Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 6 Review

After the brilliance of the previous episode of Ahsoka, I honestly didn’t think it could get any better than that. We had the World Between Worlds, Anakin, Clone Wars flashbacks, young Ahsoka, Captain Rex, and even Ahsoka the White! How can they possibly top that? I am so happy to have been proven wrong. We have an all-time great Star Wars episode on our hands with Part Six: Far, Far Away.

Far, Far Away

The episode opens with Ahsoka and Huyang traveling through hyperspace, still in the cavernous maw of the purrgil, or, as Huyang refers to them, “star whales.” Ahsoka mentions that she remembers them from the stories Huyang told the Jedi when they were young. He offers to tell a story to her now, to which she solemnly declines. Huyang asks Ahsoka if she has a story for him. She admits to him that, while holding a piece of the map sphere back on Seatos, she saw that Sabine willingly went with the enemy but didn’t tell Hera. She laments that Sabine could have ended it all: prevented a war, stopped Thrawn’s return. And, as Huyang reminds her, at the cost of not finding Ezra. 

And therein lies the motive: Sabine wasn’t thinking about the galaxy at large; she wanted the chance to see Ezra again. Ahsoka decides that this is Sabine’s fate and bemoans that she couldn’t prepare her in time. Huyang suggests that this was Sabine’s only choice and that Ahsoka fears that Sabine made that choice selfishly. Exasperated by the conversation and the subject matter, Ahsoka requests Huyang to repeat one of the stories. 

And so, Huyang begins: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” This moment gave me full-body chills. Somehow, this didn’t feel self-referential in a corny way; it genuinely felt proper for the scene. This phrase felt mystical in the context of the episode. There was an inherent risk in using this line and having it come off as cheesy, but it was just so magical and right.

The logo sequence initiates, followed by the title card: “Part Six: Far, Far Away.” The reveal of the name of this episode was the cherry on top of an already beautiful sequence. The title of this episode is so fitting, given that Peridea is actually in a whole other galaxy; in other words, they travel to a galaxy far, far away. 

In fact, at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2022, Dave Filoni said on the live stage that Ezra is “far, far away,” which at the time was seen as a funny play on words and his way of not spoiling the story. But as it turns out, he was telling the very literal truth! Filoni deals in Taylor Swift levels of cryptic clues and riddles, one of the many reasons fans adore him.

Breaking New Ground

Sabine awakes aboard the hyperspace ring Eye of Scion. She’s in a small cell, hands bound. Through a tiny barred window, Baylan checks on her. He suggests that her confinement would be an opportune time for reflection, but Sabine informs him that she tries to avoid doing so. This is a very loaded statement; after all, she has had a historically complex past. 

Sabine reminds Baylan of his promise, but he walks to the bridge without acknowledging her. Shining in gold, the entirety of the Eye of Scion has a regal and austere aesthetic. The door to the bridge is circular and rolls open, which is a unique and frankly fabulous look. 

Morgan Elsbeth is standing watch on the bridge, ensuring operations run smoothly. It’s important to note that hyperspace looks different now; it’s more colorful and almost electric. Does hyperspace work differently in and around Peridea? Or is this simply a stylistic choice to signify travel in the new galaxy? 

One of the droid operators of the Eye of Scion announces that they’re exiting hyperspace. Once they do, the ring appears molten and smoky, with blue lightning briefly coming from behind it. This journey has taken quite a toll on the vessel. 

The Eye of Scion zooms past the camera and into view of Peridea. The planet is grayish blue in color with thick clouds in the atmosphere. It has a ring around it, but when they get closer to the ring, it becomes apparent that it isn’t composed of asteroids. In an ominous turn of events, the ring comprises purrgil bones and carcasses. 

