Star Wars Rebels has been building towards their season finale steadily. Which means that they’ve delayed the trip to Malachor one last time. But they still gave a good show.
Ezra and Kanan are training like crazy to be prepared for their trip to Malachor. But little bits of aggression are seeping through Ezra’s speech patterns. Specifically, referring to killing an inquisitor as a win state. If I had to guess, they’re establishing this so that they can invert or subvert it, but that’s a matter for next episode.
The Rebels have established their base on a desert planet, which I don’t think is named in the episode. They have their pilots out establishing sensor modules around the various cliffs so they can tell when an attack is inbound. But one pilot, Deiser, runs into a giant multi-legged bug thing and doesn’t get the chance to report back in. Because faceless characters like her only have one purpose on shows like this.
Zeb hates every native creature on the planet. That being said, he still enjoys watching the sunset with Ezra while the others are figuring out the missing pilot situation. The most notable thing in this scene is the song they listen to on the radio. I have no idea what it is, but I want to hear it in it’s entirety.
Sabine and Rex go out looking for Deiser in the Phantom. Unfortunately, they find the bugs that took her. Trust me when I say that I’m going to try really hard not to reference Starship Troopers for the rest of this review. Sabine staves them off by hanging around the sensor module (which the bugs don’t like) until help arrives, but Rex isn’t so lucky; he instead gets carried off by them.
When the others get there, they mount a rescue mission into the bug’s underground lair. They split into Jedi and non-Jedi teams despite the tactical lopsidedness caused by such a split. Hera notes that they have to get used to not having Kanan and Ezra around, mostly due to her feelings on their imminent departure. The find Rex, being used as an edible teddy bear by one of the sleeping bugs in the nest, and call Kanan and Ezra back to them for the escape, complicated by the fact that all of the bugs are awake and alerted to their presence. It’s also worth noting that Ezra’s attempt to bond with and placate the bugs through the Force fails every time he attempts it.
They get back to the Ghost, but they can’t lift off because the bugs were smart enough to web it to the ground. Sabine notes that the bugs hate the sensor module. Ezra comes up with a plan: he and Kanan force push her over to the module, so that she can pick it up and protect them as they cut the Ghost free. It works (barely), and Rex gets a little revenge on one of the bugs that was cheeky enough to get onto the ship.
Back at the base, Ezra makes a final attempt to reach out to one of the bugs that strayed close to the sensor fence they immediately built around the perimeter of the base. He fails just as Ahsoka shows up, and notes that just when you think you have the Force figured out, you realize that you don’t. Also, Hera and Kanan patch things up in preparation for his trip.
With Star Wars Rebels season finale set to go, the episode ends. Promises of Lord Bifurcation Darth Maul The Old Masta and a big old fashioned lightsaber fight abound. And also Ezra fucking things up, as only he can.
Final Thoughts:
- I debated on trying to drop the line “Even Neil Patrick Harris can’t save you now” somewhere in here, but gave up eventually.
- Zeb’s hatred of multi-legged things is really only brought up twice.
- Having grown up primarily in the 90’s, it’s always a shock to hear the word “kill” used in a program aimed at older children.
- I have no idea why Chopper is mentioned in the title of this episode. Unless the base is actually named for him.
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