Morgan's group arrives at Peridea and joins forces with Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Tropes:
- Abandonment-Induced Animosity: Sabine engages in a bit of this with her howler after it ran off when they were attacked by marauders. She forgives it after it spends a while following her.
- Actually Pretty Funny: A brief exchange of Snark-to-Snark Combat makes Baylan let out a brief chuckle at Sabine's wit.Baylan: You find your circumstances confining?
Sabine: A bit. [Baylan smiles and chuckles] - All Animals Are Dogs: The howlers are massive wolf-life creatures used like small horses, and behave like domesticated dogs.
- All There in the Script: The names of the Nightsister Great Mothers (Aktropaw, Klothow, Lakesis) are only listed in the credits.
- The Alleged Car: Downplayed. While the Chimaera has certainly seen better days (what with it missing much of its hull plating, engines, and weaponry as a result of the purgills, and wear and tear from a long exile), it's otherwise a fully functional Imperial Star Destroyer.
- Asteroid Thicket: A close-up of the rings of Peridea reveals that they're actually a thicket of purgill bones.
- Badass Boast: Thrawn delivers one with his first ever line in his first ever live-action appearance:Thrawn: What was first just a dream has become a frightening reality for those who may oppose us.
- Bait-and-Switch: After the Nightsisters lock her up, Sabine decides to try escaping by using the Force to open the cell door. There's a rumbling sound and the room starts to tremble, making it look like she might actually be succeeding... then she looks out the window and realises it's actually being caused by the arrival of the Chimaera.
- Big Damn Reunion: Sabine finally reunites with Ezra again after nine or ten years since he and Thrawn disappeared.
- Bilingual Bonus: Baylan refers to Ezra as a "Bokken" Jedi. In Japanese, a "bokken" is a wooden sword used for practice; i.e., not a real sword. Baylan is basically saying that Ezra is not a real Jedi.
- Bling of War: Some of Thrawn's troopers, including Enoch, have gold-colored improvised armor.
- The Bus Came Back: At long last, after years of build-up as the Greater-Scope Villain of the New Republic Saga, Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known as Grand Admiral Thrawn, finally makes his return after his disappearance at the end of Rebels. And not to be outdone, Ezra Bridger makes his return as well.
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: When Ezra wants to hear how Sabine got to Peridea, she immediately declares she doesn't want to talk about it and just goes along with helping the village Ezra's with pack up and move.
- Continuity Nod:
- A shot of the underbelly of the Chimaera confirms that the ship's namesake engraving is still present.
- Enoch tells Sabine to "die well", recalling Maul's mocking final order to Gar Saxon during "The Phantom Apprentice". For bonus points, he says it to a Mandalorian, and someone played by the late Ray Stevenson is involved as well.
- When Baylan tells Thrawn that he parted ways from the Jedi, Thrawn idly notes that Baylan wouldn't be the only one who did, calling back to Thrawn's history with Darth Vader, whose identity he deduced.
- Ezra tells Sabine he knew she'd find him, calling back to his final message to his family.
- Ezra still has the scar on his left cheek from his final duel with the Grand Inquisitor.
- Cool Ship: The Chimaera makes her screen return alongside her master, despite a fair bit of wear and tear thanks to her long exile.
- Cryptic Background Reference: When Morgan introduces Baylan and Shin to Thrawn, Thrawn refers to Baylan as "General Baylan Skoll", showing that he at least knew of Baylan during the Clone Wars.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The fight with Sabine and the bandits starts off as a pretty close battle until Sabine whips out the lightsaber and demolishes them, forcing them to flee.
- A Day in the Limelight: Ahsoka takes a backseat in this episode as she appears only at the beginning, with the rest of the episode focusing on the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Sabine's personal journey to find Ezra.
- Death Glare: When the Great Mothers learn that Baylan is a former Jedi, they shoot him a withering glare.
- Death World: Peridea is not only littered with Purrgil corpses in orbit, but is host to many disparate gangs of bandits. And the main leader is Thrawn commanding what's left of his fleet and a host of Nightsisters.
- Dispense with the Pleasantries: When she's brought before Thrawn, Sabine makes it clear she has no intention of having a "friendly chat" with her old enemy, simply asking where Ezra is and then taking his offer of transport and info on her friend's possible whereabouts and leaving.
- Dramatic Irony: Thrawn asks for all the information Elsbeth can provide about Ahsoka, including the identity of her master. Not yet knowing who said master is, Thrawn is unaware that he's met and worked with Anakin under both of his identities.
