Star Wars Rebels has ended with its final three episodes, titled A Fool’s Hope, Family
Reunion, and Farewell.
The show had just over an hour to wrap everything up, tying four years of stories together,
and providing some satisfying reasons for the absence of certain characters in the original
Star Wars trilogy.
The plot is centered around a plan of Ezra’s to drive the Empire off of Lothal, if only
for a moment.
He enlists the help of many of the side characters we’ve seen since season one, including Hondo,
Jai Kell, Vizago, Ketsu, Wolf, Gregor, Ryder Azadi,and more.
Everything is kicked off by Ryder’s betrayal, as he provides Governor Price in return for
immunity.
I’ve gotta say this plot had me guessing.
I thought it was all an act, then I thought it was real, and then it was revealed to be
an act after all.
I’m glad it was able to keep me on my toes.
Pryce leads an attack on the small band of Rebels, but are thwarted by Hera returning
with the Ghost in the air and a pack of loth wolves on the ground.
I thought the way Hondo snuck through the blockade was clever and creative.
The wolf attack was straight up vicious.
It was so good, I’m half convinced Dave Filoni planned this whole series just so he
could do this one scene.
Something I thought was interesting as the wolves were revealed was that Rukh couldn’t
smell them.
He’s been using his sense of smell since his introduction, but it failed him here.
I’m guessing that’s something to do with their mystical nature.
Seeing so many characters working together again was awesome.
I was especially excited to see Wolf and Gregor back in the action.
They even shot blue blaster bolts, and Gregor joked that the wolf pack was back.
The episode ends with the capture of Pryce, and phase two of the plan is all about attacking
the Imperial command center before Thrawn can return.
Before rushing in, Ezra has a little talk with his parents, reminding us that he is
continuing their legacy.
I have to imagine that him saying he would finish what they started was a purposeful
mirror of Kylo Ren.
The crew fairly easily takes control of the Imperial dome with Pryce under their thumb.
Unfortunately, Thrawn makes it back before they launch, and Rukh is able to shut down
Lothal’s planetary shields, opening up the city for bombardment.
This takes us back to the episode Dume, where Zeb and Sabine had a chance to capture him
or kill him, and they let him go.
I never liked that they did that, and in my eyes they are basically responsible for any
damage he did in these episodes.
Anyway, Ezra surrenders himself to Thrawn to stop the destruction of his city.
Thrawn hands him over to Palpatine himself, or at least a hologram of him.
This was my favorite segment of the episode, which you probably could have guessed.
It’s very related to the World Between Worlds, which I am still obsessed with.
Palpatine appears as a kindly old man, and Rebels has already shown that he has the means
to alter his appearance for the public when he pleases.
I’ve always loved the Tolkien line about a servant of the enemy appearing fair but
feeling foul, and that’s exactly what’s going on here.
Actually I felt a lot of Tolkien in the series finale, like Ezra’s temptation.
Or the fact that the episode title A Fool’s Hope is a direct quote from Gandalf.
The Emperor still needs to use Ezra to gain access to the World Between Worlds, so he
tempts him into opening it up very similarly to the way he used Kanan as a temptation last
time.
In A World Between Worlds, Ezra lets Kanan go and honors his death, and I’ve said many
times already that I felt that was an illusion from Palpatine.
Right after Ezra resisted, he talked about how he wanted to be with his parents again,
right before the Emperor appears.
So he knows exactly what Ezra wants, and he tempts him with it.
But again Ezra resists, and Sidious comes out in an awesome sequence that leads to a
number of Royal Guards attacking.
It’s awesome to see a canon version of their armor under the cloaks, and it seems like
Force pikes are way more powerful than we originally thought.
It seems like they let wielders harness the Force to some degree, even though I’m guessing
they aren’t Force sensitive.
Very interesting.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew works to get the planetary shields back online.
Gregor is shot, and I screamed at that, even though I kind of figured it was going to happen.
I really liked his dying words about a few clones fighting for a cause they chose instead
of something they were bred for.
Also, Zeb traps Rukh and watches him fry to death as the shields are restored.
