Ahsoka Anakin Skywalker (spoilers)

Accompanied by the Vader music outro. This Anakin is unlikely to be as simple as he/it appears. Can’t wait to find out what the go is with this version of Skyguy.

 

Honestly just here for Anakin. He's my favorite character.

 

I’m just here for Hayden’s Anakin. I’m so
glad he’s back in Star Wars again. It’s got me watching a show about a character I’ve never liked. If they had cast Matt Lanter to do the show I’d have skipped it entirely.

I don’t think HC needed to be de aged at all I think they could have adjusted the timeline his appearances were done in. For Obi Wan they could have just made the flashback closer to ROTS and then maybe there would be less issue with his looks combined with that padawan braid.

In Ahsoka just throw the wig on him and do his make up. He doesn’t need that much de aging.

Based on some spoilers I read I’m really hoping that this isn’t actually Anakin’s ghost and that it’s some sort of force work at play so I’ll hang around to see what happens cautiously.

 

Whether he looks good or not, he doesn't look in his early 20s anymore. and i think the reason why the de-aging may look odd is because they are trying to make him look the way he did in episode 3 and its clear alot of work has gone into that. rather than the notion he doesn't need that much to pull it off

 

I don't really care at all how Anakin looks. I'm more interested in the narrative reasons for him being in the WBW.

Is it simply so Ahsoka can move on psychologically from him? That is a good reason alone, but is it also for saving her from death?

Does this also have metaphysical implications for the Force? Is Anakin now the guardian of the WBW? Is this going to take us back to Mortis?

 

I don’t really care though I would rather he look 40 than de-aged

 

The WBW connects the living and the dead, using time instead of a candle and Ouija board. I doubt he's going to return to world of the living. I've never understood why Ahsoka felt she abandoned Anakin. That she played some part in his fall is ridiculous, she possibly postponed it.

Also, is this actually Anakin's force ghost? Does Vader's theme at the end, mean this projection is both Anakin and Vader? Could he be a force projection like Yoda in the jedi temple? He was still alive on Dagobah when Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka went to the temple.

 

It will be interesting to see how they handle his dialogue and voice when we hopefully hear him speak more next episode. His one line in this episode was delivered with quite a low voice. There are certainly moments in the PT when he's more confident and assertive and his voice gets lower. But I hope they don't try too hard to make him sound like Matt Lanter.

 

Very intrigued where they go with Anakin, the WBW and the whole mystical side of the force. Some of my favourite parts of Star Wars are when we delve into these almost wtf moments in the force such as Mortis, Loth Wolves, WBW.

Im tempering my expectations as all of those things happened in animation, where there’s less of a ‘general’ audience watching and therefore they can explore these wacky ideas without it being too tricky to follow. Makes me think that things might not be explored to their full depth in this series, but I certainly hope they will!

 

I care about how Anakin looks. If he looks like a weird digital mannequin, it takes me out of the scene and the world, and thus deflates its emotional resonance. I was surprised at how bad this one looked after the relative success of the Luke deepfake in Mando S2. Which was an odd choice, as they could have easily just used Hayden’s current, natural, non-creepily digital face.

The strength of Star Wars is IMO at least 60% visual. So it’s not a thing to trifle with.

 

Hard to make a judgment, particularly given we don't know exactly what he is yet.

 

Was there a massive clue how on this will pan out in the final seconds as the screen turns black and we hear Vader's theme?

 

This is why Star Wars fans are notoriously hard to please, haha. Because I truly could not disagree with you more. I would absolutely rather he look de-aged, even a so-so version, than look 40 (considering what his character is supposed to look like for this particular story = clearly pulling from his Episode III appearance).

Now, had they inserted a 40-year old Anakin as some kind of vision of what he would have looked like had he not turned dark, that would have absolutely worked for me. Put him in some more traditional Jedi robes and a Qui-Gon haircut or something. But this is supposed to be Anakin from Episode III in appearance and during that time period he was a 22-year old Jedi Knight - so he should look that way, IMO. Or at least as close as they can possibly make it, which I think this was.

There are very few things in movies or television that so completely take me out of a story the way an actor playing what is obviously not their age, does. The scenes of Anakin from Kenobi were brutal to get through. I loved the concept of including the flashbacks to the practice duel in the temple and they were the best parts of that dreadful series (personal opinion), but by god did it look beyond awful when they just inserted a 40-year old man as a teenager and then refused to elaborate.

I don't think I am alone in my opinion and I know you are not either. Ergo, Star Wars fans being hard to please, ha.

I genuinely thought he looked great and not creepy at all. Much better than Luke in Mando S2. And I was happy they made the attempt to de-age properly, unlike in Kenobi.

 

I find it fascinating as I think Luke looks like 2x better

 

Luke in Mando S2 looks a lot better. There’s no contest.

 

Fascinating indeed! Personally I didn't think Luke looked bad, but I thought this looked better.

I think the lighting plays a big part in how the effect appears, and might be the reason for the differences in opinion. I remain optimistic ahead of the Anakin scenes next week, where we will likely see him in different environments. I think those scenes might win people over!

Agree to disagree

 

I thought he looked good in the episode.

HC doesnt need deaging anyway, they should be capable to do stuff like that with makeup.

 

My hope here is that there is a reveal of some kind, that this ghostly Anakin is either an imposter, or sinister in some manner. Anything else sadly is fan service, and as I've said multiple times, lacks believability given the atrocities this guy has committed.

 

All I am saying is I would rather they don’t de-age him. If he was like 60 I would get it. But I can suspend my disbelief for a 40 something playing a 20 something

 

I think the desire is that you could put episode 3 and the ahsoka show next to each other and it would be seamless. its like Hayden never aged. While if you watch episode 3 and see a young face hayden and then you watch ahsoka and have a more mature face hayden... its gonna be harder to feel they are connected.

 

I too must stand on one leg, pinch my nostrils just so and hold my mouth just right in order to manifest the elusive gift of immersion. If the miss-en-scene is off IN ANY WAY I will be pulled violently from the fantastical vision, my experience shattered and my entire life ruined.

ILM, are you listening???? These are the stakes!!!

 

The amount of posts complaining about how the de-aging looked like is far more annoying than the de-aging itself

 

Relax, friend. I love this show. I suppose I just had the gall to talk about a small visual criticism I had…