Ahsoka continues with “Part Two: Toil and Trouble”. This episode was directed by Steph Green and written by Dave Filoni. Both episodes 1 and 2 were released on August 22, 2023, on Disney Plus. New episodes of Ahsoka were released every Tuesday to stream between August 22 and October 3, 2023.

Spoilers for Ahsoka abound in this article. Read with caution!

A Small Note

The title of the show’s second episode comes from Act 4, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In this act, the three witches gather around a cauldron, singing a song while creating a potion. The refrain of the song is “Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.” At the end of the song, one of the witches says, “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” Macbeth enters shortly after, asking the witches to reveal what their prophecies meant. He is told about a member of his court, Macduff, betraying him.

Could the title be a clever reference to things to come? Is this setting up Morgan Elsbeth’s demise at the hands of Baylan Skoll? Is Shin Hati going to have a change of heart and kill Skoll? Is Ahsoka really safe with Sabine? Or is it just because the Witches of Dathomir are involved and it’s a recognizable witchy phrase? Probably the last one, honestly.

Ahsoka Episode 2 | Summary & Recap

The episode opens in Lothal’s Capital City. Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) is looking out at the cityscape in Sabine Wren’s (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) hospital room. Her lightsaber wound was cauterized and no major organs were hit when she was stabbed at the end of Episode 1, so she will make a full recovery.

Sabine Wren wakes up and tells Ahsoka about the map, which was taken shortly after she unlocked it. The map had two galaxies with a path leading between the two. Ahsoka is very upset that Sabine lost the map after she explicitly said to leave it on her ship. She storms off, leaving Sabine alone in her room.

Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) are at a ruins site on the planet Seatos. Skoll places the map on a pedestal in the center of the ruins. It clicks into place. He calls Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) to tell her that they have located the reflex.

After the title card, Ahsoka is at Sabine’s house, trying to walk through what happened the night before. She wanders around the house and finds the holomessage that Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) gave to Sabine. Suddenly, an assassin droid drops down from the ceiling and attacks Ahsoka. She makes quick work of the droid and takes the decapitated head to Sabine.

Ahsoka, Huyang (David Tennant), Sabine, and Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) are all gathered to see what the droid has in its memory core. Sabine is able to get it working again. However, the core will overheat if plugged in for too long. Huyang is very worried the core will explode, killing everyone in the hospital. As the core starts to overheat, Sabine works faster, but Huyang pulls the plug. Luckily, she is able to get all the information she needs.

The droid is from Corelli, a shipbuilding planet that the Empire used to produce their vessels. The droid is specifically from Elsbeth’s shipyard. Ahsoka rushes off and leaves without Sabine. Sabine feels like she is not important to Ahsoka and is just an afterthought to her. Hera talks her out of her sadness.

Elsbeth arrives on Seatos. The ruins were built “by an ancient people from a distant galaxy”. She activates the map on the pedestal, revealing that the ruins were built in order to read the map. A beam of light shoots into a point in the other galaxy, revealing the path to Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). Elsbeth leaves so she can bring her ship, The Eye of Sion, to Seatons. Hati asks Skoll what will happen when Thrawn is found. Skoll promises her an unimaginable power. He sends her to Corellia to help Inquisitor Marrok with a final supply transport.

Ahsoka and Hera arrive on Corellia to inspect Elsbeth’s facilities. They are met by Myn Weaver (Peter Jacobson), a regional supervisor with the shipyard. They ask about the Imperial presence left on Corellia as most of the workers are ex-Imperials. Weaver assures the two that the workers are fine as long as they get their paychecks. On the transport, Hera tries to convince Ahsoka to bring Sabine back as her apprentice. She is reticent, saying that Sabine isn’t ready.

Back at the hospital, Sabine and Huyang chat about Jedi stuff. Huyang points out that Sabine’s lightsaber is well-made. She says that it's Ezra’s, but Huyang doesn’t agree. Ezra gifted it to her and she made her own modifications. Huyang wants her to keep up with her training. Sabine claims that Ahsoka is the one who gave up on her.

On Corellia, Weaver shows Ahsoka and Hera a hyperdrive core for the New Republic. This confuses Hera because nothing they have is big enough for a core that size. Weaver tells her the documentation about it is classified. Hera, being a general, has the highest classified status and should be able to see it, but they still won’t let her.

Ahsoka asks about the different kinds of droids in the shipyard. Weaver begins to list off protocol droid models and other workman-type droids. Suddenly, a protocol droid tells them that there is an assassin droid aboard the ship that is carrying the core. An Imperial sympathizer jumps up from the console he is at and starts shooting at everyone.

Ahsoka jumps out a window to find Marrok waiting for her with the assassin droid. Hera flies after the transport ship that has the hyperdrive core. The scene cuts back and forth between the two battles. The ship begins firing at Hera, but she is able to get close enough for her droid, Chopper, to throw a tracker on it before it jumps to hyperspace. Ahsoka and Marrok duel. She destroys the assassin droid and starts absolutely bodying Marrok. Luckily for him, Hati flies in to save him before he gets totally dropped.

