The end of an era. We here at Tosche Station have been watching and reviewing Star Wars Rebels since the very beginning which makes this series finale rather bittersweet. And so, one last time, we all sat down to take a look at these final two episodes: “A Fool’s Hope” and “Family Reunion – and Farewell”.

This is your first and only spoiler warning.

Okay so overall brief impressions: did we like it?

Bria: For the most part, yes. I liked about 90% of the final two episodes. We can call it 95% if we ignore the epilogue.

Nanci: Maybe? The first episode was kind of meh for me. I knew I’d have issues as soon as Hera said they were going on a mission for Ezra. But he’s the main character, so of course he’s the center of these last few episodes. I liked the second episode a lot more until the ending. So, I guess there were a lot of parts I really enjoyed and other parts I really disliked.

Brian: Yes? Kinda? I had quibbles here and there that ultimately didn’t make too much of a difference. Then the epilogue happened and it Battlestar’d itself.

Kate: I did! I feel like I’m gonna be the one who winds up gushing a bit here. The back half of this season hasn’t been perfect—much like the rest of the series hasn’t been perfect—but I thought these last episodes were a great way of sending this show off.

Chris: I did too! There’s plenty that I can pick apart, much like the whole series, but at the end of the day, it’s Star Wars and gave me the same goosebumps I always get when watching any of the shows or movies.

What did we like about these last two episodes? (Excluding the epilogue)

Bria: My snarky viewing comments aside, I actually mostly really liked these last two episodes! They did a lot of things right and even though I joked about Ezra calling all six of his friends back together, it was nice to see so many of the returning players. (The clones upgraded to an AT-AT!) Something that particularly spoke to me (especially after Rebels Recon confirmed it wasn’t romantic) was the friendship and trust between Sabine and Ezra. They’ve both grown up a fair bit over the course of the series. I actually really appreciated how Sabine just understood and let Ezra go off and surrender to Thrawn and then took charge of the situation. There’s a reason I’ve been on the ‘Sabine For Mandalore!’ train for ages and seeing her be so confident and such a natural leader just felt right. (And hey! Shout out to that momentary call back to “Out of Darkness” with Sabine and Hera.) The pure scale of the last battle was incredible. There were so many people present that it really felt like an actual war going on and I love that the animation team went all out. Oh and Thrawn! His scene verbally dissecting the Jedi was incredible. When this show gets Thrawn right, they really get him right. Like… DANG. So overall yeah, I liked these episodes for the most part.

Heck, I’m even okay with the deus ex space whales, the more I think about it.

Nanci: Thrawn didn’t die. The Pellaeon reference. The action was great. I liked seeing the whole gang back together. Kindly Palpatine was glorious. The fight with the Royal Guards was great.

Brian: Since season one, there have been precious few moments in which the whole found family was working together. We got that in these episodes (minus a dead Kanan of course). It might have taken until the 11th hour to get the band back together, but they thankfully did. The understanding displayed between Sabine and Ezra was rather well done and showed a surprising amount of subtlety, which is something I think this show has lacked at times (and don’t get me started on “Cut it slack, it’s a kid’s show” because I’ll point over to Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra as an example of serialized children’s programming that’s been significantly more graceful than Rebels). And of course, one last appearance for Hondo. Who doesn’t like more Hondo?

Kate: As Bria and Brian have said, I love the emphasis on the friendship between Sabine and Ezra. Their relationship has grown and changed so much since season 1, and I think it really comes to fruition here. I liked a lot of things that others have mentioned here, but I’ll add one more aspect: The music was amazing. Kevin Kiner has been my hero for the past three weeks.

Chris: Adding onto the “SabEzra is NOT endgame” pile here because I really enjoyed their friendship and that it wasn’t romantic at all. I also thought that we saw a lot of character development from Ezra in these episodes, which is something that I’ve criticized the show for in the past – I was really glad to see it here. And I LOVED the interplay between the heroes and villains – watching the rebels outsmart Pryce (again) was even sweeter knowing that she wasn’t even afraid of them, but rather that she was terrified of what Thrawn would do to her. That’s the kind of depth and multi-faceted characterization that I’ve been pining for in this show. Also, Hondo. I need a buddy cop web series about Hondo and Vizago and I need it yesterday.

