AHSOKA EPISODE 7 BREAKDOWN! Easter Eggs & Details You Missed!
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00:00 Welcome back to New Rock Stars, I'm Eric Vos, and this is a breakdown of Star Wars
00:03 Ahsoka Episode 7, "Dreams and Madness," which is I think my favorite phrase to be
00:08 uttered on Ahsoka this season by Balen back in Episode 6.
00:11 This is a land of dreams and madness.
00:14 Children's stories come to life.
00:15 And in this episode, from C-3PO shutting up a droid-hating senator to Thrawn giving the
00:20 best ever "wh-wh-what" to who Ahsoka's master was, I got you covered with all the
00:25 visual and symphonic details you might have missed in translations of all visible oramash.
00:30 And thank you again so much for supporting New Rock Stars in our analyses of Ahsoka.
00:34 It's been a lot of fun to try to figure out what this show is week to week with you all.
00:39 And as much as I miss sleeping, writing and shooting these late into the night, the part
00:43 of the night that's darkest just before the dawn, I think is where the magic happens.
00:48 So to all you Wednesday Wookies, thanks for joining me on this ride.
00:52 Okay, the opening Lucasfilm bumper comes with this music from composer Kevin Kiner, which
01:02 the closed captioning calls "soft ethereal music."
01:05 Roughly the same description used for Ahsoka's moment connecting with Sabine through the
01:09 forest later.
01:10 "I see her."
01:11 Happy Halloween from Clotho!
01:12 So really at the beginning of this episode, we're hearing the music of the forest connection
01:18 between these two, but by connecting with each other, they're opening themselves up
01:22 to that frequency, getting hijacked by nefarious trackers.
01:26 Really this episode leaves us with so many questions about these witches.
01:29 But this episode really opens on Coruscant in the era of the New Republic.
01:32 We see a New Republic government building, which is a different building than the prequel
01:36 era Senate building.
01:37 On this building's frontal facade is the symbol of the Coruscant Guard, which also appears
01:42 over the courtroom.
01:43 The Coruscant Guard were a core of clone shock troopers with red armor who served as Coruscant's
01:48 military police force, first seen in Revenge of the Sith, but showed up throughout Clone
01:52 Wars.
01:53 Beneath that hangs a blue banner that likely has a much smaller golden New Republic crest
01:57 on it.
01:58 This reminds us of the New Republic banner that hung over the Amnesty Program building
02:01 in The Mandalorian Chapter 19.
02:02 Earlier that episode, Dr. Pershing spoke at the Coruscant Opera House that we saw in Revenge
02:06 of the Sith, but there is a larger building on Coruscant that looks like this one, at
02:10 least in the nighttime shot of the city in that episode of The Mandalorian.
02:13 Either way, I just find it interesting that the architecture of this previous age, where
02:16 there were clones, hasn't been fully paved over yet, and the New Republic is just sufficing
02:20 it by draping paltry banners over everything.
02:23 Mission accomplished style.
02:25 But that said, technically the seat of the New Republic government is on Chandrila, Mon
02:28 Mothma's home world, not Coruscant.
02:30 In this era, the capital rotates among the core worlds.
02:33 So it seems like they just set up this hearing in a repurposed police HQ.
02:37 Like Senator Zeno doesn't want to give Hera a huge platform on the main Chandrila and
02:41 Senate floor, and kind of just wants to convict her here in Star Wars traffic court.
02:46 So yeah, here Hera stands trial, and notice that she wears her headpiece, but not the
02:50 goggles, which just kind of looks wrong.
02:53 Like Ahsoka without her headband, and it just kind of like had the weird hairline.
02:58 It's just like too smooth.
02:59 Now I know Hera is not piloting anything right now, but you know, I just kind of like my
03:03 Hera ready to go Amelia Earhart style.
03:05 But you know, like the first part of Amelia's flight, oh God.
03:08 Hera faces a panel of Chancellor Mon Mothma, as well as Senator Hamato Zeno.
03:14 Starting from episode three, Zeno is father to Kazuda Zemo from the animated Star Wars
03:19 Resistance show, as well as Senator Marwood from episode three.
03:22 Now back then there was a Grom Senator and Senator Rodrigo joining them.
03:26 But now on this panel is a certain familiar Mon Calamari.
03:29 Yeah, this is definitely Admiral Ackbar with the same head coloration, the same Admiral
03:34 badge.
03:35 It's a wrap, she tried to force it in there.
03:38 Sorry about that.
03:39 But there's also a Celestin, which of course is the same race as Nian Nunb.
03:42 Now this ain't Nian.
03:44 He shows up in the Rise of Skywalker years after this and doesn't look this old.
