Last week’s episode of Ahsoka concluded with Sabine Wren allowing Morgan Elsbeth & Co. to use a map that will allegedly lead them to Grand Admiral Thrawn. She hopes her fateful decision will also lead to finding Ezra Bridger, but that won’t mean much if Thrawn comes back and wreaks havoc on the New Republic.
General Hera Syndulla (with Chopper and her son Jacen) tried to stop Morgan & Co. from departing, but are unable to do so.
Meanwhile, a defeated Ahsoka Tano has found herself in the World Between Worlds and face to face with a Clone Wars-era Anakin Skywalker. If you don’t know what the World Between Worlds is, you have two relatively quick options to catch up before diving into the episode:
- Read my all-too-brief explanation from this article about Ahsoka’s history.
- Understand that Ahsoka is about to take a wild journey through time/space and just go with it.
As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers along with some brief explorations of Star Wars lore. The order of events has also been streamlined a bit for the sake of clarity.
Voices from the Past
Ahsoka (Disney+)
Hera sets the Ghost down on Seatos near the stonehenge and searches for her friends. Instead of finding them, she sees Huyang holding Sabine’s helmet and lamenting that she and Ahsoka didn’t stick together like he told them to.
The droid attempts to help her find the pair, but is similarly unsuccessful. Things become even more dire when Carson Teva returns from a sweep to announce that Senator Leia Organa (!!!) is running out of ways to stall the New Republic military. It won’t be long before they decide to go after their rogue general and ask why she went on an unsanctioned mission.
Meanwhile, Jacen hears something through the Force in the nearby ocean — the sound of lightsabers clashing. After allowing her mind to open, Hera hears it as well and tells Teva to do another low altitude sweep of the ocean with the X-Wings. When the confused pilot asks what just happened, Huyang explains that Jacen has abilities like his father, Kanan Jarrus (!!!).
*Side Note: I know it was just a couple of references, but that was still great to hear both Leia Organa and Kanan Jarrus mentioned in the same scene.
Ahsoka (Disney+)
Back in the World Between Worlds, Ahsoka’s ethereal reunion with Anakin takes a dark turn when he implies that her presence means she’s basically dead. Things become even more tense when he says that she has a choice whether to live or die and ignites his lightsaber. Ahsoka initially refuses to fight her former master, but is left with no choice when he attacks her.
Ahsoka holds her own brilliantly, but is thrown into the void when Anakin shatters the walkway beneath her. After falling into darkness, she awakens as a much younger version of herself in what appears to be the Battle of Teth, which was one of her first missions as Anakin’s padawan. Despite being much younger, she still has the mind of her adult self.
*Side Note: This Battle of Teth was a central part of the animated ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ movie. As someone who is an unabashed fan of the animated series that followed it, trust me when I say that this brief live-action recreation is infinitely better than the film.
Ahsoka (Disney+)
After struggling through the battle, the haze around the scene shifts. We then see a slightly older Ahsoka lamenting all the clones who’ve been injured or killed in battle — especially the ones under her command. While talking things over with Captain Rex (!!!), Anakin notices Ahsoka’s sullen demeanor and goes to speak with her. He explains that even though the Jedi are tasked with leading their soldiers into battle, it doesn’t mean they won’t ever make mistakes.
The two then begin to argue, with Anakin hinting at how difficult it is to be her teacher while Ahsoka expresses frustration over her entire Jedi experience consisting of war and bloodshed. When they’re forced back into battle, Ahsoka is stunned to see Anakin’s silhouette briefly take on the form of Darth Vader.
*Side Note: Since we see Twi’lek freedom fighters, it’s very likely that this portion of the flashback took place during the Battle of Ryloth, which occurred early in the ‘Clone Wars’ animated series. Despite being on the ground instead of a starship, Ahsoka’s words to Anakin closely mirror what she said after getting a bunch of her pilots killed in an episode entitled”‘Storm Over Ryloth.”
Ahsoka (Disney+)
When the haze shifts again, we see a battle-hardened Ahsoka kicking ass and taking names during the Siege of Mandalore, which is just outstanding. From the fight choreography to the costuming (Mauldalorians AND 332nd Company Ahsoka troopers), it really can’t get much better…until Captain Rex stops to tell Ahsoka that they’re pressing forward to secure the perimeter.
*Side Note: Even if you’re an anti-animation snob, you really owe it to yourself to watch the Siege of Mandalore episodes from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In addition to being some of the best Star Wars media ever created, it also shows Order 66 from a very different and terrifying point of view.
When Anakin appears and claims not to know this battle, Ahsoka explains that it took place after they’d parted ways for the last time. Anakin commends Ahsoka on becoming a great warrior like he trained her to be. When their discussion turns to the matter of legacies, Ahsoka expresses wariness over what hers is — especially if it follows the death and destruction her master wrought.
Ahsoka (Disney+)
Anakin becomes frustrated, declares that she has learned nothing, and ignites his lightsaber, which is now red. He outduels his former Padawan before kicking her back into the World Between Worlds, where Ahsoka has returned to her present form. He stalks toward her (shifting briefly back-and-forth into Darth Vader) and attacks again. Ahsoka loses both her lightsabers and is nearly beaten, but any good Ahsoka fan knows that this is when she’s at her best.
