Ahsoka Ahsoka Episode 1.05 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

It was quite confusing in the Rebels as well And a bit weird... space whales jumping into hyperspace are there on the edge of ridiculous, but sure we have seen weird stuff in Star Wars before. Even weirder really.

Love the GIF though.

 

The location could be another factor. Hera was able to feel Kanan's presence near the temple on Lothal.

I'm guessing this is more like what you were looking for in the third episode.

 

Maybe she just has more midichlorians than Sabine then...

 

When watching the TCW, you know Ahsoka is young, but having actual pre-teen actress play drove home the need for more GFFA social workers. Seeing a mother leaving her son with a homicidal droid next to a steep cliff is bothersome.

As Ahsoka feels like Rebels rising from the animation, the WBW CW flashback, was even more so. However, Captain Rex said 3 words and didn't take his helmet off. I wanted to see how they'd do his blonde buzz cut. And still NO Ezra. If Cpt Rex saying 3 words is cameo, maybe the hologram is all we get of Ezra.

Jacen = most boring Jedi ever.

 

Do we have any actual confirmation Hera even did hear it? if she didn't it's more reasonable to believe she tried, couldn't, and just believes in her son because hes her son and this feels like something she's come to believe could be possible based on all that she's seen and heard from force users before and because she may not yet be comfortable letting him know how different he truly is from
her as his mom.

if she did hear it then presumably he sent the sounds he heard to her through the force. The kid is clearly pretty powerful already.

 

A lot of talk about "how can people who didn't watch the prior shows possibly follow!"

Honestly, this stuff isn't so complex. My 13 year old son's (twins ) are watching it with me and have never seen the shows (to my chagrin...curse you anime!) and follow along just fine.

That being said, I do think the show is doing a good job of peppering in information. It's ok, and arguably better, to not understand how all the peices fit from the get go.

Pulp fiction comes to mind.

 

I've never seen Rebels.

Not confused at all.

 

This episode was a great reminder that Star Wars is powered by the mythic. Big, bold imagery. So many projects in the last few years have gone for different approaches, not all bad, but somehow losing that primal feeling like it's out of a legend. Seeing Anakin Skywalker back in the flesh, progressing his chronological narrative past ROTJ for the first time on screen alongside Ahsoka was one such incredible legend.

I think they got Anakin's personality exactly right. He was the lighthearted joker of his Jedi days, but somehow harsher as a teacher, feeling like a man who'd gone through the darkness and come out restored, yet undeniably changed. The episode used its flashbacks for more than a simple nostalgic trip into the Clone Wars, managing to explore an actual gap in the narrative by going all the way back to showing Ahsoka dealing with her earliest reactions to the horrors of war and her place as a soldier. The way that managed to reflect her current struggles trying to mould Sabine in the same way was a great way to tie things all together.

Having not read the rest of this thread yet, I had two things that made me think of specific fan reactions. The first being obviously that @Deliveranze was probably in bliss, finally getting Dark Side Anakin with a red blade, duelling like he'd strolled out of ROTS. If this isn't his favourite SW thing in 18 years I'd be mightily impressed

The other was that Filoni clearly read @Bor Mullet's complaint two weeks ago that the reveal of the Purgills was underdone, with a weak score. Here the moment was given all the weight it deserved, capturing the mighty scale of the whales with an angelic choir to match. There was such a sense of subtle whimsy from Rosario Dawson's performance in that scene, delighting in the wonders of the Force and the galaxy. Her new Ahsoka the White outfit was also fantastic - the image of such an alien being in that rustic robe, standing amidst the cloud was arresting imagery.

Edit: Although when the episode's title flashed up I could think of only thing:


Filoni knows how to honour the great episodes of SW past

 

Also regarding unnecessary cameos - Bo-Katan's one would've been not unwelcome.

 

First of all...
... Wow, chilIs!
Can't really put together much more right now ...watched at 5AM here and felt the whole day, even at work, like I somehow still half was with them in the WBW...

yup.....stop living to fight but keep fighting to live? Fighting is a mean to survive but shall not be the purpose of your life...
Because otherwise the dark side is near
Her eyes briefly turn sith right when she almost strikes him....but she stops and throws the saber and " chooses to live"
Test is passed and Anakin reverts
IMO he is the Father now and he is not " turning the dark side and coming back"
He is the chosen one and therefore in complete balance between light and dark (beware : balance does not mean equally light and dark, balance between two things can be 99% of one and 1% of the other, just not 100% of one!)
Lot to say there but can't really explain myself right now
Anyway for me the message was clear Enough and it was beautiful
And Hayden... Oh boy,magnificent !
And outstanding how he literally fusioned with Matt Lanter's TCW Anakin....

Sorry, WHAT?
This is just...maybe let's read again what you write here and think about it?
So to lead in combat you need to be hot and young and have hairs?
l'd choose someone like Carson to fly at my side over any ffing hot shot ****boy with luscious hairs and an oversized ... ego... on the market
He is clearly a skilled and experienced pilot,with a great sense of justice and honor but has common sense and knows when you need to follow rules and when you need some " bending" to get through...
I could go on but let me just say this out loud...
TO ALL THE CARSON TEEVA'S OUT THERE IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY BUT ALSO IN OUR GALAXY AND ALL THE OTHERS:
Screw the "hot shots"...this Jedi here (and many more with me) would choose you anytime to fly at my side and would not regret it!
Phoenix Leader Out!

 

….

Haha. I think you’re in part kidding but it’s true.

The Star Wars galaxy is a dangerous place compared to where most of us are living. It requires people to grow up fast. Life has a frontier wilderness quality in the remote areas and the urban areas have as much in common with ancient civilizations as with modern city life.

