WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD. I used the content warning and an obnoxious all-caps warning, you can’t complain about me spoiling things! I will also tag everything in the thread #Ahsoka, #spoilers, and #AhsokaSpoilers as much as I can.
MUTE THIS THREAD if you don’t want to see it, and I’d recommend you also mute those hashtags for good measure. You’re in control of your destiny spoiler-exposure, here. :)
Where do I begin?? I loved seeing characters from Rebels right away, and I loved that it feels like we’re gonna get into the more mystical/unexplored areas of Star Wars. Some of my favorite Clone Wars arcs I describe as “Star Wars gets weird” and I kinda hope to see that here, what with the references to the Nightsisters, the Chaos, Zeffo-looking stuff, etc.
I LOVED the star map thing, laser-pointering right outta the known galaxy.
I’m kinda tired of the “Who is Marrok??” discourse online; not every masked character needs to be someone we already know, and I think it would be more interesting to have them be an original character.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to know their backstory, and why they have Inquisitor gear, but I think it would be less interesting if it was Ezra, Barris, etc. But idk. We’ll see.
I am kind of regretting watching ALL the trailers and teasers. I get that Disney wants to build hype, but there was actually a lot to glean from those trailers that I think would hit harder if I hadn’t seen them… even if most of it was from the first two episodes.
We saw Sabine cut her hair and don her Mando gear in the trailers, so the shock of her losing the battle at the end of E1 carried a LOT less weight.
Another small example: Thrawn is shown in a trailer on the bridge of the Eye of Sion. 🤷 That kind of tells us that the ship is gonna make it to him, at least. Idk, maybe not a big deal, but it could have left more mystery to not see that.
On a different note, I love that what people assumed was the World Between Worlds appears to be a Zeffo/Nightsister shrine thing.
I feel like keeping the actual World Between Worlds as a one-off weird thing from the animated series would absolutely be the right choice, otherwise we gotta deal (more) with potential time travel fallout… and I don’t want Star Wars to go down that route. 😅
Oh, the dynamic of Sabine being a non-Force-sensitive Padawan of a non-Jedi is interesting. I love that it’s this gray area, and honestly feels more like what I wanted from the sequel trilogy; the Jedi order as we knew it was deeply flawed, and maybe even the concept of Jedi/Sith as we knew it was flawed.
I am curious who the main villain of this series is going to be. It’s obvious to say “Thrawn,” but he was always best (e.g. in the books) when he wasn’t a blatant villain.
EVEN MORE SPOILERY from the books, you’ve been warned.
It would be a great twist for most people if it turns out he’s characterized as not evil, but as actually a reasonable person who is openly preparing the galaxy for greater threats… like the Gysks.
I feel like the “obvious” route is for this season to be a long road to find Thrawn and Ezra, though, and have Thrawn only really featured at the end. Then again, if that was the plan, I feel like they would have not featured him as prominently (or at all?) in the trailers. It would have been a much more exciting reveal if we didn’t see him until the heroes did.
So maybe that’s not how this is going to go? I’d be happy to be wrong. :)
I think they’ll come in by the halfway point, especially with the giant hyperspace ring it feels like it’s less of a long journey so much as one super jump straight to the planet, or at least very very close.
I think ep 3 will basically be the last episode set in Republic space, with them all jumping to the next galaxy at the end, and we’ll meet Thrawn and/or Ezra by ep 5 max
Okay, they’re really going the “Sabine is a non-Force-intuitive apprentice” route? Huh! Kind of unique, but idk. Feels weird for Ahsoka to be so into Jedi stuff after her last encouter with the Jedi Order (where they falsely accused her of a plot against them and banished her, only for Anakin to find the actual perp and clear her name).
I loved the “what if I could move the cup with the Force?” moment because we’ve all been there.
HYPERSPACE WHALES! Sick to see the Purrgil up close in live action. They looked great. I hope we see them again, but glowing a bit more… :)
The dogfighting felt GREAT imho. Those enemy ships really felt super Star Wars in that they looked like WWII planes dogfighting, but also felt like classic Star Wars hot rods—clearly scrappy and old, not shiny and new.
I fanboyed pretty hard when #Ahsoka left the ship while in space—it’s something we’ve seen a few times in Clone Wars (& maybe Rebels?) but never in live action.
