Updated With Rebels Recon. Star Wars Rebels: “Zero Hour” Review. What Did You Think?

The third season of Rebels is over and we go into “Zero Hour” knowing that there will be casualties. Why? Because the history of the last two season finales has given us major deaths and transformations. I didn’t expect this one to be any different. Which Rebels and Imperials survive? Where do the Rebels end up in the finale to set up season 4?

 

 

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!

 
What worked for me:

 

  • The space battles

 

I’ve been beating the drum all season that the animation of the series has been VASTLY improved and it always stands out the most during the space battles. The ships seem to fly through space with more grace and look less stiff as they sometimes did in previous seasons. The space battle we are given really does come off cinematically, which is hard to do in a 22 minute cartoon (part 1 is the space battle, FYI).

 

 

  • Thrawn and his master plan(s)


We get a full dose of Thrawn in these finale episodes and it’s all for the better. Thrawn has been built up all season as this masterful tactician that we have occasionally seen, but we really get to see him in full force here. If it wasn’t for the Bendu (more on that later), Thrawn would have destroyed the Rebels easily. There is a part where Captain Constantine goes against Thrawn’s orders and essentially gives the Rebels the chance they need to receive more help. If not for that, Thrawn would have won the day. Good news for him though is that he survives and we can expect him raising hell on the Rebels in season 4.

 

 

  • Bendu raining hell on EVERYONE!


In a quick attempt to get Bendu’s help, Kanan calls Bendu a coward and…that didn’t go over too well. Bendu loses his S*%^ and unleashes a massive storm on the Imperials AND the Rebels so they will leave the planet. It was an interesting move to have Bendu NOT aide the Rebels solely, but instead just try and destroy EVERYONE. He truly sticks to being the “one in the middle.” It was cool to see how mystical/powerful he really is too.

 

 

  • The ground battle

 

As impressive as the space battle was, the ground battle was equally impressive. The show did a great job of showing how outnumbered the Rebels truly are against the mighty Empire. Seeing all the Walkers in action, swarming the Rebel base, was quite a sight to behold. Again, it came off cinematically in a way that I never thought Rebels could pull off before.

 

 

 

What didn’t work for me:

 

  • Bendu’s defeat?

 

One of the few missteps the finale makes is Thrawn defeating Bendu…kind of. Bendu becomes a storm/cloud in the sky and yells at everyone to leave. Thrawn opens fire on said cloud and Bendu falls to the ground, only to disappear after telling Thrawn of his eventual end. I realize that the writers wanted to have Bendu foreshadow Thrawn’s demise, but the action of shooting a cloud was ridiculous and I think it could have been handled a lot better in a different way.

 

 
Quick hitters:

 

  • Commander Sato doesn’t make it out. Bummer.

 

 

  • KALLUS MAKES IT OUT ALIVE!!!! THE FORCE BE PRAISED!!!!

 

 

  • Death Troopers are in this episode and they don’t really do much, but look cool.

 

 

  • Need a toy of it.


I have to admit…of all the Rebels season finales…this is my least favorite. Now, it doesn’t mean I didn’t like it; these episodes had tons of action and great stakes, but the other two were more exciting to me. The season ends on the Rebels headed to Yavin 4 and seems like we are truly headed to Rogue One territory. I can’t wait to see what this means for our merry band of Rebels.

 

A special thank you to everyone reading the reviews and saying nice things to me during the season. I really do appreciate you all the taking the time in doing so! 🙂

 

 

Paul

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

 

 

And here’s the Rebels Recon for the last episode:

 

 

 

+ posts

157 thoughts on “Updated With Rebels Recon. Star Wars Rebels: “Zero Hour” Review. What Did You Think?

  • March 25, 2017 at 8:05 pm
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    Could Bendu talking to Thrawn, about his end be tease for episode 8 or 9? Thrawn dies with First order, could we see Thrawn in live action form?

      • March 25, 2017 at 8:25 pm
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        Exactly what I think, and what I hope for, especially now when Bendu told him his fall in the future

      • March 25, 2017 at 8:56 pm
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        i hope this happens. would tie things together quite nicely.

        • March 25, 2017 at 11:08 pm
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          I hope so. They had a lot of opportunities to confirm that he was dead in Empire’s End, but they always left that open. I think they might bring him back in a later story, even if it’s not in the Sequel Trilogy.

          • March 26, 2017 at 12:13 am
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            exactly. thrawn in the EU set up the empire of the hand in the unknown regions before he came back from his “exile”, they could do the same thing with the first order.

    • March 25, 2017 at 11:48 pm
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      Ooo, meesa likey.

  • March 25, 2017 at 8:30 pm
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    Loving how close they finally are to the overall “look” of Rogue One. Also….Bendu dying by way of blaster fire? Kinda lame, but alright. Also also….I think the foreshadowing of Thrawn’s demise in this episode means we’ll see his demise at the end of this show. Guaranteed. There’s no way they’d allude to it in the show and not also wrap it up within the show. I know there’s been much more coordination between the cartoons and the films lately, but not to the degree where they allude to an important event in the cartoon and see it carried off in the films….it’s usually the other way around. Sorry Thrawn fanboys. Thrawn’s boring anyways.

  • March 25, 2017 at 8:35 pm
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    got to disagree, this might be my favorite rebels episode.

    -positives: rogue one level space action, followed up by cool ground assault. mandalorians in spaaaace. good character moments. and most importantly: thrawn lives!!!

    -negatives(really nitpicks): thrawn pretty much narrating everything that was happening, the fact that the rebels once again can’t figure out that space is three dimensional and they can flee a planet in any direction, and the biggest gripe: thrawn leading the ground assault personally. book thrawn would always want to stay in a position of max control(ie his flagship), and would never leave an idiot like price in command of the fleet. but these are minor gripes and i had a great time overall. can’t wait for the season four trailer!

