Ahsoka feels like Star Wars by way of Lord of the Rings

Star Wars’ DNA has always had fantasy in it. From its central “chosen one” monomyth to its deployment of the “special weapon” trope to a central plot arc that can be described as “storming a castle to rescue a princess,” Star Wars has never been a purely science-fiction story. Yet George Lucas has made it very clear that science-fiction stories like Buck Rogers and Frank Herbert’s Dune He was influenced by them in a way that J.R.R. Tolkien.

Dave Filoni on the other has been on record as a Lord of the Rings lover. The current showrunner is Ahsoka and the person long considered by fans to be Lucas’ heir as the central shepherd of Star Wars mythology, Filoni has peppered his love of fantasy into many of his Star Wars stories through the years — but in AhsokaWe have seen the most fantasy Star Wars to date.

These fantasy elements — and specifically the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing — manifest themselves through the series in ways both obvious and subtle. Ahsoka’s character is immediately cast as Gandalf, in gray, working to stop the evil of the distant past that many believe long-gone. After a brief death, Ahsoka returns in new determination and white, dressed in a white cloak. In the early episodes, Ahsoka is cast as a Gandalf figure, working to stop a far-off evil from returning. She then undergoes a death of sorts and returns with new determination, dressed in white. The garb worn by the enemies also highlights the fantasy element, as Baylan Skoll (and Shin Hati) are dressed in a more medieval-chivalric style than usual.

Lucasfilm Image

Lucasfilm Image

In a structural sense, there are many aspects of the world that need to be considered. Ahsoka — while still taking place in the familiar galaxy far, far away of hyperspace and lightsabers — is built like a fantasy world. Ahsoka finds the MacGuffin in an ancient temple and solves a mystery to get it. She is watched by the stone avatars that represent long-dead characters. The way the characters interact with each other is reminiscent of Indiana Jones. Ahsoka The ability to move through time is an important element in fantasy. Tolkien’s characters are constantly being moved through the physical remnants of lost civilizations, such as the Argonath and the Moria mines. The same thing is repeated in Ahsoka On the planet Seatos the villain Morgan Elsbeth plots a route using the map Ahsoka stole and recovered.

Morgan is an excellent example of fantasy’s influence on the world. Ahsoka. She is, for all intents and purposes, a witch (something underscored by the title of the series’ second episode, “Toil and Trouble,” a reference to the witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth(by Dave Filoni) previously established in the book The Witches Of Dathomir. Dave Filoni established the previous (by Dave Filoni in Clone Wars to be Force sensitives who wield the Force in a more mystical manner, the Nightsisters represent a different take on the Dark Side from the more familiar, “there can be only two” power-hungry Sith. Darth Vader (the signature Star Wars antagonist) is basically a cyborg. It’s the science fiction blend of man and machines. Darth Vader’s master Darth Sidings hurls robots powered by blue electric energy. Morgan casts spells on ancient objects and manipulates the Force to manifest as green flames. Not only are her chief henchbeings Baylan and Shin coded in more fantasy-based costumes, the series’ fourth episode, “Fallen Jedi,” reveals that their fellow stooge Marrok is a zombie-esque being animated by Morgan’s Force magic.

Lucasfilm Image

On Seatos, Morgan’s magic reveals that the map shows the pathway to Peridia. Baylan explains that Peridia is at the core of a fairy tale told to the children of the Jedi temple, making it another example of the series’ fantasy elements. Fantasy fiction has a similar foundation to science fiction, which is the exploration of an impactful scientific concept. The relationship between present day and myths of old is also a key element. Consider all of the songs and stories that have been told or sung by characters in various works. The Lord of the RingsGeorge R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series, the connection between the past and the present is a fascinating feature. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series. The current story arc is explicitly linked to Ahsoka — find the map to Peridia and follow it to Ezra and Thrawn — to a children’s fairy tale continues this tradition.

Dave Filoni, on a deeper metatextual plane, is also doing the same thing in relation to his Star Wars series and its relationship with the Star Wars canon. Filoni stated that he wanted to connect the Star Wars stories into one cohesive story. He has proven to be an artist (for good or bad) who is not afraid to play with continuity and engage in narrative history. Clone WarsIt is seen primarily as an attempt to give the prequel trilogy some nuance and depth. Ahsoka This is the fifth live-action season of the animated series. Rebels The plot lines of the show are directly incorporated into this series. Not only is Filoni peppering the series with visual and plot cues lifted from fantasy storytelling, he’s using past stories to add meaning to the current ones in the same manner of traditional fantasy stories.

All of this comes to a head in the series’ sixth episode, “Far, Far, Away,” which is positively dripping with fantasy touchstones, from characters moving about the ruins of an ancient civilization on Peridia, to a trio of witches talking about the threads of fate and using their abilities to empower an ambitious conqueror, to a visual aesthetic that seems more like Lucasfilm’s Willow You can also read more about Star Wars. Baylan remarks at one point that it feels like they’re in a fairy tale, and the episode looks it. They ride animal-powered steeds through foreboding wastelands and fight off bandits while interacting with benign, forgotten, miniature species. The episode’s cold open sets all this up, as Ahsoka and Huyang discuss the old tales from the Jedi temple; it kicks into the opening titles after Ahsoka asks Huyang to tell her one, and he begins, “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.” The ensuing episode could well be the tale he’s telling.

It is, ultimately, the culmination of Filoni’s efforts to highlight the fantasy elements in Ahsoka, which is itself the culmination of his efforts to play up those elements across the entire Star Wars narrative. The series still has plenty of Star Wars elements, including starships, stormtroopers or swords that are made of light. The Star Wars universe is a jumble of genres and tones. Some stories emphasize certain aspects over others. It’s a great way to get started. AhsokaDave Filoni brought his Lord of the Rings love and passion for fantasy stories to Star Wars.