{"id":284296,"date":"2023-09-29T18:19:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T22:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/?p=284296"},"modified":"2023-09-29T18:19:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T22:19:54","slug":"ahsoka-episode-7-recap-dreams-and-madness-setting-up-the-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/2023\/09\/29\/ahsoka-episode-7-recap-dreams-and-madness-setting-up-the-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahsoka Episode 7 Recap: \u201cDreams and Madness\u201d \u2014 Setting Up The Board"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following recap contains spoilers for\u00a0Ahsoka<\/strong> Episode 7, \u201cDreams and Madness\u201d (written by Dave Filoni and directed by Geeta Vasant Patel). Some elements of the Star Wars Rebels series are also discussed in this recap.<\/em><\/p>\n

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If you compare this first complete Ahsoka<\/em> series to a normal 40-hour work week, it\u2019s about 11:00 AM on a Friday. The week (or the season) is winding down and we\u2019re getting to that point that everyone has been dreaming about since things kicked off at 8:00 A.M. on Monday.<\/p>\n

Just like 5:00 P.M. on the clock every Friday afternoon, the end of Ahsoka <\/em>is inevitably coming and there is nothing that can be done to stop it at this point. But let\u2019s just say that those toiling away on the Ahsoka<\/em> work week have left A LOT<\/em> of their work for Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Like many penultimate episodes of television seasons, Episode 7, \u201cDreams and Madness,\u201d spent much of the episode setting up the plot chess board for a climactic finale next week. We got a few lightsaber action sequences and some exposition on Thrawn\u2019s motives and future plans, but this was largely an episode that was focused on reuniting the remaining characters who had yet to see one another, tossing a few more questions into the plot, and setting up threads that are sure to remain hanging until the next Filoni-verse Star Wars<\/em> entry.<\/p>\n

When I saw on the Episode 7 title card that this episode was entitled \u201cDreams and Madness,\u201d I must admit I sat up a little straighter in my chair. If you recall from Episode 6<\/a>, perhaps the most interesting revelation from that episode was not the introduction of live-action Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger, but the ulterior motives of Jedi-turned-mercenary Baylan Skoll. Skoll, along with his apprentice Shin Hati, commented that Peridea was a place of \u201cdreams and madness\u201d with a \u201cpower greater than their own.\u201d He believes some kind of ancient power or mysticism is calling to him there, more enticing than anything the Jedi or Empire can offer.<\/p>\n

He asks young Sabine if she feels the same. Have you felt it<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\"Baylan
Screenshot\/Disney+<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That, combined with his admission that he wants to break the wheel<\/a> of the rise and fall of Jedi, Republic, and Empire, gave this show a new trajectory that could mysteriously complement the inevitable Ahsoka-Thrawn showdown in the Episode 8 finale. What is Baylan up to? He clearly hitched a ride to this new galaxy as a Force-sensitive hitman, but he wants nothing to do with the plans Thrawn, Morgan Elsbeth, and the Nightsisters are cooking up.<\/p>\n

I must say, however, that I was supremely let down when Baylan and Skoll barely appeared in this episode. When they do appear, it is so Baylan can dump some last-minute advice to \u201ctake your place in the coming Empire,\u201d because his \u201cpath lies in another\u201d direction. WHAT DIRECTION? His parting words of \u201cimpatience for victory will guarantee defeat,\u201d felt more like they were directed to me as an impatient viewer wanting to know his intentions than to Shin, who just feels more and more like an accessory to the plot.<\/p>\n

Why title an episode \u201cDreams and Madness,\u201d the exact words Baylan used to describe this planet that\u2019s calling to him, and then explore that path no further? My unfortunate reading of this is that there will be some kind of massive reveal about the lore of this planet or the origins of the Nightsister witchcraft or the birth of the Jedi that Baylan uncovers in the finale. I fearfully think that, because of how strong a performance Ray Stevenson is delivering as Baylan, Dave Filoni would have wanted to give him more to do in future Star Wars<\/em> projects and perhaps even a larger stage (or screen) to do it.<\/p>\n

\"Thrawn
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All this might have been planned out before the unfortunate passing of Ray Stevenson in May of this year. Unfortunately, the mystery box that Baylan Skoll will surely open in the Ahsoka<\/em> finale might have to be locked up again without Stevenson to play this very intriguing character.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in our \u201cA\u201d story, Baylan does briefly duel with Ahsoka again, but it\u2019s the kind of low-budget, practice-our-moves duel that saves the good battle for the finale. I mean, the Kansas City Chiefs aren\u2019t going to open up the entire playbook in a blowout against the Chicago Bears in September. They wait until the playoffs for that.<\/p>\n

(Since I\u2019ve already mentioned the Chiefs, I might as well do the rest of the SEO engagement farming: Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Swifties, ketchup and ranch<\/a>, 1989).<\/p>\n

Baylan holds off Ahsoka just long enough for Shin and some of the Nightroopers to launch an attack on Ezra, Sabine, and their new heroes-in-a-half-shell friends before disappearing. Ahsoka rushes to their aid and the small crew is able to dispatch the soldiers easily while Ezra and Shin force-battle in a rather unique way. Sabine offers Ezra the lightsaber that he gave to her near the conclusion of Star Wars Rebels<\/em>, but he says he doesn\u2019t need it and it belongs to her. He proceeds to fight Shin and her lightsaber with just his mastery of the Force. After 10 years without a weapon, he\u2019s apparently been training as hard as Colin Kaepernick<\/a> and is ready to move up from the practice squad to the active roster.<\/p>\n

\"Ahsoka
Screenshot\/Disney+<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ezra quite easily dispatches Shin and sends her running back to Morgan and Thrawn without Baylan by her side. That\u2019s sure to be a fun meeting when she returns and has to explain that Baylan ran off to parts unknown and left her to do battle with a Jedi and a Mandalorian.<\/p>\n

After the battle, Ahsoka, Ezra, Sabine, and droid Huyang can finally have a formal, emotional reuniting. Ezra, still clueless as to how Sabine and Ahsoka arrived on this planet, comments that \u201cI\u2019m getting a feeling. I think I might be going home after all!\u201d I\u2019ve got news for you, Ezra. Some young Jedi apprentice and a few ragged Nightroopers are the least of your concerns.<\/p>\n

By the end of this episode, Ahsoka and Sabine still have not filled in Ezra on the circumstances that brought them to the planet (namely Sabine selling out Ahsoka, handing over the map, and then letting Baylan destroy it). Going home ain\u2019t going to be that easy, Ezra. Unless you have a plan to sneak aboard Thrawn\u2019s hyperspace hearse that\u2019s likely carrying his undead army, the only way back to your galaxy is by way of Purrgil. That would be the same Purrgil that were killed or maimed by a galactic minefield Thrawn set up, trying to destroy Ahsoka before she could reach them.<\/p>\n

A confrontation with Thrawn and this group is predestined for the finale, although based on things Dave Filoni has already told us, Thrawn is going to be the Thanos-level baddie for future Star Wars<\/em> installments. That means we know he and Morgan are surely to make it off the planet to provide threats down the line. Knowing those stakes are naturally lowered does give me optimism that whatever it is Baylan is seeking will come to fruition in a powerful way in Episode 8 and provide the payoff that this lackluster episode seems to be setting up.<\/p>\n

\"C3PO
Screenshot\/Disney+<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A couple of notes about the opening scene of this episode:<\/p>\n