The biggest question looming ahead of the release of Ahsoka, the latest live-action Star Wars show on Disney+, and the first work for Dave Filoni as a live-action showrunner, would be how accessible would it be? Based on the trailers, a lot of elements would be pulled from Filoni’s Star Wars Rebels, so much so that this show seemed to be serving as a sequel to that show. So now that the first two episodes are out, is the show friendly to newcomers or are you advised to catch up quickly on Rebels? On top of that, is the show even any good? Let’s find out.

The Plot

Ahsoka opens up with a familiar yet long too absent feature: an opening crawl. Much like the Lucasfilm and Star Wars logos, the crawl is tinted with an intense red as opposed to the classic yellow from the movies. This is due to the shadow of Grand Admiral Thrawn lurking over the plot of the show. The crawl quickly sets up Thrawn as the chief threat to the galaxy, an heir to the empire, if you would. Nefarious forces seek to rescue Thrawn from his exile, as depicted in the Rebels finale, and install him as a de facto leader, something that was alluded to during the Shadow Council scene in Mando. Leading this initiative is Morgan Elsbeth, last seen in The Jedi episode of The Mandalorian and now a confirmed Night Sister. With the help of two former Jedi mercenaries and an Inquisitor, they seek a map that will lead them to Thrawn.

The episode opens with the Dark Jedi, Skoll and Hati, springing Morgan from her captivity in the New Republic. From there, we cut to Ahsoka as she hunts down the very map in question. When her droid companion Huyang (David Tenant, reprising his role from The Clone Wars) asks how Ahsoka obtained the info, Ahsoka’s retort of how she broke the rules oozes that she’s a student of Anakin Skywalker, one willing to bend or break laws in order to get positive results. We also spend a lot of time with Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a Mandalorian who was a central character in Rebels and was also Ahsoka’s Padawan prior to the events of this show. The two seem to have a rocky relationship, with Sabine blaming Ahsoka for leaving her and Ahsoka citing her unwillingness to commit.

It’s really neat seeing Sabine and even Hera make the jump to live action, as the actors definitely bring the characters to life, albeit in their own way. Sabine is still an art-obsessed punk, but is also more brash while being sullen. Rosario Dawson plays the role of Ahsoka with the stoic confidence of a wise Master. No longer is Ahsoka the playful child from The Clone Wars, not the fierce warrior from Rebels, but she feels more like a weary Jedi Ronin, burdened by solitude and knowledge. She may not be the most engaging lead in terms of charisma, but Dawson is still intriguing as the lead character.

Intriguing is the best way to describe the first two episodes. They reminded me a lot, in a way, of the old Expanded Universe novels, dabbling into more cosmic and deeper elements of the lore that may not be quite as mainstream or accessible to those who only watch the movies. The show sets up plenty of mysteries, from Thrawn and his voyage to a completely different galaxy (that escalated quickly), the Night Sister magic and the Stone Henge-like structure to reveal the galaxy map, it all feels like this is deeper-cut stuff. Both the map and the HK assassin droids harkened back to Knights of the Old Republic while the reveal of an enter-galactic quest brought back memories of The New Jedi Order book series, which ran for nineteen mainline titles. The villainous Jedi duo, while remaining largely mysterious, are also no joke and seem like credible threats, as do their Inquisitor companion. Rumour would have us believe it’s Starkiller, but I’ll place my bets on either Baris Offee from Clone Wars, or, Ezra Bridger, but I’ll dive into why in another article.

Production

I have nothing but praise for Ahsoka from a production standpoint. Both in terms of pacing and visuals, this show feels more cinematic than the likes of The Mandalorian or Boba Fett, the two other shows in the Filoni/Favreau universe. The pacing is slower, and more methodical while the costumes, art design and set design feel creative and extravagant. From ruins to glossy cities, the world feels diverse and lived-in. The real star of Ahsoka though is Kevin Kiner’s score. Returning from Rebels and Clone Wars, he absolutely crushes it from the get-go. The musical track during the opening action scene was awesome, with this pounding piano placed within the orchestral piece. So good, more Kiner in live-action Star Wars, please.

There’s a lot of lightsaber action and the choreography feels exciting and creative. But the show also pulls an Obi-Wan Kenobi on us. Much like how Reva was stabbed in that show, Sabine gets impaled by a saber towards the end of the first episode and also survives. I can understand surviving a severed limb due to cauterization, but a stab through vital organs? I don’t know, that’s harder to buy into. Also, at the very least, Skoll is a survivor of Order 66 and it seems more and more Jedi have survived the attack, at this point, they seem legion and it is starting to feel a little ridiculous that so many Jedi were around. Hopefully, the show answers the question as to where these two were during the Original Trilogy.

Accessibility to Newcomers

This is such a hard question to answer as it’s hard for me to remove my knowledge gained from watching The Clone Wars and Rebels. I think the show does a decent job at catching audiences up on the broad strokes, like who Thrawn is, who these characters are and what they’re doing, but a lot of the nuance will be lost on those not already committed to these characters. This is a show for fans of Filoni’s Star Wars first and foremost, with those viewers having a far more emotional connection to the characters and being able to tap into their emotional nuance.

While there’s new content to dive into, such as the relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine, two characters who never met in animation save for the epilogue of Rebels, there’s a lot of backdrop that only hits if you know. When Hera quips about things never being a straight line with you Jedi and Ahsoka retorts that she should know, having the knowledge of Kanan and his relationship with Hera hits harder. The bond of friendship between the long-missing Ezra and Sabine is explored in depth in the show, so newcomers aren’t invested in Sabine’s campaign to find him, why would they, they have no idea who Ezra is, as he’s only shown in a holo-recording. Likewise, Ahsoka’s strained master/apprentice relationship with Sabine hits harder knowing she herself walked away from the Jedi Order and never completed her own training.

I think the show may have benefited by having the opening crawl summarize Rebels, but I also can’t help but be impressed with Filoni for making a show that’s light on exposition, as if he expected audiences to either be up to date or to do some homework and catch up. So to answer my original question, technically yes, newcomers can watch Ahsoka but they’ll only be getting a surface-level experience, as a lot of the backstory and characterization have already been established in previous shows. So they may be left confused or feeling the experience rings a little hollow, but can still watch it without being 100% lost. Those who have watched Clone Wars and Rebels are rewarded here thanks to years of characterization and history.

With that in mind, as someone who has watched Filoni’s previous works, I really liked the debut of Ahsoka. It reminded me of Legends novels but brought to life and feels like a deeper dive into the lore of the Force. Some of the scenes do feel a little stiff, but not so much that I was drawn out of the scenes. The musical score is top-notch and I’m very intrigued as to where this is all going. I like Star Wars with a heavy emphasis on the intrigue, lore and the darker natures so this show seems to be ticking those boxes. Stay tuned for more Ahsoka content!