- Elephant Graveyard: Baylan reveals that Peridea is a place that Purrgil travel to in order to live out the last days of their lives, their carcasses so numerous that they've settled into orbit as a ring around the planet.
- Enemy Mine:
- During his exile, Thrawn and the remnants of the Chimaera's crew teamed up with a clan of Nightsisters on Peridea to survive, and make use of the witches' Force powers to communicate with Elsbeth back in their home galaxy.
- When the bandits happen upon Baylan and Shin, Baylan proposes working with them to track down Sabine and Ezra. Baylan says, "The enemy of our enemy is our friend...for now."
- Enigmatic Minion: Enoch, the captain of Thrawn's guard, on account of his name and the golden mask replacing the visor portion of his stormtrooper armor, has taken the place of Marrok as the mysterious minion and launcher of thousand fan theories.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Thrawn's first live-action appearance has him bring the still largely-intact Chimaera to Peridea and make his grand entrance while his troops, despite their scarred and scavenged equipment, proudly chant his name, and the first words out of his mouth are a Badass Boast. For new viewers, this justifies the dread with which the heroes have been discussing Thrawn, and for longtime fans, it's made clear that while he and his followers have been through the wringer, Thrawn is still the force of nature he was when he fought the Rebellion.
- Immediately afterward, we get a look at Thrawn's new approach. He graciously thanks the Great Mothers for their help bringing Morgan Elsbeth, but when they tell him about their prisoner, Thrawn is silent and with a slight snip to his voice, says they never mentioned a prisoner coming. The scene establishes a few things: one, he has allied with the Great Mothers to gain an edge in the Force he lacked before; two, he is still the Control Freak he was during the war that hated unexpected complications that threw his carefully laid plans out the window; and three, he's developed a personal hatred for Force-users.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Baylan and Shin, the latter in particular, are rather unnerved when Thrawn orders them to hunt down Sabine and kill her if she finds Ezra, seeing it as a violation (in spirit) of Baylan's deal with her. Shin's obvious dismay is even more palpable knowing that she tried to kill Sabine two episodes ago.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Discussed. When face to face with Sabine, Thrawn directly asks her why she would allow him the opportunity to escape his exile and risk her entire galaxy, all for the sake of seeing Ezra again. Sabine just states that Thrawn wouldn't understand, and Thrawn acknowledges that she's probably right.
- Exact Words: Thrawn points out that Baylan's deal is being honored since Sabine is being given the opportunity to reunite with Ezra. He just leaves out that if she does find him, Baylan and Shin will attempt to kill them both.
- Failed a Spot Check: Amusingly, despite being able to peg Sabine as a Jedi affiliate the moment they set eyes on her, the Great Mothers don't sense the same from Baylan when he and his Padawan are right in front of them and wearing lightsabers. It's not until Thrawn identifies him as an ex-Jedi that they make the connection, giving Baylan a Death Glare.
- First Installment Wins: In-universe, this is Ahsoka's opinion of Huyang's History of the Galaxy stories.
- Foreshadowing: While imprisoned on the Eye of Sion, Sabine clearly doubts whether Baylan will live up to his end of their agreement. While Baylan was sincere in his offer (albeit not so much his ability to honor it), Sabine ends up with good reason to question Thrawn's interpretation of the deal.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: The Seventh Fleet, once the pride of the Imperial Navy that was a symbol of strength and class, is now just one beat up Star Destroyer, a few squadrons of starfighters, and a contingent of out-of-regulation Stormtroopers.
- Human Shield: Sabine grabs one of the bandits and uses him to block the shots of the other bandits.
- It's a Small World, After All: Sabine travels to another galaxy searching for Ezra. She walks out the door of the Nightsister stronghold on Peridea, and after a short while encounters local beings who are wearing medallions with the Rebel phoenix crest she designed, who take her to Ezra.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: The Nightsisters refer to Sabine as an "it" for her affiliation with the Jedi.
- It's Personal: Thrawn seems to have it out for Force-users and Jedi since they were what caused his defeat at Atollon and eventually his exile at Lothal. He isn't happy with how Ahsoka survived despite Baylan's claim she perished, would prefer Ezra and Sabine to be killed if he can't simply strand them on Peridea, and orders that any approaching purrgil be shot down with prejudice to stop Ahsoka before she can even reach the surface. He's also allied with the Great Mothers who hate Jedi with a passion to help him get the edge against any Force-users. Considering his M.O. has proven very efficient without any assistance from the Inquisitors or Vader, this is a major shift in tactics.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: The last bandit flees for his life after Sabine takes down the rest of the bandits and slices apart his weapon.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- Huyang and Ahsoka talk about the three-part series of stories about the history of the galaxy he used to tell younglings in the temple. The comparison is even more obvious by how Huyang opens the story with "a long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away", which is how every Star Wars movie opens.
