Ahsoka Episode 6 Review: Kintsugi
Some things are worth the wait
Watching this episode, I found myself thinking a lot about The Rise of Skywalker—something I try not to do if I can help it.
Morgan Elsbeth completes her (and my) quest to find Thrawn and discovers him wearing a frayed uniform, living in a barely operational Star Destroyer, commanding the loyalty of fanatical soldiers in an Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now situation. These stormtroopers have maintained their armor in exile with kintsugi-style gold filament and maroon Nightsister wraps. Enoch, Thrawn’s righthand man, has taken the aesthetic a bit further and has reconstituted the entire face of his stormtrooper helmet with a golden mask.
Thrawn’s army looks genuinely spooky. Those uniforms, combined with Kevin Kiner’s organ music and the bloodthirsty chants of “THRAWN! THRAWN!” distorted through broken helmets, provide one of the franchise’s more exciting character introductions.
But it made me think of The Rise of Skywalker. J.J. Abrams did a kintsugi helmet first, when Kylo Ren had a chimp rebuild his smashed mask in Episode IX. (Heck, Abrams did dilapidated Star Destroyers first too.) What did Kylo Ren repairing helmet mean for the story? I don’t know. At the time, it felt like just a repudiation of The Last Jedi.
Cracked helmets mean much more in this episode of Ahsoka. They communicate that these stormtroopers have been through something harrowing and come out on the other side more fanatical. All the similar shots in the sequel trilogy (Poe entering the Star Destroyer hangar, Hux’s speech, Kylo debuting his new helmet) now feel like they stole a little bit of thunder from this moment. (Though maybe Dave Filoni is knowingly borrowing these images to set up the First Order.)
Now’s the big writerly turn where I say the REAL CRACKS are the plot holes left by the sequels and Filoni is FILLING THEM WITH SOLID GOLD! But I don’t really feel that way. I like the other two movies in that trilogy quite a bit.
Still, those films hang over this series’s bright blue head like the sword of Damocles. How can Sabine have really risked the future of her galaxy if we know a different Imperial remnant will battle a different post-Rebellion militia 30 years later? Baylan talks about freeing the galaxy from a never-ending cycle of conflict, but that mission seems doomed to failure when a soft-reboot of A New Hope is on the horizon.
I’m worried Thrawn’s army is going to spend too much time moving biscuits out of the catacombs and won’t make it out of exile. That would be a shame. They look so cool.
The Rating
4.5 Lego Thrawn heads out of 5
Thrawn Reaction Bonus Section
I thought Lars Mikkelsen was excellent. Having him physically embody the character—and leaving the confines of a children’s show—has tempered the performance in a way that is right-on. It’s funny that he’s just wearing a slightly shabby version of his classic uniform, but kind of perfect. He has to project authority to these rabid legions of (zombie?) stormtroopers, but that authority hangs by a literal white thread.
He’s definitely coming back to kick New Republic butt. That’s all but confirmed by his great first line and the fact that he was asking the Nightsisters to beckon Morgan. (It also helps answer Why Morgan? He’s trapped on the witch homeworld, and she’s the only witch in his phone.) I’ve questioned whether Thrawn wanting to return to attack the New Republic is totally in keeping with his character, but the craziest-looking-stormtroopers-you’ve-ever-seen give him some motivation here. If you’re Thrawn, you’ve gotta promise those dudes some greater purpose to prevent them from eating you. Plus, a guy who professes to hate chaos has to be going a little crazy keeping his ship together with popsicle sticks.
Does Thrawn know who Ahsoka is? I think there’s evidence in both directions. He asks for a full dossier on her, including her master, which suggests a retcon of Thrawn and Anakin’s relationship from Thrawn: Alliances. But he also knows who Baylan Skoll is and knowingly says “You would not be the first” when Baylan says he “parted ways with the Jedi.” Either way, he’s going to figure it out. Everyone in this show but Hera seems to know Anakin was Vader.
Meme of the Week
Random Thoughts
For a brief moment, when Hyuang started telling Ahsoka a story about “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” I considered the possibility that Thrawn was exiled on Earth and Filoni was going to pull out the most controversial twist in the history of media.
Loved the shot of the witches just doing their thing against an alien sky when they arrive on Peridea.
“More witches!”
Were the bandits who live on the planet’s surface meant to look like the Imperial sentinels from the Expanded Universe?
Love the snails. They’re like the Bugs of New Genesis, for all your Jack Kirby heads out there.
The actor playing Ezra looks and sounds just like the cartoon character. So he really doesn’t need those color contacts.
Anyone need a Bluesky code? I’ve got a bunch.
#VantoWatch
Thrawn tells Sabine she’s risking everything for a chance to see her buddy again. Sabine says he wouldn’t understand that. Thrawn looks offended. Hope?
Spooky Night Troopers for the win. Also yes more Witches.