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

Spoiler

So does this mean Kanan the Jedi became Dume the giant loth wolf?

 

That's basically what I think Filoni is saying.

 

Everyone has a spirit/power animal, right?

 

I bet Ezra's turns out to be a Loth-Skunk. His scars look just like stripes.

 

Nah he will turn into a white lothcat.

 

Spoiler

There might be some clues that point to it happening like the mark on Dume's forehead being the same one as Kanan's shoulder pad or its eye color, plus Filoni saying this in a recent interview "Dume the Wolf can't exist until Kanan the Jedi is gone." though he did also compare Dume to Bendu so maybe he's not really the Kanan that we know. There's also Kanan saying that Jedi teach that life does not end with death but merely changes form back in season 2 so maybe?

 

I watched "Jedi Knight" while grading papers so need to rewatch it. From what I caught it was decent, though the bookends lacked substance to me.

Spoiler

- That beginning felt fake. No arguing from Ezra and Kanan was just flat. It was boring.

- I abhor Pryce. She's a good baddie.
Thrawn is awesome, despite also being a baddie.

- Ew, that hair. I hate it too.

- I had to laugh at Hera wondering at how Ezra got in.

- The end made me roll my eyes pretty hard. I knew it would happen, and expected it before even seeing spoilers. Still, it was not done well. "I love you."
*kiss*
*is now dead*


In reading through comments here, I think it'd be awesome for Thrawn to be the one to take out Pryce.

 

I'm not talking about Ahsoka though.
Translation of the series finale's synopsis.
https://jedi-bibliothek.de/2018/02/inhaltsangabe-star-wars-rebels-serienfinale/

Spoiler

Ezra and his rebels manage to gain access to the Imperial headquarters. However, Thrawn stops them. Ezra is forced to surrender and face an even greater evil.

 

I think I'd rather

Spoiler

remember Kanan as a human that went out like a true jedi rather than see him return as a barely literate mystical wolf

 

Spoiler

Who’s to say he was literate to begin with?

 

My thoughts

Spoiler

I think a lot of us predicted Kanans fate in this episode for all too many reasons even go into. In fact as a UK viewer I had it spoiled by a certain Disney XD video flashing up in the morning, with a title that that left little to the imagination.
However, despite knowing it was going to happen, I was really impressed with how it was carried out. So far in Star Wars we tend to have had more heroic sacrifices to help defeat an enemy, and protect the galaxy, exemplified in Rogue One. This time though it seemed to be more about saving the ones he loves, which I think ties nicely to what Rose says to Finn when she saves him in The Last Jedi.
I kind of wonder if there is some connection between him accepting his explosive death and the Grand Inquisitor doing the same at the end of season 1(perhaps with the eyes), but I may be looking into it too far.

In terms of Thrawn I get the impression that the writers are trying to maintain his menace by making most Imperial failures not his. In this episode he happened to be away when the rescue happened and at the end of the last season he was planet side when his last interdictor got taken out. However I kind of see him as part of the problem, in that although he is a clever being, he really seems to lack the leadership to bring the best out of his subordinates (especially when he pops out to buys some eggs and leaves someone else in charge). Ok he has his work cut out for him with people like Konstantine, but he made a serious error in belittling him earlier. Sure, Konstantine is a jerk, but in the end he needed to work with him. Instead he humiliated glory seeking commander then later put him on an important ship, which did not go down well.....
In these episodes he goes away for a day and everything goes to pot as he lacks competent subordinates that are able to act without him and I think that is kind of on him really. Was he like this in Legends/EU or is this more of a NuCanon trait? I know in the recent novel he is keen in bringing out the best in one particular student, but perhaps he is selective.

Other thoughts? This show does not care for redshirts
I appreciate Hera's importance, but did they not try and save the other captured pilots? We know they were executed, but did the rebels know this?
So they didn't want to execute Rukh, but how many times do they kill near helpless stormtroopers, often while making a joke (and speaking of jokes and a grim thought, the last thing those stormtroopers on the gunship would hear is Ezra saying "this is where you get off")?
There was a Scout this episode who was knocked out, only to be blown up later as the rebels left an explosive to kill Imperials who came to investigate. Why not just do the same with an unconscious Rukh then?
Perhaps I am just way to sympathetic to fiction's everyman, but these guys deserve better!

