You’ve Grogu be kidding me…

What a day to be a Star Wars fan. The Mandalorian’s second season is the gift that keeps on giving for canon-junkies who crave every morsel of the cartoons, comics and books. First Cobb Vanth, then Bo-Katan, and now, the most eagerly anticipated live-action debut of the bunch.

An unlikely claim back in 2008. Ahsoka Tano was vilified by franchise fans after her ‘snippy’ introduction in The Clone Wars movie. Anakin Skywalker’s padawan didn’t exactly make a good first impression and no doubt calling R2 “Artooee” and dubbing her master “Skyguy” didn’t exactly help.

We all said dumb stuff when we were kids.

Through the subsequent Clone Wars TV series, Ahsoka’s remarkable arc as she dared to turn her back on the Jedi Order and subsequent appearances as an older, wiser, mentor to the growing rebellion in Rebels, she became one of the most layered characters in Star Wars lore – ubiquitous love had grown for her.

And so, 12 years on from her animated debut, when our favourite Togruta swung her distinctive white sabers to cut down Imperial forces occupying Corvus, fans frenzied. A set piece and cold open worthy of the episode title, “The Jedi.”

The episode served to once again please both die-hard fans with it’s purposeful fan service that doesn’t alienate folks who haven’t invested the time into the cartoons.

For instance, Din’s first encounter with Ahsoka as the two briefly battle before Din has chance to explain that he was sent by Bo-Katan is simply a brilliantly choreographed action sequence. Ahoska’s little grin as she breaks free of Din’s cute cabling by leaping over a tree is just delightful detail. The high ground in Star Wars is a powerful ally.

When Ahsoka mentions that she knows the damage that attachment can do “to the best of us” when refusing to train Grogu – *CLAXON* yes, The Child now has a name *CLAXON* – fans of The Clone Wars know the pain in the truth of that comment. We know from Twilight of the Apprentice that she feels partial guilt for Anakin’s fall, turning her back on her master and the Order when they could have used her perspective. No doubt, Anakin’s fate would have been different had Ahoska been there to ground him. That’s detail that canon-junkies can appreciate to the full.

As was the late-episode name drop that carries nearly the same weight as Bo-Katan’s Ahsoka reveal from Chapter 11. As Ahoska battles the Imperial Magistrate, she demands to know the whereabouts of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

A huge moment. In the season finale of Rebels, aboard his Star Destroyer Chimaera, Mitth’raw’nuruodo – better known as Thrawn – and young Jedi Ezra Bridger were carried from the skies above Lothal into hyperspace by Purgiil, (tentacled whale-like creatures that had the ability to travel into deep space through hyperspace lanes.) The final shot in the series sees Sabine Wren and Ahsoka about to embark on a quest to find Ezra.

Speculation had indicated that a Thrawn live-action series would be made. The assumption was that it would tie in with Ahsoka and Sabine’s search for Ezra, and today’s episode has pretty much confirmed that we will have the Rebels loose thread tied up in a live-action series.

Whether it’s Thrawn-centric or Ahsoka-centric, we’re going on a search for Ezra and I am all sorts of hyped.

As for Chapter 13’s other reveal, we now have piecemeal backstory to go with a name for The Child, obtained through a force commune with Ahsoka. Grogu briefly trained at the Jedi Temple before the fall of the Order. Taken from Coruscant, he was hidden. Then his memories are blurred from Ahsoka’s view.

His attachment to Din makes training him dangerous, and while Ahsoka had promised to train The Child if Din aided her in liberating the town, she couldn’t hold up her end of the deal – likely never intending to. Din will now take Grogu to the planet Tython to find the ancient ruins of a Jedi Temple, where he will place The Child on the seeing stone where he alone will be able to decide his fate. “If he reaches out through the force, there is a chance a Jedi may sense his presence and come searching for him.”

There’s a relatively small pool of known candidates who that might be. Cal Kestis? Ezra? Dare I say, Luke Skywalker? A pool so small that perhaps the most likely outcome would be the introduction of a new as-yet-unseen Jedi.

That depends on whether Din and Grogu – (isn’t it great that they now both have names) – make it to Tython. We know that Gideon is tracking the Razor Crest, and I half expected him to make a last second entry into this week’s episode. Fortunate for his sake that he didn’t run into Ahsoka. The jeopardy remains.

Away from the narrative, the art of this episode was sublime. Production design was first rate, with the Corvus landscape feeling every bit like a Star Wars location. Distinct and yet echoing Dagobah’s misty gloom and Mustafar’s tired forest. The fortified town posed an intimidating setting for a final act scrap and the duel between Ahsoka and the Beskar spear wielding Magistrate was mesmerising.

It reminded me of the duel between The Bride and O-Ren at the climax of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 1. A duel in a garden, two warriors sizing up each others strengths and weaknesses, the tranquillity of the setting juxtaposed by the aggression of the tussle. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Disney Gallery documentary series notes a Samurai inspiration for the scene.

Ludwig Goransson once again delivered an incredible score, with this episode in particular being a stand-out offering. Kevin Kiner’s Ahsoka theme is now iconic, and Goransson’s provides a beautiful adaptation, most noticeable in the episode’s final shot as Ahsoka says her goodbyes to Din and Grogu. It’s goosebump inducing.

It serves to reinforce that this is the same Ahsoka we see in the cartoons, as does Rosario Dawson’s strong portrayal. However, a question remains, and will no doubt be answered by more Ahsoka content down the line; her relationship status with the concept of the Jedi Order. This is some 14 years after the events of Twilight of the Apprentice, where Ahsoka famously uttered “I’m no Jedi.” Here she seems more content in an association, perhaps a direct result of her search for one of the few remaining Jedi.

It’s an intriguing thread in Ahsoka’s rich tapestry, of which an exciting new chapter opened today.