‘Star Wars Rebels’: “The Last Battle” Spoiler Review

Sometimes you have to take a step backwards in order to move forward. 

Personally, I am not a big fan of the prequels even though there are things I do enjoy about them, however. Battle droids are not one of them. I would even go as far to say that I hate the battle droids. Which is why I was shocked when I found myself enjoying this episode.

Being that this is a kids show, the childish humor that the battle droids bring was necessary as this episode dealt with the adult theme of soldiers dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. After the Rebels landed on Agomar to retrieve proton torpedoes from an ammunitions depot, they were captured by one of the last remaining battalions of battle droids commanded by a highly intelligent Super Tactical Droid who wanted to play a war game with Rex and the Jedi so that he could finally end The Clone War in the way he saw fit.

The Clone War had never ended for the Super Tactical Droid and as we saw, neither did it for Captain Rex. Once the Rebels played the Super Tactical Droids game, resulting in the Rebels winning due to the old battle droids malfunctioning, the Empire showed up to remind everyone just who won the Clone War. Ezra helping everyone to realize both sides never had a winning chance was fantastic. When both sides came together to take on the Empire, it felt like a fitting end for The Clone Wars series that met its demise before it was able to properly conclude.

Watching the Rebels team up with the battle droids to take on the Empire felt like it bridged the gap between the two eras of the Star Wars saga. If I was a fan of The Clone Wars series, I would feel like I finally got closure for the series in most respects. But as someone who is not a huge fan of the prequel era, I hope this is the last I will ever see it. While the character development was great for Captain Rex and Ezra in this episode, it didn’t do much to advance the story.

7.9 – GOOD

‘Star Wars Rebels’: Hera’s Heroes Clip

Admiral Thrawn finally makes another appearance. After getting teased with him in the premiere it looks like he will be featured prominently in the next episode titled “Hera’s Heroes.” Released in a clip by DisneyXD today, we see that Thrawn has managed to capture Hera. The chilling villain is impressed with The Ghost’s captain as he divulges his approach to war and reveals his knowledge of Hera’s identity and her history.

Star Wars Rebels airs Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on DisneyXD.

‘Star Wars Rebels’: “The Antilles Extraction” Spoiler Review

Star Wars Rebels  continues to flesh out the universe in ways we have never seen on screen before. The third episode of the season introduces us to our old friend Wedge Antilles as he struggles with the choice he made to join the Empire. After Wedge reaches out to the Rebellion, Sabine is chosen to lead a mission to recruit Wedge as well as a couple other pilots.

Last year we were introduced in the new canon novel Star Wars: Lost Stars  to several characters in the Empire who weren’t bad people. Some were actually pretty average—just trying to make ends meet to get by in the galaxy. Others were fully committed to the Empire’s cause no matter what but the galactic civil war was a dividing point for many within the Empire. It’s fascinating to see conflicted individuals who serve the Empire as they make their escape to join the Rebellion and that’s exactly what we got in this episode. Fortunately for the Rebellion, they are recruiting some of the most elite Imperial pilots.

Sabine, Wedge and Hobbie were able to make their escape with a little help from Agent Kallus. It was a nice callback to last season and possibly foreshadow’s Kallus’ defection. Kallus has been on the edge since the end of last season and in this episode he seems to be even closer as he goes out on a limb and nearly compromises himself to help the defectors escape.

Wedge Antilles in Star Wars Rebels (Disney XD)

This was no doubt a smaller episode than the last two. My only issue is that we didn’t get to see Admiral Thrawn again. To say there was a lot of hype going into this season for him would be an understatement. It’s a bit frustrating having him absent for the last two episodes considering we only got but a few scenes with him in the premiere. Other than that, it was a fun and exciting episode that explored how the Empire operates internally and we even got a few good space battles. We also learned a key piece of information in that Fulcrum isn’t just used as a codename to refer to Ahsoka, but actually anyone who is a secret informant for the Rebellion.

Oh and, Wedge quoting Poe Dameron as they were boarding the TIE Fighter to escape was also a nice touch. I can fly anything. We know Wedge, we know.

3.6/5 – SOLID