03:47 This Celestin has a hand to bar mustache and he's my best friend.
03:50 Among the observers in the gallery are a bunch of human New Republic officials.
03:54 There's an Ishi Tibb and a white chin Mon Calamari.
03:56 There's an Ithorian race and there seems to be a Mon Calamari prosecutor for the state
04:00 and for the defense.
04:01 Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, chopper.
04:05 And Hera's first officer, Vic Hawkins.
04:07 Meanwhile the chains of the pendant that Mon Mothma wear to clasp her cape look very much
04:11 like the ones worn by Caroline Blackestun when she played the character in Return of
04:15 the Jedi.
04:16 Now as the panel deliberates, the doors whoosh open and in struts Captain Carson Teva in
04:20 a fly flyboy jacket.
04:22 Even that Ishi Tibb and the Mon Calamari behind Hera lean over to each other, clearly saying
04:26 something like, get this man into Poe and Finn's Brotherhood of the Trampoline jacket.
04:29 Zeno dismisses Hera's report as a Jedi fairy tale, reading, Jedi, false Jedi, star maps,
04:36 star whales, distant galaxies.
04:39 Honestly, are we to believe any of it?
04:41 Now Balin also described these events as children's stories come to life and it just kind of feels
04:46 like a meta defense from Dave Filoni on his version of Star Wars that just because something
04:50 sounds like a kid's story with magical wolves and witches doesn't mean it isn't plausible
04:54 and cool.
04:55 Zeno completely objects to Hera's mention of Imperial Remnant, calling it sensationalism,
05:00 reminding us of the kind of people in our world who get offended on behalf of Neo-Nazis
05:03 when you call Neo-Nazis out for doing Neo-Nazi things.
05:06 Meanwhile Carson Teva will not stand for this.
05:08 - What about the conflict on Mandalore?
05:10 - Gideon was a warlord acting on his own.
05:12 There's no proof of a greater conspiracy.
05:15 - This line confirms the timeline of the Star Wars series.
05:17 Ahsoka is definitely set after the events of the Mandalorian season three, which ended
05:21 with Moff Gideon's base on Mandalore and Gideon was not acting alone.
05:25 He met with the pro Imperial Shadow Council.
05:28 He was working on clones of himself and on that Shadow Council was Gilad Pellaeon, Thrawn's
05:33 right hand man from the Timothy Zahn novels.
05:35 It's someone who actually made a voice cameo in the Rebels finale.
05:38 I'm actually beginning to think Senator Zeno might've been bought off by this council,
05:41 but then a familiar voice returns.
05:44 - Hi, I'm Steve.
05:45 - Threepio.
05:46 - I love how Mon Mothma completes his sentence.
05:50 Anthony Daniels returns to play the character, at least to voice him, because if you look
05:54 closely at the costume, I just don't know if that's Anthony Daniels.
05:57 The guy's getting up there in age.
05:58 If you take a look at Threepio's neck here, it just looks a lot thicker than usual.
06:02 The head is a bit tilted back when Anthony Daniels is like an expert mime actor, always
06:07 has a very specific way he holds the character and typically leans his head forward and pulls
06:12 his shoulders back.
06:13 Either way, Threepio is here on behalf of Senator Leia Organa.
06:16 It's just such a nice workaround since Carrie Fisher's no longer with us.
06:20 We can't really have Leia appear here in person unless they were to do some nightmarish Rise
06:25 of Skywalker VFX that none of us really need right now.
06:28 Just having Threepio instead works so great.
06:30 Actually, if you listen closely when that guard is giving him guff, you can hear Threepio
06:33 saying, "How rude."
06:36 He says, "How rude," exactly the same way as he does to that Cloud City Protocol droid
06:40 in Empire Strikes Back who swears "ichuta" at him.
06:43 Oh, nice to see a familiar face.
06:46 Ichuta, how rude.
06:47 Yes, ichuta is a Huttese profanity.
06:50 Naturally, as Threepio introduces himself, we do hear a leitmotif of John Williams'
06:53 main Star Wars theme.
06:55 Remember, Hera and Threepio actually met in Rebel Season 1, Episode 3, Droids in Distress,
06:59 which ends by revealing Threepio and R2-D2 were researching the crew of the Ghost on
07:03 behalf of Bail Organa, which would later lead to Hera joining the Phoenix Squadron, so she
07:08 really has Threepio to thank for her current position.
07:11 Threepio and Leia are covering for Hera, saying that Leia ordered the mission to CETOS.
07:16 Being regrettably unaware that Senator Xeono had held a vote against such a mission.
07:23 Without her.
