Tag: Series Premiere

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Space Force

The Launch

Space ForceMark Naird is promoted to four-star General, the proud capstone of his career, but instead of being placed at the top of the Air Force food chain as he expected, he is placed in charge of a newly created branch of the Armed Forces, the Space Force. Though his family loves life in Washington, D.C., this promotion necessitates a move to Colorado, so Naird can work at the new Space Force facility being built near NORAD. What General Naird isn’t prepared for, however, is a civilian scientist who tries to overrule him on launch decisions, a civilian social media adviser who obsesses over constructing the perfect “sassy” tweets to be sent from Naird’s Twitter account, or the fact that Naird’s wife ends up in prison. He also isn’t terribly well equipped to deal with three members of Congress who have arrived to witness the launch of the Space Force’s first major project, Epsilon 6 – though when it does finally launch, it seems that someone already in orbit is very well equipped to deal with Epsilon 6.

Space Forcewritten by Steve Carell & Greg Daniels
directed by Paul King
music by Carter Burwell

Cast: Steve Carell (Gen. Mark Naird), John Malkovitch (Dr. Adrian Mallory), Ben Schwartz (F. Tony Scarapiducci), Diana Silvers (Erin Naird), Tawny Newsome (Angela Ali), Diedrich Bader (General Rongley), Dan Bakkedahl (John Blandsmith), Larry Joe Campbell (Commandant of the Coast Guard), Noah Emmerich (Kick Grabaston), Lisa Kudrow (Maggie Naird), Don Lake (Brad Gregory), Jane Lynch (Chief of Naval Operations), Jessica St. Clair (Kelly King), Patrick Warburton (Commandant of the Marine Corps), Fred Willard (Fred Naird), Jimmy O. Yang (Dr. Chan Kaifang), Alan Blumenfeld (Schugler), Chris Gethard (Eddie), Ginger Gonzaga (Anabela Ysidro-Campos), Alex Sparrow (Yuri “Bobby” Telatovich), Concetta Tomei (Rep. Pitosi), Roy Wood Jr. Space Force(Liaison Bert Mellows), Owen Daniels (Obie Hanrahan), Hector Duran (Julio Diaz-Jose), Scott Michael Morgan (Convenience Store Clerk), Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur (Jean Baptiste Bosou), Tien Tran (Sheila Cholosternin), Jamison Webb (Major Lee Baxter)

Notes: This episode carries a dedication to actor Fred Willard, who died two weeks before the series premiered on Netflix.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 01 Star Trek

Second Contact

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate 57436.2: Ensign D’Vana Tendi, an Orion, is welcomed aboard the Starfleet ship U.S.S. Cerritos just before it goes to conduct second contact, formalizing Federation relations with the Galardonians, an agrarian species first contacted a year ago. Tendi meets fellow Ensigns Boimler, Mariner, and Rutherford, though Mariner at some point had made it to lieutenant before being busted down again. The eager-to-please Boimler is nervous when Captain Freeman herself summons him to her ready room…to ask him to report on any unauthorized activities engaged in by Mariner. When Commander Ransom and his away team return from meeting the Galardonians, Ransom has unwittingly brought a virus back with him, and he is the first to devolve into a zombie-like berzerker, spreading the infection by biting fellow crew members. The ensuing mayhem threatens to derail Rutherford’s date with Ensign Barnes, but doesn’t affect Mariner and Boimler at all since they’re also on away duty. Boimler misinterprets Mariner’s interactions with the Galardonians, leading to a diplomatic faux pas that makes things much worse for the away team…who still have no idea what to expect when they return to the Cerritos.

Order DVDswritten by Mike McMahan
directed by Barry J. Kelly
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Jessica McKenna (Ensign Barnes), Phil LaMarr (Admiral), Ben Rodgers (Lt. Commander Stevens), Paul Scheer (Lt. Commander Billups)

Notes: The first studio-produced animated Star Trek series since the animated extension of the original series left NBC’s airwaves in 1974, Lower Decks is the creation of writer Mike McMahan. While working as a production assistant and writers’ assistant on such animated Star Trek: Lower Decksshows as South Park, Out There, and Rick & Morty, McMahan started an irreverent Twitter account positing unlikely storylines for an “unmade eighth season” of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Material from that account was published in an officially licensed Star Trek book, Warped: An Engaging Guide to the Never-Aired 8th Season in 2015, by which point he had been promoted to writer and story editor on Rick & Morty. Another animated series created by McMahan, Solar Opposites, featured a strong sci-fi element and premiered on Hulu just a few months before Star Trek: Lower Decks; he also wrote a live-action Short Treks short centered around Harry Mudd, The Escape Artist. (Two other Short Treks, The Girl Who Made The Stars and Ephraim And DOT, reintroduced Star Trek viewers to the animated side of the franchise as one-offs.)

