but not the type of power that would include ruling the galaxy. He’s not the Emperor or Darth Vader. He doesn’t want control over other, he wants personal power, which makes him a tad different than Force-wielding villains we’ve seen before.
However, it doesn’t appear that Shin Hoti is so fully onboard with Baylan’s plan – or with Thrawn’s orders to kill Sabine and Ezra. Throughout the episode, she kept throwing looks at Sabine – sizing her up, checking to ensure she was still there, or just curiously trying to figure out why one person would be worth giving up control of that map. And when she heard that Baylan was content to consider his promise to Sabine fulfilled, she didn’t look all that convinced. Perhaps she has a greater moral compass than her Master? Maybe she is intrigued that a person could care enough about another to risk the lives of many for their survival? Maybe I’m just reading way too much into this and she truly doesn’t care and wants Sabine dead? We know, from watching other Star Wars stories, that a fight is destined between Baylan and Ezra and Shin and Sabine (third time’s a charm and all that) and I’m sure that’s what we’re going to get next week. But there’s a part of me that wouldn’t be shocked if Shin decided during that fight that she wasn’t so accepting of her Master’s plan – that perhaps there’s something to this having friends who you care about. Again, it wouldn’t be the first time that a villain made a moral choice at the last minute. But, who knows? I just think that would make things a bit more interesting – as we’ve already seen that Baylan is much more a mercenary than a Sith thus far – if there was a bit more to these characters than villains destined to die at the hands of our heroes.
And then there’s Thrawn, up to his old tricks in terms of learning everything there is to learn about a foe in hopes of completely understanding them to best them (while I haven’t watched Rebels, I do know that his focus on the history and culture of those he faces is a key component in his understanding their strengths and weaknesses – thus allowing him to gain the upper hand in battle). Once he discovers just who Ahsoka’s Master was, well, I suspect that guilt – and Ahsoka’s worries regarding Sabine – will be used with scalpel-like accuracy to try and best Ahsoka. And it is then that we will see just how much Ahsoka’s own inner demons were quieted by her journey in the World Between Worlds last week – and how much work she still needs to do on her own before she can truly be content.
I really enjoyed this episode – although boy, that dialogue still feels pretty stilted – and was happy to see the storyline continuing to churn toward the inevitable clashes of the penultimate episode. After years of searching, Ahsoka is about to come face-to-face with her white whale, Grand Admiral Thrawn. I, for one, cannot wait to see just what that confrontation entails.
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