[TV Series] Ahsoka Discussion Thread [Unmarked Spoilers!]

[Crazedwraith]

Feel sorry for Hera. I mean she's a General, you'd think that'd count for something but apparently it just means she's getting told she's a loose canon and to play by the book by a senate committee instead of her Chief/Admiral/General whatever.

I did enjoy the episode though, the training scenes at the start were probably the coolest bit so far. The dark jedi's fighters look a little too wwii (also where are those biggaton fighter laserz?) but she did seem to wearing a headset similar to ones from AotC and RotS which is some cool old order coding. (I think Ahsoka's suit had an old jedi logo on it too?)

[Zor]

Here's a thought I had from watching the latest episode of Ahsoka.

Thrawn's stranded in another Galaxy with no apparent way home and no knowledge of when home for a decade. He has (at least) the Chimera and her crew but no support structure. He might be able to build one, but to do so he'd need people and preferably loyal people. Even if he's inclined to extract tribute or enslave people, he'd still need loyal people to extort tribute and oversee the slaves. ISDs have large crews, but there would gradually be attrition especially in the long term. Similarly that crew is human and Thrawn at least understands the need for morale among his personnel.

As such, i'm pretty sure the Chimera has a nursery and school onboard.

More generally I like this show and you should watch it.

Zor

[Juubi Karakuchi]

My fears that they were going to drag out the series and not let anything worthwhile happen have been silenced. We actually got to see Thrawn, and there are two episodes to go (IIRC).

From the looks of things, Thrawn has survived by working with the Nightsisters. The Chimera has been patched up with gold, similar to what we see on the Night Trooper armour; suggesting that the Nightsisters provided it.

Regarding the Night Troopers themselves, a lot of YouTubers are assuming that they're zombies or some other form of undead. I would say not, because they don't act like Nightsister zombies we've seen previously. They could be Nightbrothers, or from the same species as those bandits; drafted in to replace the stormtroopers as they died off.

[Crazedwraith]

Been following this but didn't have anything interesting enough to double post, lol.

Episode 5 had anakin and the strongest focus on Ahsoka yet but I think the styling of the show as rather slow and laconic kind of hurts it for me. Like, what was Ahsoka supposed to get from all that. Like before that I didn't think she had any particular worries about being a warrior and not a jedi or that she'd follow in Vader's footsteps. Obviously it's one of those things that works a lot better if you've seen Ahsoka before.

I did fid the kintsugi Imperial aesthetic interesting. Like Action Thrawn just feels kind of flat and boring though.

Sabine clearly has the biggest portion of the character arc to me and it feels more ensemble and plot led than an Ahsoka show really. But I'm enjoying it well enough.

[Gandalf]

Regarding the Night Troopers themselves, a lot of YouTubers are assuming that they're zombies or some other form of undead. I would say not, because they don't act like Nightsister zombies we've seen previously. They could be Nightbrothers, or from the same species as those bandits; drafted in to replace the stormtroopers as they died off.

I just assumed that the troopers are what's left of the original complement they had ages ago. Time in isolation however under Thrawn has taken them from Imperial troopers under Thrawn to a full on cult, knowing that the only way home is with their glorious leader.

[vakundok]

I expected Thrawn to have a thinner face. Now I can not stop seeing Kim Dzsongun in white.

[Galvatron]

I expected Thrawn to have a thinner face. Now I can not stop seeing Kim Dzsongun in white.

He looks more like a blue Elon Musk to me.

[Adam Reynolds]

As a general observation, I feel like this series falls into so much of what I don't like about the era. Because the sequel trilogy means the galaxy is doomed, there is no where for a work like this to go. Hera's arc here is a good example of the problem, in which obstructionist senators with no allegiance to the Rebel Alliance have power over former Rebels who are trying to preserve what they fought so hard for.

They seem to have also thrown good after bad, relying on attachment jumping mediums from animated to live action. For those who did watch the earlier works, it then has the problem that their characters have had offscreen character development.

