Full Series Rebels 1.06: "Breaking Ranks" Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Agreed, Lebowski, the Box was the bomb. Points for that, have another White Russian.

The Box had really cool action, nice showcase of Obi-Wan (as Hardeen) and a really interesting dynamic between him and Cad Bane.

I digress, but I did like this Rebels episode for the intrigue and the Crystal. It did not require any additional cheesy humor.

 

What's not to like about the Box? A bunch of Bounty Hunters having to get through a bunch of deadly challenges.

 

I think it may have been a feeling that it wasn't necessary, making a whole episode about bounty hunters getting through traps.. Not sure though, it's been a while since I've seen The Box..

 

Not certain whether anyone has mentioned this, but the entire point behind Ezra's undercover mission, the Kyber crystal?

Hera says to Kanan "You know what the Empire could do with that crystal."

My question is "How?"

How does Kanan (or anyone else on the crew of the Ghost) have any idea what it can do?

What I mean is, we know that, prior to the events on Utapau, not even high ranking members of the Jedi Council, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, are familiar with Kyber crystals of such magnitude (and with such properties). Yoda had to explain it all to the Council there at the end.

So, given that... what, then, exactly? If Kyber crystals of such size and effect were so unknown back then (so much so that seemingly only Yoda and Sidious knew the truth about them), how is it that anyone on the Ghost is so in the loop now?

I guess information as sensitive as this might have somehow leaked from the Council and found its way to the ears of a lowly 13 year old Padawan named Caleb Dume, but as the High Jedi Council wasn't exactly known for sharing its secrets, I find that pretty unlikely.

But it's either that, or Kanan (or someone else on the crew) learned all about these crystals in the interim through some other means. I don't know, it just seemed weird to me. Something would have had to have happened in the intervening years to make such knowledge more widespread, and it would have been nice to find out more about that.

Have the trivia/episode notes appeared yet? Do they mention anything about this?

And incidentally, first with the TCW story and now this, I keep thinking to myself "Well, the heroes are going to have to actually lose out this time. They can't succeed in destroying the crystals." I mean, we know the Empire is going to have to actually hang on to at least a couple of these crystals at some point in order to fire their DS projects, right?

 

Well, they are involved with at least one Arms Dealers (Vizago) leaking/selling them intel, who may have tipped them off, perhaps not even knowing what they were capable of. Kanan knows about their use in lightsabers, and all he would need is a suggestion that the Empire - under the direction of a Sith Lord - was hunting down and caching Kyber deposits in Mass Quantities, it's not too hard to make the connection.

Or perhaps the Spectres were aware (or involved in) a previous shipment or tests of the Crystals previously.

 

Trebor Sabreon - Hera has some informant or informants for the intel, this becomes a big issue starting in the next episode.

 

But this wasn't about a mass shipment of regular, lightsaber-sized Kyber crystals, right?

If it was? Sure, every Padawan who had made the journey to Ilum (including Kanan) would be familiar with them. But Kanan and Hera knew the shipment aboard the Imperial vessel was of a single crystal (they referred to the crystal in the singular), which was large enough to be a big-time concern for them. So it would appear as though they were dealing with another mega-Kyber crystal, the likes of which was uncovered by Kenobi and Skywalker on Utapau.

I just found it odd that they would have any intel on something which, as far as they knew, was assumed to have been the stuff of legend. Something would have to had come along and filled them in on the reality of these really big crystals.

Thanks to Watto, I now know that this is something which appears will be addressed!

 

Trebor Sabreon - Just to set expectations,

Spoiler

in the next ep, they just touch on her working with a contact named Fulcrum, but keep it mysterious for now. She is holding the info very close to her vest, and it's causing tension in the group. Not sure if Fulcrum tipped her off about the Kiber, but it would seem that way.

 

Very interesting! Hera was awesome in A New Dawn, but so far - though she has had a few cool moments to her credit - she's been tied to her pilot's chair a little more than I was hoping for. I'm glad to see they are beginning to do more with her.

