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.
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
Alternate World 