Star Trek: Lower DecksFamiliar Star Trek species spotted in this episode alone include a Benzite ensign boarding the Cerritos with Tendi, a Bajoran (Shaxs), a Caitian (Dr. T’Ana, a species not seen since Star Trek IV), and Rutherford’s date, Ensign Barnes, is a Trill. As the crew is recovering from the “rage virus”, an Andorian and a Vulcan are seen, the latter of whom may want to look in a mirror (mirror) before returning to duty. Rutherford himself has recently received a cybernetic enhancement, which hopefully has a better firewall than Lt. Airiam’s, and at least one crewmember on the Cerritos wears a VISOR similar to that worn by Geordi LaForge. Even Boimler knows who Spock is, but he’ll have to look Gary Mitchell (Where No Man Has Gone Before, 1966) up in the database. The Genesis Project was an unmentionable-in-public secret in the 23rd century, but is apparently public knowledge in the 24th. The Cerritos’ shuttles are named after American national parks: Redwood, Yosemite and Joshua Tree. Lower Decks takes place roughly a year after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Daleks!

The Archive Of Islos

Daleks!The Dalek fleet descends upon the planet of Islos, wiping out most of its orbital defenses within minutes. Their target: the Archive of Islos, containing information the Dalek Emperor needs for the ongoing Dalek war effort. The people of Islos go to ground, leaving their automated Archivians – artificially intelligent librarians of the archive – to deal with the Daleks. The Chief Archivian finally, after the planet has been heavily bombarded, offers the Archives to the Emperor Dalek, who orders his ship to land there to claim his prize. But what he discovers is that the Archivians have merely been stalling to cover their masters’ escape…with the contents of the now-empty Archive.

written by James Goss
directed by Peter Caddock and Jon Doyle
music by Steve Foxon

Cast: Ayesha Antoine (Chief Archivian), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks)

Notes: Daleks! is set within the “Time Lord Victorious” alternate timeline transmedia event, and as such is not bound to some elements of Doctor Who continuity. (Other elements of Time Lord Victorious included novels, audio dramas, and comics, Daleks!all of them in a timeline somewhat removed from what is usually considered Doctor Who continuity.) Visually, there is a very strong influence from the Century 21 Dalek comics of the 1960s, including Dalek hoverbouts and an Emperor Dalek with a spherical head, as well as something of a video game aesthetic. The episodes were distributed via the BBC’s Doctor Who YouTube channel, and this episode has a running time of 13 minutes, 47 seconds.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Prodigy Season 1 Star Trek

Lost And Found, Parts 1 & 2

Star Trek: ProdigyStardate unknown: In the Delta Quadrant, on the planet Tars Lamora, the Diviner rules over a population of captured slave laborers with an army of robotic guards and his chief enforcer, Drednok. The Diviner’s daughter, Gwyn, has grown up on Tars Lamora, and has never known any other life. Neither has Dal R’El, a rebellious, teenaged slave who can’t even identify what species he is, and has no memory of his parents or life before Tars Lamora. Drednok questions him about the whereabouts of an escaped fugitive named “Zero”, but later, once he’s out of earshot, Dal begins planning an escape, one which goes badly, largely because his escape plan involved using a wheeled ground vehicle to launch himself into space via an enormous ramp. Succeeding only in wrecking the vehicle, Dal is taken prisoner and questioned by Gwyn. Dal is sent back into the deep core mines with an enormous Brikar with whom he can’t even communicate; a near-fatal accident at that depth reveals to them a completely intact Federation starship, U.S.S. Protostar, which has no crew aboard. Accidentally awakening the ship’s systems, Dal and Rok-Tah, the Brikar, can suddenly understand one another and communicate – and they find they’ve been followed aboard by Zero, who has escaped the Diviner’s service. Zero is a Medusan, a non-corporeal entity who, if seen by humanoids, will drive them mad; the Diviner has been using Zero as a weapon, a life Zero wants no part of. Now that the combadge discovered by Rok-Tahk allows them to communicate with other species, the three recruit a young Tellarite, Jankom Pog, for his engineering skills. But their escape attempt is cut short by Gwyn, whose father has been searching for the Protostar for his own purposes. Drednok and his robot army arrive, and Gwyn is sent aboard the Protostar to make sure that no other fugitives are aboard. Jankom Pog and Rok-Tahk start fighting back against the robots, and with Zero in tow, they board the ship and take off. After a fierce fight, Rok-Tahk captures Gwyn and she is tied down to the captain’s chair at the center of the bridge. The Protostar’s shields are still disabled, however, until Dal – still clinging to the outer hull as the ship escapes through the massive underground caverns – can install a new power cell. Drednok also climbs onto the ship to stop Dal from doing that, but Dal is eventually able to power up the shields, climb back into the ship, and they escape into deep space with the Diviner and his forces in hot pursuit. Only then do they discover that the ship have a training hologram, modeled after a Starfleet Captain named Janeway, who thinks they’re all cadets.

