Ahsoka – Season 1 Episode 4 “Fallen Jedi” Recap & Review

Fallen Jedi

Episode 4 of Ahsoka begins with Sabine struggling to get through to Hera. Ahsoka has wandered off outside, so Sabine follows her and admits that they can’t send a distress signal. Their ship is going nowhere. Ahsoka knows the enemy has the map and decides they should head off and find the ground base.

Ahsoka admits they have a difficult choice here on this trek. If they can’t make the journey to find Ezra, then no one should. Destroying this route completely would be better than allowing Thrawn to return. Sabine is not so sure and she’s conflicted, although she does admit to Ahsoka that she can count on her. When Sabine leaves, Huyang shows up and asks if everything is okay. He gets a blank stare and a “be careful out here”. As fate would have it, it turns out they’re being watched.

Elsewhere, Baylan and Morgan Elsbeth learn of Ahsoka’s location and decide to head in to attack. The Sith Apprentice, Shin, joins the fight and disappears into the woods. In their absence, Baylan reminds Elsbeth of the importance with getting these coordinates right. If they’re off, even by a little bit, then they’ll be in trouble.

We then cut back to long, drawn out scenes with Sabine and Ahsoka who repeat dialogue we heard outside and discuss doing the right thing and not succumbing to their emotions. Outside, Huyang fixes parts of the ship but he’s blindsided by a robot, which ends up smacking the electrics under the ship, and the lights go back out again.

Ahsoka jumps in and makes short work of the droid though. After saving Huyang and realizing that there are dangerous droids out here, Ahsoka decides to wander off with Sabine, leaving their ship completely vulnerable and Huyang all by himself. Genius.

Up in space, Hera decides to leave after all without telling the council where she’s going. She’s not going alone though, given she’s heading off with her son and a small squadron of fighters.

Back on the planet’s surface, Ahsoka and Sabine come face to face with Shin and this strange guy wearing the knight’s armor, wielding a dual-bladed lightsaber. After a long stare, Ahsoka slashes him once and he’s down. Unfortunately this guy doesn’t survive a lightsaber blow like Sabine and Reva, which is a shame. Anyway, Sabine gets the better of Shin but the latter rushes away and leaves.  

Ahsoka is tasked with heading off and getting the map, while Sabine keeps Shin busy. Ahsoka finds the Star Map on the edge of a cliff, and Baylan sitting waiting for her. They briefly discuss Anakin, along with the possibility of Thrawn returning and what that would consequently do to the universe. The pair finally trade blows.

Ahsoka bests Baylan, grabs the map but it scorches her hand and she has to drop it.As a result of this, the final calculations are incomplete. Everyone eventually reconvenes by the edge of the cliff.

Ahsoka is kicked off the edge, but Baylan speaks to Sabine and instead of destroying the map, Baylan talks her around to do right by Ezra. He knows that Ezra is the key here and her family died because Ahsoka didn’t trust her. Given they both have the same goal, Sabine hands over the map and Shin starts choking her out. Baylan tells her to stop though given he intends to keep his word.

Sabine is kept prisoner and follows along, as Baylan destroys the map once the coordinates have been complete. They all reconvene on the hyperring, just as Hera and the group arrive at their location. The hyperdrive is set into motion, and off they go. The shockwave blasts hits the other ships alongside Hera. A few are destroyed but Hera is absolutely fine.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka awakens on a strange, starry pathway. A mysterious voice calls out “Hello Snips,” and as she turns, Anakin Skywalker is standing before her.

The Episode Review

Ah yes, if all else fails then bring out the ‘member berries. The trouble is, this only works if people have watched all seasons of The Clone Wars and Rebels. And given the numbers watching this show (1.2 million US households and 14 million worldwide) then it’s clear that this is a series designed specifically for that target audience.

That’s a problem, especially for casual audiences who want to jump in and understand who these characters are. We get nothing from anyone to explain this naturally beyond forced pockets of exposition early on. We’ve seen no interaction between Sabine and Ezra in this show (not even in flashbacks), so unless you know the history then it’s going to fall flat.

Speaking of flat, the acting is still really poor all round, while the plot is full of contrivances. Ahsoka and Sabine rush off and leave their ship completely unmanned save for Huyang. They don’t even bother to add some sort of defence protocol. For all they knew, while rushing off into parts unknown, Baylan and the others could have found their ship (given they know their location, making last episode’s “escape” pointless) and destroyed it, leaving the Jedi stranded.

But then you come to the fight choreography. It’s poor all round and when you slow it down and watch the movements, it’s sloppy, inorganic and at its worst, is lackadaisical. There’s no oomph to any of these blows. And all this, before even mentioning the long pauses between bits of dialogue of lightsaber blows. 

Ultimately, the final little nostalgia bait with Anakin is going to work for many fans who have loved Rebels, but for everyone else who wants a decent, compelling story, it’s nothing but a cynical attempt to keep people hooked and watching.