Star Wars: Rebels – Season 3
What a fantastic time to be a Star Wars fan! Now that the final season of Star Wars Rebels is on the air, I can go ahead an discuss season 3 with little care of spoiling anything. I last posted about this show just about a year ago. Now, the third season is finally available on DVD/Blu-Ray for your binge watching pleasure.
This is the season where the show really came into its own. Rebels no longer rides the coat-tails of Clone Wars. It features a cast of characters that are now fully developed, and a story-arc that fully bridges the gap between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy. The character of Ezra has matured, Kanan has been forever changed, and we’re beginning to see the mechanics of the early Rebel Alliance in better detail.
Probably one of the more exciting developments of this season is the introduction of Grand Admiral Thrawn, a popular Expanded Universe character who has now been brought into the official canon. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it gives us a good look at just how Disney plans to pluck content from the old EU. Second, it also tells us that they are listening to fans. Thrawn is arguably the most popular “non-Lucas” Star Wars character. Recognizing this, Disney took the initiative to incorporate his character, as we already know him, and bring him into the official mythology. They did this in lieu of inserting some cheap replacement/copy-cat. This is good sign.
The second big event in season 3 is the fate of Darth Maul. In this season of Rebels, fans finally get the chance to see the ultimate end of this character. For me, this was probably the most memorable part of the season. In case you don’t know, I’m going to go ahead a drop a spoiler here: Darth Maul is killed by Obi Wan Kenobi. (Yes. I know that happened in Episode I… except, it didn’t.) I loved seeing the portrayal of Kenobi in Rebels. The character’s introduction here is the perfect blend of the young and old version of Kenobi. The voice acting for character was SPOT ON. I also particularly enjoyed the noble way that Darth Maul was finally laid to rest and the massive hint provided by Obi Wan regarding a major plot point in the Star Wars story. (I’m not giving this one away).
In my opinion, season 3 of Rebels has been the best season yet. It’s a high point for the show and it has me very excited for the fourth and final season. If you’re a fan of Star Wars in general, this show is very much worth your time.
