‘Star Wars Rebels’: The Final Season, Beginners Guide [Bingeworthy Breakdown]

How is “Star Wars Rebels” like ‘The Last Jedi’?
Well, a lot of fans were turned off by some of the controversial events of ‘The Last Jedi’ — Leia’s Force-powered spacewalk; the across-the-universe AIM conversation between Kylo Ren and Rey; Luke’s astral projection — things we’d never seen in a “Star Wars” film before. But ‘Rebels’ had helped expand the universe and in a way set you up for the mysterious elements in ‘The Last Jedi.’ Once you see the show and understand more about Jedi powers, the divisive moments of ‘The Last Jedi’ feel much more contextual and less far-fetched. At the very least there seems to be a faint echo and connection to what the cartoon and the movie were doing.

I’d love to know if Rian Johnson watched ‘Rebels’ (or read some of the comics) to have a greater understanding of what was possible or if the expanded universe gave him “permission” for some of his debated choices. Regardless, fans alienated by ‘The Last Jedi,’ may find a home here or become less angry at his film. Pro and anti ‘The Last Jedi’ fans might even find some common ground. And ‘Rogue One’ fans will surely love the lead up to that movie in this final season. In short, ‘Rebels’ was already quietly expanding the universe/mythology in similar way years before the events of ‘The Last Jedi.’

What are the ‘Rogue One’ connections?
I’ll be as brief as I can because there are plenty of connections. The aforementioned Saw Gerrera shows up again and the Rebels find themselves on Yavin 4, the Rebel base from ‘Rogue One’ and ‘A New Hope.’ We see all the members of the Rebel High Command: politician and Rebel leader Mon Mothma (first seen in ‘Return Of The Jedi’), Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits), and General Jan Dodonna who you’ll recognize from ‘A New Hope’ as he leads the Rebel attack remotely from Yavin 4. You do see some brief cameos (C-3PO and R2-D2), but it’s mostly background stuff. There’s tons of deeper Easter Eggs for hardcore fans, but they’re hard to spot unless you really know your stuff.

Any other connections?
Yes, Grand Admiral Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelsen on the show). He’s a character first introduced in 1991’s “Heir To The Empire,” the first “Star Wars” novel that came out after ‘Return Of The Jedi’ that continued the story and explained what happened to Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie after Darth Vader died and the Empire was dismantled. However, when Disney bought Lucasfilm and the group reorganized, they changed their universe and essentially kicked 90% of the old comics, video games and novel lore to the curb. Very few “Star Wars” elements were considered canon, chief among them being the animated show “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” Thrawn is basically rescued from those not-continued-stories and becomes employed in this new universe.

God, this is really nerdy, dude.
I know, I regret it already.

[*SPOILERS BEGIN HERE*]

So what happened on last night’s episode?
Back on Lothar, the Rebels try and make another attack on the Imperial base; the Empire is about to being production on a new Tie-Fighter prototype, far more advanced and deadly. There’s genuine fear in the Rebel Alliance that these ships will wipe out their squadrons in any attack, so it’s mission critical to destroy this base.

But there’s a risky personal mission here: the rescue of Hera, who was captured in the first half of this last season (it was broken up into two parts). To keep the long story as short as possible, the Rebels embark on a hasty and perilous operation to rescue Hera at all cost. Kanan, romantically involved with Hera, asks Ezra to lead the plan as he’s too emotionally invested and worries he’ll jeopardize the mission (and in a ritualistic, Samurai-like way, cuts off all his hair which teases his fate). During this tense, seemingly-impossible rescue mission, after Hera is freed, she and Kanan, in their escape find themselves trapped on the gigantic fuel tanks meant to power the production of those new, game-changing Tie-Fighters. General Pryce (a female Imperial commander) spies them finally making their jailbreak thanks to a ship stolen by Sabine and Ezra. Knowing the consequences of a wrathful Thrawn and fuming at herself for her inability to capture such a small, seemingly pitiful insurgency, in anger she commands the AT-AT walkers to fire on the fuel tanks causing a massive detonation.

Just as the blast is about to consume them all, Kanan uses all his Jedi powers to hold off the explosion momentarily, allowing his friends to escape and sacrificing himself in the effort. Poignantly, Kanan regains his sight in his final moments and this well-crafted death is a devastating loss that cripples the team. Ezra is especially distraught and spiritually lost following the death of his Jedi Master.

“Dume” the second part of the episode centers on the grief of losing Kanan, the burning, precarious and misguided plans for revenge, whether to go on and Ezra’s plan to recover a “precious knowledge” in a nearby Jedi Temple that’s controlled by the Imperial forces. What that knowledge is, Ezra is unsure of, but the Force has essentially willed him there via the planets Loth-Wolves, mysterious Force-sensitive animals that are far less cheesy than they sound. There’s also the realization that in the middle of this mourning, they’ve accomplished their mission: the base has been destroyed, the production of these deadly weapons stopped. The project was apparently as critical as “Stardust,” a reference to ‘Rogue One’ and General Krenic’s (Ben Mendelsohn) Death Star.

What happens next and please wrap up already.
Well, we’re presumably going to likely see the Rebels picked off one by one by the end of the season (though through “Star Wars” lore, we know at least one character survives, but I won’t name them here). Given the above quote by Hera—featured in one of the final trailers for the show—it’ll likely all end in heroic tragedy, but the how and when is what remains to be seen. The final season trailer also unveils a showdown with the Emperor for Ezra.

I don’t know if I’m convinced and I’m sure you’re managing editor Kevin Jagernauth is totally rolling his eyes at this point.
I’m sure he is. But he seems to love the new “Star Wars” films more than I do (certainly, ‘The Force Awakens’ and ‘Last Jedi’), so it’s possible he could find some interest in just season four (full disclosure, I haven’t seen all three previous seasons in full, but I’ve peeked in here and there and done enough reading so that I’m mostly up to speed, I think).

Look, it’s a good companion piece show and last night’s drama and the outcome was both gripping and about as heartbreaking as this kind of animated show can be. You know, you’re not going to weep, but the death was a gut-wrenching huge blow and I think that’s a testament to the characters they’ve written and the long-arching journey they’ve made across four seasons.

As Hera says, Ezra started as an orphaned, broken and lost boy when the show first started. Now he’s a young man and the hope of these ‘Rebels’ now likely rests in him and his ability to overcome his fears and the helpless feelings of losing your mentor and father figure.

“Star Wars Rebels” airs on Disney XD, Mondays at 10pm and you might also be able to find it OnDemand without subscribing to DisneyXD depending on your cable provider (which is where I found it).