Saw Gerrera Is Coming To ‘Star Wars Rebels’ in the Back Half of Season 3

(SPOILERS FOR ROGUE ONE AHEAD)

In the latest episode of Rebels Recon, the behind the scenes web series for Star Wars Rebels, Lucasfilm story group executive Pablo Hidalgo, teased the second half of the third season of Rebels will connect with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and deal with elements from that movie. Thanks to Rebels Reactions spotting a Toys R Us ad, we now know just exactly what elements of Rogue One will make their way into Rebels. Making his way full circle from animation to film, back to animation is the rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker).

Clone Wars gave us the origin of Gerrera but we didn’t get to see exactly how his extreme methods caused problems for the Rebellion as Mon Mothma mentioned in Rogue One. It seems Gerrera is much to blame for the Rebellions reputation as being a terrorist organization. Hopefully, Rebels will color that in for us, as much as a children’s series can.

Star Wars Rebels returns January 7, 2017, with a special hour-long two-episode mid-season premiere on DisneyXD.

Looks like Saw Gerrera is coming to #StarWarsRebels soon! @CoffeeWthKenobi #RogueOne pic.twitter.com/MMYcwr2TN5

— Rebels Reactions (@RebelsReactions) December 17, 2016

‘Star Wars Rebels’: “Imperial Super Commandos” Spoiler Review

Star Wars Rebels finally made good on their promise to explore the backstory of Sabine Wren this week in the episode titled “Imperial Super Commandos” and it didn’t disappoint. For the most part at least. I was a bit underwhelmed for the majority of the episode that is until the action kicked in and we got an awesome chase scene where Sabine and Ezra were chased by  Mandorlians using jetpacks.

Ezra’s inclusion in the episode was pretty pointless until he started deflecting laser bolts with his Lightsaber during the chase scene. This episode just didn’t dig deep beyond the crisis of Ezra being captured by Gar Saxon (Ray Stevenson) until the end when it was revealed that Sabine’s mother has joined the Empire along with many other Mandolorians.

While this episode didn’t do anything to advance the main plot of the season, it didn’t feel like a complete waste either as Gar Saxon was still alive at the end seemingly setting things up for a follow-up later on. The Imperial Super Commandos will definitely be back this season and I’m hoping they will play into the larger plot.

The events of the episode also provided for an organic turning point for Fenn Rau (Kevin McKidd) as he opted to join the Rebellion after witnessing Sabine’s honor and integrity when she risked her life to save Ezra who is not a Mandolorian. It felt like a logical move for Rau considering his men were killed by Saxon and his super commandos. With his people gone and other Mandolorians joining the Empire, Rau’s best option was most definitely joining the Rebellion. And as Ezra said, it’s better to have him on their side than to fight what is most certainly a formidable foe for the Rebels.

Overall I thought it was a solid episode that could have been a lot better if it solely focused on Sabine and given us just a little more insight into her past. Ezra’s presence was distracting and took away from the focus on Sabine. Had Ezra been replaced with some sort of McGuffin device, it would have been a lot better. He just didn’t need to be there.

I have to say I was very impressed with the directing this episode. When it was announced Dave Filoni would not be serving as the supervising director it had me concerned. But this episode felt like Filoni was actually calling the shots and it’s clear the former leader has done a fantastic job passing on his vision to new directors who are managing to shine in their own right while maintaining the style and tone created by Filoni.

3.5/5 – SOLID

‘Rogue One’ Shoretroopers on Display in New Duracell Ad

Christmas isn’t for another two months but thanks to the release of the new Rogue One trailer last week and the marketing campaign for the film starting to ramp up, it feels like it’s already here.

In a new Duracell commercial released today, you can see Stormtroopers and the new Shoretroopers on full display as a band of Rebels make a daring attempt to deliver everyone’s favorite droid, R2-D2 to Mon Mothma.

The commercial will take you back to the times spent playing Star Wars with your friends as kids. It also features several tracks from the incredible score to The Force Awakens including “Main Title and The Attack on the Jakku Village”, “I Can Fly Anything”, and “The Scavenger”.

Check out the video below and special thanks to StarWarsNewsNet.com for bringing this to my attention.

‘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