Why Ahsoka's Eye Of Scion Could Be A Bigger Threat Than The Death Star
This article contains spoilers for "Ahsoka" episode 4, "Fallen Jedi."
You know that recurring little habit you've noticed in a close friend or significant other that should be annoying, but somehow comes across as weirdly endearing instead? That's probably how a lot of "Star Wars" fans relate to the franchise's tendency over the decades to resort to including super-powerful plot devices in the form of massive, circular-shaped space stations. The shadow cast by the Death Star (and Death Star 2.0) in the original trilogy has loomed disproportionately large over both the movies and shows, ultimately leading to Starkiller Base in "The Force Awakens" and now the oddly Tolkien-sounding Eye of Scion in "Ahsoka." Of course, the object in the Disney+ series stands apart for basically resembling one of those hyperspace rings from the prequels – except on some serious steroids — and holding the key to finding both Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn.
But, as displayed in "Ahsoka" episode 4, "Fallen Jedi," even this method of extremely long-distance transportation can pack quite a punch; perhaps, in some ways, even more than a Death Star ever could.
Fire when ready
Now, if there's one thing "Star Wars" loves to encourage in its viewers, it's the idea of comparing power levels between completely different characters or objects — that's a non-insignificant reason why Wookieepedia exists in the first place, after all. So, by that metric, any attempt to hold up the Eye of Scion against the might of a fully-operational Death Star (or three) feels like a fool's errand, right? How can a glorified, intergalactic jetpack hold its own against a killing machine capable of annihilating entire planets? Well, this latest episode of "Ahsoka" just gave us a crucial hint of its immense power — and something tells us we haven't seen it fully unleashed just yet.
After several episodes of the Eye of Scion just hanging around in orbit and occasionally taking potshots at Ahsoka's (Rosario Dawson) starship, we've finally experienced a taste of what it's truly capable of. While Ahsoka and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) remain busy on the surface of the planet Seatos, General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) takes a page right out of the Luke Skywalker playbook by gathering her own squadron of X-wings and heroically flying directly into harm's way. For all her bravery, however, she and her forces arrive slightly too late to prevent Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) from entering hyperspace and making her way to the hidden location of Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). All Hera gets for her trouble is finding herself caught up in the immense wake of the departing craft, which obliterates her X-wing escort in a way that feels eerily reminiscent of the famous Holdo maneuver in "The Last Jedi."
Ultimately, however, the Eye of Scion is a means to one very specific end: Grand Admiral Thrawn.
A fully operational hyperspace ring
Imagine if the Death Star was not only capable of interstellar travel and world-destroying potential, but also served as a conduit — or, rather, a harbinger — of an even more formidable evil than the Empire itself. It's tough to one-up an instrument of death that a movie like "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" very purposefully likened to the atomic bomb but, at the end of the day, Grand Moff Tarkin's pet project can't quite measure up to the threat posed by the Eye of Scion. In terms of physical danger, sure, there's no contest. But as "Star Wars Rebels" so emphatically proved, some things are more deadly and terrifying than body counts.
The animated show's depiction of Thrawn showed him to have a cold, calculating, and practically omniscient mind for strategy. Unlike most Imperials, the Grand Admiral easily rose through the ranks of the Empire and won the trust of the most powerful higher-ups by using a scalpel instead of a blunt instrument. Yet even after his disappearance in the series finale of "Rebels" years prior, this era of the New Republic feels ripe for the relentless supervillain to make his grand return and take his place, as Ahsoka remarked (and as "Ahsoka" creator Dave Filoni himself previously commented), as the heir to the Empire.
By extension, any device that could free Thrawn from exile has to be considered just as much of a threat as the Grand Admiral himself. Ahsoka recognizes this early on when she urges Sabine to destroy the map to Thrawn and Ezra if push comes to shove. Now, having proven unable to abandon Ezra, we'll have to wait and see whether Sabine made the right choice or not.
New episodes of "Ahsoka" premiere every Tuesday night on Disney+.