1x01 Part One: Master and Apprentice

To me this was a well done debut. It actually felt like a movie in a lot of places. Especially because of production value.
For the most part Filoni managed to adapt Rebels to life action astoundingly well. I like Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka - even though her take on Ahsoka's snippyness is somehow limited to a constant smirk which kind of makes her seem as though she doesn't take anything seriously. I love seeing Clancy Brown reprising his role, I love Huyang's adaption in terms of a more realistic design and demeanour. (So much better that he is not bent over like an old man!) And I am absolutely surprised how well Bordizzo as Sabine Wren works for me. I am completely sold on her so far.
speaking of the cast Stevenson does an excellent job. He is simultaneously menacing, calm and somehow even amicable. The only person that does not work for me at all is Hera. Which is probably even more due to horrible make-up artistry than bad acting. She looks so fake, not like any of the Twilek so far and her contact lenses are so noticeable, seeing her takes me completely out of it.
There were a few issues in terms of content like the unreasonably huge explosion from those droids or another definitely non-fatal lightsaber stab or even the reason for a map that is much older than Ezra's jump but I can overlook them so far.
I think the episode manages to find a nice balance between serving cartoon veterans and including people who have not watched any Clone Wars or Rebels. In fact I think it must be much more intriguing to not know all the background. In my opinion the episode still gives you enough information to follow and to want to know more.

I know it was to be expected for a show about a former Padawan but I could have done with a less lightsaber- and force centred show. I really really hope that Sabine being Ahsokas apprentice is supposed to be limited to lightsaber training and they will not retcon her to be force sensisitve. I could even go with some light idea of the force but please do not make Sabine force push/pull things and jump like a Jedi.

[7.5/10] Ahsoka feels right. The vistas of Lothal feel of a piece with their animated rendition. The characters seem like themselves despite shifts in the performer and the medium. Their relationships feel genuine even though much has changed in the five years since we’ve seen them together.

Maybe that shouldn’t be a big surprise with Dave Filoni, impresario of the animated corner of Star Wars, both writing and directing “Master and Apprentice”, the series premiere. He is the title character’s co-creator and caretaker. He is the creator of Star Wars: Rebels, the show that Ahsoka is most clearly indebted to. And he is, for many, the keeper of the flame when it comes to the Galaxy Far Far Away.

But it was my biggest fear for this show. More than the plot, more than the lore, more than the latest chapter in the life of my favorite character in all of Star Wars, my concern was that translating all these characters, and their little corner of the universe, to live action and a different cast and a different era of the franchise would make everything feel wrong. Instead, we’re right at home. The rest is gravy.

And the gravy is good. Because these are not the colorful, if intense, adventures of the Ghost crew fans saw before. This is, or should be, a period of triumph for the onetime Rebels. They won! The Empire is torn asunder! Lothal is led with grace and a touch of wry sarcasm by Governor Azadi, with none other than Clancy Brown reprising the role! Huyang the lightsaber-crafting droid is still around and has most of his original parts!

Nonetheless, our heroes are hung up on old battles and older wounds. Ahsoka Tano is on a quest to track down Grand Admiral Thrawn, who hunted the Spectres in Rebels. Sabine Wren can’t bask in the afterglow of victory as a hero when she’s still mourning Ezra Bridger. And the two warriors have some lingering bad blood with one another after an attempt to become master and apprentice, true to the title, went wrong somewhere along the way.

With that, the first installment of Ahsoka is a surprisingly moody and meditative affair, one that works well for Star Wars. Sure, there's still a couple of crackerjack lightsaber fights to keep the casual fans engaged. But much of this one is focused on familiar characters reflecting on what’s been lost, what’s been broken, and what’s hard to fix. The end of Rebels was triumphant, but came with costs. To linger on those costs, and the new damage that's accumulated in their wake, is a bold choice from Filoni and company.

So is the decision to focus on Sabine here. Don’t get me wrong, Ahsoka has the chance to shine in the first installment of the show that bears her name. Her steady reclamation of a map to Thrawn, badass hack-and-slash on some interfering bounty droids, and freighted reunions with Hera and her former protege all vindicate why fans have latched onto the character. For her part, Rosario Dawson has settled into the role, bringing a certain solemnity that befits a more wizened and confident master, but also that subtle twinkle that Ashley Eckstei brings to the role.

And yet, the first outing for Ahsoka spends more time with Sabine’s perspective. It establishes her as a badass who’d rather rock her speeder with anti-authoritarian style than be honored for her heroics. It shows her grieving a lost comrade whose sacrifice still haunts her. It teases out an emotional distance and rebelliousness between her and her former mentor. And it closes with her using her artist’s eye to solve the puzzle du jour, and defend herself against a fearsome new enemy.

This is her hour, and while Sabine is older, more introverted, all the more wounded than the Mandalorian tagger fans met almost a decade ago, this opening salvo for the series is better for it.

My only qualms are with the threat du jour. Yet another Jedi not only survived the initial Jedi Purge, but has made it to the post-Return of the Jedi era without arousing the suspicions of Palpatine, Vader, Yoda, or Obi-Wan. Ray Stevenson brings a steady and quietly menacing air to Baylan Skoll, the former Jedi turned apparent mercenary, but there's enough rogue force-wielders running around already, thank you very much.