The former Padawan disarms her master and holds his own blade to his throat. Instead of killing him, however, she chooses to live and tosses the lightsaber away. Anakin’s enraged demeanor softens into a smile before he declares that there might be hope for her yet.
He then disappears, leaving Ahsoka wishing for her master to still be there as water surrounds her on all sides.
Whale of a Time
Ahsoka (Disney+)
As the search for Ahsoka and Sabine drags on, Teva expresses his concern that they aren’t finding anything. Huyang assures Hera that her rebellious nature (which probably has her in huge trouble with the New Republic) is born of a desire to help others — hence a major reason that folks like her so much.
Chopper eventually picks up a reading, requiring the Ghost and its accompanying X-Wings to get as close to the water as possible. They find a barely conscious Ahsoka beneath the surface and pull her up onto the Ghost.
Ahsoka takes a day to recover from her ordeal. After waking up, two things quickly become apparent:
- Ahsoka’s demeanor is much more like the character used to be before years of war and loss chipped away at her soul.
- Ahsoka’s garb is strangely similar to how she appeared at the end of Star Wars: Rebels. I know that wouldn’t line up with the assumed timeline (right after Return of the Jedi), but maybe we’ve had it wrong this whole time. Considering that the World Between Worlds is now officially in play, it’s certainly possible.
Ahsoka (Disney+)
Ahsoka heads out to the stonehenge and gets a residual psychic reading of what happened with Sabine and Baylan Skoll. While that means they at least know she’s alive, it doesn’t solve the issue of how to find her without the map. The situation becomes even more complicated when Teva announces that the New Republic fleet is close to arriving at their location.
Hera heads onto the Ghost, where Mon Mothma calls in and encourages her and the team she took to return to the fleet along with Ahsoka. She goes on to explain that this might be the only way to mitigate their potential punishment. Predictably, Hera is not down with that at all — especially when it means leaving without finding their friend.
Thankfully, Ahsoka has a plan.
Her plan turns out to be pretty obvious, but still all types of fun/beautiful:
- Have Carson Teva distract/stall the New Republic fleet
- Climb out onto the hull of the T-6 shuttle.
- Make contact with a giant purrgil.
- ASK THE CREATURE TO HELP FIND SABINE AND FLY INTO ITS FREAKING MOUTH.
When the pod of purrgil leave the planet’s atmosphere, everyone is stunned — especially the New Republic fleet, who is likely too shocked to finish writing whatever report they need to submit about all this craziness. Hera then wishes Ahsoka well as she takes off for an uncharted part of the galaxy where her friends — and one of her greatest enemies — are trapped.
The Verdict
Ahsoka (Disney+)
It’s hard for spectacle to make an impact on me these days. That could be due to all the shows and movies I’ve watched over the years or just that I’m old and grumpy. But I can’t deny that the sight of those purggils gave me a jolt of joy that I truly was not expecting.
A large part of this reaction can be attributed to me being a Star Wars fan. Those creatures and the character interacting with them hold a very significant place in my heart. It also certainly helps that the effects looked great — something many of us were worried about when it became clear that the purrgil would be a major part of the series.
But none of that matters if you don’t have a good story, which this episode delivered and then some.
My only gripe is that you have to have watched the animated shows to experience Shadow Warrior’s full narrative impact. That doesn’t bother me personally, but it does force us to acknowledge that the story can’t stand 100% on it’s own. It’s still very good with fresh eyes, but not as great as it was for us Clone Wars/Rebels fans.
Even if you don’t know a lick about Star Wars, however, it’s impossible not to acknowledge how phenomenal the production values were. Disney has missed the mark multiple times on CGI de-aging, but they absolutely nailed it this time with Hayden Christensen/Anakin. Sure, the haze helped (along with those beautiful clone trooper costumes and vehicle effects), but that went along with the ethereal quality of the scene. Add in the Vader-Anakin-Vader effect and the entire flashback sequence was one of the best looking live-action Star Wars moments ever.
And then we have Ariana Greenblatt doing an absolutely brilliant job portraying the younger version of Ahsoka. While her performance has been rightfully lauded all over the internet, Rosario Dawson also deserves a ton of credit for the way she portrayed Ahsoka after returning from the World Between Worlds. Instead of doing a complete personality flip, she added multiple shades of the character’s previous demeanor that kept Ahsoka feeling authentic to what we’d seen along with what she’d just been through.
So yeah…lightsaber fights, great acting, brilliant effects, organically created fan service moments that also serve the story…all very good stuff. But it was driven by a story that showed one of Star Wars’ best and most beloved characters at a monumental crossroads. That battle — both the one with her lightsabers and the one in her soul — was a equal parts heartbreaking and beautiful.
Considering just how heavy everything was, it might be easy to forget some of the episode’s other nice moments — like the exchange between Hera and Huyang or the comedic relief Carson Teva provided while trying to stall the New Republic fleet. In a normal episode, those would be the stand out sequences. This time, however, they were small parts of a wonderfully enjoyable tapestry.
I’m not sure how the next episode will be able to follow this one, but with Thrawn and Ezra’s imminent arrival, it just might happen.
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