Star Wars Rebels Season 3: “The Antilles Extraction” Review!

Rebels

This episode of Rebels features the introduction of a LONG TIME fan favorite character and judging by the title of the episode…it’s not hard to figure out who that person is. Wedge Antilles. I was never a giant fan of the character, but Lord knows this guy carries massive “Legends street credibility” with him. Thus, the episode’s importance to whet all those Rogue Squadron novel fan’s appetites.

Could this episode whet my appetite even? Let’s find out….

 

 

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

 

 

What worked for me:

 

  • Sabine

sabine

 

I have been VERY critical of this character since season 1. Season 2 tried to get her more involved and expand on her backstory, but some of it felt hollow to me. Her Mandalorian heritage comes with a lot of expectations and it’s been hit or miss at best. This episode shows us that Sabine is just as deadly without her Mandalorian armor and we see her personality shine a bit without the main cast around. Her fight scene with Governor Pryce was pretty rad if I do say so myself. If we continue to get character building episodes like this one?…Then we are in good hands.

 

  • Starships vs Starships
    ships

 

This episode starts off with a bang when a Rebels transport ship (I LOVE that design) escorted by A-Wings is attacked by a bunch of TIE Interceptors. The more starship dogfights the better, I say. We get to see all the Imperial TIE line in this episode. Fighters, Bombers etc. No sign of that sweet new TIE Striker from Rogue One though. Bummer.

 

  • Governor Pryce
    pryce

 

We only heard her mentioned in the previous two seasons of Rebels and she came off like a throwaway name at most. We were introduced to her properly in the season opener and she came off like a bigger deal than I thought. In this episode? ….You don’t want to mess with this lady. She’s as calculated as any other Imperial I’ve seen and held her own against a Mandalorian warrior. As you can see from the still above…she’s ready to torture some Rebels. Damn, that’s hateful!

 

  • The animation (!)
    academy

 

Maybe it’s just me, but this season’s animation seems to have taken a step up. I don’t think the animation has been bad per se in the previous seasons, but it’s been popping out of whichever screen I watch the show on. Now, I realize that a show SHOULD improve it’s look as it goes forward, but I think it needs to be noted, nonetheless. The movements of the characters and ships seem more…fluid? Maybe it’s just me. Does anyone else notice this?

 

 

What didn’t work for me:

 

  • Emo Ezra
    kanan-ezra

 

I like Ezra WAY more this season already than the previous seasons and I do like where the story is headed, but….when you mix brooding and whining together…it’s brutal. I get that the show is showing how much of a loose canon this kid is. I do however need to remind myself that this show is aimed at kids and not adults like myself who come off like a spoiled child wanting Star Wars his way. I get it.

 

 

Quick hitters:

 

  • Did I mention Wedge was in this episode?
    wedge

 

It was cool seeing how Wedge came into the Rebellion, but it wasn’t anything incredible. He honestly came off as an afterthought. Thus, he ended up in “Quick hitters”.

 

  • It was funny that Hobbie from ESB made an appearance. Luke yells to him while flying his T-47. “HOBBIE! I”VE BEEN HIT!” and he is pictured below.
    klivian-derek-hobbie

 

  • Is that R2Q5 from the Star Wars R2 Unit Salt and Pepper shaker set? It’s all connected, indeed.
    black-r2

 

  • A new Fulcrum.
    fulcrum

 

  • It’s obvious who that person is….
    kalus

 

 

This season of Rebels is 3 for 3 with me. This was a fun episode and gave a lot for us Star Wars fans to chew on. Where does Kallus fit in? Is Wedge going to stick around for awhile? Hobbie too? Will Ezra whine himself into oblivion? I’m excited to find out!

 

 

You can follow me on Twitter @Hermann22
You can follow my Star Wars podcast @Blastercanonpod

 

Paul

 

 

+ posts

41 thoughts on “Star Wars Rebels Season 3: “The Antilles Extraction” Review!

  • October 9, 2016 at 6:05 pm
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    The term is to whet an appetite not wet.

    • October 9, 2016 at 6:22 pm
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      My bad! My Wife who is an English teacher will be embarrassed as well for me! I’m having Viral change it. Thanks for the heads up!

