“AHSOKA”, THE BRAVE JEDI OF THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE
Cinema Writer/Film Critic Efe TEKSOY; wrote the action, drama, and adventure series “AHSOKA”, for America’s Los Angeles-based Internet Newspaper @alaturkanews.
HERO OF THE GALACTIC REPUBLIC
Ahsoka, the spin-off series created by Dave Filoni, tells us the story of Ahsoka Tano, the important character of the Star Wars universe. This character was known as Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan apprentice in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TV Series 2008–2020), and she first appeared in live-action form aspect in The Mandalorian series and received great acclaim from the audience. The Ahsoka character, which has gained many fans as a beloved hero, was released on the Disney+ platform this time with its spin-off series and reached number one worldwide on the broadcast platform, reaching 14 million views in its first week. In the series, former Jedi Ahsoka investigates a new threat to a vulnerable galaxy following the collapse of the Galactic Empire. In this process, she is dragged into a great adventure with her padawan Sabine and her friends. Stars; Rosario Dawson, David Tennant, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ray Stevenson Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, Diana Lee Inosanto, Eman Esfandi, Genevieve O’Reilly, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Lars Mikkelsen and Hayden Christensen.
HERO’S PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNEY
In the story told in the series; We witness the emotional bond between Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra, and Anakin and observe the master-apprentice relationship more closely. In addition, we also observe the inner journey of the character Ahsoka and the philosophical and mythological journey of the hero. This brings us to Nietzsche’s Thesis of Eternal Recurrence, which is the main theme of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In this view, Nietzsche; proposes the thesis that time is in a cyclical form and that events are repeated forever in this circularity and will be repeated for eternity. Seeing this cycle as the heaviest burden of coping with pain, Nietzsche describes it as one of the conditions necessary for a person to reach the level of an Übermensch, that is, the Superhuman. This cycle also evokes the concept of the “Eternal Return” Myth. Romanian philosopher and historian Mircea Eliade, professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago, is considered one of the most important academics in the history of religions, with more than 50 published works. This concept is a belief expressed through behavior that the events described in myths can take place or return to the modern form as long as the “Mythical Age” takes place. In addition; In the Rebirth Archetype of Carl Gustav Jung, the founder of analytical psychology and one of the three great founders of depth psychology, we see that with the transformation of the person, the inner structure changes, identifies with a group, and resembles the cult hero. Just like in this series.
THE GREAT MOTHERS
In the series, three Dathmorian witches, known as The Great Mothers, form an alliance with Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn, read the strings of fate, and help Thrawn in his evil ambitions by performing black magic. These three witches are actually a reference to mythology. In Greek Mythology, they are known as the Moiras, the Three Goddesses of Destiny who have different roles in weaving the destiny of humanity. Moira, shown as three in the legend, means share or giver of shares. According to the view of the ancient Greeks; As soon as a person is born from the mother’s womb, fate begins to spin the thread of his life, the three Moiras keep twisting the thread of each person, and one day they cut it, at that moment the human dies. In ancient Greece, these Goddesses of Destiny were also known as Fates. In ancient Roman myth, they appear as Parcae and in Scandinavian mythology, as Norns.
ANAKIN’S FORCE GHOST
Another detail is that the subtext of the Ahsoka story includes the play Hamlet, one of William Shakespeare’s most important tragedies. The fact that Anakin comes as a powerful ghost and helps Ahsoka creates a big breaking point in the story and changes the direction of the story, just like the Danish Prince Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, the King, in the Shakespeare play. Thus, a ghost from the past is of great importance in the course of the story.
EFE TEKSOY
REFERENCES AND SOURCE
ELIADE. Mircea, The Eternal Return (Ebedi Dönüş Miti), Ayşe Meral, translate İstanbul: Dergah Yayınları press, 2022
ERHAT. Azra, Dictionary of Mythology (Mitoloji Sözlüğü), İstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi press, 2006
JUNG. Carl Gustav, Four Archetypes (Dört Arketip), Zehra Aksu Yılmazer, translate, Metis Yayınları Press, 2005
NIETZSCHE. Friedrich, On The Genealogy of Morals (Ahlakın Soykütüğü Üstüne-Bir Kavga Yazısı), Ahmet İnam, translate, İstanbul: Say Yayınları press, 2022
NIETZSCHE. Friedrich, The Gay Science (Şen Bilim), Ahmet İnam, translate, İstanbul: Say Yayınları press, 2021
NIETZSCHE. Friedrich, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (İşte Böyle Dedi Zerdüşt), Ahmet Cemal, translate Pinhan Yayıncılık press, İstanbul: 2011
SHAKESPEARE. William, Hamlet, Sabahattin Eyuboğlu, translate, İstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi press, 1965
