Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 4: It is not in my nature to be very impressed with what Dave Filoni brings to the table, especially in live-action form. But I also have to admit that if anyone has any hand in expanding the Star Wars mythology to include a living, breathing, bulbous esoteric entity, it is Dave. The fact that he expanded all his animated shows could be perceived as a drawback only because there is a section of fans who still believe that animation is for kids, conveniently forgetting that George Lucas created this entire franchise for “kids”. But digressions aside, Ahsoka might be where Filoni has struck a gold mine because Episode 4 is where Filoni finally begins to reveal the extent to which he is prepared to throw all his fans into the deep end, and with how the episode ends, the next episode definitely will need some hand-holding for fans not familiar with Star Wars Rebels. And yes, this is Star Wars Rebels Season 5, no two ways about it.
Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 4 “Fallen Jedi” Recap:
The Empire Strikes Back parallels are really strong in this episode, what with the ship being stuck and in need of repairs and Huyang having to repair them while battling off HK Assassin droids sent by Baylan Skoll. Huyang is also one of those droids that are able to fend for themselves until the HK assassin droids destroy the power conduit, which finally forces Ahsoka and Sabine to attack those droids.
With Ahsoka and Sabine, on the other hand, the question arises with regard to their overall goal. Ahsoka’s goal is to stop the coming of Grand Admiral Thrawn as “heir to the empire”. For those unfamiliar, there was a time, even before the prequel trilogy, when Star Wars lived only in novels and comic books. Grand Admiral Thrawn had been created by author Timothy Zahn in the novel Heir To The Empire as a foil for Luke Skywalker and the rebel squad after the events of Return Of The Jedi. While Heir To The Empire and its subsequent events became de-canonised and part of the Legends imprint after the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, Dave Filoni managed to bring Thrawn into the canon in Season 3 of Star Wars Rebels as the ultimate foil for the Rebels crew. Simultaneously, author Timothy Zahn crafted a series of novels detailing Thrawn’s journey in this new canon and his relationship with the mainstays of the Star Wars universe at the time, like Moff Tarkin, Emperor Palpatine, and, most interestingly, Darth Vader.
Anyway, at this moment, Thrawn is, for all intents and purposes, the Thanos of this series of television shows taking place between the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy, and definitely the key antagonist in Dave Filoni’s upcoming announced feature film. And Ahsoka’s aim is to stop the coming of Thrawn from the outer regions where he had been exiled, and if that means destroying the map and being unable to bring back Ezra Bridger, that is a choice they will have to make. Needless to say, for Sabine Wren, that is a different choice because her goal is to rescue Ezra Bridger, and as Ahsoka asks Sabine whether she can count on her or whether she should be worried about her, we know that something is coming and she would have to make that choice.
As Huyang states, Ahsoka and Sabine always work better together. That theory is put to the test as they run towards the platform and are confronted by Shin Hati and Marrok, both sent by Morgan Elsbeth and Baylan to stop Ahsoka and Sabine in their tracks, while Morgan downloads the coordinates of the map to the Eye of Sion so that they can engage the hyperdrive generator to travel to the unknown regions where Thrawn presumably is.
As Ahsoka and Sabine face off Marrok and Shin Hati, Ahsoka faces off against Marrok in a classic lightsaber duel, ending in a very Japanese swordfight move reminiscent of Seven Samurai and Zatoichi, with her finally cutting through Marrok in half, and as Marrok falls, green smoke erupts from his body and disintegrates, along with the theories of Marrok being Ezra Bridger or however fan theories social media had been abuzz with. Meanwhile, Shin Hati and Sabine continue to battle, with Sabine shooting her blasters at her and Hati dodging, and finally, the Force pushes back, throwing down her lightsaber. We see Sabine being capable enough in her weaponry handling, but Hati is a Force user, and as Sabine reassures Ahsoka to get the map, saying “she got this”, she actually hasn’t because she raises her hand to try to control the force, but Hati smugly replies that she hasn’t any power. In response, Sabine attacks with her rocket gauntlets and resumes fighting.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka reaches the Stonehenge-like platform where the map is showcasing all the information, only to find Baylan there. As Baylan and Ahsoka face off, Baylan reveals that he knows about her because Anakin Skywalker has been effusive about her. But Ahsoka throws shade back at him by stating that “he never mentioned you”. Baylan, true to the character, replies, “Everyone knew Anakin Skywalker. Few would live to see what he became”, and he asks whether that is the reason she abandoned the order and Anakin. As Ahsoka readies for a fight, she asks why Baylan is doing this, to which his only reply is “for a greater purpose” – to destroy this flawed world so that a new order could be created, and Thrawn would be the one to bring about that change. Ahsoka and Baylan then start battling, and as we see from their battle postures and fight moves, Baylan is extremely capable, like Ahsoka herself, and experienced enough to understand how to handle her.
