Today we continue our rewatch of Star Wars Rebels with episodes 6 through 10 of the popular Lucasfilm animated series.
Star Wars Rebels stars the vocal talents of Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger, Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla, Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan Jarrus, Steven Blum as Zeb Orrelios, Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren, and series co-creator Dave Filoni as Chopper.
Episode 6: “Breaking Ranks” – In this episode, Ezra infiltrates an Imperial stormtrooper academy in order to steal some crucial information from Agent Kallus (David Oyelowo). There, he befriends a couple of fellow recruits and enlists them in his plan. But Ezra’s natural talents attract the attention of the Grand Inquisitor (Jason Isaacs), who is seeking to eliminate or capture anyone who has Force-like abilities. Ezra’s escape from the academy is a particularly thrilling one.
Episode 7: “Out of Darkness” – We are introduced via communicator to a covert rebel contact codenamed “Fulcrum,” and Sabine insists on joining Hera for a mission to pick up supplies from this person. But after Ezra and Zeb botch a repair job on the Phantom (a shuttle that can attach to and separate from the Ghost when needed), Hera and Sabine become stranded on an asteroid populated by fearsome, bloodthirsty creatures. They’re eventually rescued by the rest of the crew, but not before Sabine learns to put trust in her superiors.
Episode 8: “Empire Day” – The crew of the Ghost enact a plan to destroy a new prototype TIE fighter during a patriotic parade on Lothal celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Empire. This day is also revealed to be Ezra’s 15th birthday, and the teenager is sullen and removed from the rest of the group. But when Ezra discovers that his old Rodian friend-of-the-family Tseebo (guest star Peter MacNicol) is on the run from the Empire, he returns to his former home to look for him. Finding that Tseebo has been fitted with a cybernetic implant containing valuable Imperial data, our protagonists help him escape.
Episode 9: “Gathering Forces” – Tseebo returns to his old self and tells Ezra he knows what happens to his parents– they were abducted by the Empire. Meanwhile, the Grand Inquisitor attaches a tracking device to the Ghost, which the crew only identifies thanks to Tseebo’s help. Kanan and Ezra leave the Ghost with the Phantom and return to the asteroid from “Out of Darkness” in order to draw the Inquisitor’s attention away from their friends. There, Ezra learns how to use the Force to calm the deadly creatures (called “fyrnocks”) and use them to attack the Imperial forces when they arrive. But when the Grand Inquisitor injures Kanan in a duel, Ezra finds himself tapping into the dark side of the Force to summon a giant fyrnock from the depths below.
Episode 10: “Path of the Jedi” – The events of the previous episode lead Kanan to believe it’s time for the next step in Ezra’s Jedi training. He tells the boy to use the Force to locate a Jedi temple on Lothal, where they find their way inside and Ezra is allowed to proceed on his own. The teenager encounters a series of frightening illusions that test his will in the Force, but then is ultimately guided down the correct path by the voice of Master Yoda (special guest star Frank Oz). To me this is the most visually and mythologically interesting episode of the series so far, and it ends with a fairly momentous occasion for our characters– Ezra receives a kyber crystal from the temple and builds his own unique lightsaber.
Star Wars Rebels is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.