- More than one reviewer has commented that Baylan's speech about the Vicious Cycle around the Jedi and the Empire sound like the criticisms that some viewers have about the franchise itself and how it always recycles the same conflict.
- Leitmotif:
- The return of Thrawn also brings with it the return of composer Kevin Kiner's distinct organ theme for the Grand Admiral from Rebels.
- Ezra's theme plays when he and Sabine embrace after all these years.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Despite being outnumbered, Sabine's fight against the bandits using just her blasters, hand-to-hand technique, and gadgets is fairly even until she gets knocked down. Then she draws her lightsaber and the bandits didn't stand a chance.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Ahsoka notes she didn't tell Hera that Sabine went with Baylan willingly.
- Having been in another galaxy since even before the Death Star's destruction, Ezra has no idea of the results of his sacrifice at the end of Rebels.Sabine: Typical. Always a plan, never a good one.
Ezra: Hey, it worked, didn't it? [beat] Didn't it?
- Mugging the Monster: Bandits ambush Sabine while she's on the road. Unfortunately for them, they weren't equipped to fight back against a Beskar-armored, lightsaber-wielding Mandalorian.
- My God, What Have I Done?: She keeps up her bravado with Thrawn, but while she's in captivity and when she sees the Chimaera arrive, it's clear that Sabine is feeling the consequences of her choices, even trying to avoid discussing them with Ezra when she finds him.
- Mythology Gag:
- Huyang starts his story with the iconic opening line of the franchise, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."
- Sabine's meeting and interactions with both Howler and the Noti are reminiscent of Leia’s with the Ewoks, and both encounters become hugely important for both heroines.
- Thrawn and his forces trapped in exile and working with the Nightsisters of Dathomir is based on the circumstances of the Imperial garrison left marooned on Dathomir in the Legends novel The Courtship of Princess Leia; though unlike the garrison subjugated to the Nightsisters, here Thrawn and the Nightsisters are beneficial partners and allies.
- An ancient fortress on an uncharted planet that were both found by Thrawn and used as a base of operations are reminiscent of the "Hand of Thrawn" fortress discovered in another Legends novel, Vision of the Future.
- Never Found the Body: Thrawn invokes this trope when he realizes Ahsoka is approaching despite Baylan's claim that she died, and they must operate and prepare as if she's indeed still alive.
- No One Could Survive That!: Baylan believed Ahsoka dead after her fall at Seatos, and to be fair to him, chucking her off a cliff to be dashed against the rocks would kill most anyone else. Ahsoka's dip into the nether realm of the World Between Worlds and disappearance in the real world implies that, absent her connection to that realm, it probably would have.
- Noble Demon: Baylan straightforwardly intends to honor his deal with Sabine to the best of his ability, even though he doesn't actually have any guarantee that he can. Thrawn is a subversion; he agrees to uphold the deal as well — returning her armor and weapons, and giving her provisions, a mount, and his last intel on Ezra's potential whereabouts — but only because he believes she can locate Ezra where he has failed, intending to have Baylan and Shin follow her and eliminate them both.
- Noble Wolf: Sabine's "Howler" mount, resembles a wolf the size of a small horse. Although it runs from her battle with the bandits, it follows her and wins its way back into her good graces and draws her attention to the concealed rock people, the Noti.
- Non-Uniform Uniform:
- Due to their long exile, Thrawn's stormtroopers wear a combination of standard stormtrooper armor and improvised armor cobbled together from whatever they could find. Some stormtroopers — such as Enoch — wear what appear to be the parts of statues welded onto their gear.
- Subverted with Thrawn, who's still wearing the familiar white Grand Admiral's uniform, albeit with signs of wear and tear from a decade of exile.
- Noodle Incident: When last seen, Ezra and Thrawn were both aboard the Chimaera, Ezra having sealed himself on the bridge with Thrawn as the purgill whisked them away; at some point in the intervening decade, Ezra clearly gave Thrawn the slip, as the Grand Admiral notes that he's not even sure if Ezra's alive. The exact circumstances of how they separated are left unrevealed.
- Not So Above It All: The normally stoic Baylan lets out a bit of humor and snark when he speaks with Sabine on the Eye of Sion, noting that she finds her predicament (being in the brig) "confining", chuckling at her response, and dryly remarking that he can understand why she's not the type for self-reflection.
