Television Star Wars: Ahsoka (Disney+) OUT NOW! - Discussion Thread

[Greatoneshere]

That was a really good episode! Apart from that eye-rolling, appalling line in the opening when Huyang starts telling a story I thought this was another strong episode. It was great finally seeing Ezra and I like the actor so far playing him. I was pretty disappointed in this extra-galactic planet (Peridea) though, just being a variation on a desolate, dark force powers/dark magicks infused planet. But it was all shot well enough to look interesting. Beyond that, I did have some questions: 

 

1. Is Peridea being the original, ancient homeworld of the Dathomiri a new thing? I just always assumed it was Dathomir. It was very strange for this ancient, basically unknown in the present extra-galactic planet just having these three very much alive "Great Mothers" just hanging about, and there are nomads wandering the wastes. The planet seems too "alive" with Star Wars-esque things. I always expected where Ezra and Thrawn went as somewhere that would have no civilization to it.

 

2. I assume this will get answered in either the show or in Filoni's upcoming film this series is clearly building to but the current situation between Thrawn and Ezra is strange to me. We left them at the end of Rebels with Thrawn incapacitated and Ezra in control on the bridge as they enter hyperspace. Cut to 12 years later (we're in 11 ABY now) and Thrawn has a deal with the Dathomiri and a suite of soldiers with his starship remaining fueled and running. It's obvious Thrawn and all have been through some shit but somehow Ezra ends up losing control on that bridge but survives for 12 years with tiny alien creatures when Thrawn has an army and neither has stopped or killed the other? There's got to be more to it because if Ezra fucked up and Thrawn has had this army for 12 years now how could they have not stopped Ezra until now? Also Thrawn seems very unconcerned with Ezra, which is also strange, though being Thrawn he's probably trying to play it cool.

 

Either way I loved the look of Thrawn's ship and troopers including the gold-masked leader, Enoch. The fight scene between Sabine and the nomads was good and I'm curious what Baylan is up to. And finally seeing Lars Mikkelsen as live-action Thrawn was great, that voice of his really sells the character so it's good he was brought back (he could lose a few pounds though to match Thrawn's always more svelte figure).  

[CayceG]

Quote

Apart from that eye-rolling, appalling line in the opening when Huyang starts telling a story

 

 

Sorry, I loved that and so did all my friends  

[Greatoneshere]

5 minutes ago, CayceG said:

 

 

Sorry, I loved that and so did all my friends  

 

The A.V. Club reviewer and I hated it - too cutesy, meta and cringe for me. Also very on the nose. But it was a nicely set up moment so I can see some liking it. Cutting to "Far, Far Away" title screen made it worse for me.  

[Reputator]

E. Musk is doing a terrific job playing Thrawn!

 

Really great episode, but if you didn't like the slowness of the last one, this one dials it back a few more pegs, even. Baylan really is the wildcard here. Whatever he's up to could throw the whole story off what would otherwise be a very linear (and frankly predictable) track.

 

4 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

I was pretty disappointed in this extra-galactic planet (Peridea) though, just being a variation on a desolate, dark force powers/dark magicks infused planet. But it was all shot well enough to look interesting.

 

That's exactly what I liked about it. I'm really enjoying this ever deepening foray into this dark mystical side of Star Wars. It definitely gives it a different vibe from other entries the more they delve into it.

 

4 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

2. I assume this will get answered in either the show or in Filoni's upcoming film this series is clearly building to but the current situation between Thrawn and Ezra is strange to me. We left them at the end of Rebels with Thrawn incapacitated and Ezra in control on the bridge as they enter hyperspace. Cut to 12 years later (we're in 11 ABY now) and Thrawn has a deal with the Dathomiri and a suite of soldiers with his starship remaining fueled and running. It's obvious Thrawn and all have been through some shit but somehow Ezra ends up losing control on that bridge but survives for 12 years with tiny alien creatures when Thrawn has an army and neither has stopped or killed the other? There's got to be more to it because if Ezra fucked up and Thrawn has had this army for 12 years now how could they have not stopped Ezra until now? Also Thrawn seems very unconcerned with Ezra, which is also strange, though being Thrawn he's probably trying to play it cool.

