The Death Star Human Resources Department: October 6, 2023
All Ahsoka, all the time. No really, that's all we talk about this week
Hello there
Good morning and welcome once again to this week’s edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department newsletter. There has been a bit of an uptick in new subscribers in the last week, so thank you and welcome. I really to appreciate every single one of you that signed up and take the time read my ramblings every week.
The season finale of Ahsoka was this week, we’re going to cover what happened and my hopefully educated guesses as to what season 2 will bring. I do apologize as this is a shorter than usual newsletter. There was a lot going on in “the real world” this week. Now, let’s get to it.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
Me and the neighborhood cats when I take a walk in the morning…
Ahsoka Ep 8: Everything and Nothing Happened.
In last week’s edition of Death Star HR, I made the following prediction:
No, if I had to guess, I think it will play out like this. Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine go confront Thrawn. Shin and Enoch don’t survive. Thus carrying on the Disney Star Wars tradition of characters in cool masks not really doing much. The Nightsisters come to Thrawn’s aid. Sabine has to use the Force to save Ahsoka and Ezra, but in doing so it gives Thrawn enough time to get the Eye of Sion powered up and jumps to the main galaxy. The show ends with our hero’s looking up into space, with no way to get home or to warn Hera and the New Republic that Thrawn is on his way.
I didn’t nail it completely, but I think overall my guess was pretty good. We had the Nightsisters saving Thrawn’s blue butt. Sabine used the Force. Two out of our three heroes are still trapped on Peridea. Shin and Enoch are still alive though. Although one might argue the 30 seconds of screen-time Shin had in the season finale was a fate worse than death. Enoch is still hanging out with Thrawn and just generally looking kinda strange. Ezra did manage to make it back home though. Overall, I’d say I got more right than I got wrong. Sadly my prediction skills do not extend to Powerball numbers.
I’ve now watched episode 8, officially titled “The Jedi, The Witch, and The Wardrobe Warlord” twice and I still cannot decide how I feel about it. One the one hand, it had everything you would hope a season finale of a Star Wars show would have. Crafty villains that manage to stay one step ahead of our heroes. Lots of lightsaber duels. We didn’t get a real space battle but we saw a couple cool moves. At the same time, we’re left with the cliff hanger I think we could all see coming a mile away. There was zero chance anything would really happen that could jeopardize Ahsoka Season 2, whenever that actually happens. We’ll talk about what could be in store for season 2 below. I turned off the TV and just thought to myself that the show pretty much happened in manner I expected it to happened. Does that mean I’m just a sicko who is way too in the weeds with what can happen in a galaxy far far away? Or does that mean Disney Star Wars strikes again where they play everything safe and don’t take any chances? Maybe a little of both?
The episode starts with Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine in Ahsoka’s starship while they cruise along with their caravan of Noti. Even though they know that Thrawn is loading up his Star Destroyer and they have limited time before they fire up the Eye of Sion to head back to the main galaxy, they don’t seem to be in a hurry. They’re just meandering along like an elderly person heading out to the early bird special at Luby’s. No hurry. Maybe they’ve had their blinker on for 3 miles now. The show has been quite clear that Thrawn getting back home means the New Republic will be up to it’s eyeballs in bantha poodoo. You’d think they’d want to move just a little faster. Ezra is onboard building a lightsaber while Huyang deploys his dry British sass. Being good at unarmed Force-assisted combat might work against the bandits on Peridea, but it never hurts to have a lightsaber by your side. If you were really paying attention, you caught Huyang say Kannan Jarrus’s real first name, Caleb.
Once Ezra finishes constructing his new lightsaber, it’s off to fight Thrawn. The TIE Fighters Thrawn sends to slow them down have other ideas. Sabine does a Holdo Manuver and destroys the TIEs but damages their Jedi Starfighter. So they have to resort to a couple of Howlers to take them to the second Space Stonehenge. Thrawn knows they are coming, because you don’t get to be a tactical genius by not knowing what your enemies are up to. Morgan Eslbeth undergoes the Nightsister hazing ritual and gets to become a real Nightsister. Complete with smudged makeup and black eyes. As a token of their appreciation, she also gets the Blade of Talzin. That’s a deep cut that only the real sickos know.
At this point I’m starting to wonder why we haven’t seen Baylan or Shin.
Once our heroes and the howlers get to Space Stonehenge, the action really picks up. Using the time-honored Imperial tactic of blasting your enemies with the biggest lasers you can find, Thrawn uses the turbolasers from his Star Destroyer and attempts to blast everyone, but Night Troopers don’t seem to be any better at aiming than your average Stormtrooper. And we get our first instance of Sabine using the Force. Once Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine make it into the fortress. Thrawn has Morgan send the Night Troopers to slow down our trio. And after dispatching the Night Troopers as quickly as you’d expect two Jedi and a Mandalorian1 to, we get more Dark Magick. Oh well, well, well. It looks like we get zombie Night Troopers after all. I’ve been saying for a while Dave Filoni is a master troll. Maybe this was a double troll. Everyone thought we’d get zombie Night Troopers, and then last week we didn’t. The Night Troopers died just like they were regular Stormtroopers. And then this week we get the reanimated zombie Night Troopers. Well played, Dave. Well played. I tip my Mandalorian helmet to you.
