Just saw it. It happened exactly as I predicted it would last week.

[spoil]
[align=left]So Ahsoka leaves the order - it was one of the few realistic end results for the character and probably the most logical considering Anakin doesn't talk about her, it adds to his disillusionment of the Jedi Order and they probably want to crank out Ahsoka stories for some time. It's now very likely she survives Order 66.

As for Barriss, her speech obviously is meant to reinforce the notion that the Jedi are evil, paving the way for public angst against them[/align]
[/spoil]

I love this show, but I feel like that should be the end--which I didn't think at all before watching this episode. Ahsoka's whole arc as a Jedi seems complete and satisfying...but I'd love to see more stories of her post-Jedi life.

seriously... beautiful, fantastic episode


yes there was a certain sense of completion, but the hope of a fresh start to continue this amazing story as well

This is probably the only time when the series have really surprised me. That was a really great ending to her story, but I hope she will return at some point, as a background character or someone getting involved in a story. I hope the series will continue and keep delivering such great episodes.

I'm pondering, since they're getting close to the begining of ROTS, that they're using this to pull us away from the Anakin/Obi story (and not step on continuity) and give us an option to live on with Ashoka and Assajj. If they pull that way, we could have several more successful seasons.

An excellent season finalé. The final moments were absolute perfection.

My only nitpick was Tim Curry's Palpatine - the guy is absolutely terrible and should be removed from the show.
What on earth were they thinking?!

k... I'm about to fly in the face of popular opinion here.

Ahsoka's decision to leave the order came as a shock, but would have been more effective if the council hadn't started off the episode, you know by making her leave the order. The impact of her not being a Jedi anymore occurs at the beginning of the episode. Basically trying to repeat that at the end was a bit redundant, lacking the emotional heft it should have had. That's not terribly effective use of the twist, but it's not my biggest problem with the episode.

Now, saying it was a shock doesn't mean I particularly liked it. The real problem for me is that having Asohka leave of her own volition is a major, major waste of dramatic potential. It feels like a total cheat on a couple of levels. If they leave her story there (which I really doubt - she bascially says she has to go figure some stuff out, which is less like "farewell" than "we'll see her prodded back within the first few episodes of S6).

If Ahsoka's story DOES end there, it is an almost inconceivable waste of the drama that's been in the BG since the begining - she 'aint around in the OT, so how do things play out for Anakin if he has to not only turn against his father figure, but also his daughter figure?

Alternatively, how does Ahsoka's presumed death play into his decision to turn against the council? Oh, actually she just quit? Well, I guess she wasn't much of an impact on him at all then. It's a MASSIVE wasted dramatic potential for Anakin to simply take Ahsoka off the table altogether. It also robs the Mortis arc of some of its power because when Son tells Ahsoka that Anakin is going to ruin her, we now know "mmm... welp, nope" -there's no threat there anymore.

Further the whole thing feels like a cheat to a) get Asohka past Order 66 so she can be around for future use and b) do it in a way that is a total cop-out 'reset button' for her. Think about it, she's essentially back to where we met her - a blank that future writers can impose anything on. Maybe she stayed out and is in the moral grey area now, maybe she returned to the order and we just never saw that; it's reads to me as a cheap way to make a popular character available again for future marketing opportunities, whatever those might be.

Anyways, the thing just fell flat for me, coupled with some frustration. Oh, and Padme? Reeee-heh-heh-he-heeeealy? What, was Filoni thinking the same thing I was: "where the hell has Padme been for the past several seasons? Isn't Anakin's marriage at all important to him? Isn't this why he turns in the end? Don't we need to know what she's been up to?"? Regardless, PADME is your defense attorney? Isn't that like having Pamela Wallin defend you at your murder/treason trial? Just WTF?!

Oh, and Tim Curry was appallingly awful - just dreadful.

The End.

Didn't know Tim Curry was voicing Palpatine until now. Wow, was he miscast.

Tinned Curry (as he shall now be known) was abysmal as Chancellor Palpatine.
Even more disturbing, are the rumours that Disney are not going forward with The Clone Wars.

"It was implied that he could ruin her not that he definitively would. The same elements are played up with Luke in the OT.

I think the ending provides more of challenge than the obvious choice of killing or reinstating her. It's definitely not a total reset; she has a lot of emotional baggage.

The Clovis arch was going to deal with Anakin and Padme's relationship.

I liked Curry much better upon second viewing. He gives a good performance, but not necessarily a good performance as Palpatine."

Oh, I must be misremembering then, because I have this recollection of Son telling her essentially "you know your master is going to fuck you up, right?". I'll conceed on that point if my brain is just on the fritz again.

Well, if that's your read, you've got a right to it. For me though, SW is about gigantic, operatic melodrama, largely dependant on the inevitability of events. Asohka just taking her ball and going home feels like a gigantic mistep dramatically. There may be something (a little hamfisted) there about the council not trusting me, so why should I trust the council, but it doesn't seem to really hit home with Anakin like it should if we're supposed to be thinking about his frustration in RotS. Also, For HER it's more of a challenge, but the bigger picture is Anakin's inability to let go of ANYTHING, EVER. It was to try and force Anakin to get his shit together that the council assigned him a Padawan to begin with, no? So why, oh why, do you give him a daughter/little sister figure, then NOT brutally take that away from him and force the character to confront this flaw that will eventually destroy him? Or better yet, brutally force him to CHOOSE to destroy that? It just feels like a waste to me, and takes a safe way out. I mean, there's nothing irrevokable in Asohka's decision, no finality, and that means it ultimately isn't much of a sacrifice or choice at all - she can just walk on back in any time she feels like it. As a result, an opportunity to explore Anakin's reasoning for his eventual betrayal of the jedi (which is tragically underdeveloped in the PT - I'm not saying it's not there, but it's not explored as far as it needs to be) is tossed in favor of keeping a popular character, and incidentally a Disney Princess, around.

Wouldashouldacoulda. Clovis never aired, we have no clue what's been happening with Anakin and Padme. They made a call to remove Clovis from s5, and that has consequences, so no pass because they 'meant to get around to it'. My bigger beef with that whole thing is 'WHY IS PADME ACTING AS A DEFENSE ATTORNEY AT A TREASON HEARING?". She's a senator, and close to Asohka personally. If the jedi are so worried about appearances that they kick Asohka out of the order to stand military trial, why do they get a friend of hers to defend her? Why do they get a policy maker and politician and NOT THE BEST GODDAMN LAWYER ON CORUSCANT? What, in short, are Padme's qualifications to defend charges of treason and murder? It's bogus, and shoehorns Padme in because...well, because we haven't seen her in a long time.

Anyways, as I said earlier, I'm convinved Asohka will be back within the first few episodes of s6 (of, and that there will BE a s6) so all of this is academic