Biggest W of an episode. Dave Filoni is the goat and the future of Star Wars. What was your favorite part of this episode? What would you change?

Can we please get Hayden an award for this acting!! He is portraying 3 versions of the same character seamlessly. He is Hayden’s anakin, Matt’s clone wars anakin and Vader all in the same episode. Get this man an award and the recognition he deserves

One thing about Hayden that's severely underrated is his body acting. The way the guy moves is 100% Anakin. The way he holds his lightsaber, the way he walks, the way he shifts his weight... And when he turns into his Vader self, he 100% moves like Vader.

I think that something that went a bit under the radar was Hayden's mannerisms depending on where the character was. When we first see him, Hayden acts like his early ep III self with his dialog and movement. When we get to the clone wars, Hayden changes his speech pattern to match more like Matt Lanter's and move similar to how the show animated him. Then we see him take on his Sith self and it's like we are back on mustafar with the fighting style and dialogue right out of the end of ep III. Hayden did his research and it shows. He is one of the most dedicated star wars fans out there.

It was incredible. Hayden’s acting was incredible. It was great to see Rex as well. And young Ahsoka’s actor did a phenomenal job

If anyone noticed that Anakin’s voice didn’t have that high intonation/ inflection he had in the prequels. I truly saw Hayden deepen his voice to match the Anakin’s voice actor in the CW cartoon it’s so obvious. Hayden’s delivery was soo on point it was amazing.

I love how Hayden was humble enough to incorporate Matt Lanterns (Clone Wars) personality into his acting to “revamp” his take on Anakin . Showed he did his homework and realized how much Matt expanded Anakin’s confident and sassy nature .

Anakin could have only taught Ashoka this lesson after his time as Vader, as he really lost his desire to live after the death of Padme. He spent his time as Vader letting go of himself with nothing to live for, allowing the dark side to take over and all life sort of became meaningless to him. It wasn’t until he learned of his son that hope came back to him, and he’s trying to show Ashoka that there is hope for her future too. It’s crazy to realize that although his might look like prequels Anakin, he’s really over 50 years old with a greater maturity and understanding of the Force.

"I will become so powerful, I will even be able to stop people from dying" He did exactly this for Ahsoka. So cool!

It feels surreal that nearly 40 years later since Return of the Jedi released, we see a Anakin post-Vader. Fulfilling his purpose as the Chosen One. He’s basically two halves (prequels/Originals) of one whole now. The truest version of Anakin Skywalker. Episode gave me chills man

I still can’t believe this is basically Anakin post-Vader. A fully realized Anakin. One that can wield the light and dark side of the force at will however he chooses. Dave you are truly Lucas apprentice

“I dont want to fight you” “Ive heard that before” Man the dialogue is really well done.

Seeing Anakin walk into the battle grounds of the clone wars really gives us an insight into the horrible stuff he was put through. Imagine the ptsd from all the killing and destruction around him

I remember when Hayden made his big return at Celebration 2017 and got a massive standing ovation. You can really tell that that’s when Hayden was finally able to begin recovering from all the crap he got during the prequels, and this is the culmination of the redemption of both Hayden and Anakin.

Seeing Hayden in his Clone Wars armor was so surreal and incredible. This show is getting better and better, Dave and Jon are legends

No one could have captured the duality of Anakin/Vader better than Hayden. All I can say is that it was glorious, it was moving, and it was one of those sequences that brought tears to my eyes. Took me back to some of the happiest memories of my childhood as I grew up watching the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars. Using both the darkness he carried and the light within he taught his padawan one last valuable lesson even in death. In my eyes this moment shows that Anakin acheived total mastery over the force in death, in this state where he can be Vader and Anakin together, switching between both versions of himself at will. His flaws were always what made him real for me, and I love that they're holding together both the sides of him that I loved growing up.

As someone who's always loved star wars and identified with it in a lot of ways, and is currently going through some shit irl...this episode hit me on a deep level, when it comes to the lesson anakin was trying to teach. The line "live or die" and the way you described it, as ahsoka has just been surviving rather than living...this episode is beautiful and absolutely true star wars material.

