Ahsoka Time to Fly Review: Hera steals the show in shortest episode so far

The lion’s share of Time to Fly follows Ahsoka and Sabine as they search for Ezra and Thrawn. However, it’s a small, but meaty scene involving Hera addressing The New Republic Senate that shines brightest in large part due to Mary Elizabeth Winstead‘s commanding performance.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo is continuing to shine as Sabine Wren. Sabine has some of Anakin’s frustration at her lack of progress. For Anakin, he had more natural talent than anyone but his maturity was questionable. For Sabine, she doesn’t possess Anakin’s aptitude for the force, but she doesn’t wallow in self-pity.

After years of isolation, Ahsoka is starting to resemble the rebellious Jedi she was in her youth. She’s picking and choosing which Jedi principles will work best for Sabine. Then, when her ship is under attack, she heads into the gravity-absent confines of space to face off with fighters with only her lightsaber. She even briefly lets Sabine provide direction during the slow-moving dogfight.

Meanwhile, Hera is trying to recruit support for Ahoska and Sabine, but is stonewalled by the senate, which features Genevieve O’Reilly from Andor as Mon Mothma.

Steph Green does a great job as director packing a lot of story in an abbreviated runtime. However, the space battle against Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) felt really slow. While the idea of Ahsoka facing down fighters with only her lightsaber in space is cool, it’s pretty clunky in its execution.

Overall, Time to Fly is a good piece of the puzzle that manages to flesh out The New Republic’s ineptitude and reignite the Ahsoka-Sabine dynamic duo.

Ahsoka: Time to Fly Review Score: 8

Great

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

Shaking off the rust in Time to Fly

Most of Time to Fly‘s sub-30 minutes runtime is spent with Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang on a spaceship heading to Seatos. Both Sabine and Ahsoka are rusty. Sabine hasn’t kept up with her lightsaber training and Ahsoka hasn’t been a master before.

Sabine is impatient but does her best to follow Ahsoka’s lead. To Ahsoka’s credit, she’s not exactly adhering to Jedi tradition. She’s not necessarily training Sabine to become another Jedi. Just the best version of herself. Rosario Dawson is really starting to find her groove as Ahsoka.

Meanwhile, Bordizzo continues to shine as Sabine. A rough-around-the-edges quality with an underbelly of sweetness makes Sabine such a compelling Star Wars hero. As Time to Fly goes along, the dynamic between Master and Padawan begins to improve.

Hera vs The New Republic Senate

While Ahsoka and Sabine track Morgan Elsbeth, Hera is attempting to provide diplomatic support. She wants The New Republic Senate to send backup. The Senate is reluctant.

They believe the search is a fool’s errand. Thrawn is dead. Therefore, this supposed search would only involve finding Ezra Bridger who they believe is also dead and as a result, is a waste of resources. Mon Mothma supports Hera’s request but is outvoted by the remaining senators.

Without raising her voice, Hera’s request for support becomes confrontational. Senator Xiono’s fake sympathy for the sacrifices Hera and her colleagues made in the battle against Thrawn doesn’t escape Hera’s notice. She pointedly reveals he’s never served in battle and details the threat Thrawn poses.

Unfortunately, her efforts are in vain. However, Time to Fly does reveal Hera’s son Jacen for the first time, which could have ramifications moving forward.

Any misgivings over Winstead’s casting as Hera are put to rest in Time to Fly. Winstead ability as Hera to poke holes in the Senator’s weak defenses is impressive.

Hyperspace ring

Hera delivers the bad news to Ahsoka and Sabine. They’re on their own and Hera can’t join them at the moment.

As they jump out of hyperspace, Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang approach a gigantic hyperspace ring. Huyang begins scanning the ring, but the ship is attacked in the process. Sabine mans the laser cannon while Ahsoka navigates.

At first, Ahsoka tries giving Sabine orders and offers guidance similar to an Obi-Wan Kenobi or Qui-Gon Jinn. Sabine does her best to follow Ahsoka’s commands but isn’t having luck striking the enemy targets. Ahsoka changes up her tactics. Instead of continuing to issue commands or requests, she asks what Sabine needs from her in order to better their odds. While the ship sustains heavy damage, Sabine’s plan works and she is able to take out one of the fighters.

Sabine returns to the cockpit to get the ship back up and running. Now is an opportunity for Ahsoka to do what she does best. She heads to the ship’s exterior and wards off the fighters with her lightsaber. Sabine gets the ship running and is able to hide on the nearby planet’s surface.

Huyang is unconscious during most of the conflict. When he comes to, he reveals there are multiple rings spread throughout the galaxy. With the right coordinates, it’s possible to use these rings to jump to different galaxies and even transcend time.

The dogfighting itself is pretty slow-paced and there’s not much suspense. However, the dogfight does work to bring Ahsoka and Sabine closer together.

Time to Fly final thoughts

The episode’s short runtime and slow-paced dogfighting hold Time to Fly back at times. However, character development between Ahoska and Sabine plus Hera squaring off with The New Republic Senate makes the episode worthwhile.

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