The finale of Rebels is here and this time they are taking on Vader! Ezra, Kanan, and Ahsoka all arrive at Malachor trying to find out why Yoda wanted them to go there. The first assumption is to gain knowledge that could help them take on the Inquisitors. Of course we know that isn't the case entirely as the group actually stumble upon a sith temple! The explore inside and see what they find as they walk past a battlefield with old lightsabers. An Inquisitor takes them on trying to distract them to get to their ship and make them stranded or worse, trace back to the rebels hideout. Ezra falls into a lower level and is met by the formally Darth Maul who leads him to a room that he claims that can destroy the sit. Maul manipulates Ezra into opening the door to this room through the use of anger and other emotions that lead Jedi to the dark side.
Maul leads him to a holocron that contains all the sith secrets and they use the force to get to the platform. they retrieve the holocron and meet back up with Kanan and Ahsoka who are fighting all three Inquisitors in which Maul begins to help them by fighting them off. Maul convinces the group to get the top of the temple where there is a room that only can be opened by the holocron. After an Inquisitor attack they split up and Maul teams up with Ezra once again. They fight one for Inquisitors and Ezra almost dies from the attack but Maul saves him and kills the Inquisitor just in time. He even goes to help Kanan and Ahsoka and takes out both of the other Inquisitors. He reveals that Ezra will be his new apprentice as the location they thought to be a Sith temple was actually a battlestation! Maul wants to destroy all his enemies including the rebels so he can get his revenge. This is when we get Ahsoka vs Maul to Maul vs Kanan! Which is over quick when Kanan throws up off the cliff, but of course that wasn't enough to stop him. Ezra realizes he was tricked and as that happens, DARTH VADER SHOWS UP! Vader fights Ezra destroying his lightsaber and when he is about to attack Ahsoka shows up! She takes on Vader alone and they battle it out Master and Apprentice! Kanan shows up and helps Ezra turn off the Hollocron, Ahsoka sacrifices herself to take on Vader alone, we don't know if that was end of her for good but I have a feeling that is the end we will see her on the good side. Maul escapes on a tie fighter and Vader escapes his battle with Ahsoka. We leave the episode seeing Ezra as he takes a look inside of what the Holocron has stored in it. Possibly beginning his journey to the darkside? Just when Rebels was getting great it comes to an end! This was a great episode and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time! The biggest highlight for me was Ezra subtle turn to the dark side with Maul manipulating him so easily the entire time. But when Vader showed up, that is when the episode quality just bumped up and began to feel more authentic to the original trilogy. I do wish that the Inquisitor were delved into a bit more or at least were kept alive especially after they introduce a fourth new Inquisitor in this episode. I know I am not alone in knowing what is stored on that Holocron and even to know the voice of who ever was speaking from it! A very satisfying finale and makes me excited for where they go next with this Rebels story line! See you on the next season of Rebels! Rating:
Ezra and Kanon are engage in a fight with the Inquisitors, teaming up to get out of there as fast as they can. Kanon realizes that their presence in the rebellion is dangerous and they need to find a new way so they can't be followed. Ahsoka is watching old holograms of training sessions from Anakin reminiscing on how great she saw him as a teacher. They travel back to Ezra's homeworld of lothal and go to a Jedi temple, the same one from before.
They open up the temple only to reveal that there is a second floor below that was hidden. Kanon opens up a path that is just mean for him and Once inside he is met from a Temple Guard, and is challenged by him. What makes this meeting interesting is that the guard tells Kanon that the darkside is calling for Ezra and with that they begin fighting. Kanon is getting outmatched and begins to take a new lightsaber as three more guards show up! The Inquisitors, show up as they tracked them to the Jedi Temple and make their way inside. Ezra and Ahsoka talk about Yoda and his training as well as some of the qualities he had. In a blink of an eye Ezra wakes up in a different space and is met by Yoda. Ezra wants to know how to stop the Inquisitors and Yoda tells him about the Clone Wars and how the Jedi became consumed by the darkside.
