Rebels is the follow up show to the defunct but still hugely loved The Clone Wars.
It comes from the minds of Dave Filoni (director of The Clone Wars), Simon Kinberg (writer and producer of recent X-Men movies ) and Carrie Beck (Director of creative content strategy) who set out to accomplish an essential role to the Star Wars lore; fill the gap between the Revenge of the Sith and a New Hope and explain the origins of the Rebel Alliance. Let's not forget that its origins were already defined in 2008's The Force Unleashed, mostly due to this guy:
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| Sorry Starkiller. We won't be forgetting you anytime soon |
But since the Disney acquisition, Starkiller's tale of redemption is no longer canon giving us the chance for a whole new take on the birth of the Rebel Alliance.
The Story: Rebel Scum!
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| VCX-100 lightfreighter. Aka: The Ghost. |
Rebels takes place 5 years prior to a New Hope and 14 years after Revenge of the Sith introducing us to the crew of the Ghost; a rogue Jedi named Kanan, an intrepid smuggler Hera, a fighter with an artistic flare (and super stylized mando gear) Sabine,a fisty Lasat called Garazeb Orrelios... or "Zeb" for short, a grumpy astrodroid called Chopper (the complete opposite of R2-D2) and a force sensitive orphan Ezra Bridger (who joins in the crew later), their job: make the empire's routine a living hell. The dynamic within the group is as it would be any family. You have the children; Ezra, Chopper and Zeb who continously play pranks at each other (and are the comic relief of the show which works most of the time), the elder sister Sabine that though she's part of the group she keeps her distance from the games. And the parents Kanan and Hera. Needless to say there are no family ties within the group, of course, but it gives the impression of a family chemistry to appeal to younger audiences.
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| From left to right: Chopper, Sabine, Zeb (top), Ezra (bottom), Kanan and Hera. |
Rebels story is fast spaced and adventure packed much like The Clone Wars but there are two differences that stand out the most among the shows. First, on Rebels there are no episodes whose sole purpose is filling the 22 episode slot set for each season, which means there are no lame episodes following secondary characters you don't really care about (I'm looking at you Padme). Secondly, while The Clone Wars showed the confrontation of two armies and its battles, Rebels focuses on the effort of a ragtag band of individuals trying to make a difference on a opressed galaxy. We all know these efforts will turn out eventually in the Rebel Alliance, but how is the question that remains to be answered and what drives this show.
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| Their job: make the empire's routine a living hell |
The plot of each episode is structured among raids against the Galactic Empire. They vary from rescuing a captive Jedi master, to raiding their supplies, to sabotaging their bases. It also tackles the training of Ezra as a Jedi and how he faces the Jedi philosophy and way of life. What impresses is Kanan reluctancy's to take on an apprentice as he is an unexperienced Jedi himself and then to being able to transmit the wisdom of the Jedi masters of the Old republic. From Ezra's perspective it develops from its capacity and ability to let go of his past and emotions, and concentrate.
The show also provides several tie-ins with key characters of both the Clone Wars and original trilogy (also of the first official canon book "A New Dawn" by John Jackson Miller). Among these characters Kenobi appears on a Jedi holocron, both C3PO and R2D2 are secondary characters in Robots in Distress, Jedi master Luminara Unduli is a key character in "Rise of the Old Masters", All of this gives the sense (much needed in my opinion) of a cohesive universe which benefits and draws from all of its stories.
Rebels. As any Star War epic wouldnt be complete without a memorable villain. In this case the villains of the show falls down to Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau (voiced by David Oyelowo) who is the principal antagonist to Zeb for reasons that are developed in the show (and I will not spoil here)
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| The Inquisitor |
and the Inquisitor; one of the greatests villains to hit the Star Wars small screen. The Inquisitor, voiced by Jason Isaacs (mostly known for his role as Lucius Malfoy) is tasked to hunt down all remaining jedi and convert or eliminate any force sensitive children. Isaacs provides an amazing job of bringing this character to life, giving him his dead on its tracks coldness and edge against his adversaries. Proof of this is shown in its first encounter against Kanan who he bests effortlessly. As if his fighting prowess wasn't enough he also wields an awesome rotating lightsaber and flies a custom Tie fighter.
The Style:
Rebels takes its visual queue from both the original trilogy and the Clone Wars TV show.The first shows on the design of the locations, music and artistic style from the overall show, apart pretty much everything else related to the original trilogy, while the Clone Wars influence is evident on the CGI styled animation and character design. Many scenes are reminiscent of the old school Star Wars we know and love, from the exploding Tie Fighters (with those white explosions), the space battle sequences and the use of bits and pieces of the ominous soundtrack by John Williams.
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| Don't get cocky kid |
Nothing helps more to jump into the nostalgia train than when you hear that already legendary soundtrack. All in all the feel of the series take both the best of the old school Star War and the best of the new, to give way to an unique blend, that even for those more reticent in the use of computer animated style (like me) cant complain in the setpieces, animation, and overall look of the series.
Finale
To sum it up Rebels is an epic, centered around the conflict between light and darkness and is both the prelude and the birth of the Rebel Alliance and the beginning of the end for the Galactic Empire. It's a great Star Wars tale and a very entertaining story on its own, that must be watched by Star Wars fan and should be given a shot by those looking for an entertaining and fun animated series.
Don't forget to check out:
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| If you'd like to know more about Rebels characters be sure to check out "A New Dawn" which is the official prologue to the story and the first entry in the new cannon! |
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