    • March 25, 2017 at 9:21 pm
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      I agree, it is the best rebels episode we have seen so far, finally a battle where it is shown why the empire is supreme power in the galaxy. Basically we can say that everything rebels gained in the previous seasons is undone now(frigates destroyed, carrier destroyed, Y wings gone, shield gone, base destroyed), Thrawn got the empire to its perfection.

      Negatives: no one died, not even Kallus, what I expected, they could have killed him and transmit it to the planet surface., Death troopers have seen no action showing their impressive skills. I didn’t like the Bendu idea from the beginning, so I am not amazed by him saving the rebels, when Thrawn got them in his crosshair. Also to me it makes complete sense that he was shot down by the AT ATs, he was just levitating, like a meditating jedi and he was shot down and killed by Thrawn himself.

      The biggest stupidity in this episode is Kanan cutting through the AT AT legs because it is IMPOSSIBLE, the material itself offers resistence, so he can’t cut it just like that. In ep I Qui gon, couldn’t cut just like that through the door and you can bet that the legs have to be stronger than the door.

      • March 25, 2017 at 9:29 pm
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        Someone like admiral Ozzel or captain Needa =p lol!!

        • March 25, 2017 at 9:31 pm
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          Not Ozzel, he is as incompetent as Konstantine. Needa is a quite competnent one, I have no problem with him 😉

          • March 26, 2017 at 4:59 am
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            Since the first time I’ve seen Empire I was pretty sure that Ozzel is secretly rebel symphatizer. Every second on the screen screams it….

      • March 25, 2017 at 10:02 pm
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        yeah lightsaber strength does seem to vary wildly depending on the medium its depicted in. i think they did something similar in the leia episode as well.

        as to the amount of dolts running the empire i think its partly the shear size of the military which allows some of them to slip through the cracks(Konstantine) and that the empire seems to value political connections over military ability(Price). now for next season i’m hoping for rae sloane to make an appearance. she is both highly qualified and has a connection to kanan and hera from the books so they could do alot with her character.

        • March 25, 2017 at 11:07 pm
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          I think their excuse is that these are a different model of AT-AT. Maybe the ones that we saw in ESB were specifically made to stand up better to lightsaber strikes….

    • March 26, 2017 at 12:29 am
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      the fact that the rebels once again can’t figure out that space is three dimensional and they can flee a planet in any direction< idiot -_- If they tried to leave any other way Thrawn would have fired at the engines you know the things which make the ship move!

      • March 26, 2017 at 12:52 am
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        … then why didn’t he just do that when the rebel ships turned around and went back to the planet? its the same thing.

        • March 26, 2017 at 5:32 pm
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          Their rear shields were up as they didn’t need the power for the hyperdrive anymore.

          • March 26, 2017 at 7:52 pm
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            and then fly to the other side of the planet and then jump. its really not the complicated.

    • March 27, 2017 at 12:30 am
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      I don’t think anyone in star wars understands 3 dimensions in space, I remember when Naboo was blockaded in a ring formation and apparently they had to fly like 2 feet away from the ships to escape XD

  • March 25, 2017 at 8:54 pm
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    I did not like it. Nothing truly significant happened. And it was the same story weve seen numerous times. All hope is lost for the Rebels as the enemy closes in (Thrawn and starships) then help jumps out of hyperspace to save them allowing them to escape (Ezra with mandalorians). This was the same as Ahsoka showing up with Chopper in the season 1 finale.
    There was also nothing emotional/ exciting to this finale (unlike the season two finale with Ahsoka vs Vader). I dont see why they couldnt have had Ahsoka return unexpectedly, that would have got me excited. I see no difference from this episode and the one in season 2 were they had to all flee the space port.
    I also dont understand why they would have sent Vader on the mission. They know there are two jedi on the planet (who have successfully thought various insquisitors: so I dont see how Thrawns fighting skill would be effective). Having Vader show up would have been a great surprise and have him fight and defeat the Bendu.

    • March 26, 2017 at 5:34 pm
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      Palps must have him on more important tasks. Perhaps the two of them are up to something together? Also, Thrawn is the only alien Imperial officer. Pretty sure Sheev trusts him to get the job done here.

  • March 25, 2017 at 9:03 pm
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    They set up Thrawn all season only to be undone by his idiot staff? He’s a master tactician but unfortunately he can’t manage a team. The space battle it was cool, but it is kind of crazy how little the story advances in this finale.

    Too much monologuing.

    • March 25, 2017 at 9:10 pm
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      how many times was vader let down by the people under his command? besides, if the imperial brass was anything to write home about they wouldn’t have had to call thrawn in in the first place.

      • March 25, 2017 at 11:05 pm
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        Exactly. Besides, it’s good that Thrawn was undone by forces outside of his control, like the Bendu.

    • March 25, 2017 at 11:42 pm
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      I agree, although maybe Thrawn hasn’t earned his status yet like he did in the Heir novels. He is a friggin Grand Admiral, though….

  • March 25, 2017 at 9:34 pm
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    As I said, this definitely was one of the best Rebels episodes, I loved the space battle (finally a space battle with many ships!) as well as the ground battle.

  • March 25, 2017 at 9:57 pm
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    Why do people think that Bendu died – died? He did a version of Ben Kenobi – became more powerful than Thrawn can ever imagine. 😀 He disappears and you hear his laugh after the shot.

    • March 25, 2017 at 10:39 pm
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      yes he could have turned into a ghost, but as a matter of living, he no longer lives. It is the same with obiwan or yoda they keep their mind, but from the realistic point of view they are dead

      • March 25, 2017 at 11:03 pm
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        Ahsoka342 (reply above) has another possible interpretation. He could be alive – alive, the way Yoda and Obi-Wan are not. I am sure Filoni or more likely Pablo (because Filoni is a master evader) will eventually tell us. XD

    • March 25, 2017 at 10:53 pm
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      I don’t believe he is dead. He was able to disappear and reappear (sort of teleporting) all season. However I dont think we will see him again in Rebels

      • March 25, 2017 at 11:00 pm
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        This is also very possible. It crossed my mind as well not just because of what we saw during the season, but also because we have no idea what Bendu’s full powers are.

