It’s a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Today Lucasfilm and Disney unexpectedly released the highly anticipated official trailer for their upcoming Star Wars series, Ahsoka, alongside a new beautiful new poster and the announcement that the season premiere will feature TWO episodes.
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Just yesterday fans got to the see the Journey to Ahsoka featurette which was rumoured to first release at ESSENCE Fest on July 1st. Earlier today an Ahsoka hashtag alongside an emoji appeared on Twitter which sent excited fans into overdrive, hoping the emoji-hashtag release was a sign that the eagerly awaited official trailer was gearing up for release soon. Those hopes came to fruition and the long-awaited trailer appeared online to fans delight.
The trailer release doesn’t come as a huge surprise when you consider the release window. Disney typically release the ‘official’ or ‘final’ trailer for their Disney+ series around six weeks before the series releases on the streaming service, with this Ahsoka trailer following that usual schedule. It is unexpected however that it released just a single day after its Journey to Ahsoka featurette.
The trailer begins on a dark note, showcasing the fallen Jedi, Baylan Skull (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) attacking New Republic troops onboard a spacecraft. Baylan states that war is inevitable and that one must destroy in order to create. As we see Shin cutting down members of the New Republic in the background, Baylan states that are ‘no Jedi’, a homage to Ahsoka Tano herself, as he ignites his crimson blade and impales a New Republic officer.
Shin and Baylan feature prominently throughout the trailer, and they’re the two characters I am most interested in seeing and learning more about throughout the series. Shin asks her master, Baylan, what will happen when they find the sinister Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has been lost in the galaxy since the season finale of the Star Wars animated series, Star Wars: Rebels. Baylan responds with power – more power than you’ve ever dreamed, as we see shots of Shin once again striking down members of the New Republic and as Shin, Baylan and Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) approach a stone shrine with Elsbeth raising mystical circles around the location and the trio.
The voice of our titular hero, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) can be heard voicing her concerns over the return of the lost Grand Admiral Thrawn, heading whispers of the Admiral returning and taking his place as ‘Heir to the Empire’. We cut to Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in space, controlling her Ghost ship and fighting off enemies as she voices she’s been in a war for most of her life before we see her standing in front of a holographic Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Riley) asking for their help to prevent a new war from starting. Hera meets with her friend Ahsoka with the former informing Tano that Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a friend of the two and a Mandalorian, could help with Ahsoka’s mission in preventing the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Empire.
The message of the the trailer this far is obvious, a war is coming and our heroes are desperate to stop it from happening. We know from past leaks that Elsbeth is going to venture out into the unknown galaxy alongside Baylan and Shin to locate her master, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and return him to the galaxy we know. Ahsoka in the second season of The Mandalorian was on on Elsbeth’s trail, confronting the magistrate and demanding information on the whereabouts of her master. It’s a race between good and evil.
As Ahsoka reunites with Sabine, we get undoubtedly one of the most interesting lines of the trailer. Sabine refers to Ahsoka as her master, perhaps hinting that Ahsoka Tano has been training Sabine in the ways of the Force, as we Sabine throughout the trailer using a green lightsaber left behind behind by her lost friend, Ezra Bridger. Ahsoka recalls events of The Clone Wars animated series, stating that her master, Anakin Skywalker, never got the chance to complete Ahsoka’s training as she walked away from the Jedi Order.
We see Sabine sitting and watching a hologram of Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), who can be heard saying, “as a Jedi, sometimes you have to make a decision that no one else can. But I’m counting on you to see this through.” During the finale of Star Wars: Rebels, Bridger in a last ditch attempt to stop Grand Admiral Thrawn catapulted the two, along with Thrawn’s fleet through hyperspace and into an unknown part of the galaxy, where the two have been lost for years. Inspired by the words of her friend, Sabine cuts off her growing locks and joins Ahsoka Tano on her mission – to stop the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn.
We see various shots from the initial teaser trailer released back in April, and extensions of those shots, which include Ahsoka Tano facing off against a mysterious Inquisitor. An Ahsoka states that they must do what is right, regardless of how they feel personally. We see Sabine finding joy in taking down enemy star-fighters as the duo come face-to-face with a Purrgil, a large space whale that has the power to travel through hyperspace, and a creature Ezra Bridger used to transport himself and Thrawn to an unknown part of the galaxy.
‘If we don’t stop Thrawn, everything will be in vein” says Ahsoka Tano, as we finally see Grand Admiral Thrawn himself (Lars Mikkelsen). Sabine lays on the ground of a forest as Shin stands above her claiming the former has no power as we cut to the two clashing lightsabers. The shot of Sabine and Shin clashing blades confirms a second confrontation between the two. In an earlier trailer, Sabine, with her long hair faces off against Shin inside of a building. In this new trailer, Sabine is sporting her shorter hair and confronts her for in the woods. As the two apprentices face off, we see the two masters, Ahsoka and Baylan duel as the latter mentions Anakin Skywalker speaking highly of our hero as the breathing of Darth Vader can be heard in the background, before Ahsoka quips that she’s not here to discuss her past.
Hera Syndulla exclaims ‘Once a Rebel, always a Rebel’ as the final shots of the trailer play out showcasing Ahsoka taking out a bunch of droid, dogfights in space, Ahsoka running towards a ship firing down at her and the Inquisitior from earlier in the trailer spinning their lightsaber before swinging it and clashing with the blade of Ahsoka Tano.
Alongside the thrilling new trailer, Disney and Lucasfilm also released a brand new posters. The poster itself shows our hero, Ahsoka Tano, in an action pose wielding her lightsaber as the world between worlds imagery can be seen behind her with the pose itself being very much inspired by Anakin Skywlaker, Ahsoka’s former master. Personally I never much disliked the original poster released in April, which was simply a very up close shot of Ahsoka’s face. The poster came with a synopsis for the upcoming series, which is very brief, and doesn’t offer a lot of insight into the series and reads, “Set after the fall of the Empire, Star Wars: Ahsoka follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.”
Disney and Lucasfilm surprised fans with the release of the exciting official trailer and a new poster, but they had another surprise for fans buried inside of the Ahsoka trailer – the series due to debut on Disney+ on August 23rd will premiere with TWO episodes of the highly anticipated series. I’m sure the news has come as delight to fans who’ve been itching to learn more and about the series.
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