Star Wars Rebels - Family Reunion / and Farewell

The two-part finale of Star Wars Rebels wraps us several ongoing storylines while foreshadowing possible new adventures for some of these characters somewhere down the line. In the final two episodes the siege of Lothal will come to an end, Ezra (Taylor Gray) will be tempted one last time by the Dark Side before firmly choosing the path that Kanan and his friends helped pave for him. Turning himself over to Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) to save the civilians of Lothal, Ezra buys time for the rest of the team to get control of the Imperial Dome and complete their mission. It's an action-packed finale that, like several episodes of the series, features creatures connected to the Force playing an important role as Ezra calls on the Purrgil to help rid Lothal of Thrawn.

With Star Wars universe apparently shifting focus for the next animated series to events prior to The Force Awakens, this seems to close to door on this chapter... for now. While I am a little surprised the number of core characters who made it out of the series alive, Ezra's sacrifice fits well within the themes of the show. It also leaves a door to future adventures concerning Ezra, Thrawn, Sabine (Tiya Sircar), and Ahsoka someone on the edges of known space. It appears there are plenty of stories left to tell about these characters, and I'm curious to see just what form they may take.

I found Star Wars Rebels both more successful and satisfying than The Clone Wars which was more ambitious in the number of characters and world introduced but also less focused on the growth of its core characters (with Ahsoka being the only real exception). Set near the events of the original films, where the Galactic Empire's hand choked the galaxy, the show found ways to introduced new ideas and characters while incorporating as much of the larger Star Wars universe as possible. While the Star Wars Expanded Universe has been replaced, the show even managed to save a few bits by bringing in Thrawn and offering a nice final homage with Hera's (Vanessa Marshall) name for her son. I'm sorry to see the show end, but hopeful that we haven't yet seen the final curtain call for several of these characters.