7. Hera’s Interrogation
Season 3 of Rebels saw the introduction of a new, yet familiar, adversary hunting down the Ghost: Grand Admiral Thrawn of the old Expanded Universe fame. The fan-favourite character made his formal introduction to Star Wars canon in the Season 3 premiere, but it wasn’t until ‘Hera’s Heroes’ that we got to see Thrawn’s skill up close and personal.
Aiding her father on their homeworld of Ryloth, Hera and Ezra got more than they bargained for when they tried to reclaim a family relic and met Thrawn. Hera tried to pass herself off as a simple slave, but, using a series of deductions that would make Sherlock Holmes proud, Thrawn saw right through hers and Ezra’s ruse and briefly captured them both.
This is one of Rebels’ top scenes for several reasons. Firstly, we’ve seen so many incompetent Imperial officers throughout Star Wars media, especially in Rebels, that it is refreshing to see a highly intelligent one pop up. More than this, though, it was an indication that Rebels was doing right by Thrawn’s character. They displayed his intelligence, his love of art, civility and even skewed honour, yet still displayed how threatening he could be. Plus his theme music is a compelling piece.
6. Zeb and Kallus bond
One question that isn’t really brought up much in Star Wars is why people, even good-natured ones, willingly join the Empire despite some obvious shadiness. Agent Kallus was one of the Ghost’s recurring foes, an Imperial Security agent hunting them down at every turn. He also has a shared history with the Lasat member of the crew, Zeb, being the Imperial officer who authorized the use of a deadly weapon that wiped out the majority of Zeb’s race.
When Zeb and Kallus were marooned on an icy moon, the pair were forced to work together in order to survive while they waited for help. Much like The Clone Wars episode ‘Heroes on Both Sides’, we got to see the perspectives of both sides of the conflict as Kallus revealed an encounter he had with Saw Gerrera’s extremist rebel group and how he’s grown not to ask questions regarding the Empire’s policies and past. He also reveals the idea to use the weapons wasn’t his, though he was just following orders and has had some remorse over the decision.
This was a big turning point for Kallus’ role in the series. This lengthened encounter with Zeb forced Kallus to re-evaluate his actions and position in the Empire, ultimately leading him to aid the Rebellion and defect. It was a pretty big and great character evolution in the series which started right here as Kallus and Zeb were forced into the other’s perspectives.
5. The World Between Worlds
The Force is one of the most mysterious aspects of Star Wars. What it is and what it can do has never been fully explained, but its power is always explored through various media. Rebels really went out there with some elements of The Force with the Jedi Temple on Lothal, tying it in with The Clone Wars’ Mortis Gods.
‘The World Between Worlds’ finally revealed what was so special about the temple on Lothal, showing it was a conduit for those who used it not only to locations across the galaxy, but even time itself as Ezra heard voices across Star Wars history, both its past and future, and was able to use one of the portals in the World between Worlds to save Ahsoka. Seeing the scope of the temple’s power was a great treat to explore more of the metaphysical side of The Force rather than just the type of powers it could give Jedi, explaining why Palpatine wanted it so much. It definitely opened new questions to what exactly The Force was capable of.
4. Battle of Atollon
Despite Thrawn’s presence in the third season, he didn’t do much in a physical sense to show why he deserved to have the high rank of Grand Admiral. In the third season finale ‘Zero Hour’, Thrawn finally displayed his military acumen as he ambushed the rebels at their secret base on the planet Atollon.
In what is the best space battle of the series, Thrawn displayed a clear, calm and precise management of his “theatre of war” both in space and on the ground as he delivered a defeat to the rebels, destroying several of their ships, troops and forced them to run for their secret base. This was even with the setback he received when the noble Commander Sato sacrificed himself and his ship to take down one of Thrawn’s Interdictor cruisers.
The battle was also not without some other surprise and ingenious moves from the rebels as Ezra was able to return with back-up from Sabine and several Mandalorians, engaging in a pretty epic space-battle on the hull of another Interdictor. It all culminated with the mystical Force-being Bendu raining down lightening on Imperial and Rebels forces alike as their battle brought an imbalance to the planet. Were it not for Bendu’s intervention, Thrawn would have been totally successful in capturing some of the Rebellion’s high-ranking leadership and troops. The Battle of Atollon is one of the best set pieces of any Star Wars media yet.
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Originally published May 4, 2019. Updated February 20, 2021.
