This moment here is where Luminara Unduli won me over fully. What I loved the most about Luminara in this introductory episode was the ease with which she could communicate, especially towards a student, like Ahsoka. When it is important Luminara can be so very clear in her communication.
Luminara starts out this episode overly sure of herself and underestimating Ventress.
After her fight with Ventress, Luminara’s also humble enough to quickly admit her mistake. She has no problem letting that previous arrogance go and change her mind. She could have doubled down here and declared that she was fine on her own, but instead she even takes the initiative to communicate to Ahsoka that she now sees that she was wrong and should have listen to her.
This clarity and willingness to take the first step also shows up in my favourite exchange of this episode, one right at the end, after Luminara thanks Ahsoka for saving her life:
Ahsoka clearly isn’t sure on how to interpret this. It’s sounds vague enough that it could be a reprimand, telling her that she went out of line. So, Luminara immediately makes herself clearer when she sees Ahsoka hesitating.
She makes sure that Ahsoka understands that she been given praise, and she sounds so warm doing it.
(Let me just, eh, zoom in on this…)
(Perfection)
She’s still clearly warm in tone when they say goodbye, before going back to business.
I know some people see Luminara as quite cold (and everybody has a right to their own interpretations), but for me, her warmth stands out just because she doesn’t have show it all the time. Luminara is reserved and professional most of the time, but when the moment allows it or calls for it, she can bring forward such a deep warmth.