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

That's pretty much how I treat any differences between the ANH Star Destroyer and the Rogue One Star Destroyers - they're trying to be faithful to the originals - but the originals still need to be made a bit more modern and polished.

 

Interesting note in the Trivia Gallery:

"The finale brings an end to Phoenix Squadron, with the destruction of the Phoenix Nest carrier, the death of Commander Sato, and the loss of Atollon."

Which makes a lot of sense. Their fleet was destroyed, their base lost, and their top commander killed - the remnant of Phoenix Squadron will most likely merge into the Massassi Group or join Mon Mothma's core Alliance cell on Dantooine. Which I would love, as it get Hera closer to the center of the Rebellion, plus allows Dantooine to be used next season.

--Adm. Nick

 

Presumably, at least one of their A-wings survives even if the squadron is dissolved (Complete Locations). I would guess that once Massassi Group get X-wings, the A-wings will be kept in reserve - until shortly before ROTJ when the Rebels strip down the A-wings and upgrade them for extra speed, making them viable again.

Season 4 would be a good opportunity for lots of Rogue One and ANH tie-ins - we can see Willard, Porkins, Red Leader, and so forth (ANH) as well as Raddus, Blue Leader, Cassian, etc (Rogue One).

 

Well, I always took "Phoenix Squadron" to mean two things. There is a larger "Phoenix Squadron" that was the name for Sato's entire group. Then you have the fighter squadron employed by the group being literally Phoenix Squadron.
It's interesting, the season finale was the one time that Sato referred to his spaceborn forces as "Phoenix Fleet". It was poignant, as his forces grew to fleet size, but ultimately were reduced to a fraction of their former size.

If we assume that no other ships escaped "off screen", Phoenix Squadron's total remnant is the Ghost, one CR90 corvette (appears to be Sato's old Liberator), a pair of Hammerhead corvettes, three A-wings (including Wedge + Hobbie), and a pair of Y-wings. This is about as small as they've been since the lost at the start of season two, when most of their A-wings and Phoenix Home was lost.

I do wonder how much of Massassi Group survived. Did Dodonna bring his entire fleet, or just a portion? I'd like to think that some ships were left at Yavin, plus I'm also assuming that Mon Mothma's Alliance High Command & Rebel Council that are presumably already formed on Dantooine has a fleet as well.

Either way, it's a brutal loss.

If/when Thrawn dies, I want it to be in space. Preferably with his flagship being caught between Raddus on the Profundity and Ackbar on Home One. Hopefully between season 3 and 4 the Rebels start cranking new ships out of those secret yards in the Telaris system, cause they are gonna need them!

--Adm. Nick

 

It would be interesting if the heavy losses--or something like Sato's Sacrifice--inspired some kind of martyr effect for the Rebellion...With more than ever rallying to the cause.

I'm really curious--I think most are--to see how this will all fit into into ANH, particularly the Jedi. It makes no sense for them to be around post-Luke and not have him learn from Kanan and/or Ezra.

That being said, how do we know Luke does not learn from things from Ezra? That can still happen. I don't think the post-ANH comics have covered too much time (although I'm not sure on that account). Or, under the instructions of Yoda, Ezra stays away from Luke because...Yoda logic. Or something to that effect. There are ways for the Rebel Jedi to live and still make sense. This is a pulp fiction story at heart.

I'd also like for there to be some meaningful payoff/contribution of the Ghost crew to the Rebellion overall, similar to Rogue One. Everyone​ died...but all they worked for was super meaningful.

And Rex. I'd really like to see something cool for him.

sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

Yeah I think Thrawn's overall arc this season would have worked better if it wasn't spread through the entire season, maybe split up the half seasons by what you want to focus on. Do Maul/Bendu in the first half of the season and keep Bendu and introduce Thrawn in the second half to more effectively portray Thrawn. The more time passed between him steepling his fingers, organ music playing in the background and him saying "Soon!", the less effective he looked.

That being said, this was a great season finale! All the characters got something to do, Kallus is now a legitimate rebel team member (I'm still grumpy about the genocidal maniac making a heel turn so suddenly, but what can I say I like forward momentum), the Rebels have been forced off Attollon and have suffered a resounding defeat (yes!) by Thrawn no less! So much of the fleet action and intercutting between crew members on individual missions just SCREAMED Star Wars to me. The music is excellent now in this show. I remember in the first season it being annoyingly close to the OT, but they've done a great job of mixing pieces of OT soundtrack into Kiner's own thing for Rebels, and it really sells the scenes of the show.

Very happy with this finale. Can't wait to see what's in store next season. Though I am hoping Season 4 is the last and we get some indication of what the next show is going to be.
;

 

I'd like another two seasons. A five year run is pretty awesome...And would also match TCW. But more importantly, I'd like it to be a planned end. And not cut short with untold stories like TCW was.

sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

Or he's wiped out but gets more. Like when you build a bunch of something in Rebellion but you need to use half of them immediately.

 

Finally got around to watching Zero Hour this morning, and what an amazing finale! That space battle was not only the best we've seen in the series, I'd put it right up there with the best ones from the entire franchise! Glad we got to see Thrawn in his element, the inclusion of the Death Troopers was amazing too. I'm a little disappointment that no one was captured (it seems a little too perfect that everyone from the main group got away), but the Empire still had a substantial victory.
There were some surprisingly touching moments, I got a little choked up when Kanan and Ezra were talking at the beginning of the episode. I'm glad Sabine got to have a brief reunion with the crew as well. Can't wait to see them join up with Dodonna's group next season, really hoping we'll see Blue Squadron from RO!

