Ahsoka: Master and Apprentice and Toil and Trouble Thoughts
Like those who wield the Force, there is good, bad, and the in between in Ahsoka’s first two episodes.
Ahsoka has arrived in its shiny new time slot at 6 pm PST/9 pm EST, much earlier and favorable in North America (thoughts and prayers Europe). Time will tell if that was the excellent decision everyone thinks it was (it has already helped with social media chatter), but the first two episodes, Master and Apprentice and Toil and Trouble are in the books. I lost my mind when the opening crawl appeared. Everything that happened afterward was more of a mixed bag. Let’s discuss it!
The Return of the Crawl
I didn’t realize how much I missed an opening crawl. I thought it would be a few more years when the movies returned that I would see it again. But it appeared suddenly and without warning, and I got emotional. The opening crawl is iconic for several reasons: it forces people to read (or listen to the deaf and hard of hearing) but also sets the stage and provides an exposition of the state of the galaxy that is not some awkward dialogue from a character.
The New Republic is struggling (we know this from The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett). Still unknown to many in the New Republic, there are those searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn, who disappeared at the Battle of Lothal. Leading the search is Morgan Elsbeth. Elsbeth told Ahsoka about a map to Thrawn before she was captured to stand trial for her crimes; however, Elsbeth hires former Jedi Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati to break her out and track down the map leading to Thrawn before Ahsoka gets to it first.
It is a solid opening scene with a few caveats, but the crawl just might be enough to make me forget about some of the lackluster things that follow.
But Alas! Same Old Beats and Underwhelming Fights
Another hallway fight. Another “we are no Jedi.” Another survivor of Order 66. Another Nightsister survivor. Another MacGuffin map.
As I mentioned, the crawl gives way to a prison break scene involving our new antagonists: Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati (one set of Master and Apprentice, if you will). The late, great Ray Stevenson plays Balen, and I hope he is given better dialogue for the rest of the six episodes. He makes less of an impression in these first two episodes than his Padawan, and it, unfortunately, starts from the beginning with the underwhelming hallway fight. If you cannot top Darth Vader from Rogue One (or even Maul from The Clone Wars), do not bother.
Outside of Shin’s takedown of the New Republic officials, the fight choreography leaves much to be desired. Ahsoka’s fight with Elsbeth in The Mandalorian was slower-paced and methodic, but that worked for the scene. But now, it might indicate the limits of both the actors and the direction. Sakho is a younger actor with more mobility than Stevenson or Dawson, and not everyone can be Michelle Yeoh (or even Carrie Ann Moss from the first looks of The Acolyte). However, Ahsoka moves SO much slower than animated fans are used to seeing. Maybe I am making a bigger deal out of this, but it’s enough to consider the fighting as a negative, which is never great in a Star Wars show with Jedi. Dawson does better in Steph Green’s episode and the fight with the Inquisitor, but that is more of a credit to the actor behind the Inquisitor mask.
Another thing that is getting old is the New Republic’s level of ineptitude. It is worse than the Empire during the Original Trilogy and is veering in “suspension of disbelieve” territory. To not have regular checks at these factories to weed out former Imperials loyal to the Empire is mind boggling. One can excuse the thin presence in the Outer Rim but Corellia and other Core planets?
Dave Filoni is George Lucas’ Apprentice…For Better and Worse
Thus far, Ahsoka has taken more inspiration from the Original Trilogy than any other Star Wars series and, in these few episodes, has made the best use of the Volume yet. Particularly the New Republic hangar and parts of Lothal (though there is a lack of traffic on the Lothal highway). There is also a great emphasis on score throughout, and Kevin Kiner does not disappoint (more on that later).
But Filoni always leaned way too heavily into fantasy for my taste. Adding a Nightsister (while perfect for a gaming narrative) is another thing that needs to be explained to many people who never watched The Clone Wars. And why did she not use her Magick to escape the New Republic ship? It is possible that the decision to make Elsbeth a Nightsister was made after The Mandalorian, but I doubt it.
The Nightsister element does open up more Force lore and shows (like in animation) that there is some grey between the light and the dark. The Nightsister’s use of the Force is very different and not consistently wrong, and Baylan genuinely seemed not to want to harm the New Republic officials. He also has reservations about killing Ahsoka. And Ahsoka is no saint either, implying that she used un-Jedi methods of getting the information about the map from Elsbeth.
And less those of us who did watch The Clone Wars and Rebels feel left out of being left out, why is Sabine Wren now Ahsoka’s former apprentice? I am guessing this is when they were looking for Ezra (the first time). It might explain why she can (sort of) hold her own against an actual Force user in Hati. I would rather Sabine be the tech and mechanic genius and have less time with a lightsaber, but, you know, Star Wars.
