Ahsoka’s set pieces show the Force in action in “Dreams and Madness”
By Ian Walter
The Force is strong throughout Ahsoka: Part VII – Dreams and Madness!
The action in Ahsoka has some of the most incredible displays of the Force in all of Star Wars, and the penultimate episode, “Dreams and Madness,” offers no exception. Although the opening scene establishes the political climate in the known galaxy, the galaxy far, far away where Thrawn and Ezra are exiled is where the real action is. Ahsoka must navigate a purrgil graveyard and reach out with the Force to find her friends, Thrawn must employ his troops and the Great Mothers’ dark magick to locate the enemy, and Sabine and Ezra must defend the Noti and navigate the wastelands of Peridea under threat of Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, and Night Troopers among other marauders.
While Ahsoka Tano is awaiting her arrival via purrgil, she practices her lightsaber combat forms while watching an old holo-message from her Master Anakin (Hayden Christensen), encouraging her to train vigorously in order to be able to face enemies such as Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, and General Grievous. If Anakin taught us anything, powerful Force-users like Jedi make stellar star pilots. Ahsoka would make her Master proud as she masterfully navigates her T6-class Jedi shuttle through a minefield and later a ring of debris consisting of purrgil bones to hide from Morgan Elsbeth’s fighters. As Ahsoka attempts to reach out to Sabine Wren through the Force, the Great Mothers are able to pick up on her location by way of Dark Force magick and help maintain Thrawn’s tactical advantage.
Ezra Bridger also uses his piloting skills to help the Noti avoid a marauder attack, while Baylan Skoll pulls out unexpectedly to pursue his own hidden agenda. Baylan leaves his Apprentice, Shin Hati, to fight alone, with the parting words of wisdom: “Impatience for victory will guarantee defeat.” Ahsoka shares a similar sentiment now that she has completed her training. When encountering Baylan for a rematch, she realizes she does not have to fight him in order to help her friends.
Sabine Wren offers Ezra his old lightsaber, who declines any offer of weapons in favor of using the Force as his ally. It is clear that in the time Ezra has been living with the Noti, he has become one with the Force and has grown comfortable using defensive Force powers over using weapons to attack. This aligns with Yoda’s teachings to Luke in The Empire Strikes Back that “a Jedi only uses the Force for knowledge and defense.” When the enemy forces begin to overwhelm them, he still manages to use their weapons against them and bring a balanced approach to the fight.
Shin Hati attacks Ezra with her orange lightsaber, who only uses his Force abilities to avoid her attacks. When it looks like she’ll gain the upper hand, Sabine defends with her green lightsaber. Ahsoka eventually reunites with her rebel friends to turn the tide in their favor and uses only Force abilities against Shin’s advances. After Thrawn pulls his resources from the battle, Hati runs away despite Ahsoka offering her a helping hand (on the condition that she surrender).
Ezra had sacrificed himself initially to remove Thrawn as a threat to their galaxy and is now under the impression that he has an opportunity to go home. Ahsoka might have given in to her fear about Sabine choosing Ezra over the fate of the galaxy before finishing her training with Anakin but now seems to embrace the reality that they might be able to thwart Thrawn and return home together. It remains to be seen whether Sabine will be able to reconcile with her choices and the fact that she appears unable to connect with the Force – will she also be able to achieve balance, and does her Force passivity allow her to keep a level head?
Both Ahsoka and Ezra have demonstrated their mastery of the Force in several ways that parallel its application by some traditional but primarily nontraditional Jedi (including Anakin, Luke, and even Kanan Jarrus). Sabine and Shin’s choices in this battle, having both been trained by Jedi who walked away from the Order, will ultimately define what their relationship with the Force is going to be. With only one episode left, we shall see if the combined efforts of the Jedi to connect with the Force will be enough to overcome Thrawn, the Great Mothers, and whatever Baylan Skoll is up to.