1x05 Part Five: Shadow Warrior

[7.7/10] I’ll admit that I’ve found Ahsoka a little on the stoic side since this show started. I put it down as her having been through some things since we last saw her in Rebels, that would cause anyone to shut down a little bit. You could see it as her emulating the centered Jedi masters whom she knew in her time in the Order. I just kind of accepted it as her having evolved as a character, which is fair, even if I missed the more wry and playful version of the character.

“Shadow Warrior” is a breath of fresh air, then, because it shows us that Ahsoka isn’t stoic. She was haunted. And with the guidance of her old master, she’s able to find some peace, and in the process, bring back the more open-hearted Jedi we all grew attached to so long ago.

That’s right! We’re doing a wild vision quest episode, baby! I am a sucker for these, from the Mortis arc in The Clone Wars, to Ezra and Kanan’s Jedi Temple experiences on Lothal in Rebels, to Rey’s Sith temple vision in The Last Jedi, to Anakin’s haunting view of his future in the 2D Clone Wars, to Luke’s journey through the cave in The Empire Strikes Back.

What sets Star Wars apart from most other mainstream space-based franchises is that there’s a spiritual element. Leaning into that, with inventive, impressionistic sequences that use the more imaginative side of filmmaking to convey big interior journeys is one of the Galaxy Far Far Away’s finest features. The one in “Shadow Warrior” is no exception.

Some of that is the simple pleasure of seeing memorable moments from The Clone Wars rendered in live action for the first time. It is a thrill to see none other than Hayden Christensen decked out in the Clone Wars costume, teamed up with Ahsoka as we knew her through the battles against the Separatists. My wife pointed out that this is an affirmation of those adventures, something that confirms them as canon and part of the overarching saga, even for folks who think animation is beneath them for whatever reason. The flesh-and-blood Anakin recreating those moments, even in a liminal space, helps make them real for some folks.

And by god, it’s also just plain cool. Seeing live action (if somewhat fanciful) renditions of the early Clone Wars battles, the Siege of Mandalore, Ahsoka herself in her days as a Padawan has is exciting as all hell. The lightsaber fights are well done, with echoes of past battles for each of the combatants. And most of all, the use of fog as a motif, with flashes of Vader in Anakin’s presence and gait helps sell the themes at play here beyond the pure cool factor.

That theme is simple, but powerful -- is Ahsoka a product of her master, a mere weapon of war, or is there something more to her? Over and over again, Anakin tells Ahsoka to fight: for a cause, for her safety, for her life. He offers excuses and justifications for the need to stop being keepers of the peace and begin to become warriors in battle. He tempts her, to give into the idea that Baylan Skoll was right, and hers is a legacy of death and destruction.

And you can understand why that’s the haunting thought she labors under. Much of Rebels grappled with her guilt over what happened to her master. But “Shadow Warrior” is about her guilt over what her master has done, what she might have inherited from him, if she is fit to pass on what she’s learned, as Yoda once instructed Luke, or if she is fruit of a poisonous free, better to shrivel and die than plant seeds for another generation.

Ultimately, Anakin’s lesson is a rebuke of that idea. His invitations are a feint, something meant to test Ahsoka, not tempt her. He encourages her to fight, to kill, to give into the darker instincts that once overwhelmed him. Instead she stops, given every opportunity to take out years of ill-feelings on a man who’s caused such a mix of joy and pain. It is a tribute to what Yoda once said to his last student, that the Force is for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

And most importantly, it allows Ahsoka to reconcile her memory of her master, to recognize that there is both good and bad in him, and thus both good and bad in her. Dave Filoni himself once remarked that the Dark Side and the Light are not something one simply becomes or turns to; it’s something you must choose to be every day. Through this quest, taking her through the past and the dark thoughts of the mistakes she’s made and the man destined to become a monster she learned under, Ahsoka is able to make peace with what she’s done and what she’s taken from him, and to choose the Light once more.

I love the way it opens up something in her. I love the way she smiles and embraces Jacen. I love the way she jokes around with Huyang in a way we haven't seen so far in this show. I love how, rather than hunting down relics and slicing up droids and fighting other Force-users, Ahsoka figures a way to her pupil through communing with creatures who represent the natural world. I love the wry way she responds to Huyang’s question of how she knows the purrgils will take her to Sabine with a dry, “No idea” and a coy smile, a sign of the whimsy and recklessness that she also shared with her master. This is a different Ahsoka than the one we’ve seen to date, one more lively, more warm, more free.

My only gripe is that the business apart from Ahsoka isn’t nearly as good. It’s nice that Jacen can hear the World Between Worlds or whatever liminal space Ahsoka is in, and particularly nice that Hera trusts and listens to him. But man, I am so over children inheriting Force powers from their parents in this franchise, especially when their parents are legacy characters.

