Spoilers for Ahsoka Part Four: Fallen Jedi
It’s here. We’ve arrived at the fulcrum of the story. Ahsoka “Part Four: Fallen Jedi” brings us the dramatic action that lives in Star Wars and runs rampant through the animated series. The multiple lightsaber duels cut to one another at a rapid enough pace to remind fans of the high stakes in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but the choreography thrust us into an animated style. The fighting was fresh, the timing was captivating, and the surprises were never telegraphed — especially that surprise… oh, and that other one, too.
The title, as precedented in The Mandalorian series, took on several meanings, referring to at least two figures or relationships, but this time, it also hinted at a literal fall. The fall itself led to one of the animations’ most controversial phenomenons, the World Between Worlds. Because of this, a most unexpectedly familiar prequels character appeared. The episode closes without explaining anything about how, so depending on the way “Part Five” begins, general audiences may be left with valid questions.
We begin with Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), still stranded in the forest of Seatos, a planet in the Denab System known to have been inhabited in the past by a species from another galaxy. They are desperate to alert Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) of their whereabouts because Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) wants to use the ancient map to devise a path to Thrawn, a character known to general audiences only as the Heir to the Empire. He is so much more.
His reappearance could well be the catalyst that brings about the First Order. Coms are down, so while Huyang (voiced by David Tennant) takes care of some repairs, they can only wait for Morgan’s assassin droids and henchpersons.
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Ahsoka takes time to remind Sabine that sacrificing the route to find Ezra might be a necessity in order to stop Morgan from reaching Thrawn. The stakes are being set. Meanwhile, after Morgan Elsbeth sicks a party after the downed ship, Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) implies that he’s had close experience with Jedi in the past, perhaps even someone familiar. The foreshadowing is strong in this one.
While outside alone, Huyang is attacked by an assassin droid. He puts up a good enough fight to signal Ahsoka and Sabine. After only a few minutes of setup, the fun begins. Teamwork makes the dream work as Ahsoka and Sabine put away the party of intruders. Realizing time is short, the two head in the direction of the henge to stop Morgan, leaving Huyang to finish repairing the coms to contact Hera for help from the New Republic. Huyang reminds them to stay together so nothing else goes wrong. Foreshadowing.
Hera has decided on her own that she’s going AWOL to help despite her orders to stay with her fleet. Tagging along are her boy Jacen and her droid Chopper. Her unofficial escort is none other than Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) from The Mandalorian. This tightens the timeline and shows us just where this story is happening, but it also shows us the community that exists amongst former Rebels in command positions in the New Republic. You can take the Rebel out of the war, but you can’t take the war out of the Rebel. The sense is one that’s been lost with Legends characters coming together to fight the remnants of the empire being stricken from canon.
As Morgan and Baylan begin calculating the hyperspace coordinates for the Eye of Scion to jump to another galaxy, Ahsoka and Sabine come upon Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) and the mysterious Marrok. Sabine pairs off with Shin for a rematch while Ahsoka takes on the dark knight of few words. This time, Sabine is prepared with her Mandalorian armor and weapons, as well as Ezra’s lightsaber.
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Ahsoka fights with respect for her opponent’s skill, but when he shows off his motorized trick lightsaber, she cuts him down to size. The minor disappointment among fans who expected more from this mysterious character is immediately alleviated. Ahsoka’s kill skill is as sharp as Ben Kenobi’s second deadly blow to Maul. Modok dissipates MCU Snap-style in a magical black mist. He could only have been Night Sister Magic. He may never be explained more than that.
Ahsoka’s mistake is leaving Sabine to continue fighting Shin alone. Not heeding Huyang’s advice is what gets our heroes into trouble. While Sabine holds her own, managing to survive another duel with a Force-trained apprentice, even scaring her away, Ahsoka faces Baylan alone. His story is unknown to us, and his mastery is unknown to Ahsoka. He wields his saber like a club or longsword, leaving Ahsoka to guess on his techniques.
He indicates his awareness of who she is and her relationship to Anakin Skywalker. It was Anakin’s turn that jaded his view of the Jedi and the Jedi order. He’s more like Ahsoka than she realizes, and his objective is to bring order to the galaxy without giving the New Republic a chance to turn into the corrupt bureaucracy that allowed the rise of Palpatine’s Empire.
Though Ahsoka initiates the attack, she finds herself in a defensive position against Baylan Skoll, mostly because she’s trying to reach the map to destroy it, but also because she underestimates his ability. She’s weakened by her emotions seeing the arrival of Shin Hati. Ahsoka infers the loss of Sabine, which puts her in a position on the precipice of the henge cliff. Her relief in seeing Sabine arrive unharmed distracts her enough to allow Baylan to force her over the edge.
Sabine threatens to destroy the map, but Baylan has done his homework. He knows Sabine also wants to use it to find Ezra. His dark side and manipulative reasoning convince her to give up the map. Surprisingly, he keeps to his word of not harming her. The orange lightsaber wielder is a complex character, a believable villain with an oblique sense of morality.
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Hera’s team shows up in time to painfully witness the Eye of Scion as it blasts away in a jump that destroys three X-wings. Sabine is aboard as a prisoner, presumably still hoping she’ll reunite with Ezra. We’ve learned now that Sabine’s family was killed in the Night of a Thousand Tears when Mandalore was razed by the Empire. Ezra is the closest thing to family she has left. Hera is a General, and Ahsoka is a distant and stoic devotee to the Force.
After the action, we find Ahsoka awakening from unconsciousness in a far-off place unseen before in live action. She’s fallen through a portal to the World Between Worlds. Little is known about it except that Ezra and Ahsoka have both been there. It was a plot device in the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special and used to enhance the comedy of the one shot, so it seemed as if Lucasfilm and Disney were not going to take it seriously after Rebels.
Ahsoka hears her once master’s voice and turns to see Anakin Skywalker (a de-aged Hayden Christensen), circa The Clone Wars in the World Between Worlds. The cliffhanger leaves Ahsoka in this space and the threat of Thrawn’s return looming. But all may not be what it seems. Witchcraft was alluded to several times in Ahsoka “Part Four.”
It makes a fan wonder why Anakin had Darth Vader’s hilt at his side. The Fallen Jedi could have been Baylan Skoll. It could have literally been Ahsoka Tano. But it most definitely is Anakin carrying his evil side’s weapon. The World between Worlds has not been fully explained, and neither has the power of Morgan Elsbeth, the lone surviving Witch of Dathomir.
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