The Ahsoka series is coming.

[Jedi Marso]

The funny thing is that it took the Rebels TV show, the Mandalorian and now this series to make me start liking and appreciating Ahsoka as a character. I was not a fan of either her character or her story arcs in the Clone Wars series, which admittedly I have not seen all of.

Given Anakin's blatant impetuous nature and immaturity, I never bought into the notion that the Jedi Order would have assigned him a Padawan Learner, especially during the Clone Wars. She's turned out okay, though.

Also, I really hate the color scheme of the New Republic troop uniforms. They need a darker shade of blue, and something other than white for the gloves and boots.

 

[fireproof78]

The funny thing is that it took the Rebels TV show, the Mandalorian and now this series to make me start liking and appreciating Ahsoka as a character.

Given Anakin's blatant impetuous nature and immaturity, I never bought into the notion that the Jedi Order would have assigned him a Padawan Learner, especially during the Clone Wars. She's turned out okay, though.

It did take Rebels and The Mandalorian to make me like Ahsoka as well. She isn't my favorite character by any stretch and Clone Wars is still a slog at times with her in it, but she has grown on me. This series has potential, though the Magistrate remains a super annoying character so hopefully she isn't around long.

 

[Jedi Marso]

The Magistrate always has this half-grin on her face as if the actress can't get over the fact that she's actually in Star Wars.

Couple other things from the trailer: One of the things I've always loved about 'Rebels' is Lothal, and it looks like a couple of throwbacks here, going right back to the origins of the show with the freeways (which never made sense for repulsor-lift vehicles but I love them) and the freeway chases on speeder bikes. How many times did we see those in Rebels? Never enough!

Lothal always reminded me of Dantooine as it was depicted in KOTOR: a peaceful, mostly agrarian world with an interesting ecology and some ancient ties to the Force. Glad we'll be going back in Ahsoka.

I totally missed that the fighter pacing Sabine on the speeder was an E-wing. An E-wing in live action! WOOT!

 

[Tuskin38]

Hm going over it again and talking to a friend. Nothing says Sabine is force sensitive, the Dark Jedi she was fighting even said she has no power (though that could mean many things). Maybe Ahsoka was just training her in saber combat like Kanan was. Mando equipment is made to counter force user

We saw a came of Zeb in Mando S3 so we know he's out there. Thrawn looks a little weird with a normal eyes structure inside the red eyes, but it looked goofy in the animated series as well. Prior artwork of Thrawn always depicted him with solid red eyes. Know what, though? Don't care. Thrawn in canon and live action is something fans have hoped for for decades.

The reason they changed it for Rebels was because they found it hard to portray his emotions and show where he was looking without pupils.

 

[Tuskin38]

Lothal always reminded me of Dantooine as it was depicted in KOTOR: a peaceful, mostly agrarian world with an interesting ecology and some ancient ties to the Force. Glad we'll be going back in Ahsoka.

You just reminded me, Dantooine showed up very briefly in Resistance and was very much inspired by KOTOR

 

[The Nth Doctor]

This leaves me wondering if perhaps Sabine is Force sensitive, although it seems to me that if she were, Kanan would have been training her right alongside Ezra. I suspect Ahsoka trained her in lightsaber combat if anything, picking up where Kanan left off. I have been wondering in the trailer snippets how she is supposed to stand up against a Force-adept in a lightsaber duel, although she does have all those Mandalorian tricks up her sleeve.

The curious thing is Sabine was getting those lessons from Kanan because of the Dark Saber which she obviously doesn't have anymore (although I hope we get a Bo-Katan name check here and there). Instead, she's wielding Ezra's lightsaber now so I wonder how that all works if she's not Force sensitive.

Ahsoka may very well have spoken to Hera at some point about Anakin the Jedi and her former master, but I doubt she ever revealed to anyone else that she knew Darth Vader was Anakin.

Yeah, that was my underlining meaning. How publicly known is it that Anakin became Darth Vader at this point? And if it is publicly known, are there people who don't trust Ahsoka because she was once his apprentice, even though she left the Order before he fell (wouldn't be the first time people irrationally hated another simply for association)?

We saw a cameo of Zeb in Mando S3 so we know he's out there.

