It’s almost fifteen years to the day that Ahsoka Tano first appeared in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie, and now she has made the jump to live-action, in the series bearing her name.
The character, conceived by George Lucas, was given to Anakin Skywalker as a Padawan in The Clone Wars, much to the surprise of supervising director Dave Filoni and everyone working on the show, as is was believed that Anakin never took an apprentice.
From the start, the character was brought to life by Lucasfilm Animation and voiced by Ashley Eckstein; between them, Eckstein and Filoni made Ahsoka one of the most lovable and favourite Star Wars characters. When hints of a jump to live-action were first muted, Rosario Dawson threw her name into the ring, and was believed to be Dave Filoni’s first choice for the role. After a successful introduction in the second season of The Mandalorian, the Ahsoka series was green-lit and whilst we had to wait a little longer than expected due to COVID, the first two episodes of series finally arrive today, August 22nd.
The show fits into the same timeline as The Mandalorian, set some five years after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. We do not know what Ahsoka has been doing in the years since we last saw her in Star Wars Rebels, but Fulcrum, her code name in the Rebellion, is still active and helping the cause.
Trailers and numerous TV spots have given little away, despite most of their content being from these first two episodes, as Filoni and executive producer Jon Favreau are known to be masters of misdirection.
The series starts with a new take on the famous crawl, giving us an insight into the character’s motivation, as she continues to search for clues to the whereabouts of Grand Admiral Thrawn. We are aware that many will want to see the show for themselves, so we are being deliberately coy to ensure we do not spoil too much.
Over the course of the 90 minutes, covering the first two episodes, we see Ahsoka interact with familiar faces from Rebels including Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren, both making their first live-action appearance, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Natasha Liu Bordizzo respectively. We learn more about the relationship between Ahoksa and Sabine in the years since Rebels, although there is clearly more still to tell. Ahsoka and her friends are not the only ones looking for Thrawn, with former Jedi Baylan Skoll and apprentice Shin Hati trying to outsmart them at every turn.
For many, Ahsoka will be a continuation of the story from Rebels, but the character has grown immensely since then, having spent a decade learning, training, and helping the Rebellion. In real-life, Filoni has also made the jump from animation to live-action, from Padawan under Lucas, to show runner on the series. These first two episodes show how much he has learnt from others and how his skills have grown, enabling him to take these characters to the next level. The cast has been chosen well; Dawson is able to capture the essence of the much loved character, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine steals every scene she’s in. David Tennant returns to voice Professor Huyang and is a delight, providing some relief in otherwise tense situations. Diana Lee Inosanto reprises her role from The Mandalorian as Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth, and is joined by the late Ray Stevenson, who the first episode is dedicated to, as Baylan Skoll. As you’d expect from a Star Wars series, the sound design by Skywalker Sound and music by Kevin Kiner are exceptional. Much of the series has been shot using StageCraft and for the most part it works well, although some shots are not as good as they could be, taking us out of the scene for a split second. Special effects are provided by ILM and are of course exemplary.
This is very much the show we have all been waiting for, a continuation of the Ahsoka story and some sort of resolution to the Thrawn and Ezra story from Rebels. Filoni continues to grow as a storyteller and filmmaker, and we cannot wait to see more of his Star Wars stories on both the small and big screen.
The two episode premiere of Ahsoka debuts on August 22nd at 6pm PT and 9pm ET exclusively on Disney+, continuing every Tuesday through to October 3rd.
