I continue to be on Senator Xiono's side over Hera's which is a REALLY frustrating position to be in.

Hera, you cannot tell Xiono that he isn't "seeing" the problem when you are literally SHOWING HIM NOTHING. You HAVE nothing to show, so how the FUCK could he see what isn't there? He's not omniscient, and if you have no proof of your claims, why SHOULD he believe you? Just because you used to be a Rebel? They've stated that you are personally invested in this mission, you've used Republic resources like six times to go on a mission that is basically just so you can try to find one person you care about and failed six times, you apparently repeatedly disrespect the orders you're given from Republic leadership, so why should Xiono just... trust you?

This is SO frustrating because it makes NO FUCKING SENSE for Hera to be getting all high and mighty about this when Xiono's RIGHT to question her. This would be a way more interesting plot if it wasn't being presented as just "Hera vs. The Asshole Senator" but an actual nuanced storyline where Hera and Xiono are BOTH RIGHT. Thrawn IS out there and he IS a threat, but Xiono is ALSO right to point out that Hera's abusing Republic resources and disrespecting Republic resources for a personal agenda and has no proof of her own claims.

They COULD'VE gone down the route that Hera is so caught up in this mission that she's sort-of losing her perspective and is now reaping the consequences of those choices. Maybe we see a role reversal where it's SABINE who is trying to talk Hera into being more reasonable about it and let Ezra go or something. But noOoOoOoOo we HAVE to have this whole terrible storyline about how the New Republic SUCKS and is basically the Empire by another name and everyone who runs it are IDIOTS or lazy rich assholes who will drive it into the ground in a few years. Individually, some of the New Republic people are okay, but as an organization, it's too flawed and it needed to catch up with the times to keep from falling.

Sound familiar?

I genuinely felt like TBB and TBOBF were the worst of the recent Star Wars shows we've gotten, but I was wrong.

TBB and TBOBF have many of the same issues as the Ahsoka show in terms of things like structure and pacing and character development, but neither of them have taken several of the massive worldbuilding blocks that built this entire franchise and chosen to shatter them into dust. Neither of them has so far looked at the themes and messages that Lucas put into the Skywalker Saga and decided to directly contradict all of them. Neither of them took three of the BEST female characters in the franchise and completely and utterly butchered them into emotionless monstrosities who only exist to be anti-Jedi mouthpieces.

Never thought that the Ahsoka show would make me almost GRATEFUL for what we were given in TBB and TBOBF.

Hera Syndulla: My son Jacen wants so badly to be a Jedi like his father who we refuse to mention. If only there was someone who could train him!

Luke Skywalker: Actually I'm starting a Jedi Academy so maybe-

Hera Syndulla: If only!

Huyang: I used to be a friend of the Jedi, I remember their ways and respect them. Oh if only there was a way to restore them!

Luke Skywalker: I'd love to learn more about the Jedi! If you join me at the Academy we could work together to-

Huyang: If only!

The New Republic: Oh no we've got rogue dark siders running around trying to bring back Thrawn! Who can save us from this terrible threat?

Luke Skywalker: I guess since no one's joining my Academy, maybe I could help?

The New Republic: How about you Ahsoka?

WARNING! AHSOKA SHOW RANT DOWN BELOW! SPOILERS!

Furthermore, I’m going to be completely honest in this review so if you’re someone who truly enjoyed the show, you’re a Rebels stan, etc. then this post isn’t for you. Haters will be blocked immediately so take your negative energy elsewhere. You have been warned!

For everyone else, buckle up because I’ve got a lot to say and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as well. All comments are welcome so long as they are respectful to everyone.

Okay, so now that the show is done for now. I’m going to be listing some major talking points. We’re there some aspects of the show that I enjoyed/appreciated? Absolutely! But overall, I’m leaving this show very disappointed, confused, and frustrated. The finale left me feeling empty and never have I personally been more silent after a Star Wars show. Now mind you I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I love Ahsoka’s character dearly as well as the Clone Wars and the prequels so there is bias here. Furthermore I am pretty indifferent with Rebels so going in knowing that the Ahsoka show wasn’t going to be…well about Ahsoka but rather a Rebels sequel, that already put a bad taste in my mouth and I was very nervous how this show was going to go and well…it was exactly what I expected from a Filoni/cheap Disney production. Without further ado, here’s a list of all my beef.

