Lucasfilm/Disney+
“Star Wars: Visions” Season 3 features sequels to several shorts from the Disney+ animated series’ first season. Among them is a sequel to “The Duel,” an Akira Kurosawa-inspired short from Kamikaze Douga that introduced the lone Sith known only as the Ronin.
The episode marks the Ronin’s return to the TV series, but this isn’t the character’s first new adventure since his original appearance. In fact, it’s his fourth overall. Following the first season of “Star Wars: Visions,” the Ronin went on to appear in the original novel “Ronin: A Visions Novel” in 2021 and, a year later, the comic “Visions” #1. The comic appearance served as a prequel to the original short. The novel begins with a retelling of “The Duel: Payback” and then continues the Ronin’s story beyond what was seen on screen, fleshing out his backstory and the unique version of the Star Wars universe he inhabits.
“The Duel: Payback” also introduces viewers to the Grand Master and leaves the door open for the Ronin’s further adventures.
Star Wars: Visions’ Ronin has more story to tell
Lucasfilm/Disney+
“The Duel: Payback” sees the Ronin, a Sith-turned-Sith-hunter, facing off against new enemies. While the episode begins with the Ronin pursuing his ongoing mission and hunting down another former Sith, he is soon confronted by the Grand Master, a cybernetic Jedi from his past. This new foe forces the Ronin to team up with Aneé-san, the ex-Sith he had been hunting, to best the Jedi Grand Master. At the episode’s end, the Ronin and Aneé-san are sparring, supposedly ending their truce, but smiling at each other as they duel.
With the Ronin still alive and potentially finding a new ally in Aneé-san, “The Duel: Payback” could pave the way for further adventures of the antihero. The latest season of “Visions” also featured a sequel to Season 1’s “The Ninth Jedi,” setting up the 2026 spin-off series “Star Wars: Visions Presents –- The Ninth Jedi,” confirmed to be in the works at Production IG and Lucasfilm Franchise Animation.
With “The Ninth Jedi” landing a spin-off series and “The Duel” having already spawned prequels and sequels in other media, there is certainly a precedent and an appetite for further stories of the Ronin. “Ronin: A Visions Novel” established the fascinating lore of the galaxy of “The Duel,” in which the Jedi serve a peaceful Empire and the Sith are former Jedi who rebelled against the galaxy’s feudal lords.
