Ahsoka Episodes 1 and 2 Breakdown and Easter Eggs

A detailed review of the premiere of Ahsoka – Episode 1: “Master and Apprentice” and Episode 2: “Toil and Trouble”. Including a breakdown of the key moments, easter eggs and references!

The long-awaited Ahsoka series is finally out! After all these years we’re finally going to know what happened to Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger. The continuation of Star Wars Rebels is one of the most anticipated events of Star Wars in recent years, here’s the review and breakdown of the first two episodes!

If you’re not sure about what I’m talking about when I say “continuation of Star Wars Rebels” you might need to catch up before watching Ahsoka. If that’s the case, I highly recommend that you read everything you should know before watching Ahsoka.

This review contains spoilers. I recommend that you watch the episodes first and then proceed to read this article.

A Darker Tone

From the very first second that the scroll appears, I got the feeling that this show would have a very different tone from everything we’ve seen in live-action. The red-colored letters combined with the mysterious and dark music made me think for a second that I was about to play one of those older but great Star Wars video games.

The show wastes no time and we get right into the action when Baylan and Shin arrive at the cruiser that transports Morgan Elsbeth. Without hesitation, they decimate the crew in a very stylish way. Baylan’s size and combat style when dispatching people with blasters is extremely similar to the Vader scene on Rogue One.

Nothing too fancy, just precise movements and powerful strikes that could bring a Gundark to its knees. I just love how similar both scenes are. Normally, this would be an issue for me but in this case, it doesn’t lose its power.

I’ve always found temples created by cultures that can use the Force fascinating and intriguing. The way these structures reflect their builders’ ideologies, traditions, and knowledge in the carved stone is super interesting.

The Nightsister temple is both mesmerizing and terrifying. A lot of their history is still a mystery so I really hope that we get to learn more about them, even if it doesn’t add too much to the story.

After Ahsoka manages to escape from the explosion caused by the HK Droids (what was inside them?!) she gets to the T-6 shuttle. Once inside, she tells Professor Huyang that she made Morgan reveal the location of the map by following “non-Jedi protocol”. This already tells us a lot about what she’s willing to do, and I couldn’t be more excited about it!

Sabine Wren

After talking with Hera, Ahsoka agrees that Sabine is the only one who can help her in this mission, and then we get to see one of the best introductions in a Star Wars live-action series.

Blasting what sounds like Huttese Punk Rock (correct me if I’m wrong), the Mandalorian girl who fought the Empire as a rebel and Mandalorian appears riding her custom-painted speeder on the highway that appears multiple times on Star Wars Rebels.

Sabine has always been a rebel at heart and this attitude is displayed within seconds of this scene. It doesn’t matter that the ceremony is to honor her friend, she doesn’t want to be there and nothing will convince her to do otherwise.

Even if we saw her grow and evolve during Star Wars Rebels, she’s still a very stubborn young woman who’s never been good at doing what she’s told to do. As Hera points out, she’s a Mandalorian and they’re not known for being agreeable people.

For better or worse, Sabine is probably going to learn the hard way that sometimes it’s best to follow the instructions of more experienced people, especially if she wants to bring back Ezra.

Master And Apprentice

Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll are two very intriguing individuals. As with every Jedi who survives Order 66, we are already wondering about how he survived and what he did during and after the time of the Galactic Empire. Did he lay low for a while or has he been actively working for anyone who can pay his price?

He’s certainly not an Inquisitor and while his goal appears to be acquiring power, he doesn’t give off the vibes of being completely corrupted by the dark side. He even has some kindness in his expression which is so strange for a character of this type. Maybe this is nonsense but that’s just how I perceived it.

Baylan claims that neither he nor Shin are Jedi, and yet she’s wearing a Padawan braid. As the name suggests, these braids are used to distinguish the young apprentices of the Jedi Order.

The attachment to traditions of a non-existing Order makes me believe that they haven’t completely dismissed the teachings. If this is correct, then I wonder what other surprises this Master and Apprentice have for us.

Since Shin is still very young, she was probably found as a baby and Baylan took her away to begin her training. The way she looked at Morgan after learning about her Dathomirian heritage caught me off guard. It wasn’t curiosity or surprise but something more similar to disdain.

She might have hired them to do a job, but they have their own agenda and plans for the future. What’s going to happen if their goals stop aligning with Morgan’s?

Nightsisters of Dathomir

I couldn’t be happier about Morgan Elsbeth being confirmed as a Nightsister. The Nightsisters were a powerful clan of female-only Dathomirians, they lived deep inside the inhospitable planet of Dathomir and their power allowed them to control the male clans without any problems. In fact, Darth Maul came out of one of these male-only clans.

Their strange rituals fueled by the dark side of the Force made the Nightsisters of Dathomir a unique group that everyone feared and no one truly understood. This is why General Grievous and his droid army wiped them out before they could pose a threat to Count Dooku and Darth Sidious.

Since their tragic end, we’ve learned about only three Nightsisters who survived the massacre. Asajj Ventress, the former apprentice of Count Dooku. Nightsister Merrin from Star Wars Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor and now Morgan Elsbeth.

