Ahsoka’s two-episode premiere captures that classic Star Wars magic

The two-part premiere of Ahsoka kicks off a new phase of the Star Wars universe on Disney+. Featuring the return of Rosario Dawson as the titular Jedi outcast alongside the live-action debut of many characters from Star Wars Rebels, this new series feels like a huge event.

Audiences have gone from having new Star Wars movies once in a great while to being so inundated with shows that it’s hard to keep up. The danger of burnout is real, as we saw with the muted reception to the third season of The Mandalorian. Will Ahsoka reverse the trend?

If these opening episodes are any indicator, the answer is a resounding yes. Ahsoka is off to a fantastic start which feels more like classic Star Wars than anything from the post-Disney acquisition era since The Mandalorian season 1.

SPOILERS for the first two episodes of Ahsoka lie beyond this point.

Ahsoka starts strong with “Master and Apprentice” and “Toil and Trouble”

Star Wars: Ahsoka is the first Star Wars television show to begin with an opening crawl, filling in viewers about Ahsoka’s search for the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has been presumed dead since the end of Star Wars Rebels, and her capture of the Imperial agent Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). But this opening crawl is in red, and doesn’t scroll backwards into space. It’s the same, but different, which perfectly encapsulates Ahsoka as a whole. It also makes the series feel more like a momentous entry in the Star Wars canon.

In terms of the cinematography, the soundtrack, the writing and themes and action, Ahsoka feels more like one of George Lucas’ Star Wars films than anything we’ve seen in a long time. There’s a flavor to it that’s hard to easily define, but has the taste of authenticity. I was enthralled right from the start.

Much ado has been made about the fact that Ahsoka is essentially a live-action sequel to Rebels, and it’s true; this show is clearly servicing fans of that series. But it also has enough going for it on its own that it still feels incredibly accessible to anyone who hasn’t seen that show.

Our introduction to Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) is a perfect example. The series opens with the pair of Sith storming a New Republic ship in order to break Morgan Elsebeth out of confinement. Neither Baylan, Shin, or Morgan are from Rebels; if anything, this opening scene most recalls Darth Vader’s iconic attack on the Rebel ship in the beginning of A New Hope. At the same time, Baylan and Shin have a master and apprentice relationship that draws more inspiration from the prequel trilogy, right down to Shin’s padawan learner hair braid.

Then there are elements like Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano’s relationship. Rebels ended with the two of them setting off to search for Ezra Bridger after he went missing following the Battle of Lothal. But Ahsoka picks up much later, with many blanks to be filled in. All of the talk about Sabine and Ahsoka’s master-padawan relationship is referring to stuff that happened after Rebels, stuff we never saw.

Ahsoka includes enough nods to Rebels that longtime fans of that series will likely be overcome with joy, while also building a compelling plot that stands on its own. It’s not an easy balance to strike, and the premiere episodes do a better job of it than I’d dared hope.

Ahsoka’s two-part premiere is an excellent buildup with a spectacular cast

A huge part of what makes Ahsoka work as well as it does is its fantastic cast. Dawson perfectly captures that Jedi stillness in a way that few actors have since Ewan McGregor’s heyday as Obi-Wan Kenobi. At the same time, she’s an edgier, more impatient Force-wielder who left the Jedi behind back during the Clone Wars. Ahsoka is well-written, and Dawson makes the most of this complicated character.

This is true of the rest of the Rebels gang that shows up as well, like Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Sabine in particular shines during these first two episodes; Bordizzo is extremely charismatic, jumping between reckless confidence and insecurity.

The villains are excellent as well. Stevenson brings his typical poise as Baylan; he has a commanding presence onscreen, yet also manages to not come off as just moustache-twirling agent of evil. Baylan is a former Jedi who has forged a new, darker path for himself following the Clone Wars and the Empire’s subsequent rise and fall. He’s written to have more humanity than a character like Vader or Palpatine. It’s sad knowing that this is one of the actor’s final performances — he died earlier this year — but he’s wonderful in the part.

Ivanna Sakhno as Shin Hati and Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth also stand out. We haven’t seen Elsbeth since Ahsoka captured her during The Mandalorian season 2, when her past and abilities were much more shrouded in mystery. The proper introduction of the Witches of Dathomir adds a fascinating dimension to the story. It’s refreshing to see a powerful mystic in this world who isn’t a Jedi or a Sith, but something equally powerful in its own way.

Ahsoka has the action and heart of a classic Star Wars film

My venerable WinterIsComing co-editor Dan Selcke has said that it seems like Ahsoka is the show that Star Wars guru Dave Filoni really wanted to make. After watching it, that feels right. There is a level of care and detail in this show that goes above and beyond. There are lots of fun little details, like Ahsoka using the Force to twirl her lightsabers through the temple ceiling rather than use her hands. Those sorts of touches give the series so much life.

