‘Ahsoka’ episode 6 ‘Far, Far Away’ recap/review

Despite some brilliant acting and cinematography, the episode’s narrative relies heavily on moments of recognition from another series.

Nick Nafpliotis

September 21, 2023

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the work being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Last week’s episode of Ahsoka took us on a brilliantly constructed trip through the title character’s past. After surviving the near-death experience, Ahsoka Tano appears to have finally found her way. She also hitched a ride with a purrgil to find Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn in uncharted space.

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.

Night of the Living Dead

Ahsoka (Disney+)

The episode opens with Ahsoka and Huyang aboard their shuttle inside a hyperspace-traveling purrgil. Ahsoka eventually reveals that the Force showed her Sabine Wren‘s shocking decision to go willingly with Baylan Skoll. After the droid speculates that Sabine likely felt saving Ezra was her only choice, Ahsoka asks Huyang to regale her with one of the old stories he used to tell back at the Jedi Temple. He begins by intoning “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” which is both cheesy and kind of cool.

It’s also the last time we’ll see Ahsoka during this episode.

After the opening credits, we see a captive Sabine aboard the Eye of Sion. Following a bit of banter with Baylan, she reminds him of their deal to help her find Ezra Bridger. He responds by silently walking away, which understandably ticks Sabine off.

Later, the ship emerges from hyperspace near a planet named Peridea. In addition to being the homeworld of the Dathomiri (aka Nightsisters), it’s also where the purrgil go when they’re ready to die — a historical tidbit that’s accentuated by the purrgil bones floating nearby.

'Ahsoka' episode 6 'Far, Far Away' recap/review

Ahsoka (Disney+)

When the Eye of Sion lands, Morgan Elsbeth & Co. are greeted by a group of ancient/powerful Nightsisters known as the Great Mothers. After praising Morgan for following the visions they sent to her, one of the Great Mothers points out Sabine and declares that she “stinks of Jedi.” This results in her being bound by an electric restraint and sent away. The Great Mothers also inform Morgan that Grand Admiral Thrawn is on his way.

*Side Note: If you’re a ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ fan, then you no doubt recognize the cool voice effect for the Great Mothers being the same one used for Mother Talzin.

Later, Baylan tells Shin Hati about how absurdly cyclical the rise and fall of the Jedi Order is — something he intends to finally stop. When his apprentice asks if Thrawn’s return will give them the power needed to do this, he instead references a vague source of even greater power that can never be spoken about on screen.

Blue Moon

Ahsoka (Disney+)

After being taken back to her cell, Sabine attempts to use the Force to break out. Her initial success turns out to be a result of Thrawn’s ship (the Chimaera) making an awesome entrance. Once it lands, a group of stormtroopers in lashed-together armor (Night Troopers) file out led by one with a gold-plated mask named Enoch. After their captain addresses them in an unidentified alien language, Thrawn appears while his name is chanted by the gathered soldiers.

*Side Note: Susana Polo over at Polygon wrote a great article on why these troops are unlikely undead soldiers. You should read the whole thing, but here are a few of the highlights:

Despite their tattered appearance, the stormtroopers seem much more competent and unified than they did when we last saw them in ‘Star Wars: Rebels’ (which is also a very sad commentary on living stormtroopers).
The stormtroopers understand Enoch’s alien language and don’t speak except to chant Thrawn’s name
In the Bible, Enoch is someone who went to the afterlife without having died.

The Nightsisters are involved, who have used undead armies from their own ranks before.

Considering that the last item is who/what Marrok was, I think we’ve officially entered Star Wars zombie territory.

After greeting Morgan, Thrawn tells his troops to begin loading the cargo he agreed to haul for the Great Mothers (which looks a lot like coffins). When Sabine is brought out, he taunts his old adversary for risking the entire fate of the galaxy to find a friend who may already be dead. He then agrees to release Sabine so she can begin her search — even offering her provisions and a howler mount. The catch, however, is that she’ll be stranded forever on Paredia once his ship departs.

