Ahsoka “Part 5 – Shadow Warrior” Review: Dave Filoni Struggles to Connect The Live-Action Show With Clone Wars And Rebels Lore
(Spoilers Ahead):
In Ahsoka Part 5, Ahsoka Tano is taught her final lesson by former Master Anakin Skywalker within the mystical World Between Worlds.
Meanwhile, Hera Syndulla mounts a search for Ahsoka after her Force-sensitive son, Jacen, senses a sound emanating from the World Between Worlds above the ocean of Seatos.
After Anakin is satisfied Ahsoka has learned her final lesson, he returns her to the ocean, and she is rescued.
Ahsoka learns the location of the galaxy where Thrawn and Ezra Bridger are located through impressions of Sabine’s memories left on the broken star map.
The episode ends with Ahsoka and Huyang traveling to this other galaxy inside a large purrgil, a starwhale capable of traveling between galaxies in hyperspace.
Part 5 returns Star Wars to its spiritual roots with an introspective stroll through Ahsoka’s past in the World Within Worlds. Accompanying her, in a Ghost of Christmas Past-like role, is Ahsoka’s former master Anakin Skywalker.
Hayden Christensen, like the character he plays, redeems himself in this episode. His performance proves the problem lay in the Prequels’ awkward dialogue and cringeworthy romance with Padme Amidala, not his acting.
With good dialogue, the actor’s natural charisma comes through, as he delivers his best performance as Anakin.
Christensen proved his acting ability early in his career in Life As A House and Shattered Glass. But his performances were overshadowed by the Prequels, which destined him for B-grade action film hell for the next 15 years.
Now older and more confident, he is also more relaxed in the role. Christensen did his homework for this episode because his relationship with the young Ahsoka is reminiscent of the voice performances of Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker) and Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano) in The Clone Wars. With more appearances, Christensen will likely take back the mantle from Lanter as the best Anakin Skywalker.
Adriana Greenblatt nailed her role as the young Ahsoka, capturing the vulnerability and angst of the character in her early years under Anakin’s tutelage during the Clone Wars.
The sight of a child on the battlefield is jarring. You don’t get that same feeling in animation. For the first time, I felt myself questioning whether the young Padawans were just child soldiers.
It’s probably a long shot but will Filoni make a live-action Clone Wars film featuring Christensen and Greenblatt in their roles as Anakin and Ahsoka?
The idea would bring new audiences not fussed by animation up to speed with Ahsoka’s background, and the film would fit nicely between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Dave Filoni’s Dilemma
More importantly, the absence of a live-action Clone Wars film highlights the bind creator Dave Filoni finds himself in with casual viewers of Ahsoka.
The new series relies on viewers watching Filoni’s two animated Star Wars TV series, The Clone Wars and Rebels.
In these animated series, Filoni embarked on a massive expansion of Star Wars lore, which many, if not most viewers of the Star Wars films are unfamiliar with. Quite simply, the lore established in the Star Wars films is expanded and deepened in The Clone Wars and Rebels. And in some cases gives new meaning to ideas from the films.
This dilemma is present in the four major pieces of lore referenced in this episode:
— the World Between Worlds from Rebels
— the Mortis gods from The Clone Wars
— Ahsoka’s transformation into “Ahsoka the White”
— Ezra Bridger’s unique connection with the Purrgil and animal communication in general, as seen in Rebels.
In hindsight, animation was not the right medium for this expansion because it is seen as a medium of storytelling for children.
Filoni’s solution in this episode is to make vague connections to this lore, in order to NOT alienate new viewers and satisfy long-term viewers of his animated shows.
It’s a delicate balancing act that Filoni has left open for interpretation based on how much Star Wars the viewer has watched.
Filoni offers little explanation for Anakin’s appearance in the World Between Worlds. For viewers of Rebels, the mystical dimension is instantly recognizable. New viewers, who have only the original and prequel trilogies, will suspect the dimension is where Force Ghosts reside.
For long-term viewers of the animated shows, Anakin’s presence is fulfilling the “Chosen One” prophecy to bring balance to the Force, explained in depth in the Mortis arc of The Clone Wars.
Without getting too heavy into this lore, the Mortis arc suggests that Anakin is far more than a Force Ghost. He may actually be a Force God, replacing The Father as the being that brings balance to the Force.
This will have considerable implications for Star Wars moving forward, and Christensen’s future role in the universe.
The episode sadly makes you wish you were following Anakin’s journey, not Ahsoka’s. No offense to Rosario Dawson, but Christensen steals the focus of this episode.
Her emergence from the World Between Worlds in a white cloak most likely went unnoticed by casual viewers. But this refers to Ahsoka the White, who is transformed after her journey through this magical realm, much like Gandalf the White was transformed after returning from the afterlife in The Two Towers.
How Filoni will explain this in future episodes is hard to comprehend.
He has already retconned the epilogue of Rebels in which Ahsoka appeared to Sabine in her white garb. The scene was recreated in Ahsoka Part 2, but Ahsoka had not yet gone through her transformation, still wearing her grey tunic.
Retcons are an issue. Of concern is Ahsoka’s ability to talk with Purrgil since Rebels established Ezra Bridger’s special connection with the space whales. Maybe Ahsoka explained her mission to find Ezra, and this is why the Purrgil granted her a ride to Ezra and Thrawn’s location in this other galaxy.
There are many great moments in this episode, with Anakin and the Purrgil. Unfortunately, the side plot with Hera Syndulla is lackluster, weighing down everything with Ahsoka and Anakin.
Still, we’re five episodes into eight, and we still have not arrived in the next galaxy. Thrawn is nowhere to be seen, which was my major gripe last week. This week, the Purrgil reminded me of Ezra Bridger’s absence.
Hopefully, Esman Esfandi is a suitable replacement for the voice talents of Taylor Grey. Ezra is a personal favorite, who should bring some welcome humor into the series.
Finally, the series improves every week but at this level, it should have been consistently good from the beginning. Overall, Disney Star Wars has been underwhelming, and ultimately, because of its rough start, Ahsoka will fail to reach the high point of The Mandalorian season 1 and 2.
