The story of Ahsoka continues with “Part Seven: Dreams and Madness.” This Disney+ series set in the Star Wars universe has given fans of the franchise a lot of wonderful moments. This episode is written by Dave Filoni and directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, who both bring even more epic moments to the series. The new episode is an action-packed outing for Star Wars, giving you a lot of what you love from this series while further enriching these characters and setting up what could be a strong, thrilling finale.
The episode begins with Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) facing a disciplinary hearing for her actions. Senator Hamato Xiono (Nelson Lee) chastises her for her actions. His refusal to see the return of Thrawn as a possible threat is well-written, as is Hera’s opposition to his firm beliefs. Soon after, we get the return of Anthony Daniels as C-3PO with a fake authorization from General Leia Organa. This is a perfect little Star Wars fan service moment that makes sense for where the galaxy is at the time. Of course, it’s also great to see Daniels back as the droid who was one of the first characters we saw in the original 1977 Star Wars film.
Furthermore, getting to see C-3PO interact with Hera is a worlds colliding moment that we never knew we ended. It’s two generations of Star Wars coming face to face, which is something this show is able to do again in the next scene. As Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) trains with a lightsaber, she plays hologram recordings that her former master Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) made for her decades prior. Anakin even mentions Asajj Ventress, a villain from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The connection between live-action and animated Star Wars now feels more complete as a result of a show that brings the mediums together perfectly.
On a deeper level, it’s critical to Ahsoka’s character that she is still watching these messages. Despite knowing what he would become, she clings to the memories they shared together, remembering what it was like to be his padawan. The lessons she learned from him remain with her, and she can always hear his voice calling her Snips. As Ahsoka and Huyang (David Tennant) arrive in the correct galaxy, they find themselves caught in a minefield set up around the planet. Similar to the asteroid field chase in The Empire Strikes Back, a ship flying through a minefield is the exact fun type of scary situation for a Star Wars series. Furthermore, the scene gets brought to life by excellent banter between Ahsoka and Huyang.
Speaking of banter, Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) are back together again in scenes that feel straight out of Rebels. They have the banter to a tee, and we get to spend more time with them than we normally would with the hour-long episode format. You really get the sense that these are two old friends reconnecting after not having seen each other for years. We get caught up on a few of the events that happened in Return of the Jedi, and we see that Ahsoka and Sabine are connected through the Force.
Out of all the episodes we have seen up to this point, Part Seven might be the most action-packed. We have our rematch between Ahsoka and Bayaln Skoll (Ray Stevenson), and we also find ourselves in a big fight and shootout with Ezra, Sabine, and many of the antagonists from prior episodes. It’s wonderful to see not only the humor between Ezra and Sabine, but the way that Ezra returns to action, fighting the bandits using the Force and demonstrating incredible skill without a weapon.
The only minor mishap here is that when Ahsoka appears to fight alongside Ezra and Sabine, it should be a huge crowd-pleasing moment. Instead, it feels a bit too brief and anticlimactic, even though the context is excellent. We have an amazing final action set piece as the Night Troopers and Hati retreat. Ezra is excited to return home, and we end the episode on a more hopeful note than other penultimate episodes, which end on the biggest cliffhanger. One must wonder if this is how happy Part Seven is ending, then Part Eight must have a nasty surprise up its sleeve for the fate of our characters. We will have to wait a little longer to find out, but this was another excellent episode of Ahsoka.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