Ahsoka herself really should have just outright died fighting Vader in Rebels. It was an excellent sendoff to the character, beautifully tragic in the way that her arc sort of had to be given her connection to Anakin and thus Vader. She ultimately would have served as an early leader of the Rebel Alliance that allowed it to eventually defeat the Empire, and then died to stop Vader from getting his hands on a Dark Side superweapon. It was at least as much as Obi-Wan accomplished before suffering the same fate.

I wanted to like what they were seemingly thinking with Sabine in terms of the idea that she had an odd sort of arrested development, having missed most of the war and the fall of her homeworld defending a place that was never attacked again out of obligation, but they just don’t do very much with this because she doesn’t really interact with other Rebels or Mandalorians who did see more action. It’s another idea that could have been better with a work that allowed her to have the sort of focus she needed, but instead she is weirdly serving as Ahsoka’s quasi-padawan, a role that came out of nowhere. Sabine might have learned how to use a lightsaber properly, but she never had any pretensions about becoming a Jedi in Rebels.

While I think the era is mostly doomed, I would still like to see a take on something almost like the Wraith Squadron novels. The heroes could be pulling Leverage-style heists against ex-Imperial types who they saw as unpunished, also tangling with pirates trying to take advantage of the power gap. The group could then ultimately go on to join Leia’s Resistance—unfortunately the only way to have anything like a happy ending in the era. Sabine joining a group like this out of a sense that she missed the war would actually be interesting.

As another problem, the portrayal of Thrawn is based on the idea that his character was important, when the thing that was actually good is the way that Timothy Zahn wrote action scenes as if they were games of chess. His scenes without Thrawn or in other books that don’t feature him at all are just as good as the ones with him, something no one in Disney seems to realize given the portrayal in Rebels.

[Batman]

He looks more like a blue Elon Musk to me.

That feeling seems to be pretty widespread.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

Regarding the Night Troopers themselves, a lot of YouTubers are assuming that they're zombies or some other form of undead. I would say not, because they don't act like Nightsister zombies we've seen previously. They could be Nightbrothers, or from the same species as those bandits; drafted in to replace the stormtroopers as they died off.

I just assumed that the troopers are what's left of the original complement they had ages ago. Time in isolation however under Thrawn has taken them from Imperial troopers under Thrawn to a full on cult, knowing that the only way home is with their glorious leader.

You might be right. They sound and behave a lot like normal stormtroopers in Episode 7.

[Crazedwraith]

There a few elements in episode 7 (ahsoka episode 7 not TFA) that don't make a lick of sense to me. Leia was said to be stalling for Hera in an earlier episode but now she can just wave her hand and make Hera's problem disappear but just... approving her mission? If she was always in charge of Defense oversight, how come she hasn't been at any of the meetings? If Xiono is breaking protocol by doing it without her, why isn't Mon Mothma slappig him down for it?


What's with Baylan and Shin splitting up? I don't think the show really established previously that they has different ambitions that would split them up. She seemed his devoted apprentice before although he hadn't filled her on his entire apprentice.




The TIE Gunships are ugly as hell and why being gunships did they not use their guns? Other than "so the show can happen" ala Pitch Meeting. A pair of LAATs in a similar situation would be able to raze the whole convoy from the sky in short order.


Ezra and Sabine's combat skills seem pretty unimpressive this episode. Ezra being 'i use the force i need no lightsaber' then being slammed by Shin and grabbing a blaster is an odd choice. I'm also not sure I buy Ahsoka being unable to beat Baylan either.


There seems to be both a lot and not a lot that needs to happen next episode depending on whether Baylan's plan is going any where. Presumably Thrawn and the heroes both have to get back to the GFFA to set up the mandalorian finale movie or whatever's happening.

[bilateralrope]

At this point, I'm hoping that the New Republic government turns out to have a lot of Imperial infiltrators within it.

The TIE Gunships are ugly as hell and why being gunships did they not use their guns? Other than "so the show can happen" ala Pitch Meeting. A pair of LAATs in a similar situation would be able to raze the whole convoy from the sky in short order.

Given the state of the rest of Thrawn's forces, I have to wonder if they have working guns. Maybe the guns broke and/or were cannibalized to fix something more important.

