Ahsoka Season 1 Finale Delivers Zombie Troopers, Clone Wars Callbacks — And Sets Up (Possible) Season 2
With plenty of questions still looming, Ahsoka's Season 1 finale on Tuesday night delivered some answers as Grand Admiral Thrawn prepared to make his big exit from Peridea.
The Imperial officer's mystery cargo had finished loading and they were almost ready to depart. While Morgan was confident that Ahsoka & Co. could do little to stop them, Thrawn remained cautious. He'd seen his cohorts make similar assumptions about the Rebellion to their demise, and even fell victim to the "heroics of a single Jedi" — namely Ezra, who dragged him into deep space via purrgil — and vowed to never make that mistake again.
The Great Mothers rewarded Morgan's fierce loyalty by giving her the gift of shadows, turning her into one of them. The Nightsisters also presented her with a sword engulfed in green flames known as the Blade of Talzin.
Ezra, aboard Ahsoka and Huyang's T-6, worked to build a lightsaber from the scraps on the ship, much to Huyang's dismay. Chastising Ezra's uncouth methods, Huyang asked who taught him how to build a lightsaber, that spurred Sabine to mention Ezra's deceased master Kanan Jarrus (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr. in Star Wars Rebels), who Ezra noted taught him everything he knew. Huyang then shared that he taught Kanan, who trained as a Youngling under the name Caleb. In a touching moment, Hyuang handed Ezra the spare lightsaber hilt he held onto in case Kanan ever needed it, and that was exactly what Ezra needed to complete his blue katana.
Picking up on the awkwardness of Sabine's disappearing act while he tested out his new lightsaber, Ezra asked what happened between her and Ahsoka. Huyang explained that Ahsoka had feared Sabine became a Jedi for the wrong reasons given what happened on her home world of Mandalore after the war. The Empire had purged the planet, killing hundreds of thousands — including Sabine's family. At the time, Ahsoka worried that if Sabine unlocked her true potential, she'd become dangerous.
In the present, Ahsoka revealed to Sabine that she knew about her Padawan's gamble with Baylan, which ultimately paid off. To Sabine's surprise, her master was not mad at her for what she did. Ahsoka explained that she made her own difficult choices over the years and that no one else stood by her, except for her master Anakin Skywalker. She would do the same for Sabine.
That breakthrough was cut short by an aerial attack from a pair of TIE fighters. With the ship significantly damaged from enemy fire, Ahsoka and Ezra used the force to hurl it — while piloted by Sabine and Hyuang — into the fighter jets. The wings-slashing tactic worked and they destroyed both TIE fighters, but crashed the T-6 in the process. Although Huyang and Sabine were unharmed, this would be a setback for the team.
Enoch delivered his report of the incident to Thrawn, who deemed the lost TIE fighters an acceptable outcome. With Ahsoka's ship presumably taken out, he believed her options were limited, so they needed to prepare for a ground assault.
Ahsoka, Sabine and Ezra, riding on howlers, raced to the Eye of Sion before it departed the planet. From a distance, Ezra noticed that Thrawn was taking his ship, the Star Destroyer, with him. With the odds stacked against them, the trio headed for Thrawn's metaphorical front door.
But Thrawn anticipated their arrival and ordered his team to "rain hellfire" on them. After all, there would be no negotiating with Anakin Skywalker's one-time apprentice. With Ahsoka on one howler, and Ezra and Sabine on the other, they expertly dodged the incoming fire and made their way inside of Thrawn's hideout. All three were then faced with a squadron of night troopers with one mission: to kill. Sabine, decked out in her Mandalorian armor, used her blasters to dwindle the night troopers' numbers, while Ahsoka and Ezra finished the rest off with their sabers.
However, that was just the beginning of Thrawn's planned assault. The Great Mothers used their dark magick to resurrect the dead night troopers, who rose like zombies with glowing green eyes. Backed by magick, these undead troopers were virtually unstoppable since every time they fell, they would simply rise again. The Jedi found a brief reprieve when Sabine sealed a door, separating them from the zombie army.
Morgan relayed to Thrawn that they were ready to depart, but all three Jedi were advancing on him quickly and he needed to buy more time. Morgan volunteered to give him just that by facing them herself.
Ahsoka prepared to fight the newly crowned Nightsister, who wielded the lightsaber-resistant Blade of Talzin, and ordered Ezra and Sabine to go after Thrawn. Ezra and Sabine were soon confronted by a pair of zombified death troopers in black armor. A fight ensued, and one of the snarling clones held a disarmed Sabine up against the wall by the neck. She then used the Force — !!! — to retrieve her lightsaber and drive the blade through its head. Ezra followed suit, retrieving his own katana before slicing off the second trooper's head.
Unfortunately, they arrived just in time to watch Thrawn's ship make its ascent into the sky. With the ship still rising, Sabine talked Ezra into making the long-distance leap aboard the Star Destroyer, and she helped push him the rest of the way via the Force.
When it was Sabine's turn to jump, she looked back at Ahsoka (who was outnumbered by Morgan and a squadron of night troopers) and had the difficult choice of either joining Ezra or staying behind to help her master. In a callback to Huyang's advice earlier in the season, Sabine decided to stick with Ahsoka, who killed Morgan by slicing through the Nightsister's abdomen. As predicted, Thrawn wasn't at all bothered by the loss, chalking up Morgan's death to doing what was necessary.
Ahsoka and Sabine, running from the night troopers' enemy fire, leapt onto the hull of the T-6, which had finally been repaired by Huyang. They then raced toward Thrawn, closing in him. The Grand Admiral, aboard the Star Destroyer which was hitched to the Eye of Sion, chose that moment to make a house call.
On the open channel, Thrawn commended Ahsoka on her efforts to stop him and expressed regret for having never met face-to-face. He then declared victory as the Eye of Sion made the hyper jump, leaving Ahsoka's ship behind. Sabine and the titular heroine rode back to the Noti on howlers, while Huyang piloted the shuttle hovering just above.
Stranded on Peridea with no clear way of returning home, Ahsoka took their presumably dire situation quite well. That's probably because she spotted Morai in the form of a bird, which Star Wars: The Clones Wars and Star Wars Rebels fans will recall followed her around throughout both animated series. In Star Wars lore, Morai was a Force wielder from Mortis who transferred her essence into the bird and later befriended Ahsoka.
Elsewhere, Shin Hati resurfaced and raised her red lightsaber above her head, catching the attention of the remaining bandits.
In a different location, Baylan stood on a massive statue of the Father, a powerful Force wielder who, according to Clone Wars, hailed from Mortis along with his offspring, the Son and Daughter, and had previously determined that Anakin was the Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force.
Thrawn, standing proudly aboard the Star Destroyer, came to a stop at the planet of Dathomir, which housed the Nightsisters' fortress.
Meanwhile, Ezra stole a night trooper's armor and hijacked a shuttle, racing straight to Hera, who believed he was the enemy until he pulled off his helmet. A stunned Hera, who hadn't seen him since his disappearance, called out his name.
"Hi, Hera. I'm home," he simply stated.
Back on Peridea, Ahsoka assured Sabine that she did well despite their current circumstance. As the Jedi Master pointed out, Ezra was where he needed to be, and so were they. "It's time to move on," Ahsoka said before walking back toward the Noti caravan. Sabine, however, stared ahead and noted that she felt "shadows in the starlight."
With their backs turned as they made their way toward the Noti, neither Sabine nor Ahsoka caught Anakin's Force Ghost smiling at them.
Did Ahsoka's finale leave you satisfied? What do you hope to see in a potential Season 2? Grade the season ender below, and then share your thoughts and predictions in the comments.