Ahsoka, episode six, shifts to Sabine and her mission that takes her to danger and unexpected reunions! Re:cap, “Shadow Warrior” - Ahsoka had lost the lightsaber duel with Baylan and appears in the World Between Worlds to see Anakin Skywalker! He takes her a dream quest through her past to ultimately have her fight to live. She is rescued from the Seatos sea and uses the Force to envision the moments after her duel. Hera is contacted by Mon Mothma who has sent New Republic ships to escort her back for trial. A Senate Committee is going to determine if she will lose her position as general. Ahsoka has found a way to Sabine. The ships leave with Hera, Jacen, and Chopper in the Ghost, Ahsoka in her shuttle with Huyang, and Captain Carson with his X-Wings. The shuttle and the Ghost fly in the midst of a Purrgil pod. Huyang heads towards “one of the larger ones”, a Purrgil Ultra.
Ahsoka leaves the cockpit and walks to the bow of the shuttle. The Purrgil Ultra looms in front of her. Carson contacts Hera about the arrival of the three New Republic cruisers. She sends Carson to delay them as long as possible. He meets the ships with his X-Wings and asks the ships to identify themselves! The lead officer of the fleet, Captain Girard (Eisa Davis), asks about General Syndulla. Carson continues to try to delay her insisting that the general complete her mission. Girard orders a tractor beam. She insists that Carson tell her about the mission or she will strip him of command. Carson reluctantly agrees to Captain Girard. Jacen watches the Purrgil and says that this is like the stories Hera told him about the whales taking Ezra “far, far away.” The strange part is why this was never attempted before or even tracking the movements of the Purrgil.
Reaching out with the Force, Ahsoka closes her eyes to communicate with the Purrgil Ultra. It opens its cavernous mouth lined with baleen-like teeth. Ahsoka taps on the cockpit window to direct Huyang to fly the shuttle into the Purrgil’s mouth. He does so, a mirror of the Falcon inside the Space Slug, but on purpose. The pod heads towards space, these whales are more interesting than the Tulkun in Avatar 2. Carson finishes his debrief and Hera warns Girard of moving the fleet. The two X-Wing pilots, Jensu and Lander, are stunned as the Purrgils pass them. The Purrgil tentacles start to glow, not pulse like in Rebels, blue. Ahsoka tells Hera that she will find them like Lando’s promise to Leia in ESB. Hera says to Ahsoka, “May the Force Be With You.” Actually, the Ghost and X-Wing fighters could all fit in the Purrgil Ultra, but they may have to stay behind to ready for Thrawn. A bright light fills the cockpit of Ahsoka’s shuttle and they jump!
Part Six is directed by Jennifer Getzinger, this is her first work for Star Wars, and has directed episodes of Westworld. The writer is of course Dave Filoni. There is the moaning of the Purrgil and then an explosion of light and rainbow colors as they speed through hyperspace, I think at Ludricrous Speed. Within the Purrgil Ultra, in the cockpit of her shuttle, Ahsoka brings up what was said of the Purrgil at the Jedi Temple by Huyang. He recalls telling the Younglings about the History of the Galaxy, Parts 1, 2, and 3! Ahsoka tells Huyang that she saw Sabine go willingly with Baylan through the Force holding the map. She still believes that stopping the war with Thrawn’s return is the most important over Ezra. Huyang, interestingly, says that the Force gives insight, but not answers. He says for Sabine going with Baylan was the only choice! Ahsoka says she made the choice for herself, selfish, like the Dark Side. Huyang says, “That is your fear.”
Ahsoka has Huyang decide to tell a story, he starts, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”!! It was always Lucas intention that Artoo and Threepio were narrators of the Star Wars story, this changes it to another droid, Huyang!? Love it! This makes sense since Huyang keeps the histories, a living embodiment of the Jedi Archives. Sabine has her eyes closed, she has binders on, and then sits up. Baylan sees her inside the prison cell. Sabine reminds me about his deal that she would see Ezra again, but he walks away. Baylan walks to the bridge, Shin eyes him silently, and Morgan asks if he intends to keep his promise to the prisoner. He says she may have some use. The navigator droid reports that they have arrived, there is a swirl of rainbow colors in this hyperspace. The Eye of Sion reverts back to normal space, a blue tunnel extends from the jump, and fades. It continues to a ringed planet which Morgan says is Peridea, the homeworld of the Dathomiri. New information!
Baylan knows of it from the Jedi Archives, Morgan says her people rode the Purrgil before recorded time, and Baylan says it is a graveyard for them. The Eye of Sion passes through the ring of Peridea, the dust and bones of the Purrgil!, the droid has detected a beacon from the planet. Guards followed by Shin Hati take Sabine from her cell. A gold shuttle takes them down to Peridea’s surface. They face a mountainous statue with a howling face and there are others. There is a triangular fortress like Minas Tirith with a tower at its end. The shuttle lands and they walk towards a circle of three red-robed women, a red triangle is formed from floating spheres between them. Pale like Nightsisters. They ae surrounded by more black pillars. The leader (Claudia Black) greets Morgan as a child of Dathomir. Black played Aeryn Sun in the sci fi show, Farscape. She says their vision guided her. One of them says Sabine “reeks of Jedi.” The other two Great Mothers are played by Jeryl Prescott Gallien and Jane Edward Seymour, familiar to fans of Farscape. Their names in the credits refer to The Fates from Greek mythology. They send out the spheres to bind Sabine, they call her “it”, in the triangle.