This is what happens when Sabine doesn’t stop him, and I really like it!
Ezra confronts Thrawn again, determined to remove his presence from Lothal once and for
all.
And he does so with some help from the purrgil from season two.
And another moment that caused me to scream was Thrawn demanding a status report from
Captain Pellaeon!
More Legends characters coming back to play!
Even if it was just a name and we never get anything else, it made me very happy.
I thought this was a pretty solid way to beat the Grand Admiral.
Ezra’s connection with the purrgil was established well, but more importantly, how could Thrawn
have ever expected this to happen.
He said himself that he didn’t understand the Force earlier in the episode, and by the
way I can’t wait to see Thrawn and Vader talk about the Force in Thrawn: Alliances.
But speaking of that book, I have some questions.
Like, when does it take place?
Because Ezra’s plan winds up fulfilling the Bendu’s vision of seeing Thrawn embraced
by many cold arms.
He and Ezra are both swept into hyperspace to who knows where.
And with that, two of my concerns about Rebels were resolved.
I have said since the series began that Ezra and Kanan could not be around for the events
of the original trilogy, because Luke is desperate for someone to help him with the Force.
Two Jedi in the Rebellion negates that.
I also think Thrawn would have turned the tide of some events.
But all three of those problems have now been solved.
But Dave Filoni has confirmed that both Ezra and Thrawn survived the purrgil jump, so we
have probably not seen the last of them.
With all Imperial opposition destroyed by the Purrgil, the Ghost crew launches the Imperial
command center into the sky and destroys it.
Pryce chooses to stay on board.
I do wish she had been around more in the show.
She was mentioned the entire series, but I found her to be a pretty good villain from
her first appearance in season three.
I liked her story in the Thrawn book as well.
Her death would have been a bit more satisfying if she were seen as a major threat from the
start.
With the Empire mostly gone, the people of Lothal are inspired to finish the fight and
capture their city for good.
They prepared for Imperial retaliation that never came.
Thanks to the Battle of Scarif, the Empire just didn’t have time to worry about Lothal,
and the planet was able to rebuild through the Battle of Endor.
In voiceover, Sabine reminds us that Hera fought at Endor, and so did Rex, so I think
we can officially say that Rex appears on screen in Return of the Jedi.
Zeb takes Kallus to Lasan so he doesn’t feel bad about killing the entire race.
Just ninety nine percent of them.
I really liked Kallus and Zeb throughout the series.
I think it’s cool that they have this Legolas Gimli type friendship.
In Lord of the Rings, Gimli is the only dwarf allowed to go to the Undying Lands.
But even I think the Lasat accepting Kallus as one of their own is just a little too much
forgiveness.
It’s revealed that Hera has a son named freaking Jacen, inspired by Jacen Solo in
Star Wars Legends, I assume.
Also, and this has been confirmed before, but people ask me all the time if humans can
breed with aliens, and here is your most definitive proof.
And finally, after the Galactic Civil War comes to an end, Sabine looks out over Lothal.
It appears the way Ezra envisioned it back in season two.
With the planet’s future intact, she heads off to search for Ezra with Ahsoka’s help.
She did promise to find him once she got off Malachor.
Ahsoka was another worry of mine when she was brought into the show.
I was excited to see her, but again, she can’t be around when Luke needs a teacher.
So where has she been?
I’m sure we’ll find out eventually.
My guess is she was stuck on Malachor and found a way out in the World Between Worlds,
and whenever she was in a position to rejoin her friends, too many years had gone by.
The last three episodes were really solid.
Not my favorites of the series or even the season, but they were an exciting and satisfying
conclusion.
There are some things I would change, like making the good guys pay a larger price than
one clone to get the job done, but the last twenty minutes or so were superb.
Enthralling and exciting in ways that will stand out as some of the best moments of the
show.
I’m sure I’ll be talking more about Star Wars Rebels as a whole in the near future,
but I’m going to wrap up my review of these episodes for now.
I would love to hear what you thought of them!
Let me know in the comments!
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As always, thanks for watching and may the Force be with you!