  • March 25, 2017 at 10:16 pm
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    Okay, I understand why Thrawn stopped firing on shield (he has no idea it will not hold up), but…WHY THE HAVE HAVEN’T YOU KILL KALLUS? You have no need for him. I mean – I love Kallus, but come on!

    • March 25, 2017 at 11:03 pm
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      ‘Cause we like Kallus…

      • March 25, 2017 at 11:05 pm
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        I don’t :D, I don’t like the fact that he was incompetent when fighting rebels, but when he fights the empire he is sudenly so skillful

        • March 25, 2017 at 11:09 pm
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          What did he do that was so skillful? He just kind of…escaped. unless I’m remembering the episode wrong.

          • March 26, 2017 at 1:13 pm
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            The thing with the mouse droid, escaping, knowing how to disable the infiltrators and so on

          • March 26, 2017 at 3:56 pm
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            Well he’s a high-ranking member of the Empire. He’s only an informant for the Rebels. It would make sense for him to be better when fighting his own Home team.

    • March 26, 2017 at 12:08 am
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      i think thrawn stopped firing because tarkin ordered him to take prisoners. otherwise i think he would have just glassed the entire planet.

      • March 26, 2017 at 12:14 am
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        Off topic, but do you know if Grand Moff and higher than Grand Admiral?

        • March 26, 2017 at 12:17 am
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          in this case i think so. tarkin is in command of the entire outer rim, so i believe he is the one calling the shots against the rebellion. i could be wrong though, the empire has a very loose chain of command after palpatine and vader.

          • March 26, 2017 at 12:33 am
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            A Moff is like a territorial governor is it not? So presumably it is analogous to a US state governor of one of the British governor generals in dependant territories during the British Empire. in contrast, Thrawn is a senior member of the navy.

            That’s the way I see it anyhow.

          • March 26, 2017 at 12:47 am
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            thats a great way to look at it. thrawn has command of the ships and soldiers in his fleet, but tarkin is in command of the overall mission.

          • March 26, 2017 at 2:09 am
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            Right, Moff is a political role. They say go to battle and the military controls the battle, not the decision to battle.

        • March 26, 2017 at 4:43 am
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          Pablo Hidalgo was asked this a while ago, and it’s actually not clear. Grand Admiral is a purely Military position, while “Grand Moff” is technically a political position, not a military one. But if we look at the chain of command, Thrawn takes orders from Tarkin, so Grand Moff would be the higher-ranking one in this case.

  • March 25, 2017 at 10:18 pm
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    Did Bendu die? Will he be a force ghost now?

    • March 25, 2017 at 10:59 pm
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      I think he was already a spirit, so he just kind of disappeared.

      • March 25, 2017 at 11:45 pm
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        Or he projected an illusion of himself for Thrawn while hiding nearby.

  • March 25, 2017 at 10:46 pm
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    Eager to see the Season 4 trailer. Really thought someone big would die.

    • March 26, 2017 at 5:38 pm
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      The head of the Lothal cell, Commander Sato died. Pretty big deal as I think this helps push Hera and company to become a member of Dodonna’s cell.

      • March 26, 2017 at 5:46 pm
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        Starwars.com confirmed that due to the death of Sato and the destruction of the Phoenix Craft Carrier, Phoenix Squadron is officially dead.

  • March 25, 2017 at 11:03 pm
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    I really liked this finale!! Obviously nothing beats Twilight of the Apprentice, but nothing has to. I liked seeing Sabine back, Ezra’s space suit was fun, and I felt surprisingly sad when Sato sacrificed himself. Thrawn finally showed that he’s genuinely a good strategist, and I like that Kallus got out safe and sound. None of the main crew died, and that’s okay. I like them all, and death doesn’t automatically mean higher stakes, higher quality, or a greater emotional connection. people will die when the time is right. Overall, it was a great way to end the season, and I can’t wait for Season 4!

  • March 25, 2017 at 11:11 pm
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    Wow. This Rebels two parter has really brought out some big developments. Especially with the bendu; man, I didn’t expect him to come out like this; especially to Kanan. Also, the bendu’s predicting the future of Thrawn’s demise; wonder how Thrawn is going to feel about that? Especially since this is his first time encountering such a being like bendu.

    Also, great to see Sabine make a return thanks to Ezra and it seems that Kallus has finally made a good complete transition from the empire to the rebellion.

    All in all, a very jam packed episode to close the third season; can’t wait for season 4. ^_^

  • March 25, 2017 at 11:37 pm
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    Kallus and Bendu were the big surprises. The Bendu predicting Thrawn’s death is similar to what C’baoth did in the Heir to the Empire novels, although C’baoth kept the information to himself and Bendu threw it in Thrawn’s face. I was expecting and even hoping that a major character would get whacked. For some reason, there was an urgency and danger to the Clone Wars that is sadly missing from Rebels. Do we really care much about any of the main characters? We are 3 seasons in and I still don’t feel like I know them. I feel like I relate more to Kallus, Maul and Thrawn than Kanan, Ezra, Sabine or Hera. Maybe they will surprise us next season and start picking them off. Please!

    • March 26, 2017 at 12:27 am
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      Kallus a surprise? It’s been inevitable since season 2 that he was going to join the Rebellion. It was just a matter of when.

      Agree about a major character getting killed. That would’ve been ballsy.

      • March 26, 2017 at 12:44 am
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        I was surprised that Kallus lived. I would have assumed that he was dead after he was caught.

  • March 25, 2017 at 11:44 pm
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    Thrawn: Are you afraid of this storm?

