Ahsoka Ahsoka Episode 1.03 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Alright episode, but a bit dull at times.

I'm sure they'll later give more significance to Sabine's training, but so far it has felt pretty pointless. Like they are banging their head against the wall. Sabine cannot be jedi it seems and it's hard to see the point Ahsoka is making with all of this? If she wants Sabine to be herself why all this forced jedi business? It doesn't feel like it has a point. Seems like a waste of their time and waste of viewers time to be honest. Yeah we had homage to Luke taking his first step into a larger world, but this time it was just Sabine stumbling to the floor... I hope they come up later with some significance to all of this since now it feels like it's just there to fill up the time in this already short episode.

Space battles were nice, there too we had ANH homage with falcon gunnery that we have seen so much already it kinda feels bit boring now. We had that in TFA, The Clone Wars, Rebels and Solo and there was no reason to do it all over again, but they did it once more. Oh well it was a decent space fight I guess since it was not a complete copy of any previos scene. I liked Ahsoka's space walk, first time in Live Action SW we actually had zero-G scenes like that. That was nice touch.

This show is a bit too predictable so far. They also waste time repeating things they already established. "It looks like a hyperspace ring, let's confirm it.... it is indeed a hyperspace ring!" "It seems unlikely Thrawn could have survived... but then again maybe he could've survived.... but it is very unlikely he did... but then it's not completely impossible he did" and the Sabine's training is the worst example of this phenomenon. "But I cannot use the Force... Feel the Force around you.... but I cannot use the Force....you cannot use the Force.... but it's still around you, feel it... I cannot..." It feels tad bit redundant and just pointless from storytelling perspective. It's like they just play time to make more episodes than would be needed to tell this story. Instead of 8 episodes one tv-movie could've worked better with this story unless they really change the gear soon.

Sure all viewers already know Thrawn and Ezra did survive so thinking if they did, while makes sense in-universe is pretty pointless discussion to watch for the viewer. I hope we don't have to see more of this discussion. The New Republic doesn't help so unfortunately we don't probably see Mon Mothma again. It was nice to see her after she was so good in Andor. That show really made me to appreciate her efforts more since we knew what she had to sacrifice for it so her character is always nice to see again, even though her Republic will ultimately fall as we know now. Kazuda's dad is not that interesting character now, but I see they try to connect all material by references whenever they can. But I would've much more wanted to see Borsk Fey'lya for example. Where are all bothans in new canon?

Jacen appeared now, will we see more of him in this show? Maybe. But hard to say. Didn't see if he still has those green "elven ears" under his hair.

In the next episode we see some grunts trying to fight Ahsoka and Sabine which doesn't sound too interesting. Ahsoka possibly meeting Baylan which is more interesting and hopefully more Hera too. While she isn't exactly like animated Hera I would like to see more of her in this show. I have never liked Sabine that much really so it's good to have other characters in this show to follow. Bad guys seem more interesting really as they usually do. With exception of masked grunts. Mercenaries or whatever. Might as well have stormtroopers since seems unlikely they are much of a threat.

Ahsoka in this show really feels less warm and more cold and distant than she did in Mandalorian of BOBF. Don't know why exactly.

And one more complaint. I don't like it how they are able to "fix" the ship just from the inside. What happened to astromechs and need to actually repair damaged parts of the ship from outside? It would've been cooler if they would've crashed their T6 jedi shuttle in the forest so there would've been a little bit more excitement. Now they got away pretty easily all things considered. Also it would've made enemies seem a bit more competent. Now character shields didn't seem to go below 10 percent at any point.

I hate to be negative of this since it's obviously part of Filoni's larger vision which has more planning and ideas than Disney's most projects so far. With exception of Andor which was spectacular in many ways. I hope this soon gets better. They should jump in the Peridea already. Would be interesting to see something completely different for once. Purrgills were pretty cool in live-action though. But this episode felt like they were just playing time to avoid moving forward with a plot.

I also thought they looked like Zeros and naboo fighters combined mostly. With some resemblance to Grievous' starfighter too. Not a bad design.

Definitions in Star wars have never been too clear. They are called turbolasers but maybe they use laser for aiming the plasma bolts? Or something

 

The laws of Physics took a huge L in this episode.

