So, the entire arc is about Ahsoka. That, and the darker tides that turn.
WARNING. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE SEASON 5 FINALE YET, DO NOT CONTINUE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE EXPOSED TO MAJOR SPOILERS.
The story goes that a bombing at the Jedi Temple calls Anakin and Ahsoka back from the first assault of Cato Neimoidia so they can investigate. Once they have found out what, they then proceed to find out who. Finding the one responsible, it seems to be over. I mean, the investigator droid does announce that no Jedi was part of the bombing.
But no. It continues, with a ceremony of the fallen in the Jedi Temple, which after, different groups discuss recent events. Together in one group are Anakin, Ahsoka, Barriss Offee, and Tarkin. The prisoner has been transported to the Republic prison, Tarkin announces. Ahsoka is not pleased. Then later, we get a meeting in the war room, and Tarkin announces that Ahsoka has been called by the prisoner. Ahsoka heads to the Republic Military Base, promising she will report to the council what has been said.
“There are some in the Republic, including myself, who believe the Republic is not what it used to be.” This is the quote from the prisoner, who says that it was a Jedi who told her how to make the bomb, and that Jedi also believed the Republic was not what it used to be. In what I see as a reference, on the verge of announcing the name, Letta Turmond – the prisoner, is executed just like Zam Wesell was just before she could unveil Jango as the one who hired her.
And it seems this is an arc for references, as we also get a Tri-Fighter missile exploding and releasing Buzz Droids in the first episode. And there are also references to The Fugitive, as well as all names of the arc being based off Alfred Hitchcock films.
Continuing with the story, Ahsoka then gets framed for killing the prisoner, and lands in a cell herself. Anakin tries to visit her, but is not allowed in and is asked to leave. Tarkin had previously visited Ahsoka with a recording of further false evidence that had no audio. We get the feeling Tarkin is… very against Ahsoka and will do anything to keep her away from Anakin, which suggests that dark deeds and corruption are set.
Perhaps after this meeting, Ahsoka felt so down that she needed to sleep. When she wakes, she notices a key card and uses it to escape, thanking Anakin for leaving it there. We know this isn’t true, as we saw him walk away. But Ahsoka, thinking she is home free, runs out of her cell and around a corner.
There are injured clones, however, and even some dead. Ahsoka’s lightsaber and comlink, which she was forced to give up when entering the place, are left of the floor. Picking them up, she tries to contact who is on the other end on the comlink’s line, asking for whoever is helping her after realising it isn’t Anakin. Fox walks in however, and as a clone, notices his brothers on the floor and Ahsoka with her lightsabers. The base is then on high alert.
Anakin and Rex fly down, and as Ahsoka is on the run from clones, we get even more references to past Star Wars films, with the “Close the blast doors” line, and two droids that are so reminiscent of R2-D2 and C-3PO. The clones blast Ahsoka’s ship, and she is forced to run to the industrial pipeline.
We then get a marvellous chase scene, with the clones firing stun blasts while Ahsoka dodges and deflects them with her lightsabers. As gunships fly by, even more clones start firing stun blasts at her from the gunship, and one even fires a rocket into the path to knock her down. One of her lightsabers falls to the depths, but the other is safe, and Ahsoka calls it to her.
The chase then heads into the pipelines themselves, as cornered and surrounded, she makes a jump and cuts into one. Anakin uses the Force to locate her, and we see her standing by the massive opening that leads to the Coruscant underworld. After an emotional exchange between the two about trust, Ahsoka leaps down into the underworld to find the truth.
This is one of two scenes where the emotional contact between Ahsoka and Anakin is at its peak in this arc. The other one being at the very end. The second episode really is the pivot point of the entire arc, which is why I have focused so much storytelling on it.
The third episode in the arc has Ahsoka avoiding security, and then running from them when she is discovered. Anakin and Plo Koon are ordered to find Ahsoka and return her to the Temple, but someone else might just be the one to do that, as Asajj Ventress captures Ahsoka. Now a bounty hunter in the underworld, Ventress hopes to get a big pay for delivering Ahsoka to the Temple or security. Ahsoka convinces Ventress that they are alike, and we hear Ahsoka openly admit she cannot follow the council’s decisions.
The two form an alliance to help uncover the truth, but are discovered by Anakin, who spots Ventress. Ahsoka contacts Barriss at a safe time, who reveals the location of the nano-droids which were used to build the bomb. Clones spot them, and Ahsoka and Asajj defeat them without killing a single one. At the warehouse, the two then part ways, and both are jumpy. Someone knocks Asajj out, stealing her lightsabers and face mask, then frames Asajj by attacking Ahsoka at the warehouse.
Ahsoka loses her other lightsaber, and is Force pushed into the storage depo of the nano-droids. Looking up, Ahsoka sees the assassin looking down on her, then walking off. Commander Wolffe spots Ahsoka and stuns her. She is then delivered to the Jedi Temple.
