Warning: This recap contains spoilers from the Disney+/Lucasfilm Ahsoka Season 1 finale episode “The Jedi, the Witch and the Warlord.”, Director: Rick Famuyiwa, Screenplay: Dave Filoni.
As we approached the finale of Ahsoka’s first season tonight, fans knew we were in for a cliffhanger. that Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) would make the jump into hyperspace via the space loop, while part of Ahsoka and his friends would be left without a prayer among the green tundra tumbleweeds of Peridea in a galaxy far, far away.
What didn’t happen in this episode is that there weren’t any major cameos from Star Wars canon dramatis personalities from before, i.e. Princess Leia or Luke Skywalker or Boba Fett or Baby Yoda. No, we got enough of that with C-3PO in the last episode when he showed up to defend Hera’s rogue mission from the snarky Galactic Council.
What do we do now? Thrawn’s intention is to bring the gang, i.e. the Empire, back together, also known as “Thrawn’s Campaign”, a series of military and political maneuvers by the blue man to not only restore the Empire, but also implode the New Republic. This is all before Kylo Ren. Some fans have speculated that Dave Filoni’s standalone feature film, which will be a culmination of his Disney+/Lucasfilm universe of The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka, etc., will center on Thrawn, and that film will appear soon. However, we hear that talk of Ahsoka Season 2 is more of a reality, but nothing is certain yet. There were no posters tonight teasing that Ahsoka would be returning in the near future. Natch, the WGA strike that ended and the ongoing actors strike postponed production for some time.
That means instead of Ahsoka, Sabine and Ezra (Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Eman Esfandi) all getting stranded in the middle of nowhere, the latter jumps (with some strength help from girlfriend Sabine) and boards Thrawn’s Imperial Cruiser from the edge of the cliff launch pad. In one of the final moments of tonight’s episode, we see an Imperial shuttle fly into the bay of a Rebel Starfleet ship. Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and a group of her peers point their weapons at the stormtrooper as he disembarks. Chopper, the droid, being the good dog that he is, sniffs around and learns that the guy is a friend and not an enemy. The stormtrooper unmasks himself and ta-da, it’s Ezra. It is the first time that General Hera and Ezra are united since his disappearance at the end of Rebels.
However, it’s not just Ahsoka and Sabine who are stranded; The duo reunites with Ezra’s pod friends, the Noti. However, Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll are lurking on the planet. Given the unfortunate death of actor Ray Stevenson, it will be interesting to see how Baylan progresses in the Star Wars timeline. Will the production be recast? There’s also been talk in the fanverse that Shin Hati is actually taking the place of Luke Skywalker’s wife, Mara Jade, who was first introduced in the original Star Wars canon. Mara Jade was a Force-sensitive woman and ultimate Jedi Master who worked for Emperor Palpatine until his “death” at the end of Return of the Jedi. She’s done some bad things. Dated Thrawn (who we saw this season) and then ended up working with Luke and the rest is kissy kissy. However, we have yet to see if Shin Hati’s timeline unfolds like Mara Jade’s. We can see in her eyes that there is a lot of good in her. The last we see of Shin Hati is reuniting with the planet’s version of the Sand People: the renegade red-clad samurai warriors. Baylan stands out there, breathing heavily, in the cloudy sky plains of Peridea.
(L-R): Lakesis (Jane Edwina Seymour), Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), Klothow (Claudia Black) and Aktropaw (Jeryl Prescott Gaul)
The only victim tonight was Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). And it really didn’t look like she was going to end up a loser. She is immediately accepted into the great mothers who take her in because she has always felt them. They turn Morgan into a kind of zombie witch; Her face was now covered in Alice Cooper mascara. Morgan is equipped with the Blade of Talzin, one of the few weapons that can withstand a lightsaber. This all leads to a fascinating gun, er, lightsaber fight at the climax between Morgan, Ahsoka and Sabine. It appears that Morgan is the stronger one against Ahsoka, but unfortunately she is not, as the latter eventually grabs the blade in a fight and slashes Morgan’s torso. Anyway, this is a good weapon for Ahsoka to have in her pocket later. I think that the Blade of Talzin is no match for the Black Saber.
(LR): Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Huyang (David Tennant) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson)
If anything, the Jedi, the Witch and the Warlord storyline belongs to Sabine. A would-be Jedi’s doubting Thomas actually achieves his power at the height of the crisis, violently drawing his saber to kill a dark soldier in battle (literally igniting the saber in his head as he grabs her) and Ezra gives an additional boost of power from behind as he rockets from a launch pad into the air into Thrawn’s spaceship. Droid Huyang (David Tennant) tells Ezra that Ahsoka was worried about Sabine since she was a Mandalore and was seeking revenge since the Empire sacked her home planet. Therefore, Sabine has the potential to be dangerous for Ashoka. And we know what happens to angry Jedis: they go to the dark side.
While Ahsoka was always easygoing when she was trained by Anakin, in the series she is just as wise as Ben Kenobi. Despite the setback of having to wait for her ride to leave the planet with Sabine, the Master praised the Padawan by saying, “You did well.”
“I have?” replied Sabine, “Thrawn escaped…”
“And thanks to you, Ezra came home,” Ahsoka replied.
“I hope,” says Sabine.
“He did,” Ahsoka says confidently.
“Ezra is where he needs to be, and so are we,” Ahsoka says. “It’s time to move on.”
The final farewell shot shows Anakin Skywalker still watching over Ahsoka.
Next up in the Disney+ live-action Star Wars universe is Skeleton Crew, Season 2 of Andor and The Acolyte.