Summary
Star Wars: Ahsokafans have taken issue with episode 3 of the live-action series on Disney Plus despite reviews for the episode being overwhelmingly positive. The complaints come from a trend seen across the three episodes thus far.
Star Wars: Ahsokais a live-action project that, while technically a spin-off of the space westernThe Mandalorian,has found eager acceptance within the fanbase as an adaptation and spiritual successor toStar Wars: Rebelsand the other animatedStar Warsprojects. ShowrunnerDave Filoni outlinedAhsoka’s connection toRebelsearly on, and the show’s double-episode debut bore it out in full force, instantly drawing in the large part of the fanbase that enjoyed the show and related media.
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With the release of its third episode,Ahsokahas finally upset its rapidly growing loyal fanbase with one major change. Several fans who have taken to social media to laud the show’s third episode have also taken time to complain about the episode’s runtime, which by all accounts was far too short, especially for how interesting the episode proved to be to most people. Some users on social media have even gone so far as to suggest that the episode could’ve stood to be twice as long on Disney Plus, which hascanceled theSpiderwick Chroniclesseriesand more to focus on projects from internally owned IPs, likeStar Wars: Ahsoka.
TheAhsokaepisode in question, which lasted a lightning-quick 36 minutes, is shorter than both premiere episodes. The previous episode ran a satisfying 44 minutes, and the first episode of the series took up a good 56 minutes of streaming time, making episode three nearly half as long as the first installment, which many fans only watched for the first time recently. This is especially noticeable due to the sheer amount of content the show tries to fit into each episode, with it already hinting atSam Witwer’s return toStar Warsas Starkillerand setting up several plot points stemming from the animated series.
Projects should ideally have a moderate or short runtime, but with recent media made for streaming services, longer runtimes are becoming more common.Star Warsfans are experiencing the negative edge of variable time slots that come with the freedom given to creators by the streaming model, which generally allows them to ignore limitations and requirements that would usually hold them back on a regular network TV show, such as minimum episode lengths for advertising and time slot utilization.
While the complaint is valid, the otherwise overwhelmingly positive notes on the third episode are encouraging, with some prior critics of the premiere even conceding being won over by the third entry. This case of good things coming in small packages also highlights thatRosario Dawson’s unlikely source of inspirationfor herAhsokaportrayal worked out better than expected and might lead theStar Warsseries to a long, lore-filled run.
Star Wars: Ahsokaepisodes 1-3are now available for streaming on Disney Plus.