1.) Lack of a Coherent and Cohesive Story

So I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but my main issue with Dave Feloni productions is that the story seems to be going all over the place and there’s a lot of moving parts that don’t necessarily meld well together. I often think to myself that Ahsoka is an example of a poorly written fanfiction brought to the screen. So the plot of the show initally was focused on Ahsoka bringing Ezra home. Okay, that’s simple, there’s many different ways we can make that cool and interesting but that’s not what happened here. We’re just filled with a ton of confusing information and we’re in for a very boring journey heading for a very anticlimactic and unsatisfying ending.

For starters, we the audience are informed that Ahsoka and Sabine had started an apprenticeship (which I have ALOT of issues with but that’s for another talking point) but they got into a tiff (which we never find out about and/or see) and now things are just depressing and weird between them. First of all, anyone who has seen Rebels KNOWS that Ahsoka and Sabine literally had very little to do with each other; I can’t recall a single conversation those two have had in the past, nor was it ever eluded to us that Sabine is Force sensitive.

Second we see that Hera and Sabine don’t have anything to do with each other for some reason? Which is weird considering all that’s happened and their history but okay suddenly Sabine, a grown ass 30+ year old woman is Ahsoka’s responsibility, which again why? We don’t get any background information, we’re just expected to accept and go with it.

Third, Ahsoka and Hyuang are reunited and working together immediately but again do we know how that became to be? No. We see none of that.

Fourth we are told that Morgan Elsbeth, a one off antagonist from the Mandalorian that Ahsoka fought is suddenly a Dathormirian woman even though she looks nothing like one besides her outfits in the show nor was that eluded to previously.

Fifth, we are introduced to these two new…I don’t even know what to call them “dark siders” “non Jedi” Shin and Baylan (who is apparently a former Jedi from the Clone Wars but did we see that or see how he knew Ahsoka and Anakin? No.) but we aren’t given any reason to care about them other than they’re in Ahsoka’s way of completing her mission. They end up being more like time fillers that anything else and end up walking away from the big conclusion. Like…why are they even in this show and why should we care?

Perhaps Dave Feloni has this big grand story in his mind but he’s so far up his own ass that none of us get to see this story. It’s like seeing a little kid play with their action figures and they’re super passionate about it but as a outsider you have no idea what’s going on. Now this isn’t good not only for the sake of good storytelling but it’s bad for business too.

Disney wants to make as much money off of Star Wars as they can. That’s extremely obvious. However here you have a show that isn’t going to pull in a casual Star Wars viewers (they would have to watch so much content to catch up on whose who and what is going on) nor is it really going to pull in fans of Clone Wars and Rebels because while they overlap, the fandoms are different and Feloni hasn’t done a good job melding those worlds together thus the divisive opinions on this show. This leaves for an incredibly small niche of people and honestly I think whatever toy sells they make from this show will do better than the actual ratings. I would be shocked if they greenlit for another season because I’m pretty done with this story as is many of the people who would be willing to watch.

All in all this is embarrassing how Feloni and the gang with all the money and resources can’t pull off a simple and epic show when there are thousands of unpaid fanfic writers that could pull off a much better story and build these beloved up characters, which leads into my next point.

