Mish375 S

A real treat for long-time and new fans alike. Ahsoka had some very tricky shoes to fill. Filoni and his team had to make a show that incorporated elements from the excellent 90's Thrawn book Trilogy, continue from Rebels, and also create a story that made sense to fans who had read or seen neither. I'm happy to say that they succeeded on all fronts. The events of this series pick up close to 10 years after the Rebels took down the Second Death Star. While most of the galaxy is hampered with creating a stabilized New Republic, Jedi Ahsoka Tano hears alarming rumours. Imperial sympathizers are attempting to locate and bring back the last Grand Admiral, Thrawn, from his exile to reunite the shattered remnants of the Empire and ready it for war. Filoni and his team deftly weave different elements of the story together in the first half of this 8 part series. On the one hand we see both the victories and challenges of the New Republic, as well as the realistic denial of some members as to the threat of Thrawn's return. There are also two Dark Jedi whose motivations are unclear working against the Republic: Beylan and Shin. While all this is going on, Ahsoka takes on a new apprentice, Sabine, so that they can find their friend Ezra who disappeared with Thrawn. The writers wisely slow things down here so that you feel the weight of each character's motivation and their struggles with each other. Ahsoka is dealing with her feelings of failure as a mentor, which surface when she and Sabine have a difficult teacher-student relationship. Hera Syndulla is trying to convince the council of the threat of a new Empire. And Sabine is wrestling with shutting down after losing her family and trying to find the only one she feels she has left (Ezra). All of these elements culminate with some characters overcoming or falling to said motivations in Episodes 4 and 5. The story then picks up rapid-fire in the last 3 episodes of the season as the build up has been wisely calculated by the showrunners. We get our main threat: Thrawn, and the story kicks into a race for Ahsoka and friends to keep Thrawn from escaping his exile. What follows is a cat and mouse chess-match between our heroes and the strategic Thrawn, with an unpredictable finale to close things off. There are many twists and turns throughout the series that keep things fresh. This series feels like the ride of a lifetime. As a book fan, it's fun to see what elements the writers have incorporated into the story. Rebels fans will be satisfied with the payoff and continuation of that story. The casting is outstanding: particularly that of Eman Esfandi as Ezra and Lars Mikkelsen, who plays Thrawn as if the character stepped out of the pages of Heir to the Empire onto screen seamlessly. If I had to nit-pick anything it would be the minor point of Dark Jedi apprentice Shin being underdeveloped compared to her master Beylan. But there will be a chance to develop her as she goes forward so this is a minor point. Other than that, I'm excited to see where this story goes in the future. This was a great start and a wonderful set-up for the Heir to the Empire storyline many have waited to see since the 90s. Hats off to the showrunners, crew, and cast for a job well done. I recommend this series to any Star Wars fan.