Opinion about the series “Ahsoka” – better than the entire new trilogy

Remember the main complaint about The Mandalorian? That’s right, the transience of the main storyline. Of the eight episodes, the story development accounted for a maximum of four or even three episodes. The rest of the timing was taken up by filler, which prevented Din Djarin and baby Yoda/Grogu from progressing at all.

Gradually the show lost its meaning. As a result, the creators reached a dead end in the third season, shyly ending the plot of Mando and the little guy with some embarrassing confusion, shifting the focus to Bo-Katan Kryze. Fans were left perplexed, as the show’s title refers to a very specific main character, to which the showrunners immediately responded with something like: the Mandalorian isn’t necessarily Din Djarin, but in general. Laugh, and that’s all.

You’ll be surprised, but nothing like that exists in Ahsoka, at least not in such quantities. The eight-episode running time is used wisely, so absolutely every episode has momentum and a step towards the denouement. At the same time, all characters have time to develop, revealing their characters and inner world.

It is true that here it is necessary to make a comment and clarify that “Ahsoka” “is part of the series.” Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice had previously only appeared in animated series and several episodes of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Those who have only seen films will find themselves in an extremely difficult situation and will not understand many important things.

Some reviewers criticize the project and call it dependent, but none of them would think of looking at the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the center; the situation here is similar. The cartoons have long been part of the general Star Wars canon, so you either watch everything or don’t call yourself a fan.

For a comfortable understanding, you should at least be familiar with the ending of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and watch the entirety of Star Wars: Rebels. The new product is a direct continuation of the last of the animated series and introduces the characters after those events. But this saves quite a bit of time on the exposure, which is also a plus.

Anakin Skywalker’s former student fights the remnants of the Empire. Although Darth Vader and Darth Sidious have been defeated, there remains one person who can rally the broken forces around him: Grand Admiral Thrawn. At the end of Rebels, the dangerous strategist disappeared into the depths of space along with the young Jedi Ezra Bridger, but Ahsoka is convinced that the blue-skinned man is not only alive, but still dangerous.

Against this backdrop, the former members of the Ghost crew continue to live on. Hera became the commander of the New Republic, and the Mandalorian Sabine never recovered from the disappearance of Ezra and the failed training in the Jedi skill of the same Ahsoka. Sometimes the girl behaves too childish, although, given the time frame, she should be about 30, but these are small things. The colorful characters of the animated series remain just as interesting in the live adaptation.

Granted, there were still some plot holes. To be fair, the premise is worth criticizing. Where in the ancient temple the map of the planet Thrawn and Ezra moved to not so long ago is is a mystery. However, the intensity of events quickly erases the nuance from memory and does not spoil further impressions.

Due to certain circumstances, Ahsoka, Sabine and Hera are forced to unite to not only unravel the Empire’s conspiracy, but also to confront the mysterious Dark Jedi. Yeah, yeah, there are no full-fledged Sith here. With a small movement of the script sheets, Filoni has not only expanded the new canon, but supplemented it with a huge variable, which can now be developed in any direction.

Beilan and Shin are unusual characters. They have orange swords and the old master respects some rules of the code, although he does not shy away from the Dark Side. In a dialogue with his student, Beilan says he is tired of the constant bloodshed. The cycle of conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, the Republic and the Empire will never end on its own. We need to change our approach and worldview.

The idea becomes even more interesting when we consider that Ahsoka herself was a “gray Jedi” for a long time. In Star Wars terminology, gray and dark Jedi are pretty much the same. This was the name given to those who knew how to use both sides of power and preferred to go their own way, without focusing on the dogmas of the Light and Dark Codes.

All of this suddenly takes Ahsoka’s conflict to a much deeper level and gives fans a real breath of fresh air. Roughly this kind of development was expected of the new trilogy, which now seems even more flawed and parasitic on the legacy of the past.

Ahsoka herself has undergone major changes. In the cartoons, the heroine was distinguished by her recklessness and sharp tongue, but the creators extremely elegantly showed how years of life on the run affected the girl. Now Ahsoka is a brooding ronin who only occasionally resembles her former self. This new take on the character may be disappointing to some, but we think it makes a lot of sense.

Furthermore, Ahsoka now has her own student: Sabine. Their relationship has many parallels to Ahsoka’s own training, and yes, Anakin will appear. This is the main reason to watch the series for anyone who ever considered the ending of the third episode and “The Clone Wars” to be incomplete. Ahsoka finally comes face to face with both sides of her master and completes her training. In the cartoons, the girl also fought with Darth Vader, who was alive, but there it was not so powerful and it was done only for the sake of a cameo.

The screenwriters do not force the characters to say everything in plain text, so the essence of the “last lesson” will be different for everyone. Some will see in this encounter between teacher and student the idea that there is always the possibility to stop and choose ‘life’, while others will see, on the contrary, that some things happen regardless of our desires and only demonstrate the result of some decisions that seemed to be the only reliable ones at the moment. The image of Anakin becomes more complete than ever – and it’s a pity that he was not in this form in the adventures of Rey and the older Luke.

Ezra and Thrawn deserve a few words. The characters are largely copied from cartoons. The actors are certainly well chosen, especially Lars Mikkelsen, who, in the role of an incredibly smart villain after Sherlock, feels, as they say, “like a fish in water.” Ezra isn’t fully developed yet, but he’ll still have time in the second season, which hopefully will happen.

Ahsoka’s visuals are okay. The costumes are chosen authentically and in accordance with the canons of the universe. The unusual appearance of the aliens, including Ahsoka and Hera, does not cause rejection. It seems that this time they almost completely abandoned the puppets and replaced them with computer models, and this only added to the immersion. No matter what anyone says, the irregular movements of the animatronics do not allow you to fully believe in their realism. Even the space whales that first appeared in Rebels are impressive.

Finally, the combat is one of the series’ biggest strengths. Nearly every episode features one or even a few choreographed lightsaber battles. They look much better than in the new trilogy. This is still not the fast dance demonstrated in the prequels, but neither is it the fight between the disabled, which was reminiscent of the fights between Rey and Kylo Ren.

Now each of the swordsmen has his own style, which is very organically integrated into the character’s character, his appearance and level of training. For example, Ahsoka looks like a samurai. Her movements are smooth and calculating, aimed at quickly eliminating the threat with a minimum of energy expenditure. But when she meets an equally strong opponent, the heroine becomes faster and more flexible, which refers to Anakin’s style with his sharp swings and fantastic pirouettes, the same school.

In turn, Beilan wields the sword like a European knight. He wears unusually heavy armor, which prevents him from jumping around his opponent. In his strokes and movements you feel experience and strength, befitting a powerful figure.

Sabin and Shin, Beilan’s student, on the other hand, use very simple movements that match their knowledge. No incredible pirouettes, just the most effective and even clumsy strokes (but still better than Rey). Isn’t this a holiday for real gourmets?

All things considered, “Ahsoka” does what was least expected: it brings back the feeling of watching the same “Star Wars.” None of the previous series, including our beloved Andor, could achieve this. Under the accompaniment of familiar music, you cannot get rid of the enthusiastic goosebumps, and the rejuvenated Anakin in different time periods at the same time does not look “creepy”, but very organic and impressive in a good way. The series is an example of how to properly handle the rich legacy of the universe. This is what Obi-Wan Kenobi was supposed to be, but it didn’t work. We expect an open season finale. Rumor has it that Dave Filoni is about to direct his own feature film, which will combine all the series into one big story, and boy, are we really looking forward to it.