[Galvatron]

Coruscant sure seems to be the capital of the New Republic in this. I wonder if they lost it in the divorce when the Centrist systems left to form the First Order in 29 ABY.

[Gandalf]

Perhaps they worked out that after the Imperial period, it's a planet with just way too many Palpatinists in the machinery. Therefore, the New Republic capital must exist elsewhere. This devalues Coruscant to the NR.

[Galvatron]

And just how ungodly fast is hyperspace travel now? Was there anything preventing the Empire or even the Old Republic from building a ship like the Eye of Sion and traveling so far outside their home galaxy in a matter of hours or days? The Wookiepedia indicates that only the real challenge would be navigation.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Eye_of ... ion_system

[Gandalf]

Yeah, trips to and from neighbouring galaxies seem to just be a matter of big engines and the right map.

So maybe strap the engines to a probe or two and get mapping!

[bilateralrope]

And just how ungodly fast is hyperspace travel now? Was there anything preventing the Empire or even the Old Republic from building a ship like the Eye of Sion and traveling so far outside their home galaxy in a matter of hours or days? The Wookiepedia indicates that only the real challenge would be navigation.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Eye_of ... ion_system

I note that the visuals of the intergalactic hyperspace had a bit of rainbow glow that I don't remember seeing from other hyperspace travels. So I'm left feeling that there is something different about those trips.

But the Eye of Sion also had different distortions in the holograms projected on its bridge, so the differences might be due to the tech aboard it instead of something special about the route the space whales used.

[bilateralrope]

There a few elements in episode 7 (ahsoka episode 7 not TFA) that don't make a lick of sense to me. Leia was said to be stalling for Hera in an earlier episode but now she can just wave her hand and make Hera's problem disappear but just... approving her mission? If she was always in charge of Defense oversight, how come she hasn't been at any of the meetings? If Xiono is breaking protocol by doing it without her, why isn't Mon Mothma slappig him down for it?

Maybe Leia could only do so much without costing her politically if Hera was wrong, then something convinced her of how right Hera was this time. Which could include a Force vision.

Ezra and Sabine's combat skills seem pretty unimpressive this episode. Ezra being 'i use the force i need no lightsaber' then being slammed by Shin and grabbing a blaster is an odd choice. I'm also not sure I buy Ahsoka being unable to beat Baylan either.

Think of how long he's been out here, without any weapons other than the Force. Thrawn gave some comment about not being sure if Ezra was alive, so I think they have been leaving him alone because they had no reason to go after him.

That's the kind of environment that could give someone an inflated opinion of their own capability. Then some serious opposition showed up and he had to reevaluate in a hurry.

[Mange]

The TIE Gunships are ugly as hell and why being gunships did they not use their guns? Other than "so the show can happen" ala Pitch Meeting. A pair of LAATs in a similar situation would be able to raze the whole convoy from the sky in short order.

Those gunships (LAAT/Ie) were introduced in The Clone Wars episode "To Catch a Jedi" in 2013 and were used in other episodes of TCW, Rebels and The Bad Batch so it's a well established design. But yes, a bit of lazy writing.

[Crazedwraith]

Wow, that was an underwhelming finale.

That... didn't feel like a finale to me.

I couldn't get into the fights and Sabine's sudden lightsaber deflection and TK confidence. "She's been practising", when? The episode takes place presumably right after the previous one. She does miss a few shots and can tank them on armour so that's good.

For a genius, Thrawn sucks at telling how long it'll take anyone to get anywhere. He's being saying they have no time for how long and they just get there and his tactics are... throw bodies at them. Wow. Genius

All the exposition on why Sabine and Ahsoka split up and Thrawn saying ahsoka will go way the way of her master feel like they should have happened much earlier in the season to set up Ahsoka's conflict/worries. As it is, Ahsoka already confronted that taunt so it's pointless because the way it's presented doesn't give Ahsoka chance to respond with two options: a)I'm not master, *proves it somehow* or b) you're right i am like anakin *wins by doing something typically anakin* but as it is... meaningless.

I vaguely know Ahsoka fought Morgan in The Mandalorian but still using her as the final boss with a magic power up... there's no sense of arc to any of this.

