Ahsoka Episode 1 Review - 7 Ups & 2 Downs

Boy, does Star Wars love a MacGuffin. From the map to Luke Skywalker in The Force Awakens, and the Sith Wayfinder in The Rise of Skywalker, to Rogue One’s Death Star plans, and Solo’s coaxium, this is a plot device the franchise likes to employ.

A MacGuffin is essentially something for the protagonist to chase that moves the story along. In the case of the opening episode of Ahsoka, this was the map she sought on Arcana. This is what then brought her and Sabine back together, with the latter having to find the key in order to be able to read the map.

This isn’t even the first time a map has been used as a Star Wars MacGuffin, as the Resistance inexplicably had a path to Luke Skywalker’s exact location barring one missing piece. In a similar way, this new map would lead Ahsoka directly to Grand Admiral Thrawn if the setup is to be believed.

This feels like quite the coincidence and stroke of luck for Ahsoka. She needs to find Thrawn and just so happens to be given the path that will take her directly to him. Hopefully, the rest of the series narrative moves on from this, and doesn’t just follow Ahsoka chasing down the map again.