    Kanan: Yes, and you should be too.

    I AM THE BENDU

    Thrawn: OMG HAX, HE’S USING GOD MODE.

    • March 26, 2017 at 8:10 am
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      Bendu should have brought a plague of frogs and fire and sulfur.

  • March 25, 2017 at 11:48 pm
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    Thrawn turned out to be not so clever after all. He showed a lot of stupidity and made serious mistakes in this episode.

    • March 26, 2017 at 12:05 am
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      95% of the stupidity was from those under his command. he would have won completely if not for deus ex machina… i mean bendu.

      • March 26, 2017 at 12:36 am
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        Also, remember that Tarkin specifically told him to take prisoners. He would have absolutely decimated the base from orbit if he wasn’t following orders. Combined with the unknown variable of Bendu and Konstantine’s asshat-ery, it’s understandable why Thrawn’s victory wasn’t as utterly complete as it should have been. That final scene between Thrawn and Bendu made it all worth it though: “I see your defeat, like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace.” SO GOOD.

      • March 26, 2017 at 2:50 am
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        My cousin, high rank officer in the army always says Only the commander is responsible, not his men. He is the one to choose them and know them and trust them.he has to be clever enough. If they fail, the fault is his.

        • March 26, 2017 at 4:46 am
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          Then I guess Thrawn should be happy to be rid of Konstantine. That’s one less bad egg for the Imperial Navy.

        • March 26, 2017 at 4:54 am
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          he is responsible, but he didn’t choose admiral konstantine and price is a moff so if they don’t listen he can’t do much about it. i’d go as far as to say he did a terrific job despite the constraints of the imperial hierarchy.

      • March 26, 2017 at 11:27 am
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        Exactly. And this shows Thrawn’s lack of insight and poor capability to read people.

        • March 26, 2017 at 5:45 pm
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          I don’t believe he has the power to hire and fire the people under his command. That’s the Emperor’s job. And as we saw in Empire Strikes Back, the ineptitude of the people under one’s command don’t mean that said person is inept as well.

          • March 26, 2017 at 8:40 pm
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            But it also was the case in the books. He hired thugs to do some jobs and they failed him. And he chose those thugs himself.

          • March 26, 2017 at 9:18 pm
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            Well this is canon, not Legends, so I don’t know what the new chain of command is. Regardless, nobody’s perfect, even if Thrawn wants to be.

        • March 26, 2017 at 7:23 pm
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          reading people isn’t the issue, he’s just playing for a bad team. his genius can only carry them so far.

  • March 26, 2017 at 12:25 am
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    I think overall this season has been a bit of a failure. After the weak
    departure of Maul last week, I feel we have had too many repeat battles
    and close escapes episodes, with lots of filler in between. But overall, with the
    exception of Sabine, the many characters have not really progressed a
    great deal.

    On the forum I predicted Sato, Yavin 4 and Kallus going to the
    Rebellion. I am a bit disappointed that there were no real surprises and that’s what we got. We all knew what was coming with
    Kallus. Sato isn’t, in my opinion, developed anywhere near developed enough to the
    extent that I am going to care about his death, same for Konstantine. The Bendu going?
    What a waste. He’s barely done anything….albeit I don’t think he is dead. Plus, I thought the Rebels were supposed to suffer a major defeat? Granted the loose a few ships and had to move to another base, but all the main rebels once again escaped and they really didn’t lose that much in terms of ships and strength. So it wasn’t really a major Thrawn victory. It was more like a barely won battle. Plus, to be blunt. how many episodes this year have been space battles with imperials? Every other episode seems to have one, which usually takes up most of an episode, so it’s becoming old hat.

    Shame. A lot of this season a wasted opportunity to me. But last year’s finale was such a ride and set up so much
    that this episode, and indeed the whole season, just feels like an anti-climax and therefore is frankly a disappointment. Given the claim the other day that the fourth season is the last, hopefully they’re saving the big stuff for next year and we get not more filler or repetitious content.

    But then, as I always say, if the kids like it, that probably matters more than my opinion.

    • March 26, 2017 at 12:34 am
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      Agreed in general. This season’s story could have easily been compressed down to the length of Season One, and been far better imo.

  • March 26, 2017 at 12:39 am
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    I think Thrawn is going to meet his demise before VI or just after like Bendu says. Whatever he meant in the cryptic message. He is in such a high ranking position, Rax took control of the Empire briefly after Jakku and could have easily been in command or more visible While they are bringing back legacy villains here’s to hoping Mara Jade doesn’t show up next season but I doubt she wouldn’t. With Thrawn back the flood gates are wide open. Maybe in an altered form to play the role of Gallius Rax in a sequel trilogy to Aftermath. I don’t think Palpatine had one trusted aide that he called upon while he reigned. These were the new Emperor’s Hands, Gallius included. Bendu being a strange creature makes me think he is serving as an introductory piece of what Snoke’s race is in the Unknown Regions. I’m not saying Bendu becomes Snoke since that’s next to impossible in terms of description but this was made to lead us down that path. Sabine is a weak spot in the series. The episode was flowing well and she shows up to slow it down with melodrama and lame lines. Of course, the Clone Wars crowd is going to say it was the best thing about the whole episode with the Mandos. Filoni and his successors will keep dropping prequel references well into the next series which may or may not be ST era.

    Other people are consistently saying this series isn’t Star Wars and what not but there are so many hints as to what is in the Sequel Trilogy. You can live with yourself if you like or don’t like, its not up to me.

    • March 26, 2017 at 3:57 pm
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      There was and Imperial super star destroyer in the unknow regions that Admiral Rae finds at the end of Empire Ends.
      I would guess that perhaps Paplaptine order Thrawn back into the unknow region when he sensed the Shatter point of Endor.

