(Warning: Spoilers follow for the premiere of Ahsoka.)
Any new entry in the Star Wars universe is made better with a little creature. The world practically exploded over the cuteness of Baby Yoda (aka Grogu, or “The Child”) when he appeared in the first episode of The Mandalorian. Ewoks have always been menacingly adorable. Even bug-eyed Babu Frik had his time in the spotlight. Now, with Ahsoka, the white Loth-cat should be grabbing our attention.
Cuteness quota satisfied, there are more pressing topics to cover when it comes to the pilot episode of Ahsoka, titled “Master and Apprentice.” For example: The New Republic has taken over after the fall of the Empire, but danger looms in the form of a potential new evil emperor lurking in a corner of the galaxy. Sinister agents like Baylan Skoll (the late Ray Stevenson) and Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) are jockeying for power. But for a second, can’t we just admire Sabine Wren’s (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) sweet, fuzzy Loth-cat?
The cat reminds Sabine of Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), who sacrificed himself at the end of Star Wars Rebels in order to take down the immoral Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). But Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) has a new lead on Ezra and Thrawn. She believes they both might be alive because she found an orb-shaped map on Arcana that appears to point to Thrawn’s location, which could lead the evil forces to him and use his powers to reinstall the Empire.
Ahsoka brings the encrypted map to her somewhat trusty (he’s a little clumsy!) droid Huyang (voiced by David Tennant). Even though the Jedi order has fallen apart at this point in the Star Wars lore, Huyang still follows Jedi protocol. He’s upset to hear that Ahsoka had to force the location of the map out of Morgan, breaking those rules—but hey, Morgan would’ve revealed the location to a bunch of villains if it weren’t for Ahsoka’s speedy action.
Morgan has been freed from her prison aboard a New Republic ship, thanks to the help of Baylan, an ex-Jedi who is now using his powers for evil, while also training a new apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). They set out to find the map, but find that it’s been stolen by Ahsoka. Time for Plan B: Find Ahsoka Tano. Actually, they’re smarter than that—they know to go to Sabine first, because she actually knows how to decipher the map.
It turns out that Ahsoka can do all that much with the map on her own. She knows how important it is, but she doesn’t have the tools to decode the holograms. There’s someone who might help, suggests her confidante, Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). This person, Hera hints, had tight ties with Ezra and would do anything to bring him back. (Obviously, said person is Sabine.)
Then, there’s a cheeky cut to a New Republic ceremony honoring Ezra where—guess who?—Sabine is slated to give a speech. We don’t spend a long time at this ceremony (which is a bummer, because the towering white pillars are the most beautiful part of this episode) before we see Sabine speeding away from her responsibilities, snarky and powerful as ever.
She evades her commitment to give a touching speech to Ezra and instead watches the last hologram he ever sent her. Ezra says he would do anything to defeat Thrawn. He talks about a sacrificial battle, which may send him to a land where he can’t be saved. Rebels fans know this backstory and will enjoy this Easter egg, but it’s helpful that Ahsoka unpacks the long-winded Star Wars history so that newcomers have a clue of what’s going on in Ahsoka’s situation.
Ahsoka finds Sabine, and although there’s some tension—can’t wait to see more banter between these two later—Sabine agrees to help, in honor of Ezra. Ahsoka has to commit to one condition, though: Sabine needs to deal with this map at her home. Ahsoka refuses. Sabine will need to dig her fingers (which are flaked with edgy black polish; apparently they have nail salons in this galaxy?) into the orb on Ahsoka’s ship.
But Sabine is Sabine. Ahsoka, her ex-master, should know this. She shouldn’t let the ex-Padawan out of her sight. And yet, Ahsoka is lazy. Sabine bolts back to her shack in the desert, taking the prized map with her.
Perhaps Ahsoka would leave Sabine to die, if it weren’t for two key issues in her way. The first: Sabine has that highly powerful map. The second, and perhaps more important: Huyang has discovered that the evil forces pursuing the map are an ex-Jedi master and his apprentice, which make them an incredibly dangerous duo. Ahsoka needs to ignore her ego and convince Sabine of how important she is. The pair need to be master and apprentice again.
But it might be too late, because just as Sabine figures out where Thrawn and Ezra are located, Baylan and Shin invade her home. Shin and Sabine throw down in an epic lightsaber duel. Sabine calls for help from Ahsoka, and right as Ahsoka reaches the ongoing battle, Shin sabers Sabine through the chest. Ahsoka is now down one map and one apprentice.
There’s no way Ahsoka has already killed off Sabine. It’s a cheap fake out, considering the episode does such a great job of setting up the snappy dynamic between Ahsoka and Sabine. We know they’re coming back. The question now becomes: How will Ahsoka revive her student, and how pissed will she be that Sabine stole the map?
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