Today we continue our rewatch of Star Wars Rebels with episodes 66 through 70 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 66: “Kindred” – In the aftermath of the TIE Defender crash from the previous episode, Ezra and Zeb scramble to locate the ship’s hidden hyperdrive. Meanwhile, Grand Admiral Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelsen) dispatches a deadly Noghri assassin named Rukh (Return of the Jedi and Willow star Warwick Davis) to use his extraordinary tracking skills to find the rebels. On Yavin IV, Hera delivers the Defender’s flight recorder to Mon Mothma, and on Lothal a group of mystical loth-wolves take our heroes on an unexplainable journey through a portal to the other side of the planet.
Episode 67: “Crawler Commandeers” – The rebels decide to hijack a Mining Guild crawler in order to use its communication devices to make contact with Yavin IV, but their efforts are waylaid by the crew of the vessel and its Trandoshan captain (Robot Chicken’s Seth Green). During the scuffle, the team must free a group of slaves and also fend off an Imperial investigation. On Yavin, Hera convinces the Rebel Alliance to finally strike the Empire’s forces on Lothal.
Episode 68: “Rebel Assault” – This episode is mostly an extended space battle between the rebel forces and the Empire over Lothal while the ground strike team takes out Imperial turrets. But after Hera and pilot Mart Mattin (Zachary Gordon) crash into the capital city, they must fight off Imperial ground forces and the assassin Rukh. Kanan rushes to Hera’s rescue but finds himself roadblocked by a lone loth-wolf who guides him along a different path. Mart and Chopper manage to escape the city, but Hera is captured by Governor Pryce (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn).
Episode 69: “Jedi Night” – The Ghost crew begins to formulate a plan to rescue Hera, which ends with them crafting silent gliders to infiltrate the Imperial base, while Kanan cuts his hair and shaves off his beard. After gliding in, Kanan steals back Hera’s Kalikori heirloom from Thrawn and then frees her from her bindings just after she is injected with truth serum by an interrogator droid. They flee to the nearby Imperial fuel depot, where Ezra and Sabine arrive to pick them up, but not before Pryce orders the destruction of the main fuel tank, causing Kanan to sacrifice himself to save Hera and their friends.
Episode 70: “DUME” – Reeling from Kanan’s death, the crew deals with their grief in a number of different ways. Meanwhile, Thrawn berates Pryce for throwing a premature celebration, and the rebels realize they actually accomplished their mission because the fuel depot and Imperial factory were destroyed in the explosion. After Sabine and Zeb decide to attack the Empire’s parade, they are pursued by Rukh and must battle him in hand-to-hand combat, eventually outsmarting him. Sabine paints Rukh with a colorful message to the Empire, while Hera adds a representation of Kanan to her Kalikori. Ezra finds himself in the wilderness surrounded by Loth-wolves, including an enormous one that calls itself “DUME” and suggests that Ezra’s next goal should be to further investigate the mysteries contained within Lothal’s Jedi temple.
Star Wars Rebels is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.