This is what a proper review is. Not calling it a masterpiece and calling it a day, nor calling it trash and calling it a day. Pointing out all the positives and negatives, in detail, explain Why the positives are a positive, and why the negatives are a negative, and having a good understanding of the material you review.
@@blackjesus_88 It wasn't a good show, and in my own opinion not as good as Gold Man believes, but still a cut above trash. At least compared to Boba Fett and Willow (tv series).
So Hera disobays orders from Mon Mothma and gets people killed but saved by Leia when she's about to lose her rank as general, but Poe gets slapped in the face?
Honestly, it smacks of laziness. I thought pitting Hera against the senators of the New Republic - the cause she fought for most of her adult life - would be a cool little subplot and add a new dimension to her character. She's an experienced commander used to doing things her own way, but now we see her getting stifled by bureaucrats and politicians at a time when she's convinced the galaxy itself in is mortal danger. What if they'd let the court-martial end with her losing her rank, and even Mon Mothma deciding to back the decision? Would she have gone rogue? Turned mercenary? How would this affect her relationship with Ashoka? No, we're just throwing all that beautiful potential out the window because someone doesn't want to put in the effort.
What really bugged me about him is that he was so incredibly agreeable. He literally sacrificed himself to remove Thrawn from the galaxy. Then Sabine proceeds to ignore his sacrifice because she misses him so much, allows Thrawn to get back to the galaxy and Ezra just sits there and nods. Why? Why isn't he upset in the slightest that she disrespected his sacrifice? Why isn't he digging further when Sabine doesn't wanna tell him how she got there? He just always sits there like a little boy and takes what he gets. I think they got him wrong. Also he wasn't a character. He didn't bring any internal struggles to the table. If I was separated from everyone I know and have to live on my own for a decade I'd turn crazy. He was just there, no conflict, no interests, no nothing
@@Reorganiser Because he specifically asked her to bring him back. He undid his own sacrifice by asking Sabine to bring him back. If he told Sabine "hey, don't bring me back" she would have respected that, but that's not what happened at all. His first lines to her are "it sure took you long enough", which means he was fully expecting to come back to the known galaxy.
You're SOOO right... showing (a recreation of) the end of rebels would have helped so many viewers!!! I was surprised how much this drew from Rebels (and Clone Wars to a lesser point)... your idea would have likely clinched it. When Sabine is looking upon the mural from Rebels (and in the animated art style), it's reduced to an easter egg. I'm with you Gold Man.
The problem with Sabine using the force isn’t the fact that she isn’t force sensitive and that George said everyone could use it. It has to do with the fact that Sabine clearly didn’t put in the effort, discipline, or dedication to learning how to use it. I think of force sensitivity as like having a talent in something, it’s like you have a head start to getting to a certain level in that skill, which is why Jedi have to train so much just to use the force. So that’s why I feel it was lazy and stupid to make Sabine able to use the force so quickly when she didn’t put in the effort or training to get there. Example: Luke had to train for a whole year by himself between a new hope and empire strikes back, and that was just to barely lift a lightsaber, and he was the son of Anakin so he was one of the most powerful force sensitives at the time and even he struggled to use it
@@dutchrjen can’t take a joke I see, my fault for expecting someone writing their college thesis in a comment section to recognize when someone’s fucking with them.
I think what could have been much more interesting in Sabine and Ahsoka bonding over their shared trauma of being child soldiers thrust into a galactic war from dying faiths and cultures.
I feel like a lot of TH-camrs are only looking at the show in isolation or viewer counts and saying it's a bad show. As a massive SW fan I personally really liked it and this is the first video I've seen where I feel the creator understood Ashoka in its context of a larger story.
The moment the writers gave Sabine force powers is the most disappointing for me so far. From someone not being able to pick a cup with the force to someone force-grabbing her lightsaber and force-pushing a grown man onto a Star Destroyer without proper build-up, background or foreshadowing, I call horse sh*t right then and there. Think about it, back in Episode 2, Huyang said that "based on his experience, she (Sabine) had the lowest aptitude for the force". Heck, even in the next episode, Ahsoka even said, "I don't need Sabine to be a Jedi." So what is this, the writers all of a sudden forgot what they wrote a few episodes back and decided to contradict everything? Have they written the finale as a separate piece because that's how they wanted the show to end? Some "fans" have pointed out that Peridea is a force nexus planet as the reason as to why Sabine was able to use the force. If that were the case, Ezra should have been more powerful than he should, since in an episode, he said "the force is all I need" but no, the writers made him use a blaster, got his ass kicked once by Shin and instead of leading, he was following Ahsoka's orders and plans all throughout. Sabine being able to use the force in the finale was like the real life equivalent of "an individual with no musical aptitude, with only one week-worth of piano training, was suddenly put as the lead pianist on an orchestra, then suddenly performs like a musical prodigy because the situation demanded him to". In the realm of screenwriting, it sounds like a plot contrivance just to drive their story around and push it forward.
I think I disagree, in my eyes allowing Sabine to use the Force is a pretty good idea. I love the approach that Lucasfilm is taking with having everyone be theoretically able to use the force although talent does matter quite a lot. It has already been hinted at in Rebels with Kanan literally saying that Sabine could use the Force but doesn't open herself up to it. And that is also the whole character arc Sabine was going on in the show. She's struggled again and again with using the Force because she wasn't open to it. But when it mattered, she trusted the Force and opened herself up completely, allowing her to do what she did. I honestly think it's a great decision, as long as they don't force her down the traditional Jedi path but instead let her be herself
I hate the idea that everyone can use the force. It takes out the magic of chracters that are fine without it. I don't think there is nothing wrong with the force being a special thing. There is something wrong with only being special if you wield it, thats what they were going here. And the analogy with being a force user and being FIT is not a good one. I mean, look at the amount of people that are actually fit in our world? Look at the very distinct levels of FIT that we have. Now look how the force was firstly portrayed as something misterious and mythical although the universe has quadrillions of population. How when a Jedi does a simple trick that is impressive to the ones around....
I couldn't disagree more with the idea that Sabine's force-sensitive arc was "...without proper build-up, background or foreshadowing." They had been foreshadowing it constantly in conversations, backstory, choreography, etc. Everything from her being able to find Ashoka during her training while blind folded, to the Night Sisters immediately telling Morgan Elsbeth, "It reeks of Jedi" when referring to Sabine. The background was that Ashoka and Sabine had been traveling/training for likely years, which was referenced/alluded-to several times. What it sounds like is that some people don't want Sabine to be force sensitive and are ignoring all the elements in the story that lead to that payoff.
You hit the nail on the head i think! Showing the "ezra saves lothal" scene at the beginning would have made the entire series feel so much more important & fleshed out. Also would have been a very epic way to start a season. REBELS fans would have adored it & casual fans would have felt more invited into this world. Such a shame these issues weren't recognised when making th show. One of my main problems with the show was stripping Ahsoka of what makes her awesome, especially her jumps & leaps. Was so disappointed she was watered down especially considering her intro in mando S2 was near perfect.
While it had its good and bad moments I haven’t felt this connected to Star Wars in such a long time. Truly felt like the fandom came together week after week
It was so nice to see the fandom get so excited to see familiar characters. Especially how happy they are when Anakin shows up to continue mentoring Ashoka.
This is exactly it. Not every show has to be a cinematic masterpiece like Andor, but it is awesome having an outlandish story with familiar characters that is just exciting fun connecting with the audience. Both can and should exist.
The finale had a stunning lack of Baylan Skoll. They tease us with this new character, a fresh perspective on the Jedi-Sith dynamic, and the potential for something greater, then they leave us hanging at the last episode with just one shot of the man looking over some statues. If they had added more, like say, Shin goes back to Baylan and tells her that she'd rather be with him because the Empire ditched her, and then Baylan explained his true purpose on Peridea, that would've worked.
Yea it got washed out near the end where it was just the three Jedi vs some stormtroopers and an old lady lmao. They needed like an epic scene with Baylan and Shin where maybe Shin gets killed or someone gets very hurt but survives.
I think it's another area where yet again there is just too much reliance on previous series, showing the force triad from one episode of the clone wars needed some background
Anakin’s lesson to me of “live or die” was layered. It’s everything that you said of course, but it’s also to choose to live in the sense of someone losing their optimism choosing to regain it. Choosing to have hope, to have attachments, and to enjoy life for yourself that makes saving it for others more fruitful and relatable. The way she was before she found out about Anakin. Anakin is reminding her of what the Jedi stood for before the war, and how to be peacekeepers. But I feel like it being vague and confusing and up for debate while also being so seemingly surface level in the simple phrasing of “live or die” is peak Star Wars mysticism
The problem is none of that fits with Ahsoka's character because nothing about the show previously implies or even hints that Ahsoka has some kind of inner conflict. Classic mediocre Filoni storytelling.
@@dancingvalkyrie The end of the journey and the implied arc itself make sense, but yeah, jumping into this arc years later after her return from the WBW is underwhelming and leaves both new fans and fans of her other appearances confused. Better idea than execution
the this of her being this free jedi and what the jedi should be like kanan, qui-gon etc is cool, but they have to... show it. which they just didnt. also that character point has been explored so much in TCW too
It nice to hear a A positive review on Ahsoka after hearing and seeing nothing but negativity against the ahsoka show like from people like critical drinker and the little platoon
I’m also in the camp of preferring that Sabine was never force sensitive. It feels too much like something that was shoehorned in to create a master-apprentice relationship. Furthermore it was never implied or hinted at in Rebels. She was in the company of Kanan since the start of the show and he never once did any jedi training with her. This is different from a Anakin, Luke or a Rey who begin their story as an ordinary person with no pre-established media to refer to, so they are a blank slate that can be developed upon, i.e. you can have them discover they are force sensitive and it doesn’t contradict any prior media.
It also spits in the face that she is a Mandalorian. The whole reason the Dark Saber is even a thing is the fact it represents the inherent contradiction that Tarre Vizsla being both a Jedi and Mandalorian really is. If they had planned for her to be Force Sensitive from the start, she should have never given away the dark saber.
I loved this show, it’s probably my favorite of the live action series. Seeing Hayden on screen again, thrawn, the fact that Dave still gives Ahsoka amazing character development 15 years later and after 2 series is crazy to me. I’m finally excited for the future of this era of Star Wars again
There was much that was lacking, and the primary problem that I had was the “Tell-Don’t-Show” that they did with A. Ashoka and Sabine’s backstory interactions B. why everyone is worried about Thrawn and C. Why Ezra is so important i came around to accepting the casting choice for Thrawn. i thoroughly enjoyed Baylan, and I was very happy with the flashback lessons because clones!!!! overall, id give Ashoka s1 a 7/10 (the clones bumped it up from a 6)
Maybe I'm the weird one here lol, but for me personally this show lost its tension the further on it went. Especially with the whole "will Thrawn escape" plot, I was actually WANTING him to escape, because Thrawn is a fascinating character and I would love to see where that goes. So there was never the question, "will he/won't he?" for me - I figured he probably was, or else the whole build up would mean nothing. And with Ezra, whether they would find him, yeah, I was anticipating what they would do with that...but Sabine finds him so quickly (which wouldn't have bothered me too much if it wasn't for how they both reacted. If she made this galaxy-shattering decision to work with the bad guys, why isn't she more emotional?). For me, I wish Thrawn's escape would have been presented as an inevitable conclusion, especially once Sabine decides not to destroy the map. The show could have focused more on Thrawn's terrifying brilliance and the good guys' desperation as they try to course correct. Viewers would fall in love with Thrawn as a villain while simultaneously wanting the good guys to win because of the emotional stakes...only for Thrawn to (of course) escape and Sabine and Ahsoka are stranded. Maybe Sabine is distraught from her mistakes, but Ahsoka in her newfound wisdom knows that they're there for a reason. That would solve some of my dissatisfaction with the way Ahsoka and Sabine are just chillin at the end of the season as if nothing went wrong.
that’s a great idea. could you suggest where else that tension could come from besides thrawn escaping, which, in your idea, would be an inevitability? but seriously, i like your idea :)
Seeing the end of Rebels in live action would have been awesome. Also, it might have been nice to see where Ahsoka was during the OT and to see Ahsoka promise Ezra that she would find him. Maybe a flashback with them running away from the Emperor in the wbws.
This same flashback with Ezra in Rebels hyperspacing was I kept saying that needed to happen in at least one of the episodes. 10 episodes with this flashback & having more Sabine training with Ezra would have been way better
But you shouldn't have to! This is supposed to be a 200 million dollar series from one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world using one of the greatest franchises as setting it should be EPICALLY BRILLIANT! Not flawed mediocre misanthropic badly directed poorly choreographed lore breaking shiite!
@@MrSphandorI feel the quality of the stories and productions took a dip after season 2 of mando. First two seasons of mando were favreaus gollum creation group partnering with LF. After season 2 I think the content went more under LF and now you have the people that were a part of making the sequels more involved. At least that is my theory.
I agree with you on just about every point you made. Dave was entering a new medium of live action mini series, and I think he really needed someone to help him with the storytelling.
While I certainly recognize this show has problems, this is the first Star Wars thing in a while that's made me feel really excited or intrigued about Star Wars. While I don't hate the sequels like other people, I can't deny it does feel a lot like a worse version of the OT, and by the end of it, I didn't really want to see much from it expanded upon. If Ben Solo were kept alive, maybe, but it's like, why would I want Rey's Jedi Order, when I'd much rather have Luke's Jedi Order? Why would I want to see the aftermath of the diet Empire, when I'm already getting a lot of aftermath of the the actual Empire? With Ahsoka, we have Undead Stormtroopers, Thrawn, an entirely different galaxy, Baylan and Shin, the potential of Dark Jedi. There's just so much more that Ahsoka offers that it just makes me more ambivalent towards anything else relating to the Skywalkers. It's not perfect, but it's unique, and offers something new and exciting, and right now that's something Star Wars desperately needs.
I'm with you. Whatever one thinks of George Lucas's abilities at dialogue and directing, you have to appreciate that he tried to do new and different things, and take the audience to new places. In the sequel trilogy we got the OT rehashed, complete with budget Tatooine, budget Hoth, budget Bespin... the Ahsoka show is taking us to new places and showing us more of the SW universe. That, at least, is worth the price of admission. And while many people are griping about Sabine (i.e. anyone) being able to use the Force, the show has recaptured the excitement I felt as a kid, thinking that if Luke could use these amazing powers, maybe I could too. Even if there are flaws in the writing and pacing, there's something to be said for escapist fun.
@@garlixbread Agreed. Although you have to ask what a new galaxy is supposed to feel like. It's not like we expect every planet in the main galaxy to be made of rocks, and every planet in another galaxy to be made of cheese or something. But yeah, it did feel a bit like we didn't get a chance to explore the new galaxy. I'd like to have seen the first season be a bit of a quest going from planet to planet, culminating in finding Ezra, when suddenly Thrawn shows up too, and we get a cliffhanger for season 2.
