Top 5 Star Wars: Rebels Episodes - Reviews

If you haven't been watching Star Wars: Rebels over the last 4 years, you have really missed out. Rebels has been putting out some of the best Star Wars stories since the Disney purchase of LucasFilm. Sadly, this Monday (March 5th 2018), Rebels will air its series finale as a 90-minute special. To bid farewell to the Ghost crew, and prep any new fans before the finale, here are my top 5 favourite episodes from Star Wars: Rebels, in order of release.

1. "Rise of the Old Masters" (Season 1, Episode 5)

The introduction of the Grand Inquisitor as the big bad of season 1 was what prompted me to buy in completely to Rebels. Working for Darth Vader to hunt down remaining force users, the Inquisitor traps the former Jedi Kanan Jarrus and his new Padawan Ezra Bridger by using the dead body of a former Jedi master. Once the trap is sprung the episode really kicks into high gear. The Grand Inquisitor is menacing and scary in the best way, genuinely making you fearful for the fate of our two heroes. The way he picks apart Kanan's swordplay style is magnificent, setting the Inquisitor apart from the other pure evil villains in Star Wars, and helping to get the audience behind Kanan and Ezra in hopes of overcoming him.

2. "The Honorable Ones" (Season 2, Episode 17)

This episode is a perfect encapsulation of what makes Rebels great. While Season 1 stayed mostly light and adventurous, Season 2 ramped up the drama and explored our characters, both good and bad, in a deeper, meaningful way. Agent Kallus, one of the villains from S1, is forced to work together with his nemesis and one of our heroes, Zeb. Zeb is the last of his species, and it had been previously established that Kallus had killed one of Zeb's kind. What sets this episode apart is how the two come to the understanding that, while they fight for different sides, they are much more similar than different. Both men value honour above all else, and we as an audience discover that Kallus is much more than a 1-dimensional character. This episode evokes great Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes like "Darmok", and begins one of the best arcs in the series as we see Kallus grow and question why he is fighting for the Empire. Terrific.

3. "Twilight of the Apprentice" (Season 2, Episodes 21-22)

This two-part Season 2 finale is for many the best episode in the series. It has it all: deep thematic questions, great lightsaber duels, returning fan favourite characters and explorations of the greater Star Wars mythology. We see Kanan, Ezra, and Ahsoka Tano (A Clone Wars carry-over character) battle 3 Inquisitors on the ancient Sith planet of Malachor. When Ezra is split from the group, he encounters a strange hermit named Maul (Yep - THAT Maul). Ezra is tempted to the dark side by Maul, creating a great dynamic between the old yet devious Maul and the young yet inexperienced Kanan fighting for their Padawan. In the final scenes, Darth Vader arrives, and battles his former Padawan Ahsoka in a duel that made long-time Clone Wars fans cry. Action packed yet deep and dark, this tight episode is the "Empire Strikes Back" of Rebels episodes.

4. "Twin Suns" (Season 3, Episode 20)

This one is my personal top favourite episode. From Episode 1 of the films, to the Clone Wars, to Rebels, Darth Maul has been the greatest of thorns in Obi-Wan's side. In this episode, some 30 years after their first duel, Maul hunts down Kenobi to end things, once and for all. The Ghost crew takes a back seat in this episode, with all of the attention on Kenobi and Maul. Stephen Stanton and Sam Witwer do excellent voice acting jobs as the Jedi and the Sith, and the duel itself is one of my all-time top Star Wars duels. Samurai-esque, it is quick yet utterly powerful, much like this episode. The final scene (I won't spoil it) had a tear to my eye with its evocation of classic Star Wars iconography. Magnificent.

5. "Wolves In A Door" & "World Between Worlds" (Season 4, Episodes 12-13)

These two episodes from last week (February 26th 2018) put Rebels over the top for me as one of my favourite television shows ever, period. While separate, they work best when watched back-to-back. In "Wolves In A Door", Ezra and Sabine track down the Jedi temple on Lothal, which is being mined and researched by the Empire at the Emperor's behest. In "World Between Worlds", Ezra enters the temple, which acts a force-nexus for all time and space. While high concept, the episode is mythological and delightful, introducing pseudo-time travel in a natural, fulfilling way. We get a tremendous tie-in to the S2 finale, as well as plenty of fan service Easter eggs in the force-nexus to the films. The Emperor himself is terrifying as ever, voiced by the legend Ian McDiarmid. Ezra reaches the peak of his arc, learning to let go of his attachments in true Jedi fashion. This episode will set you up perfectly for the upcoming season finale.

I hope this list inspired you to watch some, or all of Star Wars: Rebels. It truly is a great show, and helped re-ignite my passion for Star Wars when it was at an all-time low prior to the new canon. The series finale airs March 5th, 2018 on Disney XD. God speed, Rebels.