11 Thoughts about Ahsoka (2023)

1. I knew nothing about Ahsoka prior to seeing her on the Mandalorian. I found her pretty underwhelming in that program but I understood she was some kind of popular character in the expanded Star Wars universe. I didn't plan to watch her program but my wife and I needed a distraction and it was good enough. Certainly it wasn't as bad as the Book of Boba Fett.
2. But Ahsoka has a lot of other characters who are only barely introduced - they're all treated as though their adventures have been going on for some time. So they might also be from the expanded universe? Or maybe the series was going for an in media res style comparable to the original trilogy?
3. Sabine might possibly be the worst sidekick I've ever seen in fiction. Her arc is that she keeps failing at everything she attempts until the final episode. There is a good case to be made that Ahsoka would have had an easier time if she had simply lost Sabine's phone number, since Sabine gives up the advantage to the bad guys every time she interacts with them.
4. The Sith in this series were at least something different. The Inquisitors from Obi-Wan Kenobi were perhaps the most tiresome Sith I'd yet seen, but Ray Stevenson's character on Ahsoka demonstrated that it's possible to do something different; instead of the typical petty Sith in-fighting and self-destructive nihilism, Stevenson's repressed performance and quiet weariness were at least a change from the usual.
5. Hayden Christensen is allowed to act now.
6. At one point a useless senator character scoffs at the account of what Ahsoka's been up to as thinking it sounds like a fairy tale. My dude, are you paying attention to the universe you live in? Fantastic fairy tale stuff happens every day!
7. Which brings to mind the space whales. My immediate reaction to my wife when they appeared was: "If you lived in the Star Wars universe and you were high on drugs, how would you ever know? 'Whoa, I think I see space whales. But I guess those things just exist in this universe.'"
8. The way in which Thrawn is treated as a mythical evil seemed off to me. Yes, Thrawn is a legendary Imperial leader. But he's not Sith - he's only powerful because of what he's to command into battle. Hearing characters talk about him like some figure of destiny seemed off, given that actual Sith were standing in the room at the time.
9. Then we finally meet Thrawn and he pretty much proved my point. He spends all his time delegating orders to others because he has no real power, just a lot of subordinates. His catchphrase, heard about every 15 minutes is: "Great Mothers; I have need again of your assistance."
10. The Stormtrooper with the golden face is the dorkiest Stormtrooper I've ever seen, and that's a feat.
11. Zombie Stormtroopers are not the wildest thing about Ahsoka; for me, it was hearing notes from Danse Macabre play as the zombies rose up. I was not expecting to hear an actual music sample in Star Wars.