SPECULATION Bendu provides death free way out for Ezra and Kanan

When Bail and Mon Mothma speak about Obi-Wan and he says he is going to send Leia.

 

Why do we want a death free way of getting rid of them?

Some of the best and most powerful moments in Star Wars have to do with characters dying, and part of what makes Star Wars great is the fact that there are real stakes in this world. We know Marvel Superheroes will never die - but Star Wars characters do. These characters aren't immortal, we do and should have a limited time with them to full appreciate them and give their stories value. I don't care about Ironman and Spider-Man and Batman stories and struggles because they will ALWAYS get another chance. We now know when Han dies and his story ultimately ends. Even if every day of his life ends up in a novel, comic, tv show or movie, there is now a finate number of stories that can be told.

We KNOW that by the time of ANH Obi-wan and Yoda are all that's left (or the story is unminded) and that every Jedi story leading up to that point is in fact a tragedy, just like every Jedi story leading up to Order 66 was. Part of what makes Kanan and Ezra interesting at this point is that we know they are flying straight for a brick wall and how will they ultimately deal with that when they hit it.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 2, 2017, Original Post Date: Jan 2, 2017 ---

The Rogue one cameo's/hints were the kind of ones that can be described away if every character in Rebels dies.

It wasn't the Ghost, just another freighter of the same make. It wasn't Hera they were calling but someone else with the same name. And that wasn't chopper just another astromech droid.

 

Until they decide to change their minds.

I'm not saying it wasn't them, but they also "featured" them in such a way that they are in no way boxed in. If someone comes up with a great story with Hera dying or the Ghost being destroyed, they can do it and it won't affect Rogue One.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 2, 2017, Original Post Date: Jan 2, 2017 ---

That would be horrible. Ahsoka should already be dead, and Ezra is basically Anakin-lite for the tv series.

And keeping both around during the OT underminds Lukes story too much. They need to be gone before ANH begins.

 

I'm not saying it isn't them or that it wasn't done with the implication that it was them

But it can change, easily and without any loss of credibility. If they really wanted to lock it in, they could have shown Hera on screen, but they didn't. They could have had the Ghost audibly check in before the attack, but they didn't (no mentino of Phoenix squad either) etc... They put in an easter egg in there, but also in such a way that they can ignore it if they so choose.

 

Ok I can only say this one more time.

It was done in a way that it can change. If in two years they come up with an amazing story to end Rebels with the Ghost being destroyed with everyone on it, they can still tell that story without damaging Rogue One.

You keep trying to prove it is them, when that's no one is saying otherwise.

 

I don't think it would make narrative sense to the SW universe as a whole to have Kanan and Ezra survive the show and be alive at the time of the original trilogy and beyond. The Jedi need to be all but extinct, and these two are being entirely too noticeable in the Rebellion's fight against the Empire. IMO, it would give yet more weight to Vader's reputation as the man who hunted down and destroyed the Jedi Knights to have him dispatch these two.

Ahsoka is a bit more vague, as she is not technically a Jedi. The logical end point for her story was to die by Vader's hand - after reading her novel, it's clear she can't exist in the universe without being some kind of force for good and fighting oppression. So the idea that she's alive and not involved at all in the fight against the Empire is a massive stretch at best to me.

On the flipside of the coin, I think the characters of Hera, Sabine, Zeb, Chopper and Rex can absolutely be alive and provide connective tissues between animated series' and the events of the OT. If the plan is indeed to have a new animated series occur between Episodes VI and VII, these would be good characters to have show up. We at least know a few of them were alive at the start of the battle of Scarif, as that's been confirmed by all the major players. But we don't necessarily know that they survived that battle.

 

This is actually what I expect. I believe Ezra, played by Benicio del Toro, will show up in Episode VIII as Kylo Ren's master. It has already been said that Snoke is not a Sith and the dialogue from the movie does not clearly show that Snoke is even strong with the Force or personally training Kylo Ren, maybe the book does. Every interaction between Snoke and Kylo Ren is left ambiguous enough that there could in fact be someone else behind the scenes - essentially Snoke's Vader. Benicio del Toro was going to play Darth Maul in TPM but after they scaled Maul's role/dialogue way back he declined the role. I cannot imagine that del Toro would now take a role that was not very very meaningful to the story. Along with the physical resemblance, the age works out very well too as Ezra would be in the 50-60 year old range in Episode VIII.