Lest you think Thrawn is being a stand-up guy, he instructs Baylan and Shin to follow from a distance until she finds Ezra so they both can be destroyed. He later tells Morgan that it won’t be so bad if the pair fail at their mission — he’ll just leave them behind, as well.

Ahsoka (Disney+)

After riding out into the unknown, Sabine is attacked by a group of bandits, who she defeats during a great fight sequence. Her success and survival were not aided at all by her mount, who ran off as soon as things got hairy. The remorseful creature attempts to return, prompting Sabine to give it another chance. The animal promptly makes good on this decision by discovering that a nearby rock is actually an alien (a Noti) wearing a Rebel Alliance insignia.

Despite a severe language barrier, the pair are able to figure out that they both know Ezra Bridger. The Noti and a few more of the alien’s hidden comrades then take Sabine to their village. Sure enough, we finally get the reunion we’ve been waiting all these years for…unless you never saw Rebels. Then this probably isn’t anywhere near the huge moment the show wants you to think it is.

Ahsoka (Disney+)

Whatever the case, the old friends are thrilled to see each other again. After informing Ezra that his plan to save Lothal worked, Sabine deftly avoids having to explain how she found him. The mood is tempered even more when Ezra excitedly mentions getting to go home.

Meanwhile, Baylan and Shin find the bodies of the bandits Sabine took down. After more vague references by Baylan about a source of immense power he can’t directly reference on screen, a new group of bandits shows up. Shin is ready to throw down, but Baylan suggests they consider forming an alliance to find their shared quarry.

Back at the Chimaera, the Great Mothers inform Thrawn that they’ve detected a Jedi heading their way. Morgan is shocked that a Star Wars character who she didn’t see die could still be alive. Thrawn, on the other hand, realizes this is something that can happen from time to time. He then asks the Nightsisters to help him with their dark magick AGAIN (hmmm) while also ordering that any purrgil who enter the atmosphere get blown out of the sky.

For a preview of how gross and destructive that could get, watch this old news report.

The Verdict

Ahsoka (Disney+)

I think at this point we can all say that watching Star Wars: Rebels is a requirement to get the full impact Ahsoka‘s story is going for.

While Thrawn’s entrance was unequivocally awesome, the series still hasn’t done enough to earn the narrative heft it should’ve had. The reunion with Ezra was sweet, but still pretty anti-climactic for those of us who knew the character. For those who didn’t, though, I can’t imagine they feel any closer to understanding why Sabine would risk the fate of the galaxy to strand herself alongside him.

Heck, I still don’t get it myself.

As great as Natasha Liu Bordizzo has been at portraying Sabine’s personality and mannerisms, what the script made her do just doesn’t feel right at all. It also doesn’t help that she somehow got away with asking if they can talk about THE QUESTION (and the answer he’d no doubt be angry to hear) just to hang out for a bit.

Meanwhile, Baylan Skoll has me on the verge of throwing something on the television every time he refuses to elaborate on the source of power he’s seeking. I get trying to build a mystery, but this is getting ridiculous. It’s a huge credit to Ray Stevenson that he’s made the character so cool when he easily could’ve been all sorts of insufferable.

I hate that I’m sounding so negative about this episode because there was a lot that I enjoyed. That said, a large portion of my enjoyment hinged on connections to a previous show and not the narrative being put in front of us.

Thankfully, “Far, Far Away…” managed to do a lot of things right no matter how you came into the episode — especially Thrawn’s entrance. Everything looked fantastic, too. Add in the mystery of those Night Troopers and I can’t deny being hooked. As for the howlers, I’m a total sucker for animals bonding with badass heroes, so that’s obviously going to be an instant purchase when the inevitable/over-price Sabine & Howler Deluxe 2-Pack is released by Hasbro.

Let’s just hope the next episode gives us something more than a beautifully extended setup.