Star Wars: Ahsoka (Season 1) (2023) (Disney+)

Not a fan of the unfinished ending (although it DOES point to a second season) but everything else was decent. Morgan sort of proved her bonafides for sure.

The coolest and scariest thing about Thrawn is how understated he is. He describes them getting on the ship as... "problematic". And I love him calling Ahsoka a worthy a opponent he wishes he could have met, and then he threw the shade that hey, your old Master was in the ol' Empire Clubhouse. Whaddaya think? And he doesn't YELL "Love live the Empire." He WHISPERS it. Oh, yeah, he's cool. My pick for best Star Wars villain. And nobody else is really close.

I think some people will think Thrawn is coldblooded for saying Morgan served her purpose after finding out she died. Considering how sucky the rest of Star Wars villains are, I see it differently. If a loyal soldier had died on Vader or Palpatine's watch they would consider them weak and that the Empire was better off without them. Which is why the Empire sucked. But Thrawn giving a loyal soldier who died for him her due, while perhaps not as emotional and sadly delivered as a death of a soldier should be considered in OUR Universe, was still important and distinct from other Star Wars villains. Because he venerated what she did, instead of taking a posthumous crap on her. Which is why he's not just the best Star Wars villain, but probably the only one I actually like.

The thing about Thrawn that drives me crazy is he always does the exact opposite of what I want him to do. It's like Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine's only option left it a frontal assault... so he tell the troopers to prepare for a frontal assault! Argh! It's nice having the first ever competent Star Wars villain, but it can be frustrating for the opposite reasons as the vulgar, basic ones.

One reason I'm glad Ahsoka and Sabine didn't make the ship taking off, is if they had, Huyang would have been stranded. I don't like the ending too much, but with them there, at least they and Huyang have a fighting chance of getting back.

I can't believe I like Ezra Bridger now. What a world. The jumping trick was neat.

Chopper just knows. He's like a dog that way.

Have you noticed modern Star Wars does pop culture puns in the episode titles now? Not sure how I feel about that.

The light saber fights with the zombie troopers were pretty damn cool too. I was also shocked Morgan actually took out one of Ahsoka's light sabers. The pair of those were iconic.

Question: What will happen to Baylan's arc now that Ray Stevenson has died? Do they recast? Or kill him off off-screen? It looked like it would have been interesting.

It was solid, but I wasn't pleased that it looks like this is a continuing series instead of a miniseries. Especially with everything still up in the air because of the strikes. The writers settled, but the actors are still in negotiations. We'll see what happens. 3 1/2 stars.