Baylan explains that according to the Jedi archives, Peridea was the end of the migration route used by the “star whales” as they traveled between galaxies. We also learn that Peridea is the ancient homeworld of the Dathomiri and that they were the first to “harness and ride the creatures in the days before time was counted,” which only gives me the mental image of a Nightsister putting a saddle on a purrgil and riding it like we would a horse, but maybe it was less goofy than that. Baylan best explains the long and the short of it: Peridea is a purgill graveyard. 

Sabine joins Elsbeth, Baylan, and Shin on a transport down to the planet’s surface. The vehicle itself is such a sleek design. It hides as part of the gold exterior of the ship, and when it peels away, it’s as if a single crumb is falling off of the vessel, giving an intense sense of scale. 

Sabine sits while on the transport, but everyone else stands behind the droid pilot. Baylan and Elsbeth stare intently out of the window while Shin and Sabine stare each other down for a notable amount of time. What does this mean? They may feel some connection to each other, or still hold a grudge about their past encounters.

The shuttle enters the atmosphere, and the weather is just horrendous; it’s thundering and pouring rain, perhaps foreshadowing the evil that lies on the surface. They get below the clouds to find barren land scattered by an ocean. There are Dathomiri statues scattered closer to their destination as well. These statues resemble the architecture from the central location in the Jedi: Fallen Order video game on Dathomir. 

The shuttle comes upon what looks to be a temple with a tall central spire. They land atop it and disembark to find a trio of red-clad figures surrounded by stones with circular cutouts at the top and the circle-and-line design seen throughout the series, similar to the rocks we saw on Seatos. 

The Great Mothers

Upon zooming in on the red figures, it’s clear to the initiated that they are Nightsisters with their pasty gray skin, dark facial markings, and red hooded robes. They stand in a triangle formation, and each levitates a small sphere, emitting a red laser that connects one to the others. When Elsbeth and her retinue approach, they disengage the lasers on the spheres, which then land their palms. They turn around to greet Elsbeth, “child of Dathomir.” Elsbeth refers to them as the “Great Mothers” and confirms that the dream sent by them is what allowed her to navigate to Peridea.

The Great Mothers are pleased at Elsbeth’s arrival, which Thrawn promised them. They turn their attention to Sabine, declaring that “it reeks of Jedi” and that “it is dangerous.” Sabine’s reaction to this was pure perfection: she gives the most bombastic side-eye in Star Wars history as if to ask, why are you looking at me? 

The Great Mothers levitate their spheres again, sending them to surround the handcuffed Sabine. The lasers ignite around her and tighten, the Great Mothers declaring that “it will wait in solitude.” Their resistance to using proper pronouns when referring to Sabine fascinates me. It shows an apparent lack of respect for her, as if they don’t see her as a person. It’ll be interesting to see if and how this dynamic plays out in the future. 

The spheres lead Sabine away unwillingly, and she asks where Ezra is several times, directed at no one in particular. She reminds Baylan that they had a deal, but he doesn’t do anything about it. He looks slightly guilty, in any case. Sabine heads down some steps, and the spheres toss her into what looks like a typical dungeon from a traditional fantasy story. 

A Land of Dreams and Madness

Outside, the transport flies away from the landing site, leaving Shin and Baylan behind. They appear suspicious of their surroundings. Baylan looks into the distance, and Shin asks what’s bothering him. He tells her this planet is “a land of dreams and madness,” something from children’s stories. Shin tells him that she’s never heard those stories. Baylan tells her she wasn’t brought up at the Jedi temple, where they told tales of this old, forgotten galaxy. Shin tries to comfort him by telling him that “sometimes stories are just stories.” 

He confides in her that he watched the temple burn when he was a little older than she is currently and now realizes it was inevitable: the Jedi falling and the Empire rising in its stead, a cycle that repeats forever. Shin tells him that it’s their turn now and that Thrawn will be the change that gives them the power to take over. Baylan doesn’t directly respond to this but tells her instead that the power she speaks of is fleeting, that he’s looking for “the beginning,” so he can be the one to stop the cycle. This choice of language is fascinating because it’s unclear what the beginning is, or what finding it would mean for the galaxy. Shin asks if this is the beginning, to which Baylan grins, turns around, pats her on the shoulder, and says: “if the old stories are true.” 

