Whether you like the overall direction of the show or not, it's hard to deny Ahsoka has been a surprising ride with a voice of its own. While the marketing suggested the new Dave Filoni-led series would essentially be a fifth season of Star Wars Rebels (but in live-action), the final result is more of a deeply spiritual expansion of the Star Wars universe's stranger side alongside nimble adventures, something which culminated completely with last week's fable-like chapter.
Episode 7 is titled 'Dreams and Madness' and was directed by Geeta Vasant Patel (House of the Dragon). For the most part, it's perhaps the safest and most relaxed episode since the third one. However, the plot inevitably marches towards a time-sensitive conclusion that could spell trouble for our team of heroes and the entire galaxy (the one we know and love). In fact, Hera Syndulla and the New Republic's subplot continues this week with a reunion on Coruscant which includes an unexpected legacy cameo.
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Spoilers ahead for Ahsoka episode 7: 'Dreams and Madness'
Yes, Anthony Daniels is back as C-3PO. That's the big cameo of the week. After Leia Organa, now a senator and leader of the Defense Council, was name-dropped several times, we were half-expecting to see a deepfaked Billie Lourd show up again as her mother's legendary character (the first time was in The Rise of Skywalker's flashback sequence that saw Luke and Leia training).
It only makes sense that Leia would support Hera's unsanctioned mission and search for Imperial remnants, and C-3PO appears in the nick of time to support the General in front of a group of politicians led by Chancellor Mothma and the inquisitive Senator Xiono. At this point, it's abundantly clear the whole New Republic subplot that's been developing across The Mandalorian season 3 and Ahsoka is taking us right into not only the planned event movie's more political side but also the pre-sequels scenario that had the government ignoring signs of a new threat in the shape of the First Order. This will surely be born from the ashes left behind by Grand Admiral Thrawn and his allies.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka Tano and Huyang are still en route to the unknown galaxy. Star Wars has traditionally been very lax when it comes to the duration of hyperspace trips from one side of the galaxy to an entirely opposite one, but a journey to a totally different one warrants longer downtimes, and the show has given both the villains and Ahsoka's rescue party an adequate amount of off-screen time to get there.
Lady Tano is killing some of that time by revisiting a few of Anakin's Clone Wars-era lessons, so that means we get to spend another scene with Hayden Christensen. What could've been a simple Force ghost cameo at some point during the season instead turned into a sizable part which makes total sense in this context. This is the type of well-executed comeback we'd like to see more of in the future. Look out for a quick Asajj Ventress name-drop too!
Ahsoka and Huyang's arrival at their destination rapidly turns into another life-or-death situation as the pod of purrgils is besieged by a massive minefield that's been deployed around Peridea. We had been wondering about Thrawn and Morgan Elsbeth's plan to kill the approaching space whales since we know a regular group of them can make short work of even large ships, so a dense minefield can certainly get the job done. That said, where had they stored (or created) so many advanced mines?
We know the purrgils go to Peridea to die, but it seems they aren't okay with the idea of being blown apart by Imperials, so they jump away into the unknown after a while. That doesn't mean Thrawn and Morgan are done searching for the Jedi though. It's great to see Lars Mikkelsen fully embracing the more twisted and cold side of Thrawn in a way that lands closer to Timothy Zahn's novels than Star Wars Rebels. He's two steps ahead of the good guys this time around.
Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren also have some time to discuss some of the events that transpired since the former's disappearance. While finer details are left out, he learns about the Emperor's apparent death and the fall of the Empire. However, Sabine still struggles to reveal her biggest mistake, and it appears that Ezra simply believes they'll be going home without much trouble.
While they hide amidst the bone graveyard that surrounds Peridea, Ahsoka reaches out through the Force to Sabine in the same way Luke did to Leia at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Again, we're reminded the Mandalorian apprentice isn't the best at using the Force, but she gets 'a feeling,' much like other untrained Star Wars characters. It's a nice callback to both Leia and Finn's more spiritual moments. Woefully, dark forces are at play too.
Thrawn mentioned during the last episode he wanted to use the Nightsisters' unique powers against Ahsoka, and here we see the Great Mothers easily tapping into Lady Tano and Sabine's connection. This allows them to pinpoint the master's location inside the graveyard. As a direct result, her ship is quickly flushed out and pursued by a group of fighters.
The action ramps up everywhere as Baylan, Shin, and the group of bandits they sided with find the nomadic Noti caravan. This leads to another Western-like sequence in which Sabine and Ezra fend off the raiders however they can. The Noti are peaceful and instead rely on the protection of big numbers and their vehicles' thick armor, which are as strong as their own shells. However, we see some of them throwing utensils and random junk at the assailants. What really made us smile was one brave Noti who uses a slingshot against the enemies – they've surely learned some tricks from Ezra's teenage years.
Ahsoka eventually joins the fight, though separated from the main group. Baylan, who now seems fully focused on finding what he's after, even lets his apprentice go off on her own and pursue whatever she desires – for now, she wants to do battle against Sabine and Ezra.
There's another brief showdown between Ahsoka and Baylan (and Kevin Kiner's score once again embraces samurai cinema here), but much more interesting is seeing Sabine and Ezra defend themselves against Shin Hati. Shin seems utterly conflicted at this point and is simply lashing out at her enemies without a clear objective. Sabine's atypical character arc is further solidified when Ezra rejects his lightsaber and instead goes all Force-powered martial arts on their enemies. We've heard that the Jedi-centric show The Acolyte will feature tons of martial arts action too, so this may be a sight of things to come (in the universe's past).
Ahsoka manages to break off the (more even) duel when Huyang helps her with some air support. During a moment of confusion for Baylan, she steals his howler mount and rides into the larger scuffle. Sabine and Ezra were doing fine against the bandits and later the mysterious 'night troopers' that arrived on two gunships, but Shin proved to still be a dangerous adversary. At some point, it seems the penultimate episode might end with the two friends at least captured by the dark apprentice and her troops, but Ahsoka jumps into the fray and the tables are turned.
This week's chunk of adventure ends with Baylan alone and Shin riding into the sunset (if there's even such a thing there). It's unclear whether they'll regroup, but it seems a tad unlikely after their final exchange, at least for now. Regardless, it's hard to imagine these characters' personal arcs will end in just one episode, especially given everything that must still be done to wrap the season up in a satisfying manner.
As for Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra, their reunion is heartfelt and uplifting, with the White Jedi even laughing and smiling like we haven't seen her before in this show. Even if time is against them (with Thrawn almost prepared to leave this forsaken galaxy behind), the gang is back together, and two and a half Jedi shouldn't be underestimated. We believe we're due for a serious conversation between the Jedi master and her apprentice though.
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