Ahsoka – Season 1 Episode 3 “Time to Fly” Recap & Review

bTime To Fly

Ahsoka episode 3 begins with Huyang sparring with Sabine. She’s on the mend and almost perfect now after being stabbed in the gut with a lightsaer and shaking it off in record time. She doesn’t even need a bacta tank either. Bonus!

Ahsoka reminds Sabine that her abilities are not enough to win this fight, she also needs to learn how to wield the Force too. How? Well, she’ll have to discover that for herself. Huyang has also told her she’s the worst Jedi candidate ever, but Ahsoka is going to try and change that. She encourages Sabine to wear a helmet and see with more than just her eyes. Hey, it’s a throwback to A New Hope!

This scene goes on for a long time, with Ahsoka basically playing with her as Sabine eventually loses her footing and collapses on the ground. “Anger and frustration are quick to give power. But they also unbalance you,” Ahsoka says. They’re also emotions that lead to the dark side of course, but Ahsoka doesn’t mention this.

While they spar, Hera speaks to Chancellor Mothma in the counsel room. We get a recap of episode 2 here, before Hera points out that the activity in the shipyard is clearly pointing toward a much larger operation involving the currently MIA, Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Hera wants a task force to head out to the Denab System to investigate this herself, but the council believe these funds and resources can be better put toward the people. The Imperial Fleet is scattered and broken, hardly a threat, but Hera warns the counsellors that Thrawn returning could bring the remnants together and cause a big fight to break out. As Hera lets her emotions get the better of her, Mothma decides to speak to the other senators alone to ponder what to do next.

After some more brief scenes involving Ahsoka teaching Sabine how to wield the Force, and recapping said training with Huyang, Hera communicates through and reveals the bad news – she’s not going to join them in the Densab System.

The comms system jams though as Ahsoka makes it into the Denab System. Huyang points out there’s a large object but the signature is unknown to him. However, they’re immediately blindsided by the Sith Apprentice and two squadrons who show up and tail the ship. Sabine rushes to the gun controls and begins firing back.

As they do, moving toward the intended target, Huyang and Ahsoka notice a strange object in space that looks like a Hyperspace Ring, floating ominously above the planet. In fact, Morgan Elsbeth happens to be onboard. She prepares the turbolasers as Ahsoka decides to just fly right for it.

Despite constant laser fire pelting right at them, Sabine and Ahsoka don’t really seem too bothered given they’re completely monotonous in their reactions. They fly right for the ring, and unfortunately Huyang is knocked offline as he completes his scan.

Ahsoka decides to head out onto the wing of the plane while the ship is inaccessible while wearing her spacesuit, diving back and forth and taking out one of the fighters who all decide to fire at her lightsaber rather than the ship itself, but there we go. 

Once that’s done, Ahsoka scrambles back in and they fly the ship down closer to the planet’s surface. As they enter the atmosphere, there’s almost a flicker of emotion from Sabine and Ahsok when they notice Purrgil, large hyperspace-dwelling whales, but of course it’s short-lived.

They manage to avoid the Sith chasing them and touch down on the planet, turning off their power to evade their captors. It’s an old Empire Strikes Back trick but thankfully they’re not inside the belly of a hungry creature this time! As a result, the ships fly over and they remain undetected. They wait for the Sith to leave before turning their power back on again, and subsequently Huyang. It’s a bold strategy, given we know the Sith are currently looking for them and their signature turned on will be like a beacon, but there we go.

Anyway, Huyang explains that the hyperspace ring is unlike any that he’s seen before, with the craft holding power levels and configuration capable of a jump with astonishing speed and distance. And that destination, as we know, is where Thrawn will be. While they discuss this, we cut across to the menacing Baylan Skoll, who organizes his troops to hunt the forest and find Ahsoka.

The Episode Review

Although the episode claims to be 37 minutes long, when you take out the opening recap and credits at the end, Ahsoka clocks in at a measly 28 minutes… and for a lot of that runtime, nothing actually happens.

The editing in this series is poor across the board and I mentioned it before but that early scene of Sabine training is a great example. We get 1 minute and 10 seconds of Ahsoka just walking around Sabine slowly, with anticipatory music that doesn’t fit the sluggish pace. When you compare that to Luke in A New Hope, with quick cuts and a much more vibrant, exciting feel while he’s training, it really shows how weak the production is for this.

It doesn’t help either thay the acting is slightly above awful at the moment. There are long scenes here where Sabine and Ahsoka don’t even emote. We get the small hints of a smile here and there, but while the ship is under attack, there’s not even a flicker of emotion; lines are delivered in a monotonous manner like they’re not even bothered if their ship is being hit with enemy fire.

But the most egregious part here comes from the narrative, which does nothing to push the story forward. Hera does nothing, Sabine and Ahsoka move from point A to point B but don’t learn anything or do anything along the way. In fact, they just recap what’s already happened. It’s fair to say this is another dud from Disney.