Ahsoka Episode 6

Quick sketch. Hoping to replace it with something nicer in the next week or so.

All in all, I think an intriguing job was done connecting so many unknown threads.

When this show brought traveling to another galaxy into the mix of possibilities, I was concerned that things would be too big. There would be too many story possibilities, and too many ways to explain away questionable story telling. This recent episode of Asoka dispelled those fears.

The show has tied together the end of the Rebels series, the Purrgil whales (from where I assume the the hyperdrive engine was invented), and the fact that perhaps hyperdrive technology was brought to the Star Wars galaxy by the Night Sisters is fascinating. Are they the ancestors of the ancestors of the Star Wars universe? Do they predate the Celestials and the Whills in the Star Wars galaxy? That would be fascinating, and it suggests that the populace of the Star Wars galaxy is relatively young in this corner of the universe.

One nitpick is how similar the technology and behavior is from one galaxy to the next, and the fact that Peridea has a nice breathable atmosphere. I would understand the aforementioned if it just so happens that Peridea's culture and biology gave birth to everything in the SW galaxy, but I find that a bit farfetched. It doesn’t make the story any less interesting, it’s just a worldbuilding element that I don’t find very convincing.

Another nitpick is: Why couldn't Thrawn and the Great Mothers ride the Purrgil's back to the main galaxy? Baylen say's "It's a graveyard," and the ring of skeletal remains around the planet confirms that, but then, how did the Nightsisters ride the Purrgil to the main galaxy scores of millennia ago if Peridea is the last stop on a one-way trip? The only answer I can give is that maybe things were different 50K plus years ago??? It would be nice to have a canonical explanation.

Thrawn, is played by Lars Mikkelsen, so his voice is exactly what we heard in Rebels. As far as his face…(wince emoji…)… too round and flat, and he looks like he’s wearing a toupee. From certain camera angles you see those super high cheekbones, narrow face, and square forehead; but when the cameras are straight on, Thrawn’s face looks way off. Still, very well acted.

Thrawn in print media: angular face, high cheekbones

Thrawn in animated media: angular face, high cheekbones

Head on shot. Terrible. Round, flat face. Terrible. Looks like he's wearing a toupee.

Better! Always have the camera poiting up at him and on a nice angle so you can see some cheekbone.

Timothy, Zahn’s original Thrawn trilogy features Thrawn popping back into the galaxy, seemingly out of nowhere, and thoroughly confusing the new Republic. But the Empire that he was commanding then had a strong, official presence. Here, we see Thrawn’s legion has become a cult, worshiping him and inspired by night sister magic. It’s a new twist on this story. I would love to know what Mr. Zahn thinks about it, and how involved he was in the writing.

I really hope we see flashbacks to Thrawn’s childhood. The Thrawn Ascendancy novels give insight into why he is the way he is. And imagine how cute he was as a 5-year-old kid! Maybe that will be my next drawing.

Also, seeing the Chimera battered and crudely repaired gave us a glimpse into what Thrawn’s legion has been through since it’s exile. That scene of it looming over the night sister shrine was well crafted, (and is the inspiration for the watercolor that is the thumbnail for this blog post.) However, I think this visual missed the mark to some degree. The immensity of the moment was minimized by the nature of the cloud formations. They were too big compared to the Star Destroyer. An overcast day with uniform stratus clouds would have provided a better backdrop and given the Chimera more of an atmospheric veil as it approached the shrine. Nonetheless, still an awesome scene.

Random sidenote: Pretty sure this stormtrooper’s mask is slightly different, much more of the frowny Rebels style masks that we saw in the cartoons.

We finally get to see the Night Sisters in live action, and they look phenomenal. The make-up, the behavior, and whatever computer modifications they did to the Great Mothers’ voices was so spot on. I feel bad for Mother Talzin. She never really got her due. Maybe we could have a flashback to the final days of the Clone Wars.

Sabine going off to find Ezra was kind of as expected. She was warned that they were bandits and as expected, she got attacked by them. She meets these cute koopa troopa rock people, who introduce her to Ezra. I assume we will find out exactly what happened at the end of the Rebels series, once the Purrgils dropped Ezra and Thrawn’s out of hyper space. When the time comes to talk about how she arrived on Peridea, Sabine seems pretty embarrassed to explain how she managed to travel to this galaxy far far away.

Yeah Huyang said it. Eeehhhh....cute I guess

Baylen and Shin remain the most interesting characters. When they see how expendable they are in the eyes of Thrawn and Morgan, will Baylen want to remain in exile, away from the Star Wars Galaxy, and start something brand new on this planet of Peridea? Will they wind up joining Ezra, Asoka, and Sabine? Shin appears to be thoroughly confused, really not knowing what the hell is going on. Is that reflecting really good acting, because that’s Shin’s character, or is it not the best acting because the actor doesn’t quite understand the character? Time will tell.

Once again, plenty of nits to pick here, but the series is providing some excellent storytelling, character development, overall universe building, and connective tissue to many things past, present and future.