Oh, I know which is why I'm a little surprised we haven't seen him pop up in any footage yet. Hell, he hasn't even been officially announced yet when it wouldn't make any sense to not include him after going to such lengths to digitally create him for a single cameo.

Thrawn looks a little weird with a normal eyes structure inside the red eyes, but it looked goofy in the animated series as well. Prior artwork of Thrawn always depicted him with solid red eyes. Know what, though? Don't care. Thrawn in canon and live action is something fans have hoped for for decades.

I don't care if only because I'm so damn happy Lars Mikkelsen has returned. His voice is absolutely perfect for this character.

Couple other things from the trailer: One of the things I've always loved about 'Rebels' is Lothal, and it looks like a couple of throwbacks here, going right back to the origins of the show with the freeways (which never made sense for repulsor-lift vehicles but I love them) and the freeway chases on speeder bikes. How many times did we see those in Rebels? Never enough!

Yes! I'm loving all of the Lothal throwbacks! I especially loved the touch of Sabine drawing a lothcat on her speeder helmet.

And there will never be enough freeway chases on speeder bikes! Never!

 

[Tuskin38]

How publicly known is it that Anakin became Darth Vader at this point?

Well, Leia wasn't outed as his daughter until 28 ABY.
I think the galaxy learned at the same time that Anakin had become Vader.

 

[fireproof78]

How publicly known is it that Anakin became Darth Vader at this point?

It wasn't.

Oh, I know which is why I'm a little surprised we haven't seen him pop up in any footage yet. Hell, he hasn't even been officially announced yet when it wouldn't make any sense to not include him after going to such lengths to digitally create him for a single cameo.

They can't spoil everything.

I don't care if only because I'm so damn happy Lars Mikkelsen has returned. His voice is absolutely perfect for this character.

His face remains to be seen if it works.

 

[Tuskin38]

The head bumps are still there, just not as obvious as they are in animation (though that could be the lighting)

Also poster

 

[Reverend]

I know I literally just said I wouldn't, but since this is an actual trailer; I caved. Side note: I hope nobody currently in the process of catching up on Rebels watches this trailer because it's basically made almost entirely out of Rebels spoilers!
Random thoughts: -

• As suspected from the teaser; live action debut of the Eta-Class shuttle from 'Clones Wars' (that started life as Joe Johnston concept art for RotJ) confirmed. See also: Sabine's speeder bike.
• Am I imagining it, is my deuteranomaly playing silly buggers, or do those lightsabers look a lot less orange and a lot more like just standard red blades than they did before?
• McQuarrie blue A-Wings make me happy.
• That's Ahsoka's line!
• Unusual depiction of a Jedi. Shades of early Christian/Byzantine but also some eastern influence (seems appropriate.) One assumes this is some kind of Jedi Sage and the orb is something of significance; a map or navigational tool for force users.
• Interesting how they're echoing the henge design from Tython. This one looks more intact, and instead of a rounded seeing stone at the centre, it appears to be a map projector (shades of KotOR.)
• Seeing these three interact makes me wonder where some of this is in relation to Ahsoka's appearances in Mando & BoBF, since I find it hard to believe Ahsoka just let Morgan Elsbeth go after nicking her spear. It's entirely possible at least some of this takes place prior.
• Home One! (yes I know there are other ships with that design, but still!) I guess I kinda expected to see Starhawks though. Ah well.
• Hera's new voice is going to take some getting used to.
• I really do like the redesign of the T-6. (And if Ahsoka hasn't named it the 'Skyguy', I'll be deeply disappointed.) Though one day I'd like to see a version of this that's nice and pristine as it would have been in the High Republic, so fingers crossed for The Acoylte!
• Interesting implication that Ahsoka trained/instructed Sabine at some point between the Rebels finale & coda . . . and apparently left her for some reason?
• I actually like the idea of Sabine as a kind of Jedi acolyte; not especially gifted in terms of force sensitivity, but a convert to the religion, spirituality and martial disciplines. It's that thread they clearly started in Rebels as far back as ('The Protector of Concord Dawn') from 'Rebels' season 2, and I'm glad to see it continue.
• E-Wing? Boo! At least they lopped off that stupid third cannon.
• The aurebesh on her helmet reads "BÆB". Not sure what to make of that . . . mostly because I've never been 100% clear on how one pronounces "Æ". Also the round patch on ger jacket appears to be the Open Circle Fleet insignia, but with the colours inverted. The cartoon Lothcat is a cute touch.
• OK, that's not fair. You can't give the E-Wing the adorably inaccurate version of R2 from the original Kenner figure line! Now I kind of like it a little bit.
• I'm surprised how faithful they're being to even the design of Ezra's old squat. That round wall/vent thing is very recognisable.
• Hmm, it looks like the same scene but no 'Ahsoka the White' yet? Curious.
• Is Ahsoka wearing a flight suit? Oh no, are we going to see one of those giant bubble-head space helmets? I'm not sure how well that will play in live action. Here's hoping they go with something more like the McQuarrie Aquillian Ranger mask concept art.
• That's a big ole space whale.
• The faceplate of that trooper doesn't look like a normal Stormtrooper. Hard to tell with the DOF, but it looks kinda gold coloured. (Also there's some random blue guy in the shot)
• "You have no power" seems to confirm the assumption that they're not suddenly making Sabine force sensitive, but without context, it could be misleading.
• Either way; she needs to be VERY skilled with that thing to even stand a chance against someone that is, even a padawan.
• They always have to sneak the Vader breath in there somewhere . . .
• Sneaky trailer editor is sneaky. That shot of Huyang is in the cockpit of Ahsoka's T-6, while the reverse shot of Hera is 100% in the cockpit of the Ghost, and then it's back to Ahsoka, Sabine, and the Professor in the T-6.
• Don't know why, but a bare handed Mandalorian just looks weird.
• I'm still convinced that's Coronet City.
• Those two fighters are interesting. Seemingly the same fuselage but with different strike-foils, and with green blaster bolts; which usually means Imperial.
• Blurrg!
• That spinney blade thing never gets old.

