Chris Connor reviews the opening two episodes of Disney’s Star Wars: Ahsoka…
Following a slightly underwhelming response to the third eason of The Mandalorian, there is a lot riding on the success of the latest Disney + Star Wars series Ahsoka, which sees the fan favourite and Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan continuing to search for Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn.
The series picks up threads from her appearance in The Mandalorian and the end of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, acting as a sequel series to Rebels but with ties to the broader Star Wars universe between Episodes VI and VII and the potential to crossover with The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and upcoming Star Wars: Skeleton Crew as we build towards Dave Filoni’s announced film.
While fans of Rebels are best placed to understand the events of the series, the opening two episodes never feels daunting for newcomers with a host of new characters and plot threads introduced, and enough time has elapsed since the conclusion of Rebels so that Filoni and company filling in audiences on the essentials of the characters and their links to each other.
Rosario Dawson continues to impress in the titular role, following appearances in The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett, here front and centre. She’s adept at the action sequences we of course expect but also showing Ahsoka’s growth from the Padawan we first encountered in The Clone Wars, now world-weary and showing a deep sense of commitment to those she cares about.
Other characters from Rebels, Sabine Wren and Hera Syndulla appear here played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Mary Elizabeth Winstead respectively. Both make seamless transitions from animation to live-action as we pick up a few years after their last appearances. Liu Bordizzo lights up the screen capturing Sabine’s rebellious nature and desire to find her friend Ezra. David Tennant is also a scene stealer as former Jedi droid, Huyang, reprising his role from The Clone Wars, and he is likely to give Rogue One’s K-2SO a run for his money as one of the fans favourite droids. Speaking of droids we also see Rebels’ Chopper get in on the action.
While the action in The Mandalorian and Andor in particular has impressed, the action sequences in these opening two episodes rank among the most impressive in the Disney + series to date. The beginning of the first episode ‘Master and Apprentice’ is tense and packed with mystery, introducing us to our new antagonists a pair of mysterious individuals with ties to the Jedi Order, played by the late Ray Stevenson and Ivanna Sakhno.
The pair work with Morgan Elspeth whom Ahsoka encountered in The Mandalorian and we will no doubt find out more about their backstory and ties to the Empire and Elspeth as the series unfolds. It’s safe to say however they are more than promising adversaries and the mystery surrounding them keeps the audience invested. There are some especially impressive lightsaber action sequences, refreshing as The Mandalorian and Andor have been relatively light on combat involving the Jedi’s weapons, we also get to see Hera’s prowess as a pilot.
There is a real sense of scale and ambition to the series with immaculate production design and a fine balance between practical effects and CGI. Dave Filoni, who of course has masterminded the animated arm of the Star Wars universe shows how well he understands this world and characters, delivering some of his most impressive live-action work to date. While grander in scale than some other Star Wars shows, it still feels grounded and more character-driven, impressively balancing the action and taking time to show the character’s evolution since we last saw them.
Ahsoka’s opening two episodes deliver some of the most impressive Disney + Star Wars content away from Andor but impressive for different reasons to that series. The action, world-building, visuals and Kevin Kiner’s stunning score all work in tandem to deliver a unique take on the universe that looks set to be a standout. It will be fascinating to follow some of the story threads as we build towards the return of Thrawn and uncover more about our various new antagonists and how they fit into the wider universe. We can only hope the series continues in this vein, if it does it will be a Star Wars project for the ages.
Chris Connor
