Ahsoka: Part One- Master and Apprentice

 "Sometimes even the right reasons have the wrong consequences."

I'm familiar with the Star Wars movies, all of them, plus all of the live action Disney Plus stuff. I've even seen thse two '80s Ewok TV movies. But I've never seen the Clone Wars animation, or at least not yet. This had a minor effect on The Mandalorian as I had no prior knowledge of Bo-Katan. For this series, I fear, my ignorance is likely to look larger. Fortunately, we have what appears to me to be exposition for those such as my poor self. I've no way of knowing how much I say below will be familiar to those of you who have seen Clone Wars.

So Ahsoka trained as a Jedi, has a lightsabre and everything, and was once Anakin's apprentice until she walked away. She isn't quite a Jedi as such, although she has to work with her own former apprentice, the well-meaning but rebellious Sabine Wren. There was a Jedi called Ezra Bridger who went missing when the Empire fell, along with the mysterious General Thrawn, the big bad for whom all, goodies and baddies, are looking. Hopefully I have that right.

This is, however, a very promising beginning. This is very "trad" Star Wars, beginning with something very close to the scrolling texts from the films, the camera then panning to a large spaceship. We also have a lot of the movie serial homage stuff from the original Star Wars film- there's a secret map, we meet Ahsoka in a very Indiana Jones set piece- plus a nicely promising couple of Jedi baddies, Baylan Skoll and his young apprentice, whose name I didn't catch. The cliffhanger is superb, as the apprentice attacks Sabine and seems to stab her in the heart... surely they wouldn't kill her now? Also, David Tennant as a very Jedi-adjacent droid. Cool.

This is good stuff, purposefully avoiding characters from the films but absolutely evoking a very trad feel. More please. Oh, look. A second episode.