Another week, another annoying episode of Ahsoka. I think we lucked out with that one episode where Ahsoka Tano was knocked out, and we got to look at what was going on inside her head. Everything that came before that episode and everything that has arrived after that episode has been frustrating because of Dave Filoni and his team’s commitment to doing absolutely nothing substantial with the characters and the plot. Suppose that’s what floats the boats of Star Wars fans nowadays; well, good for them. Anyway, last week, Ahsoka and Huyang spent their time in the mouth of a Purrgil. Thrawn returned. Sabine set out to find Ezra, and, unsurprisingly, she found him. Thrawn sent Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati to track down both Ezra and Sabine and then kill them both.
Spoiler Alert
Ahsoka Navigates A Minefield
Ahsoka Episode 7 opens with Hera talking to the New Republic council about not following orders and trying to help Ahsoka. The council thinks that the threats of the rise of a New Order and the return of Thrawn are pointless, while Hera tries to convince them that that’s not the case. Then, C-3PO shows up out of nowhere to convince the council that Hera wasn’t acting on her own; she was being directed by Leia Organa. Then Mon Mothma asks Hera how serious the threat of Thrawn’s return is, and Hera says that it’s very serious. That’s it. This is the cold opening of the second-last episode of a Star Wars show. Actually, I would’ve excused the poor writing if it wasn’t for the abysmal look of the show. What happened to making fictional places look a little lived-in and a little realistic? I am sure a lot of work went into making it, but the shot selection and the lighting did it dirty. Well, thankfully, it sets the stage for the clumsy cinematography and editing throughout the episode.
The setting shifts to the interiors of Ahsoka’s ship, where she is awkwardly training with her lightsabers while the electronic ghost of Anakin drones about fighting wars and whatnot. It’s like a lesser version of everything he said in The World Between Worlds. That was a good cameo. Now, they are stretching it. And you know how The Rise of Skywalker was accused of walking back on a lot of the decisions taken by The Last Jedi? Those were two movies. Ahsoka is doing the same thing within the show. Previously, the writers made an effort to show that the titular character is worried about the lessons she has learned from Anakin. In this episode, she has erased all her doubts, and she is fondly remembering her master. Does it sound right to anyone? Who cares about all that when explosions start going off, right? Yes, the Purrgils and Ahsoka’s ship enter the minefield around Peridea.
The Purrgils enter hyperspace yet again to avoid getting singed by the explosions. Ahsoka simply flies through it all. She even avoids some of the enemy ships and seeks refuge in the debris around the planet. It’s like talking to a wall at this point, but I have to point out the lack of interaction during a space chase. Pick up almost any chase sequence in a Star Wars movie (or show), and you’ll see how much the characters talk and throw around nonsensical technical terms. They mention evasive maneuvers, they talk about shields functioning or malfunctioning, and they state how they are rerouting power from one section of the ship to another. And that makes those scenes come alive. Ahsoka flying through a no-visibility zone without uttering a word is supposed to be impressive, I suppose, it is not.
Ezra and Sabine Take Part In The Slowest Chase Sequence
Thrawn and Elsbeth talk about locating Ahsoka Tano and killing her. Huyang scans the planet for Sabine. Ezra and Sabine have one of the most boring conversations where they catch up about everything that has happened. I don’t know what Rebels fans think about it, but the whole conversation made me hate the phrase “it’s complicated.” It feels like Sabine knows that a chase sequence is about to happen. Hence, she can’t go into an expository monologue about everything that Ezra has missed. That’s why she keeps padding the running time to get to the chase. It would’ve felt more organic if she started filling up Ezra on the details and the conversation was cut short by the enemies. The fact that Sabine actively avoids talking about anything substantial with Ezra makes it seem like she isn’t actually glad to find out that he’s alive. It doesn’t feel like she has reunited with her friend, who was presumed to be dead for a few years. And this version of Ezra feels hollow. He looks like he has been on a spiritual journey, but the only thing he can talk about is going home. I don’t know if the writers are foreshadowing a death, but if they’ve reintroduced Ezra only to kill him, it’ll be hilarious.