07:24 Yeah, the way Threepio leaves that pause before "without her" is so great.
07:27 He's kind of making this political charge, an implication that Xeono rushed the vote
07:31 without allowing the great Senator Leia Organa to be present for it.
07:35 Moves like this, though, are going to eventually cost Leia a lot of political capital, and
07:39 leave her with fewer allies when she's ousted during the events of the Bloodline novel.
07:43 We learn that Leia is currently leader of the Defense Council, which will probably set
07:46 her up to form her own militarized faction, the Resistance, after she leaves.
07:50 Now Xeono makes a big mistake.
07:52 He says that they can't admit evidence from a mere droid, and Chopper is ready to leap
07:56 across that dais.
07:57 Poteva holds him back.
07:58 Stick around to the outro of this video to see what Chopper does next.
08:02 Yeah, we got a post-credits scene to this video.
08:03 You're gonna stick around all the way to the end.
08:05 Now there is a screen on the far side of this room with Orbesh text.
08:08 Across the top of it translates to "New Republic" and then on the right, "Hall of Justice Docket."
08:14 Now the scrolling Orbesh beneath on the right is kind of hard to make out, but I can see
08:17 the word "case" in a few instances.
08:20 C-A-S-E.
08:21 So it's probably just case numbers on the docket for that day.
08:24 But on the left side of the screen are red and blue cells that might correspond to the
08:27 red and blue lines on that star map grid, which could refer to possible legal jurisdictions
08:32 where these crimes were committed.
08:33 And a reminder that the galactic star map had new boundary lines drawn by imperial cartographers
08:38 during the age of the Empire that didn't always align with the way rebel factions would organize.
08:42 This is something that was discussed by the ISB in the show Andor.
08:45 Remember that show where they could just get a lot of interesting, juicy drama out of a
08:49 debate over legal jurisdictions?
08:51 Okay, moving on to Ahsoka.
08:53 Still in hyperspace with the Purgle, Ahsoka trains with both of her lightsabers now, holding
08:57 both reverse like daggers, reminding us of Ahsoka in the later seasons of Clone Wars
09:01 when she wielded her green lightsaber and her shorter yellow-green Shoto blade.
09:05 Hayden Christensen returns as Anakin Skywalker, wearing his Clone Wars-era Jedi armor with
09:09 a crest on the pauldron, and he says, "In this war, you will face more than just droids.
09:14 General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, even Count Dooku."
09:19 Yeah, and it seems like since encountering Anakin in the World Between Worlds, Ahsoka
09:22 is back to being comfortable with her old master, seeing him not as a painful memory
09:25 to block out, but a source of inspiration.
09:27 And yes, this was a recording made during the Clone Wars.
09:30 We know who Grievous is and Dooku is, but some of you might not know who Asajj Ventress
09:34 is.
09:35 Shame on you!
09:36 Shame!
09:37 Just kidding, we make this videos for everybody!
09:39 So here's who Asajj Ventress is.
09:40 She's an awesome character, a recurring villain in the Clone Wars series.
09:43 She's a Dathomirian warrior who served as Dooku's acolyte, aspiring apprentice.
09:48 She actually rejoined her Dathomirian night sisters in Clone Wars Season 4.
09:52 They baptized her into the coven, and this was around the time when the night sisters
09:55 came into conflict with Grievous and Dooku.
09:58 And sorry to disappoint you, Asajj Ventress is dead now, but who knows?
10:02 This show is obsessed with night sister history.
10:04 She might come up again.
10:05 Maybe she's in one of those coffins.
10:07 That'd be fun.
10:08 Probably not, though.
10:09 Now we hear Anakin's recording say, "As your master, it's my responsibility to prepare
10:13 you, so practice these forms often, or at least more than I do."
10:16 So beyond Anakin's recurring training throughout the Clone Wars series, this recording actually
10:21 reminds us of two things, Rebels Season 2 Episode 18, Shroud of Darkness, when Ahsoka
10:25 actually listens to a different recording alongside Ezra.
10:28 I've made some adjustments to the classic Form 4 techniques that I think you'll find
10:32 work well against droids and other ranged attackers.
10:35 Here.
10:36 And by using two sabers during this training session, Ahsoka is essentially doing Form
10:39 4, applying the new lessons that Anakin prescribed after messing things up in his two-on-one
10:44 saber fight with Dooku in Attack of the Clones.
10:46 But specifically, Anakin saying the words, "As your master, it's my responsibility
10:50 to prepare you," echoes Tales of the Jedi Episode 5, when Anakin puts Ahsoka through
10:54 a test beyond droid combat, using Rex and clone troopers to try to stun her over and
10:58 over and over again.
