A/V STAR WARS REBELS (show's over, spoilers allowed)

i am just beginning the first episode. any comments on Ezra's power levels from episode 301?

 

The Republic fought the Separatists, but both were the pawns of an Underground/Shadow Sith Empire, which the figureheads of both factions were actually aligned with. The Sith Empire won, and swallowed up both the Republic and the Separatists. That the Republic legally became the Empire was a technicality. The Republic and Separatists were weakened, and then both actually overthrown by the Sith Empire.

All the tools for the Republic becoming an Empire were put in place, ready to launch at a moment's notice. It's no surprise we're learning the visual and methodological transformation into the Empire came surprisingly (and almost unbelievably) quickly to the surface following O-66. The Sith had been preparing all of those pieces. Weapons, armor, capital ships with the new aesthetic were likely fully in development and preparation holding back for the ReBranding. O-66 was the final technicality to allow the Sith Empire to take over AS a declared Empire, and launch The New Way.

The Sith Empire caused the frationing of the Republic, and then effectively weaked both factions to the point where the unified Empire could take over both.

The idea that the Empire wasn't just an extension of the Republic can be seen as a very significant observation, and one not all that obvious IU.

 

I think the point of the PT is to show how Sidious founded the Empire, and how the Empire supplanted the deeply crippled Republic. That what was already weak was very intentionally poisoned. In some ways, the structure/skin of the Republic was still left as a crippled decorative shawl until all pretense was wiped away with the dissolution of the Senate in ANH. By 'Sith Empire', I'm not making reference to stuff of Legends, but as the reality that a shadow organization that was part of both the republic and separtists fought for the weaking and destruction of both of their systems of government in order to allow the New Order (Sidious' Empire) to overcome and supplant them both. And while it's technically "The First Galactic Empire", Sidious sees it as his own Sith Empire. "Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have peace."

I don't think one has to know the deepest intricacies of what really went on behind the scenes. Based on what Kalani and Rex were saying would be enough, at a high level and someone thinking a bit outside of the box, to suggest that a Third Party was at play. I think that was the role of Ezra - someone not in the thick of it that could see that other perspective. That the system of oppression which he sees as embodying the Empire is what came out as victorious - defeating both Rex's Republic (what he fought for) and the Separatists (what they fought for). Three parties, and the Third using the corpse of one of the slain as sheep's clothing. ("I love democracy. I Love the Republic."). It's not unreasonable for an observation to be made without knowing the details about how it might be possible.

 

So, the whole episode guide is online. Two stray observations:

Spoiler

• as somebody else pointed out earlier, Agamar isn't quite the agriworld it used to be, since it's now "a barren world of frost and rock";
• for some reason, the Databank has separate entries for the "Neimoidian Escort Shuttle" and the "Sheathipede-class shuttle". Weird.

 

Simplest answer:

Spoiler

the shuttles seen in ROTS and TCW are noticeably larger - they know this - so the little shuttle from Rebels gets its own entry. I'm guessing the Escort Shuttle was what Legends called the Sheathipede - but Newcanon has given its own name to - reserving Sheathipede for the small variant.

 

However, the Sheathipede-class Databank entry says it's "an ideal ship for battle droids during the Clone Wars", so I assume it did appear in TCW. IMHO, the fact that there are two distinct entries is just a mistake.

 

It doesn't call it out as having appeared in TCW though, only in Rebels. Maybe someone could do some size estimates?

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure that there's no way that a TCW-type shuttle would fit in the docking bay that held the Phantom, and will hold the new Sheathipede Phantom II.

Presumably, once it's fixed, the TCW one will have the old 20m figure, and only the Rebels one will be 14.4m.

 

Also poor Concord Dawn - it's half-pulverized, no longer being spherical - but not completely pulverized.

 

Preview for next week's ep!

Spoiler

Sounds like Fenn Rau's unequivocally anti-Empire now---and we might finally find out about Sabine's family!

ETA:

Spoiler

Watched the vid again---I think that guy might be Gar Saxon from the Darth Maul comics. Definitely lends some credence to Sabine's mom being Rook Kast if so!

 

Spoiler

No, that's exactly what I was thinking. But Katee Sackhoff having mentioned she voiced Bo-Katan indicates that it might be her instead, so I guess we'll see two weeks from now.

 

Spoiler

Between that and Pablo saying that Sabine's design was partly based on Rook, it's confirmed as far as I'm concerned.

Spoiler

Yeah but Dave heavily implied that Bo-Katan wasn't in this season.

And how many times do we have to go over "they explicitly said Bo was not Sabine's mom and for that matter Sabine ain't white"?

 

Spoiler

I guess you're gonna have to reiterate that first point for me, cause I didn't know that was the case. ;>_>

 

Actually, there was a separate entry for the separatist escort shuttle back in TCW, and the armed version of the ship looks different enough from the original - even has a different cockpit - that I could see it being a distinct variant:



http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Class_type_B

 

Imagine if, in 1960's London, no one remembered World War II. Having Clone Wars stuff in Rebels makes more sense than not having it.

 

What I would have preferred instead of only giving us just CIS droids is give us something TCW rarely showed, CIS humans (not named Dooku and Ventress).

Having the Rebels crew encounter ex-CIS people (who also have droids) would have made the episode more interesting.

 

Spoiler

And that's what I was getting it. They don't know the full picture.

 

I didn't know that I feel enlightened.

 

I don't dislike this show as much as a lot of people seem to, but this season has been a bit of a letdown. I liked the premiere and the Thrawn stuff in Hera's Heist, but these episodes are generally poorly plotted. They should all be 44 mins long.


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