- Not So Extinct: Morgan's party is met by three living Nightsisters on Peridea, confirming that they and the Dathomiri are not quite as extinct as it seemed after the massacre on Dathomir — in fact, they have an old ancestral home they are thriving on.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Ezra asking Sabine how she found him and expressing his eagerness to go home clearly riles up Sabine's mixed feelings about surrendering the map and enabling Thrawn's return, enough so that she asks not to talk about it for a while.
- Oh, Crap!: Thrawn and Morgan are unnerved to learn that a Jedi is approaching their location, correctly deducing that Ahsoka is the Jedi the Nightsisters sense.Thrawn: Well, that is unwelcome news.
- Opening Shout-Out: Huyang starts his story with a phrase that often begins the franchise as a whole.
- Out of Focus: After being the focus of the previous episode, Ahsoka and Huyang only appear at the start of this episode, while Hera doesn't appear at all.
- Pet the Dog:
- Subverted; Thrawn gives Sabine her equipment, provisions, and a mount, plus free reign to seek out Ezra, though he tells her that he doesn't know if Ezra's alive and secretly plans to have Baylan and Shin eliminate them both if she does find him.
- Captain Enoch tells Sabine to "die well" as she sets out to look for Ezra, a polite, if cynical remark (and probably one that a Mandalorian like Sabine would appreciate).
- Pragmatic Villainy: While Thrawn's preferred outcome is for Baylan and Shin to kill Ezra and Sabine, he's fine with simply leaving the two heroes (and the two villains, for that matter) stranded on Peridea if the Chimaera and the Eye of Sion are ready to leave before that, since it accomplishes much the same thing. He has the same reasoning for not wanting to send too many of his men to support the mercenaries; the Chimaera has lost a lot of people during Thrawn's exile, and Thrawn doesn't want to waste any more than necessary on an outcome that may not matter in the long run.
- The Reveal:
- Peridea is revealed to be the ancestral homeworld of the Nightsisters and the Dathomiri. The Great Mothers of Peridea, who have allied themselves with Thrawn, are also the ones who contacted Morgan to begin orchestrating his return from exile.
- This episode also reveals what happened to Pellaeon. He suffered an ambiguous fate in the finale of Rebels, but later turned up in The Mandalorian with no word as to whether he'd also been exiled or had escaped the pod of purrgil. This episode, showing he is not among Thrawn's forces in exile, confirms that he escaped the attack on Thrawn's blockade.
- Scarred Equipment:
- Lacking the means to resupply, Thrawn's Stormtrooper contingent is noticeably run down. They're fairly dirty, their equipment is cracked and taped together, and they've incorporated other armor to replace missing sections.
- The Chimaera herself has likewise been patched up with local materials to repair the damage caused by the Purrgils and the subsequent decade of exile in another galaxy.
- Seen It All: Huyang lampshades that undergoing hyperspace travel in a Purrgil means he really has done everything now.Huyang: Intergalactic travel within a star-whale. Now I really have done it all.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Baylan makes it clear he's still shaken from Order 66.
- Ship Tease: In sharp contrast to Ezra's statment that he saw Sabine as a "sister" in Master and Apprentice, their reunion comes of as romantic in appearance with a hug that lasts so long that the camera cuts away to their feet, almost like a Kissing Discretion Shot, except there's no kissing, with even the Noti seemingly getting the impression there is a romantic union between the two.
- Shout-Out Theme Naming: The names of the three Nightsisters (Aktropaw, Klothow, and Lakesis) are references to the Fates
of Classical Mythology. - Shy Shelled Animal: The Noti, the native species of Peridea, are turtle-like people with a rocky shell they use to blend into the landscape. They scatter and hide from Sabine, only trusting her once they see her pauldron, and Ezra says they stay on the move to avoid being discovered. Given the bandits that roam the wastes, they're right to be cautious.
- Signature Item Clue: The first Noti Sabine encounters recognizes her starbird insignia and produces a medallion with one carved on it, making Sabine realize Ezra left it for her. A couple more exchanges where they can't understand each other but can understand the words "Ezra Bridger", and the Noti take her to him.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Ezra's beard and shaggier hair give him a striking resemblance to his late father, Ephraim.
- Taught by Experience: It could also be out of desperation, but after being blindsided by Force users twice, the latter of which led to his defeat and exile, Thrawn has formed an alliance with the Nightsisters of Peridea to advise and aid him in such matters.
- That's No Moon:
- Peridea's ring system, upon closer view, turns out to be made of the remains of Purrgil that have passed on there over a very long time.
- Many of the rocks in an area turn out to be little crab-like beings called Noti.