11:00 This is about life and death.
11:03 And as your master, I'm responsible for you.
11:05 Now Anakin goes on to say in this episode, "If you can hold off Rex and the boys, you'll
11:09 be ready for anything on the battlefield.
11:12 Well, anything with a blaster, at least."
11:15 Chillingly, this episode of Tales of the Jedi ends with Ahsoka and Rex flashing forward
11:19 to the Clone Wars series finale, right before they face other clone troopers during Order
11:23 66.
11:24 So dramatic, so amazing, because Ahsoka will have to put this clone trooper defense to
11:28 the test.
11:29 Also, fun fact, young Kanan Jarrus, then known as Caleb Dume, cameos early on this episode
11:34 as a fanboy, totally crushing hard on Ahsoka's moves.
11:37 It's a really good episode.
11:38 You should watch it.
11:39 It's only like, you know, 12 minutes or something.
11:40 Now the recording says, "If we get separated or something happens, you need to be able
11:45 to make it on your own.
11:48 Don't be afraid.
11:49 Just remember what I taught you and trust your instincts."
11:52 I like how right on the words, "taught you," the framing aligns with Ahsoka's blade right
11:57 against Anakin's face.
11:58 Now, while this is a recording, it just feels like Anakin is talking to her in real time,
12:02 and it's kind of wonderful.
12:03 "I know you can do this, Ahsoka."
12:08 But it's also kind of sad, because it reminds me of that scene in Minority Report, when
12:11 Tom Cruise talks to the recording of his dead son, as if it's a conversation in real time.
12:15 Ahsoka says Anakin made 20 more of these recordings, and this was his last one?
12:19 "He made 20 more of these recordings.
12:22 This was his last one.
12:23 He was a good master."
12:27 Now, the music swell after this line kind of sounds like Yoda's theme.
12:32 It kind of feels like she's saying this out loud to Baelin, who used her doubt about Anakin's
12:36 incomplete tutelage against her.
12:37 And I hope some of the other 20 recordings were just Anakin bitching about Obi-Wan, or
12:41 rehearsing what he was going to say to Padme that day.
12:43 "I like sand.
12:44 I like sand.
12:45 I like sand.
12:46 I hate sand.
12:47 I hate sand.
12:48 I hate sand.
12:49 Coarse, rough, irritating, gets everywhere.
12:50 How do I get everywhere with her?"
12:52 Now inside Ahsoka's locker are a few training remote droids, like the one Luke trained with
12:56 on the Falcon, and like the ones Ahsoka wrecked while she was training at the beginning of
13:00 that Tales of the Jedi episode.
13:01 We see one yellow, one blue, and one green here.
13:04 Hu Yen debates with Ahsoka about the odds the Purgle took them to the right galaxy, even.
13:09 "I think the odds are pretty good."
13:10 "No.
13:11 No, in fact, they're terrible.
13:13 Astronomically terrible."
13:14 Yes, droids like this are always acutely aware of the probabilities.
13:17 "Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to
13:22 one."
13:23 "Never tell me the odds."
13:24 Actually speaking of that moment in Empire Strikes Back, the T6 having to fly through
13:27 this minefield definitely parallels that asteroid field after the Hoth escape.
13:32 Actually later, Hu Yen says, "We're going to get pulverized if we stay out here much
13:35 longer."
13:36 Which is a lot like what they're saying when they're trying to get out of the asteroid
13:38 field.
13:39 Now, these mines in the minefield are called orbital mines, and they actually first appeared
13:43 in the Poe Dameron annual comic number one.
13:45 What we see here is an insane number of them.
13:48 TIE fighters can supposedly hold six of these at a time, but I don't know how Thrawn would
13:51 have had this many of them after being suddenly exiled to Pyrrhidia.
13:55 I guess the Chimera just had a whole bunch of them.
13:57 I like how the Purgle all, "Nope, out of this mess."
14:00 So apparently Pyrrhidia is not the end of their road.
14:02 They can also swim upstream as well as they can swim downstream.
14:05 From the Eye of Sion comes nine of the fighters that we saw back in episode three.
14:09 Star Wars is officially called these RP-82 Fiend Fighters, or that might just be the
14:13 name of Shin's fighter in particular, but in the past I pointed out how their design
14:17 seems to be based in part on the Clone Wars era Belbelab-22, as well as the real world
14:22 Mig-15 that was a Soviet fighter used in the Korean conflict in the early 50s, as well
14:26 as the P-51 Mustang and the F-2F Brewster Buffalo.
14:30 Ahsoka uses these floating bones of the Purgle in the Ring of the Planet as cover from these
14:33 fiends.
