Star Wars Rebels is an animated cartoon that takes place in between the time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It follows a small group of rebels known as the Ghost Crew in their fight against the Empire and the growth of the Rebellion. This year marks its 10th anniversary since it aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD, and I’m going to take a look back at the show in this article.
Quickly addressing the elephant in the room, this show comes off the heels of the much beloved Clone Wars series that ran from 2008 to 2013, so some weren’t very open to Rebels when it first came out because it looked like a downgrade and seemed to be more aimed towards kids. This and other factors led to the more mixed opinions towards the show. While there are some who still don’t like Rebels, it’s safe to say that it gained a more positive reputation as it went on. Rebels also served as a spiritual successor to Clone Wars due to it bringing back characters from that show like Captain Rex, Darth Maul, and of course, Ahsoka Tano, so it could rap up their storylines. This led to some of the most iconic moments in not just the show, but possibly in all of Star Wars, like Ahsoka fighting her former master, Darth Vader in the season 2 finale, Twilight of the Apprentice, and when Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi had their final confrontation on Tatooine in the season 3 episode, Twin Suns.
Of course, the show’s main characters of the Ghost Crew are all very interesting characters in their own right. The crew consists of Order 66 survivor Kanan Jarrus, expert pilot Hera Syndulla, astromech Chopper, grumpy Lasat Zeb Orrelios, mandaloiran artist Sabine Wren, and the force sensitive street rat Ezra Bridger. They’re a team and a found family, which is demonstrated numerous times throughout the show as you see them all grow and experience many hardships with each other as they stand up against the Empire.
All the crew members have something interesting going on with them. Ezra, as the main protagonist, grows a lot as a character. Seeing him develop from the annoying kid he was at the start to the selfless hero he becomes at the end of the show has made him one of my favorite characters in all of Star Wars. We get to see him learn to think about more than himself and stand up for what he believes in. Kanan grows from someone who’s haunted by his past to a true Jedi Knight who sacrifices himself to save his family, which has made him a fan favorite among many. Sabine brings new aspects to the mandalorian side of Star Wars with her leading the charge to liberate Mandalore from the Empire and her training with the Darksaber. Zeb goes through a lot in regards to his species, from thinking he was the last of his kind to finding more Lasats and bringing them to a new home. Hera is shown not just to be an important character in the Ghost Crew, but also to the Rebellion as a whole, as she’s the one who takes the charge in a lot of missions seen throughout the show. And Chopper… is a little menace, which is very entertaining to watch.
Rebels also has a considerable amount of villains that are determined to stop the Ghost Crew. The Inquisitors, which are Jedi hunters, are a thorn in the crew’s side (mostly for Kanan and Ezra) throughout the first two seasons. Darth Vader himself serves as an antagonist in Season 2, but he’s in the background for the most part, with his biggest moments being at the beginning and end of the season. The main antagonist for the last two seasons is Grand Admiral Thrawn, making this his canon debut. Thrawn is cold and calculating; always being at least two steps ahead. Even when our heroes get a victory, Thrawn considers it a “momentary setback,” and continues forward, making him a pretty intimidating character.
The series reached its end on March 5th, 2018, with the two part finale Family Reunion – and Farewell, where we see the rebels freeing Ezra’s home planet of Lothal (which was an ongoing plot point throughout the series) with Ezra sacrificing himself by calling upon the Purrgil (the hyperspace whales that appeared in an earlier episode in Season 2) to take the star destroyer that he and Thrawn are on to an unknown destination, leaving Sabine, Hera, Zeb, Chopper, and their allies to finally free Lothal from the Empire’s grasp. The final scene takes place sometime after Return of the Jedi, with Sabine standing on the tower that Ezra did all the way back in the first episode. Sabine narrates about what has happened since Lothal’s liberation, explaining where Hera and Zeb are now. As for her, she explains that she has been protecting Lothal because she thought that’s what Ezra meant when he said by “he’s counting on her.” However, when looking at the mural she painted of The Ghost Crew, and tapping Ezra’s cheek, she realized what Ezra actually meant. She then sees Ahsoka in white robes, waiting for her. As Sabine heads toward Ahsoka, she declares that Ezra is out there, somewhere. And it’s time to bring him home. The show ends with one final shot of the mural of the Ghost Crew.
Star Wars Rebels may not have been a show that everyone loved, but it was still a cool show that brought many new aspects to the Star Wars franchise. The show may have ended, but the story of these characters continues on, with the story of Sabine and Ahsoka’s quest to find Ezra being explored in the Ahsoka series on Disney+. Overall, Rebels was a show that I enjoyed, and I recommend checking it out if you haven’t already. Happy 10th Anniversary, Star Wars Rebels. May the Force be with you.