- Threads of Fate: Not only do the Nightsister Great Mothers make continuous references to the Thread of Fate, implying their ability to tap into it is what allowed them to communicate with Morgan, but the end credits reveal that their individual names evoke the Moirai of Classical Mythology: Klothow (Clotho, the Spinner), Lakesis (Lachesis, the Allotter) and Aktropaw (Atropos, the Inexorable).
- Time-Passage Beard: Ezra sports a respectable face of whiskers when Sabine finally catches up to him. It goes with his longer and curlier hair, a far cry from his former buzzcut.
- Title Drop: Huyang begins his "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" story just before the title card appears and reveals that the episode's name is "Far, Far Away".
- Tranquil Fury:
- Subtle, but Thrawn's reaction when Morgan informs him their prisoner is Sabine Wren. Thrawn remains calm and controlled...but there is a quick, distinct twitch on the left side of his face. He's looking forward to having one of the damned Lothal Rebels responsible for his exile (let alone Ezra's closest companion from the Ghost crew) at his mercy (and knowing it can be used against Ezra). When Thrawn does come face-to-face with Sabine, he's cordial and polite, but his unblinking gaze and slowly getting closer and closer to her make it clear he's simmering under the surface. His tone gets even more dangerous when Sabine protests that Ezra is probably fine.
- A short while before, when the Great Mothers mention that Morgan's party has brought a prisoner they did not foresee, Thrawn shoots them a silent look before briskly saying they never mentioned this before. Since Thrawn's alliance with the Great Mothers is to gain Force-wielding allies to give him the edge he didn't have in the war, he's annoyed that not even they can see everything.
- Trapped in Another World: Sabine is taken prisoner and is trapped in Peridea, in an even farther galaxy.
- Uncertified Expert: Baylan describes Ezra as a "Bokken Jedi" because he was trained out in the wild after the fall of the Temple. When Shin notes she would fall under the same category, Baylan counters that Ezra was trained as a Jedi, while he trained her to be "something more".
- Unequal Rites: Shin, already unhappy that her employer Morgan Elsbeth is a witch, is further displeased to meet more witches on Peridea. Conversely, the Great Mothers react negatively to anyone with even a connection to the Jedi.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Even after meeting the Nightsisters, Baylan tells Shin he still senses some unknown presence on the planet, and believes the Nightsisters fear it as a source of power greater than their own.
- Vicious Cycle: Baylan admits that his loss of faith came from realizing that Order 66 was just one in a long chain of wars between the Jedi and the Sith, periodically decimating each other before recovering and then doing it all again. He's hoping that whatever he finds on Peridea will give him the power to break the cycle.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Sabine and Ezra exchange a couple of sarcastic phrases before giving each other a hug.
- Villain Episode: Ahsoka only appears in the first scene of the episode, and although Sabine has several scenes, the main focus is on the antagonists Thrawn, Baylan and Shin.
- Vocal Evolution: Very subtly with Thrawn. While he still sounds exactly the same, he no longer speaks with the soft, halting tone he used to, instead carrying a stringer, more outwardly confident note to his voice. This may be a result of having an extra decade of practice with Galactic Basic.
- Voice of the Legion: The lead Nightsister has an ominous reverb to her voice just like Mother Talzin and Old Daka.
- We Have Reserves: Played with. Thrawn refuses to send more than two squads of Stormtroopers to back up Baylan and Shin since their numbers have dwindled in his exile, but in a following conversation with Morgan he expresses a willingness to abandon them, as well as Baylan and Shin, if it means keeping Sabine and Ezra from interfering in their departure. In other words, while he is willing to sacrifice a small number of them for his greater goals, he isn't going to carelessly toss them at his foes and leave himself vulnerable.
- Xanatos Gambit: Thrawn's ultimate goal is to take his forces back to their home galaxy, but he also knows that Ezra Bridger is somewhere out there and could interfere, and in all this time has failed to eliminate him. Sabine Wren's capture by Baylan and Shin gives him a means to locate Ezra and two Force-wielders that can fight Ezra on even grounds, an opportunity to either kill him once and for all or at least delay him long enough for Thrawn and his forces to depart in the Chimaera and strand the duo on Peridea.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- While not directly stated as such by Thrawn, he states to Morgan that if leaving the planet is possible before Baylan and Shin return, they will, as it's preferable to allowing Sabine and Ezra a chance to stop them.
- Thrawn's decision to have Sabine and Ezra killed seems to be out of the notion that he has learned all he needed from them from their confrontations. Now that he has learned everything he wanted, there is simply no need to keep them around. Besides, they're far more dangerous together. It’s also implied that part of why Thrawn wants Ezra dead is as revenge for exiling him in the first place.