Likewise, it’s nice that Hera continues to search for her dear friends, but the trajectory of the hunt is predictable, and much of the conversations among those who are searching for Ahsoka and Sabine are pretty flat. The “New Republic Government is a bunch of wusses who don’t get what we’re doing” routine is already a little tiresome. (Hello Aftermath fans!) And while there’s a little fun to be had from Carson putting off the Fleet Commander who comes to take Hera in, it feels a little perfunctory as a distraction from Ahsoka’s space whale routine.

Still, I’m on board with it all, if only because it buttresses the most touching and thoughtful episode of Ahsoka we’ve had so far. This is a story of a child soldier wondering if she’s irrevocably broken, if the darkness that infected her master has been passed down to her, if there’s hope for a future she could help shape. What she finds is that she, and he, and those who might come after, have more of the light in him than Ahsoka knew, and now it’s okay for her to let it out.

On its own this wasn't a bad episode with the Clone Wars flashbacks, the images of Vader overlaying Anakin, and I liked little Ahsoka a lot more than her older self. It still left me very indifferent.
Not a shred of explanation on how Anakin could even be there. I never liked World between Worlds for reasons I already stated in other comments/replies. And here it just seemes to be a tool to have Ahsoka meet Anakin, have them involved in yet another lightsaber battle (I'm curious if they will have an episode without one) and count on the fact the viewer will be satisfied without asking any questions. The whole episode counts on that, it's full of these nostalgic moments with an almost angelic score to back this up. I'm a huge "Rebels" fan and am somewhat happy with how this played out aside from the Anakin part. But I wonder how viewers who don't have that connection will experience this. And why didn't Hera went with them ? I fully expected her to throw her commission at Mon Mothma's feet and go with Ahsoka. What can she possibly accomplish by staying behind ?

Let me make it clear again that I don't hate this show. I still believe that Dave is the Heir to the Empire. Maybe all my questions will be answered once we reach the end of the show. But at this moment the show is not taking me along on the journey I hoped it would be.

"I'm teaching you how to lead, how to survive. And to do that, you're going to have to fight." - Anakin Skywalker

And I was seriously thinking that episode 4 would likely be best episode of the series, save (maybe) for the finale. Now I just don't know what to think. If this is what we get mid-season...

Not only is this episode the aftermath of the very satisfying events from last week, but it sets up what is going to come next, the whole second act of the series.

We are missing Morgan, Baylan, Shin, Sabine, still haven't seen hide nor hair of Ezra or Thrawn, AND just about everyone else is effectively sidelined on a manhunt so we could follow Ahsoka, just Ahsoka, and get the reunion of a lifetime.

The visuals, the dialog, the music, the staging, everything is all so finely-honed and balanced into an episode that is Ahsoka's final lesson from her former Master, Anakin Skywalker.

The Lesson:
"Live, or die."

Ahsoka doesn't even understand why Anakin is saying that to her, or why she has to fight him now. She just keeps defending herself, lamenting the loss she had to endure, the weight of the shame and guilt of feeling responsible for that loss, regretting the path her life took (away from Anakin) and resenting him for turning into a hate-fueled monster. Even though she knows he turned back to the Light in the end, she probably never completely believed or understood it until "Sky Guy" was standing right in front of her again.

She eventually lands hits on her old Master and thinks that he has nothing to teach her. In response, Anakin upheaves the entire World Between Worlds and she falls into the smoke, back in time to the beginning of the Clone Wars, back in time to when she was just a little girl. And her new training begins at the very beginning.

Now Ahsoka is afraid. She reverts to the inexperienced Padawan she was way back then. She doesn't want to follow Anakin towards explosions and battle droids. She doesn't want to watch all those young Clone Troopers die all over again. She doesn't want to be taught on a battlefield. She doesn't want to be a soldier.

"What if I want to stop fighting?" - Ahsoka

"Then you'll die." - Anakin, who Ahsoka watches briefly turn into Darth Vader as he marches into the smoke with the rest of the 501st Battalion.

Now Ahsoka is angry. Angry because of all the loss of life and destruction, and angry because she gave in and became party to it. While she is leading the 332nd Company on Mandalore and killing Death Watch soldiers with ease at the tail end of the Clone War, Anakin seems bemused and slightly impressed, this is his first time witnessing these events. But because she regrets everything that happened, and resents following in Anakin's footsteps as his path grew darker and darker, he scoffs and says she learned nothing.

"Back to the beginning...Live, or die." - Anakin, as he ignites a red lightsaber.