Back on Lothal, Sabine comes home from the hospital. She gets out her Mandalorian armor and a knife. She kneels in front of her helmet and cuts her hair with the knife.

On Corellia, the Imperial sympathizers are arrested. Ahsoka gets a message from Sabine, telling her she is ready to train. Ahsoka picks her up in front of the Rebels mural from Episode 1.

The tracker leads the gang to Seatos. Sabine and Ahsoka share a moment as she calls Sabine her Padawan and tells her to jump to hyperspace.

Above Seatos, there is a giant ring around a ship, signaling that the hyperdrive core is being put into the ship. Inside, Skoll tells Elsbeth his worries about Ahsoka being involved. Skoll doesn't want to have to kill a fellow Jedi, but Elsbeth says that Ahsoka must die.

Ahsoka Episode 2 | Review & Analysis

Performances | 9/10

Everyone performed much better in this episode. All of my previous criticisms regarding wooden or flat performances were alleviated here. Winstead and Dawson showed a lot more emotion this time. Both of their emotional scenes were with Bordizzo, which I think really brought their acting to another level. She continues to impress me, especially in the scenes with Ahsoka and Sabine. They had a lot of back and forth that really felt like two people trying to reconcile when neither one wanted to admit fault.

One of the standout performances was Jacobson’s portrayal of Weaver. He had the perfect amount of smarminess that you would expect from an Imperial. He was able to disarm me initially since he looked so unassuming, just smug. No way he would actually still be an Imperial! Lo and behold, he was. His scene with the classified documents was incredibly tense and his worminess was a huge boon to that scene.

The fight choreography is still very impressive. The fight between Marrok and Ahsoka was fraught with nerves, even if we knew he was going to get absolutely wrecked. I can’t say the same for the space battle with Hera. It was really bland. I never felt any sense of danger or dread during that. I will say that Winstead’s performance with Chopper was excellent. It felt right out of Star Wars Rebels.

Speaking of, Chopper was so well done. It looked just like him, and they nailed his personality.

Sets & Costuming | 8/10

First off, the head-tails looked way better in this episode. Not sure what it was, but they looked like a part of their body this time. Maybe seeing the bottom of them made them seem real. I feel like there were more close-ups to Ahsoka’s head so it was easier to see them as extensions of her body.

The Corellian shipyards looked great. They looked right out of the beginning of Jedi: Fallen Order. Honestly, everything on Corellia was spot on. Weaver’s costuming looked reminiscent of the Imperial officer’s looks which belies where their loyalties really lie. It was a very subtle choice that helped foreshadow that reveal.

Marrok’s outfit stole the show. These Jedi that are aligned with Elsbeth have great costuming. It’s all from a different era, one where the Jedi were seen as knights, not wizards. Their outfits lean into the knight aesthetic, but Marrok’s goes a cut above the rest. This group is also looking to explore the more mystical aspects of the Star Wars universe, so it would make sense for them to look like knights on a quest.

Sabine cuts her hair in this episode. I was a bit worried about her long hair, but it really grew on me during episodes 1 and 2. She looks great with her short hair, and it looks comparable to her hair in Rebels. I’m still on team long hair for Sabine. Maybe this will grow on me as well.

This is a very small complaint, but one that has been really bothering me. The mural of the Phoenix Squadron on Lothal is great, it’s a reference to the Rebels animated series, and it looks fantastic. However, the live-action counterparts of those characters look a lot different from the ones on the mural. Could they not have redone it with the live-action characters’ likenesses in order to keep it more in line with the show? I know, very small gripe, but one nonetheless.

Music and Sound | 9/10

The Kiners continue to bring it with the soundtrack. They use this pulsing sound throughout the episode that makes everything seem like it’s on a timer. It added pressure to every scene it was in. The tones they use during the scenes with Elsbeth and company are always menacing. The music is never overpowering what is going on onscreen, which is how it should be.

Ahsoka Episode 2 | Final Thoughts & Feelings

After watching this episode, I kind of want to change my rating of Episode 1. This one made me realize that a majority of people in this show fall flat at times as characters. Everything was a cut above the first episode. The action was more exciting, the characters were more realized, and Baylan and Shin had more acting to do. It was all just better.

Like I said at the beginning of the review, the title of the episode hints at some treachery later on in the season. I’m hoping we get a Skoll and Hati redemption arc. Their characters are so interesting, and Stevenson and Sakhno are such great actors, I hope we get even more in the coming episodes. They’re too good for Elsbeth.

And, again, the Lothcat rules above all. If it isn’t in episode 3, I’m going to stop watching. All new Star Wars shows must contain an adorable animal. I don't make the rules.

Final Score | 8.5/10