The first two episodes of Ahsoka landed today and weren’t short on villainy. Front and center were fallen Jedi mercenaries Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati, and bubbling away in the background is Morgan Elsbeth (a descendant of the Witches of Dathomir) and a squad of HK class robot assassins.
But a cantankerous astromech droid may have trumped them all when it came to sheer ruthlessness. Ahsoka marks the live-action arrival of Chopper, who made his debut in Rebels and more recently has appeared in The Bad Batch.
In Rebels, Ezra Bridger summed Chopper up by saying, “It’s got a lot of personality for a machine…” That’s a mild way of saying Chopper is a violent sociopath, though fortunately one loyal to the heroes. This was on full display in the closing moments of Ahsoka episode two, in which Hera was reluctant to fire on the fleeing ship for fear it’d crash into the city below.
Chopper couldn’t see why this was a problem and fans on r/StarWars have concluded: “our little war criminal is eager to raise his kill count” and that “he’s just so bloodthirsty he doesn’t care who he kills anymore!”
It seems inevitable we’re going to see more of Chopper over the coming episodes. Now more casual Star Wars fans can embrace this offbeat, lovable, and perpetually murderous addition to Star Wars‘ droid line-up. Can it really be too long before he crosses paths with R2-D2? Let the battle of the beeping trashcans commence!
Ahsoka airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.