‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season 3 Mid-Season Trailer Will Give You Goosebumps

The back half of the third season of Star Wars Rebels is about to kick off with a two episode mid-season premiere featuring the Rebels debut of Saw Gerrera voiced by Forest Whitaker. Lucasfilm and DisneyXD have released an incredible trailer for the rest of season three and it looks astounding. While I have always enjoyed the series, much like Marvel and DC television, Rebels has felt rather limited (with the exception of the Ahsoka storyline) as to not take away from the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. That all changes now.

Star Wars Rebels returns January 7, 2017, on DisneyXD.

SOURCE: LUCASFILM

‘Star Wars: Rebels’ Might Show The Battle of Scarif From the Ghost’s Perspective

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story featured several Star Wars: Rebels easter eggs including multiple shots of the Ghost, an appearance by Chopper, and the name Syndullah heard over the Massassi base’s intercom system.

Next month the series will begin to explore connections to Rogue One as Forest Whitaker reprises his role as Saw Gerrera, hopefully showing us just how Gerrera’s extremist ways led to him becoming a PR problem for the Rebellion and ultimately his exit alliance to form the splinter cell seen in Rogue One.

But it seems Gerrera may not be the only time Rebels connects to Rogue One. In a recent round-up of all the Rebels easter eggs from EW, Rebels EP Dave Filoni teased the series may eventually show us the Battle of Scarif from the Ghost crews perspective:

“I already have some theories about the story behind it…I can imagine doing that entire [Scarif] battle from their point of view, whoever is on the Ghost at that point.”

Considering we know Hera and the Ghost are part of the battle it only makes sense for the show to include the Battle of Scarif once the series catches up to that point in time in about two seasons. This news gives me hope that whoever is on the Ghost at that time has the potential to survive the Rebels series and appear in other forms of canon whether it be another animated series, comic, or novel. My only concern is that we could get a watered down version of the Battle of Scarif considering it’s a children’s series and as we saw in Rogue One, it was a pretty vicious battle. But since we have now seen the Ghost was in the battle, it would be pretty odd for the series to skip the battle if it does indeed continue past that point in time and if it does, that also presents another obstacle for the Lucasfilm story group as Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star just days after the events of Rogue One and the Ghost crews whereabouts would have to be further explained for it all to make sense and tie in properly.

SOURCE: EW

Forest Whitaker Returns as Saw Gerrera in ‘Star Wars: Rebels’

Entertainment Weekly has released a new featurette from Lucasfilm giving us a look at Saw Gerrera in Star Wars: Rebels just two years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The series will take the opportunity to fill in some of the gap for Saw between The Clone Wars and Rebels.

What is interesting about Saw at the point in time he is seen in Rebels is that he is without his breathing apparatus and is still able to speak normally. Since Rebels will be exploring the connection to Rogue One with Saw, it’s possible we could see not only what lead him to his need for an oxygen device but also some of his actions that caused public relation issues for the Rebel Alliance, earning them their reputation as a terrorist organization.

You can watch the featurette below.

SOURCE: STAR WARS

‘Star Wars Rebels’: Holocrons of Fate Spoiler Review

Season three continues with the return of Darth Maul and includes some very intriguing developments. The episode which airs tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET is already available on DisneyXD and Xfinity On Demand.

After Maul takes the Ghost Crew hostage, Kanin and Ezra must work together to retrieve the Sith Holocron back from the Bendu. The two share a touching moment when Kanin helps Ezra to forgive himself for the events on Malachor, seemingly restoring the balance in their relationship.

Ezra took a step in the right direction when he refused to open up the Sith Holocron. Is there still Hope for Ezra? Or is it already too late? Once down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.

We also learn Holocrons are more than just libraries of information. When joined together, a Jedi and Sith Holocron provide clairvoyance. They can reveal the answer to any secret, provide wisdom, and reveal every destiny through the force. But the Bendu warns such knowledge comes with a price…

The episode was solid as a whole but what makes this one special was the end. Maul and Ezra work to join the Sith and Jedi Holocrons together. Maul seeks hope while Ezra wants to know how to defeat the Sith. They struggle to see what the force is showing them as Kanin attempts to stop the two from learning anything that could come with a price. But before he can reach them Ezra speaks the words “Twin Suns”. Ezra has to be seeing Luke as he looks out at the binary sunset from his homestead.

Maul and Ezra lose control of the Holocrons connection resulting in a burst of energy that blasts everyone back. Maul uses this opportunity to escape. As he does he seems shook. He repeats the words “He lives” twice as he boards his ship and takes off. If Ezra was seeing Luke on Tatooine then its seems likely Maul saw Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Maul also revealed that he knows Kanins true identity to Hera. What kind of repercussions could this have for Kanin?

The only negative for this episode is that it was completely implausible for Kanin to survive when Maul ejected him out the airlock. He would have been dead in seconds. Other than that it was a fine episode that advanced the story nicely.

3.9/5 – Solid

‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season 3 Premiere Spoiler Review

Enter Thrawn! Well, sort of…

Star Wars Rebels kicks off the season with a fun and exciting mission developed and lead by Ezra to save Hondo, who is in possession of valuable information that could help the rebels to recover a fleet of Y-wings. We’re welcomed back into the Star Wars universe quickly as we’re reminded that Stormtroopers still can’t hit anything and it feels great! Right off the bat we are shown just how strong Ezra has grown since we last saw him as he ruthlessly cuts down several Stormtroopers and sends an AT-DP plummeting to its demise. It’s clear he’s chosen the quick and easy path and there’s most certainly going to be consequences for him and the team.

A blind Kanin Jarrus meets The Bendu in the Season 3 premiere of “Star Wars Rebels”. (Disney XD)

Kanin is off meditating, being summoned by an unknown voice later to be revealed as the Bendu. It is a real treat when Kanin meets the Bendu face to face. The scene was fantastically written and extremely well performed. Most definitely one of the best scenes in the series to date. The only thing negative I’ll say about this encounter is that it seems a bit convenient that the Bendu happens to be on the same planet as the current rebel base but the force works in mysterious ways, right?

As someone who doesn’t have a strong attachment to Grand Admiral Thrawn, I have to admit I was underwhelmed by his introduction. The scenes he was in were absolutely chilling. This calm and calculated genius could very well be the demise of our beloved rebels. My issue was that I wanted more of him. Maybe it was the marketing that made me think he was going to be featured front and center this episode rather than looming from the shadows, mostly…

Grand Admiral Thrawn makes his debut in the Season 3 premiere of “Star Wars Rebels”. (Disney XD)

The opening and closing action sequences were some of the best action sequences I have ever seen in animation, however. The best thing about this episode was that it featured some great character development for Ezra and Kanin. I found it surprising, T.V. shows don’t normally pack this much character development into a season premiere. Obviously, Ezra has grown a lot in the last few months but he still has a long way to go and he definitely got an idea for just how much on the mission to recover the Y-wings. Kanin reached an incredible turning point with his lesson from the Bendu. Healing from his loss and moving forward. I am so excited to continue on his journey with him! Freddie Prinze Jr. does a truly incredible job conveying the doubt a great warrior would feel after the loss of their sight.

Oh, and one last thing…

Never trust Hondo.

4/5 – Awesome