The only new or unique thing in Ahsoka were the zombie troopers. And to be perfectly honest, it was only the aesthetics - the zombification offered nothing different from, say, backups suddenly arriving.
Enjoy waiting 5 years for more emotionless robotic acting, bland dialogue, and references to some cartoons that nobody except manchildren care about lol
I mean rebels was definitely good (more emotional and character driven) but the way the characters are portrayed in live action just seems disingenuous. The leads show no emotion, even in situations where it would’ve made the scenes much better (Ashoka’s fake out death with Sabine saying no, Ashoka’s lack of emotion when Sabine is stabbed, and Sabine cracking jokes while in custody after believing she saw Ashoka die) hopefully filoni takes the negative feedback as well as the positive and it contributes to a more emotional experience in future media.
About Thrawn'... The first problem i believe is that we, since we watched the trailer, knew he would come back. All these tension build around he coming back or not exist only for the characters inside the story. The viewers all knew he would come back, so we expected that he would also be able to do more than that. Which brings me to the second problem, speaking slowly in a calm tone explaining how he is 100 steps ahead of his enemies doesnt hide the fact the he did nothing great. He had a star destroyer, an army, 3 nightsisters, two "jedi" mercenaries, air squadrons, bombs and zombies. It was also handed to him Sabine, the location where Ahsoka would arrive and the fact that Ezra was completely out of the game. With this advantage, at the end, what he manages was to barely escape after losing a considerable amount of resources. Also, the guy who bested him boarded the ship without him having a clue. (I have to believe he didn't have clue, cause a guy so smart couldn't find the spy is laughable. Also, couldn't Ezra end his threat right there??) The argument made in the final part of the video, that by doing nothing Thrawn is actually defending himself from impossible odds and unthinkable things Jedi are capable of is a poor one at that, let's face it.
They butchered Thrawn. Thrawn has always made a great first impression in every series he’s been in which has demonstrated his genius. The opening battle in Heir to the Empire. Thrawn running circles around thirty Imperial troops in the first canon Thrawn novel. Even his introduction in rebels was a hell of a lot better. He determines the reason that the phoenix cell breaks Hondo out of jail. He then prepares to lure their fleet into a trap, but upon realizing that the whole Phoenix Squadron isn’t there, he decides to let them get away, biding his time, gathering information on his enemies, until eventually he tracks down the rebel base and beats them badly, with the rebels only escaping because of Admiral Konstantine’s arrogance and Bendu’s divine intervention.
Dude you are 100% Right! Wow until you said that it did not dawn on me that Ezra was on the Ship in a Stormtrooper Uniform and could have Killed Thrawn 😫 the show is 10x Worst now
Ahsoka's potential was so much greater than the final product. If it were me, I'd have it so that BOTH Thrawn and Baylan would be seeking that greater power while they let Ahsoka reunite with Ezra and Sabine.
Well done video. I think your rewrite would’ve taken Ahsoka from very good to incredible. They definitely needed to clean up that prologue. And as much as I love seeing Hayden, that dream sequence is a thematic mess. The choreography was patchy here and there, but it was honestly the best I’ve seen since Disney took over. Way better than Obi’s show.
i agree i have seen people talking about how bad the choreography is but its the best we have got from disney so why be so picky i loved it in ahsoka my thought is that they could have done better with the camera work tho
You my friend voiced almost everything i loved and didn't like about the show in such a mature way. I think the show could've been way better, but i still really enjoyed what I was given. Like you said, I'd rather have. The thing Filoni has to get over is the idea that he can please everyone. He can't. He needs to put his foot down and say "This is a Rebels sequel. If you haven't seen the animated shows, that's on you." I still think Filoni and Faverau have brought Star Wars back and while it's no way perfect, I'd still take this close to great show with its clear flaws that has a clear narrative over the dumpster fire that was the sequel trilogy. My brother had the perfect analogy for this show: you didn't get what wanted on Christmas, but you still enjoyed what you got instead.
A story decision I found bafflingly anticlimactic and haven’t seen anyone mention is that they’re going to this brand new galaxy for the very first time in Star Wars, which should feel like a huge moment… and then they arrive, and the characters just already know ALL of the relevant history and backstory about it. “This is the end of the Purgill’s hyperspace lane, the Homeworks of the nightsisters, etc”. Going to this distant Galaxy didn’t feel any different than visiting any other random planet in The Mandalorian. I only watched the last 4 episodes. I had most of the same gripes as you, especially Ezra not even learning with was Sabine’s fault. I always thought the Rebels creative team had NO clue what to do with Zeb, and the fact that this is all the Rebels main cast EXCEPT Zeb is so distracting. He could’ve just gone with Hera! Just let him sit there without an arc and say a few lines, that was his role for most of Rebels anyways!! Hayden wearing the clone wars armor was cool. It made me happy but I didn’t think it was necessary. The production value was SO cheap. The edges of the volume are so easily identifiable. It’s like they forgot how to use the volume after Mando S2. Anyways, Ahsoka was alright. I loved how they handled Ezra but it was a very mixed bag overall (sorta like Clone Wars and Rebels, honestly). It could’ve been so much better.
Sabine is stuck in another galaxy with turtles, while the person she saves is at home. Of course she's having personal consequences for joining Baylan. Ahsoka had all the nice action and heroics, but Sabine was the most redeemed character after her episode 4 decision, to choosing to stay with Ahsoka
On Baylan, I think his personal mission/vision does not require Shin. She's helpful today, maybe in the bigger picture too, but she doesn't need to know (or even survive) while he's piecing together the grand vision he thinks in his his hands alone. Personally, I don't hate that we're in the dark with her - i might be more meaningful when we learn together. Also... Shin didn't give up when she teamed up with the marauders, she's waiting for Baylan to do his rogue thing. That's how I read. She's a well behaved padowan.
8:57 you're actually a bit incorrect. It is implied by baylan ep4. that ahsoka had a part in why sabine's family died, the line was something along "she didnt listen to you" which could also imply she was learning the force for the4 "wrong reason" maybe to take revenge and for dark emotions ?
I whole-heartedly agree! The "show-not-tell" method is to me what hampered what could have been a much more well-rounded series. It would have been more impactful emotionally, whether or not you've seen Rebels previously.
I'm usually not too nitpicky about characters power scales, but Sabine was clearly struggling to use the Force or even deflect blaster shots in every episode before the last one, and in the finale we see her suddenly being able to do both at almost the same level as Ezra. They try to justify it by having her tell Ahsoka she "kept up with her training", but since they got separated, she essentially spent most of her time locked in the enemy ship, then once freed, spent 2 days searching for Ezra, so I don't see when she is supposed to have been training to reach such a high level in the finale... But my biggest gripe is seeing Ahsoka and Sabine essentially not taking responsibility for having allowed Thrawn to come back and threaten the galaxy (well, it was mostly Sabine's fault to be honest) and just "entrusting" Ezra in dealing with everything in their place.
she already had a connection to the force though? Kanen said it himself? her blockage was her concern and lack of closure with Ezra. Once she confirmed he was alive and well, it makes sense that her connection to the force would improve. i can agree though that it felt rushed.
No it wasn't explained with "kept up with her training" but with Ahsoka being afraid she could UNLOCK her force for the wrong reasons. So she was locked, which was also told by her first force master, the second force master was Ezra, and then Ahsoka (this time for real and long training)...
Exactly They didn't SHOW her keeping up with her training so as far as the audience knows it didn't happen. They could easily have done a scene with sabine training or a flash back to training.
And Ezra looks like a moron one minute he's I don't need a weapon with the Force as my ally and a few minutes later it's gimme that rifle so I can blast these guys
I really like how you covered the show. I liked it overall, but definitely could see how other viewers would be lost without having launched the animated shows.
personally i feel like anakin's lesson mostly try to tell ahsoka to forgo the old jedi creed of sacrifice themselves or someone close for the sake of most people, this clearly falsed creed leeds to the jedi order collapse and why ahsoka wanted to destory the map. the lesson is presented in a way to let ahsoka let go of the fear of war and death, and to regain the courage of fighting against what's evil, even though it could leads to temporary suffering. so aksoka learned all that and later she supported sabine's decision
I actually told my wife that I liked how Anakin's lesson wasn't obvious, because it made it really stick with me and made me think about it a lot more. She replied with utter disbelief that I didn’t find it completely obvious because apparently she didn’t have any trouble at all immediately understanding it. Overall, I think that episode was fantastic.
I didn't hate it but it left a lot wanting. I'd been hoping for an animated sequel to Rebels and that always made the most sense, but sadly Lucasfilm seems to have all but abandoned animation in favor of live action to capture "normie" audiences that would generally ignore animated shows. The only animated show continuing is the Bad Batch. This show would have been so wonderful if it had been a mix of Rebels animation and Clone Wars animation, melding the two eras that Ahsoka lived through. Sadly we'll never see something like this.
This was a great analysis! I came into this show not knowing anything about Ahsoka but was so confused that I went back and watched all of the Rebels series and parts of the Clone Wars series and now love this show (Ahsoka) so much. But it did make me doubt Dave's story telling abilities bc so much of the important backstory was essentially left out or just quickly alluded to. Without knowing these things made the show feel so flat. One thing you didn't mention though was how Ezra kept telling Sabine he's counting on her at the end of Rebels. I thought this meant he was counting on her to find him, which I think was confirmed when he asked her what took her so long when he and Sabine were finally reunited. This, for me, highlighted the real importance behind Sabine's decision to risk so much to get to him. I could be wrong here though and would love to hear your thoughts!
As someone who hasn’t watch Rebels nor Ashoka, it just looks to me that Ashoka is just another Rebels season after a timeskip and is for some reason live action
I really wish the scene where Sabine was finally able to use the force was better. It felt like such a minimal moment despite the show spending so much time on setting it up.
Minimal moment? When she goes from zero to some of the strongest force telekinesis ever shown besides THE OTHER Disney Star Wars brunette female who goes from zero - 10,000 INSTANTLY?
@@hideousruin My guy, what the hell are you talking about? She grabs her lightsaber off the ground and pushes Ezra a little bit in the air. Of course that's not really what I meant. "Minimal" has nothing to do with her power level or whatever, it had to do with the way the sequence was directed. It should've been a big, intense, heroic moment. Sabine should've failed to pull the lightsaber and almost lose consciousness with some intense music and then get her "use the force Luke" moment. Maybe she could've even gotten a dream sequence that emphasized what her failing was and why she hadn't been able to use it up until now, or Ezra could've helped her with a "you can do this Sabine!". That scene has no way, she's been struggling with this for 8 episodes and then she can just suddenly do it and the episode doesn't hang on that or explore it at all.
My mom watches and likes Star Wars show/movies but has never watched the animated shows. She was so confused trying to watch Ashoka. The show does a poor job explaining the history of these characters. A flash back would have helped so much.
This is Dave Filoni as George Lucas and this series was the prequel trilogy. So many awesome ideas but I don't know if the execution of any of them were good. I love the story and ideas so I love the show, but people will rightfully point out how it isn't well executed, and it's a shame.
A thing I noticed is that in rebels the main reason Thrawn failed was because he underestimated the force, in Ahsoka we can see he allows himself to rely on supernatural forces, the witches.
The issues I have with the Ahsoka was the decisions that the show makes, like when Sabine becomes force sensitive which I didn't like at all. Although I still l really like this show despite it's problems and I can't wait for season 2 if it does ever happen
Your last few remarks got me. I was happy watching this and it made me feel like a kid again. Yes I know it’s not perfect or anything like that, but it felt like Star Wars
The whole show is over, and nothing has really happened. ep1 - Thrawn is gonna return, yay. ep 2 -7 - filler ep 8- thrawn is finally back! and hes an idiot! cant wait for season 2! As for the villains, Baylan's motivations are unclear and unexplored. Shin has no personality. Marrok was noone. Thrawn is an absolute idiot, his tactics make no sense. Great mothers are just meh. Morgan Elsbeth was a robot until the last ep, where I actually did feel like she was being manipulated by Thrawn and I felt kinda sad for her (totally out of character for Thrawn to waste her like that btw if u read the books). And the heroes. Ahsoka has no personality. Sabine has no personality. Anakin said a whole bunch of nothing, and his lessons made 0 sense. He should rly be talking to luke and leia, trying to seek forgiveness, but nah, he sticks with ahsoka because the force is female (filoni aligns with this ideology btw for those who didnt think he did) Ezra rly didnt make me feel anything whatsoever. Huyang was actually alright, had some ok lines. Hera was dreadful. Sabine Ahsoka and Hera are nothing like their animated counterparts. Partly because the actors are actually terrible at their job, partly because they look nothing like the animated counterparts. Rebels made these characters so likeable... Ahsoka ruins all that in just 8 episodes. The action was laughable - Pitting anakin against ahsoka higlighted how slow ahsoka really was... they need someone like Nick Gillard to choreograph this. Filoni is pitiful at character development. There was not 1 scene of character development in this show. It was all plot, yet somehow the plot went absolutely nowhere; how is that even possible? The foundation for a true masterpiece was there - They could've used The Grysk Hegemony, The Chiss Ascendancy, Anakin/vader, Ahsoka, Luke, Starkiller, Abeloth, The ones, The Yuuzhan Vong - and due to this show Filoni has ruined it all. I know ppl are just gonna say "why are you mad" or "its not that deep" but they need to realise critisising these stories is how to keep star wars alive. im not mindlessly hating here.
@thegoldman25 A story with no emotional weight. I've watched rebels like 4 times and TCW like 6. I love these characters, especially sabine and ezra. They butchered these characters, having a reunion with just 0 emotion. just from that scene it felt like they last saw each other a week ago. I felt nothing like I did in those shows, the movies, andor, or even the bad batch for gods sake. Thrawns incompetence rly made it seem like the whole plot meant nothing, as he didnt seem much of a threat. i mean really, why not keep ezra in prison for this whole time? why send sabine to find him, as if thrawn couldnt use the mothers to do that for the whole 10 years? And not having his iconic organ theme in the show rly made me sad. on a side note, I love ur videos. Very well laid out, nicely made.
If your gonna summarize plots like that, let me do it for the OT. ANH - heroes have to destroy Death Star. It gets destroyed! ESB - Heroes have to escape from the empire. They escape! ROTJ - Heroes must destroy the second Death Star. They destroy it again!
