And just like that, Ahsoka comes to an end. It’s been a blast reviewing these episodes on a weekly basis for thanks for reading and keeping up with us. This episode picks up from the events of last week’s episode while also serving as a setup for the inevitable Heir to the Empire film and maybe a second season of this show. It wasn’t without some faults, but it was a solid entertaining finale that stuck the landing.

The episode opens with Thrawn and company in the final stages of their departure. With the cargo neatly loaded, Thrawn is about ready to leave the planet behind him, bringing with him the Great Mothers of Dathomir as part of their alliance. As a reward for making it all happen, the Mothers essentially level up Morgan, granting her an enchanted blade last seen in the sixth season of The Clone Wars, once belonging to Mother Tazin. It’s a good thing too, as Ahsoka, Saine and Ezra, sporting a brand-new blue lightsaber, have infiltrated the castle, forcing Thrawn to leave Morgan behind to stall the attackers.

One thing that I’ll say that I found a bit underwhelming for this episode and the season was Thrawn. Not his performance, no, Lars Mikkelsen crushed it as the Grand Admiral, but the show gave newcomers no reason to fear him. The undead Night Troopers were a creation of the Night Sisters and their alliance certainly makes him a galactic threat, but I think it would’ve been wiser to have Thrawn leave earlier in the episode and have him ambush the New Republic. If Thrawn could’ve taken out a few capital ships with one beat-up Star Destroyer, imagine what a fully armed Thrawn could do on the big screen. The Night Troopers are a wonderfully creepy threat and keep coming up after all the fatal wounds. The only thing that seems to bring them down, like real zombies, is a shot to the head or decapitation, which Sabine, now in control of the Force, does to a Death Trooper.

A few other things that vexed me a bit was the reunion of Hera and Ezra at the end of the episode. Much like Sabine’s reunion with Ezra, their reunion felt cold and disjointed. You’d think the matriarch of Phoenix Squadron would run to Ezra and give him a big old hug, but she kind of just stood there. It was kind of stiff. We also don’t know how the New Republic is responding to Ezra’s testimony of Thrawn’s return, or if Ezra stuck around long enough to confirm Dathormir as the final destination. I feel like this could’ve been expanded upon.

The duelling choreography in this episode was pretty solid, particularly the duel between Morgan and Ahsoka, the former meeting her end at the end of their extended competition. It was also satisfying to finally have Sabine use the Force after a whole season of her struggling to use it, calling her lightsaber back to her hand while fighting the Death Trooper. Ahsoka’s arc this season, going from guilt-ridden over Anakin’s turn was great, with her accepting that her Master was indeed a good man before his fall. With this comes the great final shot, with Anakin’s Force ghost watching his apprentice. Ahsoka and Sabine may be trapped on the planet Ezra was trapped on but they have each other and I’m sure Anakin will do some guiding in the future.

If there is indeed a second season of the show, I don’t think Thrawn will play much of a role, as the setup will be with Ahsoka and Sabine’s newfound marooning on the planet while Baylan seeks something that connects to the Mortis Gods. Baylan stands on a giant statue of the Argonath, bringing to mind the Argonath from The Lord of the Rings and looking on towards a mountain, not unlike Mount Doom. He stands on the hand of the Father, with the Son to our right and the statue of the Daughter completely destroyed, which makes all the sense. It sucks that Ray Stevenson passed away and won’t be able to carry on this awesome character, who is my favourite part of this show. Whoever should take over the role has some big boots to fill. His former apprentice, Shin Hati, now seemingly has taken command of a group of bandits, so this narrative is firmly set now on a new galaxy far, far away while Thrawn gathers his forces on Dathomir. I really hope we get a second season. I’ve really enjoyed the fantastic side of this season and a second season set on this planet with a connection to the Mortis Gods can really lean into that.

Also, the episode title is likely a reference to the C.S. Lewis novel, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which is fitting since Filoni’s main source of inspiration for the World Between Worlds was the Wood Between The Worlds, as seen in Lewis’ novel The Magicians’ Apprentice in the Narnia series.

The Ahsoka show overall was a great time. When it was first announced, I really wasn’t that interested in seeing an Ahsoka show but boy did I eat those words. It wasn’t perfect, it had some stiffness, a lack of urgency at times and an inconsistent finale, but for Star Wars mythology, bringing Thrawn to the big screen, Shin and Hati, awesome lightsaber duels and Hayden Christensen returning as Anakin, Ahsoka had way more hits than it did misses. What’s more is that the show consistently pushed the story forward, putting character and story first and telling a complete story. The visuals were top-tier and composer Kevin Kiner basically stole the show with his music. I really enjoyed my time with the season and like Andor, can’t wait to watch it again.