 

Lol complaining about the laws of physics in Star Wars.

 

Yeah, but I just figure if he was going to make her a full-fledged Force sensitive he could have just done it. I really doubt he’s going to go against as big of a fundamental aspect of Star Wars as midichlorians are. I think he respects George too much to do that.

 

I thought this was the weakest episode so far, but I still liked it. It still got a lot done, so it feels less like a filler mission-of-the-week episode, and more like a slower but functional chapter in a novel. It felt like it ended right when things were starting to heat up, but unlike a novel I have to wait a week to turn the page. I liked seeing Hera confer with the Senators - that especially felt like a novel. I liked that Ahsoka's ship had shields and could take multiple hits (that seems to often be forgotten). I liked seeing Ahsoka training Sabine. And now we have a better sense of Sabine's Force-sensitivity. I was skeptical of Sabine suddenly having Force powers, and I'm glad that that isn't the case. Up till now, she hasn't been able to use the Force, and if she gains the ability, it will be through training and we will see it onscreen. And we saw Jacen! I'm glad they stuck with the green hair.

Minor nitpicky gripe: When Ahsoka's ship was flying towards the Eye of Sion, there were lasers flying past it and exploding without actually hitting anything. That was a little distracting.

 

Part of me thinks that Sabine will gain some ability to use the Force somehow in Peridea, but then again it would easily come of as deus-ex-machina instead of actually gained ability. I'm not sure where they are going to go with all of this Sabine as jedi business. Seems pretty weird why Ahsoka trains her like this, especially if she doesn't want to make her a jedi as she says herself. What is her goal is mystery to me so far. But this episode confirmed she is not suddenly force-sensitive.

 

I still think the best outlet for this is for Ahsoka to recognize a force confluence around Sabine when she is painting or something like that and have it become her epiphany as her teacher. They can also easily add a small line to imply that she and Kanan had spoken in the past about how both had always sensed something in her that was unique. Different from most padawans but special all the same. A simple exchange of dialogue like this even would work.

(Sabine turns away from her art to grab another paint can but an aspect of the painting changes ever so slightly and Ahsoka sees it)

AHSOKA
I feel so foolish. I can’t believe I never noticed it before.

SABINE
What? My painting? It’s not finished yet.

AHSOKA
No. You. Your connection to the force is unlike mine and others I’ve seen.

SABINE:
I get it. I’m the worst in hundreds of years.

AHSOKA:
No, Sabine. You are connected to the force right now. Your connection is creative. Watching you paint I can sense a force convergence around you.

(Ahsoka walks up and points to the brush stroke difference)

This brush stroke. You visualized it and manifested it. I could sense your presence stronger than usual.

(Sabine slowly lifts her arm and smells her armpit and shrugs)

SABINE:
I do sweat a bit painting.

AHSOKA:
I’m not joking, Sabine. When you find a creative outlet it’s how you are most connected with the force. I should have realized this years ago. Kanan told me he had seen moments of force sensitivity in you but they were fleeting. Now I know why.

SABINE
I just paint.

AHSOKA
When you invent or paint… it’s different for you. Some Padawans are more physical. Their force connection manifests when confronted or when they sense someone is in danger. For you it’s creativity. It always has been. I’ve been training you the wrong way this entire time.

SABINE (Snarkily)
Well, that much I’ve always known!

(They both smile)

SABINE (Earnestly)
So, what is the best way to train me?

AHSOKA
We paint.

CUT TO UNIQUE TRAINING MONTAGE.


In my opinion, this kind of approach would address most of the main concerns people have had, better explain the gifts she does have, and sort of better imply why she intrigued 3 force users in the first place despite not having a more conventional, physical connection to the force. In addition, it adds an interesting spirituality angle to art and creativity via the force that I like.

 

if this was another time. Maybe 10 years ago or more when people were really looking for PT retcons, there would be alot of people saying how Filoni just had Ahsoka retcon Georges Midichlorians out of existence. Which is likely not the case at all. But i do think there is most definitely an aspect of it that can't really go beyond subtlety. In the episode, Sabines brings up that if everyone had the force in them then why isn't everyone using it. And i think thats something that you can't suddenly say oh they can use the force if they try hard enough. That really has to be left subtle.