Ahsoka is by herself and is then met by a vision of Anakin telling her that she shouldn't have left. It is pretty obvious that she is guilty about her leaving the Jedi behind. The Inquisitors begin to reveal the Temple themselves as everyone is still stuck in their visions. They open it and make their way inside of the temple as it is collapsing. Kanon is once again outmatched by these guards and begins to realize that he can't save Ezra. With that the Temple guard reveals himself to be the grand Inquisitor who tells him that he can still be what he once was. Yoda tells Ezra to find Malachor as his next journey.
The Inquisitors are met by the Grand Inquisitor and other Temple Guards before they are taken out by them. The group makes their way out safely and are saved by Chopper as more Imperial forces make their way to them. I like this episode and by far the most interesting aspect was Kanon's battle between the Temple Guards! We had already expected who the Grand Inquisitor might be but now having confirmation makes it a bit more interesting! Also it is heavily implied that Ezra is going to be seduced to the darkside and Kanon is going to have to let that go at some point. Will be become a new Inquisitor? It is always possible. A really good episode of Rebels and now that Vader is back, it is going to be even more interesting as we get closer to the finale!
Zeb and Agent Kallus, two enemies that must work together! During their latest mission that gang get surrounded by Stormtroopers and are forced to split up. Zeb ends up having to fight Kallus alone and has to find his own way to escape. He gets on an escape pod only to be attacked by Kallus once again and they both activated the escape pod. They land on Geonosis and are stuck in an underground cave. This forces them to have to work together so they can come up with a plan to escape. It is not easy however because in this cave lies creatures as well as empire scouters above ground. So until the Rebels can find them they are stuck on this planet. Kallus tells Zeb a story about one of his first missions on Alderon and how a Lasat took out most of him men and almost killed him. Through their conversation they begin to develop a common ground with each other and being in the situation they are in they are going to have to. More creatures show up and they decided to climb the pillars to make it out. They make their way to the top only having to use a cleaver way to dodge the creatures and get to the top. Once their it becomes too cold to make their way through the surface. They find a sheltered area and Kallus realizes that what happened on Lasat was wrong and doesn't want to take credit for it.
The ghost crew make it and save Zeb taking him back to the ship. While Kallus waits for the Empire and begins to see everything differently now, taking notice that he isn't really present on his own ship. Maybe even realizing he is on the wrong side. We will have to find out later on I suppose. I really enjoyed this episode, it was simple and it is always entertaining to see two enemies having to work together and find a common ground. This reminded me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender that had a similar episode during the series. It wasn't what I was expecting but I can appreciate when they take the chance to give the characters more development to make them more interesting as the show goes on. Rating:
We meet Hera's father! Hera returns home in this episode of rebels. The phoenix squad is at it last leg as many of the rebel fighters are taken out by the Empire leaving their numbers dwindling. Worried that there will be no more places to hide the ships Hera has a plan to fix the problem and even give the Rebellion an asset they need. In need of a helping hand they make contact with Cham Syndulla, who is Hera's father who fought in the Clone Wars, with Mace Wind. Hera has a past grudge against her father while Kanon is really taken to him. They coordinate a plan to overtake and steal the carrier that houses these Imperial bombers and with Syndulla's experience he is a great addition to the group.