      • March 26, 2017 at 5:44 pm
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        Yeah, maybe. It was never actually revealed who was piloting the Eclipse when Sloane found it in the Unkown Regions. Maybe it was Thrawn.

  • March 26, 2017 at 1:02 am
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    LOVED it! I wonder what Thrawn’s upcoming book will tell us of his involvement in the Unknown Regions and whether we may learn more about “Bendu” as well. Did anyone else catch the shoutout to Jedi Outcast with the mouse droid in the opening scene? 😀

    • March 27, 2017 at 12:24 am
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      Right? As soon as I saw the vent open up it took me back to that game XD

  • March 26, 2017 at 1:42 am
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    Curious – Just read the Ahsoka book. Are there any Inquisitors left?

    • March 26, 2017 at 1:44 am
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      Doesn’t appear to be

    • March 26, 2017 at 4:32 am
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      Actually, I think there is at least one more Inquisitor to meet in Season 4: Barriss Offee.

      • March 26, 2017 at 3:55 pm
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        I agree. It seems stupid that that she wasnt introduced as an Inquisitor in season 2 or even the inquisitor in the Novel inorder to face Ahsoka.

        • March 26, 2017 at 5:42 pm
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          Well maybe the Rebels team has something better in store for her, or maybe George planned for her to die before the timeline of Rebels. Or maybe the Rebels team just diesn’t feel like making Rebels into too much of a Clone Wars Reunion Show (although it’s already that). Who knows?

    • March 27, 2017 at 1:15 am
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      There are, it’s just that they wanted to focus less on the Jedi and more on the growth of the Rebel Alliance in this season.

      – Pomojema

  • March 26, 2017 at 1:44 am
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    Ezra was the forgotten person this season. his arc just…vanished.

    • March 26, 2017 at 4:10 am
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      Very frustrating when they found room for crap like Double Agent Droid.

    • March 26, 2017 at 4:44 am
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      Yeah, I was kind of disappointed by that. I didn’t need to see him go full Dark Side, but they planted the seeds for further development and did nothing with them. Hopefully the Sith holocron storyline will be resumed next season.

      • March 26, 2017 at 3:54 pm
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        it’s like this season became the story of the Alliance instead

    • March 27, 2017 at 5:40 am
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      That reminds me….what was the point of “the talk” that Kanan and Ezra had right at the start of the finale episodes?
      That’s usually the way for two characters to reconcile a strained relationship, before one of them sets off to his death. I figured (several times) they were about to kill-off Kanan in this one.

      • March 27, 2017 at 3:09 pm
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        It seemed a bit odd, right?

      • March 28, 2017 at 2:50 am
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        Yeah, I thought so too. I could have sworn that they were telegraphing his death, but I guess not.

  • March 26, 2017 at 1:47 am
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    WHAT WAS THE POINT….of that entire season

  • March 26, 2017 at 1:59 am
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    Wow, the Empire sure is dangerous. 10 times our hero’s have had to escape a major Imperial assault and 10 times they almost didn’t make it out alive!

  • March 26, 2017 at 4:31 am
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    I haven’t seen it yet. Seems like a good episode to watch.

  • March 26, 2017 at 5:05 am
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    Of all the finales, this was by far the weakest. This season as a whole was pretty unremarkable. Seems like a lot of shows I like start dipping in quality around the third season. Thrawn seemed utterly forgettable. As someone who has only heard of how great he was from the EU I really don’t understand why I should care about him. Celebration is soon, the trailer for season 4 will probably be shown. It will look amazing, like all their trailers do. But I’ve decided to wait until the season ends to watch it. I loved seasons 1 and 2, and since I was late to rebels I was able to binge them. Hopefully doing so with season 4 will make it more enjoyable.

  • March 26, 2017 at 5:54 am
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    One thing though.. all this hullabaloo about the “Grey”.. finding balance.. being “In the Middle”. If what we saw from Bendu tonight is what we are to draw on from that, is that REALLY something Luke or Rey would be seeking to attain? I just saw some angry cloud trying to rain a s**t storm on everyone, not giving a s**t about anyone or anything :p

    • March 26, 2017 at 9:03 am
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      Maybe Luke doesn’t care about anyone or anything, hence why he’s on an island alone.

      • March 26, 2017 at 9:59 am
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        Well, I find that more than a little hard to believe lol. You think he’s going to take the saber from Rey and turn it on her?

      • March 26, 2017 at 7:03 pm
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        Or maybe he’s just been waiting so long for his pizza delivery everyone else on the island snuffed it.

  • March 26, 2017 at 10:22 am
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    Bendu: ” You cannot see but I can..:
    Thrawn: ” What… what do you see? ”
    Bendu: : I see your defeat, like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace…”

    I just LOVED it!!

    • March 26, 2017 at 5:40 pm
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      Same here, it was chilling!

  • March 26, 2017 at 10:29 am
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    I really enjoyed seasons 1,2 and 3 can’t wait till season 4 starts.

    • March 26, 2017 at 1:18 pm
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      From the things you mentioned I think you will see Boba Fett(or Bo-katan or some other high ranking mandalorian), X-wings and Yavin, that is all. Definetely not Han, because he is getting his own movie and he had no dealings with the rebelion. No bounty hunters because they are to skillful and defeat the rebels and filoni won’t allow that

    • March 26, 2017 at 5:39 pm
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      I’m guessing that Season 4 will take place a year or so before ANH, so I don’t know if we’ll see Biggs or not, but X-Wings are probably assured.

    • March 26, 2017 at 7:01 pm
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      You’ll almost certainly get 1 and 3. I think the rest are unlikley though, especially 6. But you never know.

    • March 27, 2017 at 10:13 pm
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      I agree 100% on 1,2,3 and 7. 4 & 5, only if they are careful. 6, I’d rather that they didn’t. Han and Chewie are already going to get a lot of screen time in their new movie. SW falls into the trap of over-explaining things because it would be “cool to see”. I’d rather see Rebels stick to new, or unexplored characters and leave the rest alone.

