1x04 Part Four: Fallen Jedi

[7.5/10] It’s frickin’ Anakin! Look, I fully admit that, as a teaser at least, this is total empty fanservice. It’s the kind of thing I tend to rail against. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t gasp a little when I realized that Ahsoka had washed up in the World Between Worlds. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a touch giddy to hear Anakin call his former apprentice “Snips.” I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t joyful to see AAhsoska turn around, say “Master?” and see none other than Sky Guy standing before her.

Is it completely and utterly cheap? My god yes. But it also totally worked on me, so I’m loath to complain.

Oh yeah, and there’s a bunch of other major happenings too. Our good guy force-users go toe-to-toe with the bad guy force-users. Huyang gets into some fisticuffs of his own. Ahsoka sort of dies. (Presumably she’s just out temporarily and will pop back to life once she goes on a spirit quest with Anakin). Sabine switches sides (again, at least temporarily/a little). Hera and Phoenix Squadron come to help. Morgan Elsbeth and her allies (seemingly) successfully launch themselves into the Unknown Regions. For folks who’ve been complaining about pace, some big deal shit goes down here.

But here’s my favorite part of it all -- a philosophical disagreement between Ahsoka and Sabine. If it comes to it, Ahsoka wants to destroy the map. Better to prevent Thrawn from returning and reigniting the war. But Sabine is unwilling to give up their only chance to potentially save Ezra, even if it means potentially allowing a villain to come back. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it’s a debate between fighting what we hate and saving what we love.

You can see both sides of it. For Ahsoka, who saw the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, the commitment to stopping a formidable opponent like Thrawn from restarting it all is unquestioned. For Sabine, whose only family is Ezra, the possibility of stranding him and both being alone forever is unthinkable. There’s no easy answers, and how each feels is based on who they are, which makes the disagreement between them feel legitimate.

What’s more, we find out that Sabine’s family on Mandalore, whom we met back in Rebels, perished sometime between then and now. It’s easy to guess that they were obliterated in Moff Gideon’s assault. But regardless of the exact details, Baylan perceives that, at a minimum,, Sabine feels that it happened because Ahsoka didn’t trust her. The show has hinted at what caused a falling out between them, but this is the first time we’ve come to understand the root of why.

Not for nothing, I liked Baylan a lot here. His intentions are still rather cryptic, something that frustrated me about the antagonist in the Obi-Wan show. But he’s a legitimate foe for Ahsoka, one who paints her with the same brush as her former master, has lost his faith in the Jedi, and who seems to genuinely believe that unleashing the evil of Thrawn will somehow be for the greater good. Maybe it’s the writing. Maybe it’s just Ray Stevenson’s presence. But whatever the reason, he’s one of the cooler bad guys we’ve had in a while.

These are also some top notch lightsaber fights here. The weakest of them is Sabine vs. Shin, but even there, you have some intrigue that comes from the “Mandalorian tactics vs. Jedi tactics” showdown. Something about the unsteadiness but indefatigable quality of Sabine in the fight against a superior foe made me think of the ending to The Force Awakens.

But both of Ahsoka’s fights are pretty darn cool. I love the Raiders of the Lost Ark quality of Ahsoka’s fight with Marrok, where he goes wild with his Inquisitor blade, only to get sliced by Ahsoka with a single slash. Plus what the hell is he! The mist escaping from his suit with an odd shriek just raises more questions!

The piece de resistance, though, is the fight between Ahsoka and Baylan. There’s a level of control, a steady mastery between them that’s evident which makes their skirmish aces. It’s not the frantic slinging of blades, but rather a more controlled duel, that steadily devolves into wilder tactics as the stalemate becomes shaky, and the goal to retrieve the map becomes more important. The intervention of both these masters’ apprentices hits the right notes, and provides an excuse for why Ahsoka is bested.

The most fascinating part may be the way Baylan talks down Sabine from destroying the map. There is a very Palpatine quality to his temptation of Lady Wren, right down to a meaningful utterance of “Do it.” like Palpy, he plays on the emotional wants of his quarry, manipulating her based on her attachment to Ezra in a way that gives the bad guys the key to achieving their goal, so long as she can come along for the ride and perhaps save her dear friend in the process. Much of the show to date has been a battle for Sabine’s soul in one form or another, and seeing this latest shift marks a major, probably regrettable, but certainly understandable turning point for her.

Otherwise, it’s nice to see Ahsoka pulling the trigger on some big things after three episodes of setup. The confrontation between Hera (in the Ghost, no less!) and Phoenix Squadron versus Morgan’s massive hyperspace launcher comes with cool visuals, and young Jacen giving us the closest thing we get to an “I have a bad feeling about this.” Major shit goes down, and it’s easy to salivate over what comes next.

First and foremost though, it means a reunion, however temporary, between Ahsoka and Anakin, presumably with advice on training a recalcitrant apprentice, an earned return to the world of the living, and stars willing, some measure of peace and certainty in where to go next.