14:34 So whether the Purgle are alive or dead, they are just going to be used as cover.
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15:35 On the surface of Peridia, we get this shot of the Chimera over the fortress, and all
15:38 the statues that we talked about in the last episode seem to be bent backwards so that
15:42 the faces are facing up.
15:43 In addition to their silhouettes reflecting the columns of Malachor in the Rebels Season
15:47 2 finale, I'm still wondering about the functions of these towers.
15:50 And again, I think it's possible that they're just kind of like radio beacons that can blast
15:53 Night Sister voices wherever they need them to go.
15:55 Now we have to talk about how this fortress was actually built by the Zeffo, it sounds
16:00 like.
16:01 The Zeffo are an ancient race of Dathmir-linked force wielders in the game Jedi Fallen Order.
16:05 Last week, you may remember, I spotted some of that Sith Ur-Ka-Tot runes above the door
16:08 of the fortress, and actually Tommy J. Wall on Twitter came through with this translation,
16:13 "Praise Kujet, ruler of all, may his reign last for all time."
16:18 Kujet was the cruel leader of the Zeffo, and it's actually his tomb you explore in the
16:23 Jedi Fallen Order game.
16:24 So from this, we know the Zeffo and the Dathmiri have this kind of parallel ancestry, as both
16:29 of them are races from another galaxy who immigrated to the planet of Dathmir in our
16:32 galaxy after leaving this place, but it seems like some of the Dathmiri had to stay behind.
16:37 There are also some Zeffo hieroglyphs from Jedi Fallen Order on the exterior balcony
16:41 wall behind Thrawn in that one scene in episode six, after he lets Sabine take off, hieroglyphs
16:46 that if we're not mistaken, also seem to appear on the arch of the Coruscant courtroom behind
16:51 the dais.
16:52 So I don't know, maybe the set designers of this show are just throwing them in everywhere.
16:55 Morgan Elizabeth Hans Thrawn researched on Ahsoka from the Inquisitorial Database, referring
17:00 to the Jedi Hunters, the Inquisitors, of which Marok was one, making me wonder how long he
17:05 was being night sister puppeted under that Inquisitor armor.
17:08 How many people are they puppeting within different organizations of Star Wars?
17:12 But we actually know Ahsoka's name was written in Orbesh on the Inquisitor's list in that
17:17 2017 Darth Vader number seven comic.
17:19 And Thrawn realizes.
17:20 - The master was General Anakin Skywalker.
17:23 - An important fact that I'm actually surprised he didn't already know, she famously served
17:27 alongside Anakin Skywalker in a number of Clone Wars battles as a commander, but really
17:31 in this moment, I think Thrawn is putting together that her master became Darth Vader.
17:35 - However, we are getting to know our adversary.
17:38 And if she's anything like her master, she'll be unpredictable and quite dangerous.
17:44 - And Thrawn continues.
17:45 - Which is why we must control all variables, put her on a path of her own choosing, so
17:50 that no matter which direction she takes, we'll always be one step ahead of her.
17:55 - Yeah, this is a Thrawn we know from Rebels and the Timothy Zahn novels.
17:59 He often lets his enemies escape so that they can play right into his bigger plan.
18:02 Ezra and Sabine, meanwhile, are traveling with the Noti, whose homes have turned into
18:06 mobile trailers like covered wagons.
18:08 A toddler Noti waves at them, and it looks like this toddler has a knitted plush doll
18:13 of a Noti.
18:14 Ezra wears a kind of scaled chain mail, which some have speculated could be made of Stormtrooper
18:18 dog tags.
18:19 But we have to note that Stormtroopers in Star Wars have never been known to have dog
18:23 tags.
18:24 If they were, they'd probably be Imperial insignia, you know, not like real world American
18:28 GI dog tags.
18:30 Also wearing dog tags of like dozens of Stormtroopers that he killed would just be, I think, a more
18:34 violent move than this Jesus era of Ezra seems to be up for.
18:38 Ezra and Sabine recap the events of the end of the original trilogy.
18:42 - The Empire was defeated.
18:43 - Battle of Endor.
18:44 - The Emperor died.
18:45 - That's what people say.
18:46 - That's what people say, huh?
18:47 Sabine's skepticism sounded a bit like our first step toward this.
18:48 - I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get through this.
18:49 - I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get through this.
18:50 - I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get through this.
18:51 - I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get through this.
18:53 - Sabine's skepticism sounded a bit like our first step toward this.
18:55 - Somehow Palpatine returned.
18:56 - Poor Oscar Isaac.
18:57 He gets dragged for that too much.
18:58 You're a great actor, Oscar Isaac.
19:00 They just gave you some poopy dialogue to say.
