With the arrival of Ahsoka Episode 4: Fallen Jedi comes some awesome duels and some big plot developments for the show. With the first three episodes, they were really focused on emotional character development, but this episode was ready to bring out the big guns and fire off some huge plot momentum, including a return from a prominent figure of the Star Wars franchise (more on that later). This was a meaty episode so let’s talk about what happened and what it could mean going forward.
If you haven’t already, you can watch all four episodes of Ahsoka on Disney+ right now. You can also check out my previous reviews on the show if you want to read my thoughts on those.
Spoiler alert for those who have not watched Ahsoka Episode 4: Fallen Jedi.
Story – Kicking It Into High Gear
Episode 4 begins with our heroes Ahsoka, Sabine, and Huyang attempting to fix their ship after the dogfight from episode three. As Ahsoka and Sabine gear up to face their enemies head on, Ahsoka asks if Sabine will be willing to make the hard choice of destroying the map and leaving Ezra stranded in another galaxy if they cannot prevent the antagonists from reaching Thrawn. Sabine struggles to confidently say she can do that, and Ahsoka can no doubt sense she can’t fully commit to that notion. Even a non-Jedi can tell she holds Ezra dear and the guilt of that decision would not be taken lightly by her.
Back at the reflex point, we see Morgan and Baylan making their final preparations for their journey to find Thrawn. Baylan mentions to Morgan if her calculations are even slightly off they will be lost to the Void. This is a reference to Star Wars Legends where there was an established idea of a Void between galaxies that was perilous to navigate. Shin and Marrok walk up and say they found the location of our heroes, to which Baylan orders them to delay them as they gather their calculations. They block Ahsoka and Sabine from going further and leads to each pair splitting up into rematches of their respective previous episode duels.
Ahsoka and Sabine in her Mandalorian armor
After a few moments of fighting, Ahsoka and Marrok have a stand off. Marrok begins to whirl his blades as he and Ahsoka lunge and strike at each other. A brief pause, before the camera reveals it was Marrok who was dealt a fatal blow. Interestingly, he doesn’t die like a normal human would. Instead, he contorts and screams as a green mist explodes out of him. For someone intimately aware of Star Wars lore, you can put some pieces together and figure out that Marrok must have been a former deceased inquisitor that was brought back to life by Morgan’s Nightsister magic. However, as with other things in this show, if aren’t familiar with previously established lore then this probably confused the heck out of you.
Ahsoka arrives at the reflex point to find Baylan awaiting her. Baylan mentions Anakin Skywalker and how highly he spoke of Ahsoka. He continues, saying everyone in the Jedi Order knew of the great Anakin Skywalker, but few would live to see what he became. He asks Ahsoka if this is why she ran away and abandoned him, clearly trying to play mental chess with her. Ahsoka isn’t fazed, and Baylan reveals his reasoning for wanting Thrawn to return. This scene is great and the late Ray Stevenson killed his performance. It’s also a nice touch to bring Ahsoka’s relationship with Anakin into the fold. Their bond is, in my opinion, one of the richest character relationships in Star Wars and it’s always interesting to see it built upon further.
Marrok, who turned out to be a former inquisitor raised from the dead
They each draw their lightsabers and measure each other before dueling. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking as Morgan continues to receive coordinates from the map. The show cuts back to Shin and Sabines fight as the camera pans across her dropped Mandalorian helm, foreshadowing the scene that will follow. Sabine manages to get the upper hand, but Shin retreats and we cut back to the Ahsoka-Baylan fight. Baylan tries to taunt her, but she counters and gets him down temporarily.
This allows Ahsoka to grab the map, but it burns her hand she’s forced to drop it. Baylan recovers and corners her against a deadly cliff. Shin makes it to the reflex point and Ahsoka, possibly in anger due to it looking like Shin had defeated Sabine, force pushes her into a rock. Baylan retaliates, but Sabine manages to get the map and yells at him to stop or she’ll shoot the map. Ahsoka pleads her to do so, but Baylan smartly decides to push her off the cliff anyway, sending Sabine into angry shock. That may have been a risky move considering Sabine had the map in her hand, but given how Baylan manipulates Sabine afterwards, I assume it was a calculated decision on his part.
