The following contains spoilers from Ahsoka, Episodes 1 & 2, "Master and Apprentice" and "Toil and Trouble," now streaming on Disney+.
Perhaps unfortunately for Ahsoka Tano, but the characters Star Wars fans are most concerned about in her first two episodes aren't even there. Writer and director Dave Filoni knew this going in, so every character in the series premiere is concerned about Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger, too. Filoni is also a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, so Morgan Elsbeth's Eye of Sion ship is very likely a reference to the Eye of Sauron.
The first two episodes of Ahsoka are most reminiscent of Attack of the Clones, with Ahsoka, Hera and Sabine investigating both Elsbeth and trying to unlock an ancient map. Their investigation runs parallel to the Thrawn ally's plans. Fallen Jedi Baylan Skoll sends his apprentice Shin and a former Sith Inquisitor named Marrok to retrieve a refurbished hyperdrive from a Super Star Destroyer. It is one of nine used by Elsbeth to power the ship that could, with the help of the ancient map, take them to Thrawn. The ship, a gigantic ring-shaped vessel, is called the Eye of Sion. Darth Sion, one of the villains in 2004's The Knights of the Old Republic II, was known as the Lord of Pain and only had one eye. However, the vessel's parallels to Tolkien's infamous Eye of Sauron may be more than just a name.
Ahsoka's Premiere Episodes Traded One Tolkien Reference for Another
The final scene of Ahsoka's second episode, "Toil and Trouble" seems very similar to the final scene of Sabine Wren's last Star Wars adventure. If so, this moment changes the Star Wars Rebels finale, because Ahsoka's absence was itself a mystery, and she returned with a staff clad all in white. She had last been seen, chronologically that is, descending into the depths of a Sith temple on Malachor. So, her reappearance was both a return from "the dead" and signified she'd been through a change, much like Gandalf the White. That imagery wasn't in Ahsoka.
Replacing it is not the comforting parallel to the return of one of The Lord of the Rings' best characters but a reference to its Palpatine. Both LOTR and Star Wars are vast mythic universes with deep histories that tell specific stories about the human condition with non-human characters. Both sagas focus on how great, legendary evil can be defeated by good, brave people willing to fight back. The Eye of Sion ship is not itself a magical representation of the dark side of the Force or some such. Rather, it's a symbol that a long-gone malevolence in the galaxy is poised to return. Also, since the Eye of Sion requires nine hyperdrives to function, perhaps that is a nod to the nine Rings of Power in The Lord of the Rings?
The Eye of Sion Represents the Same Kind of Threat as the Eye of Sauron
Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a marvelous adaptation, as timeless as the original Star Wars films. However, thanks to his cinematic styling, fans less familiar with the books think Sauron is a giant, floating eye. This is never what the Eye of Sauron was supposed to represent, at least in the books. Rather it was the reminder that no truly terrible evil is ever really gone. The Eye of Sauron was equal parts threat and warning. One Ring or not, Tolkien's most powerful villain was always going to return to meddle in the affairs of people, free or otherwise.
The Imperial Remnant in the Star Wars galaxy is no joke. However, the Eye of Sion is a massive project that's obviously been under construction for a long time. Like Sauron's menacing eye, the Eye of Sion is symbolic of the Empire's, and more directly Grand Admiral Thrawn's, continuing influence over the galaxy and its people. Ahsoka and Hera were shocked to discover the workers at the Corellian shipyard were still loyal to the Empire instead of the New Republic. Only instead of Sauron looking out on the realms of Men, the Eye of Sion looks out to distant galaxies trying to find the lost Thrawn.
Sauron had magic to play around with, and Thrawn doesn't have the Force himself. Instead, he needs loyal servants, technology and a little Nightsister magic. The Eye of Sion is going to be important to the series. However, as a reference to the Eye of Sauron, it's a fun, loose parallel to Dave Filoni's other favorite epic saga.
Ahsoka debuts new episodes Tuesdays at 9 PM Eastern on Disney+.