Star Wars Rebels Season Four (spoilers)

[Christopher]

Has no one else watched the finale yet?

Spoiler

No surprise that the climax focused on the liberation of Lothal. I honestly expected more sacrifices among the supporting cast, but I guess this is a kids' show.

Ezra's final plan with the space whales was a bit out of nowhere, as was his need to vanish along with them. It's been so long since the space whale episode that I don't remember the basis of Ezra's connection with them, so it wasn't clear how or why things turned out that way. It felt like a bit of a contrived way to clear Ezra from the board before the original trilogy without killing him off. (And leaving Thrawn's fate ambiguous while they were at it.)

A bit of subtle foreshadowing: Protocol 13, the Empire's new protocol for rapidly evacuating all Imperial forces from a planet. Hmm, why do you think the Empire would anticipate needing to evacuate a planet in a hurry? Almost as if the Empire knew of something coming along in the near future that could instantly destroy a planet...

The final scene flashing forward to after ROTJ was the most interesting part, of course. I don't think we've ever before seen a canonical onscreen scene set in the early years post-ROTJ. We get a mention of Hera fighting at Endor, which we knew from Forces of Destiny, and implicit confirmation of the fan theory that the white-bearded guy at Endor was Rex. Not much discussion of what happened in earlier years, except that the Empire got too busy with the Rebellion to take back Lothal. Hmm, I wonder, if the Rebels hadn't stolen the Death Star plans and prompted Tarkin and Vader to go after Leia (and therefore destroy Alderaan), might Lothal have been the Death Star's first full-power target? Maybe Palpatine left it alone after its liberation because he was waiting to make an example of it with the DS.

Also Kanan got Hera pregnant before he died. I'd ask "how is that possible," but we saw human-Twi'lek hybrid children in The Clone Wars, the episode about the clone deserter. Zeb went back to his people, Chopper went on being Chopper, and a more mature and pretty fine-looking Sabine went off with Ahsoka to look for Ezra. I'd like to see more of their adventures.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I liked the untruncated credits and giving the main cast individual listings.

 

[Ithekro]

A very interesting set of episodes. I wonder where the animation team will go from here.

Spoiler

As for Jacen Syndulla, I don't ask so much as "how" but "when". I suppose there were some quiet moments on Lothal before Hera went back to Yavin. I wouldn't think she's be all that pregnant during the events we seen. A month, maybe two?

Seeing "Chancellor" Palpatine again was different. I seriously doubt that's the face Thrawn knows him by. But somewhere out there, probably in the Unknown Regions, is Erza and Thrawn, and Sabine and Ahsoka are going to go look for them. Though I do wonder if that could lead into a series about the early days of the First Order, and the warning to Leia and the need for a Resistance. Plus I can't imagine they'd let to opportunity pass to have Sabine (and possibly Ahsoka as well) bring the symbol of hope (the Rebel's Phoenix) to the region. That way when the Resistance returns (Episode IX) they will have that symbol to rally behind, and while Rey is the Last Jedi, Ahsoka, and I suppose Ezra, could have given them a taste of what a Jedi is like in the days when Luke Skywalker is still Coreward doing things.

Of course I still wonder....did Ahsoka meet the Skywalker twins....and do they know she was their father's student?

 

[Turtletrekker]

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[Tuskin38]

According to Rebels recon

Spoiler

Ezra and Thrawn did survive

Also

Spoiler

captain pellaeon was name dropped during the space whale scene

 

[KennyB]

Good stuff overall. Not quite as rewarding as I had hoped for. Very interested to see what Dave is cooking up now as this has been in the can for a while now..........

 

[Tosk]

I found it to be a very satisfying conclusion for this show. But that's partially 'cause I can't wait to see what parts of it make it into the next inevitable show. Waiting for that confirmation/info guys, don't leave us hanging too long.

 

[Tuskin38]

https://twitter.com/dave_filoni/status/970855088112615424?s=21

 

[Christopher]

Spoiler

Seeing "Chancellor" Palpatine again was different. I seriously doubt that's the face Thrawn knows him by.

The novels I've read have mentioned that

Spoiler

Palpatine hides his real appearance from the public, with his broadcasts and posters showing him as he looked before his scarring. Observant characters have noticed his lack of aging over the years and realized that the image is a facade.

Spoiler

But somewhere out there, probably in the Unknown Regions, is Erza and Thrawn, and Sabine and Ahsoka are going to go look for them.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Star Wars series whose focus was a quest into unknown space for a change, rather than a war focus per se. Of course, they'd be searching for a specific thing rather than just generally exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life, but lots of TV series have been about the adventures the characters have along the way while searching for a Macguffin.