Mostly agree with your points. Show was disappointing with a few bright spots. The finale was meh and forgettable. Also. It was really weird that Luke wasn't mentioned at all? There's so much content and emotions Ashoka should feel knowing what Vader did before dying. There's so many story points they could have done.
only thing i would have changed is Anakin's lesson Ahsoka, by all means, is still a jedi, from morals to fighting style. But Vader and Baylan are both Jedis utilizing the darkside, leading them to winning against Ahsoka since they understand her fighting and how to use the jedi code against her but she can't do the same So what if Anakin was teaching Ahsoka to use the dark side but in the gray jedi way, of embracing it but not submitting to it, similar to what Baylan is doing. It makes perfect sense for Anakin to be the one teaching that, not because of the context of the situation and because Anakin was one of the most powerful Siths, but also because according to many theories, Qui Gon would have taught Anakin that, so this kind of allowing Anakin teaching the thing he never had the chance to be taught
“Most viewers hadn’t seen the two progressively become closer to each other”. Flip that my guy. Most people watching Ahsoka have most likely seen rebels.
A reminder that both the Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of the Sith are Star Wars stories in where the heroes lose but yet still maintained a hint of optimism at the end. In ESB, it's the heroes (and even Vader) silently reflecting on the revelations and loses, acknowledging their defeats both personal & literal, but hopefully looking out into the galaxy. In Revenge of the Sith, it's showing that while the Galaxy mourns the death of Padme/Vader overseeing the construction of the Death Star, Leia and Luke are handed over to loving families basked in the glow of a warm sunsets. Ahsoka & Sabine allowed Thrawn to escape very likely undoing the Rebel's success/Empire's defeat, yet are smiling at the end while Anakin proudly watches them... like, what?
Yeah that ending is just really confusing, i mean ladies you just make one of the most dangerous mastermind in the entire galaxy return to your home, that old guy will destroy everything and you somehow said “It’s time to move on” like what??? I don’t know maybe she knows that Luke will clap that blue guy, maybe
I love how the New Republic refuses to assist Hera after she confirms the theft of a Star Destroyer engine but then they send 3 big-ass star cruisers to apprehend her after she defies her orders to not investigate further.
Thank you for mentioning the anti-animation bias held by many, at least in America. I have a strong suspicion that a big part of why the early viewership of Ahsoka was low is because a solid chunk of the casual Star Wars fan base has never seen the animated shows, so they don't know who she is, and once they found out that she was a character from an animated property that reduced possible interest in the show even further. I would also add that another big difference between book Thrawn and show Thrawn is that in the books he's far more capable of strategy & tactics that completely outclass & outmatch his opponents while also conserving/protecting those under his command. I get that he could be a bit rusty after 10 years in exile, & that Rebels was more geared towards kids so you kind of HAVE to nerf him a bit. But this is his big debut to a wider audience. His tactics should have had the power-scaling effect similar to the first time we see Thanos in Infinity War, where he almost immediately bodies the Hulk & kills Loki.
We need an animated spin off starring Tiya Sircar and Ashley Eckstein that starts immediately after Rebels Season 4 and ends after Ahsoka abandons Sabine after the Purge of Mandalore with her going to Lothal for the next seven years until Ahsoka, about their adventures together, the kind of relationship they built, what they did together. Fill in those gaps that Filoni loves to open.
It was clearly stretched out well beyond what the screenwriters had. They had maybe 4 45 minute episodes and they stretched it out to eight. As has been stated elsewhere, you had to watch a lot of the filoni-verse to be in the loop at the beginning of series. They also did default "stoic" mannerisms when they couldn't think of how to get the Jedi to behave like real people.
yup and even then they wasted it cause nothing of value happened and nothing was gained Plot ------- Nothing of value happened in the entire show Thrawn showing back up could be a news reel at the start of the intro on any text scroll our main characters didn't do anything, allowed them to escape and LOST and yet no feeling of tension or dread exists in that realization the stupidity throughout the show makes it apparent how little care is in this series Characters ------- Sabine : our resident Mary Sue. Throughout all of it does whatever she wants, screws over the galaxy and finds the boy... ... to do what, nothing at all. WHY FIND EZRA? just cause she missed him, no ROMANCE, no HUG, No KISS, why risk everything, why is he so important. Its so telling by the fact nothing of value occurred by the end. Ezra: our resident Beta. All through his return he's passive, not allowed to use his "lightsaber" i.e. his phallic object he gives to Sabine cause he's a beta and loses constantly. by the end he runs into Hera and again no reaction, why are these characters so afraid of actual relationship and physical interaction. Really is telling of these writers to do NOTHING with this. he doesn't feel like he's trained at all or done anything to grow, he feels weak in comparison to NO FORCE POWERED SABINE Ahsoka: Our resident Gandalf the WHITE. Somehow she goes on a spritiual journey to become "ascended" by .... doing nothing at all. Literally never has worries or doubts, doesn't reflect on previous actions or actually grow. The only loss she has is to Baylan and that's to push the plot to a nostalgia bait episode where nothing happens for a near hour and somehow that's enough to make her strong. This is classic MARY SUE writing, nothing happens yet now 100x stronger. SHOUNEN ANIME HAS BETTER POWER BOOST MOMENTS THAN THIS (not that they're all bad but sometimes...) Baylan: he doesn't do anything the entire time yet is the most loved, really is telling. his apprentice: doesn't do anything the entire time yet is liked, really is telling Main villain girl: can't remember her name. WHY is she here. Same goes as Baylan, same drive to do, less powers, abilities, henchmen or purpose. LITERALLY ONLY HERE FOR A GIRL FIGHT A THE END. This is what we call Fake Feminism, doing tired and trite things to artificially seem "woke" or "progressive". so meaningless that Thrawn doesn't even care Thrawn: our resident DUMBASS of the group. ALL his plans are stupid. Why didn't he kill Ezra sooner, why didn't he use the night sisters to find them inside his ship or location and circle box them in? Why did he leave right away. Why didn't he kill Sabine immediately. ONE REASON - THE WRITERS AREN'T SMART and so they can't write an intelligent character. A dumb person can if they think about it for a long time then write the character to do it in far less amount of time but they're aren't even smart enough to do THAT. THERES NO THREAT IN THIS PUDGY VERSION OF THRAWN, READ THE BOOKS INSTEAD Agenda ----- People always act like this doesn't exist in modern Hollywood. Same Hollywood praising Cuties movie and we know of the pedo wring and epstein and harvey winestein's yet somehow ppl think this show is immune. Obvious girl power fake feminism: the resident MISANDRY of the show. Every time Hera calls out the male guy (who's right every single time) they act like its the best burn of the series "haha gottem" when she's done everything wrong. Same reason Thrawn doesn't do anything and just lets the night SISTERS do it, same reason the final fight for Ahsoka is another woman, same reason SABINE lets Ezra die on that ship to help ahsoka for a cheap GIRL POWER scene, same reason SABINE is never called out for endangering the galaxy for a boy. the modern agenda is women can do no wrong, if they do its a man's fault, can't be consequenced ever and any calling of it must be cheaply hand waived "you didn't listen to orders" Hera: "have u ever been to war" THATS NOT A RESPONSE TO THE PREVIOUS HERA, YOU'RE STILL WRONG The Force Retcon ------- ANYONE CAN USE THE FORCE NOW remember when we saw NOT force ghost Han Solo, well this whole time he COULD of been but whoops didn't retcon back then remember importance of Gideons' plan to use clones to gain the force, WHOOPS he could of just trained to gain it all along remember the improtance of Grogu WHOOPS anyone could of done, i mean why not why not train everyone, SABINE WITH NO HINT OF CONNECTION MANAGED IN A WEEK "now its not tied to lineage/skywalker/palpatine" IT NEVER WAS but if you're tellling a big story you use the BIGGEST ELEMENTS OF THAT STORY overall its just horrendous as a series
The probem isn't The Ahsoka series, rather the limitations of Disney Plus via The Volume in general. And the lack of actually shooting on real locations, where you have more creative freedom as a film maker, actor, & witer. In Rebels it never felt miniscule regarding the possibilities, however the D+ (Live action) counterpart does. Only Andor broke free from relying on The Volume. For example we see Thrawn & The Night sisters for 3 episodes straight not move from the spot there standing at. D+ isn't doing Star War's or Marvel justice! Not to mention every ambitious D+ (Live series) thus far except Andor feels boxed in, very linear, like a video game, & 99.9% of the series & episodes are far too short to wrap up any narrative in rewarding fashion. In fact 8 episodes isn't a season; Ahsoka needed to be 12 Episodes, at best. In fact season 1's story was too ambitious for D+. Imagine Andor being 8 Episodes instead of 12, with the same script, & relying heavily on The Volume. It would of been detrimental to the story & overall experience.
@@musa7606 Andor proved my point. Imagine Andor with 8 Episodes instead of 12, not to mention relying solely on The Volume using the same script? It would of been a disaster and no where as revered under those limitations for the film makers, writers, & actors stuck in that box.
@@SwaggerLikeUz The length of Andor was not it's quality. It's script was it's quality. You could have cut several episodes out of Andor and it would have still been a really good story. The problem with Ahsoka wasn't that it needed more story, it needed better story.
For your interpretation of episode 5 I mostly agree however it was clear to me that Ahsoka had lost her will to live and needed it to be restored and that's all that Anakin knew he didn't know why she lost the will to live and he had to learn and understand what she was struggling with just as much as she did so it makes sense for it to be confusing to most people but to me it was clear the lesson was not as simple as realise that Anakin was a jedi and that his teaching will not make a sith, it was more about accepting who Anakin truly is and by extent accepting herself and Sabine for who they are. I respect that you at least noticed that it wasn't just about Anakin so many people just view that episode as retreading ground that was already covered in The Clone Wars and Rebels and write it off as "nostalgia bait" so at least you didn't do that.
I guess the times are gone when people actually cared about good writing,and actors who ACTED, not just cared about seeing their favorite cartoon characters in live action.
@Devlinsky, Except Ashoka has gotten plenty of criticisms, despite the plays on nostalgia and returning characters in live action. What are you even talking about??
I watched most of Clone Wars and just the base highlights of Rebels. But, even not knowing the Rebels characters besides Ahsoka, I did in fact enjoy the show! It's almost like all the empty references you get in the prequels before Clone Wars existed. I liked Thrawn from the canon novels and the callbacks to those were really cool!
I'm holding my opinions for this show until we get more seasons. The reception for Ashoka practically parallels season 1 of Rebels. As a Star Wars fan since birth the show so far is pretty good. But I understand how a new fan can be frustrated with having to watch 2 whole animated shows as homework to understand what is going on. But one that we can all agree on is that the lightsaber choreography is spectacular.
I hated the Stormtroopers zombies, mostly because the lightsaber is one of the best possible weapons for fighting zombies... but since this is Disney, dismemberment is no longer allowed. The fact that Ezra and Sabine and Ahsoka weren't just chopping those stormtroopers into literal pieces just totally broke my immersion while watching it, especially considering how thematic dismemberments are pretty central to Star Wars as a series.
Especially because it was a big thing when they were brought back to life... Only to provide zero challenge to anyone. That's the problem with all these shows: there are no consequences, nobody is at risk, nothing matters. Oh... And everyone is completely stupid lol
I was surprised at seeing Sabine using the force at all... BUT... i kinda love the idea of a clumsy force user is an escalation of power to her Mnadalorian teaching. The force won't make her a jedi, but can make her the most interesting mandalorian ever.
I enjoyed the story and the performances. I thought the pacing was off and the story could've been told in 6 episodes. I really like Filoni but his background in animation really showed. I think he did fairly well for his first go at a live action series. No problems better story and film editors wouldn't fix.
I completely agree with everything you’ve said. Some of the flaws (like telling instead of showing), however, I think are due to the first season having so few episodes, thus “shortcuts” had to be made in order to tell the story within the allotted time. Unfortunately, those shortcuts also contributed to the show’s shortcomings.
Are Disney haters tired from constantly moving their goalposts yet? The Force Awakens: “Rey is a Mary Sue because she basically had no training and her she can use the force” Ahsoka: “Sabine is a Mary Sue because she wasn’t force sensitive when we met her and she barely pulled off two moves after over a decade of training” Please make it make sense.
Easily. Rey is a Mary Sue because she was able to do things with little effort Same with Sabine. You cannot just become Force Sensitive, because if you could, Jedi/Sith wouldn't look for kids with Force potential. According to Disney, everyone has the Force, so why wouldn't a Jedi/Sith just take anyone they want and train them? That's easy. Because it's a lie. Either you are Sensitive or you're not. Sabine is a Mary Sue because she was never Force Sensitive before, yet somehow became Force Sensitive? (Thus breaking the rules of the universe, which is indeed Mary Sue) Even enough to Force lift a human being without even struggling.
As always Gold Man, love the content. The way I see it there are things that hold this show back. Its the nostalgia bait Clone Wars throw backs that have no meat on them and Ashoka herself. I cant help but think that having litteraly any other character in that role would make the whole thing better.
Yes, yes all sounding very good and thought out. My question is when are people going to stop thinking harder about how to make good Star Wars shows than the people that actually make them? They dont care and the sooner fans realise this the better off we all are.
What’s up gold man! I really liked your interpretation of Ashoka’s arc in episode 5 because that really had me scratching my head. A lot of this show could’ve been fixed by the minor tweaks you’ve suggested because I feel like the biggest issues in this show stem from strange information flow
Zeb should've accompanied Hera along with Carson. I highly doubt Hera didn't tell Zeb what she was doing and if she did, it is a silent character assassination for Zeb, he wouldn't have stayed behind, he would've been right there to help
What confuses is me is Sabine's relationship with Ezra. Eventhough he states he "sees her as a sister", watching the show, Sabine's actions come more as lonely young woman who's developed romantic feelings for him and many of the scenes they have together have a romantic tone to them. If anything, it makes more sense for development and it would make their comlicated relationship interesting, propably the most interesting relationship in Star Wars due to how lenthy is it to develop to the point, the possible romance between them would feel earned and powerful. In Rebels, it was mostly on Ezra's part rather Sabine, but in the epilouge, she touched the mural, which seems to indicate she might've fallen for him after he dissapeared. I think it would an interesting character arc for her going forward, a boy who fell for her only to be rejected, yet she ended up falling for him even harder, yet he dosen't know it. That's a call for great story. Hopefully, we'll see more build up to fix this problem.
One (small) thing that really annoys me about the Mandoverse is beskar. In the Clone Wars and Rebels you see Mandalorians getting shot and sliced with lightsabers left, right and centre. Then the Mandalorian gets armour made of ”pure” beskar, which deflects everything. At least, I assumed it was the purity that made the difference. Then Boba Fett and Bo-Katan come in with their newly-indestructable armour and now Sabine is blocking blaster shots with her gauntlets. It just feels a bit cheap.
I always thought lore wise is because most mandos used beskar-plastesteel alloys because of the cost. So it basically didn’t retain much of the original strength or unique properties. We see a lot of people with pure armor from old families. We see how week the imperial mando armor was as well in rebels for example.