It’s weird that they are being vague about Sabine training with Ahsoka. She was not Force-sensitive during Rebels, and I do not think that has been retconned (Huyang’s snide remark on her Force abilities included). Is it meant to be a reveal for non- Rebel watchers, are will they actually make her Force-sensitive? That would be a choice.
The Writing (and Delivery) Needs Improvement
Filoni fairs better as a writer than Lucas did with the Prequels, but that is not saying much. And there are moments when some of those actors are giving Prequel energy. Surprisingly, Mary Elisabeth Winstead’s Hera has the most heart outside of the droids, Huyang and Chopper, particularly in Toil and Trouble, when she has to pull rank on a Corellian factory manager. We get what we get with Diana Lee Inosanto’s Morgan Elsbeth. Acting is not her strong suit, but hopefully, we get some great fight scenes in future episodes.
I will probably be in the minority writing this- Natasha Lui Bordizzo has to step up as Sabine Wren to justify why Tiya Sircar could not have just stepped into live-action like Katie Sackoff with Bo Katan. She is second billing but is more of the lead in these two episodes, but Bordizzo is as stiff as her mural. The only time Bordizzo feels like Sabine is when she is hacking the assassin droid. Maybe both characters will loosen up now that she and Ahsoka have buried the hatchet (and Sabine has cut her hair).
Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka remains the lone wolf, and perhaps being alone for so long is why she is so closed off. With what she’s been through, Ahsoka is not the quippy Padawan she was during The Clone Wars, nor should she be. But there is a lot to fill in the gaps even after Rebels.
The surprise is Ivanna Sakhno’s Shin Hati, who plays a subtle but curious Padawan to Skoll (she has a Padawan braid and everything). I did not expect to like her character as much as I did, which is all credit to Sakhno, who does enough face acting to carry everyone in her scenes. And she asks valid questions: what will happen to them when Thrawn returns, and what type of power does Skoll think they will have? None of that likely works out, but I am more interested in Hati’s journey now.
Also, why didn’t they do more to stop the ship with Shin and the Inquisitor? If Hera planted a tracker on the first transport with the assassin droid, why wouldn’t Hera have New Republic ships shoot down the other one? And no one was curious why there was a dogfight in Corellian airspace?
Huyang is Worthy of His Live-Action Upgrade
Best known for The Gathering arc from The Clone Wars season five, Huyang is a database of Jedi knowledge, specifically lightsaber and fighting style. He was responsible for Younglings gathering their Kyber crystals and constructing their lightsabers. As such, he is a walking archive of Jedi and their lightsabers, and he identifies Baylan from a halo recording of seeing his lightsaber. It’s a droid skill we have not seen used post-Clone Wars, which makes Huyang an invaluable team member. And we are all the better for David Tennant’s availability to continue to voice the character. Huyang even advises Sabine about Ezra’s former lightsaber, assuring Sabine that it is her lightsaber because she modified it, allowing her to let go of the guilt of using it.
Huyang is also fiercely protective of Jedi history and the Jedi, so we could even see the old droid involved in fighting, especially if he is familiar with Baylan Skoll.
Kevin Kiner Doesn’t Waste the Spotlight
Music is a significant part of Star Wars, and, outside of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett theme songs, nothing stands out in the Disney Plus era in live-action. Enter Kevin Kiner, consistent in Star Wars animation, paying homage to John Williams’ classic Star Wars themes versus Ludwig Göransson’s futuristic sounds layered with more guitar and drums. And while Göransson’s themes are more catchy, Kiner’s score serves the series’ quieter moments better overall.
I am not always a fan of the elements Filoni has brought to live-action from animation, but I certainly cannot argue with Kevin Kiner. And I am sure we have yet to hear the best he has to offer for this show.
It was an odd decision to add “For our friend Ray” after Sabine collapsed from a lightsaber to the torso after episode one. Perhaps that could have waited until the end of part two. Clancy Brown was a nice surprise as he gets to reprise his role as Ryder Azadi in live-action (Dante Basco is not playing Jai Kell, who leveled up to Senator). Ezra makes a brief appearance via holo message, but looks weird because they tried to make a grown man look like a teenager (granted Ezra was 19 at the end of Rebels but he did not look that…beefy). Hopefully we do not have to wait until episode six or later to see him.
I am cautiously optimistic after two long episodes (I hope Star Wars fans are happy with that). I had low expectations for all the antagonists not named Thrawn, which was great…for these first two episodes. The writing and character work needs to elevate so that when there are higher stakes (we do not know the fate of these characters past this point in the timeline), we will care about everyone, no matter which side they fall on.
Originally published at http://creditsandcanon.com on August 23, 2023.