I do not think there is any way Kanan survives the end of Rebels and likely does not make it through the end of this season or early next season as it certainly seems by the start of Rogue One, Mon Mothma only knows of one remaining Jedi - Obi-Wan. Perhaps Kanan's death is one of the things that pushes Ezra to the Dark Side.

 

I agree. I see it similar to how Filoni treats the unproduced clone wars scripts as canon. The opinions of Filoni or Pablo matter a lot, but until it shows up in an actual canon story, it can still be overwritten.

I wouldn't take it as a continuity flaw if an unproduced script or tweet were overturned in a future film.

 

Mon Mothma is the clincher here - she has to know of Kanan and Ezra, just from the shot we see of her in the clip, so yes, they will have to do *something* with these two.

Since last season I firmly believe they have set up Zeb's homeworld of Lira San in Wild Space as a place one or more of the Rebels crew could go to to separate themselves from the OT events. It's just too big of a "hidden" location containing Force-sensitive beings to setup and not do anything with. They may just have it be a one-episode story of how they go back there to retrieve some McGuffin and then return, but having it be so mysterious and "off the charts" leads me to think there is a longer term plan for the location.

Having Thrawn be on a mission from Palpatine to the Unknown Regions was how his absence in the OT was explained in the Legends continuity, so there is certainly precedent for this. Heck, if they don't kill Thrawn in Rebels, maybe sending him off to find Kanan/Ezra/Ahsoka gets him out of the way in a similar fashion for the new canon.

Now, who ends up there is the question in my mind. Most bets are on Kanan dying, and that event driving Ezra to the Dark Side. It is a possibility. But another is that, since Rebels really is the story of Ezra in how it is told (he is in every episode I believe), then having the show end with the death of Ezra (at the hands of Vader?), and having that event cause Kanan to retreat to the Lasat homeworld is plausible as well.

 

del Toro playing Ezra? No thanks. That sound terrible. Thankfully none of the rumors line up with this.

 

Well, rumors are rumors. From Makingstarwars.net (11/16/2016):

Benicio del Toro has been described as a classic “man in black.” As in he wears all black and he’s dangerous. His character is clean shaven with hair not unlike Poe Dameron’s in length. While The Wrap let us know he was up for the role of the bad guy in the film sometime ago, it doesn’t appear the heroes see del Toro as a bad guy, at least not at first. We think he’s connected to the casino set we talked about sometime ago. On paper it sounds a little close to Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back but before you panic, there are some details we’re still working on that make that appear to a bit of a stretch. We’ll have more to report on Episode VIII’s “man in black” in the future.

From Slashfilm (11/16/2016):

Benicio del Toro will be playing a “man in black” (not to be confused with Westworld’s The Man in Black) who unsurprisingly dresses in all-black attire and is considered “dangerous.” When word of del Toro became involved in the project, he made a couple of comments publicly that he was playing a villain, before denying that he ever made such comments. He later explained in interviews that “I don’t know if he’s a villain. People are saying that, but it’s like they read a different script than I read.”

I also read somewhere that del Toro is playing some type of politician.

Personally, I don't think you get a Benicio del Toro level of actor to play a politician in Star Wars, and if he already turned down the Darth Maul role due to dialogue being minmized I would think he would not accept a role that is not substantive.

 

But he doesn't sound like he's there with Snoke - they don't see him as a villain at first, he owns a casino etc... Given the rumors out there, it would make sense that he is Finn's adversary in the movie and not connected to Snoke and Kylo at all (who are more concerned with Luke and Rey).

Even if he is a Knight of Ren, having him be Ezra sounds terrible.

 

Speaking of Bendu and characters meeting their ends, if that's the Rebel base on Atollon we see being bombarded by star destroyers in the trailer how likely is it that he doesn't survive?

 

The casino owner thing is basically called into question immediately within the same article saying there are "some details we are working on that make that appeat to be a bit of a stretch". Other than what I have shown above there really isn't anything else that are credible rumors about his role.

Why would del Toro being the dark side Ezra be so terrible? I do not think he will be killed in Rebels and he is out of the picture by Rogue One, so where is he and what is he doing?

I could also see del Toro playing a gangster in the Rinnrivin Di mold, which would be in line with del Toro's own words about the role and the description of the character.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 5, 2017, Original Post Date: Jan 5, 2017 ---

Since the Bendu can disappear in an instant, he is probably not burdened by having a physical body in a location that is bombed unless, of course, he is incredibly nimble for a big guy.