Give Me Those Star Wars 41: Ahsoka

The apprentice lives! On this Give Me Those Star Wars, Ryan Daly welcomes back Stella, Chris Zegunis, and Angela Drew to discuss the fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano. Created for STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS animated movie, Ahsoka rose to prominence as the protagonist of the subsequent animated series, and then appeared in STAR WARS REBELS. In 2020, Ahsoka made the leap to live action in the second season of THE MANDALORIAN played by actress Rosario Dawson. Daly and guests talk about Ahsoka's history, why she seems to resonate with both new and old, jaded Star Wars fans, and where will her journey take her next.

Also on this episode, Angela interviews a fan of The Mandalorian who had never seen Ahsoka prior to this season to get a different perspective on the character's introduction. That plus listener feedback from last episode.

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.

Check out Stella’s podcasts at: http://thebatmanuniverse.net/category/podcast/bto/

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Thanks for listening, and May the Force Be With You!

10 responses to “Give Me Those Star Wars 41: Ahsoka

  1. Great discussion. I took our son Andrew to see the Clone Wars film when it was in theaters, and honestly, it turned me off really wanting to invest in the series. I watched it on occasion with him, but it never hooked me. Ahsoka came across as a bit of a “Wendy and Marvin” add-on in some ways. Nowhere nearly as annoying as Marvin, but still the “precious” little add-on character shoehorned into the narrative to attract a young audience. On the other hand, I got why the show needed her. The central protagonist had already been established as a traitor and child-killer!

    But over the years I picked up enough knowledge to know Ahsoka grew through her appearances on Clone Wars and Rebels, and that she had indeed become a favorite character. So when I heard she was going to be on Mando, I was excited. I had no idea her appearance would spark such interest in my daughter, Dani, who immediately went to Disney Plus and began binging the whole series. I caught quite a few episodes with her, and I enjoyed every episode where she took the spotlight. We just watched the finale last week, and that was phenomenal. Looking forward to jumping into Rebels next!

    I had no idea Angela was so into Star Wars! Maybe she should be hosting this show, especially when Ryan’s Jedi faith wanes? 😉

    Chris

  2. Good episode, could’ve been great if not for that Angela Drew chick; aka: Big Ang! Talk about a Debbie Downer. Has she even seen a Star Wars movie? ‍♂️

  3. This episode was great listening. Having all of these voices was very welcome, and I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks, gang!

    I notice no one mentions the first Clone Wars cartoon anymore, which actually came out between Ep 2 and 3. Being a big Samurai Jack fan, I enjoyed it quite a lot and wish it got more attention. Ah well, I must be alone in my fandom there.

    But that cartoon made me more willing to give the Clone Wars movie and series a chance from the beginning. I had the same problems everybody has, knowing too much about the future and why get invested in these characters. But somehow that didn’t stop me from following along, and just enjoying the ride. Seeing Ahsoka’s arc was quickly the best part.

    Still, I had “cut the cable” by the time Rebels aired, and I was too cheap to pay for its episodes, so that remained unwatched until Disney+. I made the leap and wow, that was fantastic. And then, Clone Wars the Final Season. I’m right with all of you that the conclusion was phenomenal and justified following the series all along. Loved it. And completely unintentionally, I watched Rebels and Final Season shortly before Mandalorian’s second season began, which was excellent happenstance. The Force must have been with me. And I’ll just say that I’m plenty intrigued about seeing Ahsoka’s live-action series.

    Ah, what am I rambling on about. Ya’ll don’t care! Anyway, thanks for the great episode!

    1. Oh man, Tim, I wish that first 2D animated Clone Wars series (from Genndy Tartakovsky, director of the Hotel Transylvania movies) was available anywhere! I have always wanted to see it. With his Samurai Jack series, you think he would be a perfect guy to stage lightsaber fights! Even after it aired, George Lucas was ready to wipe the slate clean, say it never happened and start anew with the 3D animated Clone Wars that everyone knows. The only way it looks like you can watch it is to buy the DVD off of eBay for ridiculous money! If anyone knows different (and is available to Canadians), please let me know!

      1. I love Genndy’s Clone Wars series, and was fortunate enough to pick up the DVDs when they first came out. I had no idea the series was so difficult to come by these days. I wonder if there’s some kind of rights issue that keeps it off of streaming services, or if they (whoever owns the rights) don’t think there’s enough interest in it?

  4. Wow, so much talk over those marshmallow horns or whatever they hell they are

    This show was great. I went back to watch those Clone Wars episodes Angela Daly recommended – they were just terrific.

    I may not have the popular position here, but I thought Asoka’s Mandolorian appearance – as played by Dawson – was just ok. She wasn’t given much to work with. And to be frank, I don’t know how much range she has. She more or less played the same emotional beats in that Texas noir show of hers. But I am intrigued by how this goes – though animation is a much better medium for SW than the stilted and limited live action stuff.