Haydens acting was the perfect mix of the what he did in the Prequels and how Anakin was portrayed in TCW. Even his voice had some Matt Lanters inflections. Superb.

Hayden’s facial expressions when fighting is one of my favourite things about his portrayal of Anakin. He does a great job of showing the dark side and aggression he carries.

Seeing how young Ahsoka actually was makes her victory over Maul all the more astonishing

Maybe Jacen's abilities were such that when Hera cleared her mind, HE served as the conduit for her to be able to hear the clash of sabers. Perhaps even without realizing it too!

I am all in for Hayden to keep appearing as a force ghost to guide Ashoka like how Obiwan guided Luke in the original trilogy. I really hope its not just a one time thing.

Anakin Skywalker is by far my favorite Star Wars character. Seeing him at essentially his peak of balance in the Force was incredible.

Not even halfway in to this episode I understood why this was chosen to air at certain cinemas. This was a freaking rollercoster of emotions, absolute perfection.

I loved the balance of light and dark anakin. It’s really the first time in live action to see true light and dark balance

Unpopular opinion but I actually thought it was really touching how Hera could hear the lightsabers in the force. The first time we heard about the force being in all living things was Kannan speaking to Hera during sabines training. He told her you just have to believe…I personally was moved because her hearing the lightsabers was because of her belief in the force which connects her to Kannan ❤

Considering his response to “I won’t fight you” was “I’ve heard that before” I feel like we can say for certain that this is the real Anakin Skywalker. And if that’s the case then it does seem like he has taken up this role of the Chosen One and gone even beyond the Mortis Gods. Overseeing the World Between Worlds between space and time, I think that’s an awesome way to sort of end his story. I truly think that this is what full power Anakin would have looked like. He has made peace with his life and perfectly commands the Light and Dark Side of the Force. Awesome episode! DAVE IS COOKING!! 🔥

Nearly at the end of the episode when Ahsoka and Huyang are about to take the leap into peridia and they have this dialogue: "We'll just see where it goes" "It could go anywhere"..."I know, but that's better than going nowhere". I think this is a poetic way in which Dave is talking about the future of star wars.

The moment when Ahsoka disarms Anakin and his breathing pattern is that of vaders was such an incredible detail I loved

Can we take a moment to appreciate Hayden’s take on Matt Lanter’s Anakin? I am 100% in on this series. Filoni for the win again.

That clip of Anakin morphing into Vader in those flashes of Lightning are both awesome and kinda terrifying. Showing Anakin and Vader one in the same, but also showing Vader as this almost Demonic entity.

I was thinking about the scene with Jacen hearing the World between Worlds and Hera, and I think the implication from Jacen "guiding" Hera with his words was that he was actually "dialing her in" through his own Force powers, kind of using his ability to call out as Luke did to Leia before Leia began her training. Through this telepathy, he was more "sharing his experiences" than it was that she was hearing it on her own.

Way back when people were crapping all over Hayden's acting, I never got it. I never felt like that. It's so great to see he's able to keep going and getting such great support. He's amazing and deserves his own Anakin series.

Seeing Hayden do the twirl with the lightsaber and I was like "HE's BACK!" So much fun having of the intense duels back. Little Ahsoka was amazing as well. 10/10 episode.

Seeing a more wise Anakin not only use the Light, but aswell as the dark. Really shows how powerful and balanced the Chosen One is. It was so cool seeing Hayden again, hoping we get one more scene with him before he hangs up the role! Edit: Y’all gotta chill, Anakin has a clear use of both the Dark and the Light in this episode. I never said balance in the galaxy was both at use. I said it’s clear ANAKIN HIMSELF has balanced the use of both. Some of y’all are the reason the fandom sucks nowadays, SWs fans bicker about every little minuscule detail about the universe to the point where it sucks the enjoyment out of said universe. We’re all fans of the same franchise, don’t understand why all can’t just enjoy it.

