The first episode of season three of Disney XD’s and
Lucasfilm’s hit animated television show Star Wars Rebels drops on September
23. I am nearly as excited for Rebels as I am for Rogue One. This is largely
due to the return of one of my favorite characters from the Legends books,
Grand Admiral Thrawn. I was a big fan of the old Legend books and own every one
book published up until 2001. That may be bit of a dubious honor to admit. Having
Grand Admiral Thrawn become cannon again is fantastic fan service for loyal
fans of the old books.
Thrawn is one of the biggest draws to the season and I’m
excited to see how he’s used. I don’t think Dave Filoni and the story group
will use him frivolously, and I don’t think he will be a single season villain.
He will be the main villain for the season, and probably defeated, but not
killed. I have hopes he may fail to complete his task and the Rebels ultimately
succeed in the season, but he is just sent to the outer rim or unexplored space
to patrol so he can be used again. The story group might even have Thrawn
succeed to a degree against our team of Rebels and end this season on a darker
note as Empire Strikes Backs does. This would take guts for a show still primarily
aimed at kids, but it still could be done. The possibilities with Thrawn are
immense and I am beyond excited he is being introduced to a larger audience who
may have never read the legends books.
Besides Thrawn one other major story to follow is Ezra’s
path and if he will turn to the dark side. All last season I thought he wasn’t
going to turn, but it’s hard to dispute him turning now. The only thing I will
offer is that Filoni may be setting us up to think he is going to go dark, and
instead have him reject the turn and stay on the light side as Luke does. He is
going to flirt with it greatly this season, without a doubt, and be pushed by
Maul to embrace dark elements. We have already seen a glimpse of this in a clip
from the season where Ezra takes control of a Stormtrooper’s mind who is
driving an AT-ST (or an AT-ST like vehicle) and starts killing other troopers
while controlling the trooper and the vehicle. While Obi-Wan and other Jedi
have influenced the weak minded, they never did anything like this. It may
still be a grey area, but it borders on the darker side of the force. I’m still
not one hundred percent certain he is going to turn, but it is certainly setup
for him too.
Kanan’s loss of eyesight and the struggles he will have to
go through will only add to Ezra’s chances of turning. Kanan will have to go on
his own journey of discovery after losing his eyesight and won’t be able to
help Ezra with his training. I had entertained the theory last year that Kanan
would be the Jedi to fall to the dark side after a loss, and the loss of his
eyesight might send him down this path. I doubt it, but if Hera were to be
killed as well he could be pushed over the edge and Ezra may be the only one to
prevent his fall. It would be an interesting twist and one many people would
not expect, but I doubt they go down this path with a show whose primary
audience is again for kids.
Rogue One could also have an impact on this season of
Rebels. I think the first half of the season could focus on the team
discovering the Death Star. They set this up last season when they went to Geonosis
and found the system devoid of life. They questioned why the system had been
eradicated, but it didn’t go any farther than that episode. I think since the
team has set up a base they could now start to investigate what the Empire is
up to and why they need so many resources. It would be a great tie in for fans
of the show if the crew of the Ghost are the ones to discover the building of
the Death Star. They don’t have to discover what it does, but just that it exists
and know more must be found out about it. The discovery could play right up
until the mid-season break and then Rogue One would be released.
The season would still continue, and still take place before
the events of Rogue One and Episode Four. The team would just be pulled away
from finding more about the Death Star. The last half of the season would be where
Thrawn would have the greatest impact, and start to close around the crew of
the Ghost. Thrawn could use the crew’s discovery of the Death Star against them
and lure them into a trap when they are eager to learn more about the new
secret space station. They can go almost anywhere with Thrawn and from the
small amount I’ve seen of him it seems they are on the perfect tract for the
character.
This season of Rebels has the potential to be the best of
the previous two, and that is more because of how well they have built the
first two seasons of the show. Filoni has a plan for where the show is going,
and he has built the narrative extremely well. The show is simply for Star Wars
fans even if it is found on Disney XD. People who haven’t jumped on bored the
bandwagon there is plenty of room, and there isn’t a better time to get caught
up and enjoy the new season.
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