Films and Fiction

Includes spoilers for episode four of AHS°KA.

With the release of episode four of AHS°KA we’re now halfway through the series, and this might just be the best episode yet. It’s filled with tension and excitement and sets up a lot of story threads for the next four episodes to deal with.

Sabine’s tragedy

A tragic part in this episode was the revelation that all of Sabine’s family on Mandalore is dead. This explains why Ursa Wren didn’t help her long-time friend Bo-Katan in season three of The Mandalorian, and adds yet another sorrowful story to the history of Mandalore. The hint that she could hold Ahsoka partly responsible in some way is interesting, and could be the reason they went their separate ways before her training was finished.

The fact she would risk the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn shows how important finding Ezra is to her. Thrawn is one of the most dangerous Imperial officers, far worse than Gideon, and it’s unlikely he would ignore Mandalore if he tried to rebuild the Empire. Not only that, but she let Baylan have the starmap after he appeared to kill Ahsoka. It’s clear she’s not willing to lose the only family she has left, but what will the consequences be?

Who was Marrok?

After months of speculation and some of the wildest theories from fans, Marrok’s identity has finally been uncovered, and we now know he was really nobody. Sadly there was no big reveal showing he was actually Ezra or Starkiller or anyone else. It seems he was a completely new character, an Inquisitor who survived the fall of the Empire. It’s interesting to see that he was filled with Nightsister magic, though. How this worked I’m not sure. We know Nightsisters could enhance someone’s abilities, like Mother Talzin did with Savage Opress, or else reanimate corpses to do their work. The most likely answer is that he was a genuine Inquisitor who had been possessed by Elsbeth, similar to what happed to Kanan and Sabine in the Star Wars Rebels episode ‘Visions and Voices’, which raises questions of what else Morgan is capable of.

Ghosts of the Jedi

There was a feeling of the old Jedi Order present in this episode, with the number of lightsaber fights and the master-apprentice relationships of the heroes and villains. A big connection to this past world is Huyang. A wonder how he survived Order 66 and the Jedi Purge. He has a huge knowledge of the Force that would be useful to both Jedi and Sith, which must have made him a prime target for the Empire. Seeing him take on the HK assassin droid makes me think he has a very interesting story to tell.

It’d also be interesting to find out more of Baylan’s backstory. Did he actually know Anakin, possibly fighting alongside him in The Clone Wars, or was he just speaking of Anakin’s reputation within the Order? He certainly follows a long tradition of Jedi who became disillusioned with the Order and the politics, which makes me wonder if he was connected to Dooku or Syfo Dyas in some way.

Perhaps the biggest thing in this episode was the reappearance of the World Between Worlds which first appeared in Rebels. It seems that Seatos has a strong connection to the Force for some reason, which could tie in with other things such as the Mortis arc in The Clone Wars. We certainly know that the WBW can be used in powerful ways, and that Palpatine was trying to unlock it’s power, so there are a lot of possibly bad outcomes.

As for the appearance of Anakin Skywalker, it’s long been anticipated, but which Anakin is this? Is this before or after he became Vader, or a different Anakin altogether, perhaps from a different timeline? I guess we’ll find out next week.

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