Now we’re getting down to business. Thrawn has told Morgan that even though she’s the one who stayed committed to the Empire and she’s the one who built the Eye of Sion and flew to Peridea from another galaxy to bring him back, she’s going to get left behind so she can slow down Ahsoka just a little longer. Always a good reminder that management cannot be trusted. We get the first duel of the show between Ahsoka and Mogan. Sabine wants to stick together, as opposed to her running off first chance she gets like she did earlier in the show, but Ahsoka tells her and Ezra to keep going and try to catch Thrawn. Which isn’t a bad idea until our duo runs into a couple of Death Troopers. Like the zombie Night Troopers but with better armor. The Death Troopers are really putting the hurt on Ezra and Sabine. Until Sabine uses the Force again to get her lightsaber and skewer the first Death Trooper a la the throne room scene in The Last Jedi. She’s then able to distract the other Death Trooper long enough so Ezra can lightsaber its head from its body. Ezra is able to Force jump, with Sabine’s help again, to the Star Destroyer but instead of joining him, Sabine runs off to help Ahsoka.
Ahsoka is down to one lightsaber, surrounded by zombie Night Troopers, and trying to fight off Morgan. Sabine comes out blasting and gives Ahsoka the boost she needs to slice Morgan with both her lightsaber and the Blade of Talzin. Even with Morgan gone, they’ve still got a bunch of zombie Night Troopers to deal with. Thankfully we’ve got Huyang to the rescue! He shows up just in time to dispatch the Night Troopers with dry British wit Jedi Starship blasters. Everyone gets on the Jedi Starship and they try to catch Thrawn but no such luck. He gets Ahoska on the comlink, delivers a Bond-villian speech about how he knew her master, throws a little shade that she could have been like him, and says you’re stuck at Peridea while I’m going to go fight with the New Republic.
The episode ends with an update on quick overview on each characters situation. Ahsoka, Sabine, and Huyang back in the Noti camp. Our new favorite weird little dudes are happy to see the three of them. You know who else we’re happy to see? Morai. Another deep cut for the sickos. We finally get to see Shin and Baylan. Shin rolls up on red bandit camp and raises her lightsaber. Baylan manages to find what he’s looking for. The Mortis Gods. We see a statue of The Father and the Son, and what should be a statue of the Daughter but it seems to be destroyed. Thrawn approaches Dathomir in the Eye of Sion. He and the Nightsisters are overseeing the caskets they took from Peridea just like the Jedi overseeing the Clone Army. Ezra managed to steal a shuttle and escape from Thrawn once they made it back to the main galaxy. He shows up at the New Republic fleet in Night Trooper armor to say what’s up to Hera and Chopper. And finally we go back to Ahsoka and Sabine. The title character and the real star of the show. As they pack up the Noti camp, Sabine thinks she senses something. The camera zooms out, and we get the Force ghost of Anakin approvingly creepin’ watching over them.
So a lot happened. But was any of it really a surprise? Even if you didn’t know all the facts when the show started, as it went along you could keep making some educated guessed. OF COURSE Thrawn makes it make back to the main galaxy. OF COURSE some combination of Sabine/Ahsoka/Ezra get stranded on Peridea. OF COURSE Sabine figures out how to use the Force just in time. In a lot of ways this is OK. Star Wars is comfort food for a lot of people. There’s nothing wrong with playing the hits. The familiar is always nice. I mean, whatever you want to say about Ahsoka, it was STAR WARS. It had all thing things that make Star Wars so much fun. Lightsaber duels, Jedi, Dark Jedi, space battles, villains with grandiose plans. It hit all the notes you’d expect it to hit.
Ultimately, Ahsoka worked. While it was basically Rebels season 5, it was a satisfying version of Rebels season 5. We got to see a lot of great characters in live action. It wasn’t as game changing as The Mandalorian. It wasn’t as different or serious as Andor. It wasn’t perfect. But it hit all the notes a Star Wars series should hit. I’m going to take a Saturday and binge Ahsoka sometime in the next couple weeks and see if I still have the same thoughts. I am really curious if more casual Star Wars fans watched it what they thought. Unless you’re really into it, Baylan standing in front of two rock statues isn’t going to mean anything. But typing this a few hours after I watched the season finale, I’ve got the same zen as Ahsoka being trapped in another galaxy.
Quick thoughts…
Thrawn notes he never underestimates Jedi. I need to go back and re-read the new canon Thrawn books, I can’t remember what his relationship with Vader is in those books.
Ahsoka is way too mellow for someone trapped in another galaxy while Thrawn heads back to the main one. Guessing Huyang had some Space Xanax stashed somewhere in the ship.