  • March 26, 2017 at 11:29 am
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    It was really bad finale. It so stupid that FLEET ADMIRAL commanded GROUND FORCES. Why he couldn’t do it from the bridge of his star destroyer? And in the same time Governor commanded fleet. Really facepalm. And Bendu is typical deus ex machina. Not interesting at all. So I absolutly disappoined.

    • March 26, 2017 at 3:13 pm
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      Charismatic, renown, and/or extremely overconfident military leaders actually do this. Not just in the distant past, but the first thing that comes to mind is the Egyptian-Israeli 1956 Suez Crisis, where Israel and several French and British battalions clashed with Egypt. The Israeli Chief of Staff, which stands as the supreme commander of the army, was actually *on the scene* right there with the infantry troops in the Sinai. His deputy essentially commanded the war from the operations room in his stead, and the chief of staff (Moshe Dayan) spent the entire war in the desert along with his troops. He was essentially diefied as a mircale worker and outstanding general after the war in the Israeli community. The man did basically anything he wanted, from taking archaeological artifacts from sites to being quite improperly flirty with women, just becuase he was Moshe Dayan.

      This does happen in real life. And, it does happen in Star Wars– after all, Darth Vader is shown to personally engage enemy forces all the time.

      • March 26, 2017 at 4:50 pm
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        The problem is not that Thrawn attended himself on the battlefield. The problem is that Thrawn is admiral of Star Fleet. He is not a infantry commander.

        I don’t think that Moshe Dayan was navy admiral who deside to take ground operation in his hands, so it’s not a correct comparison.

        • March 26, 2017 at 4:56 pm
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          Army chief is an inherently corps neutral position. A chief of staff is not necessarily an infantry commander. He could be infantry, armored, navy, air, intelligence…

          Or like the U.S. President, might have zero tactical experience. Furthermore, both the military background of Admiral Thrawn (whether he was always in the navy), and what sort of experience is drilled into navy commanders, are both unknown factors.

          It is entirely possible that navy commanders also lead ground operations. Take any Clone Commander for example. They are all known for star battles, ground battles, and even piloting. Realistic or not, there is a great precedence here.

      • March 26, 2017 at 5:38 pm
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        Yep.

        “Lord Vader will handle the fleet.”

      • March 26, 2017 at 7:00 pm
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        As the poster you replied to points out, it’s not really a good comparison. Thrawn is an admiral of the fleet. A ship commander. Not an army general.

        One would think that the Empire also has armies and army chiefs.

        • March 26, 2017 at 7:23 pm
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          My reply to him was detected at spam, it should show up soon. Army is defined as the Air Force, Ground Force, and Navy Force according to most countries. The chief of general staff may belong to any one of those forces or any corps not strictly defined in them. There is, furthermore, nothing specifying that navy commanders or infantry commanders etc do not receive similar or combined arms training. Most archetypes of noted commanders in Star Wars (any Jedi general, any clone general…) have demonstrated leadership and understanding of both ground leadership and navy leadership.

          It’s a fine example. I’ll just wait for my original in-depth reply to him reappear.

    • March 26, 2017 at 7:19 pm
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      it was really a “because plot” situation. they needed thrawn to meet bendu so they had to have him lead the attack like he was patton, despite it being out of character and unorthodox.

  • March 26, 2017 at 12:32 pm
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    This whole season except for a few hitters was my least favorite. While slow building season one really hit home, season two had some of the best storytelling (also except for a few filler episodes, but overal story was really good), this season lacked a good story going forward because more then half seemed filler while the main story was super interesting and it could have been best season if they just kept focus on two stories : Ezra/Maul and Rebellion/Thrawn but no..s much fuiller episodes with the droids/sabine. While visual it def is the best season (yes the space battles look amazing as well as style in general) the way stories were handled were really dissapointing. the two suns episode for instance, so much time spend on walking around and all other things instead of Obi wan/ezra/Mail after 2 filler episodes. The way Bendu was done injustice in this season, which could have been so much more interesting sucks as well. I also want to point out that some voice acting (especially ezra) is so childish, it gets to “Annie” level. This season could have been the best, but was sadly the least favorite for me, except for the animation itself

    • March 26, 2017 at 6:54 pm
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      I agree with most of your post, but the Sabine stuff wasn’t filler. She is a main character after all…and she probably have the most interesting character development of any of them this season.

      Yes, Ezra is for annoying, and unfortunately I think part of that is down to the actor, who imbues Ezra with a very whiny quality.

      • March 26, 2017 at 11:07 pm
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        About Ezra and the actor, agree 100% although they could coach him the “right” way. About Sabine, i agree as well, I think i explained it badly, I feel her story was made filler, cause there wasnt a good build up and done way to quick. wrote it down wrong. I agree her story was getting interesting, but just done the way to short and again wrong way 😉

  • March 26, 2017 at 6:27 pm
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    This season was rather disappointing simply because of the fact that they basically ignored Ezra’s seduction to the dark side, and Maul’s intimidating return completely. What we got was just another touching heart to heart between Kanan and Ezra and Maul crazed in finding Kenobi instead of wreaking havoc to the empire. This episode however was entertaining except for another issue that this show lacks in showing, which is consequences for our heroes. They seem to always escape unscathed by the empire and it comes off very Saturday morning cartoon where the good guys always win and the bad guys can’t take a hint and keep trying. Thrawn was a nice edition to this episode and I see what they did to respect the character’s intellect. Have his subordinates fuck up and a God reign down and his character will keep his reputation. Space battles were good, Thrawn was good, Bendu was eh, favorite part was when it was raining blaster bolts that was badass.