 

Ezra has apparently been lying low hoping and waiting for a rescue. Thrawn is obviously stuck too in his broken ship, but yeah you answered your own question. If Thrawn really doesn't care about Ezra or think he's a threat as long as he's stuck on the planet, there's no reason to risk his troops and his plans pursuing him.

[Greatoneshere]

3 hours ago, Reputator said:

That's exactly what I liked about it. I'm really enjoying this ever deepening foray into this dark mystical side of Star Wars. It definitely gives it a different vibe from other entries the more they delve into it.

 

Ezra has apparently been lying low hoping and waiting for a rescue. Thrawn is obviously stuck too in his broken ship, but yeah you answered your own question. If Thrawn really doesn't care about Ezra or think he's a threat as long as he's stuck on the planet, there's no reason to risk his troops and his plans pursuing him.

 

I definitely like the dark mystical side of Star Wars (sans timey-wimey BS from Rebels) but the planet was fairly generic (so far) but I definitely want more dark, mystical stuff. And I agree that Ezra is lying low, but how did he go from having Thrawn on the ropes on the bridge of the Star Destroyer to not killing Thrawn, running away, and laying low? I hope they show us because it's hard to imagine. I suppose the Great Mothers stepped in probably once they arrived.

[69los]

 

Really like Ezra's look here.

 

[CitizenVectron]

I haven't watched this yet (and have no real desire to, after Mando/Boba's downward spiral), but I was shocked how bad Thrawn looks in the clip I saw. 

[CayceG]

Thrawn himself as a character comes across as fine. The voice is perfect. The character is approaching 70 years old anyway, so he's gonna look kinda dumpy.

 

There are two problems with it though, and I think this is where people are disliking the look of the character. 

One is that The Volume's limitations are on full display. This looks like dogshit:

 

 

There's literally a bright white dividing line in the back that separates the real people in the foreground from the digital backing shot. This is not done well. Matte paintings from the original trilogy look better. 

 

The second is that the gravitas of the character relies on foreknowledge of the character from Rebels (or expectations from the EU books). If that isn't something people are familiar with and this is a viewer's first reveal of Thrawn, then this comes off as underwhelming. 

 

[GeneticBlueprint]

On 9/20/2023 at 10:18 AM, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Also, I'm pretty sure that the oblique reference that Baylan made that the Nightsisters are running from "something" will eventually turn out to the be the Yuuzhan Vong

 

Please no. IMO that was such a goofy storyline in the EU with more low points than high.

[Reputator]

2 hours ago, CayceG said:

The second is that the gravitas of the character relies on foreknowledge of the character from Rebels (or expectations from the EU books). If that isn't something people are familiar with and this is a viewer's first reveal of Thrawn, then this comes off as underwhelming. 

 

They have done literally nothing to bring in new viewers into this story and these characters. The best they've done is have Hyugauy (whatever his fucking name is) explain that Jacen is Force sensitive and why. I'm pretty sure that's it.

 

So Thrawn being underwhelming is probably the least concern for a newcomer. I don't think any of this would make sense. Ezra would be completely underwhelming too for that matter.

[CayceG]

Yeah. 

 

I can definitely imagine myself sitting down with my dad--who loves Star Wars, but has never watched the cartoons--and him going "now who is this again?"

 

And that sucks, man. 

 

 

I adore this because I'm DEEP in it. I had a whole pandemic to binge Clone Wars and Rebels. That's not how my dad spent two years. That's not how a ton of nominal Star Wars fans that got brought in by Mandalorian being adventure of the week engages with Star Wars. 

To fully appreciate the entire depth of Ahsoka the show, you have to have watched an 8 year old Disney cartoon series. 

 

The Marvelization of Star Wars is both the best thing for fans like me and the worst thing for the fandom overall. 

[Reputator]

It kind of makes me think the movie is going to be a little bit of a disaster in a way. I'm sure WE'LL love it. But a lot of people won't know who the fuck any of these people are, and there's no way the movie could take the time to explain the backstory without bogging the whole thing down in exposition, and boring the fans that already know.