That was two Holdo Maneuvers in one show. There should be a rule. One per show.
I was never in a fraternity but I imagine the initiation is a lot like Morgan getting turned into a Nightsister.
Really liked Thrawn losing his composure for just a quick second when Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine where able to get through the door to Space Stonehenge.
Ezra using the Force to throw two Night Troopers into Ahsoka’s lightsaber blades was a pretty slick move.
OK so the zombie Night Troopers were at least cool looking.
Ahsoka’s lightsabers sound different, right? I swear I’m not making this up. They don’t have the snap/hiss/hum sound a regular lightsaber does.
Morgan got a raw deal being left behind. She did all the work, and not only does Thrawn leave her on Peridea, the other Nightsisters are just like “peace out, we’ll send a post card when we get to Dathomir.”
The Nightsisters gave Thrawn a look when he ordered his Star Destroyer to open fire on Space Stonehenge. Wonder if there’s going to be a falling out between them.
The retconning on Chopper will not stand. My man hates the Imperials. There is no chance that Chopper would have missed a chance to push a Stormtrooper out the airlock. We better not get a kindler, gentler Chopper next season.
Have we seen the last of Anakin? Ahsoka was holding onto a lot of fear. Understandable when your master turns out to be one of the galaxy’s greatest monsters. But by the end she seems to have let go. Does Anakin still need to be hanging around.
Ahsoka Season 2: What Might be Next
Barring something really unforeseen, after all even Master Yoda says the future is hard to see, there will be Ahsoka season 2. We know, as of now there’s going to be a movie directed by Dave Filoni that is supposed to wrap up the Mandoverse. Some articles I read a while ago looking up information about the writers and actors strike suggested season 4 of The Mandalorian and season 2 of Ahsoka are the “prerequisites” for the movie. Skeleton Crew is the next series that is supposed to be out and takes place in the Mandoverse as well, so it’s possible the movie is the capstone of the three shows already mentioned plus Book of Boba Fett.
Obviously there’s a lot we don’t know. We can make some guesses thought. Not based on anything other than a Jedi’s intuition, I think we’re going to see the following:
Thrawn being back will unite the Imperial Remanent. OK, that one isn’t exactly going out on a limb but it’s a good place to start.
Gideon comes back as well. He’s too good of a bad guy and nobody really dies in the Star Wars universe.
Luke is going to have to make an appearance. The lack of the Big Three in the Disney series so far is a glaring notice. I recognize the obivious obsticles since Mark Hamil is much older than Luke would be and Carrie Fisher is no longer with us. But how can you have the New Republic without Leia or a new Jedi Order without Luke?
Luke’s Jedi Order could play a bigger role if Thrawn is planning an army of the undead.
Ahsoka and Sabine need to get back to the main galaxy. Best guess is going to be via Ezra and purrgil taxi service.
What to do with Shin Hati? She pretty clearly had a more Sith-like craving for power. But if she’s stuck on Peridea with no way home, would she go to Ahsoka and team up? I could see it happening since Star Wars does love a redemption story.
Which brings us the biggest mystery. What to do with Baylan Skoll? Baylan got ignored other than a few seconds at the end, but it’s pretty important. Finding a Mount Rushmore kind of deal with The Father and The Son and what was probably a missing sculpture of The Daughter was a pretty big deal.
Baylan looking for the Mortis Gods makes the idea that he wants to essentially destroy the Force stronger. For those who aren’t deep in the weeds, I am going to do a little primer on the Mortis Gods in the next week or two. The tough part is of course the untimely passing of Ray Stevenson. I don’t see how you can recast Baylan. Maybe Shin decides to take up his quest.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
Cassian Jeron Andor's father. When I first had this pop up on the randomizer, I was a little confused since we know who Cassian’s father is, Clem Andor. Not the same person, this is Cassian’s biological father. Who does not have a name. Papa Andor was killed during the Clone Wars while protesting the militarization of the Republic. Looks like getting killed while being a pain in the butt runs in the family.
News From the HoloNet - Ahsoka Reviews
Ahsoka Episode 8 Review: Right Where We Need To Be
Ahsoka finale: The season ends without accomplishing much of anything
'Ahsoka' season 1 episode 8 review: A finale that sticks the landing without flourish
‘Ahsoka’ Finale Recap: A Successful Setup, but an Unfulfilling Conclusion
Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 8 Review – The Finale
Ahsoka Season-Finale Recap: Long Live the Empire
Ahsoka's Finale Provided Emotional Endings and Tantalizing Teases
That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.
Sounds like the start of a joke. Two Jedi and a Mandalorian walk into a bar…
Good read. My feelings on Ahsoka are largely the same. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced the show wasn't very good. There were parts I loved, parts that were okay, and parts where I wanted to shake Filoni by the shoulders.
I love Star Wars. But lately I wonder if expecting it to be more than juvenile is just expecting too much.