Ahsoka Ep. 4 blasts the series' doors wide open.
More than you wanted on the last two minutes of this episode.
The Short Take:
A fantastic, knock-your-socks-off episode to quiet all the skeptics. Bold storytelling choices (I really did not think they’d go there) that never lose sight of critical character work. The best live action lightsaber fights I’ve seen in the Disney/Lucasfilm era. I have so many questions and am counting down the seconds until next week.
[SPOILER WARNING: There are some bigguns in this one, so PLEASE do not proceed if you haven’t caught up with the series to date. Spoilers for Star Wars Rebels, The Clone Wars, and, to a lesser degree, The Mandalorian .]
The Long Take:
Hello, Snips. I didn’t expect to see you so soon.
Well, I didn’t expect to see the World Between Worlds AT ALL.
“The what?” more casual fans might ask.
And that would be completely understandable because the chasm between the different audiences I discussed last week continues to widen here. While Star Wars Rebels fans should instantly recognize the ethereal star-bridge upon which Ahsoka regains consciousness as the lore-shattering addition to Star Wars canon from Season 4 Episode 13, “The World Between Worlds,” viewers who have not seen that episode will probably scratch their heads and wonder whether or not Ahsoka has gone to some kind of Jedi afterlife, where she seemingly reunites with Force Ghost (question mark?) Anakin Skywalker, portrayed by a de-aged Hayden Christensen wearing the same outfit he wore in Revenge of the Sith. To me, the line about not expecting to see her so soon heavily implies that he’s been waiting there for her since his death and, more importantly, didn’t think she would die this young.
Regardless of what we learn is going on here next week, I never would have guessed that a concept as abstract, powerful, and potentially mind-bending as the World Between Worlds would make it into live action. I applaud Filoni’s boldness here, as well as his trust that the entire audience, even those for whom this is completely new, will follow him.
As I mentioned on this week’s Coffee with Kenobi, for those who have not seen Rebels, this feels like and can function for more casual fans as a classic fantasy hero trope — of being pulled to the brink of death, traveling into some afterlife type realm to receive a pep talk that will allow the hero to return to the mortal battle and win the day. Dan very astutely identified this as the apotheosis moment in Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey.
on Rebel Base Card this week also came to the same conclusion, saying that after “meeting with the goddess,” as Campbell would call it — which, in this case, is Anakin — Ahsoka would learn some new truth and “come back reborn a new version of herself.”To be clear, that may still be what’s happening here. In one of the trailers for Ahsoka, we hear Hayden Christensen’s voice tell Ahsoka that he won’t always be there to protect her. I had originally assumed that was a flashback to their time together in The Clone Wars, but it’s looking more and more like this is something he tells her in the World Between Worlds. Why is he there? Did he save her from death? Or did she travel to The World Between Worlds on her own, albeit by accident? Is there a portal in the ocean below the cliffs of Seatos, and she just happened to fall through one, Alice in Wonderland style? The bird’s eye pan over the Seatos henge does look an awful lot like a portal. Many fans theorize that this could be a deception, with some malevolent force is impersonating Anakin, but I’m going with what I feel like the series at least wants us to believe right now…for now.
I’m getting ahead of myself. The World Between worlds, as I understand it, is not where Jedi go when they die. It is an extra-dimensional space that contains seemingly infinite portals into different points in space and and time within all of Star Wars canon. Ahsoka has, in fact, has been to the World Between Worlds before in, unsurprisingly, Rebels. Ezra Bridger, who seems to be the specter of this series (pun very much intended), pulled her out of her fatal duel with Darth Vader in Episodes 21 and 22 of Season 2 of Rebels, “The Twilight of the Apprentice”; he essentially saves her life so she can reinsert herself into the timeline and live on.
Image Credit: Slash Film
Imagine a door into every moment from every Star Wars story, accessible from one place. Dave Filoni makes this exceedingly clear when Ezra first enters an ancient portal he finds on Lothal and discovers the World Between Worlds for the first time. The episode begins with a montage of voiceovers from Jedi characters throughout all of Star Wars: animated, live action, original, prequel, and sequel trilogies. All of it. What’s so beautiful about this is that Filoni strings all these quotes from past Star Wars stories together to form a new text that comments upon what Ezra is thinking and feeling at this point in the Rebels story. He also puts different branches of Star Wars in conversation with one another.
