Chris Connor reviews the season finale of Star Wars: Ahsoka…
Ahsoka has crammed a lot into its eight-episode run, continuing the central storyline from Rebels while also addressing events teased in The Mandalorian. In spite of the breadth of stories being covered, it has largely felt like a successful live-action continuation for most of these characters, whilst introducing new intriguing new concepts and worlds.
The finale sees Ezra, Sabine and Ahsoka in a race to stop Thrawn and his army of Imperial troops from returning to the main Star Wars galaxy. It is certainly one of the most action-packed episodes of any Star Wars Disney + series to date, showing Dave Filoni and co’s aptitude for crafting large scale sequences, which no doubt will be a key part of his upcoming film.
Rick Famuyiwa directs this episode, which shows the odds against our heroes as they have to deal with hoards of troops and witchcraft. While other series have been relatively light on lightsaber action, Ahsoka has featured some form of combat in each episode meaning the individual fights may stand out less but generally the choreography of the lightsaber action has been impressive.
Unsurprisingly a few of the season’s arcs are left unresolved, Ray Stevenson’s Balen the most unfortunate given his passing before the show’s premiere, especially with the reception to his performance. Perhaps his storyline will be picked up with his apprentice Shin. Notably this episode is relatively light on both characters but the plotlines for both will surely be continued.
While Thrawn and Ezra have returned to the main universe and could feature in the likes of Skeleton Crew or The Mandalorian Season 4, Ahsoka and Sabine remain stranded in the galaxy Thrawn was trapped in, a reversal of sorts of the end of Rebels. Will any potential future seasons take place in this galaxy, opening up a world of new possibilities for this show and Star Wars lore? How this will affect other projects remains to be seen but it is an interesting narrative choice from Filoni.
Ahsoka has mostly succeeded at continuing the story of its titular heroine and the crew from Rebels while introducing a number of new elements. A complete resolution, with other projects announced, was always unlikely and while some threads are wrapped up here, a lot is left tantalisingly poised and whether these threads are addressed in Skeleton Crew, a potential second seaso, or Filoni’s film will become clear in the coming years.
Ahsoka has been an action-packed and at times emotional series that has built on the legacy of The Clone Wars and Rebels especially while teasing the future for this corner of the Star Wars universe. Kevin Kiner’s score has also been a true standout, delivering some of the most impressive music from across the Star Wars franchise. One thing is certain, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the heroes and antagonists of the show, as a potentially seismic conflict is coming…
Chris Connor