And Ahsoka at no point tells Sabine she is force sensitive. And she has no reason to hide it from her. Which suggests she is not force sensitive and that Ahsoka is going by blind faith that if the force exists in every living thing then everyone can at least use a small amount.

 

Honestly. Statements like this just freak me out. Why. WHY? I grew up with Luke Skywalker being a massive part of my life, and love of SciFi movies and fiction, but the whole point of all the new stories and characters we are getting today are called 'expansion' - fleshing out a massive galaxy full of diverse characters, alien races, religions, more Jedi, more force users....why do people only want to see Luke? I for one, (must be the only person) who thought seeing Luke at the end of S2 of The Mandalorian, was uninspiring and not needed. Im over him, don't need him. Rant on that over, by the way....I love Luke's character, I love the Anakin/Vader character (although some of the stuff in the prequels still doesn't sit right with me), its been a fun ride, but I want more. Different characters.

A couple of other things.....
1. People that don't like the character development of Ahsoka.....she is moody, brooding, pensive, thoughtful.....not the spunky, wide-eyed, impulsive character from TCW. Well, still on the subject of Luke - have you seen his development.....from youthful and exuberant teenager in ANH to his character in ROTJ, Mando and BOBF? Same?? Yeah. But everyone's OK with that.
2. Jacen's hair is green? Im a twin. Im male, my twin is female. I look like my dad, my sister looks like my mum. I have black hair, she has blond hair, just to name some of about 150 differences. ENTIRELY possible he has no lekku.

 

The coloured hair is called Disney made a cartoon and kids like colours, And now you need to translate that to live action.

 

That sounds like a good idea really, not a bad fanfic there Reminds me of the non-canon but entertaining Visions episode with sith who painted her own world after leaving her master. There really needs to be a pay-off for this obviously failed training and idea that Ahsoka herself would realize this is not right approach for them she is now taking, that would definitely work. Now it was a bit frustrating to watch but maybe it was a point to show how they don't have the right approach to begin with.

 

It certainly isn't. The Force resides in all living things; midichlorians also reside in all living things. Not to mention the M-count mentioned in season 2 of Mando.

 

Lol I just realized I double posted. Sorry SWTV mods.

 

And another thing. The lack of mention of anything to do with midi chlorians is fine by me. The most ridiculous idea/story line ever for me. What we saw in E3 last night was WAY more in tune with the original concept of the mysterious Force, the Force Ben Kenobi talked about in his tiny homestead on Tatooine in 1977.

 

In rebels epilogue it seems he didn't have full lekku but his ears had a bit green in them. I think it would be cool to him have like sort of elven ears as adult. Green is probably his natural color too.

Since midichlorians are well established now I think it's late to try to ignore the concept altogether but that is what Ahsoka means with natural talent obviously. Mandalorian talked about M-count to avoid mentioning the word that make some older fans skin crawl. I personally never had problem with midichlorians. Real concept of mitochondrion is in fact really interesting as it is. Why it would be too scientific in the world with pseudoscience like hyperspace and turbolasers is beyond me. The Force is not any less mystical for me while concept of midichlorians is established. It only adds the mystery IMO. It however seems that it's established The Force is something that exists independently of midichlorians too, but they are the link through which jedi can use the power of the Force. It seems likely midichlorians are unique to GFFA since their homeplanet was seen in TCW. The Force however is universal and manifest differently in different parts of the universe. Nightsister magicks and water of life which they use might be sort of equivalent of midichlorians from the other galaxy, instead of microsopic lifeforms inside your cells it is a mystical liquid that makes magical things possible.

 

I enjoyed that episode much more than the first two. A good build-up and I'm always a sucker for a decent dogfight.

Based on these three episodes, that bad dude seems to spend most of his time telling others what to do then staring off into the distance doing nothing. I suppose Vader and Palpatine did their fair share of that though.

The New Republic certainly seems a bit blinkered given all that they've been through. I'd have thought years of Imperial rule would have made them just a teeny bit massively paranoid.

They did a great job with the purrgils. Much bigger than I expected.

 

I think it's pretty much guaranteed that Eye of Sion will travel to Peridea and Thrawn will be back. And Ezra too probably. Destroying the only way to reach Ezra makes no sense for Sabine or Hera and honestly story needs Thrawn back too.

