Ahsoka has finally made Star Wars more fantasy than sci-fi

polygon.com:

Star Wars has certainly had a fair share of fantasy elements baked into its DNA from the beginning. From its central “chosen one” monomyth to its deployment of the “special weapon” trope to a central plot arc that can be described as “storming a castle to rescue a princess,” Star Wars has never been a purely science-fiction story. Yet George Lucas has made it very clear that science-fiction stories like Buck Rogers and Frank Herbert’s Dunewere a much larger influence on him than the foundational fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Dave Filoni, on the other hand, is on the record as being a big Lord of the Rings fan. The current showrunner of Ahsokaand the person long considered by fans to be Lucas’ heir as the central shepherd of Star Wars mythology, Filoni has peppered his love of fantasy into many of his Star Wars stories through the years — but in Ahsoka, we have the most overtly fantasy Star Wars yet.

These fantasy elements — and specifically the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing — manifest themselves through the series in ways both obvious and subtle. Right from the outset, Ahsoka is cast as a Gandalf figure, cloaked in gray and working to prevent the return of a far-off evil most consider long gone, before undergoing a death of sorts and returning with new determination, clad in white. The early episodes of the series involve a quest narrative, a staple of fantasy fiction, as Ahsoka and Sabine work to find a specific object and keep it from falling into the hands of their enemies. Even the garb of those enemies underscores the fantasy elements, with Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati attired in more medieval and chivalric garb than the usual robes-and-sashes of Jedi (or the black robes-and-sashes of the Sith).

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