  • March 26, 2017 at 9:20 pm
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    Great comments from all below. I agree with the overall consensus that it was good, but not great, and the season was a bit disappointing. I do like that Thrawn’s machinations paid off, and that he figured it all out accurately. His plan was actually a good one that really would have destroyed the rebellion. I liked that he was not scared of the Bindu. I loved seeing the Death Troopers because it immediately reminded me of Krennic with his detachment of Death Troopers. But the series has a very difficult handicap because it is a Y-7 show aimed at kiddies, so you can never have the true payoff that a movie like Rogue One can. The target audience is the show’s main weakness. I hope Lucasfilm learns from this mistake.

    • March 26, 2017 at 9:22 pm
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      Honestly, I don’t think it’s their choice. Disney would never let them make an animated show that isn’t on a Disney network, and on a Disney network, Lucasfilm will never be allowed to go to the dramatic extremes that TCW could. Rebels will always be stuck catering to a fairly young target audience. If it were live-action, things might be different.

    • March 26, 2017 at 9:39 pm
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      What TUD said – and I think it’s a good thing: we have the movies and you can be sure, they are going to make a live action tv show sooner or later (and maybe more than one).
      TCW was (mostly) great stuff but, even without aiming to such a young crowd, it did have – and created – its own problems. And when you work with so much ancillary materials (tv shows and books and comics etc.) on such an extended canon, problems are bound to emerge. Rebels is doing a good work in setting stages up, giving a feel of what is actually going on in the galaxy and why should we care, and so on. It has good storytelling, it works 🙂 and you really have to remember that SW doesn’t “belong” to the (mostly adult) die hard fans: it’s a cultural phenomen and this mean they want to cater it to everyone, inclunding younger audiences.

  • March 26, 2017 at 11:27 pm
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    Well, i think this was really Star Wars Rebels (OT music notes from the beginning of part I helped on that), and that’s why this season was so disappointing, because we had nothing of it..
    This chapter has some discutible facts (like Bendu moves) but the overall was pretty good. We can see more internal fight between Empire and Rebellion, like RO did..
    Didn’t like Sabine’s back (but not for the character itself) . Everytime they do that with any character the story doesn’t move forward.
    Rebellion lost so much and that was a good point but from now they need to make the Rebel cause bigger again. Remember we have movies after these events and for me we need more connections than ever, specially with important characters and events from RO and OT,
    For me it’s important not to introduce new characters. and explain well the fate of SWR characters, fitting perfectly with movies if they are not in.

  • March 27, 2017 at 12:33 am
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    A bit racist that A commander with a Japanese name, Japanese sounding accent and looks carried out A Kamikaze style attack. Just saying.

    • March 27, 2017 at 12:44 am
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      No, it’s not racist at all. he sacrificed himself for the rebellion in a positive and reverent way. If you choose to see it through the lens of race and controversy, that says more about you than anyone else.

      • March 27, 2017 at 2:42 am
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        Well said. It wasn’t a suicide, it was a sacrifice.

        • March 27, 2017 at 5:16 am
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          Sacrifice, correct.
          OP, look up “racist”…the word you wanted was “stereotyped” (which I would also disagree with). Also look up Kamikaze, not the same thing as sacrifice. I noticed especially on the second viewing of the episode that Sato looked in shock during the battle…he wasn’t holding together well.

    • March 27, 2017 at 1:19 am
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      But if someone else did it it would be cultural appropriation. Real catch 22 here.

  • March 27, 2017 at 12:38 am
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    Overall I really enjoyed this episode. It had really good action and animation, and we finally got to see more of Thrawn pull off his tactics that crush people. I am so happy that he wasn’t defeated by some crazy plan, but rather a mystical jedi cloud there’s no way he could have predicted. This also keeps in line with the battle of Scariff being the first major victory for the rebellion. I wonder if in season 4 they will be able to tackle the factory on Lothal. The only part I didn’t care for much is how many people survived I guess. It sounds very morbid and I know the fleet there went down from like 20 ships to 4, and we’ve now lost sato, but I feel like some more main characters could have bit it. At the same time though, how many times did Han, Chewie, Leia, and Luke make it out of crazy situations? They’re not any different.
    I hope that because a large portion of the cast is left able-bodied for next season, we take a more clone wars approach to storytelling. Where there’s an episode set on Mandalore and one just about wedge doing his thing instead of just Ezra being in every episode.

  • March 27, 2017 at 1:03 am
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    I’m going to be honest; I thought the finale was okay. Honestly, the first episode was better and the last one just crapped itself. I’ll go more in depth in a season review later, but really this Season of Rebels really sucked in my view. There were some highlights, like Sabine’s stuff.

    But overall, this season did a huge disservice to Thrawn. And I say this as a Thrawn character. And I know what might some say; you are too blinded by Legends and Heir to the Empire. No, not at all. I actually gave Thrawn quite a chance for this incarnation and the voice acting and design were impeccable. But really, the Thrawn I saw isn’t the Thrawn I know. I wouldn’t go far as to say he is the canon Qunlin Vos(who is awful), but really Thrawn I felt was flat.

    Maybe, Season four can change this. But really, I hope season four is the final season of Rebels. I find TCW a very mixed bag in terms of quality, but man it is in my view leagues above Rebels, minus Season one. Season one was excellent.

    • March 27, 2017 at 5:31 am
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      Agree, Thrawn’s character was well designed and developed throughout the season. But it needed a big payout in this finale episode, and we didn’t get it. Disappointed.

  • March 27, 2017 at 4:33 am
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    Terrible episode, nothing happened. The Bendu made no sense. I have no idea what anyone did. Zero emotion. They clearly did not know there was going to be a season four and scrapped this episode together.

    This website isn’t so poorly administered, the ads kill it. Virtually unusable on iOS.

    • March 28, 2017 at 2:49 am
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      “They clearly did not know there was going to be a season four and scrapped this episode together.”