Also, poor Rukh. He really doesn't have a good.... 'tracking' record. Get it 'tracking' record!
Ok never mind!

 

Re. Thrawn

Spoiler

Thrawn is all about leadership and getting the most out of his subordinates. This (apart from being a strategic & tactical genius) is why his Legends-self was able to almost pull of a victory against the Republic despite being severely outnumbered. He is also ruthless with those he believes are not pulling their weight (so I am not trying to say he wears kid gloves or is "nice"!).

While the new novel mostly just follows Thrawn and his aide, Eli, in comparatively junior positions, once he is a Commodore it does become apparent that his crew is fully behind him. Not his peers or superiors, but he does not care about those. And he trusts his ship's Captain to carry out missions in his absence (which she does well).

It is a pity Rebels does not have the time to show any of this. Instead choosing black & white messaging to tell the story. E.g. Pryce would not have taken over control of the Chimaera at Atollon if this were a book story (Thrawn has the ship's Captain for that). As for Konstantine, who knows. The guy was incompetent and should not have been in command of a tug boat but I guess he had powerful connections to keep him in the Navy.

Having said all that...
Personally, if I did not know legends Thrawn, or the new novel, I would not think he is that great a guy. Sure, more competent than the average Imperial but that does not mean much. Too self-important / arrogant and, as you say, in the end not appearing to be a true leader.

I do take the Rebels storylines with a generous pinch of salt, however. They have to cut corners to get the story across in 25 minute episodes. Not enough time for nuances.

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Thrawn was awesome, and

Spoiler

Kanan going all Moro-no-kimi was neat. At least it was for me. I thought they were awesome episodes.

 

Spoiler

That wasn't something I noticed/analyzed, but I'll be keeping an eye out when I [re]watch.
I think it's definitely NuCanon, as Legends seemed to have people taking up the slack, even after death.

 

So as heavy and mind-bending these episodes were, let's not forget the joy of Stoned Hera. So izzat the first time we've seen the effect of Galatic Civil War era Mind Probes on a person in canon? It makes them dopey? Pretty funny, actually! (although I believe one was torturing Kanan in Season 1 but I remember that one being kinda shock-y)

 

I thought Kanan was being shocked by the rack rather than the droid in Season 1?

 

The mind-probe drugs reminded me of fast-penta from the Vorkosigan books.

 

I enjoyed the episode

Spoiler

I still cannot help wonder that they have not some how painted themselves into a corner with Rebels being considered part of the new Canon. Part of the drama of the struggle in the OT was the whole "there is only one" thing with Luke. Now we've gotten to the point where you can't swing a cat without hitting a force user. Kanan's going out, helps but I still need to know what Ezra was doing the whole time the galaxy was burning.

 

I guess we'll have to let the comics or novels spell that out for us.

 

My thoughts and speculation:

Yoda learned how to retain a presence on the physical plane using the Force in the form of a "ghost" from Qui-Gon (and the Force Priestesses) and then taught it to Obi-wan.

Since other Force users can't do this because they have not been taught, they die, but they still become one with the Force. The Force can then choose to manifest anyone that has died into an animal or in a vision i.e. Qui-Gon or adult Ahsoka on Mortis, the wolf as the spirit of Kanan, the owl for Ahsoka possibly or maybe the Daughter.

It's like that episode of Friends where Phoebe finds the cat and believes her mother's spirit is inside it. It sounds crazy from everyone else around her, but to Phoebe it was meaningful because she lost her mother at a young age and needed the support. It was what she believed.

Ezra loses his master and he is afraid. Through his fear, he will be tested by the Darkside (Sidious in the trailer), and he will need to choose how best to proceed based on the decisions he chooses to make. He has to trust in the Force, and right now he's trusting in a wolf to guide him on his path to saving his friends and saving his planet.

It began on Lothal in 2014 with a spark and we'll soon see the end of that journey on Lothal. (The journey will continue for others during the Battle of Scarif or possibly in the Unknown Regions, but that's another story.)