Ricky Church with the top ten Star Wars Rebels scenes…
It has been over a year since the conclusion of Star Wars Rebels, but the void left by the series finale is still being felt. Over the course of its run, Rebels delivered some of the best Star Wars media ever made with some great stories, emotional character development and plenty of scenes that heavily expanded the mythology we’ve seen in the films.
For such a long and rewarding series, though, what were some of the best moments from its four seasons? Were they the inclusion of a particular canon character, a lightsaber fight or an emotional one? In this feature, I take a look back at Star Wars Rebels and list what I think are the show’s top 10 best moments.
10. Maul vs. Obi-Wan
If any character in the Star Wars franchise has an interesting history, it’s Darth Maul. Created for The Phantom Menace, Maul’s fame was relatively short-lived as he was killed off in the very same film (and just after delivering the best lightsaber fight in the franchise at the time). After Dave Filoni and George Lucas resurrected him in The Clone Wars, Filoni brought him back again in Rebels to first fight against the Sith and then hunt down Obi-Wan Kenobi once he learnt the Jedi Master was still alive.
When Rebels aired the episode ‘Twin Suns’, the anticipation for their reunion was considerably high as Ezra tried tracking Obi-Wan down himself to warn him. Stephen Stanton did a marvellous impression of the late Alec Guinness in his appearance as Obi-Wan while Sam Witwer arguably gave his best performance yet as Maul, delivering a mixture of rage, despair and sorrow as they discussed the finer points of the Force, their purpose and what their lives had become.
When it came time to the fight, though, Rebels subverted expectations by making it incredibly short. The tension was palpable as the two opponents sized each other up like samurai only for the fight to last three moves as Obi-Wan quickly dispatched Maul. The surprise grew as Obi-Wan actually comforted Maul, giving a sense of tragedy to his passing that made viewers somewhat remorseful over Maul’s death.
9. Meeting Yoda
It is an understatement to say the Jedi Order was decimated in Order 66, reducing the Jedi Knights from the number of thousands to perhaps a couple dozen, if even that. The number that has steadily decreased as Darth Vader and his Inquisitors discovered more survivors.
When Kanan Jarrus (formerly known as Caleb Dume) escaped Order 66, he was just a padawan who hadn’t yet mastered the Force. Taking on Ezra as an apprentice was something completely foreign to him, a lesson hard learnt when they first fought the Grand Inquisitor. This eventually led them to discover a Jedi Temple on Lothal in an effort to learn more about the Force after Ezra’s brush with the dark side.
What they discovered was more than they bargained for, however. The ancient Jedi master Yoda was able to communicate with both Kanan and Ezra all the way from Dagobah, guiding them in their lesson. Kanan’s reaction to simply hearing Yoda’s voice is one of the best moments of the series as he collapsed on the floor in shock. Yoda’s presence is made even better by the fact Frank Oz reprises his famous role. Ezra later got to communicate with Yoda again, this time even seeing him ‘in person’. It was great to hear Oz reprise his role and Yoda’s lesson for both master and student greatly advanced their arcs, yet it was also the first hint of how special the Lothal temple actually was.
8. Enter Darth Vader
Just before his demise in the first season finale, the Grand Inquisitor warned Kanan that he had no idea what he unleashed. That warning came to fruition when Darth Vader himself came to Lothal to deal with the growing rebellion and the Jedi resurgence.
As the Ghost crew made their way to escape Lothal after being framed for the assassination of a defecting minister, Vader ambushed them and engaged Kanan and Ezra in a lightsaber duel. Perhaps ‘duel’ isn’t the right word though because it was a hilariously one-sided fight as Vader schooled them both, tossing them around like ragdolls with his hands and the Force. Adding to the greatness and excitement of the fight was the fact James Earl Jones himself returned to voice his iconic role.
There was even a moment where the whole team thought they defeated Vader after dropping an AT-ST on him only for him to raise it off him seconds later. Though they did escape, it was revealed afterward Vader intentionally let them do so in order to lead the Empire to the larger rebel force, one which Vader greatly reduced in number. In a time before we got Rogue One’s awesome scene of Vader slaughtering rebels, this was a great reminder of how powerful and deadly the Dark Lord of the Sith could be.
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Originally published May 4, 2019. Updated February 20, 2021.