It turns out the Syndulla has a different motive and wants to blow up this station as revenge for his planet. This conflicts with our groups motive as they want the bomber ship to take back to the rebels. But Syndulla and his gang get the upper hand at first and knock out the ghost group to get the head start. They disable the hyperdrive and even begin to plant bombs through out the carrier. Luckily Hera wakes everyone up and they make a plan to go stop Syndulla from blowing up the carrier at the same time stealing the ship so the rebels can use it. This was a much better episode than last weeks but I still feel like we didn't get as much depth as we could've had. It was nice to see Hera's father and get a little hint at her past but I would've liked to have seen more. I think if this situation took place on her actually planet we could have seen more of her kind and maybe other faces from her past. The message of the day became fairly obvious by the middle of the episode and I was just waiting for what beat to hit all the way to the end. A good episode, but a fairy predictable and in-inventive one as well. Rating:
The episode starts off with the group looking for the location of a facility that is holding special fuel that could power the entire Phoenix group through an entire cycle. While on their way to this facility Ezra begins to hear a call coming from space. The sound is coming from a group of space whales that are giving off this call. They happen to be going in the same direction as them and Hera becomes very cautious of them because she doesn't trust them. When they get to the facility they are met by opposition from what looks like the workers there and it turns out they are the ones that are keeping the whales from leaving. The mission, instead of being just blow up everything, now becomes saving the whales so they can be free and no longer contained. Ezra takes charge as he has the plan to save them while both Kanon and Sabine have his back to get the fuel and save the whales at the same time. Once again Rebels is really improving on the interaction of the group especially when they are on a mission like this one. The interactions and dynamics they have keep it very exciting and gives everything they're doing a sense of fun to it. If I were honest with myself, this would be the first episode of this season that I didn't care all that much for. I don't know if it was just the plot or the episode or that is focused so much on Ezra without really developing him. It felt like he was just the person telling us the message of the day and didn't really do much else. The best episodes are when he is heavily interacting with Kanon whether it be with new training or learning more about each others pasts. Its a decent episode with nothing really memorable in it. I am hoping and having a feeling that the episode to follow will be more interesting but we will have to wait a whole other week to see it.
The group are looking for refugees captured by the Empire. Ezra is leading this mission, but to a surprise these refugees captured are Zeb's own kind! They break them free as Hando shows up because he was the one who told them about the Lasats. Zeb, up to this point has assumed he was the last of his kind and to his surprise the two Lasats remember him. They want to make their way to a new world where they can survive. Hando gives away the rebels, and the Stormtroopers make their way to capture them, but before they are captured he warns them. The group makes their way back to the ship and fires back at the stormtroopers, just as Hando gets caught by them. Lirasan is the location of the new home for the Lasat, but Zeb is very unsure that this world exists. There seems to be a noticeable grudge from Zeb about the Lasat and possibly his past. He isn't two happy about the new goal for them and is even disappointed they aren't warriors anymore. Ezra confronts Zeb about the his problem with the Lasat, he tells them that he feels responsible for the extinction of his people. He doesn't even feel worth being called Captain. Zeb is the child of Lasat and helps them discover the location of their new home world. The location is from the Outer Rim and isn't even located on a map, but with his weapon, it shows the world of Lirasan. He takes over control of the ship and they are able to make it through the cluster of stars that are blocking the way to the planet. The hyperdrive activates and they make it through a special kind of light speed past the cluster of stars. On the other side, is Lirasan and they drop them off. Zeb finds out that the rest of his kind are still alive and are on Lirasan and because the planet is now marks on the ghost ship means they can come back to this location any time they want to. This episode started pretty typically, but escalated in a very interesting way. We see that Zeb isn't the only one of his kind around and even get a glimpse at something similar to the force. I would say the best part of the episode was definitely the Star Cluster scene. With my interest in space travel it was nice to see that implemented into Star Wars in a way that I have never seen before. We even got a little development out of Zeb showing that he was actually a respected captain before his race was attacked by the Empire. It was a really good episode and I can't wait to see what is in store for next week! Rating:
The Empire attack the Rebel Fleet on Garel, Kanan and Ezra return to
Lothal and find a former prisoner with knowledge about Ezra's parents.
