A Eulogy for Star Wars Rebels

How about that Star Wars Rebels?

So I wasn't on-board with this show initially. After all, it premiered in 2014, right as uncertainty about the new direction Disney was taking the franchise was at an all-time high. Additionally, its direct predecessor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, was recently cancelled, and my only exposure to it at that point went back to the pilot movie no one liked. It wasn't until I watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens that I gave these shows a chance. Admittedly, Star Wars Rebels was already halfway through its second season by then, but I liked what I saw of its predecessor, so I figured I'd enjoy it too.

Forewarning, I'm gonna assume you've already seen it if you're reading this. It'll save me lots of effort and space trying to condense 4 seasons into a single blog. I'll also forgo defending it, as I've already done that. Instead, I'd like to give my general thoughts on the experience. Here goes:

I'll begin by mentioning that Star Wars Rebels, like its sister series before it, has the weird distinction of being cheaply-animated, yet progressively looking better over time. It's definitely more crisp and cinematic, thanks to an increase in budget, but it's obvious that this could never be made into a theatrical film. That's something Star Wars: The Clone Wars had to learn the hard way in 2008, and, thankfully, it's not repeated here. This show knows its visual strengths and weakness and never oversteps them, and thank goodness for that!

It's clear early-on who this show's really meant for: little kids. If Star Wars: The Clone Wars was created and written with teenagers in mind, than Star Wars Rebels is for younger Star Wars fans. I know this has turned some viewers off, but it's never bothered me. Star Wars has always been for children, and George Lucas even acknowledged this early-on. So a Star Wars show, let-alone a cartoon, being for kids is crucial when understanding why it was even aired on DisneyXD.

Musically, the show's on-par with Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Those who've seen my comparison piece will know what I think of composer Kevin Kiner's work, but I'll add that he's at his best when he plays to the tunes that John Williams made famous. This almost seems unfair, but it's a testament to the legacy of the movies themselves. This isn't to flat-out disrespect the shows for what they've brought to the table, however: ignoring their opening and ending themes, which'd be ear-worms either way, both have moments of brilliance on-par with the films.

But that's somewhat irrelevant, because Star Wars Rebels is all about filling in the gaps leading to the 1977 classic. I know its existence involves retconning certain details of established lore and stretching others, but considering that Star Wars is notorious for doing this anyway, it's easy to forgive. Not all franchises need to follow The MCU principle of tying together neatly, nor should they.

Nevertheless, I was worried how the rebellion would coalesce in the first season. The show indicated that it was initially a grassroots, guerilla-style resistance that did everything on a "hero for hire" method, except with two Jedi thrown in for good fun. That's how it starts off, but as the Season 1 finale came to pass, it was revealed to be more complicated. That almost makes me want to see another show going even further back, but I'm overreaching here.

The cast more than made up for that, though. Whether it was the headstrong Hera Syndula, daughter of partisan rebel Cham Syndula, the trigger-happy Zeb, the rebellious Sabine Ren, daughter of Mandalore, the grumpy Chopper, or the Master/Padawan combo of Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, a lot of thought went into making this crew likable. Returning characters Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex, two fan-favourites from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, eventually rounded-out the crew even further, although they would always pop in and out as necessary. Either way, a fun crew for kids to relate to.

The show also had guest appearances from the films, including Lando Calrissian, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Sidious, all of whom helped anchor the show in the Star Wars universe. Even R2-D2 and C-3PO, who've been in everything Star Wars-canon, made a guest appearance in the first season…on the side of The Empire, no-less! This wasn't happenstance either, as Star Wars: The Clone Wars did this too. Plus, the inclusion of Admiral Thrawn, a non-canon character, in Season 3 was a nice touch.

Star Wars Rebels also expanded on The Force, as every Star Wars property has. Its most-infamous moment was the inclusion of a "world between worlds", a dimension isolated from time itself that appeared toward the end of Season 4. It was never fully-expanded on, to my disappointment, but it allowed for future franchise possibilities. That it also brought back the "Father/Son/Daughter" concept from the previous series was a nice nod to continuity. My only complaint is that it also retconned Ahsoka's death at the hands of Darth Vader, but I can't bellyache too much.

There were other nice nods to continuity that I liked. Ahsoka's fight with Vader in the Season 2 finale, a fight that'd been hinted at for a full season, was a great callback to the one between Anakin and Obi-Wan, even using part of Duel of the Fates in the fight's music. The show also saw the return of Darth Maul and concluded his arc toward the end of Season 3, fulfilling a long-standing threat Obi-Wan made to him in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These sorts of call-backs were nice and further amped the show's greatness.

Additionally, Star Wars Rebels had solid season finales. Season 1 was an excellent showdown between The Grand Inquisitor and Kanan/Ezra. Season 2 had the long-awaited fight between Ahsoka and Vader. Season 3 had the long-awaited battle between The Empire and the planet Dantooine. And Season 4 topped it off with the fight for Lothal. Each of these finales were great and sweeping, if not sometimes epic, and allowed for the show to show off what it was capable of thematically and narratively.

It's hard to say if I preferred this to Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Both shows had their strengths and weaknesses, with one being really dark and edgy, and the other lighter and family-friendly. Perhaps the only advantage Star Wars Rebels had was that its narrative didn't jump around between episodes. This did mean that it suffered from more filler episodes, but even then most of them ended up meaning something. I guess only time will truly give me a satisfying answer.

Still, I enjoyed Star Wars Rebels a lot. It's not the most-ambitious or gutsy of the Star Wars properties, nor does it live up to its full-potential, and its closing narration's a little too clean, but the show's a recommended companion-series to Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely worth checking out.