I love this Anakin that we get to see in this episode. You can really tell that he's actually both Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight and Darth Vader, Lord of The Sith. He truly is both people in whole and you can see it in him. I just love it!❤

I am convinced that Hera heard the light sabers BECAUSE Jacen heard them. When he tells her to listen, it’s almost like he amplifies the sound for her. If I’m not mistaken, they were holding hands when she started listening. I think Jacen is going to end up SO powerful. Edit: they definitely weren’t holding hands. But I’m still under the impression that Jacen made it possible for Hera to hear those light sabers.

I feel like Hera being able to hear the lightsaber battle was because of Jacen being there and guiding her through the force or being some sort of outlet that allowed for Hera to tap into the force. This is supported by the fact that when Carson Teva asked Hu Yang what they were doing Hu Yang simply responded with, “Jacen has abilities” leaving Hera out.

This is probably Hayden's best performance along side ROTS it's great that he's finally getting the love and respect he deserves.

Also, my favorite parts were any scene with Hayden, and the young Ahsoka! Especially when they fought - i could see that Hayden understood the assignment despite Gillard not being there to help with choreography. Hayden carried most of the episode for me, but then young Ahsoka was brilliant too - seeing her more and more throughout the episode. Her choreography was far better than anything Dawson has been in to date imo.

Hayden did an amazing job acting in Episode 5- Asoka. He captured all of Anikin's arc through the 6 movies, the Clone Wars animated series and Rebels! We need more Hayden in Star Wars and other genre movies.

It’s there’s anything more I can say about this episode, the fact that anakin can tap into his dark side to bring himself back to the light, just shows that even in death. He is the strongest and greatest Jedi to ever live. LONG LIVE THE KING

The way Hayden was able to switch from the Dark Side to the light side again was phenomenal,unlike other actors in the franchise,you can tell he really love Star Wars and in every apparition he gave his all. Anakin was majestic this time,his presence,his movements,his teachings,seeing him becoming finally a “master”of the force was really refreshing. Hayden was born to be Anakin Skywalker.

I think what made this lightsaber battle so great. Was the fact that you could see remnants of Nick's training in Anakins saber movements and I think it really added to the master apprentice dynamic during the battle.

I don’t think Hera really was able to hear the lightsabers. We see that she really tries to, but in the end I just think she trusted her son since she couldn’t hear anything.

Love how Anakin said you're never too old to learn, and Ahsoka is now the same age that Anakin was when Anakin "learned" and went back to the light side. Incredible episode.

Even though Nick Gillard was not on board with Ahsoka this episode felt like a true homage to his iconic lightsaber training.

Hera in "The Bad Batch" showed she was almost force sensitive which is why she is such a good pilot. The Force is in everyone, with Jacen force projecting what he hears to his mother, it's not a surprise she hears it.

I didnt get the vibe that Hera could feel the world between worlds, but respectively that she believed Jacen, and not to doubt him. Having spent so much time with Kanen she would know to trust these feelings Jedi have. I'm on board. Solid episode! 9/10 for me!

Why do they not just make a show about Anakin.. literally just do it.. we know that’s what we all want. This episode shows it’s more than possible.

I don't know why, but even though I knew Ahsoka was a kid during the Clone Wars, this is the first time I'm realizing, "she was just a kid during a terrible war." Seeing a child play her, it makes a difference.

The choreography was great in this. Hayden embraced the mannerisms of Clone Wars Anakin in those scenes. This connects the two portrayals perfectly.

I thought the choreography was spot on showing how Anakin would fight if restored to his fully organic body. He's kept the power moves and is more efficient but shows his speed when it is needed.

The grey-white transformation is also observable in Kenobi, where at the beginning Obi-Wan is all depressed and still feeling guilty, but at the end of the series he's more at peace, dressed in white, essentially transforming into Ben Kenobi. The fact that both Ahsoka and Kenobi have to grapple with the guilt that they feel in relation to Anakin's fall is a core part of their character development.

