Out of Darkness (Star Wars Rebels - S01E05) - Animated Series

Star Wars meets Pitch Black this week as Hera and Sabine go on an adventure of their own. SPOILERS.

If you have seen the movie “Pitch Black” staring Vin Diesel then you know the basic plot of this episode. A spaceship and its crew are marooned on a desolate planet and must survive attacks from bloodthirsty creatures that can’t come into contact with direct sunlight. While this episode is far from perfect and the plot might be familiar to some, it was great to see Rebels finally focus on Hera and Sabine for an episode. The episode began with a fun action sequence that found our heroes once again trying to evade a squadron of TIE Fighters. Early on in the episode, Sabine expresses her frustration with Hera and Kanan withholding where the intel for the missions they’ve been undergoing is coming from. Hera tells her that the information is coming from someone named Fulcrum and that they’re a reliable source, but this isn’t enough for Sabine. She needs to know more and demands to come on the supply run with Hera to meet Fulcrum. In meantime, Hera assigns Chopper, Ezra, and Zeb to see if anything is wrong with the Phantom and fix any problems that they find. This brings me to my least favorite aspect of this episode and the series as a whole. The constant, childish bickering between Chopper, Ezra, and Zeb is getting ridiculous. For one it makes the show feel like a bad sitcom but it is also detrimental to the rest of the crew. Because Chopper, Ezra, and Zeb were too busy arguing like ten year olds, remember only one of them is actually a kid, Hera and Sabine are almost killed later in the episode. They start chasing each other the ship and miss the fact that there is a fuel leak on the Phantom. Not only is the nonstop bickering annoying but it doesn’t make sense for some of the characters. Zeb is a grown adult who used to be a member of an elite military unit on his home planet so why is he acting like a child every time Ezra or Chopper does something to annoy him? I know Chopper is already starting to become a fan favorite but he is actually one of my least favorite characters on the show. He serves no purpose other than to provide comic relief and start childish fights between Ezra and Zeb. Chopper has endangered the lives of the rest of the crew more often than the Empire has in this show. This week he almost killed Hera and Sabine and a couple weeks ago he almost killed Ezra, seemingly because he thought it would be amusing. I’m not sure if Chopper is incompetent, evil, or just a poorly written character.

Unaware of the fuel leak, Hera and Sabine take the