Ahsoka (2023-Present)

*Premise spoilers. There’s also what might be considered a casting spoiler, but I’m pretty sure everyone has been talking about that one already.*

I wanted to write about this show, because I didn’t want to not talk about it, but I want to start out by saying I wasn’t in a prime position to watch this series. While I met Ahsoka Tano, specifically Rosario Dawson’s interpretation of her, through The Mandalorian and later The Book of Boba Fett, and while I’ve been gradually making my way through The Clone Wars, it’s clear that the show is made for people who are well-acquainted with the animated series, especially Rebels. As such, I was able to enjoy the show a decent amount but could never shake the feeling that it would mean a lot more to me with more Rebels knowledge.

Ahsoka Tano, a Force-sensitive warrior who has a long history with both the Jedi Order and the Rebel Alliance, is chasing down leads about the possible whereabouts of Grand Admiral Thrawne, a high-ranking imperial official long believed to be dead. But the evidence Ahsoka finds suggests that Thrawne is in hiding somewhere, plotting his return as he rebuilds his forces. With the aid of an old droid from the Jedi Temple and some of her friends from the Rebellion, she dedicates herself to finding and stopping him.

I have enough of a toe in the Star Wars fandom to have a passing familiarity with a lot of the characters on this show. I know the names Thrawne, and Sabine, and Ezra, and Hera, and so on. I know little tidbits about some of the stuff that went on in Rebels. I understand that, for the former rebels, Thrawne is a major enemy, and I know that the double-whammy prospect of both stopping him and finding the long-lost Ezra is huge for them, especially Sabine.

But although I have enough knowledge not to be lost by the lore—and I think the series does a decent job of getting the non-initiated viewer caught up on relevant info—I don’t really have an emotional connection to any of it. I might know a little about Sabine and Hera, but all I feel about them comes from what I see onscreen, and for the most part, I feel like I’ve skipped to the end of the book. That makes it harder for me to be invested in them.

As for Ahsoka herself, I’m in a weird place, investment-wise. It definitely helps that I’ve seen the first three seasons of The Clone Wars now—I’m especially tuned into her as Anakin’s former apprentice. I’ve seen how close they once were, and even though I haven’t made it up to Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side, I can only imagine what a blow that was for Ahsoka. As such, the best parts of the series for me are the scenes that deal with this part of her past. In the present, though, I’m having a hard time reconciling Dawson’s staid performance with the Ahsoka I know from the early seasons of The Clone Wars. Again, a lot has gone down for her since those days, and it’s only natural that she’d be very different now, but because I’m missing that gap, it’s harder for me to connect to it.

I know those are a lot of lukewarm remarks, but there is stuff I really enjoy about the show. The episode that takes a deep dive into Ahsoka’s history is wonderfully done, and I enjoy the dynamic between antagonists Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, new characters for this season. There are a few fun cameos that I wasn’t expectin,g and of the Star Wars alum characters I hadn’t met before, I most enjoyed the tetchy, pedantic droid Huyang.

I don’t think Dawson is as well-served by the script as she could have been, but she does well with what she has—when she’s given a chance to really sink her teeth in, she delivers. It’s hard for me to have much of an opinion on the performances from the Rebels crew, since I don’t know the original characters, but I always appreciate Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Huntress!), and she appears here as Hera. Ray Stevenson and Ivanna Sakhno play well off each other as Baylan and Shin, and both also create interesting dynamics with some of our heroes. As the droid Huyang, David Tennant reprises his voice acting role from the animated series—apparently, Huyang was only in a few episodes of The Clone Wars in the later seasons, but his presence adds a lot to this show. (Side note: I’ve decided to hold off on doing Other Doctor Lives reviews for Tennant here. I plan on revisiting the series after I finally get through the rest of The Clone Wars and Rebels, so I’ll review it episode by episode then and we’ll see how my opinions might have changed.) Finally, after thinking Hayden Christensen made a strong return as Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, he’s excellent here as Anakin. The show works him in in a way that makes sense, and Christensen runs with everything he’s given.

Warnings

Violence, mild language, and thematic elements.

The Clone Wars (2008)

The second of three incarnations of The Clone Wars in Star Wars. This one bears even more connective tissue to what follows compared to the original series of serial shorts—in addition to changing its animation style, it also introduces a new character who would go on to be a major player in the long-running series that comes after this. Unlike the other two Clone Wars projects, though, this isn’t a show but a feature film.

While fighting the Separatists alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker gets some surprising news: he’s been assigned a padawan. At first, he wants nothing to do with Ahsoka Tano, but the young Jedi is eager to prove she can keep up with him in the field. Together, the two are tasked with rescuing the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hutt.

After posting my review of the original Clone Wars series, I held off for a while before writing this one, since I knew it was going to take me quite some time to get through the main Clone Wars show (I’ve been conditioned for short-form series—it was hard to summon the stamina to even start a show with seven full seasons!) But I’m now in season 3 of The Clone Wars and liking it a lot, so I’m able to compare the movie to both the original series and the later one.

As I said, we switched up the animation style here, trading the 2-D look of the original series for a CGI style that continues through into the next series. It’s still not my favorite aesthetic (three seasons in, I’m starting to get used to it,) but for me, this is an improvement on the original. The action scenes are definitely better rendered here.

As far as the story goes, the movie takes certain things from the original series, such as Obi-Wan’s cool Clone Trooper armor and the character of Count Dooku’s apprentice Asajj Ventress. But unsurprisingly, a full-length film has much more room to flesh out its main narrative than a series of three-to-four-minute shorts. Things flow better, and we get more intrigue. Not everything works—the central mission of rescuing Jabba’s son is just all right, and let’s just say that Stinky, as Ahsoka calls him, is no Grogu.

Speaking of Ahsoka, Anakin may have misgivings about his padawan, but she’s certainly one after his own heart. She’s bold and reckless, with a playful sense of humor and a huge desire to show she’s not the “youngling” people think she is. She can be a little too try-hard here and in the early episodes of the subsequent series—as far as nicknames go, I’m not a fan of her calling Anakin “Sky Guy”—but I do enjoy her. And I already know that her character improves quickly in the next series.

The cast, again, mostly carries over from the original series and continues into the next one. James Arnold Taylor remains an eerily good Obi-Wan, and Matt Lanter is excellent as Anakin. I also enjoy Catherine Taber as Padmé, who has her own side plot on Tatooine. Ashley Eckstein fits in well joining the cast as Ahsoka, though as I said, I like her better later on. Another new cast member is Dee Bradley Baker, who takes on the voices of all the clones. He’s a white voice actor playing a bunch of canonically brown characters, which is definitely an issue, but I can’t deny his talent in playing these roles.

Warnings

Violence, some “don’t try this at home,” thematic elements, and a white actor playing characters of color.