In the forth episode, Tarkin announces that Ahsoka is to be summoned to the courts, where her fate lies. The Jedi have no choice but to accept and come to a formal meeting in their judgement chamber, calling Ahsoka and Anakin to it.
This is where things get decidedly darker. As Yoda and Mace Windu curdle around the issue, with the other Jedi asking questions, Anakin is getting more frustrated. It appears that this scene is reminiscent of the judgement of whether Anakin should be allowed to become a Jedi during The Phantom Menace. Perhaps this reminder makes Anakin burst out in anger. “You’ve already come to a decision. This meeting is just a formality!”, to which the Jedi have to say that they are renouncing Ahsoka’s status as a Jedi.
This is an emotional blow for both Anakin and Ahsoka. Anakin and Padme visit Ahsoka in the Republic prison, as Padme will be representing Ahsoka in court, and as Anakin leaves to hunt down Ventress, Ahsoka reveals she has lost faith in the Jedi Council, and she doesn’t believe the Senate will be reasonable either.
As Anakin confronts Ventress before listening to her story, Tarkin is destabilising Ahsoka in the courts while Padme is trying to making them see reason.
Anakin follows the lead Ventress gives him, which is that she wasn’t the only one Ahsoka talked to, and Barriss was someone to talk to. In the Jedi Temple, Anakin forces a confession from Barriss by activating her lightsaber and swinging at her. Barriss defends by calling Ventress’ lightsabers to her, and a fight between the two begins through the Temple before heading outside. Barriss is then apprehended and escorted to the courts. Just as Ahsoka’s fate is to be revealed, Anakin walks in with the guards and exposes Barriss.
Matter resolved, in the Jedi Temple, the council accept Ahsoka back into the order, but she refuses and walks off. Anakin chases her, and the second emotional peak between the two happens. Anakin tries to convince Ahsoka back into the Order, but she says this is something she has to do alone, without the order, and without him. Anakin says he understands the decision, and how he would like to walk away too. Ahsoka says she understands that too, and Anakin is left to watch as Ahsoka walks down the steps of the Jedi Temple, and into the sunset.
I will explain what I think was going on behind the scenes. Ahsoka and Anakin obviously share a connection. That connection was forged from the moment Ahsoka destroyed the shield generator on Christophsis and became Anakin’s padawan. Now obviously, that connection needed to be broke for the events of Revenge of the Sith to take place. That being, Anakin is heartbroken at having a friend, perhaps more than a friend, taken away from him in the most painful possible way.
This then turns Anakin darker. So, who else but the mastermind himself – Palpatine – to orchestrate something? And what better way than to corrupt a Padawan, and one that was close to Ahsoka, to follow the people on the ‘True’ Republic’s side? Then get a trusted Admiral to do all the framing, as to be honest – who’s going to question him? – that will eventually lead to Ahsoka being killed.
And even if that fails, and the real culprit is found, the message that the Jedi are corrupt has still set in, and will likely convince Ahsoka to walk away. Add that to the fact that one of her friends has been the criminal, for something Ahsoka has been lead to believe as well, and it makes for a very emotional arc and last episode, as the way it has been filmed and edited creates the emotional tension.
Take the moment when the council admit their mistake and reclaim Ahsoka. Anakin holds her padawan braid out to her, and it cuts between Anakin and Ahsoka’s faces, as well as the braid, for twenty seconds before Ahsoka turns down the offer. Other such contact between Anakin and Ahsoka throughout the arc follows like this.
Almost the whole season has been about Ahsoka, or had her involvement, in it. This has been building up to this arc, as the previous two arcs had little of Ahsoka in them, if not at all. So we have a pause, and then we see her subject to trials of emotion.
I could continue on, but I have said enough. All I will say is the music goes so well with the scenes, and we even hear hints of John Williams’ score. The dialogue between the characters is top notch, as is the settings and mood. However, I think they did give who was the real culprit away too quickly.
In the second episode, Barriss is looking shifty, and while that could be put down to sadness and confusion, many Youtubers and Facebookers were able to see through that to come to the right conclusion. However, the identity of the real culprit could have been revealed before then.
In the first episode, when Anakin visits Letta Turmond, we see Barriss walk past and look in, and those eagle-eyed viewers could have saw a look resembling the feeling that all was up. Add that to the slight look of recognition we see from Letta (though that could be mistaken) and all would have been up.
On a final note, the ending music between Anakin and Ahsoka and her walking of episode four carries over to the ending credits to bring home that Ahsoka really has left the Jedi Order for good.
I was on the verge of tears all through that episode, as well as through the entire arc. The emotion it creates is unbearable, and I want to know what you lot think, so comment below and have a say on the arc. All I know is, Season 6 will have a much darker Anakin.
Images Taken From:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 Finale Trailer | Star Wars
