Ahsoka Review: An Exciting Yet Regressive Addition To The Star Wars Canon
Greg Ehrhardt, OnScreen Blog Editor
Ever since the polarizing (to put it mildly), Episode IX came out in the Star Wars canon, Disney has been 100% vested in its past, using both movies and episodic TV to explore the history of the Star Wars Universe rather than laying some groundwork for the future. Ahsoka was the next experiment, seemingly a look into the period between Episodes VI and VII, but with Grand Admiral Thrawn being revealed early as the show’s antagonist, there was some hope that Thrawn would bring new energy to the show, particularly for fans (such as yours truly) who did not watch the animated Clone Wars show in which he was a central cog in.
I am happy to report that Ahsoka brought a lot of new energy to the table; however, there was also much to worry about as far as the tropes Star Wars shows continue to rely on.
Let’s start with the good:
1) All of the characters were dynamite
a. Well, all except one (and we’ll get to her). Ahsoka was the first Star Wars series to develop interesting and fun characters from top to bottom for the show. This includes the heroes (Sabine Wren, Ezra, Hera Syndulla, Huyang) and the villains (Morgan Elsbeth, Baylon Skoll, Shin Hati, and, of course, Thrawn). Yes, I’m leaving out an essential character: we’re saving that for the list of bad things. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how vested I was in all the show's characters, as they were fun to watch and acted very well.
2) New takes on jedi battles
a. One of my biggest nitpicks with Jedi battles is why they spent 95% of the battles wielding lightsabers instead of using the force to do different things. Sure, they like to establish that the opponents are equally adept with the force, so they have to use lightsabers, but are Jedis always equal in their force knowledge? Besides, it’s way more entertaining television to spar with the force! Thankfully, with Ezra on screen, we got to see what it would look like for a Jedi to use most of his battle time with the force, and guess what? It’s way easier than a lightsaber and more entertaining! Hypothesis confirmed!
3) The Hayden Christiensen Rehab Tour continued successfully
a. I’m on record that Hayden Christensen got way too much grief over the prequels, and thankfully, he took the opportunity to clear his name a bit in Obi-Wan and now Ahsoka. He won’t win any Emmys for this performance, but he’s fun and added something to the Ahsoka show, the Darth Vader legacy, and the 40+ year character arc. Hopefully, Kelly Marie Tran will get a similar opportunity soon.
But now the bad aspects of the show:
1) A bit too much Clone Wars nostalgia
a. I could follow most of the Clone Wars references despite never watching an episode, but the show made a big deal about Sabine risking everything to save Ezra, and it was never satisfactorily explained or demonstrated why Sabine would want to risk everything. To Clone Wars watchers, it made sense, but to non-watchers, every decision she made to risk her life and their job to protect the McGuffins didn’t make much sense in the moment or even in hindsight. It’s a big flaw in the show.
2) Tedious lightsaber battles
a. This is also a statement on the Star Wars universe at large, but Ahsoka featured MANY lightsaber battles, and, I don’t know, after watching the 200th one in the Star Wars universe, am I the only one getting bored of them? As I mentioned in the list of good things, I liked how Ahsoka and especially Ezra used the force way more than in the typical lightsaber battle. However, Jedi battles are still weirdly imbalanced towards swordplay vs using the force.
b. The tedium of lightsaber battles peaked for me in Morgan Elsbeth’s duel with Ahsoka. Here, we have a brand-new weapon for non-Clone Wars watchers in the Blade of Talzin, and we could see a genuinely interesting swordplay between a lightsaber and the Blade of Talzin because who knows what new powers this sword could do? Aaaaaaaaaaaaand it turns out the Blade of Talzin, at least in this duel, works exactly like a lightsaber, except that this one cut a lightsaber hilt in half, which I’m guessing a standard sword could do as well (please don’t @ me explaining why it couldn’t).
So, what exactly did we accomplish here?
3) Uninspiring cinematography
a. I’m referring to the planet Peridea, which, by the show’s account, is a barren wasteland. But, looking at the planet over a few episodes, it looks…. reasonably comfortable. There are no winds, it is fairly sunny, there is a good water supply, and there is some grass and vegetation. Frankly, it looks like Connecticut in early March.
This aspect of Star Wars has always bugged me, post-George Lucas: The Star Wars Universe always looks too much like familiar surroundings.
4) Ahsoka the character
a. Thankfully, I’m not being too contrarian with this take, but I’ll add to the chorus: the main character of Ahsoka was the worst part of Ahsoka. This is not the fault of Rosario Dawson, who I think inhabits the character very well. It’s just that, well, what, on screen, really makes her different than any other average Jedi we’ve seen? Sure, we know she never finished her training, and she has trauma from being Anakin Skywalker’s protégé, but her character arc, which was supposed to be the most profound of the series, ended up being something we already saw with Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi in a more compressed form: being good is a choice, and the force is supposed to be used to serve, not to dish out vengeance.
b. The more troubling thing to me, just as a fan watching this as entertainment, is, did Ahsoka really come off in the series as someone imbalanced with the force? Sure, she had her moments, especially in the World Between Worlds, but the Ahsoka at the end of the series, even after her awakening, wasn’t much different than the Ahsoka at the beginning, all things considered. Yes, she was different, watching closely, but let’s be honest: Star Wars properties aren’t meant to be studied and analyzed like, say, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, or Better Call Saul. She ultimately was another stoic Jedi with reckless moments, something we’ve seen many times before.
In a way, Ahsoka represents the first real excitement for Star Wars' future and another reminder of what keeps it stalled. Star Wars, still, is intent on fan service, playing the greatest hits of lightsaber battles and routine Jedi character arcs. Yet, through Ahsoka, Star Wars finally expanded its canvas to new galaxies, new types of villains, and (to audiences new to the Clone Wars characters) new likable characters they can get attached to.
To paraphrase Anakin’s final lesson to Ahsoka, being bold is a choice. Let’s hope Disney makes the right choice going forward.