      They’ve been recording Season 4 since last year. If they didn’t know they were going to to get Season 4, they wouldn’t be able to put out Season 4 in a matter of months.

      • April 15, 2017 at 8:05 pm
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        I meant within the tv creation timeline. At some point in the creation (probably writing phase) process they had to scrap the original season 3 arc and replaced it with this. The original arc is now in season 4. I don’t know how animated series processes work but my point holds.

        • April 15, 2017 at 11:50 pm
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          Mmmm…no.

          • April 16, 2017 at 9:33 pm
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            I think so. There was no story in the season 3 ending. Nothing happened.

          • April 16, 2017 at 11:32 pm
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            The Rebels went to Yavin and Maul died. “Nothing happened” my ass.

  • March 27, 2017 at 5:22 am
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    This series has jumped the shark for me. I was underwhelmed, overall, this season and with the Finale. Maul saved the season, to be honest. They need to tie it all up next season. Get to Dantooine and then Yavin. Kill off Ezra and Kanan heroically. Bring Krennick in, show me Vader doing something cool one more time, show us the Emperor, and wrap it up. In fact, Vader And Sidious killing Kanan and Ezra in a cool fight would be fun. But, end it and start a new series in a different era.

  • March 27, 2017 at 5:24 am
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    Much of this season and finale were great. But I really didn’t like the oversized role of the Bendu, and ultimately the fact that the Bendu was decisive in the Rebels’ escape. I accepted the Bendu as a near-hallucination of Kanan that steered his mind back from the brink, at the beginning of the season. But a floating, lightning-wielding, and magically-disappearing Bendu…ugh. This won’t read well in Thrawn’s report to the Emperor.

  • March 27, 2017 at 6:00 am
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    If we didn’t know that Yavin was the main Rebel base and that the Ghost didn’t end up there then Fenix Squad losing their base would be a big deal, but we do so it takes all the suspense out of it. There wasn’t a whole point to this season, and Thrawn was really butchered and I didn’t even really like his old EU stories. So this finale was a big failure to me. I really hope that season 4 is the final season because there really isn’t much left to tell or to do. I’m usually very Rah Rah when it comes to Star Wars in general but it’s becoming tedious at this point. Just end the damn thing.

  • March 27, 2017 at 8:53 am
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    ‘Zero Hour’ is a great episode of Rebels and includes one of the best space battles in the series so far. That being said, it can feel a bit underwhelming at times and is still probably my least favourite finale so far. To be fair, though, ‘Twilight if the Apprentice’ set the bar quite high on that front.

    I am a bit disappointed that none of the Ghost crew was that personally affected by the conflict, with the only real casualty being Sato. That being said, I’m pleasantly surprised and glad that Kallus escapes and is now on board. Besides, with Kanan and Ezra’s fate still up in the air and no mention of Mandalorians in the original trilogy, we may yet have to have our emotional send-off for these characters.

    I am also equally glad that Thrawn survived the episode. He still has to gain his EU-style reputation, even f this episode did much to advance that. His plan would have worked if it weren’t for forces outside his control. While the rebels did escape, the fact that they have to regroup at Yavin without Sato and join Dodonna means that Thrawn has effectively destroyed Phoenix Squadron.

    So, all in all, I still liked ‘Zero Hour’ and am looking forward to Season 4.

    • April 1, 2017 at 3:59 pm
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      you are right it was officially confirmed that without Sato, A-wings, Carrier the Phoenix squadron ceased to exist

  • March 27, 2017 at 11:55 am
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    This episode is again rising a question I already had in TPM and clone wars: I am wondering how really a planetary blockade works: in this case, why the rebels didn’t flee on the opposite side of the surface on the planet by flying around it through the atmosphere….

    • March 27, 2017 at 2:12 pm
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      I’d say that even if the blockade of the entire planet is impossible, you just need to get your blockade ships around the hyperlane entrance point(s). Going to hyperspace from anywhere else would be too dangerous, I guess.

  • March 27, 2017 at 6:52 pm
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    This finale was not so awesome like the others cause Vader was not on it

  • March 27, 2017 at 9:26 pm
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    My takeaway from this season is while many people found faults, I still believe this season produced 3 of the top 5 episodes of Rebels thus far. Nothing tops season 2 finale..nothing

  • March 27, 2017 at 9:49 pm
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    Late to the party on this one. I had DVRed it. Anyway… I thought this was amazing. So much death! The Rebels got utterly wrecked. Which helps Thrawn live up to his reputation. All the shout outs and touches of Rogue One in there were great. This felt so truly apart of Star Wars. Sato man! I had more feels for him than I expected.

    I preferred this finale to the others because it really didn’t do anything wrong in my eyes. As great as the second season finale was I felt it ruined it all by not having any closure. This one didn’t really have that problem. Bendu’s death for me further helped sell the conclusive feeling. That and they kept him wonderfully mysterious right up to the end. I like when the Force is treated that way.

  • March 28, 2017 at 3:59 pm
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    This was the best season finalle, a great space battle, with strategy, something that strangelly is lacking Star Wars

  • March 29, 2017 at 1:09 pm
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    Thrawn ordered the troopers to shoot in the centre of the cloud. He figured, that there is a being inside the cloud (not the cloud being a being… hehe).
    And we saw Bendo fall out of it. So it was okay to shoot at the cloud.

  • March 29, 2017 at 1:10 pm
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    They gave away the opportunity to kill off chopper or at least that annoying ex-imperial droid.

    Too bad.

  • April 7, 2017 at 2:09 pm
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    As far as shooting the cloud. Thrawn would try that, given no better option. As far as it working… Did it? It strikes me as entirely possible Bendu just faked it, since he seemed to vanish at will afterwords. It wasn’t great, but it made sense to me, and it was neat to see Thrawn encounter something beyond his understanding… My hope is that he will bend resources to researching Bendu, and trying to figure out who/what he is.

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