Star Wars fans have been eagerly waiting for Ahsoka ever since the live-action show featuring one of the most iconic and beloved Star Wars characters, Ahsoka Tano, was announced. Seen in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels, the latter of which Ahsoka is a sequel, Ahsoka is a fan favourite and her appearances in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett merely whetted the appetite for a solo show based on the Jedi.

But there was also trepidation. Can the live-action show live up to the animated ones? From the first two episodes that have dropped on Disney+Hotstar, the answer is a definite yes, if not a resounding one. One of the biggest drawbacks of the show starring Rosario Dawson in the titular role — at least for those new to the world of Star Wars — is that it requires a lot of homework with direct callbacks to the two animated shows and a novel. All the Easter eggs that would make Star Wars fans giddy could also make little or no sense to newcomers, even though the show lays out the context for most of it.

The show begins with an opening scrawl in red, telling us that Ahsoka is looking for a map that will lead her to Grand Admiral Thrawn, and young Jedi and rebel leader Ezra Bridger, both of whom were dragged into hyperspace by the Purrgil towards the end of the battle for the Liberation of Lothal in Rebels. We are swiftly introduced to two new characters, Order 66 survivor Baylon Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), lightsabers for hire, who slice through a New Republic prison ship to free Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Insonato) from whom Ahsoka had recovered the location of the map. The master-apprentice duo make for a formidable foe, especially Hati, who is played with a chilling menace by Sakhno.

Our first meeting with Ahsoka is in a temple-like place, which we later find out is called Arcana, where she retrieves the map and fights off two HK-87 droids in a battle that is beautifully choreographed and absolutely thrilling. Dawson performs Ahsoka with powerful stoicism and shrouds her in mystery, much in keeping with her character trajectory. And she plays the role like she was born to do it. The introduction of Mark IV droid Huyang (David Tennant reprising his voice role) as Ahsoka’s travel companion is a stroke of genius and it is great to see the master lightsaber builder’s knowledge being put to use in the show. We are quickly (re)introduced to some characters who are likely to play crucial roles in the show. One is General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and the other is badass Mandalorian Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo).

Sabine’s introduction is very much in keeping with the character arc established in Rebels as is the palpable tension between her and her former Jedi master Ahsoka, a direct fallout of Ahsoka bailing on her as her trainer. The high-speed chase sequence, her epic lightsaber battle with Shin, her disregard for authority and her intelligence all add up to creating a character who is likely to become a standout in the show that seems to belong as much to Sabine as it does to Ahsoka.

It is great to see post-liberation Lothal thriving in live action. The Rebels mural on a Lothal wall is one of the coolest touches of the show.

In its long range, panoramic shots and exotic locations, Ahsoka proves very much to be a Star Wars show as it does in its background score, which retains its grandness even as it creates something that is significantly signature, unlike the other shows that have come before.

Our visit to Corellia, Han Solo’s home planet, which also seems to have cleaned up under the New Republic, might start off on a formulaic note but what comes after is nothing less than epic! Ahsoka battling former Inquisitor Marrok, who gives her a run for her money, and the epic spaceship chase by Hera and Chopper is stuff Star Wars fans live to see.

And this is just the beginning. Now that the main pieces are all on board, we can’t wait to see what heights the show will reach once Ezra, whose presence is palpable through the two episodes, and Thrawn, one of the most layered villains in the Star Wars universe, join the picture.