2. The Characterizations of Ahsoka, Sabine, and Hera Are Bad

Now I have mentioned previously how much I love Ahsoka but damn it upon watching this show, she may as well be dead. Ahsoka has been given the Luke Skywalker treatment in that Ahsoka has been stripped of everything that made her lovable in Clone Wars and Rebels and is left as a sorry shell of who she once was. Her dialouge is hollow and lifeless not like the lively Ashley counterpart that made us all love Ahsoka in the first place. And no don’t give this “well she’s older now” bullshti excuse because Obi Wan Kenobi never lost his cheekiness and charisma as an old man, neither did Yoda, or Leia, etc. Just because you age doesn’t mean you have to be lifeless. Maturity does not equate to emotionless. Secondly for a woman whose well into her fifties and still acts very much like a Jedi Ahsoka’s views on the Jedi and their philosophy seem very warped and the audience is again left confused as to where she stands on the Jedi. I mentioned in a previous post how I couldn’t stand Ahsoka’s negativity towards the Jedi and how nobody seems to matter but Anakin (even though he’s put her through a ton of trauma and has tried to kill her as Vader) because it’s just so distasteful to the people who raised her and loved her that died by genocide no thanks to Anakin. Ahsoka has zero character development other than she seems to forgive Anakin for his wrongdoings despite the nonexistent apology. For a show that has her name on it, she sure is boring. Makes me miss Ashley and old Ahsoka even more.

As for Sabine I probably could write a whole thesis on how unlikeable she is but I’ll keep it short. One, I find it sick on Feloni’s part that he’s having a grown 30+ year old woman act like a teenager and be snarky with just about everyone. Ezra, who annoyed me immensely in Rebels, was WAY more mature and grounded. And again I’m sick and tired of the Mandalorian excuse of you getting to be an asshole because youre Mandalorian. Shut up. No one is above manners and decency. Sabine’s actions in this show have been far from Jedi like and thanks to her immaturity, she left Ahsoka for dead once and is indirectly responsible for the death of New Republic officers who were trying to stop this very dangerous mission that could possibly bring Thrawn and the Empire back ensuing more death and destruction of innocents. Ahsoka deserves to be angry with her for her words and actions, but of course Sabine gets a free pass and her bad behavior will continue to be enabled.

As for Hera…when did she become such a Karen? Just because you’re an officer doesn’t mean you get to abuse your power for your own personal agenda. That Senator was right about her. Finding Thrawn is a threat to the galaxy and using resources and putting lives at risk for it is a big deal. Hera was depicted as honorable and responsible in the Rebels series and I swear I was watching a different person on screen. Also she is a major Sabine enabler and that needs to stop. Sabine is grown and needs to grow up and fix her attitude.

3.) Anakin’s Role In the Show

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Hayden and I love Anakin, I have the dude tattooed on me for Force sake so don’t come at me for that, but I had some issues on how his character was used here. First, I’m tired of Ahsoka’s relevance to Anakin being the only defining trait about her. Second, I’m continuously annoyed by Anakin’s lack of accountability in these shows; he never once apologizes to Ahsoka for all that’s happened, he never once’s has a meaningful conversation with her; he just basically beats her down until she finally lets go of her past. Did I love the Clone Wars flashbacks! YES! They were my favorite part of the entire show and I want MORE of that; but I so wish Anakin could have been reflecting on his own actions with Ahsoka instead of being like “Is ThAt WhAt ThIs Is AbOuT?” Like come on 🙄

4.) Ahsoka’s “It’s Time To Move On” Line

Are you kidding me Ahsoka? There is still so much more to unpack with her past such as all the other relationships she’s had that completely changed her trajectory like BARRISS and REX and she could also be a mentor figure to Luke and Leia, etc. But nope the only thing that matters is getting over Anakin and all is well despite being stranded in another galaxy and Thrawn being unleashed back home. Like THIS IS NOT OKAY!

5.) The Cheap Ass Production of this Show

I’m not normally one to comment on production but it was so obvious in this show how many corners were cut. For one characters like Thrawn look god awful. Dude looking like a blue Elon Musk instead of an intimidating villain. The use of fog and the volume were very obvious and the places we went to were so boring minus the red leaves forest. The worlds of Star Wars used to be so cool and otherworldly but that’s not the case nowadays and it’s sad. Also why does Force ghost Anakin look better in the 2000’s than it does now? I prefer quality over quantity so I really wish Disney would quit churning out these cheaply made productions and have the audacity to rise their Disney plus subscriptions and not pay their people well.

6.) THE RACISM

I’m so fucking tired of this y’all! 🤬 of course make the Jewish actor in the shipyard be greedy and power hungry. Of course make the Asian Senator the asshole and not any of the white protagonists. The antisemitism and racism against POC is unacceptable to me and it should be unacceptable to you too.

Conclusion

I’m sure I’m missing some talking points but these are my biggest grips and as an Ahsoka fan I’m disappointed. Being a miserable Jedi not Jedi responsible for bringing a new evil into the galaxy but being content being stranded in another galaxy is not the future I believe Ahsoka deserves and I sincerely hope they don’t continue this story. It’s just bad all around. Except for the Loth cats… the Loth cats can stay. And Clone Wars flashbacks.

The ahsoka show does not allow it's female characters to be wrong

Ahsoka thinks Anakin was a great master, no one brings any evidence (ie everything Anakin does) to the contrary, hell ahsoka herself shouldn't think this, she was on the forefront for hid failings as a teacher

Sabine enables thrawn's return because she put her wants over the safety of others (very Anakin) and no one has anything to say about this

Hera insists thrawn's coming back, never provides any proof (yeah we know, it's called audience awareness advantage), does whatever she wants, recklessly endangers her child, and the narrative never calls her out over this and treats people who do call her out as bad

What I would like to know is why pro Jedi people think that the Jedi Council and the Jedi Order would be fine with Kanan and Hera being together romantically while disapproving of Anakin and Padmé? The Jedi Order wouldn’t have allowed either couple to be together because in spite of the claim that that the Jedi Order is against attachment, not love, in their interpretation of the Jedi Code romantic love is a form of attachment. They act as if it is ok for you to feel romantic love as long as you don’t act upon it and from what I have seen with Obi-Wan when it came to Satine, he was miserable because of that. It feels like pro Jedi people don’t want to feel guilty over shipping Kanan and Hera after going on about how selfish and terrible Anakin was for acting upon his feelings. I ship both and I think it is silly to bend over backwards to make it look ok for one ship with a Jedi Knight to be together while you had spent so much time going on about how another romance with a Jedi Knight brought doom to the entire galaxy.

I know this is a bit of a touchy subject right now, but I want to discuss the differences between creating alien species and making them look non-human, versus simply having bad makeup. Because there is a distinction! Putting it all under a read more because it got a bit longer then intended😵‍💫

For starters, none of this criticism has anything to do with the actors. This is purely directed towards Disney's makeup department. I think the actors fit the bill appearance-wise, end of story.

Hera and Thrawn, in short, do not look all that great in terms of facial makeup. And as someone who adores these characters, it is frustrating! Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies on Earth, couldn't find the time, budget, or artists to work on the appearances of two main characters in this show they've been building up to for years.

Personally, my main problem with it is the lack of contouring. I've been saying this to my friend for weeks as well as mentioned it in reblogs on and off, but neither Hera or Thrawn have any sort of contouring done to enhance their face shapes. There is no emphasis on the cheekbones, or for Thrawn's forehead bumps, none of it. They rely on the actors' natural facial structures to do the work for them. Which, if it was cosplay or otherwise in person, is fine. But with studio lights, it causes a washed-out look, especially depending on where the light is coming from. To combat this (in an acting setting), makeup artists emphasize things such as the eyebrows and the cheeks and especially any wrinkles, to help bring out any facial expressions made.

How does this differ from aliens being, well. Aliens! Considering we don't have a real baseline for what real life aliens would look like, it's only fair to allow filmmakers to go wild with speculation, even if it's off-putting. But that isn't what the issue is here. The aliens we're focusing on here, Twi'leks and Chiss, do have similar facial structures to humans. They're humanoids! So their faces would reflect light and cast shadows just as much as a human face would. By all accounts, make aliens freaky looking, but basic rules of light still apply. We should be able to clearly see Thrawn's cheekbones and forehead bumps without having to pull out a magnifying glass, something that is possible via, you guessed it, contouring!

Also, considering this is fiction, things looking bad is more of a reflection on the effort being put into the show than anything else. They could have done more but chose not to. Star Trek has some fantastic examples of humanoid aliens being distinctly alien without being poorly designed (I've been watching TNG and it is quite fun!). As said before, I'm all for freaky looking aliens. But bad design and bad makeup ruins that. What is and isn't bad design and makeup does fall into a more subjective range, I won't shy away from that truth. But I cannot get over the lack of contouring in a show that can be so brightly lit! Disney's shooting themselves in the foot here!

At the end of the day this is a television show though. Lets not get mad at people who do or do not like the makeup, and people are allowed to critique it as much as others are allowed to enjoy it. No one is any less of a fan for not liking the Ahsoka show, and no one is less of a fan for loving the show. I've seen some... very nasty things in the tags in relation to this specifically as well as for the whole show. Not very fun.

To end this on a lighter note, here's a very wonderfully done makeup job on a cosplayer! I don't know how to make the embedded stuff go away whoops😭

So, there's a few things bugging me about Ahsoka and the New Republic so far, especially in regards to the latest episodes. Baylan Skroll and his apprentice Shin prison break Morgan Elsbeth, who has been arrested and is being taken to the New Republic for trial. They do this by chopping up New Republic officers with their lightsabers, a very distinctive wound. Ahsoka, who worked as Fulcrum, and Hera Syndulla, who is a General, investigates and discover more on the Dark Jedi involvement, as well as missing New Republic war assets from a factory on Corellia due to rogue Imperial agents. They further discover a Galaxy jumping device has been created for Grand Admiral Thrawn. I may remind a Grand Admiral is a very high rank.

Yet, the New Republic keeps prattling on about how they can't do anything because there's no evidence and it all sounds like a fairy tale? As if this is a court of law and not about state intelligence? They have an entire transport of lightsabered and slaughtered evidence, they have General Hera Syndulla, a hero of the Rebel Alliance, Ahsoka, a bonafide Jedi expert, as well as a Squadron of New Republic fighters including Captain Teva as witnesses. Literally a member of their squad died in the pulse from the Galaxy hopper and they just assume they're lying. They should also have witness statements and records of the Battle of Lothal (including the space whales), since they accept Thrawn and Ezra did disappear officially. Even in a court of law, this would not be ignored, and this isn't even a court of law, it's state security. I can think of many nations that have invaded other countries based on 'a tip' or something flimsier. And, even so, how can the New Republic not even send out some sort of intelligence operatives or investigatory committee?

Yet, they send like three giant ships to court-martial Hera and then in a court debate whether to court-martial or not, which makes me think the writers don't understand what a court-martial is. The strangest thing is the court is actually set up more like a hearing, with Senators, but they call it a court. Next, everyone reacts to C-3PO like he's God and he just gets Hera out of it with an excuse from Senator Leia I honestly don't think would work, but whatever. Ultimately, at this rate the New Republic wouldn't last five years, let alone over two decades, with this attitude. I honestly doubt they'd make it to the Sequel era. They're doing everything too soon with no sense of time scale.

I’m glad Eman as Ezra is a wonderful casting, because he’s great so far. But do you know how BAD it is when he’s only been in barely 2 episodes and has better acting and characterization than the other two ghost crew members (Sabine and Hera) ?! Like holy cow they’re so unrecognizable to me it’s actually sad.

Season 2 of Ahsoka is going to be so good. This season’s main plot was to find Ezra and stop Thrawn. Clearly we accomplished one of those tasks. Season 1 achieved introducing new characters such as Shin and Baylan, the great mothers, and others. I believe season 2 will focus on these characters more. I’ve seen a few people upset at the lack of development for these characters but I do believe we will see more of them in season 2. This 1st season established a base. Find Ezra and Thrawn, explore the beginnings of Sabine and Ahsoka’s relationship, introduce new characters. There was not nearly enough time to do all of this and explore every character’s goals and character arcs. It kinda baffles me that people are upset that this basically wasn’t rushed. If they would have fit all that in 8 episodes this may have become the worst show Star Wars released. This season was executed very well. It was not rushed and it set Star Wars up for a lot of shit. Season 2 of Ahsoka, possible mandoverse movie, stuff leading into the sequels. A slow burn show that actually develops character arcs and has a consistent story is what I’d prefer over getting everything I wanted in 8 episodes.

Not many people are hating but on Tumblr, Twitter, Reddit, etc (the 3 horseman of dogshit social media 💀) are being a bit pessimistic about the fact that some characters aren’t developed and the story ended on a cliffhanger. Just be patient. Let Filoni cook 🔥

So I'd like to make it clear that I do actually still really love Sabine, Hera, and even Ahsoka as characters. I just really don't like their MANDOVERSE iterations. I don't think any of their characterization in the Mandoverse shows are accurate to how they've been portrayed before, generally, and it's almost insulting to call them the same characters.

Even in Rebels, Ahsoka still loved and respected the Jedi and would've NEVER thought to blame them for their own genocide or called them failures. Even in Rebels, Ahsoka still fought for Force sensitive children and agreed (along with Kanan) to take up the responsibility of protecting Force sensitive children the way the Jedi Order had done before them. Rebels Ahsoka was edging her way towards being the perfect messiah character she's become by her own show, but even in this, she is MUCH more clearly struggling with her feelings about Anakin and the reasons behind it are made exponentially clearer. TCW Ahsoka has a lot more personality to her, she's far more willing to be emotional and openly care about the people she is close to. She gives cute nicknames to droids and plays games with her friends. There was none of this strange wise sage to her, she was just... a person. A person who felt things and emoted rather than standing around and parsing out vague quotes like the world's worst therapist bot.

I still LIKE that version of Ahsoka, I still think that is a character you could do some REALLY interesting things with. I think that she is a character whose flaws and struggles could make for some EXTREMELY compelling stories. That version of Ahsoka is HER OWN CHARACTER, she's not just... "Anakin but better." She's not a messiah, she's not the Light Side of the Force Made Manifest, she's not the Daughter Reborn, she's not the New Chosen One. She's just... Ahsoka. She's herself, and that was compelling all on its own.

Hera was SO loyal to her beliefs, yes, but she was loyal above all else to her CAUSE. She was willing to leave Kanan behind when ordered, she was willing to lie to her crew because that was her responsibility to the rebellion, SHE was the one who wanted to be a soldier, SHE was the one who actively sought out the Rebellion and everything that came with it. She was the one who would point out that the others gaining ranks of their own came with responsibilities they needed to commit to. Yes, she sometimes was willing to do what was needed no matter what, but this pretty much always manifested itself as being willing to die for the cause. Taking down the Empire and rebuilding the New Republic meant EVERYTHING to her, she prioritized it above everything else, including her family and her own planet because she believed wholeheartedly in what it would mean for the entire galaxy. So to have her just... not give a shit about the New Republic, to have her disrespect New Republic leadership just because she can, to have someone claim that the reason people like her is because she DOESN'T follow orders? That's not Hera. That's not who she is AT ALL. Of COURSE she cares deeply, but everyone who loved her did so because they loved ALL of her, including the parts of her that she had chosen to commit to the Rebellion above all else. Kanan loved that about her, he loved how loyal she was and how deeply committed she was.

Sabine was a character we got to really see grow over the course of Rebels' four seasons. She WAS a little bit of a bratty teenager with a problem with authority early on, we see her push against Hera's willingness to keep secrets for the Rebellion because she hates being kept in the dark after her experiences with the Empire. But ultimately she has to learn that not all secrets are kept maliciously, some of them keep others safe, and she has to decide whether or not she trusts Hera enough to allow this secret. And ultimately, she DOES. Hera earns that trust and so Sabine steps back. We see Sabine forced to learn about mercy with Fenn Rau when she wants to kill him for attacking Hera, and instead she helps Kanan capture Rau and take him in and she spends MONTHS persistently working to befriend him and earn his trust. We see her have to face her own fears about her past and make the difficult choice to stay with her family on Mandalore when she can tell that they need her more than the Ghost crew does, and then make the opposite choice later when she's able to relinquish the burden of leadership onto someone she believes is worthy and Ezra needs her help. We see her understand that it's important to respect other people's choices, even when it's hard, even when you don't like them, and that's exactly what she does with Ezra in the finale. She understands why Ezra is choosing to sacrifice himself and has to choose whether to stop him or let him go. And she LETS HIM GO. THAT'S the kind of person she's grown to be by the end of the show. She's merciful, she's a proud Mandalorian, she's a good friend who understands how to make the hard choice even when torn between two families, she's persistent and compassionate, she's understanding and mature. She likes explosives, but now she knows that some situations are better handled with a kind word and an open hand.

That's MY Sabine. THAT'S who she used to be. She was funny, she was competent, she was smart, she was artistic, she was a child of Mandalore who learned mercy from a Jedi. I'll always love that Sabine because this version of her is the only REAL version of her.

That abomination we saw on the Ahsoka show wasn't truly Sabine. They might've LOOKED the same, but quite honestly you could've given her a new name and a different outfit and literally no one would've ever thought it was Sabine. She wouldn't have come off as a knock-off of Sabine because she just is so clearly... NOT Sabine. She's rude, she's an idiot, she can't do ANYTHING, she has no connection to being a Mandalorian, she's not merciful, she's not like the Jedi at all despite the fact that she's claiming she's training to be one (which is potentially because she's learning how to be a Jedi from someone who doesn't truly want to be a Jedi herself and has distanced herself from everything it's supposed to mean).

So as much as I make fun of these characters on the Ahsoka show, as much as I am going to keep criticizing them, I DO still love the real versions of them.

It's too bad Filoni doesn't.

Imagine how DIFFERENTLY the Ahsoka show might have gone if Hera and Sabine DID know about Anakin being Darth Vader, though. Like a lot of the show's major plot elements actually kind-of hinge on neither of them knowing that particular truth.

Would Sabine WANT to train with Ahsoka if she knew the truth about who Ahsoka's master was? Would this cause even just the tiniest shred of doubt over training with the person who learned from DARTH VADER? Would that be what broke them apart, that doubt on Sabine's end? Honestly that could've been sort-of interesting, if Sabine does KNOW about Anakin being Vader and tries to go for it anyway, but Ahsoka's still super fucked up about it all and does something really reckless or selfish on a mission once and Sabine just nopes out because this is NOT what she signed up for.

Would HERA be willing to let Sabine train with Ahsoka if she knew the truth about Anakin? Would she be more inclined to push Ahsoka and Sabine back together even though the relationship had already fallen apart and was clearly dysfunctional if she knew that the reason Ahsoka never finished her training is because her master was DARTH VADER?

I just feel like it might've been just that slightest bit harder to make this show be as pro-Anakin as it is if Hera and Sabine actually knew that Ahsoka's master was Darth Vader and not just some poor sod who got murdered with everyone else in Order 66. Hera and Sabine do NOT have any reason to care about Darth Vader or view him positively. Imagine Sabine being told that Ahsoka is only supporting her because Anakin supported her, knowing that Anakin was, in fact, the Sith everyone thought had killed her on Malachor. Like even this wildly pro-attachment and out of character version of Sabine might've been a little doubtful about the claim that Anakin "always" supported Ahsoka.

I think the issues of the ahsoka show comes from Dave filoni being the lone writer of the show.

He has no one to bounce ideas off, no one to tell him a scene is going for too long. No one to stop him from writing everything down he has come up with over the years.

And no one to add things for the audience not as familiar with the characters.

Don't get me wrong Dave Filoni is a master writer. But everyone needs an editor, someone to balance them out.

maybe it’ll get better but right now, hera feels SO flat and it’s so fucking upsetting. i don’t think mary elizabeth winstead is doing a terrible job, but she’s also not blowing me out of the water. and part of that i think is the dialogue she’s been given so far, it just feels meh. but also the scene where ahsoka tells her she thinks that ezra might be alive?? i know hera is generally a reserved person but we should’ve gotten more of a reaction than that. i think her best interactions so far we’re with chopper. which is important, but he’s also a droid. Not the best look when her main conversation with sabine so far just felt really lacking. they felt like strangers, like there’s no shared history.

Lots of folks say that Anakin Skywalker was the best pilot, but I call bullshit on that. Hera Syndulla is a far superior pilot, AND she’s not force sensitive. So, who’s the best pilot in the Galaxy? I’m going with Hera.

"Hera has to take Jacen into these dangerous situations, he can't be at Luke's Jedi Academy because Kylo Ren is going to destroy it"

THAT'S ALMOST TWO DECADES AWAY! HE ABSOLUTELY COULD BE WITH LUKE RIGHT NOW!