Week 33 - The Ahsoka Arc

Not sure when I'm going to watch these.

School ends in a few weeks (classses) probably gonna binge the rest of the rewatch after that when I hsve lots more time

I remembered Sabotage just kinda existing as an alright prologue to a much better arc, but this is a pretty good episode in its own right.

The opening is maybe a little too derivative of ROTS for its own good, but it’s still a very fun scene and very well done visually. The rest of the episode plays out likely a standard whodunit mystery. But it keeps a really good tone and sense of foreboding throughout.

It has to be did that the episode handled its more mature subject matter quite well. Characters blowing themselves up, isn’t new to yhis show, nor is terrorism, but this episode deals with that and does it well. The discussions around it are very mature, and I like the closing “there will be Jedi who disappoint us.” Letta is a pretty good character as well. The way she carries herself feels very real and I like how angry she makes Ahsoka by the end.

Like I said before, the tone is done very well and part of that is the music which is very affective here as well. There’s a particular track that plays when Ahsoka looks at the holographic crime scene gat instills a particular feeling of dread and hopelessness.

This is an episode that ended up being noticeably better than I remembered. I might go back to this but I right now I’ll give it an 8/10.

That's one of my main issues with the story. It's pretty obvious she has a bigger role than what it seems. When it's kept a mystery until the end of the final installment of the arc, it just doesn't deliver a punch, since it was expected.

Like maybe one of the many times Plo Koon rescued someone, they could’ve had Barriss be there instead. Or maybe we could see her become a Knight.

Idk. Anything.

She showed up again in “Grievous Intrugue” but that was the episode right after the Geonosis Arc so it doesn’t really count.

The only other time I can recall was her and Ahsoka flying starfighters in the intro to “Darkness on Umbara.” (It’s a blink and you’ll miss it cameo)

Yeah probably not.

I looked her up on Wookiepedia, and it turns out she apparently was in "Deception". I don't recall this, but it must've been another brief background appearance.

Probably at Obi-Wan’s funeral. Wonder if she knew yet that she would cause the next funeral we see.

Actually my other problem may be that I still don’t understand how Barriss infiltrates the detention center and kills troopers without being detected.

Watching this arc also makes me really sad we didn't get the see the other Ahsoka stories. Her walkabout one would've been pretty fun I think, but I'm not sure if it would need 4 episodes. The Sith Temple one sounded really interesting though and probably would've served as a good mix of tones between the S5 finale and the Force arc.

You could also count the Siege of Mandalore I suppose, but that wasn't centered around her. At least we'll be getting this one, which is the most important to the overall saga of the three.

I remember seeing this episode on a "worst of" list, which I really don't understand. I don't love To Catch a Jedi as much as the last one, but this is still a really good episode. I always like seeing the Underworld, and the vibe really gives a feel of how far Ahsoka has fallen.

I like that they brought Ventress into this. I wish they made her a little more convincing red herring but I was never really gonna believe Ventress was behind this anyway. Ahsoka and her have an interesting dynamic and it's a bit crazy they haven't seen each other since "Cloak of Darkness." I also liked that they continued to develop Ventress as a character. I'm not sure why she would relocate to Coruscant of all places but ah whatever. I guess she doesn't like sand.

There are some quick but pretty good action scenes sprinkled in here. The train sequence is the best train fight sequence I've seen all month (sorry Captain Marvel) and seeing Ventress kick the shit out of clones is kind of funny. Though if you look closely they had plenty of opportunities to stun her.

Ahsoka had to realize it was pretty stupid to enlist Ventress's help, even if she wasn't the one who betrayed her. But I like that it did end of biting her in the ass in the next episode. And also her casually walking off the train Arya Stark-style ends up in her being chased and almost dying in that elevator. She makes some stupid decisions here but they feel like they all have consequences. Chief among those stupid decisions is calling Barriss. Again, I wish they'd done more throughout the show to demonstrate they were friends. When I think of Ahsoka turning to someone for help I'd almost rather expect her to wring up Tera Sinube. Yeah, that was more recent than last time we saw Barriss.

I think the fight scene at the end is really well done, even while it was set up with an Ambush Game style takedown. The setting is cool for this and it's interesting to see Ahsoka completely outmatched. Barriss seemed a lot more capable here but maybe that was the brain worms. There's also a moment when Barriss cuts a pipe and gets gas in Ahsoka's eyes. And I can't tell if that's a callback to Luminara vs Ventress. But anyway, this last fight is just so appropriately brutal. And that moment when her lightsaber falls, you just know it's over. Wolffe taking her down was just burying what was already dead.

And this ends with the most suspenseful cliffhanger since "Plan of Dissent." It is another really good episode. I think a 9/10 is appropriate.

The Wrong Jedi is a near-perfect episode and easily the best Season finale we got. It's also a good end to Ahsoka's character. Much better than her living through the whole saga and sitting out the Galactic Civil War like some lazy fucking bitch. But anyway I'm getting ahead of myself.

There is so much that is great about this episode that I could really talk about how masterful every scene is but I'll try not to. Beginning with the Jedi Council scene, this episode really shows how broken the order is and even kinda justifies Anakin betraying them, something I never thought this show would do. I like how Obi-Wan is the only one to defend Ahsoka but he is shut down and forced to get in line with the other Jedi. The Chamber of Judgement scene shows this as well. They breeze on by it and as Anakin says, it's just a formality. And then they sit there as Tarkin argues Ahsoka be given the death penalty, and you know they won't do anything to challenge it should it happen.

Anakin is the MVP in this episode. Every scene with him is really powerful. Even him calling Ahsoka "snips" for the last time hurts. I'm glad they kept that one and not "Skyguy." On this rewatch, I tried to see when that disappeared and I think it was somewhere in the first half of Season 2. Anyway, I love how driven he is and how he's unwilling to accept what seems inevitable, much like he is when trying to save Padme in ROTS. His scene with Ventress is really badass. That's all I'll say. I like how far they took his character and made his attitude in ROTS actually make a lot of sense. At the beginning of the show, he disobeys orders at times but still is trying to fit in within the Jedi. He even has pretty good camaraderie with Mace Windu. But with Rako Hardeen and this arc, we understand why that stops being the case.

I still do have some questions about Barriss' plan. Was Ahsoka always the target? Did Barriss know Letta would ask for her? I don't know. I guess she might have been planning all this for the last three seasons. But I guess that's not the point. This is more tragedy than mystery. Even though it hasn't been set up well, Barriss is well done in this arc. Her battle with Anakin has a lot of anger on both sides and it's satisfying when Anakin kicks her ass. And her speech is one of the best moments of the episode. It is scarily accurate of where the Jedi have become and actually ties into who she was in the Geonosis arc. The Order has changed so much that it has become a corrupt shell of itself. Its destruction is imminent.

Ahsoka's exit is perfectly executed. The way the Jedi try to absolve themselves of the blame is infuriating but fits so well in their character. That exchange alone makes you side with Ahsoka as well as understand Anakin's position in ROTS. Their scene at the end is heartbreaking but it feels like there was no other way. Everything comes together perfectly to come to it. I kind of wish Ahsoka said something like "The council didn't trust me so how can I trust them?" but that's just me. I kind of interpret their last words as Ahsoka saying she knows about Padme. The music and the way it closes out feels so well done. I'm glad they didn't cut to the normal music and went with the fade instead.

This is probably my favorite episode of the entire show. It just feels like the perfect way to end Ahsoka's story. 10/10.

Just realized that the first episode of pretty much every arc this season also kinda works as a stand-alone. The exception is Onderon but even that first episode feels a little disconnected from the rest of the arc.