SPOILER Ahsoka - Part 7, Dreams & Madness

I am curious for information we may never get, but i wonder if any adjustments had to be made to Baylan's arc after the untimely passing of the amazing Ray Stevenson. I would find it hard to believe, based on his performance as well as Baylan's path this season, that Filoni only had planned on him appearing in one season. This is a franchise character and there is limitless potential for backstories and continuation from here. It's simply tragic that Ray is not here to receive the love and praise that he is and surely will continue to receive from the fans.

 

Can someone confirm my memory? Two New Republic pilots died on Hera’s mission, right? I didn’t just imagine that? They didn’t both bail out at the last moment, GI Joe style?

 

Their ships were destroyed and spinning out. And we didn't see them eject.

But this is Star Wars. The pilots will probably have crash landed in a nearby planet experiencing extreme time dilation and they will return to Coruscant 5000 years from when they left, with an army of the natives from the planet they landed on, which they are now rulers of, and try to conquer the Fifth Trans-Galactic Empire, or something.

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 28, 2023, Original Post Date: Sep 28, 2023 ---

I have a faint hunch that Marok was included earlier in order to prepare the audience for Baylan becoming like him. In other words Baylan may continue as a permanently masked undead figure.

 

All that is effectively countered by Thrawn’s comments immediately prior to ordering the retreat. “Almost like Jedi of old”. That tells you all you need to know about the perceived level of threat.

 

Episode 7 screenshots

 

I'm not gonna argue with you about the fictional outcome of a space wizard fight.

I just found it unconvincing, and still do. Sorry about it.

 

Presumed dead then.

OK, so somebody correct me here if I got some of these details wrong.

Hera, who most definitely misappropriated military assets and personnel to conduct an unsanctioned mission, where two service people needlessly perished, with nothing at all to show for it, was allowed to walk away entirely consequence free because of a powerful political connection who falsified public records in her favor.

Am I misunderstanding what happened in that scene?

 

Look, Star Wars has a lot of messages. Some are good, like "hope prevails, even in the darkness."

Some are a little iffy, like "nepotism and corruption are good, sometimes."

 

When did Leia encounter Thrawn?

edit: Ahhhh, as a kid growing up on Coruscant I suppose she knew him. That would make sense. Do any of the books actually detail their meeting?

 

Good, because there is nothing to argue about, regardless of of how many posts and bullet points you make to labour over a non-issue that you have an issue with.

 

But if Leia had the authority to approve this action all on her own, from the start, then why didn't she?

The show went out of its way to hold Hera accountable in order to NOT hold her accountable. That's such an odd and confusing choice.

The point of the scene is to show how unwilling the leadership is in legitimizing an imminent threat to their Republic - a precursor to TFA. But then has our heroes casually disregard the rules of that Republic without any apparent awareness to its maleficence. That's a weird message, man.

 

Maybe Hera didn't want to ask the favour and put Leia under that kind of pressure and/or assumed that committee approval, with the Chancellor presiding, would be granted. And even when it wasn't, if she discovered Imperial activity there, as they had on Corellia, then the trip would have to be considered worthwhile. Even if the committee still cannot be impressed that there is a larger threat.

It's not a good look to have to go above people's heads and get your friends higher up to overturn things. Thankfully, Leia took measures on her own.

 

Am starting to think the last episode will end with Thrawn leaving with all his team but Ezra, Sabine and Ahsoka will be stuck on the planet and the only way out will be Purgils again... in the beginning of season 2...
I think the cliffhanger will leave us saying wt...


Thoughts:

I think Baylan will be redeemed. Maybe he has in mind to built a new Order with a new kind of Jedi (Ahoska was like him in some periods of his life), watching the characters of Sabine, Ezra and Ahoska's and what they have given to him. Remember Thrawn words while watching the battlefield and how the 3 are managing the fight with their own styles: "they seem like the old Jedi". Maybe this will lead to Luke in season 2 or Filoni's movie, but failing in its attempt.


I also think ST is gaining, step by step, more relevance and depth. Hope Filoni's movie, more Ahsoka and SC will give more of that.

BTW I really think next week, with Ahsoka's finale, we will have on Friday, or maybe the other week, a proper trailer for Skeleton Crew.

 

I’m sure there’s a rational in-universe reason that could have explained this away with one line of dialogue. But now we’re doing the writer’s job for him.

I mean from a story perspective. Filoni wanted to put Hera in the hot seat, so she could tell that senator off, then believable get her right out of that jam. But the construction is so sloppy.

We don’t have a stated reason why Hera didn’t go to Leia first. We don’t have a stated reason why Leia is helping Hera at all. We don’t have a stated reason why Leia isn’t there and sent her butler along instead. And we end on this ‘problematic’ message that the means of governmental corruption justify the ends of public safety.

The Hera character is a thousand percent sure of the danger of Thrawn and exasperated no one in leadership will listen. But, truth be told, she doesn’t actually KNOW anything at all and (as it turns out) there IS someone in the leadership who will listen.

 

Yeah, the way this scene was handled didn't set me off too much this time, but I agree that I did find it a bit concerning.

I don't mind stuff like this here and there. But if we're gonna Rosencrantz and Guildenstern our OT heroes from now on and relegate to the blank spaces of the galaxy, I'd rather we just not get stories in this era anymore or recast them. Heck, I'd even take CGI recreations over that.