Star Wars: Ahsoka - 01:01 - Part One

[ctg]

A valuable prisoner escapes New Republic custody; a search for answers reunites two old friends.

IMDB score: 8.7 Runtime: 57 minutes

 

[ctg]

Before I start writing about the Dave Filoni's characters on the live instead of the animation, here's a good video that encapsulates a lot that happened before.

I'd also like to point out that Lucas pointed Mr Filoni as his successor, as he was given the keys to George's realm to fulfil that vision. And he did so through the animated series, which unfortunately has been lost to a lot of the audience. So I hope this is wonderful.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

I'm still not sure whether I should give this one a try now or if it can wait, like Andor - which I have yet to watch.

I enjoyed most of Filoni's TCW but I can't say Ahsoka was the main draw for me. The Mandalorians and to a slightly lesser extent the clone troopers were.

I didn't care in the slightest for Rebels and I'm under the impression that a lot of characters and subplot lines will be returning from that show, so I was first tempted to give the show a miss altogether. Still, I was a SW fan in the 1990s and have fond memories of Heir to the Empire. Plus, Ahsoka's live action design has cool Jedi ronin vibes. And I suppose Sabine counts as a Mandalorian.

So who knows? It could go either way.

 

[ctg]

Like often I'm not a big fan of Disney's SW live action titles. Andor's ones were understandable and they were, to a point, where the Part I and Part II gives out nothing. All you need to know that when the Rebels finished, Ashoka was leaving 'the family' alone as she ventured alone into the unknown to find out what happened to Grand Admiral Thrawn and the 'wonderboy' Ezra.

I've heard all sort of things about the duo that lands on the New Republic prison barge transporting Morgan Elizabeth to a trial. Some that claimed the Sith weren't even Force Users. Others that said the head of the duo was a former Jedi. One that survived the Order 66 to be only converted to another religion instead of becoming a casualty number.

Thing is Palpatine went nuts during his time of holding Galactic power. He really purged the Jedi order to a point where the Dark Side was supremely dominant. Others could suggest that in the aftermath a lot of the 'peacekeepers' felt angry over what happened, and they couldn't keep away the Dark Side as the balance had been overturned and there was no Grey to hold it all together.

Why I'm saying this is because of both Clone Wars and the Rebels showed us the Prime Force planet where there was three, not just two holding the power.

This shot is from Rebels S04E12 - Wolves at the Door, where Grand Admiral Thrawn finds the Force Mural. It shows the light, the dark and the grey standing in the middle. It symbolizes the realm of Force on its natural state. These Force Beings are the god versions or ultimate expressions of the Force related religion that you'll never through the movies.

The Greys have never been acknowledged by the live action universe and therefore they've only been a theory. Regardless, what I don't get is why the original captain thought that it was a good idea on allowing "the Jedi" to come on board, when they should have denied access and asked for backup.

Girl you've been on this same mission ever since the Jedi Council denied to give you a master's title. The funny thing is that during her time under the Council she's thought more Padawan's than what you ever saw Kenobi or Yoda doing in the films. She was Anakin's only Jedi apprentice and she faced off her former master in a very similar place, expect it was a hidden Sith Temple instead of this beautiful ruined Jedi artefact.

Personally, I got chillies seeing her venturing into yet another lost temple and continuing unravelling the mysteries of the lost religion. Especially the grey part of ir. She is no Jedi. That much is clear, because she said so loudly to Anakin's face. But she hasn't given in to the Dark Side either. Therefore, she stands in the middle, which is a curious place, because after the clone wars she denied teaching Ezra, and yet she made her way to Luke's Jedi Academy.

Another hint is that she keep wearing the grey cloak. Her fighting style however is the same that she honed during the Clone Wars. So when Thrawn droids came to demand her give up "the map," I knew that we were in for a treat it became as such. But it surprised me that the droids destroyed the ruined temple instead of preserving it for Thrawn's collectors.

Except that party turned out to be Lady Morgan and the Sith pair. The girl asked what the place was and to my surprise Morgan explained that the ruined temple had been built by her ancestor's "the Nightsisters." The one thing I've been banging on about for ages.

Like I've said previously and the same thing goes to Mandalorian's. Not everyone was purged under Palpatine's orders. The Imperium were sloppy in the execution.

Wow. Hera 'the mum' made it to become a general for the New Republic. The last time we saw her she was still driving Ghost with Chopper and Sabina 'the girl'. The interesting detail is that when mum showed the security recordings from the Prisoner Snatch, Ashoka ordered Hyuang to match the lightsabres, which is another whole level of lore that the films haven't touched.

It was also that like always Ashoka didn't give out any of her thought on the Force Users. Instead, it was the usual denial that has been going ever since she said no to Master Anakin. Maybe even more curious detail is that Hyung couldn't open the Jedi holocron and therefore reveal the map. So mum suggested Ashoka to do the one thing and go back to Lothal to seek help of Sabine Wren, the rebellious Mandalorian.

Now I've seen some offensive arguments that the 'graffiti girl' doesn't belong in the SW universe and much less to the Mandalorian culture. My argument is that those people don't understand the rebel girl, because tags like that Lothcat in her helmet is part of identity. If you still wonder what's it about, I suggest you to look up Goth culture and see especially how the Goth girls dress themselves.

Sabine Wren is not a goth, but she is most certainly a rebellion. So it's no wonder why she skipped the OG rebel 'hero ceremony' and decided to skip the town. The only thing is that the security patrol ordering her to stand down should have known better.

Her place showed the same style. One thing that I didn't like was that she'd become a loner cat woman after the family was broken. I shed tears when she dug up Ezra's last record and watched it to only her him to call her as her sister.

I have to also address that she's no Force User even though the Sith Master called her as Ashoka's apprentice. All that training was so that she could use the Black Sabre to take the Mandalorian Throne. At most, she's only Force Sensitive, too weak to be a user.

What I didn't like when Ashoka brought the map to the girl is that the girl didn't show enough of emotion for the one piece she'd been waiting for. A clue to find the boy Ezra. A thing that I liked was that Ashoka knew the way to open the map by pushing Sabina's artistic side. Except she didn't count in that the rebel girl is always going to be rebellious, when she said no to Sabine's ask on taking the map to another location, while Hyung identified the lightsabre to belong to one of his former students.

So Baylon is a Fallen Jedi. One of Vader's apprentices, because at that time Darth Sidious only had one, Anakin. Flowing down the line, Anakin had only one Padawan, Ashoka. And he didn't finish the training. Just like Ashoka didn't finish training Sabine, maybe because Wren is Mandalorian and rebellious.

There is no balance or harmony in that girl. So Sabine could never be a full time Force User, because she's way past the age. That doesn't mean that being Force Sensitive means nothing. Instead she's gifted in other ways. Like for example that artistic brain on hers that is genius in the unique way.

It helped her to figure out the symbols in the sphere and open up the hologron map.

Not long after the Collector droid found Sabine's place and snatched the ball. For a moment I thought Wren was going to put on the whole Mando kit before she went after them. Instead the only thing she took from her place one of Ezra's old sabre's.

Then she faced with it the Sith apprentice at downstairs. Force Sensitive Mando vs Sith Knight. Man a beautiful fight where Sabine was the underdog, instead of showing the ferocity of her fighting style. One which I'd like to point out made her the ruler of Mandalorian, because she took the Black Sabre in the battle.

I just wished she would have had a bit more ferocity before she took the hit. And maybe it would have been a good idea to wear that Beskar armour against the Sith.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

I just finished Part I. I credit you, @ctg for getting me over the fence.

I can't - won't - judge the show after only seeing one episode. All I can say is that this episode suffers from the problems that have plagued all Star Wars content since Disney took over. It's all plot and no character. All 'tell' and zero 'show'. Half of what the characters harp on might as well be prefaced by a big "Let's bring you up to speed if you haven't watched Rebels". So and so have a history. So and so are looking for this or that. This happened, That happened. Yawn.

This could be understandable, maybe even work, if the plot had anything interesting to offer but so far it's just been another basic fetch quest that would already have felt stale and tropey in 1992's Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. So here we are looking for a map leading to someone important (now where have I heard this one before?), the bad guys are looking for the map too, the bad guys know exactly where to look for it even though they shouldn't and the riddles could be solved by a 5-year-old. Double yawn.

So what's left? Cool costumes and actors performing to the best of their abilities... I guess? Some of them look asleep at the wheel or have this look that says "When my agent called and said 'Star Wars', that wasn't really what I had in mind."

There's something about Filoni's writing and directing that doesn't translate well to live-action. I'm unsure what. It could just be my own bias, from knowing where he came from, but I can never shake off the feeling that I'm watching a Saturday morning cartoon performed by live actors. It never quite reaches the level of what good live-action series can do. The dialogues seem weak, the action cartoony and the plot goofy. His cameras linger (far too much) on actors' faces as they think about stuff, but there doesn't seem to be much actual thinking going on behind their glassy eyes.

I actually nodded off for the last 15 minutes so had to rewind to rewatch the end. I didn't miss much, since this episode's final twist is sure to be a red herring that will get undone in the following episode. As confirmed by Part II's thumbnail... Oh, well. I hope it gets better.

 

[HareBrain]

All I can say is that this episode suffers from the problems that have plagued all Star Wars content since Disney took over. It's all plot and no character.

Ah, but like you say, you haven't seen Andor.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

True. I struggled through the first 2 episodes and maybe half of the third. Not that it's bad or anything... I just don't care about any of it.

 

[Rodders]

Thanks for posting. I won't be able to watch these as i don't have Disney Plus. I will watch them vicariously through you, for now.

I've been looking forward to this, despite being sopmewhat jaded by much of Disney's Star Wars offerings so far.

 

[BT Jones]

Overwhelmingly meh, in my opinion. Nothing really happened, there was no proper background story for those of us not familiar with Rebels, and all of the characters (bar Mary Elizabeth Winstead) were unemotive and flat. Hopefully it gets better. But the magic of Star Wars died with The Last Jedi, and I see no sign of it ever coming back (at least in a format that means anything to me). I appreciate this universe is now aimed at a broader demographic, and that's fine. It still needs to have appealing characters and a compelling story, though.

 

[Parson]

@ctg --- Wow! what a lot of backstory I knew nothing about. A lot of this makes so much more sense now. But my question for the makers has to be why are they assuming so much knowledge? In this episode I often felt like there was something that I should have remembered but didn't. Now I understand that it's because there is at least one Star Wars animated series that I hadn't seen.

 

[Droflet]

I didn't mind this. It's not great but it's watchable. After the past Disney disasters, this is a masterpiece by comparison. I'll see how it goes.

 

[Rodders]

I was hopeful, but it actually looks quite dull and contrived. Style over substance. Typical Disney fayre.

 

[Dave]

Coming to it without any preconceptions or prior expectations at all (and I haven't seen Rebels) I liked it. Whether, it will be as good as Andor, or as bad as Obi Wan, I couldn't say until I've seen them all. I do agree with you that there was a lot of exposition at the expense of character building, but from what you all say, that was unavoidable and understandable. I would hope there will be a little character building and a little info dumping each episode in small doses. The only character who was drawn here was the one who died before the end. You also had to be really watching to notice that Sabine Wren had some Mandalorian Beskar armour under her desk, and then jump to that conclusion. I have come across Ahsoka Tano before, but if I'd only ever seen her in this episode, then I'd think she was a moody, prima donna, with her head stuck up her own ass, and not someone who is going to carry a whole series. On the other hand, Cassian Andor isn't very likable as a character either.