Image Credit: Collider
It may seem obvious, but the World Between Worlds is, above all else, a place. And that’s significant because while it may evoke similar questions or afford similar powers to time travel, it is a place where jumping through time can happen and not a vehicle or mechanism through which to move along different points of a timeline. It is also decidedly not a multiverse a la Marvel. It a space that has a singular relationship with time, able to simultaneous contain all points in time within it. To try to better understand how space and time function in literature, Russian formalist Mikhail Bakhtin devised the concept of the chronotope, or time-space (I believe I’ve referenced this idea in a previous review, so if you’ve heard this spiel already, bear with me). A space through which to orchestrate the flow of events in a story. The road and the castle are the most iconic ones. But the best example of a chronotope in real life, that my Narrative Theory professor gave in college, is a shopping mall. It’s a discrete space, and yet it is specifically constructed to force a certain relationship with time upon shoppers — namely, spending as much time there as possible to maximize profits. The layout forces you to wander aimlessly, stumble upon a food court to refuel and go back into the commercial fray. The exits are usually off in remote corners. The hallways and levels are circular and unending. That surreal, immersive feeling is not unlike the sensation I get when I see the World Between Worlds. There’s just no merch there, as far as I can tell. How has the World Between Worlds been engineered, both by The Force and by Dave Filoni, to relate to time — to Star Wars history — in a way we would not be able to without it?
In fantasy and science fiction stories, chronotopes can get pretty wacky, and Bakhtin accounts for this in The Dialogic Imagination, saying that “the chronotope of the miraculous world” typically “violates” temporal and spacial “relationships and perspectives.” He goes on to say that “In the majority of cases, moreover, there is not a trace of the “free” relationship of a man to space that is affirmed…What we get, rather, is an emotional, subjective distortion of space, which is part symbolic.” This last part captures my attention the most, as I suspect that the World Between World’s highest potential is in its ability to work out loftier ideas and resolve deep-seated emotional conflicts.
Through Hayden Christensen’s Prequel Trilogy Anakin Skywalker specifically, this live action rendition of the World Between Worlds has the potential to put several stretches of Star Wars history in conversation with one another for the sake of the emotional and/or symbolic: The Prequel Trilogy, The Clone Wars animated series, the Rebels animated series, and the Disney+ “Mando-verse.” And I use the word conversation as opposed to continuity because that, to me, is the joy of doing this. Not that it all fits together neatly, but that, for example, the juxtaposition of Yoda saying “let go of everything you feel to lose” to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith — a warning about attachment — with Rey saying to Finn, “Well seeing each other again. I believe that” — an embrace of attachment — creates a debate about what The Force is and how we should engage with it and each other.
The conversation between and across these branches of Star Wars is especially complex considering Ahsoka’s origins as a Star Wars character. Upon her genesis, she was defined by her Padawan relationship with Anakin. When the original Clone Wars animated movie premiered, there was much discourse about whether or not it made sense that Anakin had a Padawan, considering no one ever even mentioned Ahsoka in the Prequel Trilogy. Ahsoka has always been in her own world between world of sorts, weaving and dodging preexisting canon. She’s been written into the ongoing saga and into a timeline that predates her. In The Clone Wars, she had to fit into the Prequel Trilogy. In Rebels, she had to fit into the Rebellion we see in the Original Trilogy (like all the characters on that series did), and in this series, she has to fit in between Return of the Jedi and The Mandalorian. By being a canon shadow, does she actually glue the franchise together more than any other character?
Through it all, she has been tethered to the life and death of Anakin Skywalker. At the end of The Clone Wars, she survives Order 66 as Anakin falls to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader, and, more to my point, the final shots are of Vader picking up her discarded lightsaber (that he gifted to her). In Rebels, she must come to terms with the fact that Anakin became Vader, ultimately facing him in an epic duel.
Even in this episode of Ahsoka, she cannot escape him, as Baylan expertly taunts her before their duel for the map ball. He says, “Everyone in the Order knew Anakin Skywalker. Few would live to see what he became. Surely that must leave a mark. Is that why you walked away? Abandoned him?” It’s a gut punch to Ahsoka because it says out loud what she’s likely already thinking: that her departure from the Jedi Order allowed, perhaps even pushed Anakin to the Dark Side. Baylan blames Ahsoka for Vader because Ahsoka blames herself.
