By Julian
I’m back watching Star Wars again! And…it feels like coming back to an old friend who is still having troubles like its other cousin Marvel. I was interested in this show because The Mandalorian started to suck in its last season. The Book of Boba Fett was not great as well. Another reason is that they brought back Ahsoka Tano who I was very interested in seeing her character again after watching a good amount of episodes of The Clone Wars and a few episodes she appeared in in season two of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. However, I think the problem is I have not watched all of The Clone Wars or Rebels to understand what’s happening. I just read the cliff notes online to catch up. Will Star Wars: Ahsoka be as great as The Mandalorian? The answer to that is to go back to the galaxy, far, far away to see if it is a great series.
Part One: Master and Apprentice opens with former Jedi who somehow survived Order 66 offscreen in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith turned Dark Jedi Baylon Skroll (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) attacking a New Republic cruiser to rescue Morgan Elsbeth who was previously captured by Ahsoka a long time ago. Elsewhere, Jedi Master Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) retrieves a star map before she is assaulted by Sith robots and barely escapes the robots’ self-destruction of the excavation site on the planet. She meets up with New Republic General Hera Syndulla (Mara Elizabeth Winstead) to try to understand the contents of the star map. To do so, she has to request the help of her former apprentice, Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) to unlock the map. After she successfully figures out the puzzle revealing the location of her friend and Jedi knight Ezra Bridger, she is intercepted by Hati who ends up stealing the star map.
Part Two: Toil and Trouble picks up immediately with Wren recovering in the hospital from her duel with Hati and Tano going off to find one of the droids who help steal the star map. Meanwhile, Skroll and Hati take the star map to Elsbeth who opens it and reveals the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn (from Rebels and Legends lore) who is trapped in another galaxy. Wren traces the droids back to the New Republic shipyards in Corellia as Tano and Syndulla discover that a big hyperdrive was being built by spies loyal to the Galactic Empire. Tano duels a former Sith Inquisitor named Marrok while Syndulla and her astrometch droid Chopper attach a tracking beacon to the hyperdrive transport. As the New Republic soldiers arrest the shipyard workers, Tano is contacted by Wren notifying her that she is ready to be her Padawan again. Elsewhere, Elsbeth is contacted by her Dark Jedi acquaintances as she lays out her master plan to acquire the Eye of Sion, start up the hyperdrive, and bring back Thrawn. A plot in which Skroll warns Elsbeth that Ahsoka will not stop in her resolve to bring her down.
Not much has happened other than two separate parties off searching for people they have “lost”. Dawson’s take on the live-action version of the titular character is pretty interesting despite my having seen the cartoon version of the character in a few instances. Everyone else is just up in the air at this point. If I had dedicated my time to watching the rest of The Clone Wars and Rebels, I would be more up-to-date and cared more. But then again it reminds me of the MCU, do I have to watch everything related to this show to understand it? So, here’s hoping it’s not going to be a mixed-bore fest like Secret Invasion (even though I liked the show) and be interesting. The staccato-esque conversation dialogue and grandiose nature of Star Wars nowadays are probably worrisome for me and how it is shown because it had almost put me to sleep. (sigh) Let’s hope Star Wars: Ahsoka is not another dud from Disney.
Star Wars: Ahsoka Episodes 1-2 are great set-up episodes for what will be an interesting Star Wars series that expands upon the events of The Clone Wars and Rebels in a semi re-telling of the Heir to the Empire Legends novel that fans will enjoy watching.
