Ahsoka: Part Two- Toil and Trouble

 "An ancient people from a different galaxy..."

I saw this episode while wondering whether I ought to have started watching Ahsoka at all. After all, it's the sequel to Rebels, an animation I haven't seen. But, I thought, I've started so I'll finish. I won't be the only viewer in this situation, to put it mildly.

And I'm glad I did. This episode has me hooked.

We begin with Sabine waking up receiving medical treatment. She lost the map to the attacking droid. Worse, she unlocked it, and it is now in the hands of their enemies... who use a sort of stone circle on the planet Seatos to reveal its pretty damn cool secrets: it details a path to another galaxy, where General Thrawn is said to reside. Yes, Thrawn, he who I know only from those Timothy Zahn novels from the '90s which I haven't read since John Major was prime minister. I suspect, while it may be the same character, that we're probably not looking at the same continuity. Nevertheless, this is conceptually awesome stuff.

So is the intrigue, as it becxomes clear there are imperial sympathisers on Coruscant, motivated by greed. There are ex-imperials involved in administrarion at every level... as there have to be. They were the only experienced officials when the revolution came. The same happened in the transition from Nazi Germany to the Federal Republic: it doesn't have to be a threat. One doesn't want something analogous to the de-Baathification debacle in Iraq. And yet... this threat seems serious, and clearly linked with the plot to bring back Thrawn.

If all this wasn't cool enough, I'm enjoying the tension between the worldly and wise Ahsoka and the rebellious Sabine as they are, at the encouragement of General Hera Syndulla, once again Jedi and Padawan... with the Padawan a Mandalorian, complete with helmet.

This is incredibly cool. I'm very much enjoying it.