Ashley Eckstein Reacts to Fan Backlash to Ahsoka's Recent Arc in THE CLONE WARS
Fans love Ahsoka Tano and I think that is why so many of us were disappointed by this first story arc of hers in the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The story just felt so lackluster and bland. Well, Ashley Eckstein has responded to the backlash from fans about this four-episode arc. On a recent episode of the Comic Nation podcast from Comicbook.com, Eckstein talked about the arc and said that it is vital to Ahsoka’s personal story.
These first four episodes in the final season, the arc with Trace and Rafa, I've been reading a lot of people's comments and everyone wants to make the jump to the Siege of Mandalore. I understand why everyone wants to jump straight to it but I will say these first four episodes where she goes on this journey with Trace and Rafa are so important to her own journey and so they should definitely not be skipped over.
Ahsoka, we see her very lost. She's so confused. Everything that she believed in, she's questioning now and in many ways no longer believes in. Her trust was just completely shattered but being a Jedi is all she knows. You know Plo Koon found her at such a young age and brought her to the Jedi Temple. She doesn't know a life that's any different, so these first four episodes, of course, you're still going to see her using her Jedi ways because she kind of doesn't know how else to be. But then she doesn't really want to act like a Jedi because she's no longer a Jedi. She gave that up. But I think Trace and Rafa give her a bit of a new purpose. The line that's most important to me in the whole season… Rafa asks Ahsoka, she says, 'Why are you helping us?' And Ahsoka says, 'In my life when I find people who need your help, you help them no matter what. I guess it's just who I am.'
When I recorded that line, I knew that that was going to be my own personal motto for 2020. But little did I know, none of us knew, about the coronavirus and that these episodes would be airing in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and truly the only way we're going to get through it is by helping each other no matter what. So I think these episodes are very important.
I want to be clear on something. What Eckstein says about this arc is good. Ahsoka trying to figure out her place and purpose in her post-Jedi life is necessary for her character. In fact, it could be a very good story. My problem is not with this aspect of the arc we got. My problem is with how bland the story was. The actual story telling felt unoriginal and uninspired. I think the same story could’ve been told with the same impact across 2 episodes or with a different story entirely. The end result of “Together Again” was actually really good. Ahsoka finally figured out what she was going to do in her post-Jedi life and we got to see that journey. I just wish the journey had been more interesting.
What have you thought of these last four episodes?