Order DVDswritten by Kevin & Dan Hageman
directed by Ben Hibon
music by Nami Melamud
Star Trek: Prodigy main theme by Michael Giacchino

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Brett Gray (Dal R’El), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Angus Imrie (Zero), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), Jimmi Simpson (Drednok), John Noble (Diviner), Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway)

Notes: The first Star Trek series since the 1970s designed specifically for a younger viewing audience, Star Trek: Prodigy was intended from the outset to be aired on the cable channel Nickelodeon, but the CBS/Viacom merger in 2019 saw Prodigy slide over to the streaming world via Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access), which is where it eventually saw its premiere in 2021, with Nickelodeon to air the already-streamed episodes at a later date. This is the third animated Star Trek series after The Animated Series and Lower Decks. The Medusans were introduced in an episode of the original Star Trek, Is There In Truth No Beauty?, in 1968. Though Tellarites have been seen in the original series, The Animated Series, and Enterprise, this is the first time a Tellarite has been a regular character in a Star Trek series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Book Of Boba Fett, The Season 1

Chapter 1: Stranger In A Strange Land

The Book Of Boba FettFresh from the belly of the Sarlacc, Boba Fett fights his way to the surface of the Dune Sea on Tatooine, but the injured bounty hunter is an easy target of everything from Jawas to Tusken Raiders. Stripped of his armor and weapons, Fett faces a series of trials with nothing but fierce determination to stay alive.

Fresh from helping a fellow Mandalorian carry out a daring attack on an Imperial cruiser, Boba Fett has returned to Tatooine, killed Bib Fortuna – heir to the criminal empire of Jabba the Hutt – and has assumed the throne that once belonged to Jabba. With Fennec Shand, a particularly capable assassin, at his side, he begins accepting “tributes” from the locals, but when he dares to step outside of his fortress without a large retinue of armed guards, Fett discovers that moving in on the Hutts’ old territory in and around Mos Espa won’t be accepted easily.

The Book Of Boba Fettwritten by Jon Favreau
directed by Robert Rodriguez
music by Joseph Shirley
music themes by Ludwig Gorannson

Cast: Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett), Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand), Matt Berry (voice of UK2-B), David Pasquesi (Mok Shaiz’s Majordomo), Jennifer Beals (Garsa Fwip), Daniel Logan (young Boba Fett), Wesley Kimmel (Tusken Kid), Xavier Jiminez (Tusken Chief), Joanna Bennett (Tusken Warrior), Dawn Dininger (Rodian Prisoner), Barry Lowin (Garfalquox), Robert Rodriguez (voice of Dokk Strassi), Frank Trigg (Gamorrean Guard), Collin Hymes (Gamorrean Guard), Marlon Aquino (Twi’lek Server), Andrea Bartlow (Twi’lek Server), Stephen Oyoung (Dokk Strassi performance artist), Chris Bartlett (UK2-B performance artist), Leeanna Vamp (Droid Server performance artist

The Book Of Boba FettNotes: Since Jabba’s sail barge is still smoldering from its destruction in Return Of The Jedi (1983) and ripe for the picking by Jawas, it’s fair to assume that Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc happened in a matter of hours rather than days (and certainly a long way from Threepio’s thousand-year estimate, though that figure may have been dictated by Jabba’s PR department). Jabba’s presence at the Boonta Eve podrace at Mos Espa in The Phantom Menace (1999) suggested that his palace is in close proximity to that city. Daniel Logan, as young Fett, appears only a scene from Attack Of The Clones (2002).

