And so we arrive at the end of Ahsoka. The initial worries that this season would be little more than a setup for Dave Filoni’s Heir to the Empire–like movie only increased throughout the past eight weeks as we approached this ending that … does nothing to ease my concerns. Aside from the horrendous pacing that stretched what could have been six episodes into an unnecessary eight, the finale makes clear this is but chapter one of a larger story. There’s too much left unresolved to cover in only one movie, so we can assume there is a lot more to come — the question is whether the next chapter is Ahsoka season two or another show picking up the pieces. This season felt very incomplete and lacked a satisfying conclusion, yet it delivered some exhilarating Star Wars.
The pacing issues start with Ezra and the gang. Knowing Thrawn is about to leave the galaxy, why would they be traveling at the speed of hermit turtles? No one on this show seems to be in a rush, which is bizarre, but it’s hard to get very mad when that downtime gives us scenes like Ezra building a new lightsaber in his master’s image. Huyang not only name-drops Kanan Jarrus but even gives Ezra the same emitter Kanan used in his lightsaber. (Ezra jokes about the emitter being too narrow, poking fun at the response to the thinner lightsabers in Rebels.) It bears repeating how perfect the casting of Eman Esfandi as Ezra was. He captures the mannerisms of cartoon Ezra, but also ages him up to the point where he is both the same character and his own man. He brings a much-welcome sense of humor to the show — he goes back to impersonating a stormtrooper first chance he gets, and you better believe he added the helmet to his collection — but also a spirituality that complements what Ahsoka brings to the table, with a deep trust in the Force that translates to his fighting style. With so much of this season rightfully focusing on Sabine and Ahsoka, here’s hoping Ezra gets a bigger role in season two.
We also finally learn what happened between Ahsoka and Sabine. Huyang explains that Ahsoka was worried her Padawan was training for the wrong reasons after the Empire killed her family and purged Mandalore. She felt Sabine would become dangerous if she unlocked her potential, seeking only revenge. So not only did Ahsoka deal with her own fears of turning into Anakin this season, she was also dealing with the potential of her apprentice turning to the dark side. It makes sense, though, given that she saw what a life of slavery and the death of his mother did to Anakin, so why would she allow the same to happen to Sabine?
The relationship between these two was a bit murky at first, with Ahsoka depending too much on prior knowledge of the characters to fill in the blanks. But by the end, it gave us enough new material to turn this relationship into one of the stronger aspects of the show, and a great addition to the pantheon of master-apprentice relationships in Star Wars. In this finale, master and apprentice finally air their grievances, and Ahsoka states she will stand by her Padawan no matter what.
Good timing, too, because Sabine is reaching the end of her journey of self-acceptance. All season long, the Mandalorian Jedi-to-be has mostly focused on her lightsaber training and lack of skill — understandable, given she literally got stabbed — while being mentally blocked on her Force training, again, for good reason. In classic Star Wars fashion, however, Sabine manages to overcome her hesitation and fear in her most dire hour of need. While fighting zombified death troopers (more on that later), she uses the Force to pull her lightsaber, allowing her to stab a trooper in the head and kill him. It is a fantastic moment, with the slow buildup to it, the Kevin Kiner music, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s acting all paying off the character’s frustrations from the season in one great moment that changes everything for Star Wars. The Jedi is here.
Not only that, but she is immediately so confident in her new abilities that Sabine helps Ezra get onboard Thrawn’s ship by pulling one of the moves Ezra often did with Kanan in Star Wars Rebels, the Force jump and push. It’s a bit of a goofy moment here, but it is one of the franchise’s coolest displays of Jedi power, and it helps get at least one good guy on Thrawn’s ship right before he lifts off and returns to the regular galaxy. That’s right, once again, Thrawn and Ezra travel to another galaxy while Ezra’s friends are left behind. These guys simply cannot stay apart for long.
On the ground, Ahsoka and Sabine battle the zombie troopers. That’s right, the payoff to the season’s entire Dathomir element finally happened, and Star Wars just got a whole lot cooler by introducing zombies; our first introduction to them being via the night troopers with the broken armor (which already looked pretty creepy) is the icing on the cake. But it’s not just zombie troopers they’re facing, as Ahsoka also fights Morgan Elsbeth one last time. As reward for her help in bringing Thrawn back, Elsbeth is marked as a Nightsister proper by the Great Mothers, and she also gets a shiny new sword — the Blade of Talzin (used by Great Mother Talzin to fight Mace Windu in The Clone Wars). However, that blade was not ceremonial but for immediate use, as Thrawn essentially just asks Elsbeth to sacrifice herself for him so he can escape. “For the Empire,” he says. “For Dathomir,” she replies (if only she knew the ones responsible for the ruin of Dathomir later became the Empire). The Elsbeth-Ahsoka rematch is great, with Diana Lee Inosanto once again doing fantastic stuntwork. Still, Ahsoka wins again, this time for good, as she cuts Elsbeth down.
Unfortunately, Ahsoka and Sabine are too late. Thrawn manages to escape, but not before he smugly sends Ahsoka a final message, regretting not getting to meet her face-to-face (don’t worry, he probably will), commending her effort, and teasing that she is very much like Anakin — perhaps a bit too much. And that’s the show. Thrawn wins and returns to our regular galaxy, specifically to Dathomir, ready with a legion of coffins to be zombified and ready for the Heir to the Empire story to begin properly. As for Ezra, he at least manages to escape and finally reunites with Hera — and, most important, with Chopper.
This is Filoni doing his Empire Strikes Back moment. The villains won, for now, but as Ahsoka says after seeing the mysterious white convor owl from The Clone Wars and Rebels, there’s hope. She also sees the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker in the distance, paying off one of George Lucas’s biggest changes in the special editions.
There’s also the matter of Hati and Baylan. We see Hati approach an encampment of raiders, raising her lightsaber seemingly in an attempt to lead them into battle. As for Baylan, his presence was very much missed this episode, but there he is at the very end, standing over the Star Wars equivalent of an Argonath, massive statues of the Force gods of Mortis (also from The Clone Wars), while looking at a fiery mountain in the distance. There is much more to this planet than meets the eye, including how Ahsoka and Sabine go back home, probably.
So, in the end, was it worth it? I think it was. If nothing else, the state of the galaxy, and the franchise at large, post-Ahsoka is at a much more interesting place than before it premiered. Between the additions to the Force and the character of Baylan, the return of not just Thrawn and Ezra but the Nightsisters, and the introduction of a new galaxy, this is an exciting time for a franchise that had stagnated in the past couple of live-action efforts (Andor notwithstanding). This is a show (and a future for the galaxy) that is definitely spun from the story of the Skywalkers, but not one beholden to them — something the sequels never fully figured out — and the franchise is better for it. And with that, my work here is done. Thanks to everyone for following along with these recaps! May the Force be with you always.
The Jedi Archives
• The episode title is a clear reference to the Narnia books, which are all about portals to different galaxies … Interesting.
• Ray Stevenson’s death is felt greatly in this episode, with the tragedy of his departure meaning one great character, and an even greater performance, is now over. Baylan Skoll was the best part of the show, and recasting or not, he is left on a literal cliffhanger.
