For the first time in 2+ seasons, I’m finally starting to get why people are so in on Ahsoka. This week’s double shot of her adventures was a ton of fun.
1. Mandalore as a major player
Thus far on the show, we’ve seen the same planets be important as we’ve seen in the films. The visits to Tatooine, Naboo, and Coruscant have been expected, but Mandalore has become one of the key planets in the galaxy, and really just in the last half season or so. Sure, a good deal of that is due to Satine’s emergence as an important character, but they are also the first planet that seems both central to galactic business and also truly neutral. All the other neutral planets we’ve seen have been remote or desolate, so their involvement in the Wars seems critical. Mandalore seems like it would be a boon to either side.
In addition, the divergent opinions of the Duchess and the Prime Minister accomplish something this show doesn’t often do well: it presents a political discussion where both sides have clear motivations, even if one is borderline evil. So often, the Trade Federation/Separatists (the most common villains on the show) are cartoonishly evil, and therefore you can’t really relate to them. This dispute might be a pretty cut and dry case of right and wrong, but at least the wrong has some internal logic to it.
2. Ahsoka, defying expectations
If “The Academy” was a first season episode, Ahsoka would’ve sulked half the time about her assignment, and treat the kids like a nuisance, and then bitch to Anakin at the end of the episode. Here, Ahsoka shows real growth by sucking it up and taking on her assignment, with full enthusiasm, even though she’s not happy about it. She goes to bat for the kids, and she almost dies because of it. But there’s no deep sighs or eyes rolled here, she’s acting like an adult.
That is such a change from how she was early on and, as I said in the opening, I now can see why people (paging Castle, Alice W.) love the character so much. She’s really proving herself, and I can’t wait to watch her continue to do so again and again.
3. Padme and Bail
I’m currently reading Leia: Princess of Alderaan for our Star Wars book club, and there is a lot of subtext in there about how close Padme and Bail Organa were, something the prequels never really delve into. When Bail agrees to take Leia at the end of Revenge of the Sith, he almost treats it like a chore. He’s so dispassionate and cold about adopting a child, and it has always left a sour taste in my mouth.
Both in this episode and in the aforementioned novel, you see the affinity that Bail had for Padme, and what the weight of raising her child would have been for him. Even if they weren’t best friends, they were respected allies, and Bail would likely feel a sense of obligation to Padme to take care of her daughter. Why the prequels didn’t show a little of that is absolutely beyond me.
4. Force visions
Force visions have always existed in Star Wars, going back to The Empire Strikes Back, but I really like the way this episode dealt with them. Much like in Empire, Yoda is there to help the padawan to interpret the vision and understand its malleable nature. Ahsoka is, understandably, rattled by her vision of Padme’s assassination, and does all in her power to stop it.
Again, these episodes present totally different Ahsoka. Even when she overreacts and misinterprets the vision, busting in Padme’s boudoir, she is contrite in her error, yet confident in her vision. She’s not shirking responsibility due to embarrassment, nor is she stubbornly and rudely forcing Padme to do anything. She is using her skills, both Jedi and friend, to try to protect Padme. It’s a small, but refreshing change.
5. The mythology within the show
Obviously, the show is part of a larger universe, and a lot of what we see is the show being used as filler material between the Saga films’ overarching plots, or to give background to characters that need it (Anakin) or don’t (Greedo). But the best episodes are the ones that don’t really care about the films, and rather build up the mythology of this show first, and the greater Star Wars universe second.
This week was all about Ahsoka and, even though we got a lot of film characters (Padme, Bail, Anakin, Yoda), they were all there as support for the main story. Madalore, Aurra Sing, Ahsoka, these are all things that – though a few may have been introduced elsewhere – seem far more a part of The Clone Wars than any other part of Star Wars. And that’s a good thing.
