Star Wars Rebels S2E8 Stealth Strike Recap/Review (Spoilers): Ezra Saves the Day

Fast paced, action packed and interesting character moments filled this episode of Star Wars Rebels.  Ezra proved his worth on more than one occasion. Rex and Kanan had a fun infiltration adventure with nods to A New Hope, and we saw our first interdiction cruiser! The story also fit nicely into the thirty minute time slot. Many of the episodes this season have felt rushed and underdeveloped because of the twenty two minute length, but this one was paced perfectly.

We start out with Ezra on a mission with another crew investigating the disappearance of a transport. They are pulled out of hyperspace by the new interdiction cruiser and captured. The Imperials quickly find out who Ezra is and call in Kallus to deal with him. Kallus warns them to take extra care with Ezra to ensure he doesn’t escape. This was a constant theme of the episode. People underestimating Ezra. The commander, Sato, at the start of the episode isn’t sure why he was brought along. The Imperials don’t think he warrants extra guards, and Kanan doesn’t want to let Ezra go on his own to sabotage the gravity wells of the cruiser.  Each time Ezra proves he is extremely capable. His escape was brilliant. I like how he was able to use the force to ignite his lightsaber and take out the Stormtroopers. He spent the entire episode making easy work of the all of the troopers he came in contact with. He is starting to truly grow in the force and become a powerful Padawan. His character is starting to remind me of Ahsoka from the first few seasons of the Clone Wars. I also enjoyed the banter Ezra had with everyone in the episode and how he put Kanan and Rex in their place for arguing.

Kanan and Rex are the other main focus of the episode, and how Kanan finally accepts and trusts Rex. I’m not sure it was handled in the best way, but I’m glad we are moving past the mistrust issues Kanan is having. If you have read any of the comics you can understand why Kanan doesn’t trust the clones. I feel we have had enough time and episodes where they should be able to trust one another. This being said the switch for Kanan to trusting and wanting to save Rex was a tad quick. That again might be because of the short time length, but I don’t think it detracted much from the episode. Rex did risk himself to save the group, so Kanan felt obligated to save him. Rex had the absolute best moment of the episode tonight when he threw his helmet at the Stormtroopers, hit them and then took them out. I cracked up when this happened and found it to be a perfect encapsulation for the episode and Rex’s character. Fun and exciting, but frustrating at the same time.

The episode was fun and exciting, but the characters were frustrated throughout. Either from each other, or from the Empire. The Rebels were able to escape each situation, but it was never easy. They had to constantly work to get past every obstacle. I didn’t know how the episode was going to end. I thought we might get our first sacrifice of the season when Rex stayed behind to save the others. I wasn’t sure if Kanan would be given the opportunity to save him. I thought the loss of Rex might force Kanan to accept the other clone troopers and trust them. This works out better for the entire season, because once Rex does perish a more permanent and lasting relationship will be established with Kanan.

Overall this was one of my favorite episodes of the season. It had a classic Star Wars feel, possibly because it drew upon the Death Star rescue. On top of the nostalgia we got great action from Ezra, Kanan and Rex. Ezra was the true bright spot of the episode. I am becoming increasingly curious on where they are taking him as a character this season. The more I watch the more I think he is not going to turn dark, but instead might die at some point and cause the entire crew to evaluate their fight for the Rebellion. We will have to wait and see, but some darkness is looming around the corner for our band of heroes.

What did you think about tonight’s episode? It was close to my favorite of the season, where does it stand for you? Comment and let me know.

(One small nitpick. Sabine pipes up about the Imperials working on gravity well technology while she was at the academy. We don’t find out any of her backstory until last week, and now she decides to slip in her Imperial Academy knowledge. I feel some of that information might have been helpful before now. Extremely small gripe.)