First time commenting on one of your videos, thank you for a great breakdown! While I didn't agree with everything you said, I think your rewrite and the way you pointed out the highlights and flaws was presented perfectly. Well done Gold! 🙂
I think the show should've been animated for once you wouldn't have to explain a lot of things because people already would've watched rebels and clone wars. It would alos have given a lot of potential for more episode, more writers for giving the characters better characterization, we would've gotten Zeb since it is much cheaper and much other things which would've made the show the best thing it could've been.
“Live or Die” part also confused me at the beginning. But remember the time when Ahsoka dueled Vader in Rebels. We didn’t know if she survived that duel, Filoni left us with a cliffhanger. Then one of the events, we saw him wearing a t-shirt “Ahsoka Lives?”. Then he wear the other t-shirt to confirm it, “Ahsoka Lives”. She was a character who was not meant to be exist. Anakin never meant to have a padawan, it is against the plot of Episode III. Filoni originally designed her to be a temporary companion for Anakin in the animated TCW movie. George Lucas himself wanted her to be his padawan. Fans expected her to die in the end of TCW series but she just went to an exile and survived order 66. Her being alive is against every rule, yet still she is alive. World between Worlds was only introduced to keep her alive. So yes back to Anakin’s lesson, “Live or Die”. She answers “I choose to live”, which I interpret as her attempt to challenge everything and even the Star Wars canon itself, she chooses to survive.
"Filoni originally designed her to be a temporary companion for Anakin in the animated TCW movie." that doesn't make any sense when the TWC wasn't made to be a movie until the last minute by industry standards. It was suppose to be the first three episodes of the main series but lucas wanted a movie
I think the reason people don't like the continuity of the shows and the necessity to watch 2 animated shows before it is the fact that they are not movies, but long running shows... there is a difference between watching 4 movies to understand the next one, and watching 2 shows with a combined 11 seasons of content... of course there also the fact that these shows are animated, which doesn't help (I love these shows, but I wouldn't recommend them to my parents for example, and if watching them is a requirement, then I can't recoment Ashoka either).
Thank you for giving this show a considered perspective! Too many reviewers and critics just bashed it with buzzwords. The show has flaws but it's not the travesty against Star Wars most want to paint it as
Even if Ahsoka and Sabine never really spoke to each other on screen, you have to remember that they spent a lot of time on the same ship so they definitely spoke off screen
That’s the thing though, it was off screen. We never got to see them develop together, so them being master and apprentice seems quite sudden. Especially when Ahsoka and Sabine never appeared to be very close, with Ahsoka spending more time with Kanan and Ezra. I had the same reaction as Ezra when it was said (not shown) that Ahsoka took Sabine on as an apprentice, and I never cared for it. It focuses more on Sabine anyway. Problem is it *could* have been the Ahsoka show if they just… showed Ahsoka more.
i personally enjoyed the show alot i didnt really realise many of the flaws and i think that speaks volumes of how good the show was ( although im usually like that ) however i did have some flaws personally i prefer the first half of the season. i never watched the clone wars or rebels when they released infact i only found out star wars had shows outside of lego back in 2019 and it was star wars theorys breakdown of mandalorian season 1 episode 4 and i thought it was a breakdown of a fan film personally the show fell into the trap the obi wan show did and made the first half of the show feel one way and the other half feel the other. while it was good overall if i go to rewatch the episodes im more likely to go to episodes 1-4 rather than episodes 5-8 not that episodes 5-8 are bad they most certainly are not but thrawn is what carryed those episodes in the time of the show being worse than the prievous half in my opinion. episode 5 is the episode i have the most problems with. i know alot of people love it but i as stated before do not have the connection to ahsoka and the clone wars the only clone wars show i have watched in full is the 2003 one. i have watched the movie and most of season 1 of the 2008 show but i remember almost nothing from the movie and with the first season i remember nothing aside from a few small things. the only connection i had to ahsoka was through rebels, mandalorian, book of boba, tales of the jedi and alot of lore videos, mainly rebels as i watched all of that ( infact i had to rush through season 4 in a month to catch up for ahsoka given i had only watched the prievous 3 seasons. ) episode 5 was hindered terribly by episode 4 being one of if not the best episode of the series its a top 3 for sure and so with the confusing lesson most the episode about the nostolgia and finding ahsoka the only reason to watch it is to know why she has her knew outfit, why she is all of a sudden more like her old self and how she got to the new galaxy in episode 7. and if your a massive clone wars fan to see your favourites in live action. ill now go over the heroes ahsoka personally given i dont have the connection to her and when i watched rebels season 2 it was a few years back i dont remember much of how she was originally so i personally prefer her flawed and darker personality in the first half of the series it added many layers that made me enjoy the character way way more than after she became ahsoka the white in which i still enjoyed her alot but not as much i know it was essential to her character but i do wish they made the transition smoother. this aint doctor who where you regenerate and you get the new personality where as in doctor who it happens at the end of the series making you not feel different about the series mid season unlike what ahsoka and obi wan did sabine at first i wasnt too sure on sabine and hera with how they were adapted but as time went on i became fine with them it was mainly the personality i had issue with but the actress did an amazing job of conveying the emotion sabine had and i do hope they bring her in for other star wars projects that will include sabine even if it takes place during the empire. personally im not a big fan of her being able to use the force the moment is great and i do enjoy it but it feels too fast the series seems to happen over the course of a week or month or even a few days which is not enough time to go from not being able to move a cup to pull a lightsaber and then push a human, and then sense someones presence after they are dead. i would have much preferred if they showed her in the ship having a 'rematch' with the cup and it starts to shake a bit before cutting to black and ending the episode there it would have felt more realistic but i do still like how they did it in the episode even if i think it could of been handled better. not that i dont mind sabine using the force i just think it happened too fast. huyang he was another highlight of the show. he made for some great comedic moments ( example being the moment where hera tells sabine to extract the memory of the hk assassin in episode 2 after they were warned it could blow up and kill them and huyang tells her because shes a hologram ), great emotional moments, great mentor moments, basicly everytime he was on screen he made the moment great. and it is so good they got david tennant back to voice him. i think the fact huyang is basicly the doctor in star wars makes him so great. hera hera was greatly adapted. like sabine i wasnt too sure with her personality at first but as the show went on i understood it was great casting choice and like sabine i wish they get her in for other things. basicly this goes for everyone on the list ( except with ray stevenson given he passed away if he hadn't he would be on this. may he rest in peace ) chopper chopper made for some of the best comedic moments in episode 2 i wish he was utilized more but ah well he was great when he was on screen i just wish we saw more of him and was made to be a bit more like in animation he didnt feel quite right to me jacen i personally loved jacen in this series he proved vital to it and he had a good relationship with hera, chopper, ahsoka and huyang he felt very believe able especially with that scene where huyang is taking him inside of his ship and jacen keeps asking him questions and huyang replys with yes' and no's ezra my god was ezra translated well into live action. he has been the best translated character from none live action to live action so far. emam esfandi did such a good job he made it seemless and there were moments that felt so ezra and so rebels like the moment when hes trying to surrender to shin and shin ignores it and trys to order the troops to fire on them which feels like something ripped out of rebels. ill quickly go over the villains thrawn i cant really make my mind up on thrawn. i personally have only seen the heir to the empire animation and only finished chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the heir to the empire audio tape or book so idk. i wont state my opinions because i honestly dont even know what they are but i think they did thrawn well. morgan elsbeth she became really interesting and i wish we saw her use nightsister magick when fighting ahsoka it was a perfect chance to show her skill with magick given we only really know she can use telekinesis, can hear things from another galaxy and can hold her own against ahsoka. going into the finale there were 3 characters i didnt want to die. baylan, morgan and shin i didnt care much if thrawn survived or not because we knew he would and we knew he would escape. overall i wish we get to see more of morgan elsbeth and see her backstory i would love a series explaining her origins and seeing her during grievous' purge of dathomir baylan skoll and shin hati these characters were the highlight of the series. every single time they were on screen they stole the show especially baylan they also held a more fatehr and daughter relationship rather than a master apprentice relationship overall you know how great these characters are so i dont really need to say much more. marrok marrok was underwhelming for me and i think it was due to all the "who is marrok?" theorys. i did anticipate he would be his own character but that didnt mean i also didnt get theorising. i personally wish he survived until the end of the series i think one of the major reasons the series started to wobble on the feeling on the second half was due to marroks absence. i know alot of people believe he was something related to morgan with nightsister magick but i think he is a filar-nitzan and if that is so he is one powerful in the force if he can enhance his strength many billions of times and same with his speed. overall the series was great and there were few flawed parts but it was still great. so i give it a 10/10! i also forgot to mention we should have seen zeb and kallus they were very important in rebels and i think we should have seen them here
I 100% agree with you that the ending of the animated show Rebels would of been an excellent opener to the live action series Ahsoka! Fans of Rebels would of loved to see some of their characters briefly in live action as their younger selves and then the new audience would of been amazed and more curious as to what had happened in the past and what might take place in the future!
The fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a "previously in Star Wars" and Ahsoka didnt have anything of the sort was a little crazy to me. I agree that seeing Ezra and Thrawn being taken to the other galaxy in Live action would have served a lot of things better later in the show. The fact that they even had young Ezra in the hologram means they had all the resources necessary to just film that one scene..
Interesting video, but the response on 'why doesn't everyone use the Force' misses the mark fairly severely as taking that literally creates a bunch of worldbuilding problems, given the powers the Force makes possible. Sure, it's hard to learn, lets stick with your analogy of being an NBA player. There are 450 active NBA players at any time. Let's assume that they're actually recruiting from the entire planet (and putting aside the vast number of people who play basketball, but not at an NBA level. That's 450/8 billion, or an NBA player being about a 1 NBA player for 18 million people. With 10,000 Jedi, that gives us a galactic population of 180 billion people--less than the population of Coruscant. And that's without getting into the question of 'why in the world isn't every military, judiciary, religious, cultural, commercial and criminal group in the galaxy training up Force users?' All of those groups historically and currently train people to quite high levels of performance for minimal advantages over their competitors. If being an NBA player gave you the ability to compel people to speak, change their behavior, evade or reflect bullets, heal, sense the past, control animals and sense the future...you'd darn well see every military on the planet running their people through dribbling drills. Yes, the Force is hard to train for, but the advantages are absolutely massive. If you can train basically anyone to do it, then they should be training as many people as possible, but that basically never happens. This is a world-building issue going forward. Going backwards, one could continue the character assassination of the Jedi and simply take the view that they restrict training to only their self-selected elite, but that doesn't work going forward and unless they're planning to make Force users a lot more common (I don't think they are) they've got a problem.
Ahsoka was very mediocre. Most of it I was actually boring. So much of lost potential... it's basicly a teaser for Filoni's movie, which I'm not hyped for, because he proved, that he cannot make an engaging live action series. He should stick to the animations, where some things as childish scenario and simplifications are understandable. I actually wasn't feeling any emotions and connection to characters. I just hated Sabine in this series. She was so selfish, arrogant and childish, that it blowed my mind. Not any consequences of her actions. Ahsoka even didn't bother to tell her she did wrong, gush... Maybe if they announced the movie later, after the finale, it would be better. Andor is still the only Disney SW series, that I will comeback for rewatch
I think one things to keep in mind is that these shows are continous storytelling. Not everything is wrapped up on the last episode, story archs often last multiple seasons.
I kinda don't get the point of it being bad cuz you have to watch stuff from before to understand it or the difference of stuff being animated or not. personally animation and life action is interchangable and the prerequired watching not an issue cuz it is part of a grander franchise and if you don't wanna be invested in it then I don't see the big point of watching this one show anyway
A live action show shouldn’t have the same bland acting and writing as an animated show, therefore they aren’t interchangeable. Bad acting and writing is harder to spot and easier to ignore in an animated show but in live action, you can really see that filoni doesn’t know how to write a show at all
also at the end you seem to agree on the prerequired watching shouldn't be a problem since you specifically ackowledge the advantage of having this wider franchise
This is what a proper review is. Not calling it a masterpiece and calling it a day, nor calling it trash and calling it a day.
Pointing out all the positives and negatives, in detail, explain Why the positives are a positive, and why the negatives are a negative, and having a good understanding of the material you review.
Well but it was trash
@@blackjesus_88Disagree. It’s no Andor but it also isn’t Boba Fett.
@@blackjesus_88 It wasn't a good show, and in my own opinion not as good as Gold Man believes, but still a cut above trash. At least compared to Boba Fett and Willow (tv series).
@@austingreen1274 I agree but watching boba fett with my friends was one of the most ironically funny experiences I've ever had. This was just dull.
@@austingreen1274this
So Hera disobays orders from Mon Mothma and gets people killed but saved by Leia when she's about to lose her rank as general, but Poe gets slapped in the face?
Honestly, it smacks of laziness. I thought pitting Hera against the senators of the New Republic - the cause she fought for most of her adult life - would be a cool little subplot and add a new dimension to her character. She's an experienced commander used to doing things her own way, but now we see her getting stifled by bureaucrats and politicians at a time when she's convinced the galaxy itself in is mortal danger. What if they'd let the court-martial end with her losing her rank, and even Mon Mothma deciding to back the decision? Would she have gone rogue? Turned mercenary? How would this affect her relationship with Ashoka? No, we're just throwing all that beautiful potential out the window because someone doesn't want to put in the effort.
Ezra is BY FAR my favorite adapted character from animation, he had such a joyful energy to him. He was perfect. And I loved his force Kung fu
Yes, he's exactly what an older and stranded on an isolated planet for 10 years Ezra should be, right?
@@anonymous-hz2un😂
What really bugged me about him is that he was so incredibly agreeable. He literally sacrificed himself to remove Thrawn from the galaxy. Then Sabine proceeds to ignore his sacrifice because she misses him so much, allows Thrawn to get back to the galaxy and Ezra just sits there and nods. Why? Why isn't he upset in the slightest that she disrespected his sacrifice? Why isn't he digging further when Sabine doesn't wanna tell him how she got there? He just always sits there like a little boy and takes what he gets. I think they got him wrong.
Also he wasn't a character. He didn't bring any internal struggles to the table. If I was separated from everyone I know and have to live on my own for a decade I'd turn crazy. He was just there, no conflict, no interests, no nothing
@@Reorganiserhe was probably just too happy seeing sabine again to care in that moment
@@Reorganiser Because he specifically asked her to bring him back. He undid his own sacrifice by asking Sabine to bring him back. If he told Sabine "hey, don't bring me back" she would have respected that, but that's not what happened at all. His first lines to her are "it sure took you long enough", which means he was fully expecting to come back to the known galaxy.
I really appreciate the way that you give GENUINE criticism and give credit where it’s due. Your points are great. They should hire you!
Thank you!
