Rebels: "Visions and Voices" (Ep. 3.11)

-- "Our futures converge on a planet with two suns."

This episode has so much in it, I hardly know where to begin, especially if you want it without spoilers. Oh, who am I kidding? None of you are going to watch this, so I'll just spoil away!


Ezra is being plagued by visions of Darth Maul... which turn out to be not so much visions as the real thing. Talk about a way to ruin your day! Maul is still stuck on that thing whole Ezra being his apprentice thing. PLUS he wants to know what it was the holocrons were going to reveal to him and Ezra. He REALLY wants to know.

Which leads them back to Dathomir, apparently where Maul has set up shop, in the ruins of the Nightsisters' temple. Or something. And the dead Nightsisters don't really seem that happy... about anything.

Just to ponder, because the episode implies that the Nightsisters are now extinct. But are they? I mean, I never assumed that Maul's group of Nightsisters were all of the Nightsisters, but the episode implies that that is so. Maybe it's the influence of having played Galaxies, but my impression was that the Nightsisters were spread all of the planet in different clans. So now I don't know... Are all of the Nightsisters dead? All of them?
Yeah, I probably won't look into it.

At any rate, they're not happy and are looking for a way to hook themselves back into the land of the living.

And the darksaber shows up.

And Obi-Wan... Well, that's all I'm going to say about that.



"I told her I had a plan."
"Really? And she left anyway?"

Rebels: "The Holocrons of Fate" (Ep. 3.03)

-- "Once a secret is known, it cannot be unknown."

Tom Baker is back! And so is Darth Maul!

And... Caleb gets spaced. Caleb, you ask. Well, it appears that Kanan has been keeping a secret and that it's that Kanan is an assumed name.

Actually, this episode is all about secrets, secrets of the holocrons and the secrets they hold.

And, man, things keep getting interestinger and interestinger. We get a reference to "twin suns" and Maul muttering, "He's still alive," and, and, and... all sorts of things.

I don't know at what point Lucasfilm or Disney or whomever decided to start really connecting the animated series... What's the plural of series? I mean, I know it's both the singular and plural, but it seems inadequate here. There are multiple animated series being referred to! Anyway, I don't know at what point they made that decision, but you can really see that process beginning to happen at this point in Rebels. Not to mention the overlap of Rebels with Rogue One. And the return of Maul in Solo. Not that I think that will result in a satisfying conclusion considering the clusterfuck Disney is having with that.

Actually, Disney is just having a big clusterfuck with the whole Star Wars franchise, right now, and they don't necessarily look to be pulling themselves out of it. The animated series seem to be the only thing they have a grip on (maybe), and I think that's because they didn't really take them seriously and left them in the hands of the team that had originally been working on them. We'll see how that goes as they transition back to Clone Wars now that Rebels has ended.

But I digress...

At any rate, this seems to be a significant episode. Maybe. It does, at least, lay some clues for things to come. Maybe. It's intriguing, to say the least. I think it's safe to say at this point that if you really want to know what's going on in the Star Wars universe, you need to be watching the animated shows. The movies are... well, they are clearly lacking the kind of scope they need to have.

"I thought you said it was safe."

"It is safe; that may be the problem."

"The airlock is down there if you want to show yourself out."

"A dull and dour chamber. This is the chamber of a Jedi."

"We asked for a chance to defeat the Sith, and we failed."

Rebels: "Steps Into Shadow -- Part One" (Ep. 3.01)

-- "You wouldn't believe the secrets he knows."

Pre-viewing comment:

I did, of course, know that Thrawn was going to appear in season three, but I didn't know he starts off the season! I'm very excited that Thrawn is now, finally, a canon character. He's an excellent villain. At least, he was in the Zahn novels. I'm hoping they do him justice here.

This episode does not disappoint! Not only do we get the introduction of Grand Admiral Thrawn, but we have Hondo as well! You know it's going to be good when Hondo is around. And, hey, Dr. Who makes a voice appearance! THE Doctor, Tom Baker. How awesome is that? It's very awesome!

