SPOILER Rebels Review S01 E04: "Breaking Ranks"

Kyber Crystals....I truly believe there is going to be a lot more with this piece....I think this is the connection piece for the story arc to VII...we may not see many characters from Rebels but the crystals will surely have something to do with VII.

 

I agree, it does seem like they may be setting up some sort of Kaiburr Crystal plot line for the Sequel Trilogy. The concept, of course, goes back to some of Lucas' earliest drafts for the original movie, and it was brought back out in the first EU novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye (which itself began as a sequel concept in case Star Wars was only moderately successful and needed a lower-budget sequel.)

I haven't yet seen the Clone Wars unfinished story arc dealing with Kaiburr crystals, but the original idea was that there was one Kaiburr crystal and it was a lost Jedi artifact that allowed one to tap more deeply into the Force. I assume that they've retained at least some of this idea, and not just recast them as simply lightsaber crystals.

Anyway, the new Rebels episode wasn't bad. I've begun to resign myself to the fact that I just don't really like the program that much overall. But the episode had some good elements to it. The infiltration of Kallus' office was well done, and is one of the only times so far in the series that I've seen them really build tension in that old-school "JUST barely made it!" sorta way. And it's always good to see some dogfighting action. I also have to say, I dig the way they've adapted the old scout walker concept drawing from ESB - it really is a cool design. The callback to "The Box" from TCW was a nice touch too... as was the hint of the "Ark theme" from Raiders when Ezra was first trying to break into Kallus' office on his own.

 

Too short amount of time for characters...can't wait to see the women next episode.

 

I think Zare is going to end up being like Lux Bonteri in TCW, a sort of occasional plot device character who turns up conveniently in the odd episode here and there to help out, which would be a shame, because he seems like an interesting non-Jedi character to follow in the universe to see how he progresses through the ranks and keeps working against the Empire from the inside out, whilst maintaining his cover. Of course, there's always the possibility of him being brainwashed by the Inquisitor and ending up with a confrontation to the death between him and the crew of the Ghost.

I also thought the dogfight in this episode was pretty lame, even for a kids' TV show. I mean, look at the detail and action that featured in the start of RotS - granted, it's a movie with a much higher budget and therefore capable of much more than SWR, but it just didn't pack any punch. And the bit that really made it seem weird for me was when Hera yanked back on the sticks and the Ghost just barely manouevred over the Imperail vessel carrying the crystal. The whole thing just felt really.... stodgy. But anyway, it's still early days, so I'm remaining open-minded to it all. I reckon it'll be nice to see some proper Jedi training with Kanan and Ezra, rather than the few scant bits here and there with Yoda and Luke.

EDIT: Oh, and I know they're based on McQuarrie original designs, but those cadet helmets look like they have massive comedy moustaches on them - my kids and I find it incredibly off-putting when you're too busy laughing at them to hear the dialogue or pay attention to the action.

 

Oy... you're right about the moustaches on the cadet helmets. I actually noticed it and then promptly (mercifully?) forgot about it until you mentioned it.

And really... it's getting less and less easy to talk about how early in the series it is as a way of excusing the spottiness of the whole thing. TCW got better as it went along, but it really didn't change all that much. The first episode with Yoda on Toydaria didn't have the depth of story that some later episodes had, and there was still way too much dumbass battle-droid "humor", but overall it feels of a part with the rest of the series. It's a pretty damned good little episode.

Similarly, I don't expect Rebels to change all that much either. Whether the extent to which it does change and develop will be enough to fix its awkwardly bland tone, I don't know.

 

Yeah, I have to agree with the fact that there is a degree of blandness there - I don't think I've watched a single episode so far that's really blown me away. It kind of feels like they're just churning out stuff for the sake of it, and that it's resting on its laurels a little under the heading of being part of the SWU. I had hoped that the first episode with the Inquisitor would have turned the gas up a little and given us a little sizzle of excitement, but it all just felt like a damp squib. If I had to sum up me reaction to the series so far in a cinematic way, it would be like this (on mute, obviously) :

Gotta love Kung Pow: Enter The Fist.

 

I have to respectfully disagree, in that any use of Sabine at all is criminal overuse. The character is transparently a corporate committee concoction, that I suspect was forced on the creative team, who frankly may be understandably looking for ways to creatively minimize this character's damage to the franchise. Sabine makes Jar Jar Binks look like Charles Foster Kane.

Overall this episode wasn't as satisfying as the previous one. In some ways, it reminded me of the tedious Star Trek: Next Generations episodes that focused on Wesley.