Ahsoka Ahsoka Episode 1.04 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Solid episode overall, but moreso for the dramatic moments than most of the action encompassing it. Sabine having to make the crucial decision between finding Ezra or closing off the only pathway to him was arguably the strongest dramatic beat of the series to date. It was well set up early on before the action got going, and while it was obvious Ahsoka hadn't been killed, it was necessary to remove her from the action and put Sabine in as emotionally vulnerable a position as possible. Really strong stuff, and frankly I'm much more compelled by her story moving forward than anyone else's. And the implication that Sabine's family was killed on Mandalore and that Ahsoka was somehow connected finally gives us a nugget of conflict and motivation worth investigating.

On the whole though, for an episode that was so action packed, most of the staging felt pedestrian to me, which is a bit disappointing because I liked a lot of how Peter Ramsey directed The Pirate from The Mandalorian season 3. This episode made use of too many over the shoulder shots and closeups in combat, rather than sticking wide and allowing the movement and choreography to inform the emotional momentum of the fights. And of course, Marrok turned out to be an empty vessel, as far as we know. On the one hand, I'm fine with that, but then again, if he was always an anonymous figure, why specifically make him a former Inquisitor? I think I would have preferred he was a second apprentice to Baylan, who then would be seemingly replaced by Sabine. It would have given Marrok more of an identity and would have set Baylan apart in his approach to mentorship after abandoning the Jedi path. Great payoff for the hyperspace ring taking off though, and the chaos it wreaked on the Ghost and X-wings in its path.

The final reveal is naturally going to dominate the conversation moving forward, but what intrigued me most was the upside down framing revealing Ahsoka. It felt very reminiscent of the rebirth of Gandalf the White in The Two Towers, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is where Ahsoka gets her costume change.

And as for Hayden, love the guy, but this felt like a DeepFake, even though it had to have really been him right? In any case, this is probably the most consequential midseason point of any series to date.

7/10

 

Baylan’s lightsaber strikes are so forceful and strong. Haven’t seen that since Vader in the OT honestly.

 

Baylan is like what Vader could have been if he hadn’t gotten torched by Obi-Wan (obviously not as powerful as the Chosen One but you get what I mean.) I really love Ray Stevenson in this.

 

Cuz it's SW. Duh.

But seriously, there are occasional moments that I like. The hyper ring tossing aside the X-wings was impressive, and I enjoyed Sabine's answer to "You have no power." I'm still hoping there is better stuff to come.

 

Adding to this, Baylan waiting with his hood up reminds me of Obi-Wan sitting by the fire in Twin Suns. Also, Baylan's guarding something from a light-sider as Obi-Wan was guarding someone from a dark-sider.

 

I think this is the most likely explanation. Ahsoka is drowning and she enters the WBW (perhaps not literally like Ezra did, but just in her mind). She'll be rescued from the ocean and revived just before she would actually die. For her, it'll seem like hours in the WBW, but in real time she'll only have been unconscious/drowning for a few minutes.

 

That ... that was just great, sense of epic is strong here. Baylan keeping his promise was something I've been waiting from a SW villain for a long time. The jump was amazing. And of course

 

Did anyone else think the shot of Ahsoka and Sabine running through the woods looked fake? Or was it just an homage to the old school animated walking cycles?

 

Since Ashoka has already experienced the WBW in Rebels, I hope in the next episode she doesn’t say to Anakin “where am I?” because clearly the events in rebels take place before this moment, and she should realize where she is. The big question though is how did she get there… either Anakin saved her or perhaps when she burned her hand by the map, some supernatural force transferred into her body and she was able to enter.

 

The DeepFake of the Force is a pathway to many facelifts some consider to be... unnatural.

 

Interesting that we saw Carson joining Hera and some other pilots. Why not Zeb? We know he’s flying as well and he was even with Carson. What is Filoni planning for Zeb I wonder.

 

It's an utter loss. Those jerks making this stuff. Great way to end midseason. A week is too long and there are too many cliffhangers. I need more now!

Spoiler: My weekly WOT

That was fantastic although it's one of those things where I would rather wait and rate this after seeing what's next. The execution of even the bonkers ideas like live-action WBW is on point. I hope Ahsoka can keep this up.

I love what they did with Sabine here. The setup for Sabine's choice was telegraphed, seemingly predictable. They didn't need to drop a bridge on Sabine's family offscreen and probably courtesy of Gideon for Sabine to be incapable of destroying the map. What that tidbit did was make it seem more like Ahsoka betrayed Sabine bitterly in the past. It's more than just walking away. She left when Sabine needed her the most. It shows how Ahsoka became more detached. That's cold considering the lessons Ahsoka learned on her adventure with Rafa and Trace. Ahsoka probably decided she couldn't train Sabine with all her anger. I think when Sabine decides to hand over the map she is overcome with grief and shuts down.

This is it, a genuine Heroic Blue Screen of Death. Ahsoka's "death" and having endlessly grieved Ezra like a missing person presumed dead pushed her past the despair event horizon. She doesn't really react to Shin choking her. Is fairly unresponsive to Baylan. She barely reacts to live-action The Ghost arriving to play chicken with the Eye of Sion. This could get way worse if Ezra turns up dead or more likely is a totally different person. He already made tremendous personal sacrifices to take Thrawn out of the picture. Will he really be glad to see Sabine like this?

