Star Wars: Ahsoka “Chapter 1 – Master and Apprentice” Review

Season 1 Episode 1 – “A valuable prisoner escapes New Republic custody; a search for answers reunites two old friends.”

Please note, our reviews are based on likes and dislikes. These contain significant spoilers. If you haven’t already watched the episode, we recommend that you click off the article and come back once you have watched the episode. Enjoy!

What I Liked

1. I love the fact that we got an “open crawl” before the first episode, it honestly felt true to The Clone Wars, true to Star Wars, and just in general, made the opening sequence that much better. I loved it.

2. The opening scene shows the New Republic taking Morgan Elsbeth to prison. The captain of the ship gets hailed by an incoming ship who reveal themselves as “Jedi”. The captain is suspicious already because of the Jedi being gone. I liked this because it wasn’t as simple as “Oh, Jedi are here”. We get to witness just how skilled and brutal Baylon Skull and Shin are.

3. We get a scene with Ahsoka finding a map that could lead to the return of Thrawn or even Ezra. This scene stood out to me because it felt like a part of the Star Wars Jedi games and the puzzles within that game.

4. A ceremony on Lothal, several years after the Empire fell, and the day Commander Bridger “sacrificed” himself to save Lothal, he’s known to be a legend, an icon around Lothal. Sabine Wren was meant to speak but I feel like she isn’t over the loss of Ezra so he returns to Ezra’s hideout. Sabine outruns security on a speeder.

5. Sabine and Ahsoka’s tensions. I know they were master and apprentice at one point after the events of the Star Wars Rebels show, I want to know more about this. I want to know why their relationship is so frosty.

6. Huyang explains to Ahsoka that the lightsabers the two “Jedi” had when they freed Morgan Elsbeth he knew only one Jedi who built the lightsaber when he was in the Jedi Order. He explains that they were former Jedi which might be too much for Ahsoka alone.

7. The touching tribute to the late Ray Stevenson at the end of the episode.

What I Disliked

Sabine not listening to Ahsoka. I get it, she thinks better when she’s closer to Ezra’s stuff but when the star map is this important you put all that aside and stay with Ahsoka.

Favorite Moment

My favorite moment comes at the end of the episode when two droids attack Sabine, destroying her work and stealing the star map, she retrieves her lightsaber and runs after them, running into the apprentice of Baylon, Shin. After a short duel, Shin gets the best of Sabine and manages to stab her through the stomach/chest area.

Standout Character

I have to give this to Ahsoka, the fight scene against the droids at the beginning was nothing short of epic. We see her going through being a failure as a master, similar to what Anakin would have felt when she left the order.

I have to give mention to the late Ray Stevenson’s character Baylon. He portrayed this character in such immense light, power, and badassery.

Verdict

Overall a fantastic start to what will seemingly be an incredible season. The moment the episode started it was action, the story was well-written and the pace of the entire episode felt right. I loved the moments when Ahsoka was acting like Anakin about being a master.

Rating: 10/10