Image Credit: Forbes
The writing for Baylan and the acting by Ray Stevenson was off the charts in this episode. With each line of dialogue I felt as though we got to know him better and yet still wanted to know more. And his ability to quickly sense someone’s traumatic past in order to use their guilt, shame, and longing against them was chilling. Even though he is a brand new character, I feel as though he has a rich backstory and a fully fleshed out, complicated identity. When I asked Ross and Dan if his ability to size up someone psychologically was a Force power, they very reasonably didn’t go for the idea, but I think the fact that he profiles both Ahsoka and Sabine so easily and so accurately, and is only somewhat successful with the Master and very successful with the less experienced, less in tune with the Force Padawan, makes me wonder. Regardless, it’s these type of dramatic exchanges that elevate lightsaber fights in Star Wars; I couldn’t have been happier.
Image Credit: Decider
It is this self-placed guilt and shame that Ahsoka must reckon with and let go of in the World Between Worlds. The final scene with Anakin (oof, it’s such a tease and cliffhanger!) is perhaps Rosario Dawson’s best acting as Ahsoka to date. She had to run through so many emotions in such a short amount of time: disorientation, realization, hope, fear, excitement, nostalgia, and shock. Kevin Kiner’s brilliant music perfectly encapsulates Ahsoka’s unresolved issues with Anakin as well because he mixes warmer, more hopeful melodies with the imposing Vader theme. We get all the warmth of a long-awaited reunion with all the dread of the darkest, most tragic fall in Jedi history. And we are reminded in that final moment, when that iconic refrain emerges more clearly, that Ahsoka feels she played a role in Anakin’s downfall and the Galaxy’s subsequent demise.
To take advantage of the meta-textual function of the World Between Worlds for a moment, I can see how this is the only place for Ahsoka’s character to go. We need to untether her from the Anakin/Vader story so she can be free to move on and start a new story with Thrawn, Sabine, and the rest of the Mando-verse. She needs to resolve this inner conflict before she can address both the galactic conflict and her interpersonal conflict with Sabine. We as fans need to close the book on The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker, now that we are in a part of the Star Wars timeline that occurs after Vader’s death in Return of the Jedi.
Ahsoka deserves total narrative independence; she has grown into an all-time beloved character after so many years across so many different stories. This is not to say that her long arc with Anakin and later Vader hasn’t been beautiful and fulfilling; quite the opposite, in fact. Still, I’m ready to see her step out from the shadow of her Master — step out of the canon shadows in which she has dwelled for so long.
When I compare what I have seen in Rebels with what little we see of the World Between Worlds here in Ahsoka, though, I have a lot of questions about how this might come about, and about how this series might deepen, expand, or adjust our understanding of this mysterious cosmic space. For example, does Ahsoka have a unique relationship with this world, from having been pulled into it, out of time, once before? She is, to my knowledge, the only character we have seen pulled out of her own timeline and into the World Between Worlds. It’s possible that her previous escape from death affords her special powers when it comes to her own life and death(s?) henceforth.
Or, can we go back even earlier, to when Ahsoka died at the hands of a Mortis god/Force-being called The Son. After he infects Ahsoka with what is essentially a Dark Side virus that takes over her body and mind, another Mortis god, The Daughter, in her final selfless last act, infuses her light into Ahsoka, bringing her back to life. To me, this event fundamentally altering Ahsoka’s relationship with The Force is more likely because later representations of her often feature Morai, a mysterious owl-like creature (called a convor). In Rebels, a scholar working for the Empire, Veris Hydan, says that Morai is either “a servant of The Daughter or possibly The Daughter herself.” In theory, Morai now serves Ahsoka because The Daughter died and transferred her last bit of life to Ahsoka to resurrect her.
Image Credit: Reddit r/starwarsrebels
Ever since, Morai has been following Ahsoka around and acting as her guardian. In Rebels, Morai sits above the World Between Worlds portal through which Ezra rescues Ahsoka, as if to guide him, or at least nudge him towards doing so. We even see Morai in The Mandalorian, sitting on a tree in the forest of Corvus, the planet where Mando and Grogu first meet Ahsoka and team-up to fight Morgan Elsbeth. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I think it makes a lot of sense for Morai to play some part in Ahsoka’s latest brush with death. The Daughter, after all, appears on a painting, alongside The Son and The Father, that UNLOCKS the Lothal portal to the World Between Worlds.
The fact that Ahsoka cheated death twice already: once with a Mortis god’s help and once when Ezra, using a painting of the Mortis gods, opens a portal to the World Between Worlds to save Ahsoka from Vader, cannot be a coincidence. And, as I mentioned in my review of the series premiere of Ahsoka, Filoni likely has the entire mythology behind this worked out in his mind (or infamous sketchbook), just like Tolkien did. We may not go as deep, see as much, or even explicitly talk about the World Between Worlds in this series, but I’m not sure how we continue from where we left off in this episode without at least tangentially referencing one or more of the mythical figures I’ve just discussed.