 

I think the whole point though with that CW episode was that they were rare artifacts and known to very few - mostly Jedi legend told to younglings and where Yoda confirmed that once they were more numerous and used for superweapons and so very much real. The arms dealers just happened to find the crystal on their own, they were not affiliated with Sidious. Seemed only at that point he became interested in them or the Genosian plans of the Death Star called for a crystal of this size and they been searching for years. I think when the Jedi records were wiped clean ideas of their whereabouts became known to Sidious as evidently two Death Stars are proof he had obtained two or more. The bad side is there was never any green explosion in either Death Star, this is a new effect for the new added element into the storyline.

 

Tyranus.

Probably the latter. A super laser without Kyber crystals is like a gun without bullets, pointless.

I noticed that, too. I like the way it was animated here, but I do wish they'd added the Praxis effect, if only for continuity. Green explosions in the movies would be pretty cool!

 

However the battle station couldve been originally designed just for the typical super ion and super laser(s) the Separatists where known to employ during the war. There was already two proto-Death Sta-like weapons systems used by the Separatists, Drol and the Malevolence . Sidious upon learning of the giant crystal could've easily ordered a more powerful weapon installed rather like Hitler always demanding larger and larger calibers at Wars end, and designs and prototypes or production would have to be scrapped or adjusted for the changes and often there would be design flaws and rushed production leading to serious problems on the battlefield.

 

I really liked this. Best. Episode. So. Far.

The pacing was much better, not too fast or trying to cram too much in, and not too slow.

Considering it focussed on young recruits the same age as Ezra it had a surprisingly mature tone without any of the teen cartoon style bickering that I expected from the opening scene.

Very intriguing new characters in Jai(?) and Zare(?) and The Inquisitors interest in them.

Superb. Loved it!

 

I really think these episodes should be two parters. All of them. It would really benefit, with maybe the exception of ROTOM and OOD.

 

Robocop was actually pretty good but it's not looking so hot for Ep VII...

They made short work of the crew of the Tanitive IV. They also made short work of the Jawas. Obi-wan even went out of his way to point that out to Luke.

Han is one of the most gifted non-Force-sensitive star-pilots in the business and Luke is strong with the Force.

 

merging posts

 

this was the first episode since the 1 hour pilot that I watched from beginning to end without a break of any sort. I really love Ezra even more after this. Glad Hera is getting some time next week!

 

Its more about sabine then hera.

 

I agree. It's more of a Sabine episode.

 

I liked this episode more than I thought I would, guess it helped that the episode was part of a bigger story, not just a stand alone adventure. It was nice to have so many familiar villains under the same roof - Grint and Aresko returning for a role pleased me.

 

well at least we'll see Hera actually stepping away from the pilot's seat!

 

I wasn't impressed. Actually, I haven't been impressed with any episode yet. How do they manage to scrape by and get out of trouble EVERY week by the skin of their teeth? And then wrap up every episode with a warm and fuzzy happy ending? At no point have they given any reason to believe any of this could possibly happen. Just as the story each week starts to get some traction, and look like it might have something good about it, they cut it off and our "Heroes" escape and live happily ever after completely safe from the Empire. There is too much time sent on fluff and filler instead of on the crux of the story each week. How did the Ghost destroy a cruiser with only a couple of blasts, while taking on direct bombardment from three ships? The shields should have failed. And the Phantom, out maneuvering a dozen Tie Fighters to never get hit? None of the relationships between the characters seems genuine. Zeb and Ezra can't stand each other, then in the course of a couple hours, are suddenly best buddies? Kanan and his suddenly deep affection for Ezra? I understand not wanting to get the kid hurt, but to act like he loves him as if he is his very own son, at this point, is VERY far fetched. Hera and Sabine have been severely under-developed. Kanan, Zeb and Ezra change from week to week. We've gotten basically no reason to care for the characters, other than they're the "Good Guys". I know most will disagree with me on this, and that's fine. To each their own. I'm quickly losing my patience with this show, and my interest is waning even more quickly.

And as a side-note, get rid of the asinine droid. It is annoying and serves no purpose.