Overall, I’d name Ahsoka Season 1 a hit. It did a fantastic job at reintroducing the primary solid from Star Wars Rebels, solid some wonderful performers in key roles, and crafted an fascinating story stuffed with journey and pleasure, giving our heroes a purpose we might all get on board with. However, the season was not good and a few drawbacks prevented it from reaching the heights it might have.
Though followers initially criticized Rosario Dawson’s efficiency for being too critical and aloof in comparison with Ashley Eckstein’s hotter and optimistic portrayal in animation, that turned out to be a deliberate story resolution that paid off by the top of the season. The distinction between Dawson’s early performances as a centered and unemotional character and the joyful and trusting particular person she turns into by the top is stark — a fantastic image of her Lord of the Rings-esque journey from “Ahsoka the Grey” to “Ahsoka the White” — even when the present might have executed a greater job of speaking precisely what lesson she discovered in that World Between Worlds episode.
David Tennant shined in a surprisingly comedic position as Huyang and is likely to be the low-key MVP of the season. Between his sage pearls of knowledge provided to Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra, and his hilarious banter when below hearth at numerous factors on the ship, Huyang was a remarkably loveable character and it’s a disgrace it’ll be so lengthy earlier than we get to see him once more. Eman Esfandi was additionally completely solid as Ezra, embodying the animated character’s laidback and carefree angle completely, whereas Mary Elizabeth Winstead excelled at bringing to life Hera’s take-charge angle and love for her household.
Even if Thrawn was by no means actually positioned in a state of affairs that allowed him to indicate off his strategic mind to its fullest (although I liked the area mines positioned round Peridea to anticipate Ahsoka’s arrival), Lars Mikkelsen did a fantastic job at taking his portrayal from animation to dwell motion. There have been some murmurs from followers about his look however personally, I didn’t see an issue with it. In my thoughts, that is as correct a portrayal of Thrawn as we have been ever prone to get.
While Natasha Liu Bordizzo had a equally unbelievable efficiency as Sabine — I might see the animated model of the character come to life in every of her scenes — it’s clear that the primary criticisms surrounding this sequence all contain her character. It was a daring transfer for author/creator Dave Filoni to ship her on an arc that may finish along with her ready to make use of the Force, and with extra time I believe he might have instructed that story convincingly. Unfortunately, the eight-episode season didn’t present sufficient time for him to essentially concentrate on that a part of her journey.
If we’d had an episode of downtime that took the chance to indicate Sabine actually making an attempt exhausting to enhance her reference to the Force in a means that confirmed gradual progress on-screen, then that may have been higher than what we obtained, along with her merely studying the best way to Force Push and Pull below stress regardless of no obvious progress in her coaching.
My different most important criticism of the season can also be linked to Sabine, as Filoni dedicated the worst sin of all in ignoring the truth that Sabine was accountable for Thrawn’s return. Someone wanted to acknowledge that she might have prevented this worst-case state of affairs by destroying the orb on Seatos, however as a substitute, it’s brushed below the rug and Ahsoka appears to only forgive her with none criticism within the finale, one thing I ignored in my very own assessment of the ultimate episode.
There was a simple technique to justify Sabine’s resolution whereas additionally admitting she was at fault for Thrawn’s return. All we would have liked was a scene the place Sabine outlines her apparent perception within the following: rescuing Ezra comes first, and if Thrawn does escape then she believes they’ll take care of it.
It nonetheless clearly undoes Ezra’s exhausting work within the Star Wars Rebels finale, however it’s an fascinating perception that may have inspired debate, and never a lot completely different from normal hero logic in Star Wars and different franchises. Crucially, that motivation is true to Sabine’s character.
Instead, Filoni sweeps it below the rug and urges us to overlook it, which might be the worst factor he might have executed because it’s left many individuals indignant with one in every of his most treasured characters.
I consider these issues are borne from the truth that Ahsoka solely has eight episodes with oscillating runtimes. The sequence is so involved with making an attempt to wrap up a number of character arcs and plot factors — regardless of the actual fact the sequence’ precise plot is pretty skinny on the bottom — that some characters’ journeys get rushed or saved for later. Ahsoka herself has a fairly good character arc however as talked about, Sabine’s is rushed within the finale. Thrawn and Ezra’s performances have been good however we don’t get to be taught a lot about what Thrawn’s been doing all this time and the way he might need modified, whereas Ezra’s characterization is pretty one-note. Baylan and Shin are fascinating characters however solely get about three scenes within the final two episodes and neither of them converse within the finale.
This is especially irritating as a result of I liked every little thing else we obtained. I favored the gradual construct to succeed in the brand new galaxy and questioning what our heroes and villains would discover there. The motion was typically thrilling to observe and well-choreographed for probably the most half and the performing wonderful. I liked every little thing within the World Between Worlds, together with Hayden Christensen’s great reprisal of Anakin Skywalker which masterfully included Matt Lanter’s tackle the character from The Clone Wars, I liked every little thing in regards to the Nightsisters and the Night Troopers and I even loved all of the New Republic politics as we see their incompetence and corruption additional uncovered.
The sequence does so many issues so properly that it’s irritating to see it detect a few key points. It’s nonetheless a fantastic Star Wars sequence that I’ll fortunately rewatch repeatedly — it’s clear as ever that Filoni is aware of the best way to craft an thrilling story — however in an effort to be thought of one of many all-time nice tales, it wanted extra time to prepare dinner. If a second season does get introduced, I hope will probably be given that point.
Josh is a big Star Wars fan, who has spent far an excessive amount of time questioning if any Star Wars character might defeat Thanos with all of the Infinity Stones.
