I never wanted to watch Star Wars again and then Ahsoka saved me

Star Wars is like a porcupine that keeps wanting to hug people. You like it, but every approach hurts. That’s what happened to me recently with the franchise. Especially after Disney+ shows like Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, I had turned my back on the galaxy far, far away. But since the first two episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka, my frustration has gone.

The last 5 years of Star Wars have been a total disappointment

With the exception of the first season of The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Andor, the Star Wars franchise has only disappointed me since the theatrical film Star Wars 9: The Rise of Skywalker. Maybe I should explain that in more detail. Star Wars 9 was powerless and scared, copied from famous predecessors and was not interested in his characters.

The Mandalorian slowed from Season 2, relying on Monster of the Week morsels and Baby Yoda’s big eyes. Obi-Wan adorned himself with two iconic characters without developing his own voice. Boba Fett was an enigmatic total failure. Andor, on the other hand, was a triumph, a unique ray of light full of innovation and courage. If only someone had watched the series.

And yes, there is Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. The series is neither particularly good nor particularly bad. Above all, it is particularly irrelevant.

So at the start of Ahsoka I whistled from the last hole. I hated the idea even before it started. Ex-Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) meets other fan favorites from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, hunts down Rebels bully Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and has to deal with some run-of-the-mill bad guys and their red lightsabers again battle. At some point, fan service bait no longer hurts, it just makes you terribly tired.

Ahsoka won me over with lightsaber fights

But Ahsoka didn’t tire. Ahsoka blew out my ears, held me captive, and planted new enthusiasm in me. Star Wars is back! Disney heard us! Bring on five new trilogies and series to the hilt, I’m in! But why the sudden change of heart? The answer is lightsabers.

In Ahsoka there is finally exciting, acrobatic lightsaber fights again, as I last saw 18 years ago in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Not the pseudo-realistic hacking like in Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens or the Obi-Wan series. A virtuosic, deadly dance. And what difference that makes.

I’m looking forward to Ahsoka Tano’s fights again like martial arts fans look forward to the next brawl in The Raid. It’s not just a visual spectacle, it restores uniqueness to the Force users. It gives the Star Wars universe back its hierarchy. Jedi are dangerous and cool again.

That might be a niche or nerdy observation. But she gave my lost Star Wars love the exact jolt she needed to recognize Ahsoka’s grandiose facets.

I’ve been looking forward to the next Star Wars episode for years

For the first time in a long time I want to know what’s next for a Star Wars series. There’s no Monster of Week scheme, no ticking off well-known characters, no iconic last-second appearances. Instead, the ghost of Thrawns hovers over the entire story.

Grand Admiral Thrawn, the evil genius. The Mystery. That lurks somewhere in the darkness of the universe to tear down the new republic. The search for him is the first real dramaturgical vanishing point of all Star Wars series. I want to know what he looks like, how he acts, what happened to him. Ahsoka plays with it and creates constant tension.

At the same time, the characters break several Star Wars rules. Ahsoka doesn’t believe in the Jedi Order, but he’s still one of the good guys. Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) may be a Padawan but has no talent. Fiesling Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) murders without remorse but mourns the rarity of the Jedi.

Ahsoka looks like cinema and sounds like horror

And finally a Star Wars series also looks like cinema. Huge battleships in the light of a blazing star, mighty spaceports, mysterious rock formations on gloomy cliffs. Not always the clinical studio look that has prevailed since The Mandalorian on Disney+. It’s top-notch CGI that looks like money.

The most refreshing after the series uniformity of the last few years is the completely atypical soundtrack, which was designed by franchise veteran Kevin Kiner (The Clone Wars, Rebels). It’s more reminiscent of Alien horror than a Jedi treasure hunt. He promises that for the first time something truly monstrous is happening in the Star Wars universe.

Sure, some dialogue is aimed more at the audience than at the characters. And some costumes look more like cosplay than authentic attire. But for a long time now I’ve had the feeling again that I’m not sitting in a production capsule as a test pilot. Not being part of a huge fan service formula, which calculates the components of new Star Wars content based on my reaction.

Ahsoka captivates as Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace captivated me 26 years ago. With stories that are epic instead of calculated. And lightsaber waving that would have made my eight-year-old self happy too.

Podcast: Is Ahsoka Bringing Back the Old Star Wars Feel?

With Ahsoka, the 5th live-action series from the Star Wars universe brings us back to a galaxy far, far away. The promising start convinces with a lot of Star Wars nostalgia. You can currently stream the series on Disney+.

Fifteen years after her debut in The Clone Wars, Star Wars fan favorite Ahsoka Tano is getting her first series, which doubles as a continuation of the animated series Rebels. Is the galactic adventure starring Rosario Dawson a success? We took a closer look at this in the series check of the first 2 episodes.

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