This show has to be one of the biggest cheat codes ever. Someone said “let’s take the wonderful world of Star Wars and… lets add witches and zombies to it”. The show had no room to fail!
Taking place in the same timeframe as the Mandalorian and its other interconnected spin-offs after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), while also serving as a continuation to the animated series Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018). The series follows Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to the galaxy following the fall of the Empire. Huge, huge, big, big surprises here, I loved it.
As one of the queens of sci-fi, Rosario Dawson reprises her role as the ronin Jedi we know and love Ahsoka Tano. As a former Jedi padawan to Anakin Skywalker she showcases her now seasoned and experienced aura. She gives off a gentle teacher energy with her soft voice and soft blinking she does through the whole season ha-ha. Rosario takes on a lot of her own stunts and performs them really well. I think the role was handed to the perfect candidate. Ariana Greenbalt labelled the mini queen of sci-fi also plays a young version of Ahsoka and she is also brilliant. David Tennant returns to sci-fi world as Huyang, a lightsabre-crafting droid that served the Jedi Order for thousands of years. Tennant reprises his role from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars so he knows what he’s doing and he’s excellent. It’s a small but effective role. Natasha Liu Bordizzo plays Sabine Wren, the adventurous, curious and rebellious Mandalorian. She nailed her role and unsurprisingly as I heard she went through some intensive training to prepare for the role. God bless her.
An excellent send-off performance by Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll. He’s cold, chilling, sinister and serves well as a secondary big bad here. He will be missed. Rest in Peace Legend!
Diana Lee Inosanto surprised me most with her performance. She was outstanding bringing that fantasy lore to the Star Wars universe not mention her fight scenes which were wicked. Some honourable mentions are Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lars Mikkelson return to the franchise, Eman Esfandi and last but not least the big return for Hayden Christensen. An amazing cast here.
Disney went in on this project and brought out the big bucks. The special effects are at a very high level from the space travels, ship fights, light sabre battles and all. Its mixed with practical effects which fits in perfectly. We don’t have a Grogu like companion here but we do meet another cute race who make up for it. There are some fantastic flashback scenes pulling right out of the Rebels series which translated well to live action. It was good to see Hayden back without any CGI de aging technology, bro is just forever young. The Star Wars score is forever present and always monumental.
I loved the series. It was Rosario for me. Her demeanour just gave the show this samurai type feeling harbouring that anime aesthetic. The connection to Rebels worked as I didn’t get to complete that series but this show filled in the missing gaps for me. The highlight for me here is the deep dive into the fantasy element of the franchise. Introducing ancient artefacts, witches, magic, legendary swords and most bizarre was the zombies. At this rate vampires and dragons will soon be attending… and I’m here for it. The collection of characters from past to present was an amazing creative decision. The reveal of the big bad is a foot in your mouth moment with the actor chosen to carry that mantle, absolutely terrifying. The finale just rounded the whole show and made it so wholesome with a beautiful and cryptic ending just leaving us the viewers wanting for more. I still struggle with these messed up timelines and just wish we got a simple streamlined narrative.
It’s a slow start but when the show kicks into gear it really takes off. If you zero knowledge of Clone Wars or Rebels then you may struggle a bit here as they cater to fan service heavily in the first few episodes. The setups up a big future for the whole franchise and I personally can’t wait to dive. One of the best shows on the Disney plus platform. Highly recommended!
Did you expect that big bad to appear? Were you happy with how this season ended? Which battle was your favourite? Did you like Ezra’s story arc? React and comment below…
