SPOILER Rebel Assault review/discussion

The space battle was pretty cool and I agree with you about how they made Hera with Chopper too OP against Thrawn's trusted assassin. It totally undermined his character. I think Kanan is going to die in the next episode after the break. I believe he may make a sacrificial death to save Hera either by the hands of Ruhk or Thrawn himself. That would be a huge "wow" factor that the show desperately needs even more if Thrawn himself killed him. It would truly show how dangerous Thrawn can be. I may be wrong about my prediction but I feel pretty confident that Kanan is definitely going to bite the dust at some point and I have a feeling that the Wolfs might of gave Kanan a glimpse of his fate for the greater good.

 

Feel like there were some great parts in this episode, and some parts which were a bit underwhelming (namely that we didn’t get a double episode this time around; of all the times, I think we definitely needed one here).

Excited to see how a lot of this plays out. I’ve watched every episode, but it personally feels like it’s only in the last season or so of the show that they’ve really got to grips with the directions of these characters and now have them firmly pointed to their destinations at the end of the show. This is in stark contrast to how TCW was developed, with the majority - if not all - of the episodes fleshing out the Clone Wars era and building towards what we would come to see in RotS.

I don’t frequent these threads as often as say the movie threads, but I think that it’s clear that the Rebellion aren’t going to win on Lothal. Forgetting Thrawn’s involvement for a moment, we know that the Alliance’s first major victory is that of Rogue One on Scarif (which was only a victory really from the perspective that they got what they went to Scarif for). To get around this, perhaps an early part of the next half of the season or so will depict their involvement with the Battle of Scarif before they can return to Lothal and successfully, to some extent, liberate the planet? Just a thought which crossed my mind when watching this episode.

Also, @LadyMusashi , interesting question about the possibility of some tie-in to TLJ. To be honest, I don’t expect much more than a ship from the show making a cameo, or some obscure reference to one of the characters (i.e. background characters in Canto Bight discussing a painting by a Mandalorian connoisseur: Sabine) at this point. Then again, perhaps we could see a CG Hera or have Chopper crop up again somewhere in the background?

 

I meant more to get her likeness right, but you’re right a practical actress in the background would definitely be much more appropriate

Hmm, that would be a neat twist. Might make sense to attack Lothal when it’s seemigly at its most vulnerable, and I’d have to hazard a guess that Thrawn would be moving out of the picture to some extent by the time of the Battle of Scarif.

 

Rebels Recon:

 

I would give Ruhk a pass simply because he specifically had orders to take the pilots alive. Unfortunately since he is an assassin he doesn't carry around any stun weapons.

 

I thought it was a impressive start, got a bit lost later on. Nice to see the Loathal wolf again.

 

I like that idea, however we saw The Ghost in Battle of Scarif so one of the following had to happen
1) Someone else other than Hera was piloting The Ghost and Hera was flying a different ship for the liberation of Lathal
2) Liberation of Lothal was happening in the early part of Rogue One and The Ghost went directly to Battle of Scarif after the liberation of Lothal.

I like the idea but I think it would be a stretch for them.

 

I love how this episode showed that Hera is not a Twi'lek to be messing with. You go General. I noticed that this season had Kanan play a passive character. Letting Ezra play more of a leadership role. It was nice to see Kanan follow his heart and to go and "rescue" his love. I wonder what the force wolves have in store for him. The logical conclusion is that Kanan will sacrifice himself to save Hera and the rest of the Rebel Crew. I just hope that he goes out in a blaze of glory. I'm not sure if Ezra will join the force with him at the end of the series finale. By the time of Return of the Jedi Luke and Leia are the only of known force users left in the galaxy.

 

The opening space battle was pretty awesome, Thrawn was very Thrawn in this episode, and I actually liked Hera and Mart sneaking around on Lothal. Once again, this was a beautifully animated episode, I especially liked the shot in the clouds with the Tie Fighters and Hera's strike team crashing down upon Lothal like falling stars, it was very nice imagery. Kanan is going to die this season, its almost guaranteed at this point, but I'm pleasantly surprised we didn't get it this episode. It's also interesting to see the rivalry developing between Governor Pryce and Thrawn.

I'm glad we finally get to see X-Wings in Rebels, but I'm kind of disappointed we didn't get to see an episode devoted to them like we did with the Y-Wings and B-Wing. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of the suspense in this episode because we know for a fact that Hera survives to Rogue One and ROTJ thanks to Forces of Destiny.