You're SOOO right... showing (a recreation of) the end of rebels would have helped so many viewers!!! I was surprised how much this drew from Rebels (and Clone Wars to a lesser point)... your idea would have likely clinched it. When Sabine is looking upon the mural from Rebels (and in the animated art style), it's reduced to an easter egg. I'm with you Gold Man.
agreed, I watched it with my mum and i spent half the time just explaining who everyone was, the significance of the relationships and other things
Dude! 100% agree that they should have duplicated the ending of Rebels as the first scene in Ahsoka.
The problem with Sabine using the force isn’t the fact that she isn’t force sensitive and that George said everyone could use it. It has to do with the fact that Sabine clearly didn’t put in the effort, discipline, or dedication to learning how to use it. I think of force sensitivity as like having a talent in something, it’s like you have a head start to getting to a certain level in that skill, which is why Jedi have to train so much just to use the force. So that’s why I feel it was lazy and stupid to make Sabine able to use the force so quickly when she didn’t put in the effort or training to get there. Example: Luke had to train for a whole year by himself between a new hope and empire strikes back, and that was just to barely lift a lightsaber, and he was the son of Anakin so he was one of the most powerful force sensitives at the time and even he struggled to use it
You're one of the more truthful people, everybody else is just lapping up the Sabine slop, good for them though
@@dutchrjenout ya damn mind if you think I’m reading all that
@@dutchrjen not my fault you’re out here writing goddamn Winds of Winter in the comment section
Lucas did not say anyone and everyone can use it. Wtf are you talking about
@@dutchrjen can’t take a joke I see, my fault for expecting someone writing their college thesis in a comment section to recognize when someone’s fucking with them.
I think what could have been much more interesting in Sabine and Ahsoka bonding over their shared trauma of being child soldiers thrust into a galactic war from dying faiths and cultures.
Oh, yes. That would have been GOOOD!!!
This show should have been animated.
It still wouldn’t have been good
Frozen 2 was animated and it was pretty meh/mediocre.
I agree with you and they should change actors as well
@@progamerj01 matt should have replaced hayden
@@TheCjHEntertainment_PlusMaybe, but I don't think it was possible for them to do that (unless Ashoka was an animated show, then it is possible)
I feel like a lot of TH-camrs are only looking at the show in isolation or viewer counts and saying it's a bad show. As a massive SW fan I personally really liked it and this is the first video I've seen where I feel the creator understood Ashoka in its context of a larger story.
The moment the writers gave Sabine force powers is the most disappointing for me so far. From someone not being able to pick a cup with the force to someone force-grabbing her lightsaber and force-pushing a grown man onto a Star Destroyer without proper build-up, background or foreshadowing, I call horse sh*t right then and there.
Think about it, back in Episode 2, Huyang said that "based on his experience, she (Sabine) had the lowest aptitude for the force". Heck, even in the next episode, Ahsoka even said, "I don't need Sabine to be a Jedi." So what is this, the writers all of a sudden forgot what they wrote a few episodes back and decided to contradict everything? Have they written the finale as a separate piece because that's how they wanted the show to end?
Some "fans" have pointed out that Peridea is a force nexus planet as the reason as to why Sabine was able to use the force. If that were the case, Ezra should have been more powerful than he should, since in an episode, he said "the force is all I need" but no, the writers made him use a blaster, got his ass kicked once by Shin and instead of leading, he was following Ahsoka's orders and plans all throughout.
Sabine being able to use the force in the finale was like the real life equivalent of "an individual with no musical aptitude, with only one week-worth of piano training, was suddenly put as the lead pianist on an orchestra, then suddenly performs like a musical prodigy because the situation demanded him to". In the realm of screenwriting, it sounds like a plot contrivance just to drive their story around and push it forward.
I think I disagree, in my eyes allowing Sabine to use the Force is a pretty good idea. I love the approach that Lucasfilm is taking with having everyone be theoretically able to use the force although talent does matter quite a lot. It has already been hinted at in Rebels with Kanan literally saying that Sabine could use the Force but doesn't open herself up to it. And that is also the whole character arc Sabine was going on in the show. She's struggled again and again with using the Force because she wasn't open to it. But when it mattered, she trusted the Force and opened herself up completely, allowing her to do what she did. I honestly think it's a great decision, as long as they don't force her down the traditional Jedi path but instead let her be herself
@bernardliquete9292 I agree with this comment.
I hate the idea that everyone can use the force. It takes out the magic of chracters that are fine without it. I don't think there is nothing wrong with the force being a special thing. There is something wrong with only being special if you wield it, thats what they were going here. And the analogy with being a force user and being FIT is not a good one. I mean, look at the amount of people that are actually fit in our world? Look at the very distinct levels of FIT that we have. Now look how the force was firstly portrayed as something misterious and mythical although the universe has quadrillions of population. How when a Jedi does a simple trick that is impressive to the ones around....
I couldn't disagree more with the idea that Sabine's force-sensitive arc was "...without proper build-up, background or foreshadowing." They had been foreshadowing it constantly in conversations, backstory, choreography, etc. Everything from her being able to find Ashoka during her training while blind folded, to the Night Sisters immediately telling Morgan Elsbeth, "It reeks of Jedi" when referring to Sabine. The background was that Ashoka and Sabine had been traveling/training for likely years, which was referenced/alluded-to several times.
What it sounds like is that some people don't want Sabine to be force sensitive and are ignoring all the elements in the story that lead to that payoff.
You're brains are scrambled eggs. You're failure to understand force sensitivity will lead you to disappointment no matter what.
You hit the nail on the head i think! Showing the "ezra saves lothal" scene at the beginning would have made the entire series feel so much more important & fleshed out. Also would have been a very epic way to start a season. REBELS fans would have adored it & casual fans would have felt more invited into this world. Such a shame these issues weren't recognised when making th show. One of my main problems with the show was stripping Ahsoka of what makes her awesome, especially her jumps & leaps. Was so disappointed she was watered down especially considering her intro in mando S2 was near perfect.
While it had its good and bad moments I haven’t felt this connected to Star Wars in such a long time. Truly felt like the fandom came together week after week
Really? Bc I didn't like this series that much, but I also don't like rebels
It was so nice to see the fandom get so excited to see familiar characters. Especially how happy they are when Anakin shows up to continue mentoring Ashoka.
This is exactly it. Not every show has to be a cinematic masterpiece like Andor, but it is awesome having an outlandish story with familiar characters that is just exciting fun connecting with the audience. Both can and should exist.
Unfortunately I believe the ratings say otherwise.
Whar?
The finale had a stunning lack of Baylan Skoll. They tease us with this new character, a fresh perspective on the Jedi-Sith dynamic, and the potential for something greater, then they leave us hanging at the last episode with just one shot of the man looking over some statues. If they had added more, like say, Shin goes back to Baylan and tells her that she'd rather be with him because the Empire ditched her, and then Baylan explained his true purpose on Peridea, that would've worked.
Yea it got washed out near the end where it was just the three Jedi vs some stormtroopers and an old lady lmao. They needed like an epic scene with Baylan and Shin where maybe Shin gets killed or someone gets very hurt but survives.
I think it's another area where yet again there is just too much reliance on previous series, showing the force triad from one episode of the clone wars needed some background
@@xdlukas People who didn't watch TCW won't know what the heck that is.
Or the new galaxy creatures there should be more cool creative things there
Anakin’s lesson to me of “live or die” was layered.
It’s everything that you said of course, but it’s also to choose to live in the sense of someone losing their optimism choosing to regain it. Choosing to have hope, to have attachments, and to enjoy life for yourself that makes saving it for others more fruitful and relatable. The way she was before she found out about Anakin.
Anakin is reminding her of what the Jedi stood for before the war, and how to be peacekeepers.
But I feel like it being vague and confusing and up for debate while also being so seemingly surface level in the simple phrasing of “live or die” is peak Star Wars mysticism
The problem is none of that fits with Ahsoka's character because nothing about the show previously implies or even hints that Ahsoka has some kind of inner conflict. Classic mediocre Filoni storytelling.
@@dancingvalkyrie The end of the journey and the implied arc itself make sense, but yeah, jumping into this arc years later after her return from the WBW is underwhelming and leaves both new fans and fans of her other appearances confused. Better idea than execution
the this of her being this free jedi and what the jedi should be like kanan, qui-gon etc is cool, but they have to... show it. which they just didnt. also that character point has been explored so much in TCW too
ah yes, it is better to live than die is so deep and layered. You guys are on so much copium
Y’all can’t decide what anakin meant, y’all be saying anything. 😂
It nice to hear a A positive review on Ahsoka after hearing and seeing nothing but negativity against the ahsoka show like from people like critical drinker and the little platoon
I’m also in the camp of preferring that Sabine was never force sensitive. It feels too much like something that was shoehorned in to create a master-apprentice relationship.
Furthermore it was never implied or hinted at in Rebels. She was in the company of Kanan since the start of the show and he never once did any jedi training with her. This is different from a Anakin, Luke or a Rey who begin their story as an ordinary person with no pre-established media to refer to, so they are a blank slate that can be developed upon, i.e. you can have them discover they are force sensitive and it doesn’t contradict any prior media.
It also spits in the face that she is a Mandalorian. The whole reason the Dark Saber is even a thing is the fact it represents the inherent contradiction that Tarre Vizsla being both a Jedi and Mandalorian really is. If they had planned for her to be Force Sensitive from the start, she should have never given away the dark saber.
I loved this show, it’s probably my favorite of the live action series. Seeing Hayden on screen again, thrawn, the fact that Dave still gives Ahsoka amazing character development 15 years later and after 2 series is crazy to me. I’m finally excited for the future of this era of Star Wars again
There was much that was lacking, and the primary problem that I had was the “Tell-Don’t-Show” that they did with A. Ashoka and Sabine’s backstory interactions B. why everyone is worried about Thrawn and C. Why Ezra is so important
i came around to accepting the casting choice for Thrawn. i thoroughly enjoyed Baylan, and I was very happy with the flashback lessons because clones!!!!
overall, id give Ashoka s1 a 7/10 (the clones bumped it up from a 6)
Maybe I'm the weird one here lol, but for me personally this show lost its tension the further on it went. Especially with the whole "will Thrawn escape" plot, I was actually WANTING him to escape, because Thrawn is a fascinating character and I would love to see where that goes. So there was never the question, "will he/won't he?" for me - I figured he probably was, or else the whole build up would mean nothing. And with Ezra, whether they would find him, yeah, I was anticipating what they would do with that...but Sabine finds him so quickly (which wouldn't have bothered me too much if it wasn't for how they both reacted. If she made this galaxy-shattering decision to work with the bad guys, why isn't she more emotional?).
For me, I wish Thrawn's escape would have been presented as an inevitable conclusion, especially once Sabine decides not to destroy the map. The show could have focused more on Thrawn's terrifying brilliance and the good guys' desperation as they try to course correct. Viewers would fall in love with Thrawn as a villain while simultaneously wanting the good guys to win because of the emotional stakes...only for Thrawn to (of course) escape and Sabine and Ahsoka are stranded. Maybe Sabine is distraught from her mistakes, but Ahsoka in her newfound wisdom knows that they're there for a reason. That would solve some of my dissatisfaction with the way Ahsoka and Sabine are just chillin at the end of the season as if nothing went wrong.
Great take! U perfectly summed it up perfectly.
that’s a great idea. could you suggest where else that tension could come from besides thrawn escaping, which, in your idea, would be an inevitability?
but seriously, i like your idea :)
Seeing the end of Rebels in live action would have been awesome.
Also, it might have been nice to see where Ahsoka was during the OT and to see Ahsoka promise Ezra that she would find him. Maybe a flashback with them running away from the Emperor in the wbws.
This same flashback with Ezra in Rebels hyperspacing was I kept saying that needed to happen in at least one of the episodes. 10 episodes with this flashback & having more Sabine training with Ezra would have been way better
I actually like the idea of this series so much with the potential that I’m writing my own summarized version to fix what what didn’t work.
Oh, boy, I'm writing my own version of it that branches off in EP6 so that it can lead to an alternate version of Heir to the Empire.
But you shouldn't have to! This is supposed to be a 200 million dollar series from one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world using one of the greatest franchises as setting it should be EPICALLY BRILLIANT! Not flawed mediocre misanthropic badly directed poorly choreographed lore breaking shiite!
@@MrSphandor Yeah, it should be. But sadly we don't live in a perfect world.
@@MrSphandor misanthropic? Wtf?
@@MrSphandorI feel the quality of the stories and productions took a dip after season 2 of mando. First two seasons of mando were favreaus gollum creation group partnering with LF. After season 2 I think the content went more under LF and now you have the people that were a part of making the sequels more involved. At least that is my theory.
I agree with you on just about every point you made.
Dave was entering a new medium of live action mini series, and I think he really needed someone to help him with the storytelling.
While I certainly recognize this show has problems, this is the first Star Wars thing in a while that's made me feel really excited or intrigued about Star Wars.
While I don't hate the sequels like other people, I can't deny it does feel a lot like a worse version of the OT, and by the end of it, I didn't really want to see much from it expanded upon. If Ben Solo were kept alive, maybe, but it's like, why would I want Rey's Jedi Order, when I'd much rather have Luke's Jedi Order? Why would I want to see the aftermath of the diet Empire, when I'm already getting a lot of aftermath of the the actual Empire?
With Ahsoka, we have Undead Stormtroopers, Thrawn, an entirely different galaxy, Baylan and Shin, the potential of Dark Jedi. There's just so much more that Ahsoka offers that it just makes me more ambivalent towards anything else relating to the Skywalkers.
It's not perfect, but it's unique, and offers something new and exciting, and right now that's something Star Wars desperately needs.
I'm with you. Whatever one thinks of George Lucas's abilities at dialogue and directing, you have to appreciate that he tried to do new and different things, and take the audience to new places. In the sequel trilogy we got the OT rehashed, complete with budget Tatooine, budget Hoth, budget Bespin... the Ahsoka show is taking us to new places and showing us more of the SW universe. That, at least, is worth the price of admission. And while many people are griping about Sabine (i.e. anyone) being able to use the Force, the show has recaptured the excitement I felt as a kid, thinking that if Luke could use these amazing powers, maybe I could too. Even if there are flaws in the writing and pacing, there's something to be said for escapist fun.
the new galaxy really fell short though, it just felt like a different planet than a new galaxy
@@garlixbread Agreed. Although you have to ask what a new galaxy is supposed to feel like. It's not like we expect every planet in the main galaxy to be made of rocks, and every planet in another galaxy to be made of cheese or something. But yeah, it did feel a bit like we didn't get a chance to explore the new galaxy. I'd like to have seen the first season be a bit of a quest going from planet to planet, culminating in finding Ezra, when suddenly Thrawn shows up too, and we get a cliffhanger for season 2.
The only new or unique thing in Ahsoka were the zombie troopers. And to be perfectly honest, it was only the aesthetics - the zombification offered nothing different from, say, backups suddenly arriving.
