This is fine. Absolutely everything is fine.
Yeah. Spoilers after the jump.
We knew it was coming. Somehow, we’ve always known. I’ve been preparing for this since the first episode. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. If the convention last weekend hadn’t already made me partially lose my voice, this pair of episodes would have done that, specifically the last few minutes of “Jedi Night” because Kanan Jarrus is now one with the Force.
As far as deaths go, it was beautifully done. (Rebels has always animated gorgeous explosions, both the artistic ones by Sabine and otherwise.) Between the music and the animation, the full weight of Kanan’s sacrifice was felt and slow motion gave it time for it to sink in. Not only did he die trying to save Hera and the rest of his family but we eventually learned that his death counted for far more as Pryce blew up the entire fuel depot to get him which forced the Empire to halt production on the TIE Defender. (Which is good because it’s an ugly as sin ship anyways.) Like others in Star Wars before him, he made it count even while breaking our hearts. It’s a scene that I can see myself rewatching multiple times in the future.
What didn’t work for me wasn’t so much the episode itself but rather how the show has handled Kanan and Hera’s relationship especially over the course of this season. From the start of the show, we’ve been referring to Kanan and Hera as “Space Married” because that’s just how they came off. More than a few times, people involved with making the show would talk about how Hera and Kanan weren’t actively a thing because there isn’t time to date when you’re in the middle of a rebellion. That’s something that never really rung entirely true to both me and plenty of other fans. I’m far from a romantic but the two of them just seemed to fit so well together that it always felt like we were just never seeing the more physical aspects of their relationship (aka: kissing) on screen. When they did kiss and admit their feelings, it didn’t feel quite like payoff but rather frustrating. Season Four unfortunately felt like a lot of well trodden ‘will-they-or-won’t-they’ tropes right down to the ‘Hera admits she loves him, Kanan never gets to say it back’ moment at his end and the ‘Hera wrongly blaming herself for his death’ afterwards. Tropes aren’t necessarily a bad thing but these ones just never felt right for Hera and Kanan and I wish we’d gotten a different story here. I think they both deserved better than this particular narrative.
There was, of course, more to the episode than that. Despite the emotional weight of Kanan’s death, both episodes weren’t without their levity. Drugged Up Hera was incredibly entertaining when she was under the influence of the torture droid’s drugs. Even the second episode made it a point to have Zeb and Sabine’s revenge mission take a more humorous note towards the end. The latter was needed given how heavy the rest of the two episodes feel but did come off as slightly jarring in comparison.
In contrast, Chopper’s atypical behavior once he realizes what happened to Kanan may be the sweetest thing to ever happen on this show and felt so genuine. I cannot wait for a high res shot of the droid reaching up to hold Hera’s hand and comfort her. He’s the only one who’s been there for her since the beginning/before Kanan stumbled into her life on Gorse and he’s going to be there for her afterwards. I also appreciated that “Dume” actually gave all of the characters their chances to grieve for Kanan in their own ways. Ezra feeling lost and alone without his Master and Sabine throwing her helmet in anger felt particularly true. All too frequently, Star Wars doesn’t give its characters the chance to grieve and I appreciate that they essentially devoted an entire episode to it here.
It’s impossible to discuss the episode without talking about the villains and oddly enough, it’s the villain who was mostly absent who gets the most attention here. Grand Admiral Thrawn is not nice and it would be good for everyone to not forget that fact. If anything, Rebels has helped turn the interest I had in him as a bad guy into a healthy fear. You do not want to get in his way. He’s downright menacing when participating in torturing Hera and analyzing her kalikori. I can’t help but suspect that Governor Pryce won’t make it out of this final season and that it won’t necessarily be the rebels who get her. This all has even more of an impact if you’ve read Thrawn and know about their backstory. You’re in trouble, Arihnda, even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself.
I’m just not even going to touch the wolves. Filoni’s Force mysticism just isn’t my thing. I know it works for others but not necessarily for me. That said, it went better than I thought it would… so far.
Some assorted thoughts:
- The Rogue One nods were delightful. Krennic! Stardust!
- Hera’s prisoner number was today’s date which is kind of cool
- Kanan’s armor marking on the wolf was a nice touch
- Also… Mulan did it better, Kanan
- No really. Kanan’s final hair was an atrocity
“Jedi Night” and “Dume” are two incredibly emotionally charged episodes that remind us that Kanan Jarrus was a darn good Jedi right to the very end. (Hera lives, Kanan dies, she’ll tells his story.) The Ghost is going to be that much emptier without him, just like these last few episodes of Rebels will be.
Buckle in, folks. I think we’re still in for an emotionally rough ride.