 

This isn't like the MCU, where to follow it you only had to watch like 8 prior movies. There's dozens of hours of show content to cover, and reading a few wikipedia articles isn't exactly going to emotionally engage you.

[TwinIon]

Matt Singer over at Screen Crush has an interesting observation about how these Star Wars shows seem to have dispensed with cross cutting and parallel editing. I think it's a good point, and it definitely seems like it can sacrifice episode to episode pacing. I wonder if there is something about how these shows are made that incentivizes them to focus primarily on a single storyline for an episode.

 

I think there is a good case to be made for some episodes to stand alone. Ahsoka ep 5 is the kind of thing that shouldn't have been edited as a B-plot across multiple episodes, but it's an outlier.

[GeneticBlueprint]

Ahsoka was never a terribly interesting character to me. I understand her appeal but she just wasn’t interesting for me. But I honestly don’t see how anybody could be interested in Dawson’s absolutely one note portrayal of her in everything she’s been in. Just so completely one note and boring.

 

I also agree with the criticism that people who haven’t seen the cartoons will be completely lost. And as somebody who loved the old EU Thrawn I really liked his intro in this show. But yeah that would be totally underwhelming for people who haven’t heard the name.

 

But I think every other aspect of this show is top notch and I’m enjoying it on the whole. 

[CitizenVectron]

The entire reboot of the Legends canon was a mistake (which is not to say the Legends canon was actually good), and if I had the money to buy Star Wars I would make a movie that ends with Grogu time travelling back to ROTJ and having everyone in the galaxy die when the Death Star II explodes. Everything after 1983 has been a mistake (with maybe an exception for the OG Thrawn Trilogy of books).

 

Oh also, the Death Stars explosion is a shockwave that travels back in time and also kills everything from behind A New Hope.

 

The OT was so good that every single thing since (then except Lucas' PT fever dream) is just an attempt to recreate some of that magic. It's like having that favourite band that put out 2-3 good albums and then 9 mediocre ones, and each time a new album comes out they say "it's really like the early stuff!" but it never is.

 

The only thing that could help Star Wars at this point is to tell stories that have nothing to do with anything that has come before...but that is the one thing that Disney won't ever do.

[CayceG]

26 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Ahsoka was never a terribly interesting character to me. I understand her appeal but she just wasn’t interesting for me. But I honestly don’t see how anybody could be interested in Dawson’s absolutely one note portrayal of her in everything she’s been in. Just so completely one note and boring.

 

I also agree with the criticism that people who haven’t seen the cartoons will be completely lost. And as somebody who loved the old EU Thrawn I really liked his intro in this show. But yeah that would be totally underwhelming for people who haven’t heard the name.

 

But I think every other aspect of this show is top notch and I’m enjoying it on the whole. 

 

Ahsoka is indeed suffering from the Book of Boba Fett problem in that she is the least interesting character in her own show. This is Rebels Season 5 and Ahsoka was a side character in like 1.5 seasons of Rebels. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

Also another thing I like: one thing about this show and the Disney era in general is that the lightsaber fights are the best in the saga. It feels like, with rare exception, they’re actually trying to hit each other and block attacks instead of being fancy or outdated.  

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

On 9/21/2023 at 3:37 PM, CayceG said:

The character is approaching 70 years old anyway, so he's gonna look kinda dumpy.

Season 1 of Rebels took place 5 years before A New Hope. It hasn’t been that long since Thrawn has been gone. I think it has been longer in terms of time in real life since season 4 of Rebels than it has in the Star Wars universe. lol 

 

im really fine it with, it doesn’t bother me. Just saying is all. :P 

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

Season 1 of Rebels took place 5 years before A New Hope. It hasn’t been that long since Thrawn has been gone. I think it has been longer in terms of time in real life since season 4 of Rebels than it has in the Star Wars universe. lol 

 

im really fine it with, it doesn’t bother me. Just saying is all. :P 

 