And Ray Stevenson is playing Baylan with a mix of calmness and anger befitting the older Jedi. There are shades of a darker-edged Alec Guinness’s Obi-Wan Kenobi in Stevenson’s portrayal, which gives it an interesting edge. As Ahsoka, between battles, manages to disconnect the map from the platform, she screams in pain as it burns her hand. She is also distracted by seeing Shin appear and thinking that Sabine is incapacitated. Anger takes over her and she throws Shin towards the rocks using the Force. But as she resumes battling with Baylan, who now fights with pure power and anger, Sabine suddenly appears, holding the map and pointing her blaster at it, threatening Baylan to let Ahsoka go. Baylan instead attacks Ahsoka head-on and throws her off the cliff.
Here is where the true genius of Ray Stevenson’s performance unleashes itself because he gives Baylan an added sense of dimensionality as he manipulates Sabine into thinking and willingly accompanies them on their journey to save Ezra Bridger, as Bridger is the only family Sabine has left, her true family having been killed at Mandalore. We see Sabine being hesitant, and we realise that this is what Ahsoka had been dreading, but Sabine draws the only logical conclusion possible and gives Baylan the map. This helps in taking over the final coordinates of the map into the Eye of Sion system, and as Baylan readies himself, he stops Shin from force-choking Sabine because he had given her his word that no harm would befall her. And while Shin lets her go, we know that she is impulsive enough to go to the dark side completely and not remain in this pragmatic position like her mentor is, honour-bound to a code.
Meanwhile, at the New Republic Headquarters, General Hera Syndulla disobeys her orders and takes the Phantom, with her co-pilot Jacen (her son) and chopper, along with a cadre of S-wing pilots led by Carson Teva, to the last known location of Ahsoka Tano’s ship. As Huyang finally manages to repair the transmitter, he connects with Hera and informs her of the situation on the ground. The New Republic fleet manages to come close to the Eye of Sion, and as they prepare to confront them, Morgan chooses to ignore them. In full view and as Sabine watches in horror, the hyperdrive generator engages, and the resultant shockwave destroys almost all of the S-wings, with Carson and Hera barely managing to manoeuvre from the shockwave as the Eye of Sion activates and disappears, presumably towards the unknown regions. As Jacen says to his mother, “he has a bad feeling”, it is echoed by Huyang on the ground, who is unable to raise both Wren and Tano.
Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 4 “Fallen Jedi” Ending, Explained:
We see the camera move from the platform before suddenly focusing on Ahsoka, lying presumably in white space. As Ahsoka wakes up, we see her standing on a blue platform in a dimension familiar to Star Wars Rebels fans – “The World Between Worlds”. While this could be oversimplified and taken as a dimension that could help in traversing timelines, “The World Between Worlds” could be taken more as Star Wars’ version of purgatory, the midpoint between death and the afterlife, and as Ahsoka tries to get her bearings, a familiar voice calls her, which stuns her. As she looks back, she takes in the vision of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), and from the looks of him, this is the Anakin Skywalker post-Attack of the Clones and pre-Revenge of the Sith. So did he pull Ahsoka into “The World between Worlds” like Ezra Bridger had pulled her in after her battle with Darth Vader at the end of Season 2 of Star Wars Rebels? Time will tell, but considering that the episode ends with the Darth Vader theme, you can safely assume anything can happen.
