The season finale of Star Wars Rebels has arrived in the form of the hour-long special, “Zero Hour.” Three of the things that I wanted to happen this season took place during this episode: the rebellion suffered major losses (further paving the way for its transition into becoming the Rebel Alliance), Grand Admiral Thrawn set his master plan f0r the rebels in motion, and Agent Kallus was forced to abandon the Empire and officially become a member of the rebellion. This was a satisfying finale for the rather choppy third season of Star Wars Rebels. Moreover, it guarantees that big changes are coming to the rebellion in season four as we will start to see the true beginnings of the Rebel Alliance.
The episode begins with Thrawn capturing Agent Kallus and finally determining where Phoenix Squadron has set up their base. We get to see Kallus and Thrawn face off in brief hand-to-hand combat, with Thrawn emerging as the victor, though Kallus put up an admirable fight. Kallus, through his communication device that he uses for his Fulcrum transmissions, is able to warn Phoenix Squadron that the Empire has discovered their location. They try to evacuate but Thrawn is one step ahead and uses his fleet to force the rebellion’s ships back to the planet’s surface, while also using specially-designed ships to keep the rebel craft from jumping to hyperspace. Several ships, including the rebellion’s carrier, piloted by Commander Sato, are destroyed in the ensuing battle, and only Ezra and Chopper are able to pilot a ship out of the system in order to seek help from Sabine and her family.
Meanwhile, Kanan goes out into the area around the base to warn the Bendu, the Force-sensitive creature who helped Kanan with his blindness earlier in the season, that the Empire will likely kill everyone and everything on the planet, including him. Kanan tries, with mixed results, to convince Bendu to help the rebels fight off the Empire, but mostly only succeeds in angering Bendu, who, as “the one in the middle” of the Force, wishes to take no side. He does come to the rebellion’s aid, however, by, and I’m not making this up, summoning a lightning storm to occupy the Imperial forces while the rebels escape.
I feel the need to mention two things that I really did not like about this episode; it’s just two things, but I think I should mention them before getting into what I really liked. First of all, Thrawn, while still an interesting character, still mostly just monologues about how clever the rebels are and how much more clever he is. Which is all well and good; he’s a brilliant strategist, and a well-trained combatant. But it’s starting to get to a point where he’s overly confident in his abilities and may end up eating his words eventually. I know that this is mostly an issue with Thrawn’s character in general, but I have to believe that, assuming he returns as a main villain in season four, he’ll go through more of a character arc than he did this season. And if his interaction with Bendu is any indication, he has an interesting path ahead of him. Second, even though we had Commander Sato, the leader of Phoenix Squadron, sacrifice himself for the rebellion, and Admiral Konstantine die when he disobeyed Thrawn’s orders, no other major rebel or Imperial players died. I mean, we know from Rogue One that Hera and Chopper survive, but they’re the only ones confirmed to still be alive by the time of that film. They’re the only ones who can’t die between now and the end of Rebels. Everyone else is and should be fair game. I know that this is a show aimed mostly at kids, but they should still be able to kill off a major character when it fits the story. I saw a few times when Zeb and Rex definitely could have been killed, and even a few moments when Ezra and Kanan were in mortal danger. Maybe season four will finally give us the major character death I’ve been waiting for.
Now, let’s get into what I really liked, and there are quite a few things. First of all, the action was all excellent. The space and ground battles were a great way to indicate how fledgling the rebellion really is, even when two rebel cells join forces. It really shows us how this rebellion progressed between this point and Rogue One (which showed us the Alliance’s first major victory). I also really liked when Ezra, Sabine, and several Mandalorians all fought in the vacuum of space to disable the ship preventing the rebel fleet from escaping. I always enjoyed seeing characters fight in space in The Clone Wars, and Rebels does not change that feeling.
The Bendu’s reaction to Kanan asking for his help was unexpected, but the fact that he transformed himself into a storm using the Force to attack Imperial and rebel forces alike was just the twist that the rebels needed to survive another day. And, true to his claim of being “the one in the middle,” his storm may scatter the Imperials, but it also takes down a couple rebel craft as well, which also goes to show how fed up he was about his planet being disturbed. Sabine and her family coming to the rebellion’s aid was a nice touch, even though it temporarily puts their plans to retake Mandalore on hold. I appreciated that this episode didn’t try to do too much in one go; they could have tried to fit Thrawn’s invasion of the rebel’s base and the rebellion’s planned invasion of Lothal into an hour-long special, but that would have felt too jam-packed, and we know that the rebellion would have failed. By putting their plans for the Lothal invasion on hold, they allow for the rebellion to take a step back and reassess what they can reasonably do against the Empire.
The biggest thing that I liked about this episode came near the very end: when AP-5 mentions that they should do several jumps through hyperspace to confuse the Empire on their way to Yavin. As in the Yavin system. As in the planet Yavin, orbited by the small moon of Yavin 4, the Rebel Alliance’s base in the original Star Wars. That one line indicates how close we are to the start of the original trilogy, and it also shows that the Yavin base was in operation for at least two years before the Empire eventually found it. As we get closer and closer to the start of A New Hope, we can expect to see more and more connections to that film in terms of how the rebellion operates. However, this development also suggests that Star Wars Rebels may be nearing its end soon, either in the upcoming fourth season or an as-of-yet unannounced fifth. If the team behind this show can make season four of Rebels a more consistent quality, perhaps we will get a fifth season to tie everything up in a neat little bow. If this finale is any indication, they have a pretty good shot of doing just that.
“Zero Hour” was an excellent way to end season three of Star Wars Rebels, which, while bumpy at times, was still enjoyable more times than it was not. Star Wars Rebels airs on DisneyXD, and is currently on hiatus until later this year when a new season will hit the airwaves. Until then, may the Force be with you. Always.
The Sack Score: 8.5/10
Some final thoughts on Star Wars Rebels Season Three:
Star Wars Rebels has gone up and down a bit for me. Season One was definitely more kid-friendly, just a fun distraction until maybe halfway through, after which it got a lot better. Season Two was more consistent, and remains my favorite season of the three we’ve gotten. Season Three has had its issues. Serious dips in quality on some episodes, and some missed opportunities weigh it down in my mind. While I still found some form of enjoyment in each episode this season, there were still just a few things that kept it from being the same caliber as Season Two. Here’s hoping that the team behind Star Wars Rebels make Season Four, and any subsequent seasons the show, consistently good additions to the Star Wars canon.
Star Wars Rebels Season Three, The Sack Score: 6.5/10