The Teaser Trailer for the new Star Wars series Ahsoka has been released, and all I have to say is… Wow!
If you haven’t seen the teaser, you have to watch it right now. There’s a lot to unpack! But just a word of warning: if you have not see Star Wars: The Clone Wars or, especially, Star Wars: Rebels, you’re going to be a little lost.
Rosario Dawson reprises her role as Ahsoka Tano in the eponymously titled series. But joining her are Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Mary Winstead as Hera Syndulla, Chopper as Chopper, and to the delight of Star Wars fans across the universe, Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn!
The reveal, and confirmation, that Grand Admiral Thrawn would be in the series was the biggest takeaway, and I had cold chills when Ahsoka called him the “Heir to the Empire.” Thrawn was first introduce to the Star Wars Expanded universe in 1991 novel Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, and this is a clear nod to that novel.
As great as it is to get our first live-action glimpse of Hera, Sabine, Chopper, and Thrawn (and a very brief glimpse of a hologram of Erza), the trailer also shows us two new characters: Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati. Baylan and Shin are set up in the trailer as possible Sith or Dark Jedi, but there’s a lot more going on with them than you might suspect.
First, they have orange lightsabers, not the typical red that is held by Sith. Second, their names Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati refer to Norse mythology with the two wolves Skoll and Hati who chase the Sun and Moon.
And finally, it is clear the Shin is not merely Baylan’s apprentice, but a true Padawan, after the Jedi fashion. Jedi Padawans always wear a distinctive hair braid, and in a few brief frames we can see that Shin has this exact hair braid.
Shin, played by Billie Eilish… I mean, Ivanna Sakhno… is clearly a Jedi Padawan. This means Baylan is either a misguided Jedi, a fallen Jedi, or Dark Jedi. The trailer has scenes of Baylan using Dark Side force choke powers against New Republic soldiers, and Shin aggressively attacking the bridge crew of a New Republic ship.
If you want to see a pretty good breakdown of the Ahsoka teaser trailer, check out this one by New Rockstars.
The new Ahsoka series starts sometime in August 2023. I can’t wait!