Opening with that 2 minute clip as suggested would had been a great addition you are correct!
I think so too!
As a massive Rebels fan this was a dream come true, loved the series and I can’t wait for season 2 and the Filloni movies. 👍🏻
Same here
Enjoy waiting 5 years for more emotionless robotic acting, bland dialogue, and references to some cartoons that nobody except manchildren care about lol
@@dancingvalkyrie ok so you don’t like or watch their animated stuff, good to know your opinion means nothing then.
@dancingvalkyrie and who requested that you open your mouth and share your opinion?
I mean rebels was definitely good (more emotional and character driven) but the way the characters are portrayed in live action just seems disingenuous. The leads show no emotion, even in situations where it would’ve made the scenes much better (Ashoka’s fake out death with Sabine saying no, Ashoka’s lack of emotion when Sabine is stabbed, and Sabine cracking jokes while in custody after believing she saw Ashoka die) hopefully filoni takes the negative feedback as well as the positive and it contributes to a more emotional experience in future media.
About Thrawn'...
The first problem i believe is that we, since we watched the trailer, knew he would come back. All these tension build around he coming back or not exist only for the characters inside the story. The viewers all knew he would come back, so we expected that he would also be able to do more than that.
Which brings me to the second problem, speaking slowly in a calm tone explaining how he is 100 steps ahead of his enemies doesnt hide the fact the he did nothing great.
He had a star destroyer, an army, 3 nightsisters, two "jedi" mercenaries, air squadrons, bombs and zombies. It was also handed to him Sabine, the location where Ahsoka would arrive and the fact that Ezra was completely out of the game.
With this advantage, at the end, what he manages was to barely escape after losing a considerable amount of resources. Also, the guy who bested him boarded the ship without him having a clue. (I have to believe he didn't have clue, cause a guy so smart couldn't find the spy is laughable. Also, couldn't Ezra end his threat right there??)
The argument made in the final part of the video, that by doing nothing Thrawn is actually defending himself from impossible odds and unthinkable things Jedi are capable of is a poor one at that, let's face it.
They butchered Thrawn. Thrawn has always made a great first impression in every series he’s been in which has demonstrated his genius. The opening battle in Heir to the Empire. Thrawn running circles around thirty Imperial troops in the first canon Thrawn novel. Even his introduction in rebels was a hell of a lot better. He determines the reason that the phoenix cell breaks Hondo out of jail. He then prepares to lure their fleet into a trap, but upon realizing that the whole Phoenix Squadron isn’t there, he decides to let them get away, biding his time, gathering information on his enemies, until eventually he tracks down the rebel base and beats them badly, with the rebels only escaping because of Admiral Konstantine’s arrogance and Bendu’s divine intervention.
Dude you are 100% Right! Wow until you said that it did not dawn on me that Ezra was on the Ship in a Stormtrooper Uniform and could have Killed Thrawn 😫 the show is 10x Worst now
Ahsoka's potential was so much greater than the final product. If it were me, I'd have it so that BOTH Thrawn and Baylan would be seeking that greater power while they let Ahsoka reunite with Ezra and Sabine.
Potential? But it is not over yet, obviously a season 2 comes continue from here
Well done video. I think your rewrite would’ve taken Ahsoka from very good to incredible.
They definitely needed to clean up that prologue. And as much as I love seeing Hayden, that dream sequence is a thematic mess.
The choreography was patchy here and there, but it was honestly the best I’ve seen since Disney took over. Way better than Obi’s show.
Much appreciated!
i agree i have seen people talking about how bad the choreography is but its the best we have got from disney so why be so picky i loved it in ahsoka my thought is that they could have done better with the camera work tho
You my friend voiced almost everything i loved and didn't like about the show in such a mature way. I think the show could've been way better, but i still really enjoyed what I was given. Like you said, I'd rather have. The thing Filoni has to get over is the idea that he can please everyone. He can't. He needs to put his foot down and say "This is a Rebels sequel. If you haven't seen the animated shows, that's on you." I still think Filoni and Faverau have brought Star Wars back and while it's no way perfect, I'd still take this close to great show with its clear flaws that has a clear narrative over the dumpster fire that was the sequel trilogy. My brother had the perfect analogy for this show: you didn't get what wanted on Christmas, but you still enjoyed what you got instead.
This is the best series yet.
A story decision I found bafflingly anticlimactic and haven’t seen anyone mention is that they’re going to this brand new galaxy for the very first time in Star Wars, which should feel like a huge moment… and then they arrive, and the characters just already know ALL of the relevant history and backstory about it. “This is the end of the Purgill’s hyperspace lane, the Homeworks of the nightsisters, etc”. Going to this distant Galaxy didn’t feel any different than visiting any other random planet in The Mandalorian.
I only watched the last 4 episodes. I had most of the same gripes as you, especially Ezra not even learning with was Sabine’s fault. I always thought the Rebels creative team had NO clue what to do with Zeb, and the fact that this is all the Rebels main cast EXCEPT Zeb is so distracting. He could’ve just gone with Hera! Just let him sit there without an arc and say a few lines, that was his role for most of Rebels anyways!!
Hayden wearing the clone wars armor was cool. It made me happy but I didn’t think it was necessary. The production value was SO cheap. The edges of the volume are so easily identifiable. It’s like they forgot how to use the volume after Mando S2.
Anyways, Ahsoka was alright. I loved how they handled Ezra but it was a very mixed bag overall (sorta like Clone Wars and Rebels, honestly). It could’ve been so much better.
Bro how do you not have more subs. You’re channel is so in depth and gives awesome perspective to Star Wars. You’re great Man!
Sabine is stuck in another galaxy with turtles, while the person she saves is at home. Of course she's having personal consequences for joining Baylan.
Ahsoka had all the nice action and heroics, but Sabine was the most redeemed character after her episode 4 decision, to choosing to stay with Ahsoka
On Baylan, I think his personal mission/vision does not require Shin. She's helpful today, maybe in the bigger picture too, but she doesn't need to know (or even survive) while he's piecing together the grand vision he thinks in his his hands alone. Personally, I don't hate that we're in the dark with her - i might be more meaningful when we learn together. Also... Shin didn't give up when she teamed up with the marauders, she's waiting for Baylan to do his rogue thing. That's how I read. She's a well behaved padowan.
8:57 you're actually a bit incorrect. It is implied by baylan ep4. that ahsoka had a part in why sabine's family died, the line was something along "she didnt listen to you"
which could also imply she was learning the force for the4 "wrong reason" maybe to take revenge and for dark emotions ?
I whole-heartedly agree! The "show-not-tell" method is to me what hampered what could have been a much more well-rounded series. It would have been more impactful emotionally, whether or not you've seen Rebels previously.
I'm usually not too nitpicky about characters power scales, but Sabine was clearly struggling to use the Force or even deflect blaster shots in every episode before the last one, and in the finale we see her suddenly being able to do both at almost the same level as Ezra. They try to justify it by having her tell Ahsoka she "kept up with her training", but since they got separated, she essentially spent most of her time locked in the enemy ship, then once freed, spent 2 days searching for Ezra, so I don't see when she is supposed to have been training to reach such a high level in the finale...
But my biggest gripe is seeing Ahsoka and Sabine essentially not taking responsibility for having allowed Thrawn to come back and threaten the galaxy (well, it was mostly Sabine's fault to be honest) and just "entrusting" Ezra in dealing with everything in their place.
Girl bosses can never be wrong or allowed to fail. Gotta be perfect in every way.
she already had a connection to the force though? Kanen said it himself? her blockage was her concern and lack of closure with Ezra. Once she confirmed he was alive and well, it makes sense that her connection to the force would improve. i can agree though that it felt rushed.
No it wasn't explained with "kept up with her training" but with Ahsoka being afraid she could UNLOCK her force for the wrong reasons.
So she was locked, which was also told by her first force master, the second force master was Ezra, and then Ahsoka (this time for real and long training)...
Exactly They didn't SHOW her keeping up with her training so as far as the audience knows it didn't happen. They could easily have done a scene with sabine training or a flash back to training.
And Ezra looks like a moron one minute he's I don't need a weapon with the Force as my ally and a few minutes later it's gimme that rifle so I can blast these guys
I really like how you covered the show. I liked it overall, but definitely could see how other viewers would be lost without having launched the animated shows.
personally i feel like anakin's lesson mostly try to tell ahsoka to forgo the old jedi creed of sacrifice themselves or someone close for the sake of most people, this clearly falsed creed leeds to the jedi order collapse and why ahsoka wanted to destory the map. the lesson is presented in a way to let ahsoka let go of the fear of war and death, and to regain the courage of fighting against what's evil, even though it could leads to temporary suffering. so aksoka learned all that and later she supported sabine's decision
interesting thoughts
I actually told my wife that I liked how Anakin's lesson wasn't obvious, because it made it really stick with me and made me think about it a lot more. She replied with utter disbelief that I didn’t find it completely obvious because apparently she didn’t have any trouble at all immediately understanding it. Overall, I think that episode was fantastic.
I didn't hate it but it left a lot wanting. I'd been hoping for an animated sequel to Rebels and that always made the most sense, but sadly Lucasfilm seems to have all but abandoned animation in favor of live action to capture "normie" audiences that would generally ignore animated shows. The only animated show continuing is the Bad Batch.
This show would have been so wonderful if it had been a mix of Rebels animation and Clone Wars animation, melding the two eras that Ahsoka lived through. Sadly we'll never see something like this.
This was a great analysis! I came into this show not knowing anything about Ahsoka but was so confused that I went back and watched all of the Rebels series and parts of the Clone Wars series and now love this show (Ahsoka) so much. But it did make me doubt Dave's story telling abilities bc so much of the important backstory was essentially left out or just quickly alluded to. Without knowing these things made the show feel so flat. One thing you didn't mention though was how Ezra kept telling Sabine he's counting on her at the end of Rebels. I thought this meant he was counting on her to find him, which I think was confirmed when he asked her what took her so long when he and Sabine were finally reunited. This, for me, highlighted the real importance behind Sabine's decision to risk so much to get to him. I could be wrong here though and would love to hear your thoughts!
As someone who hasn’t watch Rebels nor Ashoka, it just looks to me that Ashoka is just another Rebels season after a timeskip and is for some reason live action
If there was one thing they could have gotten rid of, it’s easily the subplot of Sabine training to become a Jedi. She did not need to use the force!!
I really wish the scene where Sabine was finally able to use the force was better. It felt like such a minimal moment despite the show spending so much time on setting it up.
Minimal moment? When she goes from zero to some of the strongest force telekinesis ever shown besides THE OTHER Disney Star Wars brunette female who goes from zero - 10,000 INSTANTLY?
@@hideousruin My guy, what the hell are you talking about? She grabs her lightsaber off the ground and pushes Ezra a little bit in the air. Of course that's not really what I meant. "Minimal" has nothing to do with her power level or whatever, it had to do with the way the sequence was directed. It should've been a big, intense, heroic moment. Sabine should've failed to pull the lightsaber and almost lose consciousness with some intense music and then get her "use the force Luke" moment. Maybe she could've even gotten a dream sequence that emphasized what her failing was and why she hadn't been able to use it up until now, or Ezra could've helped her with a "you can do this Sabine!". That scene has no way, she's been struggling with this for 8 episodes and then she can just suddenly do it and the episode doesn't hang on that or explore it at all.
I remember having to explain to my mom quite a bit of detail about rebels and how it ended so she knew what was happening in Ashoka
My mom watches and likes Star Wars show/movies but has never watched the animated shows. She was so confused trying to watch Ashoka. The show does a poor job explaining the history of these characters. A flash back would have helped so much.
This is Dave Filoni as George Lucas and this series was the prequel trilogy. So many awesome ideas but I don't know if the execution of any of them were good. I love the story and ideas so I love the show, but people will rightfully point out how it isn't well executed, and it's a shame.
A thing I noticed is that in rebels the main reason Thrawn failed was because he underestimated the force, in Ahsoka we can see he allows himself to rely on supernatural forces, the witches.
The issues I have with the Ahsoka was the decisions that the show makes, like when Sabine becomes force sensitive which I didn't like at all. Although I still l really like this show despite it's problems and I can't wait for season 2 if it does ever happen
Your last few remarks got me. I was happy watching this and it made me feel like a kid again. Yes I know it’s not perfect or anything like that, but it felt like Star Wars
The whole show is over, and nothing has really happened.
ep1 - Thrawn is gonna return, yay.
ep 2 -7 - filler
ep 8- thrawn is finally back! and hes an idiot! cant wait for season 2!
As for the villains, Baylan's motivations are unclear and unexplored. Shin has no personality. Marrok was noone. Thrawn is an absolute idiot, his tactics make no sense. Great mothers are just meh. Morgan Elsbeth was a robot until the last ep, where I actually did feel like she was being manipulated by Thrawn and I felt kinda sad for her (totally out of character for Thrawn to waste her like that btw if u read the books).
And the heroes. Ahsoka has no personality. Sabine has no personality. Anakin said a whole bunch of nothing, and his lessons made 0 sense. He should rly be talking to luke and leia, trying to seek forgiveness, but nah, he sticks with ahsoka because the force is female (filoni aligns with this ideology btw for those who didnt think he did) Ezra rly didnt make me feel anything whatsoever. Huyang was actually alright, had some ok lines. Hera was dreadful. Sabine Ahsoka and Hera are nothing like their animated counterparts. Partly because the actors are actually terrible at their job, partly because they look nothing like the animated counterparts. Rebels made these characters so likeable... Ahsoka ruins all that in just 8 episodes.
The action was laughable - Pitting anakin against ahsoka higlighted how slow ahsoka really was... they need someone like Nick Gillard to choreograph this.
Filoni is pitiful at character development. There was not 1 scene of character development in this show. It was all plot, yet somehow the plot went absolutely nowhere; how is that even possible?
The foundation for a true masterpiece was there - They could've used The Grysk Hegemony, The Chiss Ascendancy, Anakin/vader, Ahsoka, Luke, Starkiller, Abeloth, The ones, The Yuuzhan Vong - and due to this show Filoni has ruined it all.
I know ppl are just gonna say "why are you mad" or "its not that deep" but they need to realise critisising these stories is how to keep star wars alive. im not mindlessly hating here.
summarizing the plot is ignoring the story. Whether or not it was told well, there was a story that was told that you and others clearly ignore
@thegoldman25 A story with no emotional weight. I've watched rebels like 4 times and TCW like 6. I love these characters, especially sabine and ezra. They butchered these characters, having a reunion with just 0 emotion. just from that scene it felt like they last saw each other a week ago. I felt nothing like I did in those shows, the movies, andor, or even the bad batch for gods sake. Thrawns incompetence rly made it seem like the whole plot meant nothing, as he didnt seem much of a threat. i mean really, why not keep ezra in prison for this whole time? why send sabine to find him, as if thrawn couldnt use the mothers to do that for the whole 10 years? And not having his iconic organ theme in the show rly made me sad. on a side note, I love ur videos. Very well laid out, nicely made.
