Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Jedi Review

MND "The Jedi"

"The Jedi" wastes no time building up to its namesake. There is beloved Clone Wars and Rebels hero Ahsoka Tano, in live-action for the first time, playing the part of an unknowable ronin, thorn in the side of industrial-level exploiter Morgan Elsbeth. That villain's name is like a witch straight out of a fairy tale, and so is the setting. Elsbeth has despoiled the planet Corvus, rendering the outskirts of the town of Calodan a dark, twisted Tim Burton forest. The bursts of action the episode unleashes are made all the more dreamlike because they might as well take place in Sleepy Hollow.

Elsbeth's agenda feels more corporate than militaristic, making her an appropriate foil for Ahsoka, who fought the corrupt conglomerates of the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Even so, the samurai movie meets Brothers Grimm aesthetic recalls something more elemental. When Ahsoka and Elsbeth slowly take each other's measure and face off in a vaguely Japanese garden, it's so Kurosawa it hurts.

It's a dynamic that Din walks into as an outsider. After the episode gives us a brief taste of explosive Jedi vs. Mandalorian action when Ahsoka and Din clash, Din quickly gets to his true purpose in seeking her out. Reaching out with her mind, Ahsoka senses that the Child's true name is Grogu. It's humorous seeing the little one snap to attention every time someone says the name. Grogu was trained in the Jedi Temple but has a decades-long gap in its memory.

When Ahsoka mentions Yoda as another member of Grogu's species, composer Ludwig Göransson deploys Yoda's theme. And when Ahsoka shows herself at Calodan's gate, I detect a flourish of Kevin Kiner's Ahsoka theme. This is the first time The Mandalorian has quoted other Star Wars music. When Grogu used the Force to lift the Mudhorn, the Force theme didn't play. When Moff Gideon landed his TIE Fighter, the Imperial March wasn't trotted out.

Din agrees to help Ahsoka deal with the Elsbeth situation. Ahsoka and Elsbeth's fight is a highlight, with the latter using a beskar spear reminiscent of the quicksilver baton Captain Phasma dueled Finn with in The Last Jedi. Victorious, Ahsoka demands Elsbeth reveal the location of her boss, Grand Admiral Thrawn (?!) - more on that in Stray Observations. 

Ultimately, Ahsoka sees Grogu's attachment to Din as a father figure, and declines to train the child. Her experience with Anakin has only reinforced her adherence to the Jedi Order's old tenets. She does point the way to a Jedi temple, meaning that more Force mysticism is on the cards for this show.

Rosario Dawson's portrayal of Ahsoka is effective (even if her voice isn't much of a match for Ashley Eckstein's), and director Dave Filoni's use of Ahsoka action in quick bursts works excellently well. "The Jedi" is another workout for a dark color palette on this show, but the atmosphere is thick. Filoni's invocation of samurai movie tropes, just putting Ahsoka and Elsbeth opposite each other in a widescreen frame, is just as magnetic on screen as Force Projection Luke squaring off with Kylo Ren on Crait. Might as well call the episode "The Samurai". 8/10.

Stray observations:

- While appearances in some fashion by Boba Fett, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Ahsoka Tano could be foreseen, the Thrawn namedrop was a surprise. This raises a big timeline question. In a coda at the end of Rebels (taking place at an unspecified point after the Battle of Endor), Ahsoka and Sabine Wren went on a quest to find Ezra Bridger, who was spirited away across the galaxy along with Thrawn. So is "The Jedi" before or after that quest? Seems to me it would likely be after, meaning that Thrawn's story is far from over.

- Ahsoka says she's only known one other of Grogu's species, Yoda. I guess Jedi Council member Yaddle was before Ahsoka's time?