I knew that Morgan was more than just an ally of Thrawn but a Nightsister?! The extent of her power is unknown, I doubt that she’s as powerful as Mother Talzin but one thing that Merrin taught me is that they can be extremely resourceful even when it doesn’t appear so.

To me, it doesn’t matter if she’s very powerful or not, I just want to see actual Nightsister magic in action and how Ahsoka and her allies are going to face such a mysterious power.

Old Tensions

Even if both Ahsoka and Sabine want to find Ezra, their past differences make it difficult for them to get along. We don’t know for sure what happened when Ahsoka tried to train Sabine as a Jedi but it clearly didn’t work.

Ahsoka has zero experience being a mentor, Anakin is her main reference but he’s probably not the best role model when it comes to teaching. It requires wisdom, experience, maturity, and an immense amount of patience. Qualities that Ahsoka possesses but honestly, I don’t think she has developed them to the point where she’s confident being someone’s Master.

Teaching can be scary not only because someone relies on you, but because you’re also learning through the process. Students often believe that a good teacher has all the answers to their questions but that is far from being true.

The role of a Jedi Master isn’t to only answer the questions of a Padawan but to guide them in their own learning process and teach them how to find the answers by themselves, with the help of the Jedi teachings and the will of the Force.

That’s without even considering the personalities of both parties involved. It’s not too hard to think why it didn’t work out the first time. Sabine is far from being patient and her hot-head probably caused a lot of discussions with Ahsoka.

On the other hand, the Togruta isn’t the most patient Jedi. I’m sure that she has matured a lot since her times as a Commander leading Clone legions but having a Padawan is a task that no training can prepare you for.

Both of them will have to learn to work together as Master and Padawan while they reach for their friend. It’s not going to be easy but there’s no other way if they intend to accomplish their mission.

A Walking Library

Professor Huyang might not look like much but this droid has been around for more than twenty-thousand years. For millennia, it has taught every Jedi Padawan how to build their lightsaber. Because of this, the data stored in its memory has a record of every lightsaber built by a Jedi.

Even if his specialty is lightsaber construction, I’m sure that there’s an absurd amount of knowledge that only he has access to. With most of the Jedi archives getting destroyed or “relocated” by the Empire, it would be extremely difficult for Ahsoka to use certain information.

Morgan Elsbeth being a Nightsister is bad news but the fact that she’s headed into the unknown space to bring back Thrawn is extremely concerning. Thrawn is not the type of person to just sit down and wait for something to happen. All those years that he’s been “exiled”, a plan has been in motion.

Dangerous creatures, new resources, and powerful civilizations exist in the unknown space. It’s too early to tell what he’s been up to but of one thing I’m sure, Thrawn isn’t coming back alone and his return will turn the galaxy upside down.

Fear Of Attachment

I want to point out how Ahsoka seems to be consistently trying to prevent any strong attachment. She didn’t finish Sabine’s training and refused to even teach Grogu the basics. The reason for not training our favorite green character is that he was too attached to Din Djarin, and it made him vulnerable to his fears.

Anakin Skywalker, her master and one of the most powerful Jedi in the Order refused to follow this rule. As a result, the Jedi Order was destroyed and the Galactic Republic turned into an Empire that would rule with an iron fist, destroying everything and everyone who opposed them.

I understand the need to be super careful about emotions but maybe Ahsoka is being too cautious about it. Being limited by her own fears won’t help anyone and the best way to deal with what scares us is by facing it (most of the time). Otherwise, it will control our actions and how we live our lives.

Failure Is The Greatest Teacher

To be in top form one must be constant and disciplined. Especially when it comes to lightsaber training. As much as I love Sabine, it was obvious that Shin would crush her. After Ahsoka left she stopped practicing and without the imminent threat of the Empire I can understand why she didn’t feel the need to do so.

But the only thing certain is that nothing lasts forever, not war and certainly not peace. As a Mandalorian, she should know better than anyone that conflict can knock the door at all times and if unprepared, the consequences could be catastrophic.

Shin Hati not only made Sabine look bad, she toyed with her like a whale toys with its food before devouring it. This is a painful but valuable lesson for the Mandalorian girl. She now understands what she must defeat if there’s any hope to find and bring back Ezra.

I strongly believe that this humiliation will only strengthen Sabine’s determination and it will constantly be a reminder of the consequences of failing. Ezra is (hopefully) still out there, but so is Thrawn. Where they’re headed, there are probably lots of things more dangerous than Shin Hati.

Republics aren’t built in three days

Season 3 of The Mandalorian did a great job showing how after the Empire ceased to exist, there are still thousands of people scattered around the galaxy that are willing to rally behind competent Imperial leaders.

I love how just a short scene deeply expands this problem. When Ahsoka and Hera inspect the shipyard on Corellia, the supervisor reveals that all staff remains the same after the transition from the Galactic Empire to the New Republic.

You can’t simply replace all the staff when a new power rises. Affecting the core world and its population. This also explains (partially) why corruption is so widespread in the New Republic and why it’s so easy for the Imperial remnants to infiltrate every government, corporation, and even services.

