Spoilers ahead for episode five of AHS°KA.

Another episode of AHS°KA which continues the trend of getting better every week. ‘Shadow Warrior’ includes some big questions about the Force, unexpected cameos, and sees animation meet reality.

Animation to live-action

The big thing this episode was the live-action flashbacks to the Clone Wars, including Captain Rex and Ariana Greenblatt playing a younger Ahsoka. These weren’t just visually stunning, but they also offered a look at a more realistic Clone Wars, rather than the stylised and occasionally over-simplified animated version. To say they were well executed is a huge understatement. They were excellently done, and also gave a rather more unsettling view of what it must have been like for young padawans to have to fight in the conflict, raising more points about the ethics of such a policy.

A small Easter egg is that ‘Shadow Warrior’ is also the name of an episode in season four of The Clone Wars, where Jar Jar Binks disguises himself as the injured Gungan leader Boss Lyonie and faces General Grievous to stop a Separatist invasion of Naboo. There doesn’t seem to be any clear connection between the two episodes, though, and sadly the Bombad General didn’t make an appearance.

Another World

This episode picked up from the final scene of episode four with Ahsoka still in the World Between Worlds. I think that it opened up more questions than it answered, though. Was that really Anakin, perhaps from a different timeline, or a Force ghost come back to mentor Ahsoka, or just an apparition caused by her imagination, or none of these things? And just what is the World Between Worlds? It seems slightly different from what we saw in Rebels. Somehow I don’t think we’ve seen the last of it in this series.

Ahsoka’s return and new white outfit has some shades of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, when he was reborn as Gandalf the White after dying fighting the Balrog. Maybe this means Ahsoka is now stronger. I certainly think she will be from a certain point of view, now that she doesn’t feel so tied down by Anakin’s legacy. No doubt this will change her relationship with Sabine once they’re reunited, too.

Hera vs. the New Republic

It seems that the story has now split into two, with Ahsoka going with the Purgill to find Ezra and Sabine, and Hera having to deal with the New Republic. It’s understandable that they don’t want senior officers running off on their own, but it seems they’ve quickly forgotten the service Hera gave during the Galactic Civil War and are too quick to dismiss her knowledge of Thrawn and the Empire. At least she can count on Carson Teva, and I’m sure there are a lot of others who respect her experience and would follow her anywhere.

It was nice to hear a reference to Senator Organa, especially as in Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy, Leia was actually Chancellor rather than Mon Mothma. I wonder how different things would have been if she was? I reckon the bureaucracy would still be a challenge for her.

It’s now confirmed that Jacen is Force sensitive, just like his father, which raises the question of whether he’ll be trained. We know Luke is setting up the New Jedi Order, so he could end up joining him, especially if his powers start to grow without him knowing how to control them.

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Hopefully the Purgill will lead Ahsoka where she wants to go, but there’s no telling what she’ll find when she gets there, or how long after Morgan she’ll arrive. It also looks like Hera’s credibility with the Republic will be even less, making it all the more unlikely they’ll listen to her concerns. All of this leaves a lot of possibilities as to what will happen next week, but if the trend continues, episode six will be even better.

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