Now Ahsoka is filled with hatred. The saber strikes become more fierce and unrefined. Anakin is now no longer her beloved Master of the Force. Now, he is Darth Vader before the transformation. His eyes are yellow and his face is gaunt. Ahsoka is no longer a match for his raw power and anger and she is thrown back to the present in the World Between Worlds - back to her present self. As Vader approaches, she hears and sees flashes of the monster he would become. Now she is fighting for her life. Even though he is more powerful, she feints and disarms Vader - holding his own lightsaber against his neck. For a split second, Ahsoka's eyes seem yellow from the glow of the blade. Then she steps back, switches the blade off, and tosses the hilt into the abyss.

"I choose to live." - Ahsoka

Darth Vader concedes defeat, backs away, and becomes Anakin Skywalker again.

"There's hope for you yet." - Anakin, with a wry smile.

And with that, Anakin Skywalker disappears and the World Between Worlds melts into water. Ahsoka holds her breath as the water rises over her head and she finds herself floating in the sea below the henge where she is rescued by Carson's pilots and brought aboard the Ghost.

The Visuals:
Everything is so visually perfect and meaningful in this episode. Especially the time jumps. I noticed little things like The Ghost's ramp being uneven with the ground at the henge, Jacen's mock rank insignia along with his father's shoulderpad, how beautiful the lighting is inside Ahsoka's ship when they're in the atmosphere of a planet (and how real the whole ship feels when it's brightly-lit like that), the Purrgil having plates instead of teeth like humpbacked whales. A lot of the detail and finish to this episode are not needed but they are there anyways.

Most of all, the accuracy of everything during the time skips. Especially the costuming for each given time period. It filled me with joy to see Clone Wars-era Anakin in live action. ...With the glaring exception of Padawan Ahsoka deliberately wearing something more modest than she had in the Clone Wars cartoon. But that's an understandable change that can be forgiven. Ariana Greenblatt is 15 years old.

The time skips themselves were portrayed so otherworldly and disconcerting. Almost everything in the foreground was practical (not the TRON walkways, I wish), unlike the cartoon. But at the same time it was all... off, like a bad dream. The fog made it feel like the moment something or someone disappeared from view, that's where the whole universe ended and there's nothing but nothingness beyond it. A rare moment where the faux reality of The Volume turned into a storytelling strength.

Lastly, Ahsoka's outfit at the end of the episode made me chuckle knowingly. Up until now, many have been saying that the reason that one scene with Ahsoka and Sabine at the end of Rebels and the beginning of Ahsoka look different is because time changed the details of the scene and Filoni had to slightly retcon it. Now it seems like the show is actually building to that exact moment just as it was depicted all those years ago. And if it really is... Rebels might actually have already spoiled the end of Ahsoka (season 1)! If you know, you know. Not going to put it past Filoni to carefully massage the plot details to make it happen.

Ahsoka the White has come to us at the turn of the tide.

The Music:
Everything from the Williams cues as Jacen reaches out into the Force to the cyberpunkish percussion swells during the Siege of Mandalore that were heard just moments before the fall of the Galactic Republic is just beautiful and emotionally-charged.

Having Kevin and Deana Kiner do the music for this series has really set a new high bar for live-action Star Wars music. For me, it's even more effective than Ludwig Göransson's work on The Mandalorian.

Music effects what you watch far more than most people realize. While the music for previous live-action Star Wars shows has been good for me all across the board, and while nothing will ever compare to the godlike work of John Williams for the principle films, the Kiners have been doing nothing but minting gold this entire series so far. Far better than what was to be expected for this one series. I really hope Lucasfilm gives them many more projects in the future.

The Rest:
- One of the two X-Wing pilots, besides Carson, that survived the Eye of Scion's jump to hyperspace (the man who had no dialog in the previous episode and the woman) is named Lander.
- Apparently "take evasive action" means "plow straight through them" in the Star Wars galaxy.
- Also apparently "the fleet" means "three ships", none of which were Home One.
- Anakin & Ahsoka saying "What would you prefer?" "I don't know" then immediately saying "Do you want me to be more serious?" "I'd prefer it." really sounded weird. If there was anything wrong about this episode it was clumsy and inaccurate dialog here and there.
- Ahsoka really likes walking on the outside of her ship. I'm pretty sure she'll do it again.
- I know the Purrgil are benevolent and majestic creatures, but seeing all of them in the sky just made me think of the Battle for Zion in The Matrix Revolutions. Hard not to feel a little uneasy at the sight of it all.
- "Jacen's too young to travel between galaxies." - For a brief moment I thought the big Purrgil was going to accidentally drag the Ghost along with it.
- "May the Force be with you." - It's such a simple line, but it doesn't get said enough. And it's way better than saying "Godspeed."
- Another seemingly small gesture that means a lot is spinning the starfield after a jump to hyperspace. One thing David Filoni gets that almost no one else producing Star Wars gets is how to respect the source material. Just like respecting the need for animatronics over CG aliens, it all matters and it all adds up.