19:02 Also Ezra clarifies that Zeb is training recruits.
19:05 And it's our first mention of Zeb on this series.
19:08 Finally.
19:09 We have one more episode and we know Lucasfilm made a live action Zeb for that cameo in The
19:12 Mandalorian.
19:13 So if we don't get a reunion between Zeb and Ezra in this finale, we're going to riot.
19:18 Ezra is surprised that Ahsoka took Sabine on as an apprentice.
19:21 - I trained a little before back when I was first learning.
19:23 - I remember.
19:24 - He's referencing Sabine's brief training with the Darksaber under Kanan Jarrus in the
19:28 Rebel Season 3 episode Trials of the Darksaber.
19:30 One of the best of the Rebel series.
19:32 Definitely watch it.
19:33 We see the Great Mothers, Klotho, Lachesis, and Atropa arriving and we see why Thrawn
19:37 let Ahsoka go so that she could try to sync with Sabine and that would ping the four cell
19:41 phone towers for these Nightsisters to triangulate her position.
19:44 It's interesting to see Morgan joining this ritual, chanting along.
19:48 The Nightsisters are a coven.
19:49 Their sorcery is probably amplified by their numbers.
19:52 But these Nightsisters immediately respond to Thrawn without hesitating.
19:55 They call him our lord.
19:57 So why are the Nightsisters so loyal to Thrawn?
19:59 Well, as Balin and Shin talked about last episode, they are desperate to flee Peridia
20:03 and Thrawn ship and the Eye of Sion seem to be their best bet.
20:05 But I do sense that the moment they'll get what they want from him, they're going to
20:09 turn on him.
20:10 They're just flattering his ego to butter him up.
20:12 Bendu did warn that Thrawn would be defeated with many arms and a cold embrace.
20:17 And if that didn't apply to the Pergil, it could apply to the zombified Nightbrothers
20:20 and Nightsisters in those caskets.
20:22 As Ahsoka and Huyang wait, notice that the T6 is covered in these tiny creatures which
20:26 kind of resemble plankton.
20:28 Plankton do break down sea particles in the ocean.
20:31 Maybe these are space plankton breaking down the bones of the Pergil.
20:34 There is a such thing in Star Wars known as air shrimp, but those are like on the border
20:37 of atmospheres.
20:38 These are just in open space.
20:40 But I like the idea of seeing these aquatic-esque creatures because it may actually be helping
20:44 Ahsoka mentally return to an aquatic headspace of the World Between Worlds.
20:48 Because when she channels the force, the sound is dropped away as if she's being plunged
20:52 into something or in a kind of sensory deprivation tank.
20:57 But then Ahsoka looks directly at the camera and says, "I see her."
21:06 Ooh, that thud on Colotho's eyes opening is just so scary.
21:10 Ahsoka goes from thinking she's talking to Sabine, her sister figure, to instead locking
21:14 eyes with a ninth sister witch that she didn't know was on this group chat.
21:18 It's kind of like Dorothy trying to talk to Annie M in the crystal ball, but instead it's
21:21 actually the Wicked Witch of the West messing with her.
21:24 Always scared the crap out of me as a kid.
21:26 Thrawn tells Shin to kill Sabine and Ezra.
21:28 "Then take your place in the coming empire."
21:30 Wow, so it seems like Balin is sensing Shin's interest in the political power Thrawn is
21:34 promising and Balin's divergence from that goal.
21:37 So does Balin know that Thrawn is setting him up as bait?
21:40 Does Balin willingly throw Shin under the bus here?
21:43 Well, not necessarily.
21:44 I think he is trying to set up Shin to take the path that is best for her.
21:48 "Your ambition drives you in one direction.
21:53 My path lies in another."
21:54 This actually ties into their namesake, the wolves of Norse mythology, Skoll and Hati.
21:59 Skoll pursues the sun, the source of light.
22:01 Hati pursues the moon, which is a mere reflection of the sun's light.
22:05 Skoll is after something deeper than Hati.
22:07 So what is that thing?
22:08 I've speculated Bindu, the Mortis gods, the Wellspring priestesses, but in yesterday's
22:13 video I talked about Den of Nerds theory.
22:15 Abeloth watched yesterday's video for more information on that.
22:18 Maybe he's after that Zeppo Kujit.
22:20 Maybe the Rakatans.
22:21 I love how we still have no idea, but I would say of the various options, the closest to
22:25 the sun, really, I think our best bets are Bindu or the priestesses of the Wellspring
22:29 of Light or just something completely undefined yet.
22:31 By the way, crazy detail about Balin.
22:33 Spotted by Twitter user Nira592, Balin's wrist has an orb-ish list of names.
