If there is one thing the third episode of Ahsoka proved, it's that writer/director Dave Filoni is not holding back with this show.
Not only does Ahsoka continue to feel like Season 5 of Rebels, but this episode doubled down on the expansion of the Star Wars universe as we know it, all while still packing a handful of winks and nods for the core fans without them feeling too much like fan service.
The big problem with some of these references, though, is Star Wars continues trying to justify past mistakes, particularly during the sequel trilogy - but Filoni is handling this much better than other writers have in recent shows. Let me explain.
Are there big plans for Sabine Wren?
Filoni continues to reshape what we know about Force users, specifically with the simple fact that now anyone theoretically could learn how to use the Force. This week's episode opens on Ahsoka's ship, The Phantom, as she and Sabine Wren play out their version of Obi-Wan and Luke's training on the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope. Sabine's "I can't see. How am I supposed to fight?" line was almost too on the nose, but it fit well enough, and somehow without the cringe. As a side note, Huyang continues to carry the mantle of comedic droids that would make Rogue One's K-2SO proud. Huyang gives backhanded compliments to Sabine one after another.
After their sparring session, Ahsoka and Sabine have the same conversation that Filoni anticipated all Star Wars fan probably discussed after the first two episodes revealed Sabine's attempt to train as a Jedi, despite her lack of Force sensitivity. Sure, everyone knows that the Force resides in all living things, but that has never meant everyone knew about the Force, let alone knew how to manipulate it. Clever Filoni, though, has Ahsoka tell us that talent is a factor, as are training and discipline that define someone's true success.
That's a far cry from the zero context fans received when it came to Rey's abilities as a Force user. Rey never had training. She never learned about the Force, yet somehow she was able to feel it enough to manipulate storm troopers and pull a lightsaber to her from a great distance. Of course, we later learn that Rey is a Palpatine, so sure, that probably accounts for that, right? But Sabine Wren doesn't have that sort of lineage as an excuse.
Or does she?
She is Mandalorian, and there has been a lot of talk about her peoples' past in The Mandalorian, including references to the first Jedi Mandalorian named Tarre Vizsla, arguably the most important Mandalorian in their history. Tarre was the one who created the Darksaber, which we've seen a lot in this era of Star Wars shows (it most recently was "destroyed" in The Mandalorian Season 3 finale, but I'm not convinced it will stay destroyed). Vizsla also was the main leader of the Mandalorians when the race was nearly killed centuries ago - by none other than the Jedi. Through the centuries, House Viszla emerged to keep the Mandalorian race alive, and two clans have been key to helping out: Clan Kryze and - you guessed it - Clan Wren. Does Sabine have a larger destiny to fulfill that we don't know about yet? Might Sabine actually succeed in becoming a Jedi Mandalorian? She did wield the Darksaber at one point during Rebels, too. At the very least, maybe Sabine joins forces with Bo Katan, who, as we saw in the Season 3 finale of The Mandalorian, has taken charge in her own way.
More sequel trilogy retconning from Filoni
Getting back to Ahsoka, the other really funny retcon of sorts of the sequel trilogy came courtesy of Ahsoka herself. While she, Sabine, and Huyang close in on Morgan Elsbeth's location (thanks to Hera's tracker), Shin Hati, Marrok, and a small contingent of fighters try to strike them down. They disable The Phantom on one pass, leaving it a sitting duck. As a side note, Shin's ambush was incredibly brilliant. Huyang drops The Phantom out of hyperspace pretty far from the target they're tracking, yet Shin was ready for them. It's almost as if Shin (and perhaps, to some extent, Baylan) are former Jedi who knew what the Jedi protocol would be for coming out of hyperspace in that situation.
So what does Ahsoka do to save the day? Why, she suits up, of course! She walks into outer space and across the exterior of her ship. This is a clear "Yeah, we messed up," acknowledgment of the "Space Leia" fiasco we witnessed in The Last Jedi. After all, Filoni could've let Ahsoka walk into outer space just fine on her own, but Filoni remembered that she would die if she didn't have the suit. Did you hear that, Rian Johnson?
What we did see flying in outer space without wearing a suit were the Purrgil! The space whales make their true debut (we hear them in the second episode, but we don't really see them). These are the same space whales that Ezra called on in the finale of Rebels to exile Grand Admiral Thrawn (and, unfortunately, himself), which saved Lothal from the Empire at the time.
We learn an interesting tidbit about the Purrgil. Apparently the Purrgil once traveled through intergalactic hyperspace lanes. What this means is there is now another way to travel to Thrawn and Ezra's location in the nearby galaxy Sabine discovered by decoding the map. intergalactic hyperspace lanes have quiet a bit of lore in the books, but this is one of the first mentions of them in an actual Star Wars show.
Another Jedi in training?
The debate Hera had with the senators - and now-Chancellor Mon Mothma! - felt so much like Star Wars. Hera's first-person accounts and experience were not enough to convince all the senators to provide the resources she needed to continue pursuit of discovering Thrawn's whereabouts. Loyalties continue to factor into the status of the galaxy in this particular era. Hera's snarky remark to one senator about him waiting to choose sides by joining the victor of the war was emblematic of the tension that's felt in all levels of the New Republic government. We already saw a small spark of, um, rebellion from former Empire loyalists once. Might we get a full-fledged "Hail Hydra" moment like in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (still my favorite MCU movie) once Thrawn makes his inevitable return?
As Hera walks out of the session with the Senators, her son Jacen makes his debut! The exchange between Jacen and his mother felt pretty clunky and forced (no pun intended); it mostly served as a reminder to the fans that, yes, Filoni remembers that Jacen's father was a Jedi. Now if only there was an awesome, legendary Jedi still around who could train Jacen in the way of the Force...oh wait. There's no doubt that Jacen is a prime candidate to appear in a future Star Wars project that features Luke Skywalker teaching younglings at his Jedi Academy (we've already seen Luke start to build this school in The Book of Boba Fett).
Jacen is an interesting name choice for Hera's kid. In the old legends books, Jacen was the name of one of Han and Leia's sons. He was actually a twin; his sister was Jaina. They were pretty awesome as teenagers/young adults in the New Jedi Order book series. But using that name in Ahsoka all but kills any chance that those twin characters could somehow sneak into what many Star Wars fans are lovingly referring to as the Filoniverse.
Looking ahead, the fifth episode of Ahsoka is rumored to have an incredibly long runtime, which suggests to me that Thrawn may either show up at the end of next week's episode (serving as a huge teaser/cliffhanger of sorts), or he'll debut in the fifth episode, which will need to cover a lot of ground to nail the significance of his return.