History of intergalactic travel was interesting mention. Maybe GFFA was a bit like China during middle ages then with expeditions. They went into another places but it was dangerous and costly and then forbidden compeletely by the ruling regime when internal threats were prioritized. Constant struggle between sith and the jedi and mandalorians and dathomiri destroyed technology and ultimately knowledge of this and only now it's coming back. This is very good idea that really develops Star Wars into a new direction. I like the idea. There should be more new ideas and more wonder and less repetition of old ideas in Star Wars. This show needs to take that jump sooner rather than later. I hope it doesn't fall flat though.

 

Just finished watching it. Yeah, that was fine. The dogfighting was fairly entertaining. I'll probably give it a 7 out of 10.

I know it's canon but I'm not a fan of people doing lightsaber/sword training while wearing a helmet that obstructs the person's view. It always reeks of, "hey remember when Luke did this in ANH!!?!?!?!" Speaking of lightsabers there was definitely nothing silly looking at all about Ahsoka's space suit and outer space lightsaber stuff.

What else? The acting and dialogue in that scene with Hera, Mon Mothma, and the senators was NOT GOOD! Woof! I wonder if that's the only time we'll see Mon Mothma in this show? Also, it pretty much felt like the same exact scene that we saw with Tim Meadows in The Mandalorian. I suppose they're just reemphasizing the New Republic's short sidedness. The way they're doing it though it just so clunky and uninteresting. Oh, and Hera' son being all, "Golly gee willikers I wish I could be a Jedi!" *wink wink* was a bit corny.

On a positive note Ahsoka's coffee cup returned!

 

And Sabine's coffee cup win a round against her...

 

I think Ahsoka's character feels slightly off, but she is still way more on point than Luke has ever been in the Disney era. Ahsoka actually feels closer to what Luke should have been.

A lot of people have hated Luke's Disney era character undevelopment, me included. When Luke rescued Grogu, took him to train him - that was the only good Luke appearance the Disney era has managed.

In Book of Boba he was then shown to be a character that had completely thrown away the core beliefs of his character from the Original Trilogy. In those films Luke rejected Yoda's views on love and attachment, using those exact emotions to defeat the Empire and save his father's soul.

Come BoBF, Luke is operating under full blown Old Jedi Order dogma as if his own character journey and growth never happened.

Lets not even discuss Rian Johnson's version.......Jake Skywalker

Speaking of which, even Ahsoka seems inconsistent from BoBF to now. She all anti attachment when talking the Din - but now is all using Sabine's attachment to Ezra to convince her to train as a Jedi and help her hunt Thrawn. That may actually be an interesting plot dynamic going forward.

The presentations of the Luke and Ahsoka characters is just inconsistent, seeming to dismiss where they came from in order to service the plot when required.

 

Just watched this episode for the first time.

What a nice slice of SW pie! Lots to enjoy, as much as any other SW film or series. Funny, a bit daft, thrilling, a bit of spectacle.

More importantly, for me, I actually enjoyed hearing the characters speak to one another, not exposing plot.

And my biggest thing in that? Ahsoka smiled! That's when it felt like the old SW charm and humour/sense of fund really crept in. But it was building in other scenes too.

I think the theme of all other politicians and civilians being corrupted or stupid is tiresome and feels patronising to me now. They're no longer characters, just caricatures, which is a shame for the actors. I don't need Andor-level sophistication, just a level of sophistication or...something different.

I actually want to watch this episode again quickly it was such fun.

 

I think it's as much about Ahsoka's growth as it is about Sabine's. It wasn't until Huyang pointed out that both weren't seeing each other that Ahsoka changed her approach to focus on what Sabine could do rather than expecting her to do something she was not capable of. Who knows whether this ends up with Sabine becoming a full on force user but at current face value it seems more about the relationship between the two and discovering a happy medium.

 

But Luke did not have those core beliefs. He never argued with Yoda or Obi Wan over any core beliefs. Luke just had his own attachment towards the father he never knew. but ultimately it doesn't change why his father fell to the dark side.

If anything id argue Luke is more or less where he should be. perhaps more willing to train older students like he himself was, but also needs to be aware of the dangers.