Sabine and her home out in an abandoned communication tower is another fun example. It’s filled with easter eggs, like Sabine’s various drawings, her Mandalorian armor hidden under the table, and her final message from Ezra explaining his reasoning for disappearing at the end of Rebels. The loth-cat is freaking adorable, and might be one of the best Star Wars creatures since Baby Yoda wiggled his way into our hearts. It seems like they combined a real puppet with digital effects, and wow does it work well. There will be loth-cat merch, mark me.

The action is spectacularly well-wrought without the show ever becoming too reliant on it. Just as Lucas did with his prequel trilogy, each time someone gets out a lightsaber their fighting style tells you something about them, from Sabine being rusty to Ahsoka’s aggressive fighting style to Shin Hati’s whirlwind of controlled chaos.

Ahsoka also has plenty of quiet moments where we get to know the characters, which is a great choice. It makes the action scenes pop more when they do happen.

Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni is the perfect steward for Star Wars

After watching the first two episodes of Ahsoka not only am I more excited for Dave Filoni’s upcoming Star Wars movie, I’m more convinced than ever that he is absolutely the right person to make more Star Wars films. He seems to get this universe in a way that few aside from George Lucas do, in terms of the aesthetics, themes and storytelling. Ahsoka doesn’t feel like it captures just one part of Star Wars the way that The Mandalorian or Andor do, but rather starts a full new chapter of the saga.

At least so far. We’ve only seen two episodes; anything could happen. But Ahsoka is getting off to a more promising start than many other Star Wars shows have. This is the most excited I’ve been for a series set in the galaxy far, far away in a while.

Ahoska Bullet Points

• I loved seeing Ahsoka begin her journey by going to a temple. This is such a Rebels thing; temples and the various puzzles to unlock them feature prominently in that show.
• Huyang the droid is voiced by David Tennant of Good Omens and Doctor Who fame. He’s doing a great job as a droid who served the Jedi for hundreds of years, with all the pragmatism and dry wit you’d hope for.
• Actor Clancy Brown plays Governor Ryder Azadi in Ahsoka, a role he also voiced in Star Wars Rebels.
• Shin Hati receiving the message from her probe about Sabine Wren’s whereabouts was staged very similarly to a scene in The Phantom Menace when Darth Maul is tracking Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine. The probe even makes the same noises!
• Shin Hati and Sabine Wren’s lightsaber duel was a standout moment of the premiere episode. I gasped when Sabine was stabbed through the stomach.
• Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship is so well-written. It’s frustrating that they butt heads, and it causes them to make cold or impulsive decisions. But there’s never a feeling of characters acting in a certain way just to up the tension. The chafing between them is totally believable, and that made it wonderful to watch.
• The planet with the witches’ stone circle was extremely cool. I didn’t expect Morgan Elsbeth to become such a prominent villain, knowing this show already had Thrawn and Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll. But she’s exuding an Emperor Palpatine-style energy that’s working really well.
• The shipyard sequence in Episode 2 was pulse-pounding, and helpful in getting viewers acclimated to Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera. For whatever reason, she was the casting I struggled the most with during the premiere, but by the end of Episode 2 I was sold on her as General Hera Syndulla.
• We also get a live-action introduction to Chopper in Episode 2! For those who haven’t seen Rebels, Chopper is an astro droid like R2-D2, except with a much worse attitude. His sequence berating Hera for moving his stuff while they try to get a tracker onto an Imperial Remnant ship was a lot of fun.
• Very curious what the deal is with the third Sith who clashed with Ahsoka at the shipyards. They’re wielding an Inquisitor’s rotating lightsaber. Maybe a survivor from that fallen Imperial order who joined up with Baylan?
• Ahsoka recreated the final scene of Star Wars Rebels, with Sabine standing in front of a mural (with a fresh haircut, I might add), before turning around and seeing a hooded Ahsoka standing before her ship. It was a wonderful callback. Rather than feel gimmicky, I thought it was a great full circle way to honor that scene while sending Ahsoka and Sabine off to find Ezra and Thrawn.
• A final shoutout to Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll. I love that he is a fallen Jedi and feels like one, rather than an evil Sith Lord. The fact that Morgan asks him to use his connection to the Force to sense whether Ahsoka will track them down, and he ultimately ends up saying he would regret killing her because there are so few Jedi left, was a chef’s kiss moment at the end of the episode. This feels like a worthy addition to the late actor’s stellar body of work.

Verdict

Ahsoka starts strong with its first two episodes, which drop viewers into the thick of the action while deftly getting us up to speed on the ensemble cast. More than any other Star Wars project, Ahsoka captures the feel of the classic films made by George Lucas. If the rest of Ahsoka is as good as the first two episodes, this will go down as one of the best live-action Star Wars series yet made. After some speedbumps in the galaxy far, far away, it warms my heart to see it.

Episode grades: A

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