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Season 1 Star Trek Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: ProdigyStardate 1739.12: Recovering from his recent experiences involving the loss of the starship Discovery, Captain Christopher Pike has retreated to a cabin in Montana to ride horses, watch movies, and enjoy the companionship of Captain Batel of the U.S.S. Cayuga. But Batel must soon return to her ship, and Pike has been avoiding answering a persistent series of hails to his communicator… which brings new, less welcome company to his door: Admiral Robert April, with orders for Pike to be aboard the Enterprise in mere hours for an urgent mission to recover the ship’s missing first officer. Pike’s Number One, Commander Una Chin-Riley, opted to take part in a first contact mission aboard the U.S.S. Archer at planet Kiley 279 rather than taking shore leave; the Archer has gone silent.

At Kiley 279, the Enterprise finds a pre-warp civilization in turmoil, not a warp-capable society ready to make contact with the Federation. The crew determines that the warp signature that attracted that Archer was indeed warp technology, but geared toward manufacturing massively destructive weapons rather than a faster-than-light drive. Pike, Spock, and security chief La’an Noonien Singh beam down to Kiley, disguised as natives of that planet, to recover their missing contact team and to find out how they acquired the technology that they may yet use to obliterate themselves. It turns out that the scientists of Kiley merely watched nearby Federation starships in action – namely the incident that marked the last time anyone in the 23rd century saw the starship Discovery – and Pike decides that, as the Federation is responsible for bringing Kiley 279 to the brink of extinction, it’s his responsibility to stabilize the planet’s precarious peace, despite this violating Starfleet’s non-interference rules.

Order DVDsteleplay by Akiva Goldsman
story by Akiva Goldsman & Alex Kurtzman & Jenny Lumet
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Nami Melumad
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds main theme by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Ethan Peck (Lt. Spock), Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel), Christina Chong (Lt. La’an Noonien Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Cadet Uhura), Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M’Benga), Bruce Horak (Lt. Hemmer), Rebecca Romijn (Commander Una Chin-Riley), Adrian Holmes (Admiral Robert April), Dean Jeannotte (Lt. Samuel kirk), Gia Sandhu (T’Pring), Melanie Scrofano (Captain Batel), Samantha Smith (Eldredth), Carla Bennett (Palion Aide #2), Jon Blair (Kiley Guard #2), Peter Bou-Ghannam (Palion Leader), Marienne Castro (Shuttle Pilot), Bessie Cheng (Eldredth Aide #2), John Chou (Kiley Scientist #1), Joseph Daly (Eldredth Aide #1), Myles Dobson (Vulcan Waiter), Rong Fu (Jenna Mitchell), Chandra Galasso (Lieutenant), Jaimee Joe Gonzaga (Terminal Jockey #2), Sandy Kerr (Starfleet Scientist #1), Andre Dae Kim (Chief Kyle), David Kirby (Palion Aide #1), Joel Lacoursiere (Kiley Guard #1), Dana Levenson (Newscaster), Andrew Locke (Terminal Jockey #1), Etan Muskat (Starfleet Scientist #2), Daniel Pagett (Kiley Scientist #2), Rachel Sellan (Woman in Elevator)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: As these iterations of Captain Pike, Spock, and Una “Number One” Chin-Riley originated in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, there are numerous references to the events of that season, including the loss of Spock’s adopted sister Michael Burnham, Discovery‘s opening of a wormhole to the future, and Pike’s time-crystal-induced vision of his own future at the Klingon monastery on Boreth. Among the display of planets with which first contact is only now being conducted, other than Kiley 279, is Gamma Trianguli VI, also known as the planet dominated by Vaal (from the original series episode The Apple), Scalos (a planet which will later be found uninhabited in the original series episode Wink Of An Eye), and Xahea, which raises the strange possibility that Ensign Tilly’s meeting with Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po (Short Treks: Runaway) may have been among the first contacts with that world. Captain Pike has a fondness – perhaps, if you’re Captain Batel, too much fondness – for the 20th century film The Day The Earth Stood Still. Star Trek DiscoveryAdmiral Robert April later boarded the Enterprise with his wife en route to their retirement in the animated Star Trek episode The Counter-Clock Incident. That a shuttlecraft has been named after Discovery‘s Commander Stamets would seem to be in line with Starfleet’s (and Section 31’s) official cover story that Discovery was destroyed in the 23rd century, with all hands lost. (Of course, Discovery‘s adventures continued nearly a millennium later, chronicled in that series’ third season.) After enthusiastic fan response to Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn stepping into the roles of characters from Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek pilot The Cage in season two of Star Trek: Discovery, the characters were given further exposure in the second batch of Short Treks before Strange New Worlds was greenlit in 2020, during the summer of the COVID-19 lockdown. The series couldn’t begin filming until early 2021, and when it launched in 2022, it streamed concurrently with the finale episodes of Star Trek: Picard‘s second season. This premiere episode was the most-watched Paramount Plus original production of 2022; a second season had been greenlit before the first season premiered.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part I

