The season 1 finale of Ahsoka, "The Jedi, The Witch, and the Warlord," is now streaming on Disney+, and while the episode did deliver on thrilling lightsaber action and some intriguing firsts for the galaxy far, far away, a lack of answers and some rather baffling story/character decisions result in an ultimately frustrating viewing experience.
Over the course of 8 episodes, Ahsoka - which, let's be honest here, was basically a live-action fifth season of Star Wars Rebels - focused on powerful Force-wielder Ahsoka Tano teaming-up with her former Jedi apprentice Sabine Wren in an attempt to prevent the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn from returning from a distant galaxy to (potentially) rebuild the Empire and wage another war. The hope is that by learning Thrawn's whereabouts, they may also reunite with Ezra Bridger, who disappeared in the Rebels series finale.
It's a relatively straightforward story, but showrunner Dave Filoni does, at least to some extent, rely on viewers having a previously-established connection to these characters. If you haven't watched the animated shows (Rebels, in particular), are you really going to care?
This is obviously debatable, and one could argue that the cast do what is required to make their respective characters compelling enough to hook more casual fans in, but this does become a bigger issue when Filoni begins to introduce lore from Rebels and The Clone Wars with literally zero explanation.
Former Jedi Baylan Skoll (the late Ray Stevenson) seemingly being confirmed as a representation of one of The Mortis Gods, The Father? For those who haven't watched The Clone Wars, it was just a guy standing on a statue. Ahsoka catching a glimpse of Morai, a convor with a mysterious connection to the Daughter, who has watched over her for many years? If you skipped the animated shows, just an owl taking flight.
A series leaving a few unanswered questions is nothing new, of course, and we're sure at least some of these developments will be explained in season 2, but there is a difference between dangling plot threads and lazy writing, and some pretty head-scratching decisions were made in the finale.
Remember how the entire point of tracking Thrawn down was to stop his return by any means necessary? Well, towards the end of the episode, Ezra is able to infiltrate the Grand Admiral's ship with the aid of a force-push from Sabine, and instead of confronting the villain and doing his best to hinder his escape, he... disguises himself as a Stormtrooper and retreats for a somewhat subdued reunion (why is nobody allowed to hug on this show?) with Hera.
Did he simply figure he was too hopelessly outnumbered to attempt to stop Thrawn on his own? Was his plan always just to hitch a ride home and deal with the returning Imperials down the road? We have no idea, but without any explanation, we can only look at this as a pretty major inconsistency in the narrative.
These problems aside, the finale featured some incredibly exciting action sequences, with Ahsoka, Sabine and Ezra facing a legion of zombified Night Troopers, and possibly the best lightsaber duel of the entire season, with Tano finally taking Elsbeth off the board for good.
Also, right at the end, we got a moment Star Wars fans have been hoping to see for many years: the arrival of Anakin Skywalker as a fully-fledged Force Ghost.
Ahsoka was a highly enjoyable show, for the most part, and an undeniable delight for Star Wars Rebels fans. The finale left a lot to be desired from a story standpoint, but we remain hopeful that a second season will rectify at least some of its issues.
What did you think? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments down below.
Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka follows the former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.
The series stars Rosario Dawson in the title role, with Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla, Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth, Ivanna Sakhno as Shin Hati, Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll, David Tennant as Huyang, Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn, with Eman Esfandi appearing as Ezra Bridger.
Kevin Kiner was announced as the series' composer.
Ahoska is written by executive producer Dave Filoni, alongside executive producers Favreau, Kennedy, Wilson, and Beck. Gilchrist is co-executive producer. The series’ directors include Filoni, Steph Green, Peter Ramsey, Jennifer Getzinger, Geeta Vasant Patel and Rick Famuyiwa.