Ahsoka Is Connecting The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy And It's 'Time To Fly'
This article contains spoilers for "Star Wars: Ahsoka" episode 3 — "Time to Fly"
Things are kicking into high gear in part 3 of "Ahsoka." Directed again by Steph Green and written by Dave Filoni, the episode shows the inertia faced by the New Republic when it comes to taking any military action beyond the end of the war. Few seem to believe that Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) could be a threat to the New Republic, and others still think that the specter of Thrawn is just Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth-Winstead) trying to nab all the resources she can get to go on a selfish mission to look for her lost friend, Ezra Bridger (Emen Esfandi). While Hera spends her time arguing with Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), the Chancellor of the Republic, another journey is underway. Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson), Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and Huyang (David Tennant) travel to Seatos in the Deanab System to get a look at exactly what it is that Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) is building. Upon a closer look, and after a thrilling space battle against Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) and Marrok (Paul Darnell), Ahsoka and Sabine realize it's a massive Hyperspace Ring capable of intergalactic travel. Crash landing on the planet, Ahsoka and Sabine hide in the forest as the forces of the Dark Side scramble to hunt them down as the episode comes to a close.
How does this all fit into the larger "Star Wars" picture?
The filmmaking
The major set piece of this episode — as referenced in the title, "Time to Fly" — is a battle in space between the forces of good and evil. The one-pilot fighters have a very World War II P-51 Mustang sort of look and give us a classic, small-scale dogfight very much like the one that George Lucas gave us in "A New Hope" as the Millennium Falcon escaped the Death Star. With Sabine in the gunner's station, Ahsoka at the helm of the ship, and a priggish droid complaining at the back, it definitely brought back all of those vibes quite capably. Director Steph Green brings an excitement to even the quiet moments. At the start, we're given a Japanese Samurai movie version of Luke and Obi-Wan's training aboard the Falcon, and it really does feel like that old, black-and-white footage from Michael Anderson's "The Dam Busters" brought to exciting life once more.
The episode certainly gets more fun, though, when the tension between Ahsoka and Sabine seems to melt, and Green handles that transition capably. Ahsoka and Sabine are loathe to admit they let the other one down, but when they cut loose and work together, they're able to put that tension aside and give us versions of the characters more like the ones we'd become accustomed to in other storytelling. It's a pretty subtle shift and elegantly done.
While there are definitely other filmmaking flourishes in the show, it's obvious that Steph Green is incredibly attuned to the style beats that George Lucas built "Star Wars" from. There are touches of "A New Hope," "Attack of the Clones", and even "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." She also really knows how to utilize Kevin Kiner and his music to stunning effect. George Lucas always said that half of the picture is the music and Steph Green and Kevin Kiner are really proving it in this episode.
The seeds of Resistance
One of the most interesting things this episode does is highlight the events that lead to "The Force Awakens." In the back story of General Leia Organa's founding of the Resistance, it was because of the intransigence of the New Republic and their unwillingness to act against their enemies. She felt compelled to call in all the favors to create her secret Resistance to monitor threats like the First Order.
One of the highlights of "The Clone Wars" was filling in story beats and emotional arcs that made the "Star Wars" prequels even better for all audiences. It seems like "Ahsoka" is doing the same thing for the sequel trilogy. Watching the Senators bicker and not allow Hera to investigate threats? Of course, Leia would need to start a Resistance in time for "The Force Awakens."
Details to watch out for
Another treat for fans is that "Time to Fly" is loaded with cameos and film references,
The biggest cameos come aboard "Home One," the flagship of the Rebel Fleet that General Hera Syndulla is aboard. The first we see is Mon Mothma, the Chancellor of the New Republic, with Genevieve O'Reilly reprising the role for the first time in the post-"Return of the Jedi" timeline. Naturally, she's been the younger iteration of the character in a few different "Star Wars" projects, but never after Caroline Blakiston's take on the character in "Return of the Jedi."
Standing to Mon Mothma's left is Senator Xiono. Fans of "Star Wars Resistance," the two-season TV show following the exploits of a Resistance spy in the lead-up to "The Force Awakens", will recognize him as the father of that show's hero, Kaz Xiono (played by Christopher Sean). Here, Senator Xiono is not too thrilled to be getting the New Republic involved in any engagements and is actively hostile to Hera Syndulla.
The third major cameo aboard the ship comes in the form of Jacen Syndulla, the half-human, half-Twi'lek child of Hera and the late Jedi Kanan Jarrus. He even has his trademark green hair as a nod to his mother's coloring. Jacen first appeared in the very last scene of "Star Wars Rebels" and in his live-action debut, he's asking his mother if Aunt Sabine is really going to be a Jedi and lamenting the fact that he's not training to be one.
As far as film references, this episode is chock-full of them. Not just "Star Wars" references either, because there are plenty of direct references to "Star Wars" and "The Clone Wars". The biggest one comes from the Zatochi technique. It's where Sabine's face is obscured, robbing her of sight and she has to fend off Ahsoka's predations. This feels like a direct reference to "Zatoichi," the classic Japanese franchise starring a blind Samurai from the late Edo period.
At one point, Marrok, the former Inquisitor tells Shin Hati "as you wish," which could be taken as a reference to "The Princess Bride," but that doesn't feel as intentional as Huyang from the back seat saying that the situation is "intolerable" as they're being shot at just like Henry Jones, Sr. in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
And it feels a lot like the Eye of Scion, the massive hyperspace ring to travel intergalactic distances, sounds a lot like the Eye of Sauron, which would make sense for a huge "Lord of the Rings" nerd like Dave Filoni.
Time to fly
This episode is also full of cool imagery — like Ahsoka dual-wielding lightsabers in zero-gee to cut the wings off a starfighter — a strong, steady drumbeat of action, and a philosophical discussion about the nature of the Force. It has all the ingredients for a confident, competent installment of "Star Wars," but ultimately feels a little short. At 37 minutes, it's the shortest episode thus far. While every single element worked well together, the cliffhanger felt like it was a single episode cut in half. My opinion of that might change after next week's episode and we see how involved the hunt for Hera and Sabine really is, but for now, it felt like it was cut abruptly.
For fans of "Rebels", "The Clone Wars", and the "Star Wars" sequels, it really brings threads from all three of those properties and weaves them together in new ways and connects them as we haven't seen before. Ahsoka really is the former apprentice of Anakin Skywalker and she proves it in everything she does in this episode. Sabine returns to her Mandalorian self here, getting past her moping and on a mission once more.
This episode is straightforward, but I think as we get closer and closer to the twist of the episode and Thrawn coming back into the galaxy, we're not going to be prepared for what is actually going to happen. We're on familiar ground now, I assume future episodes are going to pull that rug right from beneath us. And I hope Filoni does it with aplomb. I'm really rooting for him because I love "Star Wars" that dares to give us something new and right now he seems to be building a foundation so we can get just that.
New episodes of "Ahsoka" premiere on Tuesday nights on Disney+ at 6:00 pm Pacific, 9:00 pm Eastern.