@@red_hobbit3323 I believe it. I am not looking forward to getting there in my current watchthrough. Just like I'm not really looking forward to getting to the Kenobi section of the timeline because I have a feeling that the "I am not your failure Obi-Wan" is going to crush me
Season four is probably my favorite piece of Star Wars media ever. While I generally lump Rebels in with Andor and TCW as my “peak Star Wars”, this season by itself is just a master class in emotional storytelling and intricate lore/mythology building. The stuff with Kanan is perfect, and I absolutely love whenever Filoni (on both TCW and Rebels) gets all weird with the Force, something I really hope to see continue in Ahsoka or in the upcoming films.
That’s what I tell everyone. Clone Wars is my favorite show, Empire is my favorite movie, but Rebels Season 4 is the best Star Wars there is. All my opinion of course.
Dude-- when they’re approaching the fuel tanks - they shoot it - then that spiritual song comes up…. He’s holding Hera up with the force and launches her into the ship and they’re all looking at him knowing what’s about to happen…. Omg I cry (or come close to crying) every time. Just after Hera told Kaanan she loves him and she’s pregnant and doesn’t know it yet omg kill me. My heart.
I still remember seeing World Between Worlds when it premiered and almost immediately after this channel doing a live discussion with everyone. That was a really fun and cool moment i'll always remember from this season.
The thing that I take away the most about the very end of the finale when Ezra and Thrawn hyperspace jump away is that the reveal of both of them in the Ashoka show is going to be amazing I would even go as far to say that the reveal of Ezra is going to give an even bigger pop than anything that we’ve seen from any recent show (yes even bigger than Luke)
I liked Season 4 and it had some great concluding episodes with so many freaking huge moments and revelations like Kansan’s death, Palpatine, and the freaking World Between Worlds with Ashoka’s survival. I remember when that was a huge deal on initial airing, and your old WbW video of the clips and voices. Looking back now on S4 though I think I wouldn’t put it as my overall fave of the show. S2&3 did a fantastic job bringing Team Ghost into the wider galaxy and rebellion, and then S4 only after a few episodes brings them back to Lothal and grounds them there for the rest of the show. It was a sentiment I hated back then because I was just so done with Lothal, though now I appreciate it a bit more. I think I just preferred Rebels a bit more when it stuck to the wider galaxy rather than just being all on one planet.
I think Saw was more concentrated on trying to get Ezra on his side because he already worked with a Jedi, Cal Kestis. I’m not sure if he’s ever worked with a Mandalorian before.
He worked with Obi Wan, Anakin and Ashoka too. He knows a Jedi could be a powerful ally. But adding Andor/Rogue One scenes into context, Saw absolutely could have been attempting to recruit young idealistic rebel to his BAMN faction.
The cool thing about Thrawn is that the heroes don't really interact with him directly. So seeing Ezra and Thrawn exchange philosophies in the finale was kinda neat. Like we spoke for the first time in the finale.
I LOVE Rebels S4 so much. It's honestly so hard for me to choose between it and Season 3 as my favourite season of the show. S4 has so much of what I love from Rebels, the World Between Worlds, the loth wolves, the culmination of every story arc, especially Ezra's, the setup for the future of the characters. It was a fantastic ending to a fantastic show. Rebels is honestly the best story told since the reset of the franchise. The S3 finale briefly shows Sabine talking about going back to Mandalore to help her family and Hera says she can take a few volunteers with her to repay the help Clan Wren offered the Rebellion so it was set up that the premiere would go to Mandalore and I think it was needed to close out Sabine's arc with the Darksaber. Having her almost lose her family at the hands of the weapon she helped design was probably a misdirect so that when she and the crew experience major loss later, it hits harder. I do really like what those episodes do for her character, being able to destroy the weapon once and for all, passing the Darksaber to Bo-Katan and getting closure on her relationship with her family and her people. I also really like the encouragement she gets from Ezra, who honestly provides a lot of comedy throughout those two episodes and joins Obi-Wan in becoming a Jedi to fly alongside Mandalorians in battle. The chase scene inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade is also really fun. I think Kanan and Hera's relationship, especially in this season, serves as a cautionary tale for what you miss out on when you don't balance work and your personal life, at least that's how I took it. Hera is going all in on the Rebellion but it's causing her relationship with Kanan (which has totally been a thing this whole time) to take kind of a backseat, leading him to question what they are to each other. It's a tragic but sadly realistic situation and empathises