If your gonna summarize plots like that, let me do it for the OT.
ANH - heroes have to destroy Death Star. It gets destroyed!
ESB - Heroes have to escape from the empire. They escape!
ROTJ - Heroes must destroy the second Death Star. They destroy it again!
@@oXRaptorzXothey don't have a chunk of filler within them do they
Mostly agree with your points. Show was disappointing with a few bright spots. The finale was meh and forgettable.
Also. It was really weird that Luke wasn't mentioned at all? There's so much content and emotions Ashoka should feel knowing what Vader did before dying. There's so many story points they could have done.
only thing i would have changed is Anakin's lesson
Ahsoka, by all means, is still a jedi, from morals to fighting style. But Vader and Baylan are both Jedis utilizing the darkside, leading them to winning against Ahsoka since they understand her fighting and how to use the jedi code against her but she can't do the same
So what if Anakin was teaching Ahsoka to use the dark side but in the gray jedi way, of embracing it but not submitting to it, similar to what Baylan is doing. It makes perfect sense for Anakin to be the one teaching that, not because of the context of the situation and because Anakin was one of the most powerful Siths, but also because according to many theories, Qui Gon would have taught Anakin that, so this kind of allowing Anakin teaching the thing he never had the chance to be taught
“Most viewers hadn’t seen the two progressively become closer to each other”. Flip that my guy. Most people watching Ahsoka have most likely seen rebels.
A reminder that both the Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of the Sith are Star Wars stories in where the heroes lose but yet still maintained a hint of optimism at the end. In ESB, it's the heroes (and even Vader) silently reflecting on the revelations and loses, acknowledging their defeats both personal & literal, but hopefully looking out into the galaxy. In Revenge of the Sith, it's showing that while the Galaxy mourns the death of Padme/Vader overseeing the construction of the Death Star, Leia and Luke are handed over to loving families basked in the glow of a warm sunsets. Ahsoka & Sabine allowed Thrawn to escape very likely undoing the Rebel's success/Empire's defeat, yet are smiling at the end while Anakin proudly watches them... like, what?
Yeah that ending is just really confusing, i mean ladies you just make one of the most dangerous mastermind in the entire galaxy return to your home, that old guy will destroy everything and you somehow said “It’s time to move on” like what??? I don’t know maybe she knows that Luke will clap that blue guy, maybe
They sent Ezra home, that's the silver lining
Ahsoka probably knows that Ezra and Luke are going to wreck him lmao.
I love how the New Republic refuses to assist Hera after she confirms the theft of a Star Destroyer engine but then they send 3 big-ass star cruisers to apprehend her after she defies her orders to not investigate further.
I absolutely loved Ahsoka
Thank you for mentioning the anti-animation bias held by many, at least in America. I have a strong suspicion that a big part of why the early viewership of Ahsoka was low is because a solid chunk of the casual Star Wars fan base has never seen the animated shows, so they don't know who she is, and once they found out that she was a character from an animated property that reduced possible interest in the show even further.
I would also add that another big difference between book Thrawn and show Thrawn is that in the books he's far more capable of strategy & tactics that completely outclass & outmatch his opponents while also conserving/protecting those under his command. I get that he could be a bit rusty after 10 years in exile, & that Rebels was more geared towards kids so you kind of HAVE to nerf him a bit. But this is his big debut to a wider audience. His tactics should have had the power-scaling effect similar to the first time we see Thanos in Infinity War, where he almost immediately bodies the Hulk & kills Loki.
We need an animated spin off starring Tiya Sircar and Ashley Eckstein that starts immediately after Rebels Season 4 and ends after Ahsoka abandons Sabine after the Purge of Mandalore with her going to Lothal for the next seven years until Ahsoka, about their adventures together, the kind of relationship they built, what they did together. Fill in those gaps that Filoni loves to open.
It was clearly stretched out well beyond what the screenwriters had. They had maybe 4 45 minute episodes and they stretched it out to eight. As has been stated elsewhere, you had to watch a lot of the filoni-verse to be in the loop at the beginning of series. They also did default "stoic" mannerisms when they couldn't think of how to get the Jedi to behave like real people.
In short this is what happens when you give 200 million to a kids cartoon n director with no live action experience and no oversight
yup and even then they wasted it cause nothing of value happened and nothing was gained
Plot
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Nothing of value happened in the entire show
Thrawn showing back up could be a news reel at the start of the intro on any text scroll
our main characters didn't do anything, allowed them to escape and LOST and yet no feeling of tension or dread exists in that realization
the stupidity throughout the show makes it apparent how little care is in this series
Characters
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Sabine : our resident Mary Sue. Throughout all of it does whatever she wants, screws over the galaxy and finds the boy...
... to do what, nothing at all. WHY FIND EZRA? just cause she missed him, no ROMANCE, no HUG, No KISS, why risk everything, why is he so important. Its so telling by the fact nothing of value occurred by the end.
Ezra: our resident Beta. All through his return he's passive, not allowed to use his "lightsaber" i.e. his phallic object he gives to Sabine cause he's a beta and loses constantly. by the end he runs into Hera and again no reaction, why are these characters so afraid of actual relationship and physical interaction. Really is telling of these writers to do NOTHING with this. he doesn't feel like he's trained at all or done anything to grow, he feels weak in comparison to NO FORCE POWERED SABINE
Ahsoka: Our resident Gandalf the WHITE. Somehow she goes on a spritiual journey to become "ascended" by .... doing nothing at all. Literally never has worries or doubts, doesn't reflect on previous actions or actually grow. The only loss she has is to Baylan and that's to push the plot to a nostalgia bait episode where nothing happens for a near hour and somehow that's enough to make her strong. This is classic MARY SUE writing, nothing happens yet now 100x stronger. SHOUNEN ANIME HAS BETTER POWER BOOST MOMENTS THAN THIS (not that they're all bad but sometimes...)
Baylan: he doesn't do anything the entire time yet is the most loved, really is telling.
his apprentice: doesn't do anything the entire time yet is liked, really is telling
Main villain girl: can't remember her name. WHY is she here. Same goes as Baylan, same drive to do, less powers, abilities, henchmen or purpose. LITERALLY ONLY HERE FOR A GIRL FIGHT A THE END. This is what we call Fake Feminism, doing tired and trite things to artificially seem "woke" or "progressive". so meaningless that Thrawn doesn't even care
Thrawn: our resident DUMBASS of the group. ALL his plans are stupid. Why didn't he kill Ezra sooner, why didn't he use the night sisters to find them inside his ship or location and circle box them in? Why did he leave right away. Why didn't he kill Sabine immediately. ONE REASON - THE WRITERS AREN'T SMART and so they can't write an intelligent character. A dumb person can if they think about it for a long time then write the character to do it in far less amount of time but they're aren't even smart enough to do THAT. THERES NO THREAT IN THIS PUDGY VERSION OF THRAWN, READ THE BOOKS INSTEAD
Agenda
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People always act like this doesn't exist in modern Hollywood. Same Hollywood praising Cuties movie and we know of the pedo wring and epstein and harvey winestein's yet somehow ppl think this show is immune.
Obvious girl power fake feminism: the resident MISANDRY of the show. Every time Hera calls out the male guy (who's right every single time) they act like its the best burn of the series "haha gottem" when she's done everything wrong. Same reason Thrawn doesn't do anything and just lets the night SISTERS do it, same reason the final fight for Ahsoka is another woman, same reason SABINE lets Ezra die on that ship to help ahsoka for a cheap GIRL POWER scene, same reason SABINE is never called out for endangering the galaxy for a boy.
the modern agenda is women can do no wrong, if they do its a man's fault, can't be consequenced ever and any calling of it must be cheaply hand waived
"you didn't listen to orders"
Hera: "have u ever been to war"
THATS NOT A RESPONSE TO THE PREVIOUS HERA, YOU'RE STILL WRONG
The Force Retcon
-------
ANYONE CAN USE THE FORCE NOW
remember when we saw NOT force ghost Han Solo, well this whole time he COULD of been but whoops didn't retcon back then
remember importance of Gideons' plan to use clones to gain the force, WHOOPS he could of just trained to gain it all along
remember the improtance of Grogu WHOOPS anyone could of done, i mean why not
why not train everyone, SABINE WITH NO HINT OF CONNECTION MANAGED IN A WEEK
"now its not tied to lineage/skywalker/palpatine" IT NEVER WAS but if you're tellling a big story you use the BIGGEST ELEMENTS OF THAT STORY
overall its just horrendous as a series
@@MrSphandor exactly. Filoni can help with writing, but he cannot be in charge of a full live-action production.
The probem isn't The Ahsoka series, rather the limitations of Disney Plus via The Volume in general. And the lack of actually shooting on real locations, where you have more creative freedom as a film maker, actor, & witer. In Rebels it never felt miniscule regarding the possibilities, however the D+ (Live action) counterpart does. Only Andor broke free from relying on The Volume. For example we see Thrawn & The Night sisters for 3 episodes straight not move from the spot there standing at. D+ isn't doing Star War's or Marvel justice!
Not to mention every ambitious D+ (Live series) thus far except Andor feels boxed in, very linear, like a video game, & 99.9% of the series & episodes are far too short to wrap up any narrative in rewarding fashion. In fact 8 episodes isn't a season; Ahsoka needed to be 12 Episodes, at best. In fact season 1's story was too ambitious for D+. Imagine Andor being 8 Episodes instead of 12, with the same script, & relying heavily on The Volume. It would of been detrimental to the story & overall experience.
The script was bad. A good show could have been made using the exact same sets.
@@musa7606 Andor proved my point. Imagine Andor with 8 Episodes instead of 12, not to mention relying solely on The Volume using the same script? It would of been a disaster and no where as revered under those limitations for the film makers, writers, & actors stuck in that box.
@@SwaggerLikeUz The length of Andor was not it's quality. It's script was it's quality. You could have cut several episodes out of Andor and it would have still been a really good story. The problem with Ahsoka wasn't that it needed more story, it needed better story.
@@musa7606 I disagree! If U don't like it, that's life! Peace!
@@SwaggerLikeUz Cool.
Sabine was my favourite in this series
For your interpretation of episode 5 I mostly agree however it was clear to me that Ahsoka had lost her will to live and needed it to be restored and that's all that Anakin knew he didn't know why she lost the will to live and he had to learn and understand what she was struggling with just as much as she did so it makes sense for it to be confusing to most people but to me it was clear the lesson was not as simple as realise that Anakin was a jedi and that his teaching will not make a sith, it was more about accepting who Anakin truly is and by extent accepting herself and Sabine for who they are. I respect that you at least noticed that it wasn't just about Anakin so many people just view that episode as retreading ground that was already covered in The Clone Wars and Rebels and write it off as "nostalgia bait" so at least you didn't do that.
I guess the times are gone when people actually cared about good writing,and actors who ACTED, not just cared about seeing their favorite cartoon characters in live action.
Too bad, isn't it?
@Devlinsky you’re not wrong
💯 Does not help when TH-camrs give reaction videos like trained Seals and ride Felonis Nutts
@Devlinsky, Except Ashoka has gotten plenty of criticisms, despite the plays on nostalgia and returning characters in live action. What are you even talking about??
I watched most of Clone Wars and just the base highlights of Rebels. But, even not knowing the Rebels characters besides Ahsoka, I did in fact enjoy the show! It's almost like all the empty references you get in the prequels before Clone Wars existed. I liked Thrawn from the canon novels and the callbacks to those were really cool!
The whole season Ahsoka has been anything but quick
I'm holding my opinions for this show until we get more seasons.
The reception for Ashoka practically parallels season 1 of Rebels.
As a Star Wars fan since birth the show so far is pretty good. But I understand how a new fan can be frustrated with having to watch 2 whole animated shows as homework to understand what is going on.
But one that we can all agree on is that the lightsaber choreography is spectacular.
Same, I understood most of it because I grew up with rebels then watched clone wars later, but you make an excellent point.
I hated the Stormtroopers zombies, mostly because the lightsaber is one of the best possible weapons for fighting zombies... but since this is Disney, dismemberment is no longer allowed. The fact that Ezra and Sabine and Ahsoka weren't just chopping those stormtroopers into literal pieces just totally broke my immersion while watching it, especially considering how thematic dismemberments are pretty central to Star Wars as a series.
Especially because it was a big thing when they were brought back to life... Only to provide zero challenge to anyone. That's the problem with all these shows: there are no consequences, nobody is at risk, nothing matters. Oh... And everyone is completely stupid lol
I was surprised at seeing Sabine using the force at all... BUT... i kinda love the idea of a clumsy force user is an escalation of power to her Mnadalorian teaching. The force won't make her a jedi, but can make her the most interesting mandalorian ever.
I enjoyed the story and the performances. I thought the pacing was off and the story could've been told in 6 episodes.
I really like Filoni but his background in animation really showed. I think he did fairly well for his first go at a live action series. No problems better story and film editors wouldn't fix.
I had little issues with the pacing
I completely agree with everything you’ve said. Some of the flaws (like telling instead of showing), however, I think are due to the first season having so few episodes, thus “shortcuts” had to be made in order to tell the story within the allotted time. Unfortunately, those shortcuts also contributed to the show’s shortcomings.
Excited to watch tomorrow when i wake up! Right now I already thought it was great barring a few annoyances, but looking forward to your take!
Hope you enjoy!
Are Disney haters tired from constantly moving their goalposts yet?
The Force Awakens: “Rey is a Mary Sue because she basically had no training and her she can use the force”
Ahsoka: “Sabine is a Mary Sue because she wasn’t force sensitive when we met her and she barely pulled off two moves after over a decade of training”
Please make it make sense.
Easily. Rey is a Mary Sue because she was able to do things with little effort
Same with Sabine. You cannot just become Force Sensitive, because if you could, Jedi/Sith wouldn't look for kids with Force potential. According to Disney, everyone has the Force, so why wouldn't a Jedi/Sith just take anyone they want and train them? That's easy. Because it's a lie. Either you are Sensitive or you're not.
Sabine is a Mary Sue because she was never Force Sensitive before, yet somehow became Force Sensitive? (Thus breaking the rules of the universe, which is indeed Mary Sue) Even enough to Force lift a human being without even struggling.
As always Gold Man, love the content. The way I see it there are things that hold this show back. Its the nostalgia bait Clone Wars throw backs that have no meat on them and Ashoka herself. I cant help but think that having litteraly any other character in that role would make the whole thing better.
All fair points!
I really love how you use the same music in the background as Eckhartsladder.
