Star Wars: The Clone Wars was one of my favorite modern installments of the Star Wars franchise during its seven season run. The animated series offered fantastic animation, including solid character designs and spectacular lightsaber fights. The voice acting was grade-A and and the plot and character development were of a quality that is rarely seen in the animated medium anymore.
The best aspect of the show though, was the introduction of Anakin Skywalker's Jedi apprentice Ahsoka Tano. While not the most popular character at first, Ahsoka quickly proved herself as a force to reckoned with in battle as well as the perfect apprentice for Anakin as both characters benefited and grew from their forced relationship. Fans quickly became extremely invested in her character though and it was obvious that she was an integral part of the show's success. She brought an emotional aspect by developing a brother-sister relationship with Anakin that only made the thought of his fall to the dark side that much more tragic. Eventually, she became my favorite character on the show and, although I knew it was coming, I was devastated when she decided to leave the Jedi in one of the series' best episodes.
When Disney announced that they would be releasing a new animated series set between Episodes III and IV I immediately held out hope that we would see the heartrending reunion between master and apprentice.
I watched the first few episodes of Star Wars: Rebels when it premiered last October, and while I enjoyed it, the full cast of new characters didn't pull me in -- I couldn't get attached to any character and the plot wasn't interesting enough to keep me coming back -- and I found myself forgetting to keep up with the series. Upon learning that Ahsoka would be returning in season two, I quickly caught up with the series just in time to see the season premier and I was not disappointed.
While the main story is fun and well written -- including a great duel between Kanan, Ezra, and Vader -- I tuned in to see the implications of Vader learning of Ahsoka's survival, and towards the end of the episode I got just that. In a scene where Darth Vader attacks the rebels in a TIE fighter we get the first interaction between Ahsoka and her former master.
Cue the goosebumps.
It isn't face-to-face, in fact they're in completely different ships traveling at impossible speeds through the vacuum of space, but the scene is emotionally charged and exactly what I tuned in for. Ahsoka and Kanan use the force to sense the unknown Sith lord in the TIE fighter and Ahsoka feels the familiar fear, the anger and hate that she hadn't felt since the Clone Wars, almost immediately recognizing her former master. The shock of the revelation renders her unconscious and she faints to the floor.
In contrast, the calm and calculated response from Vader is exactly what you'd expect as he thinks of all the possibilities her capture could lead to and the animation conveys this perfectly... even with a helmet.
The episode ends with Vader telling the emperor of his discovery and playing with the possibility that she could lead him to his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi -- a reuninon we'd see in Episode IV.
This caliber of character development is what made the original trilogy so legendary; characters drive a story as much as, if not more than, the plot. They keep people coming back and leave a lasting impact with the audience, something that was woefully absent in the prequels. With Darth Vader and Ahsoka we have two people who were practically inseparable years ago and are now on opposite sides of the ideological and moral spectrum -- a similar dynamic that was created between Vader and Obi-Wan.
It's amazing that a cartoon can have this much affect amongst fans and proves that characters need to drive the story, not convoluted plots senate meetings. Hopefully J.J. Abrams and co. continue this type of story telling on the cinematic side.
I can't wait to see how this arc develops and don't think that I will be forgetting to tune into Star Wars: Rebels this season.