Star Wars: Rebels Season 3 “The Holocrons Of Fate” Review!

maul-hostage

After the solid outing from last weeks season premiere, Rebels follows up with a smaller scale episode. Now, that doesn’t mean that a lot doesn’t happen either. What this episodes lacks in pure raw action…it makes up for it in planting MAJOR story threads that are sure to be picked up on later in the season. (Or…even other mediums? I’ll get into that later.)

So how does this episode stack up to previous episodes before it? Let’s find out!!!!!!

 

 

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!!!!!

 

 

What worked for me:

 

– Maul (or Darth Maul. I thought the show creators dropped the “Darth” title, but Ezra calls him that in this episode. *sigh*)

 

maul

 

Years ago, this character was a footnote in the greater Star Wars Saga. Enter the Clone Wars and Rebels and now (Darth) Maul has become something more. Maul doesn’t skip a beat from “Twilight of the apprentice” by wanting Holocrons, capturing the Ghost, almost killing Kanan and finding out something gigantic for himself. Seems to me that whenever Maul shows up…it probably means something very substantial is going to happen. He pushes Ezra’s character development forward while handling the crew of the Ghost without difficulty. He’s such a perfect character for this show by putting Ezra in the middle of him and Kanan and this episode only furthers that point. I have to add as well that Sam Witwer’s voice performance is incredible as always.

 

maul-mind-probe

 

Maul also does a Kylo Ren like mind probe on Hera and anything that emulates Kylo Ren in any way is fine by me.

 

 

– The Bendu returns!

 

bendu-e2

 

…ALREADY! For the most part, I stay away from spoilers. I had no idea that Bendu was returning in this episode and I was both surprised and happy he returned so soon. Karan and Ezra go looking for the Sith Holocron that Kanan gave him in the season premiere which is….peculiar the show went back to that story thread so fast, but I’m not complaining either. I LOVE the Bendu. What exactly his purpose is for this season still is a mystery, but he seems to have taken a liking to Kanan. What he does confirm in this episode is that when you combine two Holocrons together, it could unlock Force knowledge which could be devastating. I don’t know what to make of his true motive yet, but I think Bendu leans more toward the light than the dark…at this point anyway.

 

 

– The merging of the Holocrons

 

holocron-2

 

For those who don’t know…Holocrons were originally an EU / Legends creation from the comic pages of Dark Empire. George Lucas would later end up using this story device in The Clone Wars series. What was hard to figure out was what exactly makes the Holcrons tick? This episode seems to imply that they are in fact…Force powered? Considering what happens when a Sith and Jedi Holocron are put together, I would think so. Anything diving deeper into Force mythology is a win for me and this episode delivers it.

 

maul-seeing

 

What Maul says while looking into the light of the Holocrons is “I SEE HIM!!!” and later when he runs off “He…LIVES!!!”. I think we can all guess what Maul means when he says that….OBI-WAN KENOBI! What does that mean though? Is old Ben going to be making an appearance this season? Does this mean that this story thread could be followed up in OTHER mediums? Comic? Novel? FILM?!?!?!? My money is on Kenobi showing up in Rebels, but I wouldn’t be opposed to the other options either.

 

 

What didn’t work for me:

 

– uh…I got nothing. I really liked this episode.

 

 

Quick hitters:

 

– Maul’s ship, which probably came from when he ruled the planet for 15 minutes and requested a sweet custom paint job.

 

maul-ship

 

– Love the moment of Kanan telling Ezra that his blindness is not Ezra’s fault and Ezra finally accepting that.

 

hug

 

After the premiere and “The Holocrons of Fate”…I think this season is headed down a stronger path than season 2. The antagonists introduced already seem better equipped to handle the long haul of 20+ episodes. I can’t wait to see Thrawn again and what the show does with him. Same goes for Maul as well, but that’s obvious.

 

As always I look forward to reading all of your reactions and thoughts on the episode.

 

 

PS: I will now know forever that Kitster was the one who said “Wizard” thanks to you all in the comments section from the last review.

 

Paul

 

Follow me on Twitter @Hermann22
Follow my Star Wars podcast on Twitter @Blastercanonpod

 

 

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31 thoughts on “Star Wars: Rebels Season 3 “The Holocrons Of Fate” Review!

  • October 2, 2016 at 12:35 am
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    Kanaan is slowly becoming a mix between Obi-Wan and Yoda, I dig it.

  • October 2, 2016 at 12:54 am
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    ‘Two suns’, consider that Maul has been there before, the crew of the ghost, better get their skates one.

  • October 2, 2016 at 5:09 am
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    Jedi can survive in space without pressurised device? I didn’t know…

    • October 2, 2016 at 7:17 am
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      Well I assumed it was a force to preserve life type thing like how obi and Qui were able to be in a poison gas room for awhile and be totally fine

      • October 2, 2016 at 9:28 pm
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        Maybe calm down. He didn’t do anything but express doubt. Your childish outburst does not contribute to your point.

        • October 2, 2016 at 10:01 pm
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          I am angry because, I explaining this for second time. Similar thing happened in season 2 and people was quickly pointed out as plothole.
          And this is not my ” point ” but scientific fact.

          • October 2, 2016 at 11:55 pm
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            Whether it is a fact or not, you are still trying to make a point.

            And did you explain it to this specific person for a second time? Or someone else? Chill out. It’s okay for someone to be wrong on the Internet.

    • October 2, 2016 at 2:03 pm
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      Yes, the first problem you would encounter would be lack of oxygen, which would set in 1-3 minutes depending upon your physical conditioning ( for me it would be about 30 seconds ). You would not instantly freeze since there is no medium in the vacuum of space in which to carry heat away or transfer the cold into your body. You would not instantly explode as your skin would provide some protection, like a thin pressure suit, against that. The Bends would eventually become a problem, but you probably would have already passed out from lack of oxygen before that happens. Finally, your body would reflexively try to gasp for air, and it’s then that all the really nasty stuff would start to happen.

