In ‘Fallen Jedi’ the latest Star Wars show, Ahsoka, finally shows us that it means business, though I still maintain that Ray Stevenson’s character, Baylan Skoll, is doing most of the heavy-lifting. Every time I think about how terrific his character is, I’m reminded that Stevenson passed away earlier this year and my sadness is rekindled. What a tragic loss.
Ahsoka has been pretty hit-or-miss up to this point, with more misses than hits. Janky dialogue, bizarre pacing, flat characters, wooden acting, a convoluted plot, etc. etc. etc. have all conspired to make this yet another relentlessly mediocre Star Wars offering.
Thankfully, ‘Fallen Jedi’ turns the tables: This episode was more hits than misses, and hopefully that signifies a trend toward a better second half of the season rather than just a flash in the pan.
What Works In ‘Fallen Jedi’
This episode felt much tighter than the first three, giving us some great action—especially the cool lightsaber duels—and some real trajectory toward the greater plot. Some highlights:
- The mysterious Marrock turned out to be nothing more than a reanimated Inquisitor brought back to life by the Nightsister, Morgan Elsbeth. Fans had a lot of theories, but when Ahsoka makes quick work out of him and nothing more than smoke and gases erupt from his cut-through torso it becomes clear that he was just a nobody. If only the same could be said for Rey!
- Baylan is the most interesting character in this show and one of the most intriguing new Star Wars characters since the original trilogy. He is a Dark Jedi, but he’s not the only Force user in this episode who could be referred to as a Fallen Jedi. His reluctance to fight Ahsoka—“How inevitable,” he says with a heavy sigh—shows that he is much more than merely evil. He has restraint. When he mind-tricks Sabine, preying on her love of Ezra and her resentment toward Ahsoka, he promises he won’t harm her, and he keeps to his word when Shin Hati tries to Force choke her moments later. There’s so much to unpack with Baylan, I can’t wait to see where the show takes him.
- I love the lightsaber combat in this episode. Each character has a distinct stance. Baylan is fighting with the style of a European knight, battling with a heavy great sword. Ahsoka wields her blade more like a katana. Shin Hati fights with a ferocious, wild abandon. Nice to see this variety (though I have a couple quibbles for later).
- Ahsoka could also be viewed as a Fallen Jedi (which is also a nice reference to the Respawn video games). She isn’t actually a Jedi, but she was Anakin’s apprentice and she abandoned him and the Jedi Order, striking out on her own path. In some ways, her path and her master’s path represent a chaos that is fundamentally vulnerable to Sith influence, whereas Baylan’s peculiar restraint feels more traditionally Jedi. Of course, Anakin showing up at the end (presumably in the World Between Worlds, since he’s not a Force Ghost) represents a third option for the Fallen Jedi in the title.
- Speaking of the World Between Worlds, this appears to be where Ahsoka finds herself after being cast off the cliffside by Baylan. This is also where Ezra Bridger once saved Ahsoka, and could even be another pathway to Ezra and Thrawn’s location. Not sure exactly how she would end up there instead of dead but hopefully that’s all explained. And hello there, Anakin.
- The hyperspace ring is cool and the jump that Holdo-maneuvered half of Hera’s X-Wings was pretty neat. I’m mostly just happy that the bad guys made it out in time and that we’ll (maybe) get to Thrawn sooner than later. Another galaxy to explore sounds pretty cool also.
- Huyang the boxer, my man!
All told, most of this episode is summed up in these bullet points. Mostly, it was great action and some cool moments with Baylan pontificating about power. So what didn’t work? Well I’m glad you asked.
What Didn’t Work About ‘Fallen Jedi’
Of course, this being Star Wars and Disney, some of the episode just didn’t click:
- I like Sabine but I’m confused by her character. Why is she being written as a 20-year-old when she’s at least 30 by now? She’s written as young and naïve and impulsive, but she’s a veteran of war, a Mandalorian fighter, a (admittedly terrible) Jedi apprentice. I just find the way she’s written very perplexing.
- At one point, Ahsoka smiled in this episode and it made me wish we could get a Star Wars show that didn’t feature a dour, moody, stoic protagonist for once.
- I’m not sure why Ahsoka and Sabine had the exact same conversation twice—first inside, then outside their ship—but it’s another example of this show’s pacing and dialogue problems. Fortunately, these were fewer and further between.
- Never stab with a lightsaber, only slash. This is the lesson of Shin’s failed kill on Sabine and Ahsoka’s insta-kill on Marrock. Do not stick them with the pointy end! Slash them with the blade!
- I like Hera but I don’t like her eyes and the fake contacts. Mary Elizabeth Winstead has lovely brown eyes and they just make her look bizarre in this show with the contact lenses. I know that’s the color of the character’s eyes from Rebels but still. It’s off-putting.
- I was a pretty harsh critic of Obi-Wan Kenobi but one thing I thought they did really well were the flashbacks between Obi-Wan and Anakin. They didn’t bother de-aging either actor and it was fine. It looked real and since neither actor is that old it worked. Anakin’s de-aging at the end of this episode was really, really bad. The deepfake version in Charlie Hopkinson’s goofy YouTube videos is way better. Come on Lucasfilm! Come Industrial Light & Magic! We’ve seen such better work than this. Quite jarring, it was.
- Huyang: “Don’t split up. You’re stronger that way.” Ahsoka and Sabine see some bad guys, immediately split up for the remainder of the episode. Ahsoka is kind-of-killed, Sabine is captured, bad guys win. **facepalm**
Still, compared to the first three episodes I actually really enjoyed this one and it felt more Star Wars than most of the Disney+ stuff has and better than anything in Mandalorian Season 3. I think Ahsoka remains my least favorite part of Ahsoka, and that’s a shame. Hopefully she finds her spark.
Final thought: All of this would be so much more compelling and exciting if we didn’t know what came next. As in, if the sequel trilogy had never happened and we didn’t know that all this Thrawn stuff was ultimately not actually important to the bigger picture in the Star Wars universe. We know the First Order comes and smashes the New Republic and that Rey ultimately wins and so on and so forth.
Even if this builds into something really cool and great, we have that disappointing sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, and it sucks a lot of the wind out of this franchise’s sails. Perhaps it’s time to pick a new era in Star Wars history to explore.
Further Ahsoka Reading:
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