 

[Tuskin38]

The Astromech in the E-Wing spots the early Kenner R2-D2 dome design

The Ghost has Falcon like seats now instead of the green ones in Rebels

 

[fireproof78]

Unusual depiction of a Jedi. Shades of early Christian/Byzantine but also some eastern influence (seems appropriate.) One assumes this is some kind of Jedi Sage and the orb is something of significance; a map or navigational tool for force users.

Reminds me of the Valley of the Jedi plot from Dark Forces II.

E-Wing? Boo! At least they lopped off that stupid third cannon.

Wow, surprising. Though the E-Wing was a crowd favorite.

I only like it because of the letter E.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I know I literally just said I wouldn't, but since this is an actual trailer; I caved.

I almost said I would stop, too, but I figured we would get one more full trailer and there was no way I wouldn't watch that. I wondered if you would cave upon this release much like I anticipated for myself.

That said, I'm not going to watch any TV spots or scene clips. Two trailers is enough to sate my thirst. For now.

Just get here already, August 23!

Sneaky trailer editor is sneaky. That shot of Huyang is in the cockpit of Ahsoka's T-6, while the reverse shot of Hera is 100% in the cockpit of the Ghost, and then it's back to Ahsoka, Sabine, and the Professor in the T-6.

I noticed that as well. Still, a great way to showcase the main players in a quick sequence in space.

 

[Tuskin38]

Hmm, it looks like the same scene but no 'Ahsoka the White' yet? Curious.

I'm still calling it that Dave is retconning that.

 

[Reverend]

I think the only big nugget we get is the fact Baylan knew Anakin well enough to be told about Ahoska...and yet seemingly never met her before.

It feels like a deliberate echoing of Dooku's line to Obi-Wan about how Qui-Gon spoke very highly of him. Similarly; it means Qui-Gon met with Dooku while Obi-Wan was his apprentice, but without him being present.
Also it's not like Padawans and their Masters are surgically joined at the hip. We've seen Ahsoka on missions without Anakin and visa versa. Plenty of opportunities for those two to meet sans Snips.

I also can't remember if Ahsoka ever openly spoke about Anakin to Hera before (or anyone else from the Ghost crew aside from maybe Ezra or Kanan).

We never really saw Ahsoka speak to or interact with any of the non-Jedi Ghost crew all that much. That said, she was open about it with Ezra, and I see no reason why Hera couldn't know. it's not like she had a reason to hide it.

Could that be Eighth Brother in the dark forest with the spinning double saber?

Hands and feet suggest not; but it wouldn't be the first time a design has changed in the transition between mediums.

