Okay, actual thoughts/discussion...
***SPOILERS BELOW...DO NOT PROCEED ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN THE EPISODE!!!***
It's stupid to use spoiler tags in a "spoiler-allowed" thread, but I'll still be considerate and give folks a final warning.
- To my shock, the show wasted
no time getting to what everyone was waiting for. Within the first 10-15 seconds you see two white lightsabers ignite. I was stunned, as part of me had assumed she would've shown up in the final 3-4 minutes. Filoni wasn't screwing around..."you've waited long enough, guys...here you go. Enjoy!"
- She looked amazing. While not as familiar with the character as many, I have seen enough
Clone Wars episodes, YouTube clips and enough Googling/Wookiepedia reading to feel like I know/recognize the character somewhat, and Rosario Dawson did a great job. The walk, even. The fighting stances, acrobatics, that little side-eye glare/smirk, etc. was all there, but in an older, mature form. It was awesome. If I enjoyed/appreciated it this much, then I know there are true, longtime fans who are losing their minds.
- To my utter relief, she
was not "older Luke" 2.0. She came out swinging, literally. Just wrecking some heavily-armed bad guys. Again, to see those two white sabers ignite within
seconds of the episode starting was both a surprise and a thrill.
- Let's just say my two-decade crush on Ms. Dawson has deepened considerably.
- Yoda name drop; Ahsoka, as expected, recognized The Child's species and mentions the famous Jedi Master by name.
- Speaking of The Child, he has a name...Grogu(?) (pronounced "grow goo"), and he was trained, years earlier, at the Jedi temple on Coruscant and was put into hiding after the rise of the Empire. Ahsoka sensed fear/anger in him...
- ...which lead to her making a direct reference to her former master, Anakin, telling Mando that she knows what those particular feelings can do to even a fully-trained Jedi, "the best of us". The way she said it, you kinda felt it. It still haunts her.
- Bo Katan namedrop. After their initial "I don't know who you are" skirmish, Mando tells Ahsoka that he was sent to find her by Bo Katan, which is probably the only thing that kept him from getting his ass beaten. While he held his own for 5-10 seconds (wrist flame-thrower, rope, the Beskar wrist gauntlets blocking the saber blades), it's silly to think he was going to come out on top, once she got going and was committed to her actions.
Good thing he was able to convey his purpose there, or he would've likely lost his head soon after.
- Ahsoka asks the female villain, the magistrate, about her master...Grand Admiral Thrawn. So this show is going there too, it looks like. I know a bit about that, having read two of those Timothy Zahn books ages ago. And I think the character appeared on the animated
Rebels show? But he's in this timeline/continuity now, so he's surely coming at some point, possibly next season?
- I think Luke was indirectly hinted at by Ahsoka ("there aren't many Jedi left", but that one may seek Grogu if he reaches out with the Force enough
- Ahsoka noted Grogu's attachment to Mando, and she declined to train him, but put him on the path to those who might. The episode ends with Mando and Grogu departing Corvus(?), and Ahsoka walking away with a slight smile on her face. Whether she returns or not, who knows. This might be her one and only appearance, as merely a plot-furthering device.
- As I mentioned in my previous thread, we've gotten amazing reveals in the odd-numbered episodes of this season...Boba Felt in episode 1/chapter 9, Bo Kana in 3/Chapter 11 and now Ahsoka in 5/Chapter 13. If that is to be taken as any sort of pattern, I guess I couldn't be too crazy to expect something big in upcoming episode 7/chapter 15 two weeks from now? Thrawn? Some sort of Luke appearance (hologram, digital de-aging - a lot of it!
- of Hamill or maybe just a voice and unseen hooded figure?). Who knows, but I don't think all the surprises are done. Still three episodes left, and a lot of things left to touch on...either back to Boba, Bo Katan, Gideon and those clones/troopers and their reason for wanting The Child,
or more forward-looking plot developments centering around Thrawn, Grogu's destiny and which Jedi finds him, etc.?
Circling back to an earlier, upthread discussion. As I predicted/expected, the surprise, joy and enthusiasm that greeted Bo Katan's reveal two weeks ago pales to that of Ahsoka coming to live action. Every reaction clip I've watched today have been a) mostly male, and b) off-the-charts in their joy/affection for the character. So I don't ever want to hear a damn word about "sexist, toxic fandom". This one series - between Cara Dune, Bo Katan and now Ahsoka - has clearly shown that Star Wars fans, male and otherwise, love strong, well-written and fun-to-watch female characters. They have for 40+ years, frankly. Any recent squawking and horseshit charges have centered solely around this latest batch - specifically Rey, Rose Tico and Admiral Holdo...none of which were strong, well-written or fun-to-watch. Pointing out such obvious things is not "sexist". It's shitty writing/casting, which also extended to Poe, Hux and others, IMO.
It isn't the presence of a vagina that will likely relegate Rey to "oh yeah...whatever" status within the saga, but the fact that, when it's all said and done, she didn't really do, or represent, much. And that's not due to her gender, of course. That's due to folks like J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy, creating/championing such an underwhelming, hard-to-buy-into character. So it's foolish of them to go around blaming "toxic fandom" and sexism on why she didn't quite click with audiences across three entire major motion pictures.
So, once again, two weeks apart, this one little streaming TV series undoes/negates 2-3 years of whiny, misguided horseshit re: sexism, toxic fandom and the alleged inability/unwillingness of male Star Wars fans to accept and embrace strong female characters. That's complete, top-to-bottom nonsense and lies. And the people putting that out there, deep down, know it.
Fans will talk about/remember, years from now, how these two characters - Bo Katan and Ahsoka Tano - were presented and handled on a TV series whose budget/resources are a fraction of the big-screen, theatrical installments. That's all you have to know to realize how hollow some of those arguments/charges in recent years have been. Rey had six-plus hours on the big screen, between 2015-2019 to make a true impact/dent in the culture, and cement her status as a SW icon/legend. And failed to do so in the minds of many. Two others come along, on a TV show, and in under 30 minutes each (far less for Katan) appear to have made twice the impact on SW fandom/excitement.
So there you go. Fans are toxic, sexist and unable to accept/enjoy female characters in Star Wars? Bullshit. Just
yours Kathleen, J.J. and Rian. Just yours.
I would
gladly watch a series centered around Cara Dune, Bo Katan and/or Ahsoka Tano, written/performed as they have been on this particular show. And I suspect 95%+ of fans/viewers would as well. In fact, I'm kinda hoping some of these cameos/apperances are springboards to that very thing? Maybe that's what's being slowly set up, and, a year or two from now, in addition to the upcoming Kenobi series, we get these characters heading up their own adventures as well? I'm all for it.