Ahsoka: Part Seven- Dreams and Madness

 "He was a good master."

On one level, this is a penultimate episode that serves to get all the pieces on to the chessboard. Thrawn and the witches seem to have Sabine and Ezra at their mercy until Ahsoka rescues them, meaning all three are reunited. Meanwhile, Thrawn seems to be using all this fighting as a bit of misdirection so that Ahsoka neither suspects nor stops his cunning plan toescape back to their home galaxy. I heavily suspect that bothe he and they will end up in the main galaxy after the finale.

Yet there's so much more. Baylan's agenda continues to be mysterious as he goes off on his own, leaving Shin with the imperials. Sabine yet again uses every excuse to avoid telling Ezra of her recent shameful deeds, putting her friendship for him above the safety of the New Republic. And there's a great opening scene with General Syndulla facing the music... until she is saved by none other than C-3P0, relaying that Senator Leia Organa sanctioned the mission. The late, lamented Carrie Fisher may be gone, but Leia is ever with us.

And yet... the ghost of Anaking still hangs over it all, from Ahsoka's recorded messages as she regains her old fondness for the old master who cared for her, and Thrawn's reaction to the fact that she is Anakin's apprentice.

I have certain expectatiins as to where the finale will end, but no idea how we will get there. Good stuff.

Ahsoka: Part Six- Far, Far Away

 "Something stirs here..."

This episode is, it's fair to say, an exhilarating ride.

I almost admire that, not for the first occasion in a Disney Star Wars show, the titular character is hardly in the episode. Indeed, Ahsoka and Huyang appear only in the opening scene, inside the whale(!) as, yes, Ahsoka reveals to Huyang that Sabine went with the baddies willingly, but all they really do is discuss philosophy and break the fourth wall while foreshadowing the upcoming themes. I love how Huyang's stories are named History of the Galaxy 1, 2 and 3, with 1 being the best, of course.The subtext here is... yeah, not very sub.

However, in a galaxy further, further away, bloody loads happens. The planet is Peridea, where space whales go to die, and it's home to some rather cool space witches, known of the old to the Jedi, who ride space whales... and Morgan is descended from them. Thrawn's grand entrance is teased, of course, until we finally see the battered Star Destroyer, some battered old Stormtroopers, an intriguind figure (a droid?) called Enoch... and Thrawn. Lars Mikkelsen certainly imbues him with presence and charisma.

As promised, Sabine is allowed to seek Ezra, riding a rather cute wolf thing, but she's on a long leash, intended to lead the baddies to Ezra so they can kill them both. The scene of her riding out of the camp feels to me, if I may mix my pop culture references, as though Sabine is leaving Mega City One to take the walk into the Cursed Earth.

But the baddies, being baddies, have multiple agendas of their own. Morgan is quite happy to abandon Baylan and Shin on this extra-galactic world forever. Yet Baylan, in a fasxcinating philosophical conversation with Shin which seems to echo that between Ahsoka and Huyang, has other ideas. He seeks something deeper than power, to restore the Empire which will in turn be defeated by the Jedi only for the Empire to emerge again, and on it goes. The wheel turns. Baylan seems to want to stop the wheel spinning; intriguing.

Sabine, via some adorable creatures camouflaged as rocks, finally finds Ezra... but it is bittersweet. For she knows, and so do we, how disappointed he will soon be when he finds out the circumstances of how Sabine came to find him.

Awesome stuff. Wow.