This is the second time Filoni has made me sit down and rewatch the same episode of something on the same day because I could not completely process it the first time around. He does not have to try this hard, but he does because he cares about these stories and loves these characters that much. This isn't Star Trek, there doesn't have to be a deep message and a lesson attached to every episode to make it worth watching. It just has to be fun. It just has to be Star Wars. I'm extremely happy (and a little sad) that I live in a time where currently-airing Star Wars is more Trek-like than currently-airing Star Trek. No, I'm grateful - As a fan of Science Fiction who simply wants to be entertained and as someone who was spoiled by an era where Science Fiction was coupled with masterful lessons in the Humanities by a visionary who would have been so disappointed by where the world stands today if he were still alive. Those lessons helped shape me into a much better version of myself as I grew into an adult. I'm grateful I can still get that entertainment and that wisdom combined together from somewhere, and I sincerely hope that the Filoni Era of Star Wars just keeps going for as long as it possibly can.

8.5/10 - It was awesome to see Anakin and young Ahsoka again!

"Hello Snips. I didn't expect to see you so soon."
"You look old."
"That happens."
"I'm here to finish your training."
"It's a little late for that."
"One is never too old to learn, snips."
"Live... Or die."
"I won't fight you."

Poor Huyang btw: "I told them to stay together. But they never listen."
They're all quite lucky that Jacen has abilities (which is awesome!): "There's something out there mom, I can feel it."

I was immediately so happy/excited when I saw young Ahsoka #GoodMemories! :) Her face looks too different (too human?) but from the side and behind she looks really similar. It might even be nice to have a live action version of the Clone Wars? But probably a different storyline as I still prefer the animated versions of Ahsoka and Anakin.

"You do things your way because you care. This is why people like you." That was really lovely from Huyang!

"What was he [Anakin] like?"
"Intense." xD

"All unauthorized, of course."

It looks like Ahsoka intentionally left out part of the truth when she said "they took her [Sabine] with them".

The ending with the Space Whales was epic - especially with that soundtrack!
Ahsoka really enjoyed herself when she answered Huyang's questions xD
"You're certain they know where Sabine was taken?"
"I have no idea."
"What?"
"No idea. We'll just see where it goes."
"It could go anywhere."
"I know. But that's Better than going nowhere."

I am torn. I like what I am seeing, but I don't like why I am seeing it. I was actually very anxious for this episode but I now realised I was looking forward to Sabine's part. I didn't really care much for how they would resolve Ahsoka's fall.

I always hated the idea of the world between worlds and especially its depiction. This is way too little abstract for the original setup of the force. That being said I could even come to terms with this basically being were Jedi with the ability to turn into force ghosts go before finally turning into force without consciousness. But it will never make sense for me that they rejuvenated Anakin by replacing Sebastian Shaw.

Still the Clone Wars memories were simply amazing to me. I always wished for this instead of the animated series. Life action Obi-Wan and Anakin, Clones with Temuera Morrison's voice, generally real lighting and textures. At this point: De-aged Heyden Christensen looked really really convincing.
But sadly they were broken up by these atypical out of world - for lack of a better word - conversations between Anakin and Ahsoka. This element does not suit Star Wars. Even less so these - admittedly stylistically awesome - switches between Anakin and Vader.

To top it off the entire thing was completely unnecessary and quite frankly annoying that Ahsoka died again and came back to life again. It would have completely sufficed for her to simply be saved from drowning or basically anything else that could have happened after falling down the cliff.
That way they also wouldn't have needed Jason, who to me is unfortunately a disaster for the simple reason of being am utterly unrealistic halfbreed. That shouldn't work in the first place. But to top it off all that the Twi'lek genes muster to is green hair...

The only reason to show Ahsoka's revival in this way, can be to create a parallel to the Lord of the Rings and have her become Ahsoka the White. And I even like that design. Also that scene were she tells Huyang "it's better than going nowhere" captures Ahsoka's character as it was before she left the order the best of any of Dawson's scenes so far.

The last thing I will say to that part of the episode is that by now Filoni is really stressing it with the amount of lightsaber battles ...

Having that out of the way: Once Ahsoka was recovered the episode took a turn for the better. As I said: I like Ahsoka the White's look, I like her using more Jedi abilities than simply fighting with lightsabers.
To me the idea of space whales migrating unusual distance is also very convincing, which nicely adds to my suspension of disbelief. And there was one little detail that just made my hart leap: The fully animated Ishi Tib. It looked so great and lifelike. Why isn't Hera treated with the same love for detail?

In the end this episode had a really nice hopeful mood at the end and I am looking forward to what lies beyond the jump through dark space.

(I just hope it won't be time travel ending with Ahsoka in White with staff picking up Sabine in Lothal ...)