22:38 Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, R2D2, C-3PO, and BEND!
22:42 If this is just a Star Wars set designer Easter egg, that Ben would be old Ben Kenobi, but
22:46 if it is a hit list of some kind, hey, Ben Solo is around five years old right now.
22:51 He's not Kylo Ren yet.
22:52 He's just a little boy.
22:53 Thrawn's night troopers load into some LAATLE patrol gunships.
22:58 Thrawn doesn't send in the TIE fighters.
22:59 Why?
23:00 To avoid using resources.
23:01 He wants to get Ahsoka on the ground to take up as much time as possible.
23:04 Later when these land, you can see some orb-ish on the side of the ship reading "load point"
23:09 and then up on the cylinder, the thing that looks like a vent, it reads "vent."
23:12 So, the Noti Caravan ends up in a chase that kind of feels a lot like John Ford's Stage
23:16 Coach, which really every Western wagon chase that you see in movies is pulling from.
23:21 One Noti uses a slingshot, which was one of Ezra's favorite weapons to use back in his
23:24 pre-Lightsaber Dennis Menace phase in Rebels Season 1.
23:28 Ezra shouts "Woopa Woopa" to circle up the caravan and they seal themselves up the way
23:31 they do in their shells when they hide.
23:34 When pioneers would do this, this is actually where the term "circle the wagons" comes
23:37 from, as this would be how pioneers would protect the vulnerable in their caravan from
23:41 outside raiders.
23:42 Ahsoka jumps out of the T6 and rolls up to Balin.
23:44 And here you can see what a lot of folks have been chatting about, the green crystal on
23:47 his belt buckle, which might be his old kyber crystal before he replaced it with an orange
23:51 one in his old Jedi hilt.
23:53 And one new detail that I just spotted is that Shin seems to have chunks of that same
23:57 green crystal in her padawan braid, only now visible in the exterior light.
24:01 So Balin may have given her pieces of this broken kyber, both keeping the crystal close.
24:06 Whereas Ahsoka back on Cetos first only used one blade while fighting Balin, now she ignites
24:11 both of them, confident in her training from Anakin to use the 4-on-4 style that he never
24:16 truly mastered against Dooku in Attack of the Clones, because the last time he used
24:19 two blades, he gave in to the dark side to do it, to Dooku.
24:22 This time Ahsoka has transformed into Ahsoka the White, and Balin shaming her over her
24:26 connection to Vader no longer holds her back.
24:29 Meanwhile, Ezra turns down his lightsaber.
24:31 The Force is my ally.
24:32 And what an ally, because our man uses force pushes and even it looks like a possible force
24:38 kick, because we totally hear the force on that kick, but it might just be a non-contact
24:42 stunt kind of like Luke's classic force kick in Return of the Jedi.
24:46 Yes, that's definitely what that was.
24:48 It just kind of seems like there are a few obvious non-contact hits in this fight.
24:52 But Ahsoka's duel with Balin is mixed with interesting flute sounds.
24:56 And listen closely when Balin shoves her back.
24:59 Yeah, it kind of seems like the flute peaks out there.
25:05 It's a battle of musical frequencies and I love it.
25:08 Shin swipes at Ezra and singes some of his hair.
25:12 The way he dodges her blows reminds me of Luke's force projection fighting Kylo Ren
25:16 in The Last Jedi or Chirrut Imwe dodging stuff.
25:19 But then this awesome moment happens.
25:23 Yeah, Shin's lightsaber blade contracts, reacting to Ezra's use of the force.
25:30 Lightsabers are supposed to channel the energy of the user.
25:32 So this is basically Ezra showing his mastery over the force compared to Shin.
25:36 The gunships approach and Ezra starts making some classic Rebels Ezra quips here.
25:40 But the two of them get impatient.
25:42 Remember, Balin's advice to Shin about impatience.
25:45 It proves true here.
25:46 It gives Shin the upper hand.
25:48 Meanwhile, there's another fun musical sting with Ahsoka's duel with Balin.
25:52 Yeah, these piano chords we actually heard over Balin's death march in the opening sequence
25:59 of the season.
26:02 Ahsoka says that she doesn't have to beat Balin and uses Hu Yang's cover fire to escape.
26:06 And we stay with Balin for a long take as he's thinking this over.
26:10 He's further along his path as his wolf chases the sun.
26:13 And you all know I was looking at the background like crazy looking for any Bendu-esque stirring
26:19 among these land formations.
26:20 Nothing yet, but I will keep looking.
26:22 And I love that we see Thrawn is commanding all these units on a hexagonal board display.