This scene, while heavy with complex dialogue and new concepts, is bolstered by the stellar acting of the late Ray Stevenson, may he rest in peace, and Ivanna Sakhno. Their chemistry on screen is palpable, essential in a Master/Apprentice dynamic. It’s these two actors and their connection that sells this duo. 

Back in the dungeon, Sabine sits on the ground with her head bowed, whispering “Ahsoka” as if to reach out to her for help, then gets up to pace the room when that doesn’t work. She reaches out her hand, closes her eyes, and focuses on the door. Suddenly, the cell starts to shake, and dirt falls. But she quickly realizes it isn’t her causing the motion: she looks out the window to see a Star Destroyer fly overhead. 

The Star Destroyer flies toward the top of the tower where Elsbeth, Baylan, Shin, and the Great Mothers are standing, giving a breathtaking sense of scale. The ship appears incredibly damaged, with some attempt at repairs using some sort of gold substance. The shot then cuts to the underbelly of the Destroyer heading straight toward the tower, and we see the infamous markings of the Chimera, Thrawn’s flagship, as seen in Rebels and various literature. As the ship moves forward, we see the vessel’s engines: the three primary ones are nonfunctional, with only the four ancillary engines powering the ship. 

Enter Chimera

The Chimera docks with its main hangar settling over the top of the fortress. In this view, we can see that the Destroyer has suffered much damage, mainly on the ship’s sides. This aligns with what we saw in Rebels when the purrgil wrapped its tentacles around the sides of the Destroyer. I was concerned that the ship would show only superficial damage for budget reasons or so that they could preserve its pure beauty from before its fateful encounter. Nevertheless, I’m so pleased with how they showed the wear. It looks like it can barely fly, and that’s how it should be after all this time and the severe beating it must have undergone. 

As the Destroyer descends over the fortress and envelops the tower in its hangar, we get a sense of just how massive the vessel is. It’s easy to forget how large these ships are because we usually only see them in space amongst other ships. But seeing it in the atmosphere, next to a sizable structure that people are standing on, gives us a whole other measuring stick. 

Elsbeth leads the group towards the entrance of the hangar. Cue intense organ music. A chant of “Thrawn. Thrawn. Thrawn.” can be heard repeatedly. The shot cuts to the hangar’s interior, where hundreds of stormtroopers stand at attention. These aren’t typical stormtroopers, though: the subtitles call them Night Troopers, and their armor appears cobbled together, repaired by some sort of red fabric and a gold material. They look dirty and worn down, clearly making do with the materials they had left.

The camera pans across the rows of troopers. It stops on a character called Enoch, who has stormtrooper armor with gold pauldrons and accents and an utterly scary helmet: what may well have started out as a walker pilot’s helmet now features a haunting gold face with black eyes and a nose and mouth frozen in a permanent frown. The faceplate appears to be inspired by a death mask. A possible inspiration for Enoch and the Night Troopers is the Japanese practice of Kintsugi, which describes the repair of broken pottery with gold. The idea is to repair the item while drawing attention to its imperfections. 

I nearly had a jump scare when Captain Enoch turned around, and the typical stormtrooper “face” wasn’t there. It’s a unique design that is also very imposing and ominous. Enoch says, “Fall in” with a heavily processed voice. It reminded me of how the Death Troopers sounded in Rogue One, except Enoch speaks in plain, unencrypted Basic. 

The camera cuts to an overhead view of the sea of troopers in formation on either side of the hangar. Strolling down the middle: Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. The time has finally arrived, folks! The chanting continues, and Enoch gives a couple more barely comprehensible orders as Thrawn arrives in front of his visitors, who have surely been as eager to see him as we have.

