Ahsoka 1.05
Sep. 13th, 2023 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakYou can never go wrong with space whales.
Okay, much as I love the whales,the reason why I'm not waiting until next week with the review is of course the Ahsoka and Anakin stuff in this episode, to which the episode committed to a degree where the only other scenes we got were Hera, Jacen and friends searching on the planet. (Mind you, Huyang, the David Tennant droid, is great and arguably the most non-comic relief, serious character a droid got to be in the SWverse yet. Which isn't to say he doesn't have his funny moments, but essentially the narrative doesn't treat him as the comic relief, and I can believe the backstory from the Clone Wars, i.e. he's actually millennia old and has seen the entire Jedi Order history.)
This went a bit different than I expected, but thinking about it, it was better that it did. I thought it would address Ahsoka's sense of guilt re: leaving the Jedi Order and Anakin, and was a bit apprehensive since leaving was absolutely the right choice when she made it, and while her departure (and especially what the Jedi Council had done to her before that) factored into Anakin's growing enstrangement from the Order and thus into his falll, it was by no means a deciding factor, nor should she be held responsible for it. (I mean, yes, "would Anakin have fallen if Ahsoka had still been with him?" is a good premise for fanfiction - I can see arguments both ways, i.e. that confiding hin her re: the Padme death visions and Palpatine's temptation would have helped to keep him from the brink and that it would not have made a difference -, it's primarily an Anakin related issue, not an Ahsoka related issue, and this is (supposed to be) her show.
Which is why I think the show was smart and did something else altogether. To wit, exploring all those things adult Ahsoka kept behind her stoic facade: her perspective on growing up as a child soldier in a war, her self doubt whether all she has is being a warrior, the way the Vader reveal has made her wonder whether she will end up in a similar way (given that young Ahsoka and Anakin were similar in temper, and that the fierce attachment they ended up feeling for each other is now interwoven with her awareness of his Vaderness, I can see this being a fear of hers), whether she should have a padawan and what legacy she will share with Sabine, and yes, whether she truly wants to live. And I really like how the show visualizes and externizes this for the viewer, keeping the classic Vader get up to a minimum (the very effective double visual of Anakin and Vader blending into each other as he moves forward) and instead let Hayden Christian play both light side and dark side Anakin with no more artirficial adding than the yellow eyes in the later case.
The mixture of fanservice and character exploration was just right. The bits of live action Clone Wars scenes (with teenage Ahsoka played by a teenager! At least I think she was, don't tell me they deaged Rosario Dawson digitally?) were both the former and the later, with several dialoge lines taken from actual episodes (like the Ahsoka and Anakin conversation about getting people killed) but in a way that worked strictly in this new episode without further knowledge (given Ahsoka looks at her past and present and wonders what she is, what her life has made her, what she has to give), and bringing on the fucked upness of Ahsoka growing up in a non-stop war as a participant. They even managed to include the tragedy of the Clones, the way they were used as canon fodder, and Ahsoka's attachment to them - the scene where she holds the hand of the wounded, then dying Clone Soldier - and despite Temuera Morrison not being the right age for the Clone Wars era Clones anymore, he got to play Rex-in-uniform in that bit set during the Siege of Mandalore - plus the visual continuity of the Clone uniform gradually getting less white and more colourful (as it did throughout Clone Wars whlie the Clones grew as individuals and personalities) was great. And I loved the way that Ahsoka doesn't take the emotional out Obi-Wan (eventually) did with the Anakin/Vader situation, i.e. splitting them up in his mind so he can remain attached to the former, but sees him as both which is part of the issue, and how through the entire soul searching experience we see her becoming more and more alive so that when she wakes up again, Rosario Dawson plays her visibly different despite dire circumstances, with the joy and spark back. Because the legacy of Anakin to Ahsoka was dual, not one sided, and when she wakes up with his name on her lips and renewed hope and emotional catharsis, that's fitting.
(As his her mentally connecting to the Space Whales as a way to track down Sabine, Thrawn and presumably Ezra, and this being played as a wonder moment like Yoda lifting Luke's ship - the joyful side of the Force, to balance the light saber stuff.)
So do I think it was Ahoska sorting out herself via internal projections while near death, or do I think it was Anakin in some spiritual Force limbo? While the episode deliberately kept it ambiguos, I think it was Anakin, and that he waited for her to be there when she needed him (and be both the light and dark of what she needed to face). Never mind Yoda setting him up with a Padawan in the first place to teach him to let go (which, omg, Yoda), stopping attachments was never something he managed, and his to her was of the strongest type.
Okay, much as I love the whales,the reason why I'm not waiting until next week with the review is of course the Ahsoka and Anakin stuff in this episode, to which the episode committed to a degree where the only other scenes we got were Hera, Jacen and friends searching on the planet. (Mind you, Huyang, the David Tennant droid, is great and arguably the most non-comic relief, serious character a droid got to be in the SWverse yet. Which isn't to say he doesn't have his funny moments, but essentially the narrative doesn't treat him as the comic relief, and I can believe the backstory from the Clone Wars, i.e. he's actually millennia old and has seen the entire Jedi Order history.)
