This is a spoiler-free review of the first two episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka.

Ahsoka

Ahsoka is a dream come true for fans of the work that Dave Filoni has done in recent years in Star Wars. The first two episodes bring back plenty of characters and themes from Star Wars: Rebels and The Clone Wars. We get more development for the lead character, but this isn’t just about Ahsoka Tano. There are appearances from other characters from Rebels. Although the overall narrative is unclear after two episodes, the mystery surrounds the reappearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Mysterious agents of chaos that resemble Jedi but are very clearly not are searching for him. The chief among them is the late Ray Stevenson‘s Baylan Skoll.

He’s pretty mysterious, but Stevenson was made to play this character. There’s an edge to him that doesn’t feel quite like any other Star Wars villain we’ve had yet. If Ahsoka Tano is truly neutral in her path of the Force, Stevenson feels like he’s closer to her than to the Emperor. We’ll have to see how he turns out as the series goes on.

Through the first two episodes, audiences that aren’t in tune with the events of Star Wars: Rebels get a bit of a crash course in the events of that series. Characters like Hera, Sabine Wren, Huyang, and Chopper are introduced. Luckily for people who haven’t watched the series, they all come naturally to the audience. Sabine and Ahsoka are former apprentice-master, Hera is a friend of both of them, and Chopper is an angry, vulgar little droid.

People looking for the next Andor, about as close to the gold standard of “prestige TV,” might be slightly disappointed. This isn’t quite The Book of Boba Fett in regards to full-on “little kid sci-fi”, but there’s enough here to keep anyone interested. Plus, it feels like we have an actual narrative arc going on instead of the Flash Gordon “story of the week” storytelling of The Mandalorian.

For those wondering if the show is weighed down by lore or things you don’t know from Rebels, it’s not. We didn’t know who Din Djarin was when we were watching The Mandalorian. Some also didn’t know who Ahsoka Tano was when watching that show, either. In this case, it’s handled exquisitely. It’ll do the opposite. After watching it, you’ll want to go back and watch Rebels to get more out of these characters.

Plus it contains all the Star Wars hallmarks you know and love. There are plenty of curious creatures, droids, and even some imagery and theming borrowed from previous installments to the most prolific saga in human history. There’s one lightsaber duel, in particular; that’s simply stunning in the way that it’s shot and how the music wells up during the fight. Episode one leaves off on a hell of a cliffhanger, so be ready for that, but outside of a couple of small things, Star Wars: Ahsoka is an excellent entry for Star Wars so far.

Star Wars: Ahsoka premieres on Disney+ on August 22nd at 6:00PM PT/9:00PM ET.

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