The big centerpiece of “Fallen Jedi” is, of course, the amazing lightsaber action that forms the backbone of the episode. The vast majority of its runtime is constructed around the ebb and flow of the massive battle that begins with some droid space karate and ends with Ahsoka’s fall. The centerpiece of this multi-scene fight, in turn, begins when Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren run into Shin Hati and Inquisitor Marrok (Paul Darnell) in the woods.
The following events offer two equally cool, yet extremely different takes on the concept of lightsaber battles. Ahsoka takes on Marrok in a relatively straightforward duel that starts out evenly enough … that is, until Marrok is foolish enough to whip out the spin function of his double-bladed Inquisitorius lightsaber, and immediately discovers first-hand that Ahsoka is really, really good at one-shotting people who use it. Meanwhile, Sabine gets her rematch with Shin, and while she does fare somewhat better than during her first meeting, it’s clear that she still has a whole lot to learn.
The entire sequence is more than a little reminiscent of Finn, Rey, and Kylo Ren’s duel, which takes place during the Battle of Starkiller Base in “The Force Awakens.” Just like the fights in “Ahsoka” Episode 4, the battle takes place in a forest and involves multiple opponents — one of whom (Finn) is hopelessly outclassed by a far more experienced, villainous adversary. Both of the fights also have two parts. The clumsy, visceral sequence between Finn and Kylo is a lot like Sabine’s attempts to hang with Shin’s superior skills, while the far more technical showdown between Kylo and Rey is closer to the Ahsoka-Marrok portion of the “Fallen Jedi” fight.
Of course, there are differences too — the Starkiller Base sequence features a snowy forest, there are only three characters involved, and they sure take down a ton of trees with their sabers. Even so, the overall vibe between the two battle scenes is too similar to be anything other than a deliberate homage.