I just watched the third episode of Ahsoka a few days ago…
- The music in this show is great. I loved the music playing through the whole training sequence and into the “Time To Fly” title card . It is so much better than the music for The Mandalorian, which—to be clear—is not bad at all. This soundtrack is just operating on a whole other level, though.
- I really like the idea that Sabine is not Force-sensitive at all. I hope that they stick with it. All the YouTube reactors are on about how this episode is hinting that Sabine actually is Force-sensitive, but I still think she is not. It would be a lot more interesting if it turns out Ahsoka is trying to turn her into something she is not, looking for something that is not there.
- I also felt like Ahsoka’s line about how everyone has the Force was a bit of a callback to the idea from The Las Jedi (a movie of which I am a big fan) that the Force is not some secret thing that only the Jedi have. I didn’t hate The Rise Of Skywalker, but I was disappointed that it abandoned this thread and walked back Luke’s statement that it is time for the Jedi to end.
- I think we have now seen just about everything that was in both the teaser and the trailer for the show. Other than the glimpses of Thrawn, I think the only scenes we haven’t seen yet are Ahsoka fighting Baylan and Sabine fighting Shin (again), and those shots in the trailers both looked like they were on Seatos; I bet we will get those in the next episode, which means the final four episode will be nothing we have seen before.
- At this point, I am kind of wondering if we will see Thrawn at all until the last episode or two. Given how big a character he is, it would be pretty surprising to have him killed off or defeated by the end of this show, which makes me think he will figure heavily in the Filoni-directed movie that was announced back in the spring. I know the rumor is that that movie will be called “Heir To the Empire,” but as far as I can tell, there is no actual evidence for that other than some rando on Twitter.
- Speaking of Thrawn, I continue to wonder how much his motivations for joining the Empire—which feature prominently in the current canon books—will figure into the live-action stuff. I have tended to think they will not (that sort of thing is a bit inside-baseball), but all of the other-galaxy business in this show have me second-guessing myself in that regard.
- And on that note, the idea of other galaxies is pretty exciting to me. I am quite happy that this show is not about the Skywalker family, and the idea that we are potentially going to start exploring other parts of the universe opens things up further still.
- You’d think that a 25,000-year-old droid would be entitled to a little more respect, but even Huyang gets shut down unceremoniously and they even make a joke out of it. I feel like Star Wars is well overdue for a droid uprising, because everyone—even Our Heroes—treats them like shit and it seems like we aren’t even supposed to be bothered by it.
In general, I am really enjoying this show. It is everything I was hoping for. I appreciate anything that expands the Star Wars universe (metaphorically or otherwise) and plays with the mythology in interesting ways, and I am finding that Ahsoka is doing both.
My biggest gripe with Star Wars fandom—particularly the type that is over-represented in online reviews and commentary—is how literal-minded all of the discussion tends to be, interpreting everything that happens in these shows as something intended to move the plot this way or that way, or as hints about what is to come in the plot. I think this bunch tends to get confused and frustrated when Star Wars stories engage in metaphors, symbolism, and meta-narratives.
I think there is no small amount of that going on with this show, and I am all for it.