  5. This was an excellent discussion, everyone! I really enjoyed it as it really highlights something missing from my Star Wars viewing experience; the female perspective! For too long, I’ve enjoyed Star Wars by myself then with my two sons, so I really enjoyed hearing Angela’s and Stella’s views on Ahsoka. They both pointed out some neat characteristics of Ahsoka that never occurred to me. Now I want to go back and watch the Clone Wars all over again with those points in mind.

    Like most of you, I came to Clone Wars and Rebels late, but once I got Disney+, me and my kids sat down and watched the whole thing. We enjoyed both series but I agree with Chris on the maturity arc of Clone Wars. Those first 2 seasons are like a lot of cartoons for kids and I can see how Ahsoka could come off as a bratty sidekick. But by season 3, she starts maturing and stories are being developed with her in mind. The storytelling gets more mature, as well, and, of course, by the Final season, all those moments pay off as the audience really cares what happens to Ahsoka because we’ve all been on this journey with her.

    As for her appearance in the Mandalorian, it was interesting hearing your reasons on how Ahsoka handled Grogu. Like Chris again, I didn’t have a problem with it at the time. She seemed, to me, like Luke in the Last Jedi (though that’s quite divisive); she’s been around the block and seen some things. She’s older, wiser, but also more hesitant to take life altering chances. I understand the character goes out of her way to help people (that’s one of the reasons I love the character) but since she still seems to be on a quest to find Ezra and Thrawn, taking on training Grogu would be a huge commitment and one that could put her in serious danger and possibly leave Ezra alone with Thrawn! But like I said above, the points of Stella and Andrea never occurred to me so now I want to go back and watch that episode with those points in mind.

    I would put Ahsoka up near the top of my list of favourite Star Wars characters. It’s hard to topple Luke off the top, but she’s up there. She’s definitely my favourite expanded universe character (take that HK-47!). In fact, I would love to hear you, Ryan, and your guests list their top 5 (or however many) favourite characters, like how you rated the Skywalker Saga movies. I think it would be great to hear the arguments and discussions why one character rates higher than another.

    Well done again, everyone. I had a blast listening to everyone’s opinions and it was fun to have the round table of discussion. Keep up the great work!

  6. Thank you, everyone, for the great round table discussion. I first encountered Ahsoka in the Clone Wars movie. At first, I assumed that she would die at the end of the series, which would help to fuel Anakin’s turn to the dark side. As a result, I tried to keep my emotional distance from the character, but, by the season 3 episodes “Padawan Lost” and “Wookiee Hunt”, I was a full on Ahsoka fan.

    This is probably a good place to say that my daughter and I finally finished watching The Mandalorian. It actually took longer than I expected to reach the end of season 2, because, after watching “The Jedi”, my daughter decided to binge watch all four seasons of Rebels, which she hadn’t seen before, to catch Ahsoka’s appearances there. She was also motivated to learn more about Thrawn, the Darksaber, Mandalorians, in general, and Sabine Wren, in particular. She is eagerly looking forward to the Ahsoka series, and desperately wants to see Sabine in live action.

  7. Another excellent episode! Loved hearing from so many different guests, really brought lots of interesting perspectives!

    For me, I felt the same as Angie about Ahsoka’s performance (meaning I felt like I was watching Rosario Dawson play a character, rather then embody the character), but I was coming at it from a different direction. I think for me it comes from the fact that everyone on the show is sooooo subdued emotionally. It’s hard to get invested in some side characters in the show because everyone’s emotional range is finite. And that comes from the lead Mandalorian setting the tone for the show. And that works, except when you want me to cheer and punch the air at a new character.

    I’ve never followed the CLONE WARS cartoon, and have only seen two seasons of REBELS. So my familiarity with the character of Ahsoka is very minor. However, I have seen Rosario Dawson (henceforth known as Space Night Nurse) in lots of roles, and she’s an excellent actress with a fantastic range. But here Space Night Nurse was again very subdued. As essentially a new character for me, it was hard to see past the actress and see the character. Same could be said for Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan (henceforth known as Mando Starbuck). Again exceptional actress, but with Mando Starbuck being so restrained emotionally, and my lack of familiarity with the character from the cartoons, I felt like I was watching the actress play a part, rather than embody the part.

    The lack of emotion totally works for the Mandalorian. And it really sparks when you get characters who don’t subdue their emotions. I think that’s partially why one of my favorite characters is Amy Sedaris in the part of Peli (henceforth known as Space Linda Lavin). Space Linda Lavin (in comparison to Mando) is larger than life, fun, and hilarious. I adore her character regardless of where I might have seen the actress before, and totally believe her in the role.

    Again, excellent episode!! I look forward to seeing more of Space Night Nurse and Mando Starbuck, and hope I’m able to see past the actors and see the characters.

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