The latest Star Wars series to arrive on Disney+ is “Ahsoka”, which is a live-action sequel to the hit animated series “Rebels”, but don’t worry too much if you haven’t seen that show, as it does a good job of getting you up to speed on what you really need to know.

Fans of “Rebels” will be over the moon with this new series, as it picks up years after the finale, which saw Ezra and Grand Admiral Thrawn transported to the world between worlds, leaving Ahsoka and Sabine trying to track them down.  We saw this hinted at in a previous episode of “The Mandalorian”, and the first episode does continue one of the treads from that episode.

Unlike “The Mandalorian”, this series looks to be much more focused, with a clear and defined storyline.  From these first two episodes, it doesn’t look like we will end up going on some weird side quest adventure to fill out the series, well hopefully, as the show seems to be setting up some major issues for the future.  Earlier this year, at the Star Wars Celebration event, it was revealed that Dave Filoni, who is the creator of “Rebels” and “Ahsoka”, is going to be directing a new feature film, which is going to be a crossover event with the characters from his Disney+ shows.  So “Ahsoka” is very much a major stepping stone in stepping up that storyline.

The first two episodes also introduce a brand-new pair of former Jedi, Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, who instantly become the show’s main villains.  There are two lightsaber fights in the second episode, one of which helps set up Shin Hati as a credible threat, though I’ll be honest, I have little faith that they will make the entire season, since Lucasfilm has a bad track record of how it handles its villains.

While I think the series does a good job of explaining the situation to newcomers, I do wonder if you’ve no idea about the characters from “Rebels”, that so much will get lost.  The little easter eggs throughout the show will be meaningless, but ultimately, we will have to wait and see how the general audience responds to the show once it’s out.  As someone who has watched every episode of “Rebels”, I certainly was incredibly impressed with how this series handled everything.

The first two episodes delivered everything I could have wanted from the show, and I also like how most of the footage from the initial trailers is pretty much just from these two episodes, so there’s plenty more to look forward to.

Overall, I really enjoyed the first two episodes of “Ahsoka”. There were many great moments, with some interesting action scenes, but more importantly, time to develop the characters and get you up to speed to where Sabine and Ahsoka are all these years later.   I can’t wait to watch the rest of the show and see where it goes.   For me, “Ahsoka” seems to mix together some of the best aspects of “Andor”, with a slower pace and more character development, while also giving that more traditional Star Wars fun from “The Mandalorian”, with some big action scenes and easter egg moments to get fans excited.  I don’t think they could have kicked off a new series any better.

Rating – 4.5 Out Of 5

The new series will debut with a double-episode premiere, and best of all, if you’re in the United States, you’re not going to need to stay up, since they will now arrive on Tuesday at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.   The choice of dropping two episodes at once is a great decision by Disney, since while the first episode is great, having that second episode available immediately makes these characters connect with you and sets the story up for the whole show.

Are you looking forward to the debut of “Ahsoka”?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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