    • October 2, 2016 at 9:27 pm
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      Yeah. It’s very possible.

  • October 2, 2016 at 1:51 pm
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    I feel that either he does find Obi Wan, or encounters Vader before finding him.
    What I didn’t like about the episode was that they spent half of it retriving the holocron.

    • October 2, 2016 at 11:07 pm
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      Yeah im sure the maul ship came from clone wars concept art for unaired episodes after show was cancelled.

      I would be suprised if maul doesnt cross paths with vader. Seems like such an opportunity for fan service that it doubt the show would pass it up.
      But if he does encounter vader then it would be lame for maul to survive because the emperor and vader would have yet another loose thread out there… Just like ezra and kanan. And vader and the emperor dont strike me as the type to leave a lot of loose ends… Which i guess gets to the heart of my problem with this show. They would do everything in their powers to wipe our ezra and kanan… Especially if they are involved with this growing rebellion. And they are just so passive on the show.

      I was wondering, what are the odds obiwan convinces maul to somehow team up with him and go after vader instead of him?

      • October 4, 2016 at 8:22 pm
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        The maul ship did appear in Son of Dathomir. There was that exact ship. I think the easiest scenario might be that Vader and Maul duel, while Maul is still looking for Obi-Wan. There might be also the evenience that either Vader enlists Maul in the search for Obi-wan, or that Obi wan is able to convince Maul to do the opposite, but in both cases there would be too many loose ends. I remember Filoni hinted at a showdown that seemed unlikely to finally be possible, a showdown fans would have liked to see. This hints IMO to a Maul vs Vader duel.

        • October 4, 2016 at 9:38 pm
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          I know. They got that design for the SoD comic from unaired episodes and concept art for said episodes.

          Vader doesn’t know about Obiwan until ANH…no reason to enlist Maul, nor would I believe Maul would work with the Sith after his perceived betrayal.

          I do feel Maul is headed to a show down with Kenobi, though I’m not sure he knows exactly where to find Kenobi. Maul having information about Kenobi and maybe learning about the existence of Luke could be dangerous. I’m curious how the show will handle this. Likely Maul will go to Tatooine. Possibly Kenobi would lean Tatooine to find Maul. Maybe team up with his old pal Hondo. The show has a fine line to draw though… Kenobi can not find out about Ezra and Kanan, but at the same time the show can’t just avoid it if he is with Hondo.

          I believe Maul will meet up with Vader prior to his show down with Kenobi. Hopefully Filoni has the balls to do what is right and kill Maul off.

          • October 5, 2016 at 8:31 am
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            Vader apparently is in search of Obi wan, as it sounded from his dialogues with the emperor.

          • October 5, 2016 at 10:20 pm
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            What dialogue/ episode was that in? It does make sense since obiwan left him for dead that vader would be aware he was still out there.

          • October 6, 2016 at 8:24 am
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            first episode of season 2

  • October 2, 2016 at 1:53 pm
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    Don’t cross the streams!

  • October 2, 2016 at 2:53 pm
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    It seems the story of Robert the Bruce filtered through to the galaxy far, far away.

  • October 2, 2016 at 7:49 pm
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    The animation is getting way better; I could especially notice it in this episode.

  • October 2, 2016 at 11:00 pm
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    They receyle a lot of stuff visually i guess to save money but its a weakness for me,
    Maul was pretty sweet… Like that he still salls ezra his apprentice and is still loyal to ezra in a way.

    We disagree in this show exploring the force. That was much better suited in clone wars when we had the return of the sith and the propehcy and the fall of the jedi.
    Really, this show should be more about the rebels and the rebellion rising. The more this show deals with the force and the jedi is such a heavy way it just makes it seem more at odds with where things are when new hope starts.

    • October 3, 2016 at 7:13 pm
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      The problem is that when kids think of Star Wars they think of lightsabers and Jedi and Sith. They would be waiting around for them to show up if they didn’t. I totally agree with you though.

      • October 4, 2016 at 2:34 am
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        Sure but i think of the shows is good and has aliens, blasters and starships it would be fine. Otherwise rogue one will be in a lot of trouble. Besides, we still have vader and now maul running around with lightsabers and if you recall in the original star wars there really wasnt much lightsaber action.

  • October 3, 2016 at 3:45 pm
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    I think it’s a bit of a leap for assume Maul was referring to Obi Wan when he said “he lives”. I thought he may be referring to the emperor/Darth Sidious.

    • October 3, 2016 at 7:12 pm
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      I don’t think it is that big of a leap, but it sure could mean Vader since he wasn’t there to see the outcome of their battle. The twin suns thing by Ezra sort of gives it away.

    • October 6, 2016 at 2:51 am
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      Sidious never went away….why would he think he was dead? they never showed what “Plans” Sidious had for Maul after he killed his brother and defeated him at end of Clone Wars…..OWK is who he’s talking about…its 30 years later all the Jedi should be dead. Obi aint and the comment about “I see twin Suns” that seals it

  • October 4, 2016 at 5:16 pm
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    it’s amusing to me how soo many celebrated the end of the EU…and then go nuts over EU elements being brought back. For me, this just reinforces how good the EU was. (not perfect) But the ability to tell all kinds of stories and create more lore.

    Maul is gonna end up being Snoke…

  • October 6, 2016 at 2:48 am
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    Best season so far and I know it’s only been a few episodes.

  • October 8, 2016 at 9:23 pm
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    Can anyone clue me in to the “Caleb Doom” reference to Kanaan when Maul was interrogating Hera?

    Thanks!

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