Someone in the #AhsokaWatchAlong asked why they’d shoot at her instead of the rest of the ship, and imho it’s easy: ego. Each pilot wanted to be the one to claim the kill of a Jedi. We even see this between Morgan Elsbeth and Shin, where Shin cockily tells Elsbeth she’ll get the kill.
Huyang is quickly becoming a favorite of mine with this series. I’m glad he’s a central recurring character instead of just used as a one-off cameo as I thought he’d be!
His backup battery restoring after the action and the “what’d I miss?”/“standard protocol”/“really? when?” bits were all good fun. :) Feels like proper non-forced Star Wars humor.
I think over all this ep was the most FUN so far, which was nice. People pointed out in the #AhsokaWatchAlong that there were Grevious-esque ships providing a bit of a nod to prequel fans w/o dipping into fan service, Hera seemed more like herself (“animated,” I dare say!), and there was more smiling, less brooding.
My one criticism is that it felt SHORT like we just got started and then it was over, but that’s not always a bad thing.
OH YEAH, one of the senators (have to re-watch to see who) who thought Hera’s mission to find Thrawn was an excuse to look for Ezra repeated a line almost verbatim from the Imperial loyalist guy at the Corellian shipyards: “There are former Imperials among all levels of the New Republic government.” That feels sus, and feels like how real-world politicians agree on certain talking points—all too often repeating the same phrases verbatim.
Okay. I think I'm good. It's gotta be a vision/dream & not the actual World Between Worlds IMHO. The Vader theme was foreboding & would be weird if it was legit Clone Wars Anakin pulling Ahsoka through the WBW, but that alone wouldn't be enough. The big thing for me is that it looked like Vader’s lightsaber on his hip, which he made after losing his to Kenobi on Mustafar and donning the suit. But that’s the last saber Ahsoka saw him with. #StarWars#Ahsoka#AhsokaSpoilers
I always thought the time travel BS was a bit much in Rebels & that they made a very strong point that it could never happen again: Ahsoka explained as much, and then they destroyed it. But the problem with opening the time travel can of worms is that you can't un-open it; you can always explain things away by saying they happened before the place was destroyed or whatever.
@daithimacthomais it was in Rebels. Ezra left Ahsoka on Malachor where she dueled (and was apparently defeated by) Vader in the crumbling Sith temple. Later back on Lothal, Ezra entered the World Between Worlds via the Mortis mural. There he saw a portal with Ahsoka on Malachor dueling Vader in the crumbling Sith temple, and pulled her out as it crumbled. Ahsoka was pulled through time and space into this in-between realm. She later went back into the Malachor portal.
@daithimacthomais Ezra saw portals to other times and places, and the implication was that he could definitely have interacted with any of them across time—but he didn’t because Ahsoka cautioned him that it would alter their current reality. Very clear time travel shenanigans.
It’s fully possible Ahsoka is having a vision or dream or something in Ep 4, and I hope that is the case. Because otherwise the whole time travel thing gets tiring to me.
@cassidy it’s not time travel don’t worry. They won’t go there ever.
WBW You’re inside the force you can be anywhere at any point in time. This is why palpatine wanted in there. I’m wondering has he managed to? Anakin black eyes, weird des iré note right before the Vader music plays. Black lightsaber. I’m not sure it’s really him tbh. That’s a bigger issue right now for me. I hope this is really him intervening to save her&apologise&make peace w her
@cassidy well when I saw they won’t go there I mean you’re not going to see anyone going back in time and changing timelines etc. heck, anakin is there, if anyone could and should do that it’s him n fix all of it. But they won’t do that with anyone. He knows Thrawn tho. I’m wondering if that will play into it?WBW here just a vehicle to get her to that other galaxy and Ezra I wanna say. Next week is gonna be bonkers no matter what. I cannot wait!!
AAAAAAAH I can’t get over this. Wow. I love that they are getting weird (I have a section on my site called “Star Wars Gets Weird!”)¹, but also WHAT DOES THIS MEAN. Is it just a vision/dream/whatever, or are they REALLY going there??
I’m still not 100% sure about Anakin and if that’s his saber or not—I would have to dig into it more. Maybe I’ll look at it frame-by-frame or find someone who has.
@cassidy we wanted to join last night but we are behind on our TV watching and haven't seen the other episodes yet! @micahilbery and I will try harder and get caught up before the next one!
@Lorhin I’m well aware of where it is. :) I talk about it across this whole thread, but the gist of my dilemma is that in Rebels, they intentionally destroyed the temple that had the portal to the World Between Worlds. I didn’t love the timeline implications in Rebels, but they kept it pretty self-contained.