It's been 12 years since the end of Star Wars Rebels within the Star Wars timeline. Rebels takes place over the course of 4 years, with the final season ending one year before the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope (so 1 BBY). It's been 11 years since the Battle of Yavin and since Ahsoka takes place during the same time as The Mandalorian season 3, which is 11 years ABY, so it's been 12 years since the end of Rebels (1 BBY + 11 ABY). It's only been 5 years since Rebels' last episode aired in March 2018, so 12 years is decently longer than 5 years.  Thrawn being gone from the universe for 12 years isn't a long time, but it probably feels like one for the characters since an entire civil war came and went and an entire empire was overthrown and a new government instituted by the rebels Thrawn was fighting.

 

Twelve years ago it was 2011, which doesn't feel that long ago, but Trump going down that escalator in 2015 has made the last 8 years feel like an eternity, especially during his first presidential run and presidency. For context, 2011 was before George Lucas had even sold Star Wars to Disney.

[Reputator]

Not much to say about this episode. Meh, it was fine.

[CayceG]

Solid ep. It sets up the finale and we got some good emotional beats between Sabine and Ezra. Also, the lightsaber/force combat was brief but very exciting. Ezra is easily one of my favorite Jedi characters (behind Kanan and Ahsoka). 

 

 

Also, Dave Filoni can't write a courtroom procedural to save his life. Opener was clunkier than a CIS Battle Droid.

 

That said...

 

[Kal-El814]

I’m very happy that Andor is what it is and Ahsoka is what it is. Different vibes and I’m for all of it.

 

That said it is very funny that Mon Mothma is in both. She’s all business in Andor and in Ahsoka? Threepio shows up with a floppy disk, name drops Leia, Mon treats him like they’re BFFs before exonerating Hera without bothering to look at the evidence, then cops to running a sham trial on Leia’s behalf within earshot of everyone while Chopper is pissed that the Republic didn’t acknowledge his war crimes. No notes.

[SoberChef]

On 9/21/2023 at 5:16 PM, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

Please no. IMO that was such a goofy storyline in the EU with more low points than high.

 

The concept of the Vong was one I always thought was interesting, I think in execution, it wasn't handled well. Still though, there are SO many elements of what is now "Legends" that I miss, still have love for, & yearn for to be brought to life ... alas it probably won't come to pass...at least how it is in my head cannon anyways.

[Greatoneshere]

This was a fun episode but almost completely plot-less. Nothing happens to move or push the story much. Every single scene with Ahsoka is one fight action after another (nice to see Anakin holo-recordings though), and for some reason Sabine and Ezra keep avoiding talking about the current situation everyone's in. We still don't know what Baylan's really up to either. It makes sense that Ahsoka has to run this gauntlet Thrawn has set up for her, but the episode spends so much time on it rather than getting to better or juicier plot stuff. Crossover movie or not, a lot has to now happen in the finale for the show. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

4 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

This was a fun episode but almost completely plot-less. Nothing happens to move or push the story much. Every single scene with Ahsoka is one fight action after another (nice to see Anakin holo-recordings though), and for some reason Sabine and Ezra keep avoiding talking about the current situation everyone's in. We still don't know what Baylan's really up to either. It makes sense that Ahsoka has to run this gauntlet Thrawn has set up for her, but the episode spends so much time on it rather than getting to better or juicier plot stuff. Crossover movie or not, a lot has to now happen in the finale for the show. 

 

All of this. A real dud IMO. And I didn't realize we were only getting eight episodes. I suppose that makes sense since a lot of the shows have had that length. But that makes it even more of a dud for me since they now have to squeeze a bunch into the finale. I've liked the formula that a lot of shows have used in this era of TV to have the penultimate episode be a real banger and have the finale let you breathe and set up a little for the next season. That's definitely not the case here it would seem.

[jinx8402]

My guess is that Sabine, Ezra and Ahsoka get stranded on Peridea. Season 2 will focus on them stopping Baylan from whatever he's after and getting back to the main galaxy. Thrawn escapes and starts building his army which will lead to the crossover movie that was announced. 