Edit: Listening to the audio track in the episode guide, this season has had some great music! Have we heard anything about a soundtrack release?

 

I would say five seasons would have been more likely say if they had escaped to Dantooine after this finale. However the fact that they are going straight to Yavin makes me think they are really beginning to tie everything up.

Plus with all the rumors of work being done on a different show makes me think that we very well may be getting a new series in fall 2018 with Spring 2018 being Rebels series finale.

 

Eh... It's just a preference. Season 4 should be pretty cool either way. And WHAT will the new series even be? Will Filoni be heading it again? He has now directed and told more Star Wars than anybody. Pretty crazy thought.

sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

I wonder if it'll be a post-RotJ story or a GCW-concurrent continuation of Rebels.

 

I would probably say a post ROTJ series before a GCW series. We are already getting a ton of canon material in the post Ep. IV time period and you know Disney is itching to start telling stories post Ep. VI.

 

Which is great, because it went up in flames.

 

Only to rise again?

 

Post-ROTJ Ezra would be in his 20's. Pretty young. Not a big Ezra fan. I like him just fine. But I came to really like Ahsoka a LOT more. She's one of my favorite SW characters. Just pointing it out... Something I could see Filoni doing.

sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

Captain Planet-style series starring Luke and his padawan team! With Kylo as the emo screwup!

...although like Captain Planet's fate, that's gonna end in flames too. Still. Worth it if they can Adam Driver and Mark Hamill to do the voice acting.

 

Pls let Kanan and Ezra discover the remnants of a Jedi Conclave on Dantooine...

...and the gravestone of Jon (farmer)

 

That would be so cheesy and terrible it would loop around into being good.

sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

RIP, nameless hundreds of Alliance Infiltrators sent to Coruscant or used as decoys of Han and Chewie shenanigans.
Onto the episode. Wow. Oh wow.

Spoiler

• There were a lot of firsts in this episode, I think. Have we seen, at any level of canon, Thrawn and Tarkin having a chat before? I'm pretty sure seeing an orbital bombardment from the ground was new, too. And A-Wings vs AT-ATs! Zero-G stormtroopers!
• Thrawn remains a fan of fooling around with Interdictors. However, this means that Pablo or someone REALLY needs to clear up how gravity affects hyperspace. If a ship can't jump in a gravity well, how did Cassian and his U-Wing jump out of Jedha ahead of the shockwave?
• The show needs to do a better job scaling the results of weapon impacts. Hand blasters, starfighter laser cannons, and turbolasers all seem to make a boom about as big as the story dictates at a given moment. Reflecting shots from a TIE Fighter with a lightsaber should be a bit harder than bouncing carbine fire back at stormtroopers.
• Space combat is glorious, even if Rebels continues TCW's tradition of capital ships exploding if lightly brushed with a feather.
• I watched this with my wife, who wondered if the space forces were evenly matched. I told her that MAYBE two ISDs and their fighters would be an even match for everything the Rebels had in orbit. Was I right?
• I need Thrawn to have more encounters with the Force. I need ALL non-Force-sensitive characters to have more encounters with the Force.
• Was this the first time Hera called Kanan "love?"
• After Kanan and Ezra's heartwarming chat at the start of the episode, and least one of them is getting killed next season. Death flag raised.
• I was hoping to see a bit more tactical brilliance out of Dodonna here. Really, him vs. Thrawn would be a cool season-long chess match. Still glad the created a new character in Sato, as he made the Rebellion bigger.
• What happened to Sato's nephew and the not-Outrider?
• People using comms in hyperspace will always annoy me.
• I don't think we got a detailed boarding action in the old EU, but they're a staple in the new canon shows. Seeing people fighting on the hull of a ship in a live-action film would be nuts. And we already have Vader's hallway fight.
• A few jetpack missiles REALLY shouldn't bother the shields on a Interdictor.
• If the next season takes place entirely on Mandalore, I'll be ok.
• Really wish they were going to Dantooine instead of Yavin, but the show has done enough to earn themselves a long leash of my trust.

Full steam ahead to Season 4, which should absolutely be the final season.

 

Thrawn and Tarkin interacted in the first episode of season 3 already.
Hera already called Kanan love before.
Pablo already adressed interdictors. They dont pull ships out of hyperspace, instead they disable the safety measures the ships activate when they jump. Once the systems down, the ship exists the hyperspace as an emergency precausion.
You can also jump from atmosphere (this was shown in the clone wars), but it is not advised.

 

They're still called "gravity well projectors" in the newcanon. They also seem to work like tractor beams - in Stealth Strike, when they malfunction (Chopper's sabotage), Brom Titus's interdictor pulls in the neighbouring light cruiser - and in Heir to the Jedi, when Luke drops a bomb on an Immobilizer, the projector pulls it in.

One thing that caught my attention - we see the "jump to hyperspace" with the ship leaping away and disappearing - then it reappears exactly where it was before it began the jump. Perhaps that's "pseudomotion" - a visual illusion caused by the ship entering hyperspace - but not true motion - the ship is, in terms of real motion, exactly where it was - it's just in another dimension that's parallel to realspace, and about to move.

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/812487400119095296