Ahsoka Explored The Star Wars Aspects and Lore I Wanted

Ahsoka has finished its first series, and despite the usual fanboys being miserable, most people seemed, on average, to enjoy it. I know I did. Each Star Wars show has been in slightly different niches – westerns, spies, and so forth. So it was nice that Ahsoka tapped into some of the deeper aspects of Star Wars lore. However, this may prove a tad frustrating for many.

The tone is set when we first see Ahsoka on a planet looking for a mysterious artefact, like some kind of Star Wars Indiana Jones. This MacGuffin is, as is often the case, a star map. Then there’s fighting and evil(ish) Jedi/Sith/fallen force users and all the other stuff you’d expect. All of which are things I find immensely pleasing.

Ahsoka was great but left me slightly unsatisfied

I preface all this by saying that I really enjoyed Ahsoka. It was the kind of Star Wars I hankered after when I was a kid. I loved the idea of mysterious and powerful warriors wandering around strange and exotic planets and having adventures. Plus ancient civilisations and magic. Star Wars is often described as essentially being space fantasy, and Ahsoka leaned heavily into that. It even had witches dishing out magic swords.

I should add that I also like spies and roguish characters as well. But that was covered perfectly by Andor. This is kind of the other end of the spectrum.

I have read some weren’t so keen on Ahsoka, but then I can’t remember a Star Wars film that all Star Wars fans universally loved since Empire Strikes Back. Rogue One was popular – and rightly so – but people even whined about that. (They were wrong, it was great.) And most spelt Rouge for Vader’s sake.

Ahsoka undeniably had a great cast and some great characters. Now, I have seen The Clone Wars and Rebels (you should watch them, they’re great) and a lot of the characters come from those shows. I have even read Star Wars: A New Dawn, which was set six years before Rebels, was tremendously exciting, and introduced some of the protagonists. (You should read it, it’s also fun.) So seeing all these characters in the flesh added a dash of personal excitement. It was also good to see Anakin / Darth (sorry – spoiler) popping in to say hi.

However, the baddies were great too. In particular, Baylan Skoll (RIP the awesome Ray Stevenson), Shin Hati, and Morgan Elsbeth. They can all pull off a really decent intense stare.

Baylan Skoll was obviously the pick of the bunch, and I am not just saying that because Stevenson has been in so many shows I love. The character had a mysterious mission and a strong set of motives. He wasn’t just evil because he was angry or angsty or whatever.

Thrawn was great, but with all due respect to Lars Mikkelsen, he didn’t have the physique I also associated with Thrawn. Which is petty, I know.

I recently reread Heir to Empire by Timothy Zahn (which you should also read), and Mikkelsen just didn’t quite match the character for me. He was still a pretty cool character though and achieved his mission of going from one galaxy to another, while remaining calm and sounding cool. So job done, I guess.

Why I wasn’t totally satisfied…

I just wanted a bit more… exploration/explanation/stuff. I know some other Star Wars shows have fewer episodes – and some more – but their story arcs felt more complete. The Mandalorian Series One ended with a big scrap and an ongoing mystery, but it was still more satisfying somehow. Kenobi just popped away from his babysitting job and had a mini adventure. Andor, obviously, was brilliant with tons more character development and lots of more satisfying character and plot arcs. (Guess my favourite.)

I might be subconsciously slightly biased because I was a huge fan of Ray Stevenson. Disney will obviously replace him, and probably with someone who’s great, but it won’t be quite the same.

However, I don’t think it is just that. As I vaguely and poorly alluded to above, I wanted things wrapped up a little more. The story is essentially a load of people – goodies and baddies – going to another galaxy to send back the people they wanted to send back. And they did. There are some very cool mysteries and old mythological points raised in the show. But they felt more hinted at than satisfyingly explored. There will clearly be a second season, but for now, I’m left wanting.

I also can’t imagine what you would think if you weren’t fairly up on your Star Wars lore. Like what is Skoll up to? At the end of episode 8, he’s in front of the statue of the Father, but if you haven’t seen Clone Wars, that won’t mean much. I was excited, but most will be left baffled. The witches and Dathomir appear in various things like animated TV shows, books, comics and even superb new games, but again, not everyone is cool enough to be into all that.

So I loved Ahsoka and appreciated they touched on some of the lore and mythos, but was frustrated by there not being enough. If you don’t know these kinds of details, then I imagine you were a bit lost. Or confused. I’ve done my homework, but there are still a lot of Padawans out there, searching for answers on Google.

Having said all that – roll on season two!

(The above contains affiliate links.)