What did we NOT like about these last two episodes? (Excluding the epilogue)

Bria: NO. MORE. TENTACLES. We don’t deserve this. I thought we were free from this back when Abeloth was wiped from canon but noooooo. While I’m generally okay with the space whales reappearing, I don’t necessarily buy that Ezra was smart enough to think to tell Mart to go find them. I’m also relieved that was NOT how Thrawn died (thanks again for the confirmation, Rebels Recon!) but I’m also not happy that Ezra and therefor Thrawn lived. Heroic Sacrifices kind of lose their impact if the person doesn’t actually, you know, die and that would’ve been one hell of a way for Ezra to give his life for his friends and for Lothal.

Nanci: Thrawn was defeated by a space whale. The space whales were a deus ex machina. Pellaeon might be dead. I don’t think Ezra is as smart as he was portrayed in these episodes. There’s a way to prop up a character without having him outsmart people like Thrawn or Palpatine. Sure, Thrawn doesn’t understand the Force, but I have a hard time believing that Ezra plans that far in advance. I feel like it can slip into bad storytelling when you have to say “this has a point, really!” and then two seasons later say “see, see!”

Brian: I like leaving questions and some open ended things in a finale, but you can definitely go overboard with that. Leaving Ezra and Thrawn’s fate (They’re not dead, but where are they? IT IS A MYSTERY!) so open ended feels like they’re not-so-subtly advertising the next Filoni project. I’m also with Bria that sometimes a heroic sacrifice occasionally calls for mortality to be put on the table. I don’t think it felt like Ezra was ever in any real danger of not surviving. Then of course there’s the Ahsoka problem. Not just “where were you when the Ghost crew was in peril on Lothal” but the bigger “Where were you when planets were getting blown up, there was a legitimate Rebellion to push back against the Empire, and when THE SON OF YOUR MASTER JUST HAPPENS TO BE SAID REBELLION’S POSTER BOY.” Rebels has kinda always painted itself into these corners, but these two episodes REALLY painted itself into a corner. This was the sort of thing that cropped up in Legends every now and then that tripped up a few stories

Kate: I didn’t expect one, but my shipper trash heart wanted Hera to have one final moment with Kanan—remembering him, sensing something in the Force, anything!

Chris: Ahsoka. I’m annoyed that she didn’t come to Lothal to help Ezra and co., and now I’m waiting for an explanation about where she was during the Galactic Civil War. That, to me, is a big mess that needs cleaning up. (I know you said excluding the epilogue, so we’ll just stick with “where was she?”)

So… how about that Captain Pellaeon reference?

Bria: I watched these episodes with Chris and Kate and they can confirm that as soon as my brain processed that they said ‘Captain Pellaeon’, I jumped to my feet and went “Did they just– DID THEY SAY PELLAEON?” and then proceeded to make a high pitched shrieking sound for about a minute straight before remembering to breath. Holy crap, that made me so happy. I really hope that this means we’re going to get to see him in Thrawn: Alliances or elsewhere in the canon.

Nanci: Ha, see above! I think I tweeted something to the effect of “did they just say what I think they said??” I really hope we see him in Thrawn: Alliances and that he’s NOT dead.

Brian: “Captain WHAT? Did I just hear what I think I heard!?” was me verbatim. Now, I will say that I’m going to be annoyed if that was just a namedrop and he died at Lothal.

Kate: I had to make sure Bria survived this reference! I didn’t grow up reading Legends myself, but knowing how important this character is, I’m hoping to see him in Thrawn: Alliances.

Chris: I never actually read Legends, so that went totally over my head! But luckily, I got to experience enough of Bria’s joy that it made me happy to see it anyway. The world is a better place when Star Wars fans are happy.

And then there’s the epilogue… with a lot of things going on: Zeb/Kallus, hybrid Syndulla baby, Ahsoka the White…

Bria: I’m actually kinda gleeful about the Zeb/Kallus thing because even though I’m not willing to chalk it up as representation, it was basically Legolas and Gimli going off on their adventures after Sauron was defeated and I adore both scenarios. Jacen Syndulla though… oh sweet baby Yoda, how much time do you have? I’ll save you the long, rambling dinner theatre and just say that I’m confused as heck by the small child mostly because… what the heck? We spent three seasons going ‘wink-wink-nod-nod look how Space Married they are!’ only for the dynamic to shift so abruptly in Season Four and make us feel like we were supposed to think this was Hera and Kanan finally getting together after years of dancing around each other EXCEPT WAIT THEY ACTUALLY DID THE DIRTY BECAUSE LOOK SMALL HUMAN!? I’m just… confused and emotionally exhausted by all of this and feel jerked around by the show. (Also how she didn’t miscarry when she was tortured is a mystery.) I’ll go into why Ahsoka the White frustrated me more below but I guess that I’ll end this on a positive note and say that I LOVE Sabine’s final look. (And because it’s me… who lives, who dies, who tells your story? Sabine. Sabine tells your story.)

Nanci: Ho boy. I liked the narration. I liked that Zeb took Kallus to Lira-San. (I really wish we’d gotten more of Kallus’s redemption arc.) I side-eyed so hard at the Syndulla baby, especially his name. WHY NOT CALEB? Also, when the hell did she get pregnant? Have they been doing it this entire time? I just do not understand what type of relationship they were going for with Kanan and Hera. I feel like his death, and the existence of a baby, would have been a lot more palatable if we’d known they were Space Married the entire time. Ahsoka is still alive, yay. I sure can’t wait to hear all the explanations for what she was doing during the Galactic Civil War and how she never encountered her former master’s son. And then there’s Sabine going off to search for Ezra, which, sure, okay, that’s cool…but what was she doing during the war? I want continuing adventures of Sabine but not in a search for Ezra. (Sorry, Ezra.)

Brian: Yeah, like I said above, this is where Rebels tripped and Battlestar’d itself. I almost wish it had just ended with the fade to black as the Ghost flies across the capitol city. I did enjoy the Zeb/Kallus thing, even though like Bria I really don’t think it did anything to show they’re doing something other than retirement adventures together. The Jacen thing is… Uh. When did Hera and Kanan find time to… Were they actually in a relationship the whole time? You know what, not important. Let’s just say I have questions. Sabine, though. I really struggled with how Sabine played out in the epilogue. I really like that she was the one telling it, but I really don’t know how I feel about her sort of leaving Mandalore and the Rebellion (fledgling New Republic?) at that point in time to go chase after Ezra. We know that things are not stable and safe just because the Battle of Endor is over.

Kate: I like having closure mixed in with my open endings, so knowing where everyone winds up was comforting to me. All the problematic parts of Kalluzeb aside, seeing him return to Lira-San was what I wanted for his future, so I’m glad that happened. And the Kanera Baby. I don’t even like children and Jacen Syndulla is everything to me, for a lot of personal reasons I’ll outline in another post, so you can skip over them if you don’t care, ha. His presence also helped me reframe almost all of the Kanera interactions this season in a more positive light. But—Ahsoka. Oy vey. I love her to death—she’s the character that got me back into Star Wars as an adult—but it really does feel like Dave Filoni is keeping her alive at the expense of the story. Not cool.

Chris: So, I’m a sucker for a good epilogue. I even like the ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (don’t @ me, Kate), so this was right up my alley. I was glad to see that Kanan and Hera had more of a relationship and look forward to going back through and watching the season again, to see if I can pick up on anything. And in general, I loved seeing how the characters, and Lothal as a whole, rebuilt from the shadows of war and reclaimed their lives from the Empire. We’ve only ever known these beings when they’re defined by violence – I love getting to see what happens when we give peace a chance. All that said, and as I mentioned above, I really disliked Ahsoka’s mysterious reappearance. I’m happy to be convinced that it was a good move, but as a bit of a slave to continuity, that bugged me.

Did this ending make you change your opinion about any previous episodes? 

Bria: Yes. I said on Twitter last week that how they handled Ahsoka after that World Between Worlds bit was going to matter and unfortunately, it didn’t go favorably for me. The Ghost already flew around the galaxy picking up some of their other allies so why not go to Malachor, grab Ahsoka, and have her fight with them? If they’d done that, I would’ve still grumbled but I would have accepted the episodes because they would’ve felt like they had more of a point aside from doubling down on Kanan’s final lesson and existing so Ahsoka could survive and that just doesn’t work for me. I don’t think it does her character any favors either because where the heck has she been while this war was going on and Luke Skywalker was becoming a galactic name? But that’s just me… *insert Kermit tea drinking gif here*

Nanci: Not really. I was disenchanted going into the finale and I’m still disenchanted. Basically, my feelings on Rebels are very mixed.

Brian: No? At the very least, it didn’t move the needle much either direction. World Between Worlds didn’t work for me last week and still doesn’t work this week. I don’t think I held out a whole bunch of hope that the finale would add anything that would make the last half of the season suddenly gel for me. It was very much a finale that followed the trajectory of the back-half of the last season, for better or for worse. Like Bria I think the finale didn’t quite do enough to address the “Where was Ahsoka while planets were getting blown up?” issue. Was she just trapped on Malachor for five or six years? Or did she simply stay in the shadows while the Rebellion struggled to take on the Empire?

Kate: Absolutely. While Filoni has never written Kanera—and especially Hera—in a way that felt wholly right to me (following the whole Will-They-Won’t-They trope for this long and then subverting it in the space of five seconds, instead of giving that room to breathe, is not cute), the epilogue and Jacen Syndulla made me a lot less mad about some of the writing surrounding Kanan and Hera that we’ve seen in the past three weeks. I now think that in “Jedi Night,” Kanan and Hera individually knew that she was pregnant; this might have been the thing Kanan tried to tell her before she interrupted him, and that she was trying to tell him before he interrupted her. I no longer think that Hera had not told Kanan “I love you” before; when she says, “Why did I wait so long to tell him?” in “Dume,” I think she was referring to the pregnancy. That fits in with the self-deprecating joke he makes in response to Hera’s declaration of love; he’s heard this before. So, yes, Jacen cemented for me that #SpaceMarried was real. Should Filoni have played it that coy? I sure don’t think so. But at least I have this to give me the warm fuzzies inside.

Chris: I definitely think I’ll view the handling (botching?) of Kanan and Hera’s relationship in the second half of this season in a more favorable light, knowing that they were together all along. And who knows, now that we’ve seen Ezra finally grow up, maybe younger Ezra will be a little more palatable when I go back and watch it again.

How do we think this finale served the series as a whole?

Bria: I think it worked? I mean, it’s not what I would have necessarily picked but it worked for what the show was and there’s a certain symmetry about the Ghost crew’s story wrapping up on Lothal where it all began. I’d like to toss the epilogue out a window but otherwise, I think it worked.

Nanci: I think it fit the story Rebels was trying to tell. Whether I liked that story, or if it was the one I was really interested in, is a different answer. I do like that they focused on Lothal and the found family, but I just wish they’d kept with that rather than trying to bring the team into the larger rebellion only to go back on that.

Brian: I can’t help but feel the finale was such a microcosm of Rebels as a whole. Great characters, great ideas, great concepts. Tripping over itself by trying to be two different shows and by indulging too much in self-referential lore. This wasn’t a finale that felt like it was out of nowhere. It was VERY much true to the show as a whole. If you liked the direction the show went from beginning to end, you’ll like the finale. If you had issues with the show, you’ll have issues with the finale. So, in a sense it did work. Provided that the show in totality worked for you.

Kate: Short answer? Yes, I think it worked, in case you couldn’t tell from all my nattering.

Chris: Considering all the issues we’ve seen with the show in the past, I think the finale was pretty much a best-case scenario. It had holes and won’t please everyone, but it was Ezra-focused while keeping the family at the forefront, had a good amount of weird Force sh*t (for my tastes, anyway) and had a vintage, gunslinging Star Wars feel.

Where do we think Star Wars animation should go from here?

Bria: Somewhere different. I don’t have a problem with more Filoni shows but I’d like to see him explore different territory. It’s great how it’s all connected etc etc but I’d love to see an animated Star Wars show stand on its own and not have all of these constant connections back to The Clone Wars and Rebels. Connections are great when using sparingly and wisely.

Nanci: I know it’s inevitable that they show Sabine and Ahsoka searching for Ezra, but I don’t want that to be the next animated TV series. I could see it as a movie, or a mini-series, but I don’t think it’s enough to sustain several seasons. I would like to see a new show with new characters, and not bring in any of the Filoni favorites. I fear that the animated series are going to go the way of Legends when everything is self-referential. The new canon books have done a really good job of sharing characters and using ideas from other stories but still explaining everything for new readers. Tell a new story. Get new blood involved.

Brian: It’s got to go somewhere new. A thought occurred to me last night that Rebels, in many ways, was more Legends than Legends was. Having gone down that path before, I can see some of the warning signs that storytelling is starting to be weighed down by reaching into the lore well so often. The final season started feeling a lot like the Fate of the Jedi series in many ways. Initial aim to be accessible to a wide audience, but so tied to previous works (The Clone Wars in this instance) that it struggled to work as an entry into Star Wars for a new and younger audience. Whatever is next needs to break that lore dependency and be confident to be its own thing. Little nods here and there are great, but when the biggest plot threads go back ten years to a previous show entirely, accessibility suffers. To get there, though, I think some new voices and views need to be brought into the writing room. Specifically more women.

Kate: I hardly care as long as we get new writers in the room. Filoni has given a lot to the franchise, and there’s a lot I love about his work. But at the end of the day, Lucasfilm needs to be developing new talent and bringing in new (and diverse, please!) voices. They can’t just keep leaning on Filoni and his cadre of white dudes.

Chris: I want to watch us deal with something that’s not war. I know – it’s Star Wars, but between TCW and Rebels, I’m ready for something completely new. Give me a show about the mythology of the Force (Bria wants to kill me right now) and the formation of the Jedi, or about children growing up in the universe and just being themselves, in space. But I hope we see a departure from what we’ve seen so far. Additionally, I want new styles of animation – give me a 2D animated show in the style of the Lothal Jedi temple paintings!

Any last thoughts?

Bria: I really loved this crew of Rebels and I’m sad that we’re done with their stories as a family but all things must end. I give Filoni and the rest of the writing team a lot of credit for creating this cast of brand new characters and making us care so much about them. It would be disingenuous to act as if these stories haven’t often delighted me over the years. I strongly believe that “Twilight of the Apprentice” is some of the best Star Wars writing out there. While I may not particularly love where the show went towards the end, I can respect the story being told and if nothing else, it’s nice that we can live in hope of seeing Hera, Chopper, Sabine, and Zeb pop up in more stories in the future even if I wish Sabine was doing something a little more worthwhile then searching for Ezra.

Nanci: In the end, Rebels was not the show I wanted it to be. That’s my problem, not the show’s. I wanted a show about the formation of the Rebel Alliance. I wanted people like Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera, and Krennic, and Tarkin, and Dodonna, and all the pilots, to be major players in the show. I wanted Thrawn to have more screen time.

At times, Rebels seemed like it was going the way I wanted. I agree with Brian below that at times, Rebels seemed to have an identity crisis. I remember at the end of Season 2, when FIloni stated the rest of the show would have more of a military focus. This made sense, especially when they announced Thrawn as the new villain. But the show never fulfilled that promise of Empire vs. fledgling Rebellion. There were a lot of great ideas that never were really fulfilled for me.

Also, I am very annoyed that we waited four seasons to see X-wings only to have them all crash into the surface of Lothal.

Brian: Rebels really was a show that had identity issues. Was it a show about the Rebellion (or just a Rebel cell), or was it a sequel to The Clone Wars? For a while at the beginning it tried to be both, but by season three I think it had fully settled into the latter. Ultimately it was a show that felt like it was more of a catharsis vessel for creatives and fans of TCW. Like I keep saying on Twitter, that is totally fine and valid! But because it was so inextricably linked to TCW (like Fate of the Jedi was inextricably linked to Legacy of the Force and New Jedi Order before it), it was just never going to fully work for me. I hope whatever is next can untangle itself from that story to stand by itself, or the Legends comparisons will become even more apt. It’s important to remember TCW premiered ten years ago. A good chunk of those fans are adults now. By continuing to write so much material geared towards that audience, you run the risk of creating an accessibility and entry barrier to today’s kids.

For all that, I did love the cast and characters. Much of my frustration with the show is born out of feeling like it spent more time trying to serve TCW than serving its own characters. They were a found family, and I love found families. I wish we’d gotten to see them play off each other more.

Kate: I’ll miss this show. Found family stories resonate with me deeply as a person who has a contentious relationship with her parents. Beyond that, Rebels gave me a ’ship that mirrors my relationship with my husband so closely, it’s eerie—and how could I not have taken that to heart? But that’s a story for a post later this week. I’ll end by saying this: I’m considering adding the Ghost to my tattoo collection.

Chris: I loved this show at times, and hated it at times. It wasn’t The Clone Wars, and it really shouldn’t have tried to be. But it was Star Wars, and as I said at the top, sometimes that’s enough for me, in and of itself. I hope, now that we’re going to see a new show start in a more established time for the franchise, that we’ll see Lucasfilm take some more risks and really let the characters drive the plot, and give me more characters to love, and build out a wider galaxy for us to explore. But, I recognize that this was never really a show meant for me, and I can respect that. Just give me more Star Wars and I’ll sort the good from the bad as we go.

—

And that brings us to the very end of our Rebels coverage. On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone who’s read our columns and reviews of the show over the last three and a half years. I’m very proud of all of our writers for all of the hard work they put in to review every episode and to talk about the show in their columns, on podcasts, and with our fellow fans on Twitter. As a collective group, we’ve had our ups and downs with the show over the years but it’s been one heck of a ride. Rebels has meant a lot to me over the years and it’s sad to say good bye but I also can’t wait to see where Star Wars television takes us next. Tosche Station will happily be along for the ride.       ~Bria