My biggest question though was, who will look after the Loth-cat?

 

[BT Jones]

Coming to it without any preconceptions or prior expectations at all (and I haven't seen Rebels) I liked it. Whether, it will be as good as Andor, or as bad as Obi Wan, I couldn't say until I've seen them all. I do agree with you that there was a lot of exposition at the expense of character building, but from what you all say, that was unavoidable and understandable. I would hope there will be a little character building and a little info dumping each episode in small doses. The only character who was drawn here was the one who died before the end. You also had to be really watching to notice that Sabine Wren had some Mandalorian Beskar armour under her desk, and then jump to that conclusion. I have come across Ahsoka Tano before, but if I'd only ever seen her in this episode, then I'd think she was a moody, prima donna, with her head stuck up her own ass, and not someone who is going to carry a whole series. On the other hand, Cassian Andor isn't very likable as a character either.

My biggest question though was, who will look after the Loth-cat?

Yes, the cat was very cute, but then it wouldn't be Star Wars without a critter, droid, or alien trying to out-cute its predecessors (and give the kids a plush toy to yearn for at Christmas time).

 

[ctg]

My biggest question though was, who will look after the Loth-cat?

They've done it before, and the one in Sabine's flat is originally a wild one. So previously the lothcats were left to their own devices, and they went back to that big savanna surrounding the comtower.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

I agree with nearly everything in Erik Kain's review of the opening two-parter for Forbes.

 

[Parson]

I disagree with a lot of what Eric Kain's review said. I think the least appealing character is Sabin Wren. She seems to be someone who is just obstinate for no reason at all. I hated the way she thought she was above a common sense limitation or a public cerimony. I have more hope for this one. He loves Andor and to me Andor which was not really a Star Wars spin off. No Jedi, No Force, just oppressive governments, and 2 bit con men. Where are the heroes? Where are the great causes? One of the great things about the Star Wars franchise is that there is often something more important then pleasing one's self and I just didn't see that in Andor and I have hope for that in Ahsoka.

 

[HareBrain]

Andor which was not really a Star Wars spin off. No Jedi, No Force, just oppressive governments, and 2 bit con men. Where are the heroes? Where are the great causes? One of the great things about the Star Wars franchise is that there is often something more important then pleasing one's self and I just didn't see that in Andor

That doesn't sound at all like the series I watched. How is trying to get the rebellion started less of a great cause than what happens in A New Hope? And several of the characters sacrifice lives of comfort for lives of fear in order to achieve that -- how is that pleasing one's self? I agree it doesn't feel like Star Wars, though that's probably why I found it interesting.

 

[BAYLOR]

Overwhelmingly meh, in my opinion. Nothing really happened, there was no proper background story for those of us not familiar with Rebels, and all of the characters (bar Mary Elizabeth Winstead) were unemotive and flat. Hopefully it gets better. But the magic of Star Wars died with The Last Jedi, and I see no sign of it ever coming back (at least in a format that means anything to me). I appreciate this universe is now aimed at a broader demographic, and that's fine. It still needs to have appealing characters and a compelling story, though.

Sounds like a tv flop in the making.

 

[Dave]

Re: the Erik Kahn review

It’s so weird how these three interact with almost zero chemistry or friendship vibes. It’s like they’re all strangers rather than old friends who fought in a war together. Something is just really badly off here.

I totally agree with this. Even people who hold grudges or dislike each other would, as former members of a 'team', have some kind of understanding that worked, because otherwise they could never have been a team.

The clear winners in the acting category are Ray Stevenson as the dark Jedi Baylan Skoll who is instantly the most interesting character in the show. His reluctance to kill Ahsoka because “there are so few Jedi left” is quite compelling. (RIP Stevenson, you will be missed). David Tenant as the droid Huyang is also quite brilliant, with more range than most of the live-action cast.

Also strongly agree with this. However, some of his other points are just nitpicking.