His apprentice holds her own against New Republic forces and Ahsoka’s own former apprentice, but is shrouded in mystery. She goes unidentified, which, in Star Wars land, means she’s secretly someone important (a version of Mara Jade from the “Legends” continuity?) or related to someone important (the child of, oh, let’s say Ventress). And I’m tired of such mystery boxes.

Throw in the fact that Morgan Elsbet, Ahsoka’s source and prisoner, turns out to be a Nightsister, and you have worrying signs that the series’ antagonists will be rehashing old material rather than moving the ball forward. The obvious “We just killed a major character! No for real you guys!” fakeout cliffhanger ending doesn’t inspire much confidence on that front either.

Nonetheless, what kept me invested in Rebels, and frankly all of Star Wars, despite plenty of questionable narrative choices, is the characters. The prospect of Ahsoka trying to train a non force-sensitive Mandalorian in the ways of the Jedi, or at least her brand of them, is a bold and fascinating choice.

But even more fascinating is two people who once believed in one another, having fallen apart, drifting back together over the chance to save someone they both care about. “Master and Apprentice” embraces, rather than shying away from, the sort of lived-in relationships that made the prior series so impactful in the past, and the broken bonds that make these reunions feel fragile, painful, and more than a little bitter in the present.

I am here for Hera the general trying to patch things up between old friends. I am here for Sabine holding onto her rebellious streak but carrying scars from what went wrong, in the Battle of Lothal and in her attempts to learn the ways of the Jedi. And I am here for Ahsoka, once the apprentice without a master, now the master without an apprentice, here to snuff out the embers of the last war and reclaim what was lost within it.

They all feel right. The rest can figure itself out.

The most classic Star Wars tropes, with Mandalorian-esque pacing (if more ronin, less western). Because the sets and character designs are so familiar, IMO the luxurious sweep does not work - we know everything we're seeing too well. The pacing doesn't suit the relative immaturity of Sabine in particular - this slow and this in-focus, youthful impulse looks too much like just being dumb. So far, lacks the humor and landscape that makes The Mandalorian's laconicism bearable.

Probably works better if you are reliving nostalgia for the cartoons and the translation to live action is full of easter eggs, but that's not where I'm coming from.

So far, no interesting or nuanced characterization or motivation. Indulgent, classic, detailed ship design, but so far it hasn't been used for any storytelling or action. Set / costume / prop design and action choreography are all very competent but extremely conservative, venturing less far from the center of the IP than even Empire/Jedi do.

Particularly jarring: the CGI characters are still doing Lucasfilm "take an extra beat to dance around an actual performer" self-conscious look-at-that animations as if it's 1999. That's a quirk of a moment of special effects history, people. It's like a golf ball putted toward the camera in a 3D movie. Please don't make that yet another one of the zillion elements that must be present for Real Star Wars.

I'm optimistic (?) that maybe the creators are just being extra conservative and boring as a starting point, to protect the series from anti-"wokeness" not-true-Star-Wars accusations because the key cast is 50% female? Maybe we'll get more creative as we go? Ugh, but okay. I am repeatedly boggled by how much Star Wars there is given how extraordinarily narrow the IP is - like, after nine movies and a whole bunch of shows, there's so little variation. Of the things I've seen, only Rian Johnson's entry pushed things a bit, that was not a very daring push, and it was mostly undone by 9. Most individual Marvel characters with multiple appearances have been treated with a wider stylistic range. Star Wars is a brilliant bonkers universe with a zillion planets and aliens! There has to be more than one story in this galaxy! There has to be more to differentiate villains than how many laser swords of what color they swing around! The books and comics go bananas! When is some of that Doctor Aphra sauce coming to the screen?

That said, it's still Star Wars, it doesn't make any mistakes in executing Star Wars, and Star Wars feels good.

Huh, this was surprisingly weird! I watched the "Rebels" show just to "prepare" for this show (didn't want to miss what happened to Ahsoka in between). That was definitely worth it since the other characters from Rebels appear here as well (so far at least Hera, Sabine, and Ryder) but it's also quite a weird transition. There's the massive graphics upgrade but that's quite nice. But the characters feel too different. I'm glad that they're not as childish as in Rebels / that this is a serious setting but that was to be expected given the different target audiences. I do mind that they loose some character though. The characters even seem boring at times (e.g., there was a lot of staring without any talking) and the acting/mimics are often weird. But I guess one does get used to it.

Those "evil Jedi" seem to be new in the SW universe, right?

It might be quite interesting to see Thrawn again. On Ezra is was already counting (more or less).

Seeing Lothal, Sabine's artwork from the end of Rebels, and Lothcats was very nice! I guess the Lothcats are animatronics? They're movements are quite good for animatronics but their animations would obviously be way better (smoother and more realistic) with CGI. But I guess animatronics make more sense for this show (I assume they use "The Volume" like for The Mandalorian).

Sabine Wren being absent was weird. It looks like she's even more of both a Rebel and an introvert in this show.
Much more surprising was that Ahsoka Tano's former apprentice is on Lothal and that it indeed turned out to be Sabine. That's certainly new and she doesn't seem to possess Jedi powers in Rebels. But she also didn't seem like a real Jedi/padawan in her fight at the end. Maybe Ahsoka just trained her a bit more given her previous lessons with the Darksaber?

"I bet your master found you difficult at times." - If only Hera knew xD

Sabine getting stabbed at the end was shocking. I bet this can't be the end of her story though! Maybe "it's just a scratch"? :o :D

Hearing Ahsoka's theme during the end credits was nice <3