All this conjecture is to say that putting the World Between Worlds and the visage of Anakin Skywalker on the table opens up a lot more possibilities for Ahsoka’s relationship with death AND for her singular status in the Star Wars universe, unlike any Jedi or non-Jedi affiliated Force wielder before her. Could she be the Force equivalent of a cat with nine lives? Has she been immortal since the Mortis resurrection, able to “respawn” in the World Between Worlds? Could she be the “chosen one” now? (Don’t @ me, Anakin fans. I’m just spitballing here.) While I know we don’t have enough evidence with which to answer any of these questions, I am utterly giddy that this episode has prompted all of them.
Image Credit: Polygon
If I may speculate even less responsibly, I think that if — IF — the Anakin we see at the end of this episode is not really a manifestation of Anakin through the Force, then it could be The Son impersonating Anakin. I went back and rewatched two of the episodes of Season 3 of The Clone Wars, “Overlords” and “Alter of Mortis,” and I hadn’t remembered that The Son takes the form of Anakin’s mother, Shmi. It’s unclear what his motivation is, exactly, but he utters an important line that also applies to Ahsoka right now: “It is time you realize that your guilt does not define you, my son. You define your guilt.” Hearing this made me consider, for the first time since seeing Part Four, that perhaps what we saw was not what it seemed.
Even if this version of Anakin is genuine and not some kind of malicious deception, I think it/he could still function as a way to alleviate Ahsoka’s guilt, or at least invite her to redefine it. I want to go on record, though, as saying that I personally want this to be some earnest representation of Anakin. It seems cruel to tease us with the World Between Worlds and a reunion/reconciliation between Skyguy and Snips only to snatch it away next week.
I would be remiss without acknowledging that for an episode that was from start to finish, across the board tremendous, I have somehow written a tome mostly in response to the last two minutes. And that, if I had to guess, is because of how emotional it was for me to hear Anakin call Ahsoka “Snips” again, never mind in live action.
The World Between Worlds, this super chronotope, designed to force me (pun intended?) to contemplate the vastness, beauty, and intricacies of Star Wars canon and experience it all at once, demands that I cognitively process two characters I know best from animation as live action characters played by two actors who have never inhabited these roles together before, and are from two completely different eras of the franchise’s history — one brand new, having to establish herself with fans (Thumbs up, Rosario! You’re crushing it.), and one pulled from the past (Can we say the 90s are ancient history now? Sometimes I feel that old.), plucked from an entirely different fan timeline to be given not a second chance, because that would imply he’d have to earn something, but rescued and placed in a course-corrected timeline. That’s emotional and symbolic, all thanks to this distortion of time and space.
…
I feel better having narrowed my focus so much knowing that there are plenty of podcasts and written reviews that cover other aspects of this episode.
Rebel Base Card’s Breakfast Pack: You have questions, they have more questions. (And always thoughtful, often amusing answers.)
frequently pulls canon connections I would never have known and/or considered.Ahch-To Baby by Matthew Freeman: His effusive reaction to this week’s episode captures the viewing experience perfectly. An his commentary on past episodes is incredibly insightful.
The ColbyCast: You won’t find their varied, multi-generational perspectives anywhere else. Star Wars is all about family, and it’s so profound experiencing new Star Wars through Colby’s family’s eyes!
Coffee With Kenobi with Dan Zehr: This is also self-promotion right now because I’m a guest co-host along with Ross Hollebon for the entire series’ run. But we’ve been having a blast every week. If you want my take on the other parts of this episode, given us a listen. Dan has also started writing his own written reviews on the CWK website.
Fantha Tracks group review: Editor Mark Newbold knows how to distill my Long Take into a shorter, more digestible, more coherent take and places that abridged version alongside so many other great takes.
House of R: Mal and Jo need the least promotional boost because they arguably have the biggest guns in the nerd podcasting game, but I’m always refreshing my feed to see if their epic multi-hour deep dives have been posted yet. They strike the perfect balance between literary/scholarly analysis and endearing geeking out (I relate to them A LOT).
The Ringer-Verse/The Midnight Boys: Their takes are too hot for some to handle, but I appreciate their honesty and their disagreements. And they always make me laugh. Shout out to Jomi who is a real one because he’s in love with Hera and always sticks up for Star Wars animation.
The Long Take hopes to highlight the value of the work done by the writers and actors who make series like Ahsoka possible. If readers would like to support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, we encourage them to make a donation to the Entertainment Community Fund.