I loved all the small details in this episode. Anakin’s voice blending with Vader’s modulated voice when he says, “You lack conviction,” was perfection. I knew we would get Clone Wars flashbacks, but to see the Siege of Mandalore and Mauldalorians was a surprise to be sure. As for her “winning” the fight, the point wasn’t about winning or losing. Anakin was teaching her his final lesson which is to overcome her guilt. This wasn’t the Force or her mind telling her to live, it was Anakin reaching out to her. The lesson was for her to embrace her legacy and realize that she is more than her mistakes, just like Anakin. As Luke says, “Always get back up.” Her surviving underwater can easily be explained as she was in a Force Trance. Even the most mediocre Jedi on the brink of death are capable of amazing things through the Force. I have a strong feeling this isn’t the last we see of Anakin in this series. I’m still hoping for a Luke conversation, but this episode was just as great at the last one. I hope it keeps that momentum going forward!

Seeing anakin as himself, with a red saber literally made my hairs stand on end and sent chills up my spine it was that awesome

18:47 I don’t think it’s beast control, I think she is genuinely communicating with the Purgil through the force

It was, honestly, one of the best live-action episodes I’ve seen. I can see critiques, but wow. To see these historical events with Hayden, to feel the positive flow, was just amazing. May they continue to trust Filoni, and may the Force be with you, always…

This episode embodies so many of the values OG Star Wars, and it is so refreshing to see it again. Balancing the self, overcoming your personal limits, accepting who you are, etc. This is just a brilliant showing from Dave Filloni, and Hayden is the cherry on top, he really proved why he's such a fantastic actor and the Anakin we all wanted to see again. Really, really excited to see where this series is going.

I think the only thing missing in this episode was a hug. After Ahsoka says "I want to live" Anakin should have given her a hug. Oh, and Hayden's footwork was top-notch in his fights. As great as the sword work is, his balance is every bit as good if not better.

The one thing I didn’t like about this episode was how Anakin talked to Ahsoka…it seemed like he was talking down to her a lot. Given all the pain he put her through, and all the other stuff he did as Vader, it would have been nice to get a scene where Anakin asked for Ahsoka’s forgiveness. But instead, he came across very much like Mace Windu when Ahsoka was on trial. Like Anakin was basically saying, “yeah you may have gone through some shit, but oh well, it makes you stronger.”

Ahsoka being between life and death in a world between worlds. A socalled limbo. Her leaving the world between worlds purified by water. With the help of Anakin she is moving forward Leaving behind guilt, sadness and battle scars and accepting life. It was beautiful and masterly made by Dave Filoni. 👏👏👏

Just constant chills throughout the whole episode. Dave is a GOAT!!!

I love Hayden's acting in this. So effortless in switching between 3 characters

I mean between the ending of episode 4, and all of episode 5, I've been emotional. This is perfect to me. I love seeing Hayden. I love what they did in ep 5. Dave Filoni is the rightful heir

One thing I haven’t seen anyone comment on is that THIS was Ashoka’s Trial of Spirit, one of the final Jedi Trials to become a Jedi Knight and from the looks of it shes passed the test…. I feel like the Trials don’t get taken into consideration as much anymore and it’s nice to see it played out again similar to the dream sequence Luke had in the cave on Dagobah…. I wish they showed more about the Trials, it’s always been an interesting aspect of Jedi training to me after having read the Jedi Path book years ago

I just assumed that Hera was able to hear the Echoes through the force because of her son. She shares a strong motherly connection with him and is receptive to an open to the force because of her love for her late husband. She's not truly force-sensitive and never would have heard it had it not been for her son

Anakin looked much better in every scene if this Episode, the deaging was really on point without flaws I could notice, his facial expression was great and acting was wonderful, seeing a young Ahsoka and the Clones once more was brilliant.

I loved when Anakin comes out the fog after switching to dark side you can see the shape of Vaders Helmet in the cloud before he comes through!

I don’t think Hera could hear through the force. I don’t think she could hear at all. Huyang only mentioned that Jacen had abilities. When you’re a parent, you can almost just feel your child’s energy. When they are at peace, you are at peace. When they enjoy something, you can feel it and enjoy seeing them enjoy it. When they are in pain you are in pain. She was just vibing and inspired by her son

With Hera hearing the light sabres I felt like it wasn’t her hearing them on her own, but Jason showing her with his abilities. Almost seamed like something they’ve done before. And it kinda makes sense that Jason would have force hearing, just look at his dad.