Tom Baker is the voice of The Bendu: I'm not sure if that's a race or a name. He's a Force wielder, but he uses some neutral aspect of the Force, something between the Dark and the Light. Baker's listed in five episodes, so I'm sure we'll find out more about what all of this means as he teaches Kanan how to see without his eyes.

So, yeah, Kanan is blind. That happened at the end of season two, so it's only a spoiler if you're not watching. I'm not apologizing.

Also, Ezra has learned to use the Sith holocron he got at the end of season two. He's learning to use his anger to give him power.

And we've jumped ahead enough that Ezra is visibly older. I'm guessing two years, but I don't really know.

It's a good episode; now, leave me alone so I can go watch part two...

"Acting out of anger offers quick results, but it's a trap."

Clone Wars -- "Cargo of Doom" (Ep. 2.2)

-- Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

Anakin and Ahsoka are hot on the heels of Cad Bane after his theft of a holocron from the Jedi Temple. Not hot enough, though, to keep him from capturing a Jedi with a special memory crystal and, then, torture him to death trying to get him to open the stolen holocron. This, of course, does not make the Jedi happy. And Bane still needs a Jedi to open the holocron.

This episode, again, highlights Bane's ability to use others to further his own ends, this time an entire Trade Federation fleet. It also shows us just how important it is to the Jedi to get the holocron back, as they send their own fleet to take Bane out. Basically, they've sent out a fleet to recover a book.

We get to see both Anakin and Bane displaying innovative ideas to solve problems, like Anakin deciding to use tanks (ground tanks) as ship-to-ship assault vehicles because his fleet was prepared for a ground assault. And Bane... well, that would be telling.

It's Anakin's issues with attachment that are most noteworthy, though, as he not only allows Bane to escape with the holocron but opens it for him as well. Possibly, a Jedi with a clearer mind and one more committed to the Jedi way would not have succumbed to Bane's demands. That's actually an interesting question, though: What is the worth of one life in comparison to the potential harm of many? Do you save the one or stop what is only a possibility of death for many?


"If by success you mean I won, then yes."

Clone Wars -- "Holocron Heist" (Ep. 2.1)

-- A lesson learned is a lesson earned.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

Evidently, one experience with disobeying orders and refusing to retreat during combat was not enough for Ahsoka to learn the lesson, despite how horrible she felt at the loss of her men in "Storm Over Ryloth." But, hey, that's people for you and, apparently, Jedi. This time, though, she gets punished for not listening.

It's really just a set up to get her into the Jedi Temple so that she'll be present for an infiltration by Cad Bane. Bane is working for Darth Sidious this time, which I think shows that Palpatine recognizes talent when he sees it (after Bane pulled one over on him in "Hostage Crisis"). At any rate, it's not a bad set up for what is a new plot thread in the series.

From the prequels, we see how Order 66 is carried out, and we know that the Sith destroy the Jedi Order and make them "all but extinct," but it still leaves questions. A lot of questions, actually. This episode introduces a plot thread that shows how Sidious plans to fully wipe out the Jedi. Bits of this idea pop in and out of the series all the way through season six.

We also see that the Jedi, just as everyone else, are susceptible to making assumptions that lead them to incorrect conclusions. When they know that there has been an infiltration, they assume that it has to do with accessing their communications and stealing codes to do with the war. It takes them in the wrong direction. It also allows Bane to exploit what he anticipated would be their assumption.

And we get to see just how ruthless Cad Bane is. He sacrifices both of his partners on this mission, but not just sacrifices them; he set them up at the beginning so that he would be able to escape. One of them to its death. Yes, it's only a droid, but you have to remember that droids in the Star Wars universe are sentient. When you compare his callousness to his droid against Anakin's devotion to R2-D2, you can see how devoid of attachments Bane is, something Anakin has issues with.

This is a really good season opener. It's an intact episode, but it opens a lot of possibilities for stories and raises some questions that will be dealt with as the season progresses. This is where we really start exploring some of the background stories and answer questions only hinted at in the movies. As I've said before, if you're a Star Wars fan, this is a series you should be watching.


"They're about to overrun you; you just can't see it."