Ahsoka and Baylan facing off with their respective stances
Sabine tries to keep her composure, but she couldn’t have prepared for the emotional manipulation that Baylan employs through the use of Force empathy. He senses her grief and her longing to find Ezra, and plays her like a fiddle. He even brings up her family’s death in the Purge of Mandalore and how Ahsoka seems to be partly at fault. It could also explain why Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship was so strained at the beginning of the show. It’s terrific acting from both actors and sets up huge ramifications going forward.
It may have seemed like the wrong thing to do, but the show has done a good job setting up Sabine’s guilt and loss, she accepts Baylan’s offer to travel with them to find Thrawn and Ezra. Shin Hati is less enthused about her coming with them however, and briefly Force chokes her before relenting to her Master’s commands. Baylan reinserts the map, and the enemy completes their calculations. Morgan tells them to return to the Eye of Seion and Baylan destroys the map so that no one can follow.
Baylan subtly uses Force empathy to manipulate Sabine
Hera and her group of pilots arrive at Seatos, but it’s too late. The Eye of Seion powers up and jumps straight through Hera’s forces, causing a few of them to crash in the craft’s wake. If we compare this to the event of Holdo hyperjumping into the First Order ship in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, you have to assume Hera and some her fellow pilots only lived because the Eye of Seion is a giant ring and so technically none of it physically touched any of the New Republic ships.
As the episode wraps up, the camera pans over the waves Ahsoka fell into as they transition into sparkling blue mist. The camera stops on Ahsoka’s face, and she sits up to find herself in a void. This void is the World Between Worlds, a netherworld of the Force established in Star Wars: Rebels, this would lead us to assume Ahsoka may have actually died from that fall. She hears a familiar voice call to her. That voice is revealed to be Anakin Skywalker, or rather a force ghost version of him. With that, music swells before ending the episode with the Vader theme. A curious choice, as this is after Anakin’s redemption in Return of the Jedi and shouldn’t be associated with that music in this time period.
A de-aged Hayden Christensen making his return as Anakin Skywalker
Characters and Performance – Excellent Example of the Power of Manipulation
Everyone’s performance was spot on in this episode, and it was packed to the brim with perfect story beats that have been built upon by the past three episodes. But the cream of the crop was the late Ray Stevenson and his excellent scene where Baylan emotionally manipulated Sabine into giving him the map. Sabine’s guilt has been a major theme since the first episode, and although it doesn’t quite make sense to give your enemy the tools they need to succeed, you can feel that the temptation of seeing Ezra again is too much for her to deny. Baylan also dropped the reveal that Ahsoka may have been partly at fault for the death of Sabine’s family in the Purge of Mandalore which explains why her and Ahsoka’s relationship can be rocky at times.
Baylon Skoll preparing to duel Ahsoka
Cinematography and Sound – Giving Us What We Want
The cinematography in this episode was all about the lightsabers and using them to create a bunch of different effects. Whether it was the flash they produce when they collide, the way they illuminate faces and the space around people, or even the destruction they can wreak on people or the environment. Given this episode had a fair bit of lightsaber dueling, we got plenty of those sweet lightsaber sound effects that Star Wars is so well known for. I particularly wanted to highlight the fight between Ahsoka and Baylan. To see her fluid speedy attacks against his sturdy and stalwart swings was such a beautiful clash of styles. It was like seeing a samurai go toe to toe with a great crusader knight and lit up the nerd inside me.
Sabine and Shin Hati locked in combat
Editing and Pacing – Thank You For Not Taking the Easy Chop
A huge pet peeve of mine is fight scenes being cut to death. I understand, sometimes it’s easier to take little bits and show them rapid fire to give the illusion without as much perfection being needed. But when you can shoot a fight with minimal cutting, it allows the moves to flow and lets your eyes fully take in the amazing skill of each combatant. Each fight in this episode was given the spacing, coordination, and plot it needed to really shine and suspend your disbelief. Not to mention, the episode structure was perfectly constructed. This episode clocked in at 40 minutes, only four more minutes than Episode 3, but it never felt rushed and ended exactly where it should.
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- Sabine gearing up for battle
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- Ahsoka and Marrok measure each other in battle
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- Sabine and Shin Hati facing off
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- Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds
