A Riveting Star Wars Crowd Pleaser

The story of Ahsoka continues with the fourth episode of the new Disney+ Star Wars series. “Part Four: Fallen Jedi” is yet another step in the right direction for this show. This episode begins with Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) having a conversation. This screenplay from Dave Filoni is particularly strong, as Ahsoka is faced with a difficult choice. She believes that if they can’t make it to Ezra, nobody should. She has to make the hard decisions that Sabine does not want to, and seeing her face this choice is heartbreaking.

The episode is directed by Peter Ramsey, who co-directed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. He does an excellent job with an episode set on a planet with red leaves. It’s always fun to see different settings in Star Wars that look very different from how Earth looks. Much of this episode has a unique setting, and it’s fascinating to look at. Meanwhile, Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Jacen (Evan Whitten), and Chopper head out against orders. It’s wonderful to see a famous Star Wars: Rebels character interact with Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), a character established in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. It’s also cool to see more Rebels in X-wings.

One of this episode’s best elements is how the action builds. We start out with some droid-on-droid action with Huyang (David Tennant) fighting a droid in a shootout. Afterward, Ahsoka engages in a lightsaber battle with Marrok as Sabine battles Hati in a rematch from the first episode. The way the fights are staged is fun, as we cut back and forth between two separate lightsaber fights. Marrok brings the spinning lightsaber to live-action, and Ahsoka kills him. She runs off to take on Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) as he protects the map that would lead them to Grand Admiral Thrawn.

With Ahsoka and Baylan finally coming face to face, their lightsaber battle begins. This fight proves to be the thing that a few of her earlier lightsaber fights have lacked. As Baylan is a former Jedi, he proves to be a formidable opponent for Ahsoka, with their powers nearly equal. While he started off as a one-note villain, Stevenson’s performance is bringing him to life, even if he is saddled with the cliché “necessary evil to serve a greater good” line. The fight ends with Baylan striking Ahsoka off a cliff in front of Sabine. This pushes Sabine to a challenging place, as she has her blaster pointed at the orb, but knows that if she pulls the trigger, she will never be able to find Ezra. She is unable to make the necessary decision to prevent Thrawn’s return, which Baylan quickly senses and uses against her.

Part Four brings Sabine into an interesting place, as she decides to go along the journey with Baylan if it means she will see Ezra again. This path could take her to the dark side of the Force, as Jedi are known for avoiding attachments. After a bit of a shoehorned “I have a bad feeling about this” from Jacen, we find ourselves in a place that means a lot to fans of Star Wars: Rebels: the World Between Worlds. Here, we see her reunited with her master, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). It fills one’s heart with joy to see Christensen call her “Snips,” her nickname from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These two have shared a strong relationship in animation, and seeing them in live-action sets up the next episode, which may be one of the greatest Star Wars episodes in recent memory.

SCORE: 8/10

As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.