– Spoiler Review –
The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 13 – The Jedi,” directed by Dave Filoni of Star Wars animation fame, is a lot to take in, from the first live-action appearance of Ahsoka Tano, the reveal of Baby Yoda’s name and some of his history, and another big name from book/animation/Legends lore mentioned, and while I overall enjoyed it and all its implications, part of its biggest draw is its biggest weakness.
Let’s cut right to the chase: Ahsoka Tano in live action! I can’t lie, it was an absolute thrill to see those white sabers light up, giving me some serious chills. There were even hints of her humble nature and sly, witty humor, while seeing her so confidently battling the Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth in a one-on-one duel was genuinely one of the best parts. Hearing Ludwig Göransson’s take on her theme added a lot to her returning, hitting me in the feels and taking me down memory lane with all she’s been through over the years in animation (like the recent and excellent The Clone Wars series finale). And seeing her helping out the village, even if it was a side effect of gaining the information she wanted, continued her desire to help others that might be neglected with the Jedi’s light in the galaxy still waiting to bloom. However, aspect to Ahsoka here didn’t always quite feel like Ahsoka, while the absolutely dubious and harmful casting choice sours the entire experience. One very minor issue I had, and I’m surprised someone like Dave Filoni, whom Ahsoka is his baby so to speak, would allow even this to translate poorly: her lekku, aka the head-tails, are shorter than expected given her appearance in Star Wars Rebels (and not just in the series finale’s final scene), and while it was done for the comfort of the actor, the fact cosplayers can be as comfortable in longer lekku made without the Star Wars/Disney budget behind them certainly makes me want to learn more behind the process and ultimate choice in design here.
It took me awhile to rectify her unwillingness to train Grogu (!!) aka the Child aka Baby Yoda with the character’s growth and story through The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Since she appeared sage and wise before Sabine Wren in the epilogue in Rebels’ series finale set after Return of the Jedi, she was Ahsoka the White after all and such color scheming recalls the upgrading of wizards in the Lord of the Rings films, she still tried to save Anakin Skywalker after his fall and failed, so much so she would’ve died if not for young Jedi Ezra Bridger and some very intriguing Force strangeness. Not being there to help him, due to leaving the Jedi Order, and failing, weigh heavily on her conscious, and I guess not even her self-imposed exile in the depths of Malachor after her duel with Vader was enough to help her overcome the failure. I guess I built her up thanks simply to her appearance at the end of Rebels, as it certainly seemed like her exile changed her, but it doesn’t feel like much has changed here since she’s still not quite over things, but that means I’m also forgetting how recent such events were for her, and it makes sense, to some degree, that she’d be reluctant and unwilling to try to train Grogu if she spotted the same signs Anakin had before his fall; however, it seems like a stretch to equate a species which lives hundreds of years to an impulsive and short-lived human, as it might be easier to work on Grogu’s problems given a longer development cycle. This leaves the question on where Sabine is during this; if they are on their mission of looking for Ezra, which Ahsoka certainly seems to be as she’s asking Elsbeth about Grand Admiral Thrawn, then what’s Sabine doing and why aren’t they together? Could she be getting caught up with Bo-Katan’s quest to retake Manadalore again and we’ll see the two together in a later episode? Either way, Ahsoka’s appearance, like a lot of other parts of “The Jedi,” brought with it more questions than answers.