Most of the kids we’ve seen work. Luke is a farm hand. Leia is a senator. Padme a queen. Anakin a slave who works in a shop and is a professional racer. Boba Fett is a bounty hunter in training who fires Slave 1’s canons at Obi-Wan. Mon Mothma married off her (willing) daughter to form a political alliance. I don’t really understand what Rey’s deal was and how if she was living alone like that since age 8 didn’t become the feral child from Road Warrior.

 

Safety has never been a design priority in SW.

9 year old Anakin raced pods in an official tournament.
There are no railings on the Death Star platforms.
People drive in flying convertibles 10,000 feet up in the sky at death defying speeds on Coruscant.

Safety is boring.

 

That would have made sense. Under a helmet it defiantly could work. Deaging plus the character’s age discrepancy make it a little more tricky.

I’ve seen the clone wars final. For people who haven’t: did this episode make it clear the battle was red Maul
Mandos vs the Clone Army and Blue Mandos?

 

I was really sad that Ashley didn't play young Ahsoka. Yes I know she is almost as old as Rosario but she is shorter and with makeup and cgi it could have worked. I remember in 2019 when she posted a picture of herself cying on Instagram because she lost a role or something. At the time no one knew why but in hindsight it was obvious she auditioned for live action Ahsoka on Mandalorian S2 and didn't get the part. Not taking anyhing away from Rosario or the young actress who played Ahsoka but it would have been a nice gesture considering how much she put into the character. I'm glad there seems to be no bad blood though, she returned for Tales of the Jedi and really happy posing with Rosario at Celebration. I just hope with 3 episides left they gave her some kind of a role on a show called "Ahsoka".

 

I’ll say this. Every interview or behind the scenes PR spot / documentary I’ve seen that touched on Ashoka has Dave Filioni, Dawson, or someone else make a point to acknowledge Ashley as the originator of the role and the huge impact her performance has on the character and portrayal of Ahsoka in live action.

 

This episode hit a lot of my Star Wars boxes, and seemed like it didn't hold the hand of the uninitiated viewer. I wasn't sure what to think when I knew that Jacen Syndulla would be accompanying his mother aboard the Ghost, but wow, the boy is good, eh? He sounds like a real kid, how he remembered the story of the Purgill from years ago that his mother had told him. He's right up there with the girl who played the young Leia, just a good kid actor.
This show is a welcome escape from our real life miseries!

Some people don't like nostalgia, or having fun. I'm probably one of a few people on here that's liked all of the Disney TV series (excepting Resistance...) and 2/3 of the Sequel Trilogy. This episode was incredible, and Filoni can keep on feeding us nostalgia like those Clone Wars scenes!

I really can't imagine trying to convince people to like anything anymore. Everyone is closed off into their own echo chambers, unwilling to listen to the other side. I liked the Mods from Book of Boba Fett! Like what you like, enjoy it with other people who like it.

I have a sixth scale Jabba the Hutt in my display, and whenever I get a Cassian figure, he will be by Jabba's side on the throne, rubbing his tummy. The way Diego pronounces Jabba "Yabba" is so endearing.

 

Watched it a second time. Again I am so glad Ahsoka just seems more lively as Ahsoka the white. Which is kinda the point I would suspect.

 

It’s completely the point.

Re: the uninitiated understanding this - my wife doesn’t even know what Rebels or TCW is, and she understood everything perfectly fine. And was very moved by it. There was a Terrence Malick quality to the whole stretch from Ahsoka getting rescued to the ending, she said. Healing through imagery.

 

Yes and am glad of it. As her lack of emotions was taking down the show in the first 3 episodes.

 

After watching it a second time, I don’t think there’s enough superlatives to describe Hayden’s performance.

He perfectly embodied the cocky, firm light sided Anakin and the menacing dark sided Anakin. There’s so many shots where he and Ahsoka (don’t know the name of the young Ahsoka actress) depict stances from TCW.

He moves forward into the distance as Anakin, surrounded by friends and brothers in arms, then his lightsaber turns red and he becomes Vader and all of a sudden he’s alone.

While I appreciate some of the sentiment around the flashbacks and how they weren’t that cinematically brilliant.. we’ve already seen the clone wars and what’s going on around them. This is focusing on the lesson that Anakin is trying to teach Ahsoka so we don’t need to see the wider view and the cloudiness perfectly encapsulates that for me.

The lesson as I see it, is that Anakin needs Ahsoka to choose between living (letting go of the past, letting go of her guilt over Anakin’s fall - moving forward) and dying (being suffocated by the past and holding onto that guilt). She chooses to ‘live’ unlike Anakin who chose to ‘die’ when he became Vader

From all the snippets and reviews I’d seen in the week leading up to the episode I was expecting something groundbreaking that would change Star Wars forever which is how some described it. As a result, while I was sat with my jaw to the floor in nostalgic amazement I missed some of the subtle brilliance because of that.

Having Ahsoka chose to live and us visibly seeing a difference in her character and demeanor is fantastic

The other thing I would say is that they’re doing a good job of making the NR seem completely inept. I don’t know if Hera has done this a lot, but stripping her of her rank seems a bit excessive no ? In some ways I think it’s good because while I’m not a fan of the ST it does enhance the story of TFA, but I would prefer the NR’s ineptitude to be a bit more nuanced. Like in the first episode where they perfectly explain that an empire doesn’t turn into a republic overnight, and the same people working for the NR are almost 90% the same people who were doing the same jobs under the empire

 

Ahsoka is black. A white actress can't play ever. Stop with that.

 

Did everyone forget that Hayden as Anakin was all over, around, above and below the Obi Wan series?

Is so many acting as if they haven't seen him on screen since 2005 some mass lacwac induced amnesia or something?