This went a bit different than I expected, but thinking about it, it was better that it did. I thought it would address Ahsoka's sense of guilt re: leaving the Jedi Order and Anakin, and was a bit apprehensive since leaving was absolutely the right choice when she made it, and while her departure (and especially what the Jedi Council had done to her before that) factored into Anakin's growing enstrangement from the Order and thus into his falll, it was by no means a deciding factor, nor should she be held responsible for it. (I mean, yes, "would Anakin have fallen if Ahsoka had still been with him?" is a good premise for fanfiction - I can see arguments both ways, i.e. that confiding hin her re: the Padme death visions and Palpatine's temptation would have helped to keep him from the brink and that it would not have made a difference -, it's primarily an Anakin related issue, not an Ahsoka related issue, and this is (supposed to be) her show.
Which is why I think the show was smart and did something else altogether. To wit, exploring all those things adult Ahsoka kept behind her stoic facade: her perspective on growing up as a child soldier in a war, her self doubt whether all she has is being a warrior, the way the Vader reveal has made her wonder whether she will end up in a similar way (given that young Ahsoka and Anakin were similar in temper, and that the fierce attachment they ended up feeling for each other is now interwoven with her awareness of his Vaderness, I can see this being a fear of hers), whether she should have a padawan and what legacy she will share with Sabine, and yes, whether she truly wants to live. And I really like how the show visualizes and externizes this for the viewer, keeping the classic Vader get up to a minimum (the very effective double visual of Anakin and Vader blending into each other as he moves forward) and instead let Hayden Christian play both light side and dark side Anakin with no more artirficial adding than the yellow eyes in the later case.
The mixture of fanservice and character exploration was just right. The bits of live action Clone Wars scenes (with teenage Ahsoka played by a teenager! At least I think she was, don't tell me they deaged Rosario Dawson digitally?) were both the former and the later, with several dialoge lines taken from actual episodes (like the Ahsoka and Anakin conversation about getting people killed) but in a way that worked strictly in this new episode without further knowledge (given Ahsoka looks at her past and present and wonders what she is, what her life has made her, what she has to give), and bringing on the fucked upness of Ahsoka growing up in a non-stop war as a participant. They even managed to include the tragedy of the Clones, the way they were used as canon fodder, and Ahsoka's attachment to them - the scene where she holds the hand of the wounded, then dying Clone Soldier - and despite Temuera Morrison not being the right age for the Clone Wars era Clones anymore, he got to play Rex-in-uniform in that bit set during the Siege of Mandalore - plus the visual continuity of the Clone uniform gradually getting less white and more colourful (as it did throughout Clone Wars whlie the Clones grew as individuals and personalities) was great. And I loved the way that Ahsoka doesn't take the emotional out Obi-Wan (eventually) did with the Anakin/Vader situation, i.e. splitting them up in his mind so he can remain attached to the former, but sees him as both which is part of the issue, and how through the entire soul searching experience we see her becoming more and more alive so that when she wakes up again, Rosario Dawson plays her visibly different despite dire circumstances, with the joy and spark back. Because the legacy of Anakin to Ahsoka was dual, not one sided, and when she wakes up with his name on her lips and renewed hope and emotional catharsis, that's fitting.
(As his her mentally connecting to the Space Whales as a way to track down Sabine, Thrawn and presumably Ezra, and this being played as a wonder moment like Yoda lifting Luke's ship - the joyful side of the Force, to balance the light saber stuff.)
So do I think it was Ahoska sorting out herself via internal projections while near death, or do I think it was Anakin in some spiritual Force limbo? While the episode deliberately kept it ambiguos, I think it was Anakin, and that he waited for her to be there when she needed him (and be both the light and dark of what she needed to face). Never mind Yoda setting him up with a Padawan in the first place to teach him to let go (which, omg, Yoda), stopping attachments was never something he managed, and his to her was of the strongest type.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 11:55 am (UTC)Pretty sure some vidders creamed themselves over the visuals heh.
Very much doubt young Ahsoka was digital, but they cast a great actor, both visually and acting-wise. (if it was digital trickery: wow)
no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 01:49 pm (UTC)But this is the kind of Ahsoka character episode I'd hoped we'd get when the show as announced, and I'm really thrilled.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 02:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 02:58 pm (UTC)https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F55ARIEXsAAq-XW?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 06:11 pm (UTC)That said, it could just be because I'm a dummy about character things because... I don't think this said a lot to me? So Ahsoka needs to chose to live... which she does? Okay. There's some stuff in there about how a jedi should be more than a warrior, and that she worries about Anakin being Vader but it kind of only scratches the surface?
Other than Baylan's trash talk last week has it been established that Ahsoka worries about being more warrior than jedi or that she'll turn Vader-style?
I think I need less laconicism and more speeches because I'm too dumb to understand.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-14 07:01 am (UTC)It's not just choosing to live, though it's also that. It's also choosing to tear down emotional walls, allowing herself living in the moment again and experiencing wonder (as with the space whales) - but for all this to happen she had to face the emotional trauma of the past, which wasn't just what happened with Anakin specifically but growing up as a child soldier in general.
Now would that be my interpretation without any other shows as background knowledge? I think so, but of course I can't know for sure, so maybe I completely wouldn't. Once this season is over, I'll try to watch more than three eps of Rebels again and am curious whether that will change my current impressions of Sabine and Hera.