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiTen years after the fall of the Republic and the birth of the Skywalker twins, exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi ekes out a minimal existence on Tatooine under the assumed name of Ben, working an ordinary job and keeping as low a profile as possible. When Imperial Inquisitors land in Mos Eisley in search of any Jedi Knights who survived the Empire’s purge of the Jedi order, they immediately finds not Kenobi, but a former youngling who has been using his abilities with the Force to aid a local saloon owner in exchange for shelter. The young Jedi seeks out Obi-Wan to ask for assistance, but Kenobi’s advice is to forget the Jedi order and survive by leading a normal life. The young Jedi does not heed this advice, and is killed by the Inquisitors in a grisly public display. The Inquisitors continue their search, with the Third Sister, Reva, threatening to kill moisture farmer Owen Lars if the whereabouts of other Jedi are not revealed. Owen doesn’t divulge Kenobi’s presence, though he harbors little affection for the Jedi. Reva, obsessed with finding Kenobi, is brought to heel by the Grand Inquisitor, but she simply changes her tactics. Reva hires a bounty hunter to abduct the young princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa, whose father is a known associate of Kenobi from the days of the Republic. Bail Organa pays Obi-Wan a visit to ask for the Jedi’s help to recover his daughter, leaving Obi-Wan little choice but to reluctantly resume his role as a guardian of peace and justice from a more civilized age.

teleplay by Joby Harold and Hossein Amini and Stuart Beattie
story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Moses Ingram (Reva), Benny Safdie (Nari), Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars), Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), Simone Kessell (Breha Organa), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Flea (Vect Nokru), Jimmy Smits (Senator Bail Organa), Ming Qiu (Jedi Master Minas Velti), Aiden Arnold (Jedi Youngling), Jonathan Ho (Jedi Youngling), Yonas Asuncion Kibreab (Jedi Youngling), Mila Lavin (Jedi Youngling), Ayaamii Sledge (Jedi Youngling), Derek Basco (saloon Owner), Kingsley Hao (Local Mos Eisley Boy), Heath McGough (Foreman Groff Ditcher), Chad Parker (Worker Padu Chend), Leilani Shiu (Teeka), Grant Feely (Luke Skywalker), Molly Miller (Handmaiden Agira), Hossein Mardani (Dardin Shull), Karen Constantine (Local Anchorhead Woman), Gabe Fonesca (Duke Kayo Organa), Roberta Sparta (Duchess Celly Organa), Ian Inigo (Cousin Niano Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Aviel Ayoung (Mercenary #1), Amy Sturdivant (Mercenary #2), Sonia Jackson (Attendant)

Obi-Wan KenobiNotes: Based on, and expanded from, what was originally intended to be a future entry in the curtailed series of self-contained Star Wars “anthology” films, this series brought back numerous familiar faces from the prequel trilogy, most notably star and executive producer Ewan McGregor, Jimmy Smits, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, and – in later episodes – Hayden Christensen. The ties to the prequel trilogy are strong with this one, including a flashback to younglings attempting to escape from the Order 66 purge of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but the ties to the animated series Rebels are also numerous, including the first live-action Inquisitors.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ahsoka Season 1 Star Wars

Master And Apprentice

Star Wars: AhsokaRecently apprehended Imperial sympathizer (and ally of the missing Grand Admiral Thrawn), Morgan Elsbeth, is being transported back to the New Republic for trial. Unexpectedly, a shuttle of former Imperial design drops out of hyperspace. Its occupants identify themselves as Jedi and claim they are here to see the prisoner. The captain of the New Republic transport, skeptical, welcomes the “Jedi” aboard with a full security contingent. While his two visitors prove not to be Jedi, they are still well versed in the ways of the Force; they draw lightsabers, kill the captain, and make quick work of his security detail. They eventually accomplish their goal: freeing Morgan Elsbeth and escaping.

The former Jedi apprentice who captured Elsbeth in the first place, Ahsoka Tano, investigates the ruins of a temple, following up on information Elsbeth gave her under interrogation. She cautiously activates a series of puzzle-like pedestals until she finds what she has been looking for: a star map that will supposedly lead her to the whereabouts of exile Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn. Though most in the New Republic believe Thrawn fell in the final battle to free Lothal, Ahsoka has run across rumors that he still lives and may be trying to rebuild his power base, and ultimately reconstitute the Empire. Ahsoka’s rendezvous with the Republic cruiser reunited her with General Hera Syndulla. When told that the map has been found, Hera’s thoughts turn immeidately to finding their lost comrade, Jedi apprentice Ezra Bridger. She also recommends that Ahsoka find Sabine Wren, another former Rebel, because she’ll need backup if she’s now hunting down Thrawn, Elsbeth, and two Force-wielders trained in the use of the dark side. But Sabine doesn’t want to be found. She has set up shop in Ezra’s abandoned home in a communication tower on Lothal, having begun training in the ways of the Jedi under Ahsoka, but never finished that training. Ahsoka needs Sabine’s more artistic eye to help decode the locked map to Thrawn, and against Ahsoka’s express instructions, Sabine takes the map and returns home with it. This leaves her without protection when Elsbeth’s Force-wielding enforcers track her down.

written by Dave Filoni
directed by Dave Filoni
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by Sean Kiner, Deana Kiner, and David G. Russell
“Igyah Kah” written by Kevin Kiner, Ludwig Goransson, Deana Kiner and Noah Gorelick / vocals by Sarah Tudzin

AhsokaCast: Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine Wren), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (General Hera Syndulla), Ray Stevenson (Baylan Skoll), Ivanna Sakhno (Shin Hati), Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), David Tennant (Huyang), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger), Mark Rolston (Captain Hayle), Shakira Barbera (First Office Jensen Corbyt), Clancy Brown (Governor Ryder Azadi), Matt Law (Captain Porter), Bonnie Wild (Navigator Droid), Kat Kuei Chen (Helm Officer), P.J. Johal (Comms Officer), Helen Sadler (HK Assassin Droid Leader), David W. Collins (Home One Comms Officer), Vinny Thomas (Senator Jai Kell), Michele Weaver (Lieutenant Callahan), Chris Bartlett (Navigator Droid performance artist), Paul Darnell (Marrok performance artist), Barry Lowin (Home One comms officer performance artist), Nicole Botelho (Home One power droid performance artist), Leeanna Vamp (Lothal Protocol Droid performance artist), Terri Douglas (additional voices), Robin Atkin Downes (additional voices), Michael Ralph (additional voices), Sam Witwer (additional voices), Matthew Wood (additional voices), Shelby Young (additional voices)

AhsokaNotes: Perhaps more than any other live-action Star Wars series to date, Ahsoka is steeped in lore from The Clone Wars and especially Rebels, and effectively serves as the fifth season of the latter series, picking up many of its loose ends, and as with the final season of Rebels, Ahsoka also inherits the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn, originally created by author Timothy Zahn in the early ’90s trilogy of post-original-trilogy novels still held dear by many Star Wars fans of a certain age. Ahsoka’s apprehension of Morgan Elsbeth and her quest to find Grand Admiral Thrawn were first seen in The Mandalorian (The Jedi, 2020), as was Ahsoka’s reluctance to take on an apprentice of her own. Returning actors from the various animated series include David Tennant, who voiced Huyang in the fifth season of The Clone Wars, and Clancy Brown, now playing his Rebels character of Governor Ryder Azadi in live action. Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced Thrawn in Rebels, plays that character in live action here as well, though he does not appear in the first episode. There are also some Ahsokafamiliar names credited as “additional voices”.

Irish-born actor Ray Stevenson, who plays Baylan Skoll, died in 2023 prior to the premiere of the series; the episode is dedicated to his memory.

LogBook entry by Earl Green