His opening sentence features both the complex diction and unique speech pattern we remember from Rebels. Physically, I think he looks perfect. Lars Mikkelson was the perfect choice, and not just because he voiced Thrawn in Rebels. Is his head as elongated and features as sharp as his animated counterpart? Certainly not, but no human would look like the character’s animated version (see also, "animated Dooku compared to real-life Sir Christopher Lee"). His facial appearance seems alien enough for me: his skin the right shade of blue, his hair the jet black I expected, his red eyes convincing and menacing. The costume is spot on, including subtle imperfections you might expect after several years away from Imperial Navy uniform shops (and possibly a competent tailor). Like with Ahsoka, they successfully captured the character's essence; if anything, they will improve upon the design and execution in future appearances. 

Thrawn says Enoch will begin the cargo transfer as part of his deal with the Great Mothers. He doesn't elaborate, but I imagine it has something to do with the Great Mothers assisting in his survival, contacting Elsbeth for him, and possibly other favors, so he’s helping them in return. The big question is: what is the cargo? Elsbeth mentions that she’s seen the catacombs and that it will take time to move it all. Lots of theories are swirling about at the moment; my favorite is that they are transporting some Dathmiri bodies back to the “original” galaxy so that they may be reanimated, a la Clone Wars, Rebels, or even Jedi: Fallen Order. But only time will tell the true answer to this question. 

An Unexpected Prisoner

The Great Mothers inform Thrawn that Elsbeth, Baylan, and Shin brought a prisoner with them -- an unforeseen loose thread. Baylan interjects to defend the decision, explaining that he believes she could be helpful to them. Elsbeth introduces Thrawn to the “mercenaries” she brought with her. Thrawn recognizes Baylan as General Baylan Skoll of the Jedi Order, which makes everyone in the vicinity visibly uncomfortable, given the circumstances. Baylan quickly clarifies that he hasn’t been affiliated with the Order for a long time. 

Elsbeth tells Thrawn that the prisonoer is Sabine Wren. Thrawn recognizes the name, and rightfully so: he’s studied her art and gone up against Phoenix Squadron on multiple occasions, as seen in Rebels. Thrawn, no longer concerned about the presence of an unexpected prisoner, expresses agreement with Baylan’s assessment that she will be helpful. 

A pair of troopers bring Sabine to Thrawn for what, if I’m not mistaken, is their first-ever face-to-face encounter. Thrawn immediately starts in with subtle jabs, saying that it’s nice to see a familiar face and that he has her to thank for his escape from exile. Sabine ignores the bait: “Where is Ezra?” Thrawn tells her that her singular focus on finding her friend will reshape the galaxy, clearly in an attempt to make her feel guilty for her actions leading up to this moment. 

Despite all the verbal warfare, Thrawn tells Sabine that he intends to keep the promise made to her by Baylan by giving her supplies, a mount, and the intel they have on Ezra’s location. Suspecting a trap, Sabine questions Thrawn. He tells her he’s helping her since she's helped him, another attempt at guilt-tripping her. He warns her that she will be stranded on Peridea forever once his ship leaves and that Ezra might not even be alive. In a classic Sabine comeback, she tells Thrawn that since he’s survived this long, surely Ezra has, too. Thrawn steps forward toward Sabine, telling her that she alone has gambled the galaxy’s fate on the hope that he’s alive. Sabine retorts that Thrawn wouldn’t understand, which triggers the infamous Thrawn word: “Perhaps not.”

The scene cuts to a beast, identified by the subtitles as a howler, with the facial features of a bat, a horse's body, and a dog's temperament. It slightly resembles a wolf, one of Filoni’s famous calling cards. Sabine mounts the howler, and before she departs, Enoch warns her of violent nomads who will attack one another to survive. He returns her weapons to her and bids her a final farewell: “Die well.”