Beyond the character inconsistencies or new questions, the casting of Rosario Dawson in the role is a slap in the face to the trans/non-binary community, as well as any and all Star Wars fans who care about others, like Jedi would. Before I dive into that, quite simply, Dawson was subpar in the role, not quite capturing Ahsoka’s wise but playful demeanor, or carrying any of the weight and lightheartedness of the character’s past; why they didn’t go with Ashley Eckstein when she was literally right there, will baffle me for as long as Dawson stays in the role and Eckstein isn’t involved, or at least anyone else takes the role. The bigger and far more important problem is Dawson herself, who has a lawsuit against her and her family alleging terrible treatment of a trans man they employed, and even though the October 2019 lawsuit has since had much of the charges dropped against her and her family, the fact the only remaining ones are the assault charges is damning, and the actions described within are terrifying and disgusting. The fact Lucasfilm knew about this when casting her, especially with fan backlash bringing up how harmful and hurtful casting her would be to the trans/non-binary community, and still went through with this is egregious on their behalf, and show they don’t care about all their fans. I understand the concept of someone being innocent until proven guilty, but when you compare the backing of a popular celebrity over that of a single man, and a trans man at that, they are drowned out and quickly ostracized time and time again, because after all, they aren’t the famous Rosario Dawson, and really, she couldn’t do that, right?! No one is above the law and being a celebrity doesn’t give anyone a free pass from having the ability to commit terrible actions. As much I’ve loved Filoni’s work over the years, why he was okay with this choice of casting, and how Dawson acted as the character, really calls his judgment in question,. It’d be really nice to hear from him, or anyone in Lucasfilm, why they ignored the lawsuit against Dawson and continued on, but like with their reaction to Gina Carano’s growing, terrifying behavior online, they have remained completely silent. It’s a sad day for any LGBTQ+ fan, as Lucasfilm’s choice betrays them and if Star Wars is for everyone, why is it only the white, cis, male fans which continue to be catered to? The best course of action going forward for them is to recast Ahsoka, at the very least, though an apology alongside it would be a necessary component as well. UPDATE 11/30: In Vanity Fair’s new interview with Dave Filoni and Rosario Dawson about “The Jedi,” they ask her about the lawsuit and of course she says she’s innocent, because why would someone incriminate themselves in a publicity interview. Not only that, they didn’t even try to get the other side’s comment. Maybe she will be proven innocent in the court of law, but until then, this doesn’t help.
Alright, now that we’ve unpacked the necessary and unavoidable aspect of this episode, let’s get into the rest of it. To start: Grogu!! I absolutely love the name, and maybe it’s because of how Baby Yoda cutely looks at Din every time he says it and how it reminds me of my dog when I say his name, but I think it’s perfect for the child. He’s able to communicate, via the Force with Ahsoka, not only his name, but some of his past, and it offers even more questions than answers. Turns out Grogu was being trained at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but at the end of the Clone Wars and Order 66, he was taken away, with his isolation and journeys afterwards causing the little one to regress, losing his training, which left him feeling alone up until Din arrived. Since he’s fifty, and it’s been roughly 30 years since Order 66, that means he was on Coruscant and in the Temple for up to 20 years or so training. Did Yoda train him, ever? If Ahsoka didn’t know about him, despite being in the Temple during the timeframe, why was he kept as a secret? What were their plans with Grogu? Was he a secret because he was Yoda or Yaddle’s kid (or their kid together) when that was strictly prohibited by the Order? Something to do with the rarity of Grogu/Yoda/Yaddle’s species? It’s certainly an intriguing new wrinkle to the tales of Grogu, but the story, and how he’s had a sense of purpose and happiness since Din took him in, turn the whole thing into a happy emotional beat, as it only solidifies the growing bond between Din and Grogu as father and son-like.
Din’s not the best dad ever, but he’s doing the best he can, and while he was ready to let Grogu get the training he needed from Ahsoka, it was obvious he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the child, whom didn’t want to leave him quite yet either. With Ahsoka choosing not to train him, despite their deal, at least she points him towards his latest destination: Tython*! While I can hear some of my friends and family groan, despite them not even watching it yet as of my writing this, that we have to go yet to another place, I love the idea behind this latest step in the journey. On Tython, on a pedestal on its tallest mountain, Grogu must be placed where he’ll choose what he wants to be his future, instead of the Armorer giving them their purpose. I’ll be curious to see what Grogu does in the situation, or if Gideon gets in their way before then, but the potential is quite awesome. According to Ahsoka, if Grogu reaches out with the Force, it should alert a Jedi and they’ll come looking for him, which leads me, and I’m pretty sure everyone else, to one conclusion: Luke Skywalker!? If we get a young Luke, played by Sebastian Stan (because boy do they look alike and he’s already in the Disney family), that would be an incredible development! But if not Luke, then who? I can’t wait to see what comes from this development!!