Still no sign of Zeb but we get our first glimpse of Thrawn's face!

It is rather ironic that he's the only surviving Spectre not in the trailer given we've already seen him in live action.

which admittedly I have not seen all of.

Well thare's ya problem!

Yeah, that was my underlining meaning. How publicly known is it that Anakin became Darth Vader at this point? And if it is publicly known, are there people who don't trust Ahsoka because she was once his apprentice, even though she left the Order before he fell (wouldn't be the first time people irrationally hated another simply for association)?

The novel 'Bloodlines' cover it. Short version: nobody outside the family knew until right before the ST, where Leia got outed. (Mon Mothma seems to have suspected though.)

Reminds me of the Valley of the Jedi plot from Dark Forces II.

The art looks a little like the menu & loading screens too . . . kinda.

Wow, surprising. Though the E-Wing was a crowd favorite.

Maybe, but I always hated it. Something about the wings and the placement of the engines makes it look sad. Like it's carrying it's shopping home in the rain or something.

That said, I'm not going to watch any TV spots or scene clips. Two trailers is enough to sate my thirst. For now.

My self control for those is pretty good since they are typically just the same footage from the trailer over and over again, but sometimes with maybe one or two slightly different shots. The drip-feed of it all doesn't appeal to me, so I prefer to skip them.

I noticed that as well. Still, a great way to showcase the main players in a quick sequence in space.

And a reminder not to take trailer footage at face value!

 

[fireproof78]

The art looks a little like the menu & loading screens too . . . kinda.

A little. More thinking the map scene from the game but can't find a good screen shot.

Maybe, but I always hated it. Something about the wings and the placement of the engines makes it look sad. Like it's carrying it's shopping home in the rain or something.

I was never a fan either but that description just makes me laugh.

 

[Ethros]

Good stuff that we get two episodes for the premiere.
I feel they do that when they know the first episode is a little “slow” or doesn’t give a tonne of juice just yet. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just saying. They did the same with Obi Wan Kenobi & Hawkeye.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

It feels like a deliberate echoing of Dooku's line to Obi-Wan about how Qui-Gon spoke very highly of him. Similarly; it means Qui-Gon met with Dooku while Obi-Wan was his apprentice, but without him being present.

Also it's not like Padawans and their Masters are surgically joined at the hip. We've seen Ahsoka on missions without Anakin and visa versa. Plenty of opportunities for those two to meet sans Snips.

Ah, nice catch about the line echoing Dooku. And yeah, I figured Baylan knew Anakin during some period while Ahsoka was away on a mission or two.

Considering we know Hayden Christenson will be appearing in some fashion, I wonder if we'll get some flashback with a young Baylan during the Clone Wars...

Hm. Maybe we'll even get an Ashley Eckstein appearance?

We never really saw Ahsoka speak to or interact with any of the non-Jedi Ghost crew all that much. That said, she was open about it with Ezra, and I see no reason why Hera couldn't know. it's not like she had a reason to hide it.

Thank you for the refresher about Ezra. I figured she did talk to at least him about Anakin but my cruddy memory couldn't come up with any specifics.

Hands and feet suggest not; but it wouldn't be the first time a design has changed in the transition between mediums.

Yeah, it's hard to make anything in the quick, dark setting but the helmet is pretty similar. He wasn't confirmed dead...just mostly expected dead.

It is rather ironic that he's the only surviving Spectre not in the trailer given we've already seen him in live action.

Yup, that's what keeps itching at me. I want my full reunion!

Yeah, yeah...wait for the actual series.

My self control for those is pretty good since they are typically just the same footage from the trailer over and over again, but sometimes with maybe one or two slightly different shots. The drip-feed of it all doesn't appeal to me, so I prefer to skip them.

Yup, that's what I typically do, too. Hell, I don't even watch teasers for the next episode anymore, which is a big change from how I always watched them.

And a reminder not to take trailer footage at face value!

Indeed not!

 

[fireproof78]

Considering we know Hayden Christenson will be appearing in some fashion, I wonder if we'll get some flashback with a young Baylan during the Clone Wars...

An intriguing idea to create that shared history.

 

[Ithekro]

As for Hera knowing about Anakin Skywalker being Ahsoka's master, I would imagine she would have heard that from Captain Rex. He was always up to tell old stories.