This weeks Your Nerd Side Show:
The following contains spoilers from Ahsoka, Episodes 1 & 2, "Master and Apprentice," and "Toil and Trouble," now streaming on Disney+.
Despite humanity's search in the stars for alien life, one of the most "alien" creatures on the planet are whales. So, naturally, the idea of "space whales" can be found all over science fiction, from Doctor Who to Star Wars. However, the series premiere episodes of Ahsokasuggest the purrgil are far more powerful than anyone expected. The revelation they took Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger to a different galaxy is a huge one, at least for Star Wars space-whale lore.
The purrgil were introduced in what seemed like a one-off episode of Star Wars: Rebels. The titular heroes discovered an Imperial Tibanna gas mine, the same thing Lando Calrissian's Cloud City was doing in The Empire Strikes Back. The story showcased how Ezra Bridger's ability in the Force allowed him to bond with these gentle giants. He was able to rally the purrgil to save their fellows and the Rebellion. In the series finale, a group of purrgil showed up to return the favor, but it meant that Ezra had to go to wherever far-off locale Thrawn was destined to end up. Ahsoka also reveals that with the help of some ancient Nightsister magic and nine re-purposed hyperdrives from Super Star Destroyers, people from the Star Warsgalaxy can get there, too. Yet, even that impressive accomplishment shows how much more powerful the purrgil are than the technology in this space fantasy.
The Purrgil Are Still a Big Star Wars Mystery to Be Solved
One of the cooler moments in The Mandalorian Season 3 that didn't involve the effort to take back Mandalore was the purrgil cameo. While traveling through hyperspace, Grogu saw one of the space whales just outside of their own hyperspace lane. The purpose of that moment was to give Grogu a reason to cuddle up with his dad, sleeping in the cockpit while the ship made its journey. Yet, it's also a sign these hyperspace-jumping creatures are still out in the galaxy doing their thing. Ahsoka offers up another data point about why the purrgil are more legend than fact. They don't spend all their time in the galaxy far, far away.
The other "far galaxy," as Morgan Elsbeth calls it, is accessible, it seems. Yet, even with the ancient Nightsister Star Map showing, as Baylon called it, "the Pathway to Peridea," they still need a massive ship to get there. The Eye of Sion is a giant vessel, reminiscent of The Clone Wars-era hyperspace rings for Jedi fighter craft, that can presumably get them there with the right programmed coordinates. However, the purrgil can hop to and from around the cosmos without such technological assistance. This changes the purrgil's importance in the grander story because they represent a more powerful form of travel than Star Wars' hyperspace-capable ships.
Star Wars Space Whales Could Be a Great Heroic Ally or a Villainous Threat
Star Wars could fairly be called science-fiction, but it's definitely a different brand than, say, Star Trek and its Federation. One way to tell the difference is that Starfleet has "engineers," while Star Wars has "mechanics." Still, the Eye of Sion is a big, technological marvel of a ship. The details of hyperspace travel are best left ambiguous, such as why nine hyperdrives will help the Eye of Sion presumably go faster in the hyperspace dimension than just one engine. Still, putting limits on hyperspace travel does help the universe feel more logical, even if it is the realm of fantasy. So, allowing the purrgil to naturally transcend those limits feels like the right call.
What makes this more interesting is what this could mean for someone like Ezra, who bonds with these creatures. Ahsoka and Sabine may find Thrawn, but perhaps Ezra Bridger could reappear in the proper galaxy, riding on the back of one of his space-whale friends. Conversely, a powerful extragalactic force could dominate and control these creatures. They could harness their abilities not just to conquer their own galaxy but others as well. There would be no corner of the universe safe from that threat.
Ahsoka debuts new episodes Tuesdays at 9 PM Eastern on Disney+.