Hayden is such a good physical actor. He’s able to effortlessly switch between Anakin and Vader just based off his movements alone. That’s not an easy thing to do without it just looking goofy. Also despite being in his 40’s now and almost 20 years removed from RotS, he still looks like the most skilled of the entire cast with swordplay, which is a real testament to how much practice him and ewan went through for the prequels. It’s nice seeing people come around and appreciate him these days given the reactions people initially had to the prequels

For a good fifteen minutes after the end of episode five, I felt reconnected to my childhood. It was like i was living in better times. I would say I came out of it feeling old, but no, I felt hope. So for another fifteen minutes, I listened to the Force theme and came out happy. Then i fell asleep because i had binged the five episodes in one sitting until midnight, lol.

Anakin's lesson to Ahsoka is basically that iconic line in Rocky 6: "It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can GET hit, and keep moving forward! That's how WINNING is done!"

Seeing Anakin vacillating between Vader and himself was incredible. Teaching Ahsoka in his ethereal form to become more enlightened with the force, which culminated in her transformation to Ahsoka the White. Essentially Anakin has replaced the Father ascending to become the final Mortis god keeper of the balance, and Ahsoka has now assigned the role of the Daughter

Hayden hasn’t missed a step His voice and movements as anakin/Vader are terrifying not to mention the lightsaber skills his signature move, he did a great job doing lanter CW anakin, tightroping the balance of light and dark I’m genuinely impressed. He’s a calm and cool person overall too. Dudes the goat of 21st century Star Wars no doubt

I started getting emotional when he first called her Snips, then the clone wars flashback, and I finally lost it seeing Captain Rex. It was all the same nostalgia feelgoods from Luke's big reveal in Mandalorian

At 5:17 you can see Ahsoka and Anakin are standing in shallow water in the world between worlds. So they’re occupying the same physical space as the water she fell into, but obviously in another dimension. That’s why Jacen could hear them. They’re literally walking on the water, fighting right in front of him.

*The transition from Anakin to Vader was so good that it won the episode for me 😊.* So well done, Dave Filoni is the true heir to the Star Wars Empire 👏

this episode is truly the definition of Star Wars, the fighting skills, the range of emotions, the willingness to keep watching and keep us in our seats truly is a masterpiece.

This was phenomenal. Epic sword fights, mystery, turnovers, jedi teachings and starships. Thank you that star wars is truly great again.

The way that Rosario said "I choose to live" is actually really well done, at first she seems angry but on repeat watches it's just her determination coming back to her in the heat of the moment.

I didn't get the feeling that Hera heard the lightsabers or so even while focusing, I got more of a feeling that she was playing along with Jacen and just acknowledged that he might be onto something, put her trust in her kid. Her reaction was always just that strenuous smile while listening to what to her is probably just waves.

I actually saw the Hera scene as her trusting her son, knowing that he has abilities beyond hers, and that she never actually heard the sabers. And the choreography was SOOOO much better than what we got in the ST.

I think that another part of his lesson was that although a Master passes down everything they are to their Padawan, their Padawan isn’t necessarily everything that their master was. Just because she has a lot of Anakin in her, it doesn’t mean she will make the same mistakes or choices… she’s still her own person the same way Anakin was his own person from Obi Wan and so on. She can choose to focus on the good and the lessons that helped her grow and his mistakes can be lessons too! She can learn from the bad choices he made as well. Like Yoda said in one of the only good lines form the new trilogy… “We are what they grow beyond.” It’s time that she grows beyond Anakin.

This was the best Star Wars in years. The entire story told in this one episode was better than the entire Disney wars trilogy.

I still haven't been able to process this episode emotionally. I got into Star Wars because of Hayden. Seeing him this episode had me in tears. I'm married with 3 kids, I have bills galore, but watching this episode made all my stress go away. Thank you Hayden!