Ezra has a vision about his parents and where they just might be as well as a glimpse into the future. This is something that a Jedi goes through at some point in time I am just surprised that it is happening to Ezra this soon. He tells Kanon and Hera about the vision and tells them how real it felt and they decide to tell him something that Zebo told them. They know that his parents were taken to an Empire prison but no one has been able to find them. Agent Kallus teams up with the Inquisitors to go find the Rebel Fleet and Ghost Group on Lothal. Ezra uses the force to find his parents on a list and uses it to try to locate his parents. He is hasty to go and find them while Zeb and Chopper are out getting supplies. Just as the gang are ready to leave Star Destroyers fill the sky as the Empire is ready to make a new attack. Kanon and Ezra go to help Zeb so they can escape together, Agent Kallus pins them down so they can't escape. Ezra decides to take on Kallus all by himself using the force and them down. The Inquisitors show up and challenge Ezra and he tries to take them on by himself because he is so worked up. Luckily Kanon blasts the door and closes it before they get through, they head for the ship so they can escape. The Empire decides to use tractor beams to prevent their ship from escaping the atmosphere and even sends Tie-Fighters after them. The Rebel Fleet are scrambled and Hera has Kanon and Ezra leave the fleet so they have a chance to find Ezra's parents. The Empire focuses on the command ship with the tractor beam and Sabine comes up with a plan to send torpedoes that will hit the ship so they won't get captured. While at the same time taking on two Tie-Fighters. The Fleet stay together and even use Light Speed to escape. Meanwhile Kanon and Ezra arrive at Lothal and when they get there it is very quiet and empty. The Empire destroyed a lot of the city and a lot of the evidence of his parents too. He uses the force to focus on what he should look for and finds a Loth cat that was in his vision. He plants a tracker on it and follows it to an empty area where a sniper begins to shoot at him. The sniper turns out to be a former prisoner who knew his parents and even knows that they died. His parents died after helping other rebellion sympathizers escape the prison and Ezra's messages help motivate them to escape. Ezra remembers what his home used to look like and even what his parents were like as they remind him to be strong as the empire shows up. This was definitely a more real down to earth episode, with the death and even differences of Ezra's parents have real emotion behind it. I noticed how we go a hint of the anger that Ezra has in him and even how he was able to take on Kallus and even the Inquisitors if it weren't for Kanon to prevent him from going to the Dark Side. Either way it is going to be interesting seeing where this will go in the future. I think that next week will be the mid-season finale of Season 2 and I can't wait to see what will happen. Rating:
The gang are on a mission to help someone who is transmitting to them. When they get to the planet they are met by a block aide from the Empire being lead by Agent Kallus. The Phoenix Squadron engage in a battle to tie fighters and are able to fight of a few of them. Because their ships are being taken out they are forced to retreat but take a lot of casualties with them. After retreating they discuss what the new plan should be and Rex tells them about someone who will be able to help them get through the block aide and to the planet they need to get to. Kanon has Hera go to the planet to find this person who has the ship they need while he and Ezra go and get the rest of the supplies they need. The planet they get to is a planet where ships cannot physically fly from. Hera's ships crashes on a landing stripe and are barley saved from fall out the cliff. It turns out they are saved by Quarrie, the alien who lives on this planet and collects ships that fall from the sky. He tells them he is waiting for the right pilot to come and show him in order for him to give up the ship that he has and the one they need to return to the fleet with. Hera tells her story to him about why she is doing what she is doing for the Rebellion. He allows her to test drive the ship to see if she can fly it. The ship turns out to be a B-Wing, which has a combination of different elements from different ships we've seen throughout the Star Wars films and Series. Hera flies the B-Wing and while it doesn't seem to work at first, she manages to get it to fly and working just fine.
Meanwhile Ezra and Kanon get the supplies ad return to the fleet only to find out that they are about to make their second attempt at passing the block aide. They don't have the fire power yet and they aren't successful at first but Just at the right moment Hera comes in the battle with the new B-Wing ship. Luckily it is strong enough to take down the critical points of one of the empire star destroyers and the Rebels pass the block aide. They drop the supplies to the people on the planet successfully and make it back to their home base. In the end of the episode Hera becomes Phoenix Leader, a captain of the Rebel fleet and will become much more involved with the Rebellion from this point forward then she has previous. I also think that means that our group will be going on much more dangerous mission as well as battles on the front lines against the Empire. I did like the look of this new ship and even reminded me of elements from Jango Fett's ship from Attack of the Clones and I hope we get to see it in the future at some point. I was surprised that the look of it wasn't the look of the X-Wings from the original trilogy because those models were definitely the more popular used one. That being said, I appreciate the creators of the show bringing in one of the lesser known ships from the franchise and giving them some back story and fits nicely with the universe.