Coming back to the oh-so-important plot, Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, and their team of mercenaries continue their search for Sabine and Ezra. Thrawn brings in the witches of Dathomir to use their weird tech to pinpoint Ahsoka’s location. Ahsoka uses her Force powers to contact Sabine and find her location. This exposes Ahsoka, and Thrawn tells Enoch to bomb the area where Ahsoka is located. Is this interesting for anyone? Locating one’s location How? How can this be intriguing in any shape or form? By the way, Baylan continues to vaguely insinuate that he’s serving some kind of higher purpose, because of which he can’t join Shin Hati in her fight against Ezra and Sabine. Shin Hati pinpoints Ezra and Sabine’s locations. Enoch relays that to Thrawn. Thrawn tells his forces to attack the duo. Since the Noti is a peaceful tribe, their vehicles aren’t that fast. So, that allows Filoni and his team to craft the slowest chase in Star Wars history. I don’t know if they were being ironic or tongue-in-cheek about it. If they were, it wasn’t evident because everything about it was atrocious. Every “creative” decision taken in Ahsoka genuinely baffles me. It feels like nobody on the team was interested in making every second of this unnecessarily long show count. They apparently wanted audiences to feel dumb for investing their time and their money in a miniseries that’s supposed to be about Ahsoka Tano, but it’s hardly about Ahsoka Tano.
What Was The Point Of The Skirmish On Peridea?
Ahsoka and Baylan take part in one of the worst lightsaber battles. The choreography, the performances, the editing, the cinematography—it’s all bad. The fact that it is juxtaposed with the fight between Ezra, Sabine, Shin Hati, and Thrawn’s forces makes it worse. Do you want to know how Ahsoka and Baylan’s fight ends? Huyang fires in their general direction, which creates a plume of dust and dirt, and Ahsoka runs away. Baylan looks into the distance with a dejected look on his face. What is happening here? What is this character doing? What is his objective? Did he really abandon his apprentice for this half-hearted fight with Ahsoka? Why doesn’t he pursue Ahsoka when she runs away? This is awful storytelling. Where does Ahsoka run off to? Sabine and Ezra, of course. Ahsoka, Huyang, Ezra, and Sabine incapacitate most of the Night Troopers, while the rest run away. Shin Hati fails to believe that she has lost. Ahsoka gives her an opportunity to switch sides. But it’s so flimsy that Shin Hati runs away. Again, nobody pursues her. She is one of the villains of the show! Why is she allowed to get away like that? It isn’t like she escapes in an instant. She has to run and get to one of those dog-like creatures, and the heroes just watch her run away.
At the end of Ahsoka episode 7, Thrawn makes a note of Baylan’s absence during the fight and the fact that his forces have lost. But he tries to make it seem like that was the plan all along because it kept Ahsoka and her friends busy while they loaded the cargo. What is this cargo? What is its purpose? We don’t know. We are in the second-last episode of the miniseries, and we don’t know the main villain’s master plan. There’s not even a hint. It’s some nondescript cargo. Amazing. Brilliant. The Emmys are on the way. Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra hug it out because this is their reunion. I suppose they are reserving the big conversation about what happened after Sabine thought Ezra died for the final episode, and that’s when they are going to catch up on everything that they’ve missed due to their individual journeys. That said, don’t be surprised if the show suddenly becomes too invested in the plot, focuses on stopping Thrawn, and forgets all about memorable character interactions. By the way, for the umpteenth time, Ezra underscores the importance of going home. That makes me think he isn’t going to make it home. However, this is a Dave Filoni show, and he isn’t a fan of subversions and surprises. It can be a red herring, but it’ll be absurdly funny if Ezra is killed in the final episode of Ahsoka.
