Star Wars: Forces of Destiny
Season 1, Episode 4 “The Padawan Path”
SPOILER WARNING!!
*Watch Episode Before Reading the REVIEW HERE
The charming series of Star Wars shorts continued with episode 4, The Padawan Path, following Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano.
Ahsoka’s dress would indicate this installment took place after she turned 16 in the latter episodes of clone wars. She was also wielding her twin, jar-kai, sabers as she rushed to meet her Master, Anakin Skywalker, and Grandmaster Yoda. They were waiting at the sacred tree to honor her in a ceremony. Oddly, they were the only ones in attendance. I felt that was a missed chance for more Jedi cameos.
The small crowd could be understandable with the Clone Wars raging on during this time. Ahsoka’s problems, however, were much closer to home. There’s a cute sequence where Ahsoka was delayed by a malfunctioning droid about to destroy a young alien and its parent. She stopped the droid with the aid of some dripping water. It felt odd to me that waterproof droids hadn’t been standardized on Coruscant since they spend so much time outdoors.
I was more interested in the idea behind the Jedi ceremony. The show never made it clear as to why Ahsoka was being honored. The Jedi are strictly anti-materialistic but Master Yoda still gave her a small token. His gift was an extension of the padawan chain she wore on the side of her head-tails. Just like Obi-Wan in Episode I, we see a padawan braid grew naturally during the years of a Jedi’s training. However, species without hair obviously could not grow them. Ahsoka introduced an alternate outward sign of apprenticeship.
I wondered what equivalent honor padawans with hair may have received for their braided rodent tails. Ribbons? Bows? Scrunchies?
It was nice to see (and hear) the Clone Wars voice actors again even though Anakin’s design felt like a “too pretty” Ken doll. Especially for the character so close to becoming Vader. It was also sad that Master Yoda’s prediction that Ahsoka becoming a great Jedi Knight would never come to pass.
Clearly, the Forces of Destiny had other plans for the future Fulcrum.