They didn't stop there. Hera gathers some forces and tries to go help. This was set up to be an OT Big Damn Heroes intro like Hera was going to save the day and actually scratch the Eye of Sion. Disastrous, just barely surviving the Eye of Sion barreling straight through them to make the jump to Peridea. I love how Jacen looks over at her to give the tired, "I've got a bad feeling." line which this time seems a lot more like the kid character saying they are screwed. Even Chopper mutters something quiet and depressed sounding. A big change from him teasing Jacen earlier with "Because you suck." when he asks why he has to do what he's told.

I would love to be see when Captain Teva goes back to the cantina at the end of Mandalorian season 3 just to hear how he tells this story.

Din: "You look terrible."
Teva: "I got run over by a giant ring making a hyperspace jump to another galaxy."
Din: "Damn..."

Baylan gets more interesting by the minute. For a moment, I thought he was going to say "Everyone in the order knew Skywalker, no one knew who I was." rather than "Who he (Anakin) would become" which seemed way on the nose. I am eager for more reveals on who he was before. I've seen a lot of fan theories he'll turn out to have been Plo Koon's padawan. But I think he's a random Jedi survivor who saw through everything. Almost like a version of General Krell who wasn't a sadist. I am not sure if what he's after is to hit a reset button on the entire galaxy or if he is trying to restart his own Jedi-ish order.

If Baylan is the Reset Button in a magical girl anime then Ahsoka is surely healing and rebirth. World Between World returns. I'm sure this is a vision, a dream, a test that will see her to Paridea. Maybe to see other characters with no hope otherwise on their own journey threw another access point or jump point. If only a force-sensitive can go through WBW. There are four options with Sabine. I have always seen Ahsoka as being somewhat of a magical girl archetype. I can't help but feel like she is about to get some sort of power-up when Anakin greets her and damn was that cool. Full circle. It brought a smile to my face. To the folks who never saw Rebels it probably does look like Ahsoka is now an interdimensional being caught in a time warp or just dead. Not the outcome I expected either since Ahsoka general steamrolls anyone she fights. She does have her brain fart moments which is why I let it go she didn't think to try just slicing up the console that the hyperspace coordinates seemed to be sending from.

Also, sad to think Ursa Wren and them died offscreen. Not that unsurprising I supposed but pretty unsatisfying. But it ties Sabine into everything else going on with the Mandos even when she has been missing it. These characters seem a nonfactor in The Mandalorian. Sabine however used every ounce of her Mandalorian skills and tricks to match Shin. Skills that would have been very useful alongside Din Djarin and Bo Katan when they retook Mandalore. Makes me wonder how they'll get along once they finally meet. Will they get a long and show some empathy? Or look at Sabine as a Mandalorian who has completely fallen from "The way" if she helps unleash Thrawn and another war on the Galaxy? Sabine is going to have a hell of a "Get ahold of yourself man" moment and redemption arc ahead of her.

 

Seeing Anakin made my night. Didn’t expect to see him at all until the next episode.

Don’t mind the de-age tech given that he’s a ghost/spirit now anyway. I didn’t mind that he didn’t look 19 in the Obi-Wan flashback either, but apparently it was an issue then too. So, damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Either way, it was awesome to see ROTS era Anakin again.
Baylan is one of the coolest new SW villains and Ray Stevenson played him perfectly. Really like this whole new villain faction. Sure they’re Imperial-aligned but they aren’t just recycled stormtrooper armor and TIE Fighters.

 

Sarge

Yes, Ahsoka running has looked weird this entire series

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

I cant quite believe what I have just watched. I cant comment yet. Shaking.

 

Lol who cares why someone is watching something. I watched all of Secret Invasion even though it was terrible because I like the MCU and I was hoping it would get better. I watched Resistance even though I could probably count the number of episodes I liked on one hand.

 

Yeah, it doesn't matter, just seems strange. I bet you didn't go on the MCU forums and rip it apart though?

 

That's true, it could be that Anakin actually pulled Ahsoka into the WBW.

I was thinking before she's drowning and maybe her spirit somehow enters the WBW, but if Ahsoka needs to enter the WBW to pursue Thrawn, then I would think she would have to be there physically.

Hm.

Then again, perhaps Ahsoka doesn't travel to the new galaxy at all. Perhaps Thrawn just returns with an army and Ahsoka and friends must defend the New Republic.

We shall see -- brilliant Star Wars storytelling!

 

I’m not a member of any MCU forum but I certainly did post my fair share of criticism in the JCC.

 

The stories and character development of all the main players here are developing into some of the best Star Wars has to offer. Surely, SURELY there has to be a second season of this show. However, that would mean Baylan has to die, as NO ONE could follow on from Ray Stevenson. Incredible storytelling, incredible show so far that just went up a few hundred notches.

 

I feel like I always have the same comment after every episode but it really boils down to the MUSIC my god how can it be so good???

 

This episode was fantastic and seeing Anakin and Ahsoka together in WBW is epic. I want more... I need more!!! .......11/10