Sabine says to Baylan that they had a deal as she is pulled away. She is taken to a stone chamber and the spheres return to the witches. Baylan looks around the circle and tells his apprentice that this galaxy is out of stories from the Jedi Temple. He says when he was her age he was at the temple when it burned. Baylan continues that he is now older and sees the cycle of rising and falling repeating. Shin thinks that power will be through Thrawn. Baylan wants to end the cycle! I’m not certain how he would intend to accomplish this, but it is the most ambitious plan in Star Wars! Sabine paces her new cell and then tries to reach out with the Force! Dust stirs, Sabine turns, as does the three witches, and Baylan. There is eerie music on the approach of a Star Destroyer Chimaera! This is the command ship of Grand Admiral Thrawn! The Star Destroyer looks patched, discolored, like modified repair work. It fills the sky above the circle and starts to lower with its hangar bay to the tower.
TIE fighters hang from the bay as Night Troopers, in ramshackle Stormtrooper armor, are assembled. They are given orders by one trooper who turns with a gold face (Wes Chatham), very much like the police androids in THX 1138 (1971)! Chatham played Castor in the Hunger Games films. The Night Troopers chant the name of Thrawn! The sounds of a grand organ, like a majestic villain out of Universal horror movies, is heard as a figure in a white admiral’s uniform walks between the rows of Night Troopers! Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) strides towars the waiting group. Mikkelsen plays Stregobor in The Witcher, but is well known as the voic of Thrawn in Star Wars: Rebels! They are not ineffectual Stormtroopers like we’ve seen before, Thrawn has forged these Night Troopers into hardened survivors! The exile, the hardened soldiers, and intellectual villain is like Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Thrawn with his blue skin and red eyes is a Chiss, a deadly strategist, respectful to his allies and enemies!
He acknowledges the Great Mothers, Morgan Elspeth, and introduces the gold-masked Enoch, the captain of his guard! He will transfer the cargo from the Great Mother’s catacombs. Morgan says it will take three rotations. Then, the Great Mothers say they have a prisoner, Thrawn notes they didn’t say anything about a prisoner. Baylan says he brought her. Morgan introduces Baylan and Shin as mercenaries. Thrawn addresses him as General Baylan Skoll of the Jedi Order. Baylan says he left the Jedi Order. Morgan tells Thrawn that Sabine Wren is the prisoner. He is familiar with her. Thrawn agrees with Baylan that she can be of use. Sabine is brought by Night Troopers to Thrawn. He welcomes someone familiar after his exile. She wants to know where is Ezra. Thrawn says her focus on Ezra will “reshape the galaxy.” In live action, Thrawn’s red eyes are disturbing. He knows of the deal with Baylan Skoll and says he will honor it. Thrawn is formidable because he is honorable.
He has Enoch take off her binders and says she will be given a mount, provisions, and where Ezra could be found. Thrawn says that Sabine will be stranded when his starship leaves. She is unimpressed and says he wouldn’t understand. Sabine is taken to the stables where a strange creature, a Howler, with a rat-like, long snout waits. Enoch speaks to the beast, Tota, so it kneels and then he warns her about the nomads. He gives her blaster and lightsaber and says, “Die well.” She rides away and is seen by Thrawn. Shin calls her foolish. Baylan says he will follow Sabine. Thrawn says if Sabine finds Ezra, then Baylan and Shin will kill them. The Howler takes Sabine into the wilderness of knolls and then stops sniffing the air. Sabine starts to use a scanner and then is blasted from the Howler saddle! Her Howler runs off. The nomads have red, almost-samurai armor, but looks scavenged. Sabine blasts them protected by her Mandalorian armor. A battle in a wasteland, very Mad Max!
Sabine then ignites her lightsabe and quickly takes care of the nomads. Baylan and Shin ride out on Howlers. The Night Troopers begin loading the mysterious cargo to the Star Destroyer. Thrawn and Morgan are looking at the map of a galaxy when Enoch reports of Baylan and Shin’s departure. He dispatches two squads with them. Thrawn tells Morgan that the objective is to escape the exile in this galaxy. He doesn’t care if Ezra and Sabine are stranded and if the “mercenaries” are killed. In the wasteland, the Howler returns to Sabine, she chastizes it. The Howler follows behind her. It seems like a sad puppy and Sabine ends up riding it. The Howler stops, this time to drink from a tiny puddle, and then it begins sniffing at a rock. Sabine really hasn’t used any of her Jedi training. It pops up, a shell for a crab-like, green alien, a Noti. Sabine lays down her blaster and calms down the Howler from snarling at the lil’ Noti. There has always been new, short aliens introduced in Star Wars unlike other SW series and movies. It that starts speakings its language and then points to the Rebel symbol on her pauldron. It shows Sabine a Rebel patch necklace. More Noti pop up around them.
Sabine brings up Ezra’s name. Reminds me of the Trolls in Frozen. They start conversing in a group and Sabine asks them to take her to Ezra. The Noti begin to walk and Sabine brings along the Howler. Baylan is looking at the site of the nomad attack. Shin asks if he knows Ezra. He says no, Ezra was a Bokken Jedi, not formerly trained. Again, bokken is a wooden katana used for training by a samurai. Baylan says he trained Shin to be “something more” than a Jedi. Shin says there is no future in the wasteland. Baylan says he sees the Witch Kingdom of the Dathomiri especially with the Great Mothers. She brings up that they want to leave, but he says they may be leaving a greater power. He senses something. They see nomads who do not attack. Sabine folllows the Noti to a village of shell-like starship pods. I keep hearing the song of the Dink Dinks. Sabine tells the Howler to stay and walks into the village. Sabine looks around the village and then hears, “I knew I could count on you.” It is Ezra Bridger! He has the look with red robe and beard of a movie version of Moses. Esfadi was seen in hologram form in the premiere, "Master and Apprentice." Ahsoka's "Far, Far Away" episode finally has the reunion of Sabine and Ezra, but we still have the threat of Grand Admiral Thrawn, an unknown cargo and the Great Mothers!
Five Lightsabers out of Five!
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