Anakin giving Ahsoka one last lesson was beautiful. Seeing characters choose to live is such a powerful way of storytelling and this episode does it so majestically. Seeing Hayden as each version of anakin was amazing. Star Wars always had biblical parallels and I think here we see ahsoka die, resurrect, and become reborn again through the baptism of the force. When she comes back she’s wearing white and has an angelic way about herself. Truly beautiful storytelling while be nostalgic at the same time. Thank you dave for bringing Star Wars back at least for the moment

That was an amazing episode! This actually FELT like Star Wars. Since Disney took over, there have been very few moments where I have had such an emotional connection to the Star Wars universe. Thanks Dave

Ahosoka feels like Star Wars, the show respects the true legacy and this episode got me quite emotional. Oh how to be an innocent child or a teen with no worries, watching Star Wars and forgetting about everything else, for that moment. Thank you Dave, and partly Disney for trusting Dave's visions.

That was definitely The real Anakin. When he made that reference to Luke in ROTJ and training Ahsoka to overcome Vader the way he had to in order to beat Palpatine. This show is the true sequels

One thing I noticed that you touched on in a previous video @starwarstheory . Ahsoka was more "flat" emotionally in previous episodes. At the end of this one, she was significantly warmer emotionally, consistent with the "Ahsoka the White" change that took place after her training with Anakin. This shows great character growth and great acting through the storyline.

That episode was hype. I started screaming when Hayden started spining his light sabre.

Seeing Ahsoka with Anakin was amazing. Seeing them fight was amazing. Seeing Rex was amazing. It was just amazing

This episode and series has actually really made me appreciate Ashoka and Anakin and what beautiful characters they are. To see a young teenage Ashoka fighting in war actually makes you realise she was 14 when she started fighting in the Clone Wars. Also I never realised before how obvious it was that Anakin was just destined to become Vader. Vader wasn’t born on the night he betrayed Mace Windu and pledged himself to the Sith. He was born and thrived on the bloody battlefields of the Clone wars. It makes you realise that Anakin was always going to become Vader, regardless of what anyone tried to do, he loved battle, violence and victory. Star Wars actually is a beautiful piece of Machiavellian art when it’s viewed from this level. Plagius and Sidious’s plan was so beautiful in its sinister simplicity and design. It’s evil as hell but it plays on the flaws of all sentient beings. Ashoka is a child soldier overcoming extreme PTSD and trauma from losing so much. It may be a space opera but it’s still really hard hitting. The acting from Hayden Christensen was just phenomenal, he’s studied Matt Lanter’s delivery of lines and has blended the styles beautifully. Ariana Greenblatt as young Ashoka legit made me cry when she was comforting the injured clone and questioning the loss of so many of her men. Rosario Dawson has been such a soldier following Filoni’s instructions to be so melancholy for the first 4 episodes. I’ve always loved her as an actress, she’s awesome, I was really pissed at Star Wars fans attacking her. I know she will now bring that cheeky, funny beautiful energy to adult Ashoka now she is free of her guilt. Dave Filoni you have single handedly restored my faith in the direction of Star Wars. My favourite part of the episode was Anakin flickering between himself and Vader it just blew my mind that I’d never seen that Vader was always there right in front of you always. You are the Heir to the Empire, please keep this beautiful storytelling coming. I haven’t felt this way since the credits rolled on ROTS in 2005. Not to say that the other shows haven’t been good. But that was the closest I’ve felt to George Lucas cinematic Star Wars I really wish I’d watched it in a cinema. Just unbelievable, Star Wars is back baby, Let Dave Cook, that kitchen of dreams is smelling divine🙏👍❤️

WHY IS YOUR HAYDEN IMPRESSION SO GOOD

I'm fairly convinced that Jacen's connection with the force is what enabled Hera to hear what he was hearing. Like a force projection, but just at a very basic level. At first I wasn't even convinced she was even hearing it at all, but after watching it again I do believe she does, but with Jacen's help thru the force and his connection to his mother.

"You lack conviction!" Already one of the greatest moments in star wars for me. Thank you Dave for carrying Star Wars as best you can

These breakdowns are amazing brodie, makes me gain new perspectives after every episode and become more in tune with the plot

I like how anakin rolled his shoulders as he slickers into vader there.