Star Wars: Ahsoka is here and here is our no-spoiler review and what you need to know before going into it.  Created by Dave Filoni for Disney+, the series stars Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi Knight who is investigating an emerging threat to the galaxy after the fall of the Empire. Dawson will star alongside Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Diana Lee Inosanto, Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen, and Eman Esfandi.

Star Wars: Ahsoka Episode 1 & 2 Review

Star Wars fan, you’re gonna love it. Especially because this is where all the current Disney+ shows begin lining up together. You’re gonna love it.  As a Star Wars: Rebels fan, you are going to love it.

The basic thing to know about the series is that it is set after the events of Return of the Jedi. It will explore Ahsoka’s journey as she searches for her identity and purpose in the galaxy. It will feature appearances from characters from other Star Wars media, including Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars: The Mandalorian.

Master and Apprentice 

However, even if you don’t follow Star Wars or haven’t watched the other star wars television series, you simply need to know that the center of the series is the master and the apprentice. Non-star Wars fans you just need to know that the series is going to be about a teacher, Ahsoka Tano, who is struggling with how to be a teacher. Especially because when she left the Jedi order they still hadn’t taught her everything about the Force.

Ahsoka is a force-wielding ex-Jedi and teacher to Sabine Wren. Sabine who is a character first introduced in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels. And she has now taken on the role of Padawan (a.k.a. Jedi in training). Sabine is portrayed by Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo.

Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA

Returning to the Star Wars Universe

The first 2 episodes give the viewer a sensation of being back in that star wars world you know after the fall of the empire kind of along the lines of The Mandalorian era. And though there’s no Grogu. They do have a lot of other characters that make appearances from Star Wars: Rebels. Including the talk of Grand Admiral Thrawn who is one of the underlining villains in not just the Ahsoka series but also in Rebels. However, he isn’t the only villain in this series.

The first two episodes also give an introduction to new villains. Baylan Skoll was played by the late Ray Stevens and his apprentice. He is known for his portrayal of Volstagg in Marvel Studios’ “Thor” franchise.

And as I stated before the central theme of this series is that of master and apprentice.  Here Baylan Skoll is the master and Shin Hati (played by Ivanna Sakhno) is the apprentice. And there is a struggle there too. So not only do you have the light side versus the dark side. You also have the Republic versus the Empire.

Stand Out Performances

Two people stood out for me. The first was Rosario Dawson in her continued portrayal of Ahsoka Tano. She gives off that “I am cool, calm collected, I’m one with the force- vibe. But mess around and I will show you what kind of boss lady I am.”

We first met Ahsoka in the animated series, Star Wars: Clone Wars, as a teenager. We meet her again in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels. But this time, Ahsoka is a little bit more mature and more in tune with the force. In this live-action series, her look and her feel seem so genuine. The chemistry that she has with the other characters just seems like they took all of those characters out of Rebels and magically transformed them into live-action.

The way Rosario Dawson has grown into the character of Ahsoka has been incredible. Although we only saw her a couple of times in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, it is just extremely impressive how well it has translated over to the series.

Now the other one and probably my favorite is Natasha Liu Bordizzo in her portrayal of Sabine Wren. Bordizzo has slid into the character of Sabine Wren from the second she showed up on the screen. The trailers let us know, but the way she was composed, the way she presented herself, and everything about her demeanor spoke as Sabine Wren.

Sabine is one of the main characters in Star Wars: Rebels and she was always very assertive and very strong. In the Ahsoka series, she continues that tradition. But we also see a side of her that seems filled with a sense of loss without her Rebels family. set after the events of Return of the Jedi, her Rebels crew have moved on and found things to do. But Sabine doesn’t know what to do.

A well-crafted series

The visuals in my opinion were well done. In the very first episode, they incorporated something that actually put a smile on my face, because I don’t think we’ve seen it in a while, was the return of Annie Award-winning composer Kevin Kiner. Kiner has for over a decade, worked with George Lucas and Dave Filoni. And scored all seven seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Everything from the music of the battles to even little tiny quirky things just worked well and was well put together. The series is set to have 8 episodes and as a Star Wars fan, I am really excited to the whole thing play out. Between the fights, the lore, and just the way the world worked within these two episodes, it instantly pulled me back into the Star Wars world. Ad not just into the world of Star Wars but into the world of the Rebel’s crew.

Star Wars: Rebels episodes recommendations for more context into the Ahsoka Series

• Spark of Rebellion (Parts 1 & 2) (S01E01 & S01E02)
• Fire Across the Galaxy (S01E15)
• The Siege of Lothal (Parts 1 & 2) (S02E01 & S02E02)
• Shroud of Darkness (S02E18)
• Twilight of the Apprentice (Parts 1 & 2) (S02E21 & S02E22)
• Steps into Shadow (Parts 1 & 2) (S03E01 & S03E02)
• Hera’s Heroes (S03E05)
• Through Imperial Eyes (S03E17)
• Heroes of Mandalore (Parts 1 & 2) (S04E01 & S04E02)
• A World Between Worlds (S04E13)
• Family Reunion and Farewell (Parts 1 & 2) (S04E15 & S04E16)