Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Episode 7 of Ahsoka.
This week’s episode ofAhsoka, “Dreams and Madness” is another perfect part of what seems like a perfect series at first, with every episode being better than the previous one, always building a crescendo toward the end. The only problem is that this crescendo is supposed to reach its climax all at once in the series finale next week, and it feels as ifAhsokahas only just begun. Usually, the penultimate episode of a season is supposed to set the stage for the events of the finale, but it doesn’t really feel that way, and this begs the question: what’s the point of this series?
Episode 7 does begin to close the overall arc of the season, with Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) regrouping with Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) andEzra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) making them waste time and resources while preparing for his own return to the main Star Wars galaxy, andBaylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson)parting ways with his apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), to go look for the hidden power he senses on Peridea. But none of that carries the same weight a penultimate episode should, instead leaving us with a feeling of excitement for what seems like many parts to come. How come?
‘Ahsoka’ Has a Lot of Storylines to Wrap Up in One Episode
One of the main concerns aboutAhsokawaswhether it felt like a fifth season ofStar Wars Rebels. In the beginning, it really didn’t; it felt more like a different story that happened to feature those characters, with a different focus and purpose. But this was only based on the first half; after Episode 5, it did start to feel that way with the idea of a threat to the galaxy slowly giving way to the expectation of aRebelsreunion. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it should’ve been clearer from the start — now, it feels like the first half was about Ahsoka Tano coming to terms with her Jedi legacy while trying to save the galaxy, and the second is now indeedRebelsSeason 5.
This is the danger that can come from having a smaller season.Ahsoka’s season has eight episodes, each with its own length and scope. It’s great that they tell very well-defined stories; it helps us better visualize the bigger picture and where all the pieces stand on the board, and they are all very well-written in this context. But there’s not nearly enough time to wrap everything, given that this season felt like two separate stories told in each half. This forces key moments that we’d very much like to see happen off-screen. For example, Sabine tells Ezra about the events of the Galactic Civil War, but what exactly did she mention? Do they know about Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)? Ezra is a Jedi, and knowing about another person like him when there are so few left is crucial for him. What is happening withthe crates Thrawn is having his Night Troopers load onto the Chimera, andwhat is his deal with the Great Mothers?
While there is definitely a main story arc for the whole season — the fight to keep Thrawn from returning to the main galaxy after his years in exile — each of these storylines now has to be wrapped up by the end of the season, no matter how big or relevant to the main arc they are. With so much going on, it might be very difficult to resolve all of that with a single episode remaining, especially given that the episodes so far don’t have fixed lengths and are all around 50 minutes long. With no confirmation of a Season 2 so far (which may be delayed because of the strikes in Hollywood), it doesn’t seem like the resolution of every storyline is plausible at this stage.
By comparison,Rebelshad longer seasons that made time even for filler episodes and always wrapped everything up neatly. Sure,that was a series made for a different model of television, and we’re now in the streaming era, but this is something that affects the storytelling capabilities of a series. A longer season would have given all those threads more time to develop and be properly clarified, and it doesn’t seem like the finale will be able to do that by itself. Right now,Ahsokais facing the opposite problem thatThe MandalorianSeason 3 did, which was having a long season with not enough story to tell, leading to moments that felt like they were there merely to fill time (like the many creature attacks the Mandalorians faced, and Grogu’s IG-11 (Taika Waititi) mech suit).
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‘Ahsoka’ Feels More Like a Prologue for Dave Filoni’s Upcoming Movie
Back in April, it was announced during Star Wars Celebration Europe thatDave Filoniwould direct a movie that’s being described as the culmination of the Mando-verse, tying togetherall the different branches of this corner of the Star Wars universeandfeaturing the New Republic. All of a sudden, it seemed like this announcement started to impact many things on the shows that were released;The MandalorianSeason 3 kept bringing Thrawn up every chance it got, as well as highlightingthe many failures of the New Republic.
Ahsokaitself was announced before that, shortly after the character’s live-action debut inThe MandalorianSeason 2. Her mention of Thrawn in that episode (as well as Morgan Elsbeth’s first appearance) already hinted at what everyone suspected: the Mando-verse was moving towards its culmination withan adaptation of theHeir to the Empirestoryline. This idea is extremely exciting for anyone who knows these characters, and the notion of a Star Wars shared universe culminating in such a celebrated story is irresistible.
Butwhile we are definitely looking forward to Filoni’s movie, it now feels like a magnet in terms of storytelling, pulling everything toward it while not making clear exactly how the story will play out. This is perhaps the biggest problem withAhsoka, because of the way the story developed with two very different halves in the same season telling different stories (complementary, yes, but still different). The threat of Thrawn’s return looms large over everything and ultimately overpowers the main storyline, which should focus on Ahsoka herself and her development as a character.We did get that, yes, but it was rushed through Episodes 4 and 5while allowing the quest for Thrawn to be maintained around it. From Episode 6 on, Ahsoka is cleared from the weight on her shoulders, and we’re back to focusing on how everyone deals with Thrawn and the threat of his return. Every season tells a story, and every story should begin and end within itself, andAhsoka’s just ended halfway through it.
It’s starting to feel like the whole purpose ofAhsokaas a series was to serve as a prologue to Filoni’s New Republic movie, while it should’ve been more about Ahsoka herself with the Thrawn storyline lurking in the background.Thrawn is too big a characterto be introduced in the middle of a season the way he was — he literally changed the tone of the whole season, which can easily be segmented into before and after his introduction. Now, the expectations for theAhsokafinale next week aren’t really about Ahsokaor even theRebelscrew, but how the series' whole story is going to set up Filoni’s movie, which implies leaving loose threads that will only be tied up then — and we know how much Thrawn and the Great Mothers hate loose threads.