The fortress’s gate opens, and Sabine’s howler sprints down the trail. On a balcony above, Thrawn watches her leave, instructing Baylan and Shin to follow her. Shin asks about the agreement, to which Thrawn has a clever explanation: in giving Sabine a chance to find Ezra, he's honoring the agreement. However, once she finds him, Baylan and Shin are to kill them. Interestingly, Baylan quickly walks away from the conversation, but Shin hesitates.

On the Trail with Sabine

Back with Sabine and the howler, they come upon flat, rocky land with the Dathomiri statues in the distance. The howler sniffs the air and becomes slightly agitated. Sabine tries to calm it but seems suspicious herself. She retrieves from her saddlebag what appears to be a scanner and activates it. Suddenly, she gets shot at by a figure clad in red armor with a wide-brimmed red hat. She gets bucked off of the howler, and it runs away. She gets shot at again, her Beskar armor protecting her throughout. She fires back but is suddenly surrounded by more of these bandits. Sabine fires at them, uses her gauntlets to block incoming shots, and then takes cover behind a rock.

She attempts to step out of cover to go on the attack again, only for an attacker to take a swing at her with a staff. In a series of badass moves, Sabine uses one of the nomads as a shield while firing her blaster and launching her fibercord whip at another attacker. She gets hit again but recovers, and after further struggle and the loss of both blasters, she ignites her lightsaber and quickly defeats them all. The last nomad, their weapon cut in two, gives up and runs away. Sabine retrieves her scanner, only to find it broken beyond repair. She leaves it and keeps moving forward.

Back at the fortress, Thrawn and Elsbeth analyze a starchart. Enoch informs them that Baylan and Shin have darted in pursuit of Sabine, and Thrawn orders him to get two squadrons ready for when Baylan needs them. Thrawn has started referring to Baylan with the title of “Lord,” although it isn’t apparent why that is. Elsbeth suggests they send more squads, but Thrawn’s numbers have dwindled too much while in exile to afford the potential loss. He emphasizes that their primary objective is to “escape” this galaxy, so it doesn’t matter whether or not Sabine and Ezra are killed or stranded. Baylan and Shin may be collateral damage in executing that goal.

In the plains, Sabine walks toward an unknown location, hoping to stumble upon Ezra or clues about his whereabouts. Her howler wants to rejoin her, and in a humorous scene, we clearly see that Sabine holds a grudge against it for running away. She initially refuses to give it the time of day until finally realizing that she can't get rid of it and gives it another chance. The creature seems pleased by this outcome as Sabine climbs into the saddle and heads off in the direction it has been sniffing. 

When they arrive at a particularly rocky basin, it appears that the howler just wants a drink of water. Exasperated, Sabine tells the howler it's embarrassing itself as it sniffs at a rock. But the creature keeps persistently sniffing the rock and eventually licks it. Suddenly, the creature we thought was a rock pops up and starts screeching.

The subtitles identify the being as a Noti. Sabine pulls a blaster, but it just hides again. She realizes it is afraid of her, so she puts her blaster down. The Noti stands up, revealing itself as a green reptilian-looking creature, not unlike a fully clothed turtle. It has long eyestalks and stands approximately a third of Sabine’s height. The species is pretty cute but, as we soon learn, also quite silly. But isn’t that the precise criteria for a classic Star Wars creature?

The Noti points at Sabine’s shoulder pauldron, specifically at the Rebel Alliance emblem. It shows her his necklace, which features a carving of the same symbol. Believing the Noti must have had contact with Ezra (how else would someone on Peridea know the Rebel Alliance symbol?), she asks about her friend. The Noti signals to others in the area to reveal themselves, and about a half dozen of them emerge. After talking amongst themselves in their alien language and high-pitched voices, they motion for Sabine to follow them.

Bokken Jedi

Hot on Sabine's trail, Baylan and Shin come upon the remains of the nomads she defeated. Shin asks Baylan if he knows Ezra, but he tells her Ezra is too young for them to have crossed paths and “comes from a breed of Bokken Jedi.” We haven’t heard this term used in this particular context before; however, we do know that the wooden training sabers used by Jedi, and seen earlier in this series when Ahsoka and Sabine train on the T-6 shuttle, are called Bokken sabers. This suggests that Bokken Jedi are not ‘real’ Jedi in the way that Bokken sabers are not real lightsabers. He also mentions that they were trained “in the wild” after the Order disappeared, which aligns with the theory that Bokken Jedi broke away from Jedi norms and traditions.

After listening to Baylan’s explanation of Ezra and Bokken Jedi, Shin wonders aloud if the description also applies to her since her training came after the Order's fall. But Baylan tells her that she’s more than a Jedi or even an offshoot of the Jedi. Shin contemplates this momentarily, then asks Baylan if he misses the Order. He tells her that he misses the idea of it but not its pitfalls; he had no future there. 

Shin asks if he sees a future here because it isn’t outwardly apparent. But Baylan is hopeful about being in the presence of a former great kingdom and its descendants in the Great Mothers. Shin reminds Baylan that they want to leave as soon as possible, so why should she and Baylan wish to stay? Baylan suggests that the Great Mothers are running from a power greater than their magick; something stirs on Peridea and calls to him. 

The pair turn around suddenly to find nomads on howlers standing atop a cliff. Shin draws her lightsaber, but Baylan motions for her to stop, for the enemy of their enemy is their friend. It appears they will try to make peace with the nomads.

The Reunion We’ve All Been Waiting For

Meanwhile, Sabine continues to follow the Noti. They crest a hill and come upon a Noti village on the shore next to a body of water. The sun is setting, and the scene is very picturesque. The Noti lead her through the town, which is made up of small round structures, slightly resembling the turtle-like backs of the Noti. As Sabine walks through the village, she takes in the scene around her. She passes a mother and an adorable baby. Some Noti are cooking, one makes repairs to a structure, and others gawk at their new visitor. One offers her a fruit, which she kindly declines.

She looks around the village and takes a deep breath, discouraged at Ezra’s absence. 

A voice behind her says: “I knew I could count on you.” 

The camera follows Sabine as she turns, revealing Ezra Bridger leaning against one of the structures. He’s grown a full beard, his hair is much longer than when we last saw him, and he’s wearing a tan undertunic with a maroon robe decorated with various bits and bobs. At first, it seems that Sabine doesn’t recognize him, but realization dawns on her, and she’s in shock. 

Shrugging slightly and smiling at her, Ezra gently chides that it took her long enough. Grinning widely, Sabine points out that he didn't tell anyone where he was going. After he admits that even he didn't know where he was going, she says he always has a plan, but it's never a good one. While trying to defend himself by saying the plan worked, Ezra pauses, doubt appearing to overcome him before he asks Sabine to confirm whether it, in fact, did work. After she lets him know that it did, they laugh and embrace.

The Noti, who Sabine shortly calls Ezra’s own band of Rebels, all gather around to watch them embrace, all excited and happy. In their pleasure, the Noti represent all of us Rebels fans who wept and jumped for joy as the reunion unfolded in front of us. It was a breathtaking scene and couldn’t have been executed more perfectly.  

Ezra has many questions for Sabine. He’s impressed that she’s riding a howler but wants to know how she found him in the first place and how she got to Peridea. Sabine doesn’t want to talk about it quite yet, but Ezra tries to get her to open up. She tells him that she just wants to be happy to have found him and clearly wants to avoid the awkward conversation about the fact that she arrived on Peridea with the enemy and, in so doing, allowed Thrawn a way back to the galaxy. 

Ezra says something to the Noti in their language, and they all start to move. He tells Sabine they don’t stay in one place for long and should start packing up. They begin to walk toward the group to help, but Ezra stops her to thank her for coming and says that he can’t wait to go home. The comment makes Sabine look slightly concerned, possibly even a little upset. She’s probably thinking about how much has changed since he was last in their galaxy. She is silent for a moment, then walks toward Ezra to help.