There doesn't seem to be much in the way of arcs for everyone, rather than a complete story of it's own with another one to follow, it just feels... incomplete to me.

[Gandalf]

I got the impression that this show is just setting up a bunch of other stuff. Like the next season of The Mandalorian, and a New Republic show or two.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

I rate it as Not Bad. Not as good as it might have been, maybe; but not a total disaster either.

I'm not sure what else Thrawn could have done here. Despite a fairly genre-savvy plan, our heroes still managed to catch up with him; and they managed to ride through his turbolaser fire. He didn't have a whole lot else to work with; and he just needed a few minutes to get away.

I was surprised that they killed off Morgan Elsbeth like that; and just after a power boost too. But bearing in mind what Mother Talzin got up to, I wouldn't write her off just yet.

A couple of minor but interesting points. The zombie-stormtroopers lumber towards our heroes like, well, zombies; but they're intelligent enough to use their blasters. Also, blaster shots that should have killed or incapacitated them only knock them back a bit. Sabine's shots knock them right down, but Mandalorians tend to go for high-quality, high-power blasters, so that makes sense.

The two Death Troopers were relatively impressive. They could tank multiple blaster hits, withstand a lightsaber thrust, and throw Ezra around. Maybe they are cyborgs after all.

[Jub]

I haven't watched the show but is everything in the show as half-speed and clunky as that walking battle up the stairs? Dudes getting slashed and not falling properly, diving before attacks land, bland camera work, and a blatant lack of effects work on lightsabre slashes. I've seen fan films that have better choreography and cinematography than that.

Is this what Disney Star Wars is?

[Adam Reynolds]

I haven't watched the show but is everything in the show as half-speed and clunky as that walking battle up the stairs? Dudes getting slashed and not falling properly, diving before attacks land, bland camera work, and a blatant lack of effects work on lightsabre slashes. I've seen fan films that have better choreography and cinematography than that.

Is this what Disney Star Wars is?

From what I have seen, mostly yes. The relatively small budget shows in the lightsaber duels and lack of big space battles. We also see this in the Clone Wars flashback episode in which everything was shrouded in smoke. While this could be argued to fit the dreamlike aesthetic, it also shows a small budget.

Andor and to some extent The Mandalorian pull it off because the stakes of both were smaller in the first place.

[Evilchumlee]

Coruscant sure seems to be the capital of the New Republic in this. I wonder if they lost it in the divorce when the Centrist systems left to form the First Order in 29 ABY.

The New Republic capital rotates. It was on Coruscant for awhile. Then it changed.


Now that this show has ended, I think I can label it as... "Fine"? Not bad. Not great. For the finale specifically, i'm mixed. As an episode, it was good. Quite good. As a finale... it was not. I understand this show was a bit of connecting tissue for a larger Mandoverse story, but the finale... wasn't. It just stopped. There's very little resolution to anything. The arcs had either already been resolved, or left open.

Ahoska and Sabine's relationship was repaired two episodes ago. Now Sabine just Force sensitivity for some reason.
Baylan and whatever her name is got nothing. Obviously building to something else, very much a shame Baylan's actor passed away. They kind of need to recast, but also he did such a great job that I don't want them to.
Anakin looking out for Ahsoka, cool. Although... what I ACTUALLY want is Anakin looking out for Luke. As far we know, post-ROTJ only Yoda comes to chat.

My greatest question of the show, and the Mandoverse in general, Thrawn is a big threat. But. Why? Nothing has established why Thrawn is an existential threat to the New Republic and the Imperial Jesus. They just keep saying Thrawn like it's a big deal but seriously, WHY? what has Thrawn actually done to garner such respect, and what resources does he have that will spell doom for the New Republic? He has one old, kinda broken down ship. Yeah he has whatever the cargo is... but... nobody in the Imperial Remnants knows about that. As far we know, Thrawn was a pretty good admiral who got ganked by a Jedi kid and has been gone for well over a decade. I just don't understand why Thrawn is such a big deal, in-universe. It's like the people in-universe read Heir to the Empire and are like, "Oh we need him!"