Warning, spoilers ahead…
The final season of Star Wars Rebels premiered this weekend with a solid two-part episode, “Heroes Of Mandalore”. With this being the last season, Rebels has shown glimpses of bridging the gap between the series and the live action saga throughout its first three seasons. Now with only a couple of months left before The Last Jedi, this bridge needs to be completed. Where will this band of Rebels fit in the overall mythology of the Star Wars universe is still unknown. There was a nod to the series in Rogue One but otherwise, not much has yet to be revealed.
The focus of this two-parter centers on Sabine Wren who is trying to save her father from a rival Mandalore clan and try to unify the clans to go against the Empire. Sabine learns that a weapon that she had developed when she was a young student is being used against her people. We get to learn more about her and the civil war that has torn her people apart. It was nice seeing Bo-Katan, who was first introduced during The Clone Wars series, appear again and have a moment with both Sabine and Ursa Wren. Sabine has some hard choices to make given that Mandalorian history is built on violence and one of her opposing adversaries is an Imperial sympathizer with his own agenda for leading his people through strength and fear.
While Ezra remains the central figure of Rebels, it is Sabine and her struggle to find her voice as a leader that takes center stage in the première. Her character’s growth has shown that she can become an essential part to the lore that is Star Wars. We’ll have to see how not only Sabine’s story ends or continues but each of the primary figures like Kanan, Hera and of course the aforementioned Ezra. Is there a role for any of them beyond Rebels? Hopefully these questions will be answered as the countdown to the series finale continues.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