 

[Tuskin38]

Spoiler

Jacen's name is spelled like 'Jacen Solo's name from the EU. I wonder if it was a nod, the star wars twitter did tweet out saying "Spelled exactly like you're hoping it is. "

 

[Reverend]

Well that was a thing...
A surprisingly satisfying conclusion that had just the right amount of open-endedness and potential for future storytelling.

Spoiler

The appearance of Ahsoka seems to be a deliberate nod to both this original sketch made by Filloni as Lucas described the character concept.

And this piece of San/Mononoke inspired artwork Filloni released a few years back.

Spoiler

As for Jacen Syndulla, I don't ask so much as "how" but "when". I suppose there were some quiet moments on Lothal before Hera went back to Yavin. I wouldn't think she's be all that pregnant during the events we seen. A month, maybe two?

Spoiler

My main take away from this is that it confirms my previous assumption that they were indeed already in a relationship. After the previous episodes it seemed like they were shifting it to a "unrealised love" type drama, but this clarifies matters a little in that they were "together" but had not 100%, openly committed to each other on an emotional level. I like that they clarified that as I rather enjoyed the total absence of romance drama during the show and they had a low-key romance between two people that were a married couple in all but name.

As for the "when": Just from a dramatic storytelling standpoint, I imagine it was the last night they were together before Hera returned to Yavin IV. So between 'Flight of The Defender' & 'The Kindred'.

Here's hoping Jacen didn't end up getting murdered to death by Ben Solo...or worse, became a Knight of Ren.

Spoiler

Seeing "Chancellor" Palpatine again was different. I seriously doubt that's the face Thrawn knows him by.

Spoiler

Correct.

 

[JD]

I didn't see the episode since I don't get Disney XD, but I did read a bit of the synopsis on Wookiepedia.

Spoiler

I ike the idea of Hera and Kanan having a son.
The pergils showing up and apparently whisking Ezra and Thrawn off to parts unknown is a bit odd, but I guess they wanted a quick way to take them off the board for the OT, but leave it open for them to return.
Hmm, so could this mean that the next series will start with Ahsoka and Sabine's search for Ezra and then lead to new of adventures of the Rebels characters (with Jacen instead of Kanan) in the post-ROTJ era? I would be up for that.

If anybody else is interested, I found all of the Rebels episodes from Spark of Rebellion all the way through to the finale streaming for free on Watch Disney XD. Now I can finally get caught up.

 

[Tuskin38]

Spoiler

Earlier in one of the episodes you can see Hera put her hand on her belly and look down for a second when she’s in the ghost

 

[ALF]

They are just starting the new series now???
Oh daymn - that means we probably won't see it until after Episode 9 releases in December 2019.
2020 for the next series seems like a long way off to wait. I love these animated shows because they tide us over between features... and between Solo and Ep IX is a 18 month wait.

Here is what we know about the Rebels announcement and roll-out, perhaps it could inform an estimate of when we will see the next series:
Lucasfilm first announced Star Wars Rebels on May 20, 2013.
The series premiered worldwide as a one-hour television movie, Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, on Disney Channel on October 3, 2014.

I love our Rebels characters, but I am actually kind of interested in seeing completely new characters. Also getting such much needed backstory established on screen featuring vague concepts from the ST such as Knights of Ren, Lor San Tekka, Church of the Force, etc.

Spoiler

Earlier in one of the episodes you can see Hera put her hand on her belly and look down for a second when she’s in the ghost

Great catch, I so look forward to soaking up all these details on a rewatch!

 

[Christopher]

Spoiler

I ike the idea of Hera and Kanan having a son.

Spoiler

I'm pretty tired of the interspecies-procreation trope in sci-fi. It's one that Star Wars managed to avoid until The Clone Wars. But then, SW is fantasy, so I guess there's no reason I shouldn't accept it there. Still, it's kind of odd that the kid inherited wholly human features except for his hair pigmentation. I mean, Twi'leks don't even have hair, so how could Hera's genes have affected that? (Okay, yeah, any given trait is the expression of multiple interacting genes, but still.)

Spoiler

The pergils showing up and apparently whisking Ezra and Thrawn off to parts unknown is a bit odd, but I guess they wanted a quick way to take them off the board for the OT, but leave it open for them to return.

Spoiler

I hadn't realized until now that the question of "Where was Thrawn during the movies?" needed to be addressed as much as "Where was Ezra during the movies?" I guess this was a convenient way to answer both questions, but it felt a bit easy and contrived. As for Thrawn, it would've been enough for me just to say that it was a big war and Thrawn was busy elsewhere.