 

Really sucks about Ray Stevenson. His portrayal as Baylan is perfect and will be tough to get someone to fill his shoes 

[CayceG]

I don't think this gets resolved next week. I think it's setup for the Filoni movie or a 2nd season. 

[DPCyric]

2 hours ago, jinx8402 said:

My guess is that Sabine, Ezra and Ahsoka get stranded on Peridea. Season 2 will focus on them stopping Baylan from whatever he's after and getting back to the main galaxy. Thrawn escapes and starts building his army which will lead to the crossover movie that was announced. 

 

Really sucks about Ray Stevenson. His portrayal as Baylan is perfect and will be tough to get someone to fill his shoes 

 

Fuck I didn't even know he passed away  Baylan has really stood out as being one of the best of the show and I'm way more interested in what he is up to then the rest of the stuff.

[jinx8402]

12 hours ago, CayceG said:

I don't think this gets resolved next week. I think it's setup for the Filoni movie or a 2nd season. 

Yeah, this is why I think Ahsoka and the gang get stuck in Peridea while Thrawn escapes. Also gives time for Thrawn to build up his army for the movie Filoni is directing that they said would be the culmination of the Mando-verse.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

On 9/27/2023 at 11:51 AM, Greatoneshere said:

This was a fun episode but almost completely plot-less. Nothing happens to move or push the story much. Every single scene with Ahsoka is one fight action after another (nice to see Anakin holo-recordings though), and for some reason Sabine and Ezra keep avoiding talking about the current situation everyone's in. We still don't know what Baylan's really up to either. It makes sense that Ahsoka has to run this gauntlet Thrawn has set up for her, but the episode spends so much time on it rather than getting to better or juicier plot stuff. Crossover movie or not, a lot has to now happen in the finale for the show. 

I actually didn’t like the Anakin recording. It’s in contrast to her interaction and lesson with Anakin a few episodes ago. It would have fit more for Ahsoka to be listening to a recording or holicron where she’s hearing a deeper truth or meaning to the Force. Something she maybe didn’t understand when she was younger, because she was so focused on the War and being a warrior. Instead she’s learning to fight. It was a scene that would have made sense to happen before she met Anakin in the World between Worlds. 
 

If there’s one thing that undermines this whole show’s premise it is that we know Thrawn didn’t succeed, because the First Order and the Sequel Trilogy. Maybe this whole thing will be Thrawn essentially creating the First Order and then being killed by Snoke because he figures out it’s all part of Palpatine’s plan to return. Blah blah blah. 
 

I kind of just wish this show felt more low stakes and not some “OMG Thrawn will come back and make Empire 2.0, and all will be lost if he returns! 😱” I’ve kind of been disliking that angle since live Action Ahsoka was introduced in Mandalorian season 2. The motivation should have always been to find Ezra and bring him home. While finding Thrawn and any of his fleet still alive and trying to get back should have been something that happens after Ahsoka got to the other universe. Not plot A. But maybe the point was to have a Moby Dick inspired story for Ahsoka. 

[johnny]

you’re all miserable nerds for complaining. enjoy the fucking food 

[cusideabelincoln]

On 9/30/2023 at 1:18 PM, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

I actually didn’t like the Anakin recording. It’s in contrast to her interaction and lesson with Anakin a few episodes ago. It would have fit more for Ahsoka to be listening to a recording or holicron where she’s hearing a deeper truth or meaning to the Force. Something she maybe didn’t understand when she was younger, because she was so focused on the War and being a warrior. Instead she’s learning to fight. It was a scene that would have made sense to happen before she met Anakin in the World between Worlds. 
 

If there’s one thing that undermines this whole show’s premise it is that we know Thrawn didn’t succeed, because the First Order and the Sequel Trilogy. Maybe this whole thing will be Thrawn essentially creating the First Order and then being killed by Snoke because he figures out it’s all part of Palpatine’s plan to return. Blah blah blah. 
 

