Star Wars Rebels premiers with an hour long episode entitled “Spark of Rebellion” on October 3rd. It’s no secret that I’ve been looking forward to this animated series, and that I have very high hopes for this show. If it’s good, then I’ll have new Star Wars content to help me pass the time while waiting for Episode 7 to get here. If it’s bad…well, I don’t really want to talk about it. Several days ago, I received an encrypted Imperial transmission offering me the chance to view the series premier in advance. I suspect it’s the same imperial operative that sent me that book last week…I may never know.
And so dear readers…I watched it, and it was glorious. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. First off, I was relieved that those four shorts that were made available online in August were not just clips from the series premier. Will they show up in later episodes? I can’t say for sure, but it’s unlikely. The episode was well written, well paced, great introductions to each of the main characters, and their chemistry was wonderful. As a fan of Firefly, I couldn’t help but notice that Kanan and Zeb really reminded me of Mal and Jayne. If you don’t know who those characters are, or have never seen Firefly…why not?
But I digress. As I had suspected, Ezra is the Star Wars equivalent of Aladdin. At one point he’s even referred to as a street rat. Coincidence? I think not. Chopper is full of personality, and Sabine and Hera are going to be wonderfully strong female characters, and that’s never a bad thing. Of course Star Wars never lacks for strong female leads, and it looks like we’ve got two with Rebels. The voice actors didn’t disappoint either, each actor was perfectly cast. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of Freddie Prinze, Jr. but he delivered a great performance. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing where he takes Kanan. The shows big bad will be the Inquisitor, and while he played no major roll in this first episode, we were treated to a nice little introduction to the character. Not to be spoilery, but Obi Wan pops up in hologram form in a nice little call back to the events of Episode III. For the most part, the score from The Clone Wars felt very detached from John Williams work on Episodes I thru VI. With Rebels however, Kevin Kiner knocked it out of the park. The music in this episode would feel right at home alongside John Williams scores.
All in all a wonderful first episode, and I cant wait to see where the series goes. I’m really excited about the prospect of finding out what happened to all those clones. They’d all be in their late 40’s, so you would expect to see some of them as Imperial officers…clone retirement community maybe? And what about Ahsoka Tano who was blatantly absent from Season 6 of the Clone Wars? Inevitably, characters from the original trilogy like Tarkin and Mon Mothma are bound to show up. Vader and the Emperor will no doubt pop up time to time, and we know C3P0 and R2 will be included eventually. Perhaps a visit to Tatooine will yield an Alec Guinness looking Obi Wan, or a look at a 12 year old Luke…only time will tell.
Until next time…may the Force be with you!