Still, I thought this was a good episode, albeit a little disappointing for a mid-season finale. I'm curious to see where it goes from here so I will wait with baited breath for the second half.

 

Thats a good point. In an earlier episode this season Hera gave the Ghost to Rex and Kallus and now we know she has been separated from Chopper anybody could be flying the Ghost. I still think the General Syndulla mentioned in R1 could be her father.

 

That's a possbility, but in R1 i think General Syndulla is referencing Hera because Hera makes it past R1 and is on Endor with Chopper after the Battle of Endor via due to a newer Forces of Destiny clip.

 

I really enjoyed this episode. General Hera freaking Syndulla, y'all!

Just a moment to remind you all that Hera is the only character to fly an X-wing, Y-wing, A-wing, B-wing and U-wing. #respect

(BTW, the A-wing with a 3.75" Hera figure I had gotten for Christmas for my little cousin will have to be replaced, I'm keeping it! LOL)

I was mentioning a friend when I saw the X-wings in formation over Lothal I felt the same vibe as seeing them over Yavin in ANH. That's a good animation work IMO.

She might just have received her new title since Thrawn referred to her in the same episode as Captain Syndulla before Mart called her General.

I know this is definitely happening but I'm having a hard time trying to come to terms with it. I knew: if I got attached to the Rogue One team in one movie, of course after four seasons - and even if it's something we all expect - it will be even more painful.

In my headcanon, all the Rebels in Endor keep arguing who's the best pilot and it always comes to three choices: either Hera, Luke or Han.

BTW, can we have a novel or comic about Hera and her perspective of the events of Rogue One, seeing from her eyes? Also to explain the reason why she was not around the Battle of Yavin - maybe something happened in Ryloth or else - till the events in Endor?

P.S. And if we can have the audiobook narrated by Vanessa Marshall, that would be awesome.

I. Am. Not. Crying.

We are not sure yet where in the timeline this happen, but I don't think it happens so close to Rogue One:

1) Earlier in the season Saw Gerrera is still not stationed in Jedha - or so it seems. It seems like he finds out about the kyber crystals, and goes to Jedha. From Rogue One, Galen Erso recruiting Bodhi Rook to escape and give his message to Saw it seems that Saw has been for a while in Jedha.

2) The reluctance of the Rebel Alliance to send a combined attack over Scarif seems like the failure over Lothal - the loss of all those ships - have impacted them harshly.

3) It has been confirmed by Dave Filoni that the General Syndulla in Rogue One is none other than Hera.

My guess is that Lothal is liberated and the factory destroyed, but it happens about six months to one year before Jedha.

 

Agree, it is hard to know since we don't know yet how long it's been since then. And of course it is not like the Rebellion will be notifying the Empire about their promotions lol.

 

This episode was good but I felt like they needed a second one last night, maybe because I've gotten used to that, I dunno. Hell of a long wait for the next one. Was kind of hoping Kanan would go out in that one, not that I don't like the character but I feel his time has come and it would have been a good end for the mid season finale. Even if he was captured or somethig - though I would like it to be Vader to take him out. He deserves a worthy opponent. Hera being captured doesn't raise the stakes enough because we know she survives.

 

I'm thinking she was promoted after she was given the go ahead to go to Lothal and to be in command of the attack squadron in the last episode.

Has anyone else checked their closed caption for this episode? When Kanan asks the Loth Wolf " what do yo want?" It says "doom" . THIS time it reads doom. Instead of Dume. Could it be referring to Kanan's fate or could the wolf want the Rebels and/or the Empire to fail?

 

By itself, it's a VERY solid episode and I think visually, it's the most impressive episode of Rebels ever.

In the context of it being a mid-season finale though, I was left wanting more, especially at the end. The ending fell a little flat for me. The episode came on at 9PM and I remember looking at the time at 9:27 and thinking to myself, "Well I know this is only supposed to be a half hour episode, but it looks like there's gonna be a bit of overrun"... and then there wasn't.

I like what it set up though. I'm eager (nervous? Scared?) to see what happens with Kanan, the consensus is he's gonna die and I'm part of that consensus... I'm really interested in seeing what effect that has on everyone, Ezra in particular.