If they are actually going back there (and it’s not just a dream/vision), then they’re re-opening a time travel can of worms. I just generally hate time travel. :(
Okay, I am pleased with how that turned out over all. Lots to think about & take in.
I do feel the bit of drag when it comes to the plot—maybe that’s the downside of having a singular story instead of smaller ones wound together: you feel like it takes forever to move it forward! If there were other subplots happening and resolving more quickly alongside the overarching story, it would probably work a bit better.
As a fan of The Clone Wars and Rebels, this show has been a treat. Especially the Clone Wars bits of this episode… 🤌
Holy cow, did Clone Wars Anakin look so good. His silhouette as he walked off was perfection; I love how they handled all of that.
I am so used to Ashley Eckstein as young Ahsoka (and the Clone Wars styling) that her young actress threw me a bit, but maybe it won’t as much watching it a second time.
@cassidy If anything seeing young Ahsoka in live action hit harder just how young she was at the start of the Clone Wars. It wasn’t just fun adventures, she literally went through hell and came out of it with PTSD.
@SailorDisco@cassidy This exactly. Gosh that was difficult and emotional to watch - she was a child thrown into a war leading grown men to their mostly inevitable deaths. These were clones created to go to war and be expendable. Anakin understood that, Obi-Wan understood that. But young Ahsoka didn't, or maybe she just couldn't accept that. The scene with her and one of the wounded soldiers? Jeez, its making me tear up a bit replaying it in my head.
When I see posts about this current version of Ahsoka not smiling or being happy and spunky like in Clone Wars, I'm like, well, she's older and is obviously not dealing well with a life full of trauma and PTSD.
And on a quick side note, I feel like the actors for young Ahsoka and Jacen did phenomenal in last night's episode. Sorry, I just can't stop thinking and gushing about this episode!
@cassidy still too early to tell if Thrawn is Done Right™️. Desperately hoping they won’t make Thrawn fight the New Republic. New Republic already has its ending written in the form of the First Order, Thrawn should convert to non-hero protagonist, join with the heroes, go back to his character roots and fight the Grysks
I forgot to post spoilery thoughts last week! Oh well.
WHAT IS BAYLAN UP TO??
Thrawn is so perfect
Ezra is so perfect
I loved the climax of this episode and am super curious as to what's happening next. Surely they're gonna get back to the other galaxy… right?? But is that going to be like right away and then we get the repercussions of that, or will that be the end of the series??
@cassidy Thrawn’s getting out as expected. The Force users, I can see them getting left behind and having to deal with whatever dark side baddie Baylan is trying to find (and the Nightsisters are fleeing from)
My main question is: what the heck are they gonna do about Baylan Skoll/Ray Stevenson?? They left his story SO open and seemingly important to the future of everything we know about Star Wars. Ray's passing is just so freaking tragic. :( He was so good in this series and I would have loved to see him shine even more.
I did not expect the switcheroo of Thrawn AND Ezra making back to the, erm, "original" galaxy, while Ahsoka, Sabine, Baylan, and Shin all remained Far, Far Away. That's intriguing; it's giving Lost In Space.
What the heck are Thrawn and the Nightsisters up to on Dathomir with those (presumed) corpses?? Are they Nightsisters? Nightbrothers? Something else???
The finale felt very Empire Strikes Back in its bittersweetness. I like it. I was sort of hoping for more of a climactic finale, but within its own story, it was great!
It does feel a bit like it suffers from the need to tie/lead into "more media", like future series and movies, which is a consequence of the times, I suppose. Then again, if it neatly tied everything up, I think people would be disappointed.
BAYLAN WAS STANDING ON A STATUE OF THE FREAKING MORTIS GODS OMG
And we saw Morai. And what the heck is Shin up to?
I feel like a season 2 could be great with Peridia and the original galaxy happening in parallel, and then hopefully eventually catching back up with one another.
@cassidy He’s breaking Star Wars in all the ways Rian Johnson thought he was doing, but actually moving the franchise forward instead of whatever the fuck the Sequels ended up as.
@cassidy Senator Xiono. I'd be entirely unsurprised if he was an Imperial sympathizer considering his stance on the First Order and the Resistance during "Star Wars Resistance".
@cassidy I thought Tenant voice might be distracting, but it's low key and, it perfect. In a droid like K2SO or L3, he would end up upstaging every scene.
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