1x06 Part Six: Far, Far Away

It would be foolish to think that this episode would even begin to compete with the theatrical experience of last week's. Thankfully this is still a solid and meaningful episode that keeps a good pace.

Hilariously, after finally focusing on Ahsoka, she introduces the episode and then bows out for another chapter of Star Wars: Sabine Wren. Truthfully, it means so much more for a member of Phoenix Squadron to be there when Thrawn is introduced instead of Ahsoka. Sabine has a much stronger connection to him because of their history from Rebels. Infinitely more so for Ezra Bridger. And live-action Sabine is growing on me. I wonder how much of it is because of the hair.

I expected Thrawn, I did not expect Ezra. Getting both introduced in the same episode, the first act of the second half of this potentially-limited series, signals the speed at which the plot is going to move from now on. Ezra's introduction was quiet and emotional. Thrawn's introduction was Star Wars: Fury Road. Lars' scene chewing coupled with Thrawn's "haunted organ" theme song from Rebels is just... perfect. After this episode, every doubt I had about Thrawn have vanished.

Both live-action actors were the voices of the animated character in Star Wars: Rebels. Both fell right back into their respective roles with ease. Live-action Ezra (Eman Esfandi) It is not the same person as the voice of Ezra from Rebels (Taylor Gray). Completely fooled me by how perfectly Esfandi captured Ezra's inflections and cadence when talking.

The reunions were the focus of the episode, but there was a lot of nice details scattered throughout. There was so much more information about Baylan and Shin than I expected. And it felt like Shin was starting to experience disillusion with her Master's wisdom. She's becoming uneasy by everything that's happening and seems to be really bothered by the idea of witches. The purrgil only travel to Dathomir to die - the ring around the planet is a giant boneyard - so how would a purrgil take anyone back? And most importantly, there are good dogs in every galaxy.

Fun fact: Enoch, the Captain of the Guard, is Amos from The Expanse. I don't think it's stunt-casting, we're gonna see him do something interesting before this is over. Also, one of the Nightsisters is Claudia Black. Counting Dawson and Tennent, this episode has an oddly-large amount of established star power.

It feels like episodes 6 & 7 are the build up for the finale of episodes 8 & 9. Best to just be like Ahsoka during this whole episode and sit back and enjoy the ride there. Filoni is not the kind of person to let the mid-season overshadow the finale... it's potentinally going to be batshit crazy.

[7.6/10] It’s nice to be someplace truly far, far away for the first time in a while. The sense that this is another galaxy, untouched by the Empire or the Republic or all the other particular trappings of the Star Wars we know and love is exhilarating. It’s rare that this franchise can promise something like that anymore, so it’s cool to see our first glimpse at where Thrawn and Ezra have been all this time.

And while I’m the type of person who tends to focus more on the storytelling and performance, I have to tip my hat to the show’s visual stylists. I love the look of just about everything out in Meridia. The purrgil graveyard planet is haunting. The wastelands of Meridia look appropriately barren and desolate. The Great Mothers of the Nightsister Clan have a look and a diction that befits the trio as the Weird sisters of the Star Wars set.

The shopworn, jury-rigged look of Thrawn’s ship and his stormtroopers is almost startling in how it conveys how this unflappable strategist and his charges have had to scrape and scrap to survive. The howler mount that Sabine rides feels endearing in its expressions but also sufficiently animalistic not to seem like a cartoony cheat. The Notti (the little turtle guys) have that charming muppet feel to them in their gait and their movements, and their little nomad camp has a real sense of place. The CGI gets a little too conspicuous in a few spots, but on the whole, this is the kind of art direction and character design that helped make Star Wars famous.

And that’s especially important here. I’m not someone in it for the aesthetics, but coming to a brand new realm, giving it a lived-in look and feel all its own, making it seem genuinely different and even desperate compared to the worlds we know, helps sell the way that Ezra and Thrawn have been stuck at the end of the universe all this time. Baylan Skoll describes it as a land of madness and folktales, and it earns that description with what we see of it here.

Speaking of which, apart from the visuals, Baylan may be my favorite part of this one! We haven't fully gotten his motivations yet, but I like the hints we get in that direction. The idea that the Empire and the Rebellion, the Jedi and the Sith, keep rising and falling in a great cycle, and he wants to stop it, is a fascinating impulse for an antagonist. There’s a meta quality to it, and Ray Stevenson sells the hell out of the tease. The notion that there’s some unique power out in this distant land, one that calls to him to help “break the wheel” as another aspiring power-seeker once put it, is intriguing as all get out.

Of course, there’s Thrawn. It’s nice to see Lars Mikkelsen get to reprise his role from Rebels in live action. That adds some degree of continuity, even as Mikkelsen looks more like Elon Musk than the sharp-feature Chiss from the show. The efforts to bring the red-eyed, blue-skinned figure into live action is a little unconvincing, but Thrawn has the right air about him, which counts for a lot. And the sense that he’s more than ready to be freed, having suffered quite a bit out here, even if he doesn’t show it, draws out a quiet desperation beneath his unflappable disposition.

I appreciate Sabine’s single-minded focus on finding Ezra, but also the sideways fashion in which she does it. Her battle with the bandits is pretty darn cool, even if it’s empty calories. Her brushing off the howler for bailing on her, only to develop a quickfire “good boy” friendship with it warms my animal-loving heart. And her showing kindness to the little turtle guys, connecting with them over her symbol, and following them to Ezra is downright delightful. I swear to god, it feels like something out of the Ewok movies.

Of course, there’s the reunion with Ezra himself. While not pitch perfect, I do love the playful air about their first meeting in years. They always had that kind of vibe, and while you don’t quite get the familiarity between them, that can be chalked up to the years apart. Eman Esfandi’s Ezra feels right, capturing the Space Aladdin vibe the animated original had, but also the wry sensibility that made him an enjoyable character to spend time with.

There’s a wisp of melancholy to this whole thing, with Sabine just wanting to be happy for once without thinking about all the crud and abandonment issues that got her here and more hardship yet to come, and Ezra talking about his excitement to go home that might not be in the offing. It appropriately tempers their reunion, and I like the low key approach to something theoretically so momentous.

We don’t get much of Ahsoka here in the show called Ahsoka. But the little snippet we get of her journey in the belly of a whale (hello, uh, Jonah and the Whale fans?), is a pleasant scene. Her reflecting on Sabine’s choice, and the Huyang giving us the first verbal utterance of the “long, long time ago” intro crawl are both nice moments.

Overall, this is an episode that pulls some big rabbits out of its hat, but does so well. Like much of the show so far, there’s as much build toward the big things to come as there are major developments in the here and now. But “Far, Far Away” delivered on some of the big things it had to deliver on, which is an encouraging sign.