Ahsoka official trailer reaction
Ever since audiences got their first look at ‘Ahsoka’ fans have been desperate to see more, and Disney has answered their call with a new stunning trailer. It teases so many ‘Star Wars: Rebels’ connections and even some deep-cut ‘Star Wars Legends’ tie-ins packed into two minutes, with other huge reveals.
The opening of the trailer is bound to get everyone pumped, with Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) attacking a New Republic vessel in a raw display of power. There’s even a callback to the iconic ‘Rebels’ line “I am no Jedi”, which not only excites ‘Rebels’ fans but explains a bit more to casual audiences who they are. That being terrifying.
There’s a quick run through of lines audiences have already heard, but one shot of a Togruta is notable, it looks like it’s on a Temple, and might even be related to the World Between Worlds from ‘Rebels’ or the Mortis Gods from ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’. Either way, it hints at the mystical element the show will have.
Shin and Baylon meet with Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) to discuss finding Thrawn, which shows that even the Imperials don’t know where he is. It helps to clarify everyone’s position, and beforehand it looked as though they knew where he was. The location they’re at is like a ruined Sith Temple, which would be amazing to see.
Morgan throws up a spherical map, perhaps leading to Thrawn, but underneath it is a green flame, one most commonly associated with Nightsister magic. There’s a popular theory going round that she is a Nightwitch, which this fuels (no pun intended). ‘Ahsoka’ promises to explore her past, so audiences will find out.
There is a glorious shot of a large New Republic fleet, which shows that even on Disney+ there’s the potential to showcase out large fleets, which look amazing. There are a few recogniseable ships, but at the back there’s a deep pull from the game ‘Star Wars Armada’, the MC30c, which is a surprising but welcome addition.
It’s here audiences hear from Hera (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) for the first time, and she’s giving the voice her own take, making it different from Vanessa Marshall but still keeping it unmistakably Hera. She desperately wants the New Republic to pay attention to Thrawn, but it sounds like they’re going to bury their heads in the sand, and ignore the threat until it’s nearly too late, a mistake they will repeat with the First Order years later.
To get around the New Republic chain of command, Hera and Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) talk about enlisting Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), something Ahsoka is wary about because the bombshell that’s dropped, Ahsoka used to train Sabine! It’s implied Sabine is force sensitive, but it’s not clear. A scene that takes place before the ‘Rebels’ epilogue shows some of this training, and even showcases a canon E-Wing.
Anakin is also mentioned twice in the trailer, an awesome mention bound to get audiences pumped. Baylan mentions he knows who Anakin is, and the two even spoke, confirming he survived Order 66. Maybe Hayden Christensen is involved with flashbacks with Baylan to give audiences more context.
Ezra’s voice can be heard, along with a recreation of the mural seen in ‘Rebels’. The speech is a bit inaccurate, but more importantly the mural looks excellent, so does Sabine with her cut hair. There are some quickfire shots of Sabine in the gunner’s chair of Ahsoka’s ship, hinting at the space battles audiences can expect, even one around a massive whale-like Purrgil. It’s fantastic.
And then there is a look at the man of the hour himself, Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). And he looks great, the blue face, with the red eyes are perfect. While it’s unclear if Thrawn will have much screen time in Ahsoka (he’s clearly being set up for a larger role down the line), his presence will loom over the show.
To cap out this insane trailer, there’s a tease of one of the fights Ahsoka will have with the mystery Inquisitor. It’s still not clear who it is, but they have their spinning lightsaber in tow, trying to scare Ahsoka with it. But she looks unimpressed, and strikes at it. Boy will this fight, and the many other lightsaber fights, be amazing.
Dave Filoni has really pulled out the stops here, going all out on ‘Rebels’ connections, but also having ones for Legends and The Clone Wars for good measure. This series is committing itself to the hardcore fan over the casual audience, which is a slight worry, but hopefully if handled well could encourage many more people to check out more of what ‘Star Wars’ has to offer.
