Kristin Baver is a journalist who loved science fiction before she could even write her own name. (Seriously, she was a card-carrying member of the Star Wars Fan Club when she had no other real reason to own a wallet.) Now she gets paid to pen stories and book reviews, interview fellow fans, writers, and other interesting people, and aspires to one day craft a Boushh disguise and join the ranks of the 501st Legion.







To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the all-new episodes coming thanks to #CloneWarsSaved, we’re undertaking a full chronological rewatch of the five original seasons, The Lost Missions, and the theatrical release. We’d be honored if you would join us and share your thoughts on the award-winning series.

38: “Lightsaber Lost” (Season Two, Episode 11)

“Easy isn’t always simple.”

Synopsis:

On assignment in the Coruscant underworld, a pickpocket steals Ahsoka’s lightsaber and she must enlist the help of an ancient Jedi, Tera Sinube, to get it back.

Analysis:

As Tera Sinube says, “The value of moving slowly is that one can always clearly see the way ahead.”

In her excitement and drive to become a formidable Jedi Knight, Ahsoka is always moving at a breakneck pace. She’s strong-willed and stubborn, much like her teacher, but in losing her lightsaber she gets a jolt to her system about the value of patience, something Anakin Skywalker is also still trying to master.

Who among us doesn’t struggle with slowing down and anxiety about trying to keep up? Tera Sinube, probably.

If we’re being honest, the ancient Jedi Master, not unlike Yoda in his calm, measured movements, at first seems old and slow. Ahsoka probably fears that bringing him along will put the brakes on her mission. But he’s an essential teacher at a time when she is lost, frightened, and desperate to reclaim her weapon (and her pride).

As Anakin is always reminding her, like his master reminded him, “Your lightsaber is your life.” Losing it leaves Ahsoka largely defenseless, although she still has the Force as her ally, and her wits about her. But there’s more to it than that.

Like the arms dealer they were tracking when they first arrived in the seedy underworld of Coruscant, Ahsoka feels responsible for whatever damage her lightsaber does even when it’s not in the palm of her hand. That guilt drives her mission, but it also stokes her anxiety while the ancient weapon remains just out of her grasp.

Is Ahsoka to blame for the havoc created by her lightsaber in the hands of another? Yes and no.

She’s not responsible for the actions of others, and she bears no burden for the choices they make. And it’s not her fault that the pickpocket snagged her weapon. She is the victim of that particular crime and she should not be blamed.

But perhaps by alerting her master to the problem immediately, they could have avoided some of the damage wrought and reclaimed the weapon much faster, long before the Twi’lek woman and her child were thrust into harm’s way.

Intel:

While Jocasta Nu is trying to help Ahsoka find her thief in the archives, they come across the familiar face of Brea Tonnika, one of the Tonnika sisters glimpsed in the cantina at Mos Eisley in A New Hope.

What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below and share on social with #CloneWarsRewatch!

Next up: Come back next Thursday when Obi-Wan Kenobi heads to Mandalore to investigate some alarming rumors in “The Mandalore Plot.”

Associate Editor Kristin Baver is a writer and all-around sci-fi nerd who always has just one more question in an inexhaustible list of curiosities. Sometimes she blurts out “It’s a trap!” even when it’s not. Want to talk more about The Clone Wars? Hop on Twitter and tell @KristinBaver what you thought about today’s episode.

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