Ahsoka's whereabouts during the movies are still a mystery. But Ezra said "Come find me." Maybe she spent those years searching for Ezra, then got some kind of lead and came back to get Sabine's help continuing the search.

Spoiler

Hmm, so could this mean that the next series will start with Ahsoka and Sabine's search for Ezra and then lead to new of adventures of the Rebels characters (with Jacen instead of Kanan) in the post-ROTJ era? I would be up for that.

Spoiler

Disney/Lucasfilm recently took out copyrights on the title Star Wars Resistance. So I suspect it's something further in the future, between the novel Bloodlines (when Leia first started the Resistance) and The Force Awakens. Although they could do what Rebels did -- start out focusing on a new cast of characters, then start folding in stories following up on surviving characters from the previous animated show.

 

[Reverend]

Spoiler

Hmm, so could this mean that the next series will start with Ahsoka and Sabine's search for Ezra and then lead to new of adventures of the Rebels characters (with Jacen instead of Kanan) in the post-ROTJ era? I would be up for that.

I wouldn't count on it. Half the reason they held off reintroducing TCW characters and story elements until the second season is precisely because they didn't want Rebels to just be a direct continuation, but it's own thing.
Just as there are kids now that were introduced to Star Wars via Rebels having never seen Clone Wars, there's going to be another group of 5-8 year olds who are going to be introduced by whatever this new show turns out to be. As such the show should mainly be for them and thus not frontloaded with a decade's worth of animated continuity.
The new characters should be given the same opportunity to grow and breath that the Ghost crew were afforded.

They are just starting the new series now???
Oh daymn - that means we probably won't see it until after Episode 9 releases in December 2019.
2020 for the next series seems like a long way off to wait. I love these animated shows because they tide us over between features... and between Solo and Ep IX is a 18 month wait.

I do understand that it's the same talented, hard-working staff working on both shows - what I don't get is why they couldn't have a bunch of pre-production ready? The production lag in CW/Rebels was staggering, I think it was like, a full two years from writing to animation to production.

Disney can afford to do move more than one show forward at a time, right? Well anyway, I'm sure we'll learn details of the next series soon enough.

Odds are the next show is already well on the way. I expect an announcement to that effect to pop up some time around May, with a premier date set no later than Q4 2018.

Spoiler

Still, it's kind of odd that the kid inherited wholly human features except for his hair pigmentation. I mean, Twi'leks don't even have hair, so how could Hera's genes have affected that? (Okay, yeah, any given trait is the expression of multiple interacting genes, but still.)

Spoiler

You're assuming that's his natural hair colour. Odds are Auntie Sabine does his hair for him since what the hell would Hera know about haircuts?

 

[ALF]

Odds are the next show is already well on the way. I expect an announcement to that effect to pop up some time around May, with a premier date set no later than Q4 2018.

Oh! I hope you are right about that! Otherwise we'll have the holidays without Star Wars and that would be weird.

Hahahaha! (Something that happens in A Fool's Hope)

Spoiler

Hera's manuever at the end of A Fool's Hope when she spins the Ghost hard and takes out the last Imperial gunship is EXACTLY the same move Han Solo does with the Falcon vs the TIE in the Solo teaser!

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Spoiler

I hadn't realized until now that the question of "Where was Thrawn during the movies?" needed to be addressed as much as "Where was Ezra during the movies?"

Spoiler

That question's been on the boards since 1991. Thinking about it, I'm not sure that was something Zahn ever satisfactorily explained in the EU. This, at least, makes a modicum of sense.

 

[Reverend]

Apropos of nothing...

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Holy shit, the Royal Guards actually did something AND we got to see what the hell force pikes do!

Spoiler

That question's been on the boards since 1991. Thinking about it, I'm not sure that was something Zahn ever satisfactorily explained in the EU. This, at least, makes a modicum of sense.

Spoiler

IIRC the EU explanation for Thrawn's whereabouts during the OT was that he was on an extended exploration mission into the Unknown Regions for Palpatine, and he only got back shortly before the events of the old novels. So technically it seems like they kept to that...kinda.

Whatever the larger continuity needs are for the franchise at large, Thrawn as the primary antagonist for the last two seasons needed to have at least some kind of resolution or climax to his role within the show, and the did just that.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I think there's zero chance you-know-who and you-know-who leaving to find you-know-who, will just be left there; I suspect a spin-off series. And I bet it's been in the works for a while now.

And it'll take four or five years to find you-know-who.

EDIT:
And with you-know-who out of the picture for who knows how long, it leaves open the possibility of not only you-know-who's return, but perhaps even a movie possibility. Now, who would play you-know-who?