Ahsoka Premiere Review: A promising new chapter begins

The two-episode premiere of Ahsoka succeeds as a continuation of the Star Wars animated series Rebels and a standalone series.

Dave Filoni‘s care for Ahsoka, Sabine Wren, and Hera is evident. Filoni, who directed the pilot and wrote both episodes, lets scenes breathe between characters. Even if you haven’t seen Rebels (I’ve watched a few episodes), you can pick up the history between Ahsoka and Sabine.

The plot across both episodes is pretty standard for Star Wars. Ahsoka is trying to track down Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger. She recovers a map key, but can’t figure it out. After some prompting by Hera, Ahsoka reunites with Sabine. Meanwhile, Lady Morgan Elsbeth (last seen in season 2 of The Mandalorian) is released from prison by former Jedi Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice. The trio are also searching for the key as well as Thrawn. Skoll is an interesting adversary. He’s letting Elsbeth lead the way for now, but there’s wisdom and respect for the bygone years of the Jedi. He takes little solace in his task of potentially killing off Jedi.

The glacial pacing doesn’t always work. Andor used measured pacing to significant effect thanks to nuanced performances and great dialogue. On the dialogue front, Ahsoka falls a bit short. Every line of dialogue seems to have the weight of the world. However, the layered performances by Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Stevenson make up for the at times stilted dialogue.

Dawson and Winstead do justice to their animated counterparts but Bordizzo’s performance as Sabine is astonishing. Sabine’s longing to be closer to her master, Ahsoka, is terrific and sets up a tremendous two-episode arc for both master and padawan. Furthermore, Filoni does a great job honing in on some similarities between Sabine and Anakin, Ahsoka’s master. Sabine possesses excellent technical skills, resilience and lets her emotions guide her actions. Stevenson is outstanding.

The impressive music score by Kevin Kiner and decent lightsaber duels add to Asoka’s promising start. If Ahsoka can pick up the pace in through the rest of the season, it should have no trouble passing season three of The Mandalorian as the best 2023 Star Wars series.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into standout moments in the first two episodes of Ahsoka. There may be some minor spoilers. Ahsoka is streaming on Disney Plus.

Master, Padawan reunited in Ahsoka

Ahsoka may have more screen time and Dawson’s does a good job, but Sabine shines the brightest in the first two episodes. After Ahsoka finds the map key, Filoni shifts the focus of the story to Sabine on planet Lothal. Sabine is supposed to accept an award, but in Tony Stark-like fashion, blows off the ceremony. For newcomers, Stark is probably the best reference point for Sabine. She has technical knowledge and is a renegade, but she longs to reunite with her family, which adds depth to the character.

Ahsoka and Sabine’s reunion is awkward. Ahsoka needs Sabine’s help deciphering the map key. Sabine wants to take the map back to her home, so she can review it with a clear head. Ahsoka refuses, but Sabine takes the key behind Ahsoka’s back. Skoll sends his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) to track down Sabine. Shin injures Sabine in a fun duel to end the pilot episode.

Filoni doesn’t explicitly provide a reason for why Ahsoka left Sabine. Ahsoka tells Hera that Sabine’s not ready. Hera, to her credit, doesn’t let Ahsoka walk off. She asks, “How do you know if someone’s ready.” Ahsoka says the master and apprentice know when it is time. Sabine decides it’s time by hacking off her hair, donning her Mandalorian armor, and departing Lothal with Ahsoka.

Search for Thrawn

Ahsoka isn’t the only party interested in Thrawn’s whereabouts. Baylan and Shin rescue Morgan (Diana Lee Inosanto) from The New Republic. All three of them are united in a quest for power.

Baylan’s an enjoyable Star Wars antagonist. His air of superiority resembles Count Dooku, but there’s a contemplation of morality that is usually missing in Star Wars villains. Near the end of the 2nd episode, Morgan requests Baylan to kill Ahsoka. Instead of responding with enthusiasm or declining, he responds softly and with a tone verging on remorseful. He says killing her will be a “shame… there’s so few Jedi left.”

Filoni does an excellent job in both episodes of showing the relationship between a padawan and master on the same page while also showing a frayed partnership. In the opening scene of the series, Baylan and Shin’s rescue is eerily similar to Obi-WAN and Qui-Gon’s mission in Phantom Menace. Stevenson has a tremendous presence as Baylan.

Remnants of The Empire

Steph Green steps into the director’s chair in the 2nd episode and improves upon the solid foundation set in the pilot. Episode 2 is superior to the pilot, thanks to some better pacing and more screen time for Winstead as Hera.

Ahsoka takes out an assassin droid who is waiting for Sabine’s return. With Sabine’s help, they find out where the droid came from. While Sabine heals up on Lothal, Ahsoka heads on a mission with Hera to Corellia. The planet served The Empire in its heyday. However, the planet is now under the control of The New Republic.

Unfortunately, The Empire’s hold remains. Many of the planet’s inhabitants are still serving The Empire. Only their pledge is one of greed instead of loyalty or order. Ahsoka handles an inquisitor on the ground while Hera takes to the skies with her murderous droid, Chopper. With Chopper’s help, Hera is able to place a tracker on the getaway vehicle.

The episode ends with Sabine cutting her hair, donning her Mandalorian armor and joining Ahsoka.

The 2nd episode reveals an intriguing future for the series. There are some odd action moments. The fighting is well done, but the setting of the lightsaber during the day with white sabers makes tracking the fight, especially in the top-down shots, challenging.

Ahsoka premiere final thoughts

The newest Star Wars series on Disney Plus is off to a good start. Intriguing new characters and excellent adaptations of animated heroes lay out an unpredictable future.

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