Aboard the Chimera, Thrawn and Elsbeth walk past Night Troopers pushing hovering boxes that look like coffins (a resemblance I’m trying not to read too much into). The pair meet with the Great Mothers, who want to speak with Thrawn. They inform him that the “thread of fate has spoken” to them, telling them that another person is coming to Peridea: a Jedi, riding the “travelers,” referring to the purrgil. 

It’s clear to the audience that they are talking about Ahsoka, and Thrawn picks up on that, too. He asks if this Jedi could be the “recently deceased” Ahsoka Tano, which Elsbeth states is impossible. Thrawn tells her that she shouldn’t underestimate Jedi and that “death and resurrection are common deceptions played out by both Nightsister and Jedi.” This is a fascinating statement, especially given the theory that they are transporting dead Nightsisters for the Great Mothers. Elsbeth retorts that Baylan guaranteed her death, but Thrawn responds that he was once a Jedi, so they “must regard him as flawed.” Thrawn clearly believes Baylan has some Jedi tendencies left in him, which would be an interesting angle to take going forward in the story. 

Thrawn resolves to consider Ahsoka alive until proven otherwise and orders preparations as if she is the one who is coming. He wants to know Ahsoka’s “background, history, homeworld, her Master, everything.” Now, all of us book fans know that Thrawn personally knows her Master, Anakin Skywalker: they work together and even go to what we know now as Oga’s Cantina on Batuu together in Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. Only time will tell whether or not he will acknowledge their time together once he finds out Anakin was the one to train Ahsoka. It’s certainly an interesting setup for the next episode. His last order to Elsbeth is to destroy “with prejudice” any purrgil that enters Peridea’s space. He tells the Great Mothers that he will need the help of their dark magick again. I wonder exactly how often he has had the benefit of their magick… 

Looking Ahead

This episode was simply a fever dream of wonderfulness. The appearance of Thrawn and Ezra, the introduction of Nightsisters into this story, and finally entering the new galaxy that’s been teased throughout the series make this episode stand out. We’ve finally arrived at a point in the plot where we can connect more dots, and the story is coming to a brilliant climax. 

Social media commentary has largely attributed this episode's success to Dave Filoni, which is fair given that he wrote the series and has played such a significant role in its development and that of its characters. However, the episode's director, Jennifer Getzinger, also deserves plenty of credit. Her direction made pivotal scenes intense, suspenseful, and impactful. Thrawn's unrushed introduction and the portrayal of the Chimera's essential detail -- all while moving the story forward -- and Ezra's final reveal demonstrate the importance of direction to a story's tone and pace. I wish I saw more people online singing her praises because she deserves it as much as any other director this season. 

I already mentioned the composer, Kevin Kiner, but his work for this episode deserves repeated praise. Thrawn’s iconic organ theme creates a sense of intimidation and suspense, and this expression of Ezra's theme perfectly accompanies the character's return. The original music in the episode was next level, setting the tone and making the episode feel even more epic than it already was. I mention every week how incredible the soundtrack is, and I will continue to do so because that’s just how wonderful it is. I don’t have the proper vocabulary to explain why it’s that good. Still, I’ve been seeing many great takes on social media from folks who know much more about the subject than I do. I recommend seeking them out if you’re curious about what makes Kiner’s score so impactful.

time. I predict the penultimate episode will feature Ahsoka's reunion with Sabine and Ezra as Baylan and Shin catch up to their quarry. As for Thrawn, Elsbeth, and the Great Mothers, I honestly don’t know what they’ll do next. All I know is that I can’t wait to find out. I hope we learn more about Enoch and the Night Troopers and what the Great Mothers have been doing to help Thrawn. 

There are lots of loose ends, but I expect they’ll start to be tidied up as we approach the end. I’ve been so satisfied and generally ecstatic with the series so far, and I have no reason to doubt the ability of the team to bring us to a satisfying conclusion.  

 Ahsoka is streaming now on Disney+.

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