Yes, yes all sounding very good and thought out. My question is when are people going to stop thinking harder about how to make good Star Wars shows than the people that actually make them? They dont care and the sooner fans realise this the better off we all are.
What’s up gold man! I really liked your interpretation of Ashoka’s arc in episode 5 because that really had me scratching my head. A lot of this show could’ve been fixed by the minor tweaks you’ve suggested because I feel like the biggest issues in this show stem from strange information flow
Good to see you snorlax, I never forget the OGs
Zeb should've accompanied Hera along with Carson. I highly doubt Hera didn't tell Zeb what she was doing and if she did, it is a silent character assassination for Zeb, he wouldn't have stayed behind, he would've been right there to help
They said Zeb was training recruits, but pretty sure Zeb would drop everything to go find Ezra.
What confuses is me is Sabine's relationship with Ezra. Eventhough he states he "sees her as a sister", watching the show, Sabine's actions come more as lonely young woman who's developed romantic feelings for him and many of the scenes they have together have a romantic tone to them. If anything, it makes more sense for development and it would make their comlicated relationship interesting, propably the most interesting relationship in Star Wars due to how lenthy is it to develop to the point, the possible romance between them would feel earned and powerful. In Rebels, it was mostly on Ezra's part rather Sabine, but in the epilouge, she touched the mural, which seems to indicate she might've fallen for him after he dissapeared. I think it would an interesting character arc for her going forward, a boy who fell for her only to be rejected, yet she ended up falling for him even harder, yet he dosen't know it. That's a call for great story. Hopefully, we'll see more build up to fix this problem.
One (small) thing that really annoys me about the Mandoverse is beskar. In the Clone Wars and Rebels you see Mandalorians getting shot and sliced with lightsabers left, right and centre. Then the Mandalorian gets armour made of ”pure” beskar, which deflects everything. At least, I assumed it was the purity that made the difference. Then Boba Fett and Bo-Katan come in with their newly-indestructable armour and now Sabine is blocking blaster shots with her gauntlets. It just feels a bit cheap.
I always thought lore wise is because most mandos used beskar-plastesteel alloys because of the cost. So it basically didn’t retain much of the original strength or unique properties. We see a lot of people with pure armor from old families. We see how week the imperial mando armor was as well in rebels for example.
First time commenting on one of your videos, thank you for a great breakdown! While I didn't agree with everything you said, I think your rewrite and the way you pointed out the highlights and flaws was presented perfectly.
Well done Gold! 🙂
Thank you!
I think the show should've been animated for once you wouldn't have to explain a lot of things because people already would've watched rebels and clone wars. It would alos have given a lot of potential for more episode, more writers for giving the characters better characterization, we would've gotten Zeb since it is much cheaper and much other things which would've made the show the best thing it could've been.
a couple of hugs would have made this much better. the lack of them was really startling.
“Live or Die” part also confused me at the beginning. But remember the time when Ahsoka dueled Vader in Rebels. We didn’t know if she survived that duel, Filoni left us with a cliffhanger. Then one of the events, we saw him wearing a t-shirt “Ahsoka Lives?”. Then he wear the other t-shirt to confirm it, “Ahsoka Lives”. She was a character who was not meant to be exist. Anakin never meant to have a padawan, it is against the plot of Episode III. Filoni originally designed her to be a temporary companion for Anakin in the animated TCW movie. George Lucas himself wanted her to be his padawan. Fans expected her to die in the end of TCW series but she just went to an exile and survived order 66. Her being alive is against every rule, yet still she is alive. World between Worlds was only introduced to keep her alive. So yes back to Anakin’s lesson, “Live or Die”. She answers “I choose to live”, which I interpret as her attempt to challenge everything and even the Star Wars canon itself, she chooses to survive.
"Filoni originally designed her to be a temporary companion for Anakin in the animated TCW movie."
that doesn't make any sense when the TWC wasn't made to be a movie until the last minute by industry standards. It was suppose to be the first three episodes of the main series but lucas wanted a movie
I think the reason people don't like the continuity of the shows and the necessity to watch 2 animated shows before it is the fact that they are not movies, but long running shows... there is a difference between watching 4 movies to understand the next one, and watching 2 shows with a combined 11 seasons of content... of course there also the fact that these shows are animated, which doesn't help (I love these shows, but I wouldn't recommend them to my parents for example, and if watching them is a requirement, then I can't recoment Ashoka either).
Very well thought out, agree with you suggestions and overall review 👍🏻, wanted to love this show more but it fell short in some aspects
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for giving this show a considered perspective! Too many reviewers and critics just bashed it with buzzwords. The show has flaws but it's not the travesty against Star Wars most want to paint it as
Even if Ahsoka and Sabine never really spoke to each other on screen, you have to remember that they spent a lot of time on the same ship so they definitely spoke off screen
That’s the thing though, it was off screen. We never got to see them develop together, so them being master and apprentice seems quite sudden. Especially when Ahsoka and Sabine never appeared to be very close, with Ahsoka spending more time with Kanan and Ezra. I had the same reaction as Ezra when it was said (not shown) that Ahsoka took Sabine on as an apprentice, and I never cared for it. It focuses more on Sabine anyway. Problem is it *could* have been the Ahsoka show if they just… showed Ahsoka more.
@@Starshineadmirer fair
It suffers from being a setup season instead of being a self sufficient series
i personally enjoyed the show alot i didnt really realise many of the flaws and i think that speaks volumes of how good the show was ( although im usually like that ) however i did have some flaws
personally i prefer the first half of the season. i never watched the clone wars or rebels when they released infact i only found out star wars had shows outside of lego back in 2019 and it was star wars theorys breakdown of mandalorian season 1 episode 4 and i thought it was a breakdown of a fan film personally the show fell into the trap the obi wan show did and made the first half of the show feel one way and the other half feel the other. while it was good overall if i go to rewatch the episodes im more likely to go to episodes 1-4 rather than episodes 5-8 not that episodes 5-8 are bad they most certainly are not but thrawn is what carryed those episodes in the time of the show being worse than the prievous half in my opinion.
episode 5 is the episode i have the most problems with. i know alot of people love it but i as stated before do not have the connection to ahsoka and the clone wars the only clone wars show i have watched in full is the 2003 one. i have watched the movie and most of season 1 of the 2008 show but i remember almost nothing from the movie and with the first season i remember nothing aside from a few small things. the only connection i had to ahsoka was through rebels, mandalorian, book of boba, tales of the jedi and alot of lore videos, mainly rebels as i watched all of that ( infact i had to rush through season 4 in a month to catch up for ahsoka given i had only watched the prievous 3 seasons. ) episode 5 was hindered terribly by episode 4 being one of if not the best episode of the series its a top 3 for sure and so with the confusing lesson most the episode about the nostolgia and finding ahsoka the only reason to watch it is to know why she has her knew outfit, why she is all of a sudden more like her old self and how she got to the new galaxy in episode 7. and if your a massive clone wars fan to see your favourites in live action.
ill now go over the heroes
ahsoka
personally given i dont have the connection to her and when i watched rebels season 2 it was a few years back i dont remember much of how she was originally so i personally prefer her flawed and darker personality in the first half of the series it added many layers that made me enjoy the character way way more than after she became ahsoka the white in which i still enjoyed her alot but not as much i know it was essential to her character but i do wish they made the transition smoother. this aint doctor who where you regenerate and you get the new personality where as in doctor who it happens at the end of the series making you not feel different about the series mid season unlike what ahsoka and obi wan did
sabine
at first i wasnt too sure on sabine and hera with how they were adapted but as time went on i became fine with them it was mainly the personality i had issue with but the actress did an amazing job of conveying the emotion sabine had and i do hope they bring her in for other star wars projects that will include sabine even if it takes place during the empire. personally im not a big fan of her being able to use the force the moment is great and i do enjoy it but it feels too fast the series seems to happen over the course of a week or month or even a few days which is not enough time to go from not being able to move a cup to pull a lightsaber and then push a human, and then sense someones presence after they are dead. i would have much preferred if they showed her in the ship having a 'rematch' with the cup and it starts to shake a bit before cutting to black and ending the episode there it would have felt more realistic but i do still like how they did it in the episode even if i think it could of been handled better. not that i dont mind sabine using the force i just think it happened too fast.
huyang
he was another highlight of the show. he made for some great comedic moments ( example being the moment where hera tells sabine to extract the memory of the hk assassin in episode 2 after they were warned it could blow up and kill them and huyang tells her because shes a hologram ), great emotional moments, great mentor moments, basicly everytime he was on screen he made the moment great. and it is so good they got david tennant back to voice him. i think the fact huyang is basicly the doctor in star wars makes him so great.
hera
hera was greatly adapted. like sabine i wasnt too sure with her personality at first but as the show went on i understood it was great casting choice and like sabine i wish they get her in for other things. basicly this goes for everyone on the list ( except with ray stevenson given he passed away if he hadn't he would be on this. may he rest in peace )
chopper
chopper made for some of the best comedic moments in episode 2 i wish he was utilized more but ah well he was great when he was on screen i just wish we saw more of him and was made to be a bit more like in animation he didnt feel quite right to me
jacen
i personally loved jacen in this series he proved vital to it and he had a good relationship with hera, chopper, ahsoka and huyang he felt very believe able especially with that scene where huyang is taking him inside of his ship and jacen keeps asking him questions and huyang replys with yes' and no's
ezra
my god was ezra translated well into live action. he has been the best translated character from none live action to live action so far. emam esfandi did such a good job he made it seemless and there were moments that felt so ezra and so rebels like the moment when hes trying to surrender to shin and shin ignores it and trys to order the troops to fire on them which feels like something ripped out of rebels.
ill quickly go over the villains
thrawn
i cant really make my mind up on thrawn. i personally have only seen the heir to the empire animation and only finished chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the heir to the empire audio tape or book so idk. i wont state my opinions because i honestly dont even know what they are but i think they did thrawn well.
morgan elsbeth
she became really interesting and i wish we saw her use nightsister magick when fighting ahsoka it was a perfect chance to show her skill with magick given we only really know she can use telekinesis, can hear things from another galaxy and can hold her own against ahsoka. going into the finale there were 3 characters i didnt want to die. baylan, morgan and shin i didnt care much if thrawn survived or not because we knew he would and we knew he would escape. overall i wish we get to see more of morgan elsbeth and see her backstory i would love a series explaining her origins and seeing her during grievous' purge of dathomir
baylan skoll and shin hati
these characters were the highlight of the series. every single time they were on screen they stole the show especially baylan they also held a more fatehr and daughter relationship rather than a master apprentice relationship overall you know how great these characters are so i dont really need to say much more.
marrok
marrok was underwhelming for me and i think it was due to all the "who is marrok?" theorys. i did anticipate he would be his own character but that didnt mean i also didnt get theorising. i personally wish he survived until the end of the series i think one of the major reasons the series started to wobble on the feeling on the second half was due to marroks absence. i know alot of people believe he was something related to morgan with nightsister magick but i think he is a filar-nitzan and if that is so he is one powerful in the force if he can enhance his strength many billions of times and same with his speed.
overall the series was great and there were few flawed parts but it was still great. so i give it a 10/10!
i also forgot to mention we should have seen zeb and kallus they were very important in rebels and i think we should have seen them here
I 100% agree with you that the ending of the animated show Rebels would of been an excellent opener to the live action series Ahsoka! Fans of Rebels would of loved to see some of their characters briefly in live action as their younger selves and then the new audience would of been amazed and more curious as to what had happened in the past and what might take place in the future!
I didn't like the pacing but overall I thought it was ok. Why no overhead view of the new galaxy like in ESB tho 😔
Fair points
The fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a "previously in Star Wars" and Ahsoka didnt have anything of the sort was a little crazy to me.
I agree that seeing Ezra and Thrawn being taken to the other galaxy in Live action would have served a lot of things better later in the show. The fact that they even had young Ezra in the hologram means they had all the resources necessary to just film that one scene..
Interesting video, but the response on 'why doesn't everyone use the Force' misses the mark fairly severely as taking that literally creates a bunch of worldbuilding problems, given the powers the Force makes possible.
Sure, it's hard to learn, lets stick with your analogy of being an NBA player. There are 450 active NBA players at any time. Let's assume that they're actually recruiting from the entire planet (and putting aside the vast number of people who play basketball, but not at an NBA level. That's 450/8 billion, or an NBA player being about a 1 NBA player for 18 million people. With 10,000 Jedi, that gives us a galactic population of 180 billion people--less than the population of Coruscant.
And that's without getting into the question of 'why in the world isn't every military, judiciary, religious, cultural, commercial and criminal group in the galaxy training up Force users?' All of those groups historically and currently train people to quite high levels of performance for minimal advantages over their competitors. If being an NBA player gave you the ability to compel people to speak, change their behavior, evade or reflect bullets, heal, sense the past, control animals and sense the future...you'd darn well see every military on the planet running their people through dribbling drills.
Yes, the Force is hard to train for, but the advantages are absolutely massive. If you can train basically anyone to do it, then they should be training as many people as possible, but that basically never happens. This is a world-building issue going forward. Going backwards, one could continue the character assassination of the Jedi and simply take the view that they restrict training to only their self-selected elite, but that doesn't work going forward and unless they're planning to make Force users a lot more common (I don't think they are) they've got a problem.
Oh god they're going to make everyone a Jedi aren't they?
First time I’ve seen one of your vids and you got my subscription instantly!
And I don’t sub to many pages which tells you something 😎
Ahsoka was very mediocre. Most of it I was actually boring. So much of lost potential... it's basicly a teaser for Filoni's movie, which I'm not hyped for, because he proved, that he cannot make an engaging live action series. He should stick to the animations, where some things as childish scenario and simplifications are understandable. I actually wasn't feeling any emotions and connection to characters. I just hated Sabine in this series. She was so selfish, arrogant and childish, that it blowed my mind. Not any consequences of her actions. Ahsoka even didn't bother to tell her she did wrong, gush...
Maybe if they announced the movie later, after the finale, it would be better.
Andor is still the only Disney SW series, that I will comeback for rewatch
I think one things to keep in mind is that these shows are continous storytelling. Not everything is wrapped up on the last episode, story archs often last multiple seasons.
I kinda don't get the point of it being bad cuz you have to watch stuff from before to understand it or the difference of stuff being animated or not. personally animation and life action is interchangable and the prerequired watching not an issue cuz it is part of a grander franchise and if you don't wanna be invested in it then I don't see the big point of watching this one show anyway
A live action show shouldn’t have the same bland acting and writing as an animated show, therefore they aren’t interchangeable. Bad acting and writing is harder to spot and easier to ignore in an animated show but in live action, you can really see that filoni doesn’t know how to write a show at all
also at the end you seem to agree on the prerequired watching shouldn't be a problem since you specifically ackowledge the advantage of having this wider franchise
Keep kicking ass dear nephew. Love showing you off to my friends!