Today we continue our rewatch of Star Wars Rebels with episodes 11 through 15 of the popular Lucasfilm animated series.
Star Wars Rebels stars the vocal talents of Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger, Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla, Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan Jarrus, Steven Blum as Zeb Orrelios, Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren, and series co-creator Dave Filoni as Chopper.
Episode 11: “Idiot’s Array” – Star Wars legend Billy Dee Williams shows up as the iconic scoundrel / smuggler / entrepreneur Lando Calrissian, who wins Chopper from Zeb in a game of Sabacc and hires the Ghost crew to help him smuggle a creature known as a Puffer Pig. But the Jablogian crimelord called Azmorgian (James Hong from Big Trouble in Little China, among many other roles) seeks revenge on Lando for, naturally, pulling a fast one on him. We also find out that Ezra’s new lightsaber doubles as a blaster.
Episode 12: “Vision of Hope” – The rebels receive a coded message from Senator Gall Trayvis (Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Brent Spiner) and rendezvous with him on Lothal, only to discover that he’s really working for the Empire in an effort to capture the opposition. Trayvis tells Ezra that his parents are dead, and Agent Kallus (David Oyelowo) shows up too late to prevent our heroes from escaping.
Episode 13: “Call to Action” – Grand Moff Tarkin enters the scene (voiced here by Stephen Stanton, who played Admiral Raddus in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) while the crew of the Ghost come up with the idea to broadcast their own message of support for those who would dare oppose the Empire on Lothal. A mission to utilize the planet’s Imperial comms tower ends explosively, as Kanan is captured by the Inquisitor (Jason Isaacs) while his friends get away.
Episode 14: “Rebel Resolve” – Kanan is held aboard Tarkin’s star destroyer and interrogated for information about other rebel cells. The Ghost crew is forced to go into hiding, but the criminal Vizago (Keith Szarabajka) helps them plan a data retrieval mission wherein Chopper is disguised as an Imperial droid to help uncover Kanan’s location. Tarkin and the Inquisitor threaten to take Kanan to the planet Mustafar for further questioning.
Episode 15: “Fire Across the Galaxy” – In the first-season finale, Ezra reveals to Hera that the TIE fighter he and Zeb stole was never destroyed– instead it was hidden away and painted by Sabine in her unmistakable style of vibrant colors. The crew uses this TIE to infiltrate Tarkin’s ship and free the captured Kanan, but not before he and Ezra are confronted by the Inquisitor in a perilous lightsaber duel, ending in the Inquisitor’s death. The group escapes the star destroyer and survives the ensuing battle thanks to rebel ships sent by Bail Organa (Phil LaMarr), while the Ghost was piloted by the contact known only as Fulcrum, finally revealed here to be none other than former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein, reprising her fan-favorite role from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series). Lastly, Grand Moff Tarkin brings in Darth Vader to help hunt the wayward rebels.
Star Wars Rebels is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.