Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Ahsoka Episode 6.
The Big Picture
- Ahsoka and Huyang share a nostalgic moment as they listen to an old story featuring the iconic “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” opening line, embracing fans’ love for Star Wars lore.
- Intergalactic hyperspace travel gets a unique visual representation in this episode, with colorful streaks and curving lines replacing the traditional white stars on a black backdrop, expanding the visual canon of Star Wars.
- The extragalactic planet Peridea not only confirms the survival of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger but also reveals the presence of the Nightsisters and a mysterious force on the planet, setting the stage for further exploration.
Last week, Ahsoka graced us with the triumphant return of Hayden Christensen‘s Anakin Skywalker, in what made for the actor’s best performance throughout his entire tenure with Star Wars. Trekking across memories of battle and tutelage, Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) was cast into her younger self (portrayed by Ariana Greenblatt in another impressive, career-budding move), resuming her training and healing old wounds with her former Jedi Master. This week’s episode, aptly titled “Far, Far Away,” brings us to a whole new galaxy for the first time ever in the franchise. Ahsoka, now figuratively reborn and sporting her Gandalf-esque white garb, trails behind the enemy through intergalactic hyperspace, in pursuit of Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Fans seem to be falling more and more in love with what Dave Filoni is giving us in this series, in large part thanks to all the thirst for nostalgic Star Wars lore that it’s been able to quench. With that comes a slew of references and Easter eggs, and this episode is no exception. Here’s everything you may have missed!
A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
As Ahsoka and Huyang (David Tennant) ride inside the mouth of a purrgil, traveling through intergalactic hyperspace, Huyang offers to pass the time by recounting aloud an old story from his memory archives. “Ah, yes. History of the Galaxy, Parts One, Two, and Three,” as he recalls. “One being the best, of course,” Ahsoka adds, lovingly mimicking the way fans themselves debate the hierarchy of Star Wars films.
After some diversion, with Huyang pulling information from Ahsoka regarding Sabine’s choice to comply with the enemy, Ahsoka tells her elder droid ally to recite one of those stories. “Very well,” he replies, before starting off with an ever-familiar prologue. “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” The iconic words that have begun every Star Wars iteration from the beginning finally exist within the story itself, as if George Lucas himself penned the History of the Galaxy.
Intergalactic Hyperspace Travel’s Unique Look
We’ve seen characters make the jump into hyperspace for decades, aboard everything from the smallest X-wing to the Millennium Falcon itself. Now, with the Eye of Sion and the pod of purrgil moving to a new galaxy far, far away, we get to see what intergalactic hyperspace travel looks like for the first time. We’re used to the image of bright white stars whizzing swiftly by, bright white lines stretched across a stark black backdrop, but intergalactic hyperspace has its own unique look. Marked by a rainbow of colorful streaks, curving and flowing like strokes of an interstellar paintbrush, a whole new staple of Star Wars visual canon has been introduced.
Peridea: Home of the Nightsisters, a Purrgil Graveyard, and a Stranded Thrawn & Ezra
Peridea, the extragalactic planet on which Sabine and her captors arrive, confirms more than just the survival of two integral characters. Yes, as suspected by Sabine, Ahsoka, and all of us watching, Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) are still alive after Ezra’s selfless move in Star Wars Rebels. Stranded in a whole new galaxy, Ezra, Thrawn, and the Grand Admiral’s loyal soldiers live on the wasteland planet, waiting and hoping with starkly contrasted intent.
We learn that Peridea is essentially a purrgil graveyard, the planet’s ring comprised of the colossal bones of the star whales, and it’s the home to the (apparently not extinct) Nightsisters of Dathomir, Lady Morgan Elsbeth’s ancient witchcraft-wielding ancestors. Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevensen) confirms that Peridea was “once the great Witch Kingdom of the Dathmiri.” If Baylan’s senses are not deceiving him, a powerful underlying force remains present in Peridea.
The Chimaera, Grand Admiral Thrawn’s Star Destroyer
With Grand Admiral Thrawn’s grandiose entrance comes the live-action debut of the Chimaera, his signature Imperial Star Destroyer. The ship, modified to Thrawn’s liking, gets its name from the three-headed creature of Star Wars lore, with an artistic decal of a chimaera engraved into the Star Destroyer’s hull. In Star Wars Rebels, the Chimaera and everyone aboard (including Thrawn and Ezra, of course) were whisked away into intergalactic hyperspace by the purrgil that Ezra summoned during Lothal’s liberation.
Captain Enoch and the Great Mothers Make Greek and Biblical References
The Nightsisters’ three Great Mothers evoke more than the aura of Bene Gesserit in Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune; their names and manner of practice make reference to Greek mythology. The Great Mothers’ names are credited as Aktropaw, Klothow, and Lakesis (played by Jeryl Prescott Gallien, Claudia Black, and Jane Edwina Seymour, respectively), which pays homage to the ancient Greek’s Moirai. The Moirai, like Ahsoka‘s Great Mothers, were three prophetic sisters, serving as oracles of destiny and charged with ensuring fate was carried out as it should.
The Great Mothers use and listen to what they call “the thread of fate,” further tying them to the Greek’s Moirai — the Moirai, in English, are called The Fates. The names of the Great Mothers (Aktropaw, Klothow, and Lakesis) are clear reworkings of the Moirai’s names: Atropos, Clotho, and Lahkesis.
Moreover, the captain of Thrawn’s guard, Enoch (Wes Chatham), makes reference to a biblical figure of the same name and spelling. In the Book of Genesis, Enoch was a loyal servant of God, so devout that he was granted entry into Heaven without having to die on Earth.
Order 66 and the Bokken Jedi
As Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) are trudging across Peridea in stealthy pursuit of Sabine, they discuss the cyclical nature of the battling sides of the Force and their place within it — not as Jedi nor Sith. They reference Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi Order, which Baylan survived and turned away from. He fondly recalls the idea of the Jedi but rejects what he calls the truth of its weakness. When Shin Hati asks him about Ezra Bridger, Baylan mentions the Bokken Jedi, a group of Jedi who were trained “trained in the wild after the [Jedi] Temple fell.” Ezra is one of them, as is Sabine, technically.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