I kind of just wish this show felt more low stakes and not some “OMG Thrawn will come back and make Empire 2.0, and all will be lost if he returns! 😱” I’ve kind of been disliking that angle since live Action Ahsoka was introduced in Mandalorian season 2. The motivation should have always been to find Ezra and bring him home. While finding Thrawn and any of his fleet still alive and trying to get back should have been something that happens after Ahsoka got to the other universe. Not plot A. But maybe the point was to have a Moby Dick inspired story for Ahsoka. 

 

Vague, mixed messaging is the standard for SW.

 

On 9/20/2023 at 4:04 PM, Greatoneshere said:

That was a really good episode! Apart from that eye-rolling, appalling line in the opening when Huyang starts telling a story I thought this was another strong episode. It was great finally seeing Ezra and I like the actor so far playing him. I was pretty disappointed in this extra-galactic planet (Peridea) though, just being a variation on a desolate, dark force powers/dark magicks infused planet. But it was all shot well enough to look interesting. Beyond that, I did have some questions: 

 

1. Is Peridea being the original, ancient homeworld of the Dathomiri a new thing? I just always assumed it was Dathomir. It was very strange for this ancient, basically unknown in the present extra-galactic planet just having these three very much alive "Great Mothers" just hanging about, and there are nomads wandering the wastes. The planet seems too "alive" with Star Wars-esque things. I always expected where Ezra and Thrawn went as somewhere that would have no civilization to it.

 

2. I assume this will get answered in either the show or in Filoni's upcoming film this series is clearly building to but the current situation between Thrawn and Ezra is strange to me. We left them at the end of Rebels with Thrawn incapacitated and Ezra in control on the bridge as they enter hyperspace. Cut to 12 years later (we're in 11 ABY now) and Thrawn has a deal with the Dathomiri and a suite of soldiers with his starship remaining fueled and running. It's obvious Thrawn and all have been through some shit but somehow Ezra ends up losing control on that bridge but survives for 12 years with tiny alien creatures when Thrawn has an army and neither has stopped or killed the other? There's got to be more to it because if Ezra fucked up and Thrawn has had this army for 12 years now how could they have not stopped Ezra until now? Also Thrawn seems very unconcerned with Ezra, which is also strange, though being Thrawn he's probably trying to play it cool.

 

Either way I loved the look of Thrawn's ship and troopers including the gold-masked leader, Enoch. The fight scene between Sabine and the nomads was good and I'm curious what Baylan is up to. And finally seeing Lars Mikkelsen as live-action Thrawn was great, that voice of his really sells the character so it's good he was brought back (he could lose a few pounds though to match Thrawn's always more svelte figure).  

 

Every other planet looks the same in these D+ shows. There were many sparsely-grassed, low-rolling hills in Mando.

 

I've just had to accept that you really can't analyze the logistics of the show. Filoni, as the sole credited writer, definitely seems to focus on reverence for the past and doing cool stuff, and plays loosely with how he gets there.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

12 hours ago, cusideabelincoln said:

Every other planet looks the same in these D+ shows. There were many sparsely-grassed, low-rolling hills in Mando.

I suspect that’s because of how easy it is using The Volume. But to be fair to the show the Forrest on the planet a few episodes ago was really interesting visually. At least compared to most planets we’ve been seeing in live action Star Wars shows. But then back to a planet that makes the plains of Oklahoma look interesting. 

[Reputator]

Well, you guys were right about the ending just being a set up for the new movie. That was pretty ho-hum to be honest.

 

 

 

 

So Ahsoka was afraid to train Sabine because she thought she might be too dangerous. And yeah, we finally see her use the force. OK. Great. Still feels tacked onto her character, but why not?

 

The Night Troopers being undead was confirmed. Morgan becoming a witch was short lived and didn't lead up to anything. Whatever Baylan was up to wasn't shown, and won't ever get a satisfying conclusion because of Ray Stevenson's passing. I'm pretty underwhelmed overall. The last two episodes just felt like chess moves to get the characters to positions where they need to be to start the next big thing. In general I'm not a fan of movies/series/whatever that can't stand on its own, and it seems like this series really was built as a support structure for future movies, with no real emotional payoff or complete arc of its own, other than Ezra getting home.

[johnny]

AMAZING season finale

 

LETS FUCKING GO