Max Nocerino 
In Star Wars: Ahsoka, there is very little to critique and SO MUCH to get excited over. The plot objectives and story decisions scream STAR WARS at the top of their lungs.
Possibly one of the most polarizing characters in modern Star Wars is Ahsoka Tano. The Togruta Jedi Padawan of Anakin Skywalker turned Rebel and then mentor. Ahsoka was introduced to audiences in 2008 and the reception to her was less than warm. However, over the last 15 years, fans have watched her grow as a character, and has gone from being one notch above Jar Jar to a fan favorite. Therefore, it is only fitting that she gets her own live-action Disney+ series.
Ahsoka has been voiced by the lovely Ashley Eckstein for her entire existence but was re-cast for live-action with the equally talented Rosario Dawson. Rosario simply kills it as Ahsoka, giving her a sense of maturity and discipline that the younger Ahsoka lacked. Dawson’s Ahsoka is more reserved, softer-spoken, and less quick to impulsive action. But she still manages to kick butt.
A THRAWN IN THE SIDE
The new series is focused on Ahsoka finding Grand Admiral Thrawn before the bad guys do. And it’s blowing my mind that for the first time (in canon AND Legends), we are journeying past the main galaxy to another galaxy where Thrawn is supposedly banished. Inter/Extra-galactic travel has never really been explored in old Star Wars, and the heroes very rarely ventured outside the galaxy due to pace anomalies and lack of stars to lock their navi-computers onto.
In Legends, the evil alien invaders, the Yuuzhan Vong were from another galaxy. But they only got to the Star Wars galaxy after millennia of flying in the void between galaxies, with their version of Generation Ships. Also, in Legends there was a mysterious bubble around the main galaxy that made leaving the galaxy very difficult. The Vong entered through a small vector in this bubble. It remains to be seen if the Canon will mention this obstacle or if it has been discarded entirely. Either way, opening up the Star Wars universe to more galaxies doubles and triples the amount of story opportunities characters can have. This is a logical next step in-universe for potential colonization.
CHARACTERS
The casting is just incredible. Ezra, Hera, Sabine, Azadi; every cast decision hits the ball right out of the park. Natasha Liu Bordizzo who portrays Sabine is simply gorgeous and so like Sabine. I also like that Sabine grew her hair out. It makes her even more attractive. We only see Ezra in a hologram. But I am getting the appropriate amount of Space Aladdin vibes from him. Hera’s character’s speech also invokes her voice-actress’s cadences and nuances in the manner of Vanessa Marshall.
I also very much like the two new Dark Jedi characters (as original characters) and feel that they are not quite dark side but certainly not light. Skoll (the Master) is a former Master who survived the Purge. And I am looking forward to seeing more of his backstory as the season goes on. There is also a great name-drop to a certain ancient Sith Lord that as a child, I found more terrifying than even Maul or Vader.
ACTION
I’ve long been a critic of the newer blaster bolt depictions, lightsaber combat, and action sequences. They aren’t even remotely as good as peak Star Wars (1999-2005). The lasers seem to look faker even though the graphics are more advanced. It’s a strange phenomenon and I wonder if I am the only one who is perceptualizing this. The lightsaber combat is much choppier and I wish Nick Gillard would be brought back to help choreograph the fights. However, it is a minor complaint and not to be taken too much to heart.
I also very much felt Star Trek-esque vibes in the very opening of the first episode when a New Republic ship encountered the “strange foreign vessel”. The captain’s setup was very reminiscent of The Starship Enterprise’s command deck. The only difference is that Star Trek does not have superhuman beings wielding laser swords and jumping around which I feel is 10X better.
VERDICT
There is very little to critique and SO MUCH to get excited over. I salivate at the prospect of new galaxies and I feel the plot objectives and story decisions scream STAR WARS at the top of its lungs.
As always, Future of the Force will cover the series from every angle. And that begins with our customary in-depth review that will drop within hours of each episode. And if that isn’t enough, our traditional poster and concept art coverage will keep you entertained as we build the hype for the latest episode.
Star Wars: Ahsoka is streaming on Disney Plus now!
FORCE FACTS
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I mentioned that Star Wars is now including the appearance of other galaxies, and when Morgan Elsebeth opens the holo map, I had to contain my nerdy space-astronomy glee when I noticed that there was more than just 1 new galaxy depicted in the map. It would seem that the Star Wars galaxy is indeed part of a supercluster of galaxies and my only question with this is why they didn’t take the time to namedrop the official designation of the GFFA. It surely has a name, right? Maybe we’ll never find out!
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One of the new bad guys is a mysterious former Inquisitor named Marrok who is a survivor from the Empire days. He seems to be a gun for hire in the New Republic era and is decked out in typical black armor and his spinning double-bladed red lightsaber. How is he still alive? One of the burning questions is ‘What happened to the Inquisitor program between 1 BBY and O ABY? It seems obvious that Palpatine likely had them killed in a smaller-scale Order 66-like scenario when he deemed surviving Jedi to be too finite to continue warranting a threat, but I still would like an official answer. Marrok may have survived this pseudo-Purge like the Jedi survivors of Order 66 whom he once helped hunt down. Does he harbor a deep grudge against Palpatine’s Empire? Probably. We’ll see.
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Huyang mentions that Sabine is the least Force-adept being he’s ever seen in his 1000 years of dealing with Jedi Padawans. Ouch. I always felt it was odd that Ahsoka was training her in lightsaber combat and the Force if she wasn’t Force-sensitive but it is unclear now as to whether she is actually so or not. She may be like Scout from the Legends novel Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, Force-sensitive but with a very low midichlorian count. Or perhaps like a few old Legends characters who weren’t Forceful but trained with lightsabers anyway (before Lucas hammered down the genetic component to the Force). Heck, even droids could learn to be Jedi back then (see 4-LOM in Legends).
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Lastly, we see some very exotic or advanced hologram technology on Elsebeth’s ship. The highly-advanced Umbarans had an alternative aesthetic hologram technology and the tech-geek in me wonders what the distinction is between the 3. 3 ways of doing something equally well or perhaps a more advanced method.
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Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
