Rebels: "Call to Action" (Ep. 1.12)

"You're finally getting the hang of this. There's hope for you yet."

After just covering Tarkin's first appearance in Clone Wars, Tarkin makes his first appearance in Rebels. As Grand Moff. The writers make a point of him saying something about how he knew actual Jedi, which makes me glad I just watched the Citadel arc in Clone Wars.

What brings Tarkin to Lothal? Our rebels, of course. Because they have begun to be bothersome enough that a Grand Moff has to make a special trip to deal with them. This means nothing good for the leadership on Lothal nor for the Inquisitor, who has not managed to deal with Kanan and Ezra. Not that Tarkin believes that there's a Jedi involved, but the Inquisitor does, and he hasn't dealt with the issue.

Now, it's not like Tarkin is travelling around stopping on cells of rebel forces; he's not. Mostly, they are disorganized groups of what amount to terrorists. But not the group on Lothal. They're different, which is what draws Tarkin to the planet.

The interesting bit is that it is because of the Empire that our little Lothal band is coming together in an organized manner, Planning and choosing strategic targets. Of course it's because of the Empire, you say. And, yes, of course, because they don't like the Empire. But, specifically, it is because the Empire begins to target them and go after them that they really begin to coalesce as a group that does more than just raid supplies.

And the show really feels like it's coming together at this point with an actual direction and ongoing plot.