And then there’s Ahsoka whole reason behind attacking the village and its ruthless leader, Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (played by Diana Lee Inosanto), as she has information the former Jedi needs. Elsbeth and her strangle-hold on the town, razing the planet for its resources, was quite the interesting story for the episode. Turns out Elsbeth saw her family slaughtered in the Clone Wars and she turned her anger into the industry that gave birth to the Imperial Starfleet, and it seems she’s not quite done despite the Empire’s end. As for why she continues, it’s because she has a new boss: Grand Admiral Thrawn! Hearing his name mentioned in live-action was pretty darn cool, no matter how I’ve felt about his appearances outside of Rebels in the current canon novels, and it seems we’re slowly seeing the pieces come together for what’s next in Star Wars TV and storytelling, which could be leading to a different take on the Thrawn Trilogy of Legends lore. Thrawn, basically an evil Sherlock Holmes who joins the Empire to see if he can use their resources to help with problems back home in the Chiss Ascendancy, which the novels starring him get into, faced the wrong group of rebels and was taken off the battlefield by the young Jedi Ezra Bridger and neither have been seen since the start of A New Hope. Sabine and Ahsoka are supposed to go looking for Ezra, as I mentioned before, and by extension their search is for Thrawn too, so for him to be someone’s “master” must mean he got out of Ezra’s trap and is doing something in the Outer Rim/Unknown Regions, while leaving Ezra’s fate in question. Either way, it’ll be interesting where and how this will build to a bigger TV focused Star Wars future with many other shows! Before we worry about that, I want to talk again about Elsbeth, as I felt like, for her minor screen time, Inosanto really captured the character’s scorched earth demeanor, as I know I’d be cowering if she simply looked in my direction, and her ability to bring such a small, but vital battle to life made her quite memorable. I’d love to see more of her past and how she turned her anger into building starfleets, because wow, that sounds like quite the story.
In the end, I enjoyed the episode, as it provided tons of story and new ideas to unpack, taking us to the next phase of The Mandalorian’s larger plot and opening up the galaxy a bit more. It was definitely a far better showing for Filoni than his season one episode, but it wasn’t that high of a bar to hurdle. I loved the opening scene a ton, with the mist and Ahsoka sneaking through it, taking out the goons one by one and in particular I enjoyed the look of the scene where Din is pacing during Ahsoka and Grogu’s chat in the dark. The difference between the rest of the town and Elsbeth’s compound is stark, clear, and adds a wonderful visual component to the struggle Din and Ahsoka are fighting against. Adding to Elsbeth’s rule was Göransson’s music, giving the town a real oppressive feel with a heavier, deep and ominous score, and it all added up to really play up the stakes they were facing.
Here are a few other things:
- *Tython was the Legends homeworld of the original Je’daii Order, many eons before even the prequels, and it was recently brought back into canon thanks to Doctor Aphra (Vol. 1)’s final issue, where Aphra took Vader to trap him and get out of his clutches.
- The lead goon of Elsbeth’s men, Lang, seemed familiar, and to many, he might just be: Michael Beihn, whom I know best as Kyle Reese in The Terminator!
- Update: on my second watch through, I found Morai, Ahsoka’s guardian! Should’ve known she’d be there.
The Mandalorian’s “Chapter 13 – The Jedi,” opens up the galaxy in various, big, and important ways, but the unfortunate casting choice blights the appearance of Ahsoka Tano in live-action.
+ Grogu is Baby Yoda’s real name, and his story is a sad and interesting one!
+ The dad and son bond grows!
+ Ahsoka Tano jumps to live action…
– …but Rosario Dawson, and Lucasfilm’s lack of comment, make it hard to enjoy Ahsoka’s big reveal
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE MANDALORIAN REVIEWS
Season Two: Chapter 9 – The Marshal | Chapter 10 – The Passenger | Chapter 11 – The Heiress | Chapter 12 – The Siege
Season One: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 – The Child | Chapter 3 – The Sin | Chapter 4 – The Sanctuary | Chapter 5 – The Gunslinger | Chapter 6 – The Prisoner | Chapter 7 – The Reckoning | Chapter 8 – Redemption