The thirteenth episode of Star Wars Rebels, Warhead, for the
third season did everything right for an episode stuck in the middle of a
season. The connective tissue Warhead setup for the second half of the season
is everything missing from the first half. This is exactly the type of episode,
with the connection to Grand Admiral Thrawn, which keep the overall narrative
for the show moving forward at a good pace. Warhead is a fun light hearted
episode with Zeb, Chopper, and AP-5, but one which still advances a major
overall story thread.
At the start of the episode Zeb is left in charge of the
Rebel base as Hera and the rest of the squad go off for training. The Empire
has sent out Infiltrator droids to look for the Rebels, and one lands on the
world Phoenix squadron occupies. The start of Warhead is perfect with its usage
of the same music at the start of Empire Strikes Back. There are a few similarities
to the start of Empire in Warhead. The first is the sending out of the droids
along with the music, but then Kallus’s reaction to one not reporting in is almost
identical to Admiral Ozzel’s. Kallus says there are so many deployed they
shouldn’t worry about one not reporting in until the next day. This is another instance
in the episode which should be called back to in the future. Thrawn will be
able to puzzle out that Kallus didn’t immediately investigate the disappearance
of the droid and wonder why. Even though Zeb in the end was able to keep the
base hidden, Thrawn knows he can narrow down where the Rebel base is by looking
into the worlds the droids were sent to. This is a great through line to have
for the second half of the season. The Empire and Thrawn have a plan to look
for the base, which will force the Rebels into an eventual showdown with Thrawn.
The main part of the episode with Zeb, Chopper and AP-5 was
fun. The Imperial Infiltrator droid was a fantastic callback to original
artwork from Ralph Mcquarrie. The action and chase between the droid and Zeb
was well done. Zeb’s plan to do damage to the Empire was great, and it was a
good finale to see the droid blow up on the Star Destroyer at the end. The only
small issue with the episode were AP-5 being annoying with his constant jabs at
Zeb which weren’t funny, and the fact Zeb didn’t alert the entire base about
the droid. There was no reason not to tell the entire base an Imperial droid
was on the loose. It didn’t make sense for Zeb not get more help since if the
droid were to get away it would force the Rebellion to evacuate the base. Even
though it was Zeb’s fault for bringing the droid back this mistake should not
have prevented him for asking for help. I can overlook this small gripe for the
episode since the crew usually doesn’t ask for help from the other people at
the base. Overall the main part was enjoyable, and a good half hour of
entertainment.
The biggest takeaway from the episode is the show moving
towards having more of a connected thread for the second part of the season.
Thrawn hopefully will have a bigger presence and we will get to see why is such
a master tactician. The Rebels should face some losses during the second half
of the season, and the show might end on a darker note. The end of the second season
wasn’t sunshine and roses either, but the first loss of the crew is one way to
end darker. The next few episodes look to focus more on Mandalore. Trying to bring them into the Rebellion is
something which will tie back to the sixth episode of the season, Imperial
Supercommandos. The Mandalore story would have worked better all placed
together, but bringing it back around for the second part of the season works
overall.
The second half of season three is starting to shape up extremely
well, and might be the strongest for the series overall. Let’s hope the strong
connective thread of Thrawn, and not hunting for supplies, is the prevailing theme
for the rest of the season.
Let me know what you thought of the episode. When do you
think Kallus will be discovered and will he survive the season? Comment and let
me know.
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