Hayden Christensen continues being really good at Star Wars

Hayden Christensen’s good at this Star Wars thing, isn’t he? The actor made an appearance again in Ahsoka Episode 7, this time as a hologram recording from the Clone Wars era. It’s been refreshing to see Hayden portraying this side of Anakin, which was only seen in The Clone Wars animated series and never in live-action. There’s no shade of Anakin’s personality that Hayden hasn’t had the chance to portray, but this might be the best version of Anakin, the one that combines his animated character with his live-action actor, brought to life beautifully by Hayden Christensen.

Everything from his costume, his voice, and his performance is pretty much spot on. Christensen seems completely at home in the character, even though now he’s portraying a slightly different Anakin, not the one who was trying to woo Padme or the arrogant Padawan jumping off a flying car in the middle of the Coruscant traffic. This time, Hayden has returned to portray Anakin as Ahsoka remembers him and perhaps the best of Anakin. Ahsoka’s Master is the considerate and thoughtful Anakin, the caring and protective one, who isn’t scared of defying anyone if it means keeping Ahsoka safe. These traits are a hallmark of Anakin’s personality and show his sincerity towards the people he loves, and this sincerity can be heard in Hayden’s voice during Ahsoka’s training scene in Episode 7.

When he tells  Ahsoka “Don’t be afraid”, “I know you can do this Ahsoka”, to practice her lightsaber forms because he won’t always be there, and that if anything happens to him, he wants her to be able to handle it. This is about as pure and sincere as any master’s sentiments can be for their Padawan. Now that he’s older himself and has a daughter, perhaps this is something Hayden has an easier time portraying because it is undeniable that this aspect of Anakin’s personality has come very easily to him. He’s giving us a mature and more stable Anakin who wants Ahsoka to be as good, if not better than him.

We still don’t know how many more times we’ll get to see Hayden as Anakin Skywalker, but if this is it, I must say that as a fan, I’m pleased with this series and last year’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s been an absolute pleasure to have Hayden back. He’s the Chosen One, indeed, and Anakin and Ahsoka’s bond is one of the best parts of Ahsoka. Thank you, Dave Filoni and Hayden Christensen for spoiling us silly, and we’re not ashamed to admit that we’d love to see more of this in the future.

Ahsoka is streaming on Disney+.