7x09 Old Friends Not Forgotten

[9.0/10] There’s a scene I’ve always loved from 1954’s White Christmas. A retired general, who’s down on his luck and feels forgotten by the world, walks into a room and, to his surprise, finds all the members of his old division, standing there and applauding him, expressing their admiration all these years later. It’s the most emotionally potent scene in the film.

I felt the same way witnessing Ahsoka see a similar surprise from Anakin. The image of her walking into a hanger bay, seeing Rex and his company not only at attention and saluting their former commander, but decked out in armor that reflects her specific markings, is just as moving.

Both scenes are powerful because of what they signify, what they say about the person who’s being recognized with that gesture: you are not forgotten; your actions made a difference; you are still one of us.

There’s an uneasiness to Ahsoka’s reunion with the Jedi and the Grand Army of the Republic. She left the order. The council and the government they serve betrayed her. She has no titles, no claim to their respect or deference from the formalities of position. There is bad blood, uncertainty, and understandable concern as to what place, if any, she has on a ship like this anymore.

But there are also years of shared battles, adventures, and camaraderie that cut through all that. The strength of “Old Friends Not Forgotten” is that it honors both. The episode does not shy away from the awkwardness of Ahsoka’s return to her erstwhile allies or the fact that she’s forced to ask them for help, or the bitterness she still harbors at the institutions she once served. But it also embraces the heartening rapport, the firm-forged connection between Ahsoka and her master and her comrades, that persists much longer than any official recognition or chain of command could.

So I love the fact that Ahsoka spits venom at Obi Wan for “playing politics” when he prioritizes General Grevious’s attack on Coruscant over the people who need their help on Mandalore. But I also love Anakin’s creative solution of sending a special battalion under Rex, with Ahsoka as an “advisor” to work around hurdles of procedure and decorum. I love that Ahsoka initially tries to keep things professional with her former master, trying to keep a stiff upper lip and ask for the Republic’s assistance like anyone else, only for him to, true to form, immediately ask how she’s been and if she’s OK and treat her like the surrogate sibling she is.

I love that Bo Katan takes Obi Wan to task for not prioritizing her mission on Mandalore given his feelings for Satine, and I love that Obi Wan, also true-to-form, acknowledges those feelings, but refuses to let them sway him over what to do in this situation. I love how Ahsoka eschews the clones’ salutes and the title of commanders, and I love how Rex uses it anyway. I love how Ahsoka calls out the Jedi given her new understanding for how others see them and how they’ve fallen short of their ideals. But I also love how at home she feels wielding a pair of lightsabers that her master has been saving for her.

In short, this is the type of thing that always elevated the best parts of The Clone Wars above other Star Wars stories. The beginning of the long-awaited Siege of Mandalore arc is rife with exciting action scenes and surprising plot twists and callbacks and references to important bits of continuity. But it is first and foremost about these characters, their relationships, and the complicated emotions and issues at play in a fraught reunion, that add a psychological and thematic depth to all of that fanciful space opera.

But hey! That’s not a knock against the action or the twists or the call backs! The fight scenes are all thrilling on their own terms. It is tons of fun to see Anakin pull off another ploy against a droid army in the opening sequence. Him cockily coming in to save Obi Wan’s bacon, replete with an obvious trick against the tactical droid and some jet-packed clone troopers backing him on a suspension bridge, is infectiously fun and absolutely nails the dynamic between Anakin and his master.

At the same time, the skirmishes on Mandalore are just as cool. I cannot tell you how rousing it is to see Ahsoka at the peak of her force-sensitive abilities and training, leaping from ship to ship toward the surface of Mandalore, neutralizing enemies along the way, and playfully one-upping Rex in the process. This is our hero coming into her own, and it is a joy to watch. At the same time, seeing Bo Katan retake the throne room is a nice bit of Mandalorian-on-Mandalorian combat, with the tricks of the trade deployed to perfection and the battle lines nicely communicated with armor coloring and design.

I like the twists and call outs to the show’s continuity. There’s something to the idea that Maul would never be foolish enough to just expose his whereabouts to a foe unless he was trying to lure an enemy there. So I like the reveal that the fact that Bo Katan and Ahsoka were even able to plan this mission stems from the fact that his location being known was a ploy and a trap to force a confrontation with Obi Wan.

It recognizes the history that the two characters have shared, along with Obi Wan instructing Ahsoka to capture Maul alive since Kenobi already killed him once, and it doesn't seem to stop the dude. It involves Gar Saxon and Ursa Wren, adding dimension to their presence in other stories. It raises everything from where the idea of “fulcrum” came from, to Obi Wan’s history on Mandalore, to an off-hand reference to Saw Guerrera. As the shows final arc and the culmination of so many other storylines, “Old Friends Not Forgotten” raises to mind the other pieces of the Star Wars universe, past and present, that The Clone Wars has touched.

But it centers on those all-important relationships between the characters that gave all the pew-pew adventure and excitement meaning. Obi Wan is stoic but tells Ahsoka “May the Force be with you.” Anakin bends the rules but still finds solace in the idea that his padawan leaving the order seems to have happened for a good reason. And Ahsoka herself is reluctant to come back to something she was once a part of, but now carries reminders of scars and ill-feelings, but is still strengthened by her connection to her old master and fellow warriors. Even after all this time and all that has happened, there is still acceptance, appreciation, and loyalty, among our heroes and among the audience watching on the other side of the screen.