The worst thing is that it’s practically impossible to effectively change this without enforcing some policy that came straight out of Palpatine’s mind. I wonder if we’ll get to see more of it and its implications in this new and fragile Republic.

Traveling To An Unknown Galaxy

The “Eye of Sion” is a one-of-a-kind ship, its size and shape are really confusing to me. It has a total of seven Super Star Destroyer hyperdrive cores! Hyperdrive rings allow ships without a hyperdrive to travel through lightspeed. Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter used one in Attack of the Clones to get to Geonosis.

With the amount of power that this “ship” has, it’s clear that the journey is going to be extremely long. If my assumptions are correct about the Eye of Sion having the purpose of functioning as a hyperdrive ring for another ship then maybe Morgan Elsbeth plans to bring back Thrawn with his fleet included or something worse.

The internal design of the ship is also worth pointing out, I don’t recall watching this style on any other ship. It doesn’t look like any Imperial, Republic, or Rebel ship. To me it looks ancient but Morgan just built it so it can’t be that old. My best guess in terms of the style would be a mix between the High Republic and the Zakuul Empire from Star Wars The Old Republic but I doubt that Filoni used those as references.

Morgan mentions that “ancient people from a distant galaxy” built the place that reveal the location of Thrawn. Could it be that this strange ship could also be a design made by them?

Many advanced civilizations have left some of their knowledge behind after facing extinction. This knowledge is often sought after by powerful and greedy individuals who hope to find something that allows them to submit the galaxy to their will. If this theory is right then the Eye of Sion will be the least of Ahsoka’s concerns.

Best Of Both Worlds

This series combines everything I love about both animated and live-action Star Wars media. I get goosebumps every time I see or hear anything related to Clone Wars or Rebels in a live-action.

Characters like Bo-Katan, the Inquisitors, the Ghost Crew are an important part of my childhood, and seeing the transition to live-action is always incredibly exciting but at the same time it’s scary to see if they hit or miss.

Other than the Grand Inquisitor and the Fifth Brother, I believe they have nailed every character. I still can’t believe how good Sabine and Hera look. It feels as if animated Sabine Wren was based on Natasha Liu Bordizzo and not the other way around.

She’s perfect for the role, even if only two episodes have been released so far. Natasha embodies the essence of the character and for me, that’s very important to make it believable.

I was worried about the approach the showrunners would have with Chopper, its movements and sounds are very “cartoonish” and translating that to live-action isn’t always easy. It’s so relieving to see that he looks and sounds amazing, Chopper acts exactly as it did on Rebels and it doesn’t feel dumb or forced.

My favorite thing about the second episode was the recreation of the last scene from Star Wars Rebels. It’s a very emotional moment and when it was released years ago we didn’t know if we’d ever get to find out the destiny of both Thrawn and Ezra but after so much waiting it has finally become a reality.

There are still six episodes left and I can’t stop wondering what surprises we might get. Do you think we’ll get a surprise appearance?

Easter Eggs and References

With elements of Clone Wars, Rebels, The Original Trilogy, and The Mandalorian coming together, it’s incredibly fun to find easter eggs and references. In these two episodes, they are related to different eras of Star Wars.

Eta-class Shuttle

The Shuttle that Baylan and Shin pilot is also referred to as the “Jedi ambassador shuttle”. It was used multiple times in the Clone Wars by Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan. This model was a prototype of the Tydirium Imperial Shuttle that transports Emperor Palpatine but it was discarded and later reconsidered for the Clone Wars show.

E-Wing

The E-Wing Starfighter is a ship that was introduced many years ago but it didn’t become canon until now. It might not look like something special but many fans have been waiting for its appearance in mainstream Star Wars media and it finally happened.

Sabine’s Art

During Star Wars Rebels, Sabine often used her art to decorate her surroundings and sometimes even some Imperial property. This can be appreciated on Sabine’s helmet during her introduction scene.

Ryder Azadi

The governor of Lothal is played by none other than Clancy Brown. The cool thing is that he also was the voice actor for the character on Star Wars Rebels.

Jai Kell

The young man who Ryder sends to speak when Sabine doesn’t show up at the ceremony is Jai Kell. He became Ezra’s friend during an episode of Rebels where they train in an Imperial academy.

Mount Sion

The Eye of Sion could be a reference to Darth Sion. This Sith Lord appeared almost for thousand years BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin). What made him stand out from other Sith is the fact that he was killed many times and (almost) every time he came back to life thanks to his hatred and the dark side of the Force. Funnily enough, when we met him on Knights of the Old Republic II, he only had one functioning eye.

Skoll and Hati

Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati are based on two wolves (Skoll and Hati) of the Norse Mythology. They are the sons of Fenrir and chase the sun and the moon respectively until Ragnarök occurs. I wonder if the meaning of their names is foreshadowing the fates of the characters.

For Ray

Right before the credits start rolling on the first episode, we see the legend “For our friend, Ray”. This is because Ray Stevenson (Baylan Skoll) unexpectedly passed away last May.