26:27 Like he's treating all these pieces like he's playing Dejarik holochess.
26:30 While dueling Shin, Sabine uses her vambrace to block a lightsaber hit.
26:34 So yeah, that vambrace must be Beskar.
26:36 The night troopers surround them.
26:38 One actually has red cloth coming out of his helmet eye holes.
26:40 And we hear them all shouting, go, go, go, go, go.
26:42 And when they die, they do not burst into green mist the way Maroque did.
26:46 So I think it's safe to say that these guys are not zombified death troopers from Joe
26:50 Schreiber's 2009 book.
26:51 Not corpses being reanimated with Night Sister magic, but just kind of worn down stormtroopers.
26:56 I gotta say, they were a lot scarier when they were just chanting Thrawn's name last
26:59 episode.
27:00 But I do think necromancy is still in play with those coffins.
27:03 Thrawn is pleasantly surprised by this defeat.
27:05 >> What a rare sight, almost like the Jedi of old.
27:09 >> Jedi of old, kind of wonder how old Thrawn is referring to.
27:12 Because I think what's most impressive is how little these Jedi relied on their lightsabers.
27:16 Recalling the way Yoda initially confronted Dooku without using his lightsaber in Attack
27:20 of the Clones.
27:21 Where again, our man, Sherrod M.
27:22 Way, as a guardian of the wills, the Jedi of old.
27:25 Thrawn reveals the whole point of this battle was just to stall.
27:28 His holo display shows the chimera with the containers loaded in.
27:31 The red Orbesh text translates to cargo load, and the number ticks up from 81 to 83 to 85.
27:37 Why two at a time?
27:38 Do they got those corpses doubled up head to toe in each of those?
27:41 Also does it really take three days to move like 100 coffins when you got a few hundred
27:46 night troopers?
27:47 And these coffins float?
27:48 Are four out of five of these things coffin flopping?
27:52 Thrawn says, "Time is very much on our side now, and I should keep it that way."
27:57 Time!
27:58 Now I assume Thrawn is just talking about being a step ahead of the game.
28:00 But hey, we got one episode left, folks.
28:02 We could see hyperspace time travel as of yet.
28:05 Probably not, but a nerd can dream.
28:08 Ahsoka reunites with Sabine, and then a big hug with Ezra.
28:11 Followed by, I think the first laugh that we've heard from Rosaria Dawson as Ahsoka.
28:17 Ezra ends the episode with, "Guys, I'm getting a feeling.
28:20 I think I might be going home after all."
28:22 What is home to Ezra?
28:23 Is it just the planet of Lothal, or is it just anywhere so long as he's sharing a bunk with
28:27 Zeb?
28:28 No clue how they're going to get back to our main galaxy.
28:31 If all the pergola have gotten the fuck out, maybe Ezra could activate his dormant link
28:35 to these whales combined with Ahsoka's fresher hook that she got by making eye contact with
28:39 that pergola back on Cetos.
28:40 Or my hope is that they just pull an Ezra favorite and disguise himself with some of
28:44 these dead night trooper armor and reverse coffin flop into those caskets as they hitch
28:48 a ride on the Chimera in the Eye of Scion.
28:50 And God, while they're on the Chimera, I hope they find those Lothal ruined chunks and Ezra
28:55 finds Kanan's lightsaber among Thrawn's collection.
28:57 Let me know how you want this season to end, and be sure to watch New Rockstar's episode
29:01 seven reaction on The Break Room.
29:03 Maude and Brandon did an amazing job reacting to this episode.
29:06 And stay tuned for a special finale predictions video that Tommy Bechtold and I are going
29:11 to co-host here on the main channel over the weekend.
29:13 And again, we got a post-credit scene to this video that you don't want to miss.
29:17 But please support this channel by grabbing an Ahsoka-inspired fulcrum shirt available
29:21 at nerdriot.shop.
29:22 Be sure to subscribe to The Break Room for episodes of Wookiee Leaks, our Ahsoka Aftershows,
29:25 subscribe to all three channels on the New Rockstars Network.
29:27 Big thanks to Noah Chen for helping write and research this breakdown.
29:29 You can follow me at EA Voss, follow New Rockstars.
29:31 Thanks for watching.
29:32 And without further ado, late last night, we all wondered exactly how pissed off Chopper
29:36 was at Senator Ziono, and our amazingly talented editor Drew Coombs came up with an answer.
29:42 Enjoy.
29:43 I cannot admit evidence of this kind from a mere droid.
29:50 I'm not from farm.
29:57 I'm not from farm.
30:04 What is it?
30:11 What is it?
30:16 What is it?
30:21 What is it?
30:26 What is it?
30:31 What is it?