Ahsoka premiere features return of the Star Wars opening crawl… kinda

It's back! Well, sorta.

It's been a while since we saw a good ol' fashioned Star Wars opening crawl. Previously, the crawl had been reserved only for Skywalker saga films: the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and the sequel trilogy. That meant that other one-off movies like Rogue One and Solo went crawl-less.

However, at Star Wars Celebration in April, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told EW that the crawl would be returning for the upcoming Daisy Ridley Rey film. "The crawl's coming back," she told EW exclusively. And then she went even further. When asked if the crawl would be returning only for the Rey film since she was an adopted Skywalker, Kennedy responded. "No. The crawl is for movies."

Lucasfilm Ltd. Rosario Dawson on 'Ahsoka'

That would seem to indicate that Star Wars streaming series on Disney+ would remain crawl-free to differentiate them from their big screen counterparts. But then the premiere episode of Ahsoka that dropped on Aug. 22 began with a text message scrolling up from the bottom of the screen:

"The EVIL GALACTIC EMPIRE has failed and a NEW REPUBLIC has risen to take its place. However, sinister agents are already at work to undermine the fragile peace.

"A plot is underway to find the lost IMPERIAL GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN and bring him out of exile. Once presumed dead, rumors are spreading on Thrawn's return which would galvanize the IMPERIAL REMNANTS and start another war.

"Former jedi Knight AHSOKA TANO captured one of Thrawn's allies and learned of a secret map which is vital to the enemy's plan. Ahsoka now searches for the map as her prisoner, MORGAN ELSBETH, is transported to the New Republic for trial…."

The text scrolling up. The random completely capitalized words. The dramatic ellipses. That's a bonafide Star Wars crawl, everyone! Or is it? While Kennedy said that the crawl was for movies, it should be noted that not all crawls are created equal… or at least the same. The film crawls have always followed the separate on-screen message "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…." and a floating Star Wars logo. The crawl itself has then always been yellow text extending from the bottom towards the back of the screen until it finally becomes impossible to read. And all the text unfurls in the vast expanse of outer space.

That's not exactly what happened for Ahsoka. While the crawl backdrop of space did eventually segue to a shot of a New Republic transport like a classic crawl of yesteryear, this one featured no introductory message. Not only that, but the text went from the bottom of the screen straight off the top. Plus… it wasn't even yellow! Instead, creator, executive producer, and director Dave Filoni opted for ominous red type. Scandalous!

From these differences, we can only surmise that when Kennedy said that the crawl would be reserved for movies, she meant the traditional yellow disappearing into space crawl we've all come to know and love. Either that, or they watched an early cut of the Ahsoka premiere and felt it needed a little expository explainer to properly set the scene. Either way, you have to crawl before you can walk… or, it seems, locate the whereabouts of the mysterious Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Listen to interviews with the entire Ahsoka cast as well as episode breakdowns on EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast.

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