Amanda Clark
Ahsoka Part 8: “The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord” is the way any first season would be if it knew there would be a second season. There is no way that this series was created for one season, or if there’s a plan for subsequent seasons.
What the finale does deliver is an intense fight scene stretched throughout the entire episode, with tension building constantly so the viewer is on the edge of their seat. And with that, how could it be a season finale without a stormtrooper army going against three Jedi — Jedi in the way where they all have lightsabers and are fighting to stop the Empire.
For Ezra (Eman Esfandi) to have a lightsaber for the fight, he needs to make one since Sabine has his old one. This is an enjoyable scene, seeing how the entire episode can’t just be fight scenes. Plus, it gives the show a chance to name drop Ezra’s master, Kanan Jarrus, while recalling the past.
The stormtrooper scenes are practically a reminder of Order 66 and how they wiped out the Jedi with ease. Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) was able to survive Order 66 due Anakin Skywalker’s (Hayden Christensen) training (as revealed in Tales of The Jedi Episode 5 “Practice Makes Perfect.”) This is shown by how Ahsoka’s training is brushed onto Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and what Ezra learned from Star Wars Rebels. Their skills are brought even more to the screens at home with the trooper fight scenes.
But where is the fight between Ezra and Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), or at least Ahsoka going against Thrawn?
The entire Ahsoka plot is about her finding Thrawn to stop him — how will she stop him without ever meeting face to face? Yes, Thrawn has a chance to speak to Ahsoka, but this isn’t a real interaction between the two.
At first, there was a chance of an Ezra versus Thrawn duel, but that is destroyed by the way the episode ended. However, what’s poetic about the finale is how Ahsoka and Sabine switch galaxies with Ezra in the fight to prevent Thrawn.
Right before this, though, it’s revealed that Sabine is, in fact, force-sensitive by being able to not only force-grab her lightsaber but also force-push Ezra to make a jump onto Thrawn’s ship. This is very predictable as it’s one of the smaller things that was being built up in the series, and now it’s played out as if Sabine unlocked this new power for her to become more powerful (which technically is true). Sabine stayed to help Ahsoka fight the rest of the troopers and Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto).
The fight between Ahsoka and Morgan is one of the better scenes in the episode, with how intense it becomes, even though it still starts off as heated. They’re both skilled fighters, and with the help of the three Nightsisters, Morgan becomes more powerful, which makes it more of an even fight.
Solo fights are some of the best fights as they get deeper into the personal goal compared to the overall goal that they’re fighting for, which leads to more emotion being shown by the ones involved in one-on-one duels.
But when Sabine joins in, Ahsoka pulls some of her best moves of the series, and it’s a scene that’s worth multiple watches.
However, one of the downsides of the finale is the absence of Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) and Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson). With how much of an intergenerational role they play throughout the series, it was lackluster that the two are only in the end for a few seconds and are separated. It would have been nice to see them more throughout the episode, but both of their storylines are left wide open and will hopefully be continued if Season 2 gets picked up.
But when it comes to Baylan, if a second season does happen, what Disney will do with his character because Stevenson passed away before Ahsoka premiered. His character is set up to be one of the most interesting fallen Jedis, and it’s unfortunate that he will either be killed off, not providing any closure to his storyline that is set up beautifully, or Disney will replace him. The latter might be the best option plot-wise, especially since Baylan is shown on statues of the Mortis Gods. This is a call back to Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 3 with the Father, the Son, and the Daughter. They must be the greater power Baylan spoke of to Shin.
With the way things ended, having Ahsoka and Sabine left in this other galaxy, Disney brought the force ghost of Anakin — another small yet nice aspect of this episode. The only way to make this better is to also have the force ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) alongside Anakin. It is a perfect setup to have both of them there, who played such a vital role in Ahsoka’s life. Yet there is only one of them left standing.
Ahsoka Part 8, “The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord” is nothing but a setup for Season 2 and for fans to now theorize what will happen. With Ahsoka ending, it’s now safe to say this is by far the best Star Wars show and possibly the best Disney+ show. It will be hard for Disney to top this series, and everyone will be waiting for more Ahsoka content to be made.
