Star Wars Rebels is nearing its mid-season finale on December 10th, and I, for one, am looking forward to these upcoming episodes. However, recent episodes of Rebels have been somewhat lacking, so my excitement is tempered. Looking to the future, both in the short and long term, here are, in no particular order, five things that I want from the rest of Star Wars Rebels season three, as well as the series as a whole:
#1: The Rebellion suffers heavy losses on its way to becoming the Alliance to Restore the Republic:
The Phoenix Squadron has yet to be called the Rebel Alliance, and that’s for good reason; they’re not the Rebel Alliance. As we learn in the season one finale and through dialogue throughout the show since then, Phoenix Squadron is only one of many rebel cells throughout the galaxy. We know from the opening crawl of A New Hope that the Rebel Alliance only wins its first victory right before the events of the film (a victory which will finally be shown in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story later this month). Given this information, I want to see the Phoenix Squadron suffer heavy losses, maybe even lose Commander Sato, the man in charge of the Squadron, to show how fledgling this ragtag group of rebels is. Moreover, I want to see Phoenix Squadron join with another rebel cell as conflicts with the Empire increase, slowly going from a small group of insurgents to a more cohesive rebel force.
#2: Maul cast out on his own again:
Ever since his return to the Star Wars universe during Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Darth Maul (or “Maul,” as he’s now known), was a surprise addition to the cast of characters in Star Wars Rebels, as he acts as a persistent temptation pulling young Ezra Bridger closer to the Dark Side of the Force. Thus far, Maul has done rather well for himself; he escaped the Sith Temple on the planet Malachor in the season two finale (after surviving another fall from a great height), and armed with knowledge from both the Sith and Jedi Holocrons, knows that “he lives” (“he” obviously being the man who cut him in half, Obi-Wan Kenobi), which gives the former Sith Warrior a twisted sense of hope. But this begs the question: will Maul meet his end at the hands of Ezra Bridger or Kanan Jarrus? Will he have some sort of redemption that ultimately costs him his life? Or will he, at the end of this mid-season finale, or the end of this season, be set adrift in the galaxy once more, only this time, with an eventual goal in mind: the death of Kenobi. We know, of course, how Obi-Wan ultimately becomes one with the Force, but perhaps Maul setting out to find his old foe could lead into other Star Wars projects. A live-action Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, perhaps? Maybe. Maybe not. There is a problem with keeping Maul around for too long, though: he runs the risk of becoming a running gag. He survived being cut in half in The Phantom Menace, he survived through the Clone Wars, and now he’s around within half a decade of the start of A New Hope. Maul has to die eventually, but if he dies in the wrong way, fans will, assuredly, be upset. My advice? Don’t kill him off on Rebels; wait to see if they’re doing an Obi-Wan movie and kill him off in that.
#3: Agent Kallus joins Rebellion:
Agent Kallus started this series as one of the main Imperial threats plaguing the Ghost crew; with a smooth voice and inspiring particular hatred from Zeb for his role in the destruction of the latter’s homeworld, he has slowly turned into one of the more morally gray characters on the show. There was an entire episode in season two that was mostly about Zeb and Kallus being stranded together on a frozen moon waiting for a rescue party; that episode ended with the two gaining a new respect for one another and Kallus getting a somewhat cold greeting when he returns to the Empire. This season, unbeknownst to his superiors, he helped Sabine Wren and two defecting Imperial flight school students escape, supposedly to repay Zeb for saving his life. However, also in that episode, the Phoenix Squadron was contacted by “Fulcrum” (Fulcrum was the same code name used by former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano), who gave them the intel about the Imperial flight academy in the first place. After Agent Kallus’s aid in this episode, many fans began speculating that Kallus is the new Fulcrum and that he will have to openly come to the rebels’ aid before the season’s end, ultimately becoming a new member of the rebellion. That seems to be the route they’re taking, but I hope that it happens in this week’s episode, “An Inside Man,” since the title seems to suggest some sort of Imperial assistance.
#4: Grand Admiral Thrawn’s plan comes to fruition:
Fans of the Star Wars Expanded Universe of books were overjoyed to hear that fan-favorite Grand Admiral Thrawn would be making his canonical debut in Star Wars Rebels season three. While Thrawn is fairly menacing, with a chilling voice to boot, he has mostly been a behind-the-scenes villain so far, taking time to observe the rebels’ actions in an obvious attempt to understand the way their operations work. The mostly mediocre episode “The Iron Squadron” featured an interesting and downright ominous cliffhanger in the revelation that Commander Sato of Phoenix Squadron and Grand Admiral Thrawn know each other. Undoubtedly, this will lead to a confrontation between Phoenix Squadron and Thrawn’s forces, but how Thrawn plans to use the rebels’ morality against them is anybody’s guess. My guess, personally, is that he will cause a great amount of death and destruction on Ezra’s home planet of Lothal, prompting the Ghost crew and the rest of Phoenix Squadron to fly head on into a trap. But that’s just me.
#5: Main or supporting character dies:
As I’ve said before, the vast majority of main characters on this show are too close to immortal for my tastes. If we are to believe that this season is darker than the previous two, we need to see evidence of that; the best kind of evidence to support that claim is the death of a major character. I’m not saying that Ezra should die, since he is, arguably, the main character and the audience’s main window into the show. But it would be a bold move to kill off someone like Kanan or Hera or even Zeb or Sabine. But it doesn’t have to be a main character; there are supporting characters that people have grown to love either in this show or from The Clone Wars that could make perfect sacrifices. As much as I love the inclusion of Captain Rex, a veteran of The Clone Wars (the conflict and the show), it would be impactful to have him die for the rebellion. One could argue that one of his major arcs was completed this season with the episode “The Last Battle,” in which he, Kanan, and Ezra were forced to fight against a surviving battalion of Separatist Battle Droids. It would be fitting for Rex to die in order to save this group of rebels that is fighting to restore the Republic he once served.
Another possible death could be Kanan, the now-blind Jedi Knight who took Ezra on as his apprentice. While this would likely push young Ezra even closer to the Dark Side, it could also be one of Ezra’s most important trials; he feels the Force, he can control it, but now he needs to ensure that the Dark Side cannot control him. The death of his master would certainly prove an interesting challenge for the young Padawan and rebel.
These are only five of the things I want to see from Star Wars Rebels, whether they happen in season three or at some point before the series wraps up (whenever that ends up happening). As I’ve said many times before, I do enjoy this show, and I hope that it continues to hold people’s interest. With that said, they do need to up their game, and these five suggestions are ways for them to achieve that. Star Wars Rebels airs on DisneyXD Saturdays at 8:30pm EST. May the Force be with you. Always.