REVIEW #233 Star Wars Rebels (4 seasons)

Star Wars: Rebels follows an unlikely group of people who unite behind a single cause, to fight back against the Empire. The show fills in the gap between episode three and episode four. 

Rebels certainly flies under the radar within the Star Wars community. In terms of the animated side of the franchise, The Clone Wars gets most of the attention and rightly so, it’s amazing! But Rebels deserves to at least be in the conversation, it contains amazing visuals and the art that’s on display is something to behold. There are countless shots that look unbelievable and contribute massively to bringing the huge Star Wars universe to life. It also introduces us to a number of amazing new characters, meanwhile incorporating a number of beloved, existing characters to help link everything together. Ezra and Kanan are an interesting master and apprentice duo and it’s unlike anything we have seen before it. Kanan isn’t an established Jedi Master who sat on the council, he was a Jedi that learned on the job and someone who doesn’t necessarily follow the normal rules that the Jedi live by. Not to mention that any mentoring skills he later displayed were areas he truly had to work at, at that teacher character arc was one of the highlights of the show. 

It wouldn’t be Star Wars without a couple of amazing battles and there are a bunch to choose from in this show. The most iconic I feel are the ultimate showdown between Kenobi and Maul, as well as the long awaited reunion between Ahsoka and Anakin, who is of course Darth Vadar at this point. That battle was epic in scale but also incredibly emotional, Ahsoka seeing her former master fall so far into darkness will fill you with sadness! However the true dynamic of Rebels sits within the close knit group that are the central protagonists, similar to The Bad Batch, this group are like family but experience their fair share of trials, often falling out and arguing but finishing on love and respect for one another. It’s what makes Kanan’s passing so hard hitting in the final season. I will say that there are a fair few filler episodes which drag on and test your patience, the story lags and it can sometimes take a while for it to pick up again. But stick with it because there are some amazing moments you won’t want to miss. I definitely recommend this show to any Star Wars fan, I know so many that haven’t given the animated side of Star Wars a chance and it’s a shame because it holds some of the best writing across the franchise!

Overall (8/10)

Thanks for reading!

Callan