      • October 10, 2016 at 3:59 am
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        It’s not the first time. The spelling and grammatical errors are frequent on this site and it’s becoming embarrassing because it looks so amateurish.

        • October 10, 2016 at 6:08 am
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          Sorry, Bruh. I’ll do better. ❤️

          • October 11, 2016 at 2:35 am
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            Bruh.

        • October 10, 2016 at 9:16 am
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          There are better things in life to be embarrassed about than our spelling. If this is really such big issue for you, better start getting your SW news from CNN or another official medial that do this for a living. We are just a bunch of fans doing this for fun, and for some of us English is not even our mother language. Still, I guarantee you we try our best. 😉

          • October 10, 2016 at 2:21 pm
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            Who said it was a “big issue” for me? Instead of responding rudely like a spoiled child you could’ve instead simply taken the constructive criticism on board quietly and improved the output.

          • October 10, 2016 at 4:56 pm
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            I don’t think my response was rude and I really don’t want you to feel embarrassed for such thing. As I said we do our best.

          • October 10, 2016 at 7:53 pm
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            Are you kidding me? His response was about as calm and professional as you could ask for.

          • October 10, 2016 at 9:43 pm
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            Patronising me as if I am taking things too seriously and telling me to go elsewhere is not “calm and professional”.

          • October 10, 2016 at 10:11 pm
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            It wasn’t patronizing. If you took it that way, that’s your own fault. At any rate, nobody is forcing you to come here. If folks’ grammar is too much for you to handle, go elsewhere or start your own Star Wars news site where you can enforce proper grammatical conventions.

            I’m pretty easily annoyed with poor grammar, but as Viral Hide mentioned, some of it comes from folks who don’t speak English as a native language.

          • October 11, 2016 at 4:21 pm
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            It’s a fan site, and if you measure it against the grammar/spelling on some official news sites like ‘the mail online’ you’ll probably find less errors here. Your initial message was snotty, I think the response was appropriate to your tone and then you act like an offended party; perhaps fitting for someone who deems ‘canine turd burglar’ as an suitable moniker for their self.

          • October 11, 2016 at 6:37 pm
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            I would not lower myself to reading the Mail Online so I think the comparison is poor. The screen name has a history to it from another sight, which you are unaware of, so you are not in a position to judge.

            My tone was not unreasonable. This is a site that holds itself out as a news site and inevitably seeks to compete with others in that regard. If they are happy to be second best then so be it, but somehow I doubt that’s the case.

          • October 12, 2016 at 4:03 pm
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            Lower yourself? Give me a break. Knock off the pompous rhetoric. It just makes you sound silly. Like I said before, the Internet is swimming with other options. Nobody is forcing you to come here. I encourage you to seek your serious Star Wars news in other places if what you see is so harmful to your tender sensibilities. You seem to hold yourself to a pretty high standard when it comes to grammar, but apparently you’re not against the occasional passive-aggressive cheap shot. I rather like this “second beset” news site.

    • October 9, 2016 at 6:52 pm
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      Also, not sure how a character can be hallow rather than hollow.

      • October 9, 2016 at 8:06 pm
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        That was a genuine mistake. Thanks for helping me out. ❤️

    • October 10, 2016 at 3:44 am
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      Also, it’s “nonetheless” instead of “none the less.” Sorry, it’s a nit-pick but it’s really bugging me.

      • October 10, 2016 at 6:04 am
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        Thanks for letting me know. ❤️

  • October 9, 2016 at 8:28 pm
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    What is the meaning of the new fulcrum symbol? And why do so many believe it points to Kallus?

    • October 9, 2016 at 9:05 pm
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      The voice sounds like Kallus’ voice. And he so blatantly helped the rebels (he didn’t “find” the dissident pilots and such)

  • October 9, 2016 at 11:02 pm
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    The “fulcrum” explanation was to tie loose ends.

    One of the book states Wedge was working with Fulcrum. This led many to believe Ashoka was still alive.

    So early on in the episode, they made that explanation that “fulcrum” is just a code word that isn’t specific to anyone help erase the Ashoka is alive connection.

