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Television

Star Wars Ahsoka: The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord review S1 E8

Jeffrey Lyles , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After watching The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord, I figured out my work around for Best in Disney+ Class: Star Wars Division. The Mandalorian Season 2 is the best series while Ahsoka is the best film since Rogue One.

Oh sure, Ahsoka is broken up into a nice and easy TV series package, but it’s hard to watch these eight episodes and not feel like this is how the next generation of Star Wars films is supposed to look like (shout out Ravishing Rick Rude).

Showrunner Dave Filoni carefully waited his turn to helm a Star Wars live action series on his own and Ahsoka delivered above and beyond. In these eight episodes we got a Rebels epilogue along with Clone Wars flashbacks and the blueprint for Star Wars’ future. And it is the Heir to the Empire. Let’s get all the Disney FX teams a three-year window to perfect those Han, Luke, Leia and Lando CGI models so we can team them up with the Mando and Ahsoka crew for what could be the greatest Star Wars saga yet.

Ok, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s focus on The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord first.

Morgan gets the nod for her graduation papers. She is now transitioning into a full on Nightsister Witch and she gets Mother Talzan’s blade (!). The Clone Wars’ deep cuts remain most impressive.

While Morgan gets a weapon upgrade, Ezra assembles his own lightsaber with Huyang’s assistance. They have a nice bonding moment as Huyang recalls helping Kanan build his lightsaber. In a very cool touch, Huyang had a spare rare component Kanan used for his lightsaber in case Kanan ever needed it. He would have approved of Ezra having it for his own lightsaber.

Ahsoka catches up with Sabine, promising never to leave her again. With greater clarity, she recalls how Anakin always stood by her even when no one else did. For all the latecomers who haven’t watched/finished Clone Wars, this is the perfect time to watch Ahsoka’s evolution on Clone Wars. And then immediately after, start watching Rebels.

Thrawn’s already calculated Ahsoka’s move and is ready for when she, Sabine and Ezra try to storm the gates to stop his departure. “Rain hellfire on them. There will be no negotiating with the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker.” I love how that line makes everyone from Thawn, Ahsoka and Anakin sound like complete bad a$$es.

The escape through the laser blasts is a great sequence, but certainly not the last one from Director Rick Famuyiwa.

Thrawn isn’t playing around and tells the Night Sisters to dispatch the Night Troopers. This was a great scene with the three different lightsaber colors slashing around while Sabine still incorporates her Mandalorian battle techniques to blast away at the troopers.

After a challenging exchange, it’s time for our trio to move on except for one catch — the night sisters reanimate the troopers who are now ready for Round 2. Zombie Stormtroopers? Sign me up! Also, Sabine aim for the head!

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With the Jedi being too persistent, Thrawn asks Morgan to stay behind to delay them further. Sabine and Ezra chase after Thrawn while Ahsoka deals with Morgan. But first, Ezra and Sabine have to deal with some elite Night Troopers. This provides the payoff to the cup scene as Sabine is now able to channel the force enough to summon her lightsaber. Ezra takes the Yoda approach in dealing with his Night Trooper.

The Ahsoka/Morgan duel was incredibly executed truly feeling like a clash of two master samurai. I appreciated that for all her skill, Ahsoka doesn’t just wipe the floor with everyone she battles. It takes a minute for her to finally beat Morgan with a little help from her apprentice.

Sabine gives Ezra a push to head into Thrawn’s Star Destroyer, but stays behind to help Ahsoka fight off Morgan’s Night Troopers. After Morgan’s defeat, Huyang arrives for the last minute rescue and pursuit of Thrawn’s ship. Thrawn taunts them and then jets off to hyperspace. In a shock, Ahsoka can’t catch him and they’re stranded. How about that? The hero doesn’t stop the villain after all.

That’s been the purpose of this season and Filoni (rightfully) trusts his storytelling prowess to allow her to have a setback and fail. Who’s going to contend with Thrawn on the other side? Questions for later.

Shin Hati reunites with the bandits (aka Knights of Baylan) presumably to lead them on her next endeavor. Baylan meanwhile has arrived at the statue of the Father from the fantastic Altar of Mortis episode of Clone Wars. This marks the farewell to Ray Stevenson and his masterful work with the character that won’t be soon forgotten.

The New Republic Fleet gets a surprise arrival with an Imperial Cruiser entering its air space. Hera and a squadron of Republic soldiers await the emergence of the pilot. Chopper is clearly stunned and excited, racing over to greet the figure clad in Night Trooper armor. Chopper doesn’t need to wait for Ezra to take his helmet off and Hera is shocked to see her friend return. I wish we’d gotten the joyous hug reunion shot though.

Reunited with Ezra’s turtle snail allies, Ahsoka and Sabine are enjoying a quiet moment at the campfire. Sabine notices something she can only describe as shadows in the starlight. A million scenarios rush through my head, but Ahsoka sits back and in a moment that perfectly mirrors her new ally, Luke Skywalker, she smiles back at the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin smiles and watches his apprentice walk off into the distant — a fitting end to this chapter of Star Wars. I can’t wait to rewatch this like a movie with no recap and no credits. This was an incredibly special series that was so rewarding and truly delivered on just about every aspect I wanted — save for one missing character from Rebels. But there’s always Season 2…

Rating: 10 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

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