the importance of finding that balance between work and home. They have some really adorable moments throughout the season that just makes what happens all the more heartbreaking. Kanan's death is so hard to get through, the music, the emotions on everyone's face, him holding back the explosion, it's a masterful but painful ending for him, saving the family he chose after losing his original one in the Jedi Order. Seeing Lothal in such a state is tough, seeing the pain in Ezra's eyes and after spending so much time there with the characters. I LOVE the loth wolves, the World Between Worlds and that whole storyline. I love how in tune with the Force the wolves are and the way they aid the Rebels throughout the season is great, especially Ezra. Him talking to the giant Loth wolf, Dume, gives me chills everytime. Returning to the Lothal Temple and learning why the Emperor has an interest in Lothal was so cool and to actually see Sidious himself, voiced by Ian McDiarmid, personally involved is awesome. I love the looks of shocks on everyone's face when they hear his voice. I also like that he makes it a priority to capture Ezra alive, having both Thrawn and Pryce specifically carry out that task, I'm a sucker for anytime the big villain personally targets the hero like that and the moment where Ezra ultimately defies Palpatine is such a fist pumping moment. Thrawn himself remains perfectly cool and collected, Lars continues to crush it. The moment where he chastises Pryce is chilling. The return of the purrgil is so unexpected and that's what makes it perfect. Who would have ever seen that coming? It's the perfect culmination of Ezra's character arc, making the ultimate sacrifice to free his planet and remove Thrawn from the playing field, which made a huge impact for the Alliance's fight against the Empire. It's that cliffhanger that most excites me heading into Ahsoka. I also love the epilogue and learning the futures of the characters. Hera having a son just makes Kanan's death hit harder and I do like Zeb's gesture for Kallus. Learning Rex was at the Battle of Endor is also awesome and the ending with Ahsoka and Sabine heading out to find Ezra always gets me emotional. I can't wait to see their search in Ahsoka!
Hera being drugged and temporarily losing her stoicism and being vulnerable is my favorite thing in Rebels, it gets better with every re-watch. Her saying, "I didn't like that droid Kanan" just gets me, because it is something she would never admit to otherwise.
25:40 YES Mollie exactly! I think the thing that ultimately makes Rebels my fav SW TV show is the mysticism - Kanan, but particularly Ezra's connection to the force through nature and animals. It's so weird and great and I love that it's not overexplained. "We need to be able to go there" - agreed :)))
With Jacen: I wonder if some of the confusion around it is also not having the best sense of how much time has been passing. Epilogue vs Ahsoka trailer: after finishing watching Rebels, I started to wonder if they weren’t different versions of the same meeting, but perhaps 2 meetings. in Rebels, it’s the first time they head out, Sabine more prepared to just go, hair already cut, perhaps got some of whatever training they were doing on that trip. In Ahsoka, they’re reunited after that after Ahsoka got more info on Thrawn. But They could go the “this is the proper version of the meet-up and not the Rebels epilogue” and that’d be..I guess fine. It’s a short enough scene. 🤷🏻♂️
I was totally thinking the same thing, but in reverse. The meeting we see in the Ahsoka trailer is the first time and the rebels epilogue is their second meeting
I said in a comment on the Season 1 video that that season is my favorite, but Season 4 is very close. I think the shorter seasons are tighter and more cohesive. That said, I agree that there could've been more with Kallus and that Heroes of Mandalore is an odd fit. I disagree somewhat about the ending of that two-parter, specifically for Bo-Katan. I think her acceptance of the Darksaber is a catalyst for part of her journey and development, as it was for Sabine, and thus more important than the saber itself. Good, refreshing perspective on the WBW. There seems to be a tendency for people to lose sight of the lesson therein. I hadn't noticed Ahsoka's epilogue outfit (under the cloak), so I'll have to look for that in my own rewatch. Thanks to you both for these chats!
That line from Saw is especially ironic after seeing what Mothma does in Andor for the rebellion. She breaks rules, but she still has different general principles.
I remember thinking in the first season that maybe Hera was force-sensitive too. The Loth- wolves riding into the planet was extra cool. Saw had more of the look from Rogue One film.
Just rewatched myself and there is a hint that Sabine is force sensitive (which I hope she isn't) which is that she hears voices whilst Zeb is utterly confused. We experience I assume from Ezra's perspective and see and hear visions of the past and future (basically just the "I know I can always count on you" line). That would suggest a pattern where force-sensitives see more and the deeper your connection to the force the more you see and hear.
12:39 I was fully expecting Clan Wren to come in to help the other Mandalorians in the season 3 Finale of The Mandalorian. It would have also been cool if Gar Saxon would have shown himself as one of the Imperial troops clad in beskar armor.
You know....Molly has mentioned Buffy a few times over this past year. I am not a HUGE Buffy/Angel etc fan, but I did spend a few hangover Sundays on the couch watching reruns. I firmly believe Molly should do a similar seasonal rewatch and commentary on Buffy (et al). DO it Molly.
I just realized that during Sabine's monologue in the Epilogue, the Force music theme starts playing it...maybe it was an early hint of her possible force sensitivity?
I like the point you guys made about how the mandelorian victories feel less impactful now that we've seen what happens with Moff Gideon. I feel the same way anytime I see Saw after seeing how the end of the last sesason of The Bad Batch ended. Might be an interesting topic for you guys to explore post any rewatch. Whats changed now that we have more content to give context compared to when a project was originally aired. Appreciate the work you guys are doing to bring the fandom up to date before Ahsoka.
12:57 I would love to see The Purge of Mandalor and the Night of Thousand Tears fleshed out more in future Star Wars content. Hopefully in the Ahsoka series we find out what happened to Sabine and Clan Wren in general.
You can change the past/future in the World Between Worlds It is why Palpatine wants access. If Ahsoka was always going to live than that means Ezra has no agency and was always destined to save Ahsoka
Hey there, Alex and Mollie! I just wanted to say that it was actually Mart Mattin, Wolffe, and Vizago, on the Ghost, who sent a signal beacon on Frequency Zero, in high orbit around Lothal, which summoned the Purgill. It wasn't Ezra summoning them with the Force. Do you guys remember, in the Series Finale, "Family Reunion - and Farewell" when Mart said that they weren't calling "a who, more like a what, and if [Mart] told [Wolffe and Vizago] what, well, that's the part [they] might not believe."? It's explained in the finale (as I described above), from about 19 min 30 secs, for about one minute. Thanks for your time, and May the Force be with you both! Yours truly, David M. Kelly P.S. - I provided a direct reference to the scene I mentioned, which explains my point, quite a bit better, as I am kind of socially awkward, especially due to my Asperger's Syndrome as well as my ADHD. So I'm sorry that if I tend to ramble a bit, but sincerely hope that you can coherently understand what I mean. Take care! EDIT: Sorry, I hadn't seen the entire video before posting this comment.
We do see Ahsoka in Twilight of the Apprentice post-duel though walking into the shadows? Or was that adapted for Disney Plus? Also Vader would assume Ahsoka died or escaped since Ahsoka put her blades into the temple's surface causing Vader to fall deeper into the temple (otherwise he would've died). He doesn't see her disappear he just falls through the ground mid-strike. Without Ezra he would've still fallen through the floor and survived but Ahsoka would've been caught in the temple's collapse (or possibly Vader was late enough into his strike that he would've killed Ahsoka when he stumbles anyways.
I hadn't thought of this before but for 2 or 3 years from Ahsoka's perspective, she knew Kanan was going to die. After leaving Malachor, she had to live with that knowledge knowing full well she couldn't act on it, and that's probably why she doesn't lend any helping hands to Phoenix Squadron after that point
It could be that Rukh is like Zathras on Babylon 5. That there are many Rukh's and each one pronounces their name just a little bit different. If you have seen the episodes of B5 they are such a treat. Tim Choate gave an incredible performance as the character. RIP Tim. "No, not the one. You're not the one."
I just want to know what happened to Jai Kell!! He was literally there in one scene in A Fools Hope then gone the next without it veing obvious/shown that he got taken out!
Ive never been a huge Rebels fan. I think ive watched the entire series but I usually would binge-watch late at night till I passed out so who knows what I've missed. But by the look of things, the Ahsoka series is live action Rebels so probably a good idea to re watch
10:13 my opinion on Hera and Kanan’s relationship was that season’s one and two it felt like they were the mom and dad of the found family, but they weren’t clearly together. It seemed like it was always like a will-they, won’t-they scenario. But in the later seasons they’re together but their relationship is suffering from each of their other commitments. Then Kanan dies and all of the sudden they have a kid? My problem is that it was never explained, it really would have heightened the stakes and increased the impact of Kanan’s death and sacrifice if we’d know the extent of their relationship and more so if we had known Hera was pregnant.
You made me think of Veris Hyden, the Sith researcher, if you will, who interrogated Sabine while Ezra was inside the World Between Worlds played by Malcolm McDowell. Having him appear in some capacity as Hyden in Andor, Season Two wouldn't be at all extraneous or BS fan service, as the times match up, and the Alliance would definitely be interested in what Palpatine had set Hyden about, and if it in any way involved any of Palpatine's many large, yet secret, mega-projects. It'd be a good surprise casting that would neither break the bank nor stretch believability. 😁👍
I totally get the frustration of Hera and Kansans relationship, but I kinda liked they never get to really define their relationship but they both know they love each other The “I know” is very subliminal. But I really enjoyed their ending and season 4 as a whole with what they do with the crew’s relationships
I think it's clear when Kanan and Hera got together in that sense: S4 episode 7. In fact Kanan addresses the fact by saying "Hera, about what happened...". Yes he may refer to the talk they had but sometime has passed
Re more Noghri in the future: Timothy Zahn did actually make a comment in an interview that maybe the Rukh we see in Rebels is different to the one in Heir to the Empire, and that Rukh would be more like a title or specific name in Noghri culture. I do wonder if they're going to have a character in Rukh's place, though. NGL though, if they bring in "Ruukh" and have cloned Noghri warriors serving Thawn, that would be pretty wild. Personally, I like the idea that the Bendu's prophecy will come back. I don't see why his vision needs to be bound to what Ezra could see, and even if he couldn't see past Rebels, I still think it would be a nice bit of narrative symmetry, it's like poetry it rhymes and all that. Re "when did Kanan and Hera 'make it happen?'", I think that was actually discussed on a panel at one point. I think the suggestion they made was that whatever "happened" (wink wink) happened before the start of Kindred, when they both are up in the morning and chat. Kanan even says "about what happened", which could mean more than just Kanan trying to confront her about the status of their relationship and also about... yeah. Also honestly, I expected Kallus to die in Season 3, to help show how Thrawn really wasn't messing around. But yes, Kallus is one of the few times in Star Wars we break the redemption equals death trope.
Season 4 is fantastic, you just can't stop once it really gets going, but the first four episodes are definitely a bit of housecleaning before things really start happening. Also I hate The Duchess. As a weapon, it's kind of cool, but it's really the name and how viscerally Bo-Katan reacts to that. Was Satine the first Duchess of Mandalore? Like, did she decide to rename what the leader was called after she took the throne? That's the only thing I can think about. But whatever, I very much kind of don't care about those Mandalorian episodes too much, even if it was cool seeing Bo-Katan again, and now with more context for what happens afterward, yeah, it's not really anything to get excited about. The Saw episodes are more enjoyable to me, and while it's still housekeeping to me, still not filler, it's more in line with the rest of the Season because Ezra's more of a focus and how to fight in this war. Speaking of all the cats and wolves and stuff, man, if Season 3 got me to really like the Force, Season 4 made me absolutely love the Force. The opening when everyone's on the wolves and they slowly sink into the grass, oh man, that is my absolute favorite opening to any single episode in this show. The music, the visuals, what it's setting up, ugh, it's so good! Dave Filoni absolutely indulged himself with these wolves, but I can't stay mad, they were very well handled and had a story purpose, and not just there to be cool. So the midpoint of the Season was great, but immediately just before Rebel Assault aired, we got that one Forces of Destiny Short that ruined all the tension. Hera was shaming Han and Chewbacca for letting Ewoks capture Stormtroopers (for food) after the battle of Endor, and so that just killed any risk for Hera after that. Luckily we did get some actual stakes in the show for other characters, but still, my favorite character lived through everything, I should be happy, but it was through a story that came out at the wrong time and ruined a lot. I don't know whose idea that was to release that Forces of Destiny short then, but it was a bad idea. Kanan's death, that was honestly a surprise to me because I didn't know the episode titles. And yeah, it sucks because we never got to see Hera and Kanan really have a relationship. They had moments throughout the series, but Season 4 is when everything is finally coming to a head, and then it's all taken away. Cue Zuko's "That's rough buddy." And then Wolves and a Door and The World Between Worlds episodes, oh man. Younger me wouldn't have believed that I love those episodes, but Rebels had a way of taking what you knew, and pushed it just a little bit past the line, and then went past that little bit, and then a little bit more, and suddenly you can have a form of time travel in Star Wars, and I be absolutely on board with it. Paradoxes and Time Loops, I'm here for it, but you can only have this happen after doing all that work and buildup. I really wonder if the Ahsoka series will use it to give us answers for things, or if we'll just not even bother with it. The World Between Worlds is not just something you can spring on people right out the gate. But I absolutely love it, and I hate that more people don't get how it works with what Dave Filoni has shared with us. The Finale is good, up until the epilogue. I remember it leaving me with an uneasy feeling because it was all culminating in going off to find Ezra, and I'm like, "No, he's dead." Ezra and Thrawn should be dead. I can justify their survival by having Ezra maintain cabin pressure in the Star Destroyer bridge, but then it's still been 4-5 years, which we now know to actually be about 9-10 years since the finale when the epilogue takes place, and that really makes you wonder just what these guys have been up to all this time. Where was Ahsoka in all this, too? Luke begins his journey with the Force, destroys a Death Star, trains even more, confronts Vader, assists in Jabba the Hutt's death, befriends the Ewoks, offers redemption for Vader, who then takes it and kills the Emperor, another Death Star blows up, and the Empire falls, and we still have Ahsoka, Ezra, and Thrawn running around out there somewhere? This is beyond frustrating, but I guess we'll get some answers in the Ahsoka show... Or not, Dave Filoni can be a bit of a troll sometimes, and he knows people want to know, but it's not actually important to the story, and he'll just string all us nerds along. Harrumph! But yeah, Star Wars Rebels good, Star Wars Rebels very good. In my latest rewatch, I may have even finally thought it was better than Clone Wars, and I have always been in the camp that Clone Wars is still Star Wars animation at its best. Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
i just still cant get over how awkward it much have been for ezra meeting sabine dad man i hope sabine family is still arround tristan ursa alrich wren
Hera waited too long to tell him she was pregnant! In that scene, she is sitting, holding her stomach. As for the making of their son, twin suns, ezra goes into Kanan's room in the middle of the night from mauls trick, kanan isnt there... bow chicka wow wow.
Saw probably figured he needed to manipulate the Jedi more than the Mando warrior, plus having a pet Jedi taken from Mon Motha would mean more to rebels than a mandolorian, he could say even this Jedi's sees we must fight like this
I'm done with my season 4 rewatch yet. My next episode is 'Rebel Assault', and then, of course, 'Jedi Night'. I'm watching along with my brother who had never seen the show before.
I have complicated feelings about Saw. I feel like his accusations at Mon Mothma are mostly right. She and the rest of Rebel command were too timid and concerned about meeting the empire according to rules of engagement which really benefitted the empire. I remember when Mon Mothma said in the season 3 finale "we will negotiate fair terms for the prisoners" like Lady There's Not Gonna Be Prisoners. She has been in danger as a Senator but she needs to stop thinking like a senator to be an effective leader in her new role. On a metatextual level, Saw was saying a lot of correct things and a lot of disney own franchised end up making radical characters do unforgivable violence etc to undermine those messages. It annoyed me in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and it annoys me every time saw comes up and does something Oh So Horrible when like. He's kinda been right about a lot of it. Someone had to hunt down the death star, even if only in hindsight taking out those imperial leaders in the bad batch was probably the right move. I find him compelling and tragic. Goes too far a lot of the time but watching him burn himself and anyone unfortunate enough to get too close as fuel to fight the Empire because he has nothing to stop him and nothing else left to lose.
Part of what I found funny in my rewatch is how Rukh loses almost every fight (I think he only beats a very injured hera who still kinda kicks his ass) but he just constantly survives by clinging to walls like spider-man. What a silly (evil) little guy
Star Wars is really special when it gets the politics right. That line from Saul hits so much harder in post-Trump world, when we've seeen the results of politicians taking the high ground in the face of Fascism.
As much as I love season 4, I agree with Mollie that the weakest part for me was Kanan and Hera's relationship. I feel like they should have put in more work throughout the season (and in earlier seasons, honestly) of setting up their relationship and their issues, so that we better understood where they stood going into Jedi Night. It kind of takes away from the impact of his death for me.
Kanan and Hera were clearly involved romantically since the beginning, but just kept it low-key because it was nothing serious. What you see this season is Kanan trying to get it to the next level and be an official couple. So to answer your question of when did they have to do *that*, they've been doing it for a while now.
I'm still so glad, when the finale of the series is finally over. It defenetly was a cool last season and Rebels is an ok show, don't get me wrong, but man, it defenetly needed to end, so we could continue with the stuff that's much, much better.
As far Jason is conserned. Early in the war Kanon and Hera put aside some genetic material. Jason would have required some genetic engineering to come about anyway. Hera then had the gene modded embryo implanted and brought to term after the end of the war.