  • October 9, 2016 at 11:17 pm
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    Does anybody know where online Rebels can b watched. I’m in Australia and they’re still not playing it here. I was watching on YouTube but those videos have been blocked

  • October 10, 2016 at 2:29 am
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    Decent episode. Still dont like sabine but they are pushing her in the right direction – to be more badass which clicks better with her mandalorian background. Its a good thing she won that fight with governor Pryce.
    Glad they brought back the fulcrum code name… Didnt even think about it being kallus but that makes sense. Not sure that should have been revealed in a review.

    • October 10, 2016 at 3:16 am
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      I wouldn’t say it was revealed. We all just seem to think it is him.

  • October 10, 2016 at 3:49 am
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    Pretty sure Kallus isn’t the new Fulcrum, but rather was just paying Zeb back the debt of honor that he owed him; helping Zeb’s friends escape was a way to neatly tie that up.

    I’m kind of hoping the new Fulcrum isn’t someone we know; I wouldn’t mind “Fulcrum” just being a nebulous voice that gets used to further the plot. We already had a whole season of “Who Is Fulcrum??”, so the possibility of retreading that ground seems tired.

  • October 10, 2016 at 6:20 am
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    Fulcrum is Thrawn more likely than he is Kallus

    • October 10, 2016 at 12:44 pm
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      Re-listen to the new voice of Fulcrum at the beginning of the episode, that voice was Kallus’. As to the idea of Thrawn being aware of Kallus’ sympathies… well Thrawn is clever enough to see it, and Thrawn is exactly the type of leader Kallus would follow – so he could be a triple agent.

      • October 10, 2016 at 4:58 pm
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        We shall see. Regardless of the voice (which they can do to fool us into making the most likely guess), it’s too obvious to be Kallus and his helping them didn’t seem planned to me, more of a spur of the moment thing. Also, saying “Tell Zeb we’re even” isn’t the words of a longterm spy, but someone doing something once.

        • October 10, 2016 at 6:23 pm
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          That’s the impression I had.

        • October 10, 2016 at 9:44 pm
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          If he is Fulcrum, he would need to keep it a secret from just about everyone, including the crew of the Ghost.

        • October 11, 2016 at 5:38 am
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          Agreed. It seemed to me like he was forced into helping them (because he is good at heart and couldn’t sit back and watch them be picked off after seeing the 3rd pilot murdered in space) but did not want to play his entire hand thus came up with an excuse. He could even be a one-off Fulcrum. There are many ways of looking at it, none are wrong until proven otherwise.

          Don’t forget this is a kids show though! They’ve had some great twists, as well as in TCW, but never make them too abstract. And they’ve done a cursory amount of narrative groundwork to place Kallus as fulcrum, so it makes sense.

  • October 10, 2016 at 10:53 am
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    As much as I’d like this new Fulcrum to be Kallus, I think there’s a better chance that it’s either Mon Mothma or Galen Erso. The reveal later this season would be a nice tie-in with ROGUE ONE.

    • October 10, 2016 at 2:30 pm
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      I highly doubt either of them are in the Fulcrum role. Especially not Mothma.

    • October 10, 2016 at 9:45 pm
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      Mon Mothma is in the Senate right now.

    • October 11, 2016 at 3:22 pm
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      Galen Erso? No chance.

  • October 10, 2016 at 8:02 pm
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    I thought the pilots were too quick to trust Sabine. She should have been undercover longer. They could have cut the exposition at the beginning and began with Sabine at the Imperial facility. Obi Wan as bounty hunter in the Clone Wars was far more convincing because he had to earn trust.

    • October 10, 2016 at 9:45 pm
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      We don’t know how long she was there.

      • October 10, 2016 at 9:54 pm
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        It’s possible that she was there longer than it seemed, but there wasn’t any indication that she didn’t walk in and almost immediately find the defectors. I wanted to feel like this was something dangerous, but it seemed pretty easy until the Tie Fighter flight.

        • October 11, 2016 at 12:02 am
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          The exact same argument can be made for much more time passing. There is just nothing in the episode that tells you how much time, therefore any time constraints you put on it are yours alone.

          • October 11, 2016 at 12:27 am
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            Possibly. But, we get a clue about the timeframe because the other pilots don’t seem to know her. If she had been there for a while, it is likely that they would have been familiar with one another. The three defectors seemed to know each other well.

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