Every Star Wars TV show has tried (with varying degrees of success) to take the franchise into new territory, whether it's a space western, a political thriller, or an underworld. But Ahsoka looks like the first live-action Star Wars TV show, trying to be properly Star Wars, covering everything we've seen in the franchise, from politics to lightsaber duels to threats to the galaxy. Bringing back the children's movie humor.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the transition from Chopper to live action. Introduced in Rebels, Chopper is the best robot in the entire series (sorry, R2). This is an annoying and anarchic robot that, like Danny DeVito, likes to play pranks on people, as well as maiming and killing. She's one of the comic book characters that works best in animated form, so it's surprising that—unlike other Star Wars animated characters that have transitioned to live action—Chopper works and looks just like his animated counterpart. With more agility and dexterity than any robot we've ever seen, Chopper swings his tiny arms as if toppling every creature in the galaxy. And unlike R2, he talks! Something... mostly talking to Hera.

Despite the ironic humor of Anarchist Automata, there is a sense of grimness and seriousness in this episode. Ahsoka takes themes not only from Rebels, but from all of the Mando-verse shows and develops them in an interesting direction. Just as The Clone Wars and Rebels helped create the perfect bridge between the prequels and the original trilogy, Ahsoka proved to be the perfect bridge between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the First Order in the original trilogy..

With Sabina still alive (the lightsabers help tend to wounds quickly) you track the last of the killer robots to the New Republic shipyard on Corellia, where Hera and Ahsoka go to meet you.

Between the ribs. When the manager and several other employees were later arrested, Ahsoka claimed that they were motivated by greed rather than loyalty to the king. However, the most important question is this: will removing these damaged components make a difference if the system fails on its own?

Hattie escapes with the hyperdrive core (though Chopper manages to plant a tracker on the ship) and we see Morgan's team close to finishing off the Eye of Zion, a giant hyperdrive docking ring that can transport them to another galaxy and find Thrawn... Palan, still beautiful and enigmatic, is smitten with Ahsoka but saddened by Morgan's order to kill her as there are few Jedi left.

As for Sabina, it seems like everyone wants her and Ahsoka to patch things up. Hera – still in many ways the mother of the group – pushes Ahsoka to make things right, while Huyan tells him that Sabina is making excuses and blaming Ahsoka for her indiscretions. Huyan also tells Sabina that she is the most Padawan he's ever seen come to power. This calls into question everything we know about the Jedi, and seems to indicate that Force sensitivity is not required for the use of the Light Force and Jedi actions. If true, most of Luke's story with the Jedi Academy will be lost in the trilogy.

With renewed determination, Sabina puts on her armor and ceremoniously cuts her hair before calling Ahsoka and asking her to join the quest. We're also getting a live-action version of the final Rebels scene, where Sabina looks at the ghost crew as Gandalf the Gray before Ahsoka arrives. (Although she's wearing white in Rebels, which could be a visual difference or a hint that Ahsoka approached Sabina while looking twice at the Spirit Staff's wall. Master and Student, the search for Ezra begins.

With

According to Boba Fett's words, she may have thought she was too attached to her student and decided to avoid another situation with Anakin.

• If Sith (or at least hostile lightsabers) are involved, shouldn't Luke at least know about it? I don't think I want to see him involved in this story, but it's weird not to mention him, even though he's a hero of the Rebellion and someone Ahsoka knows personally.

• Ahsoka acts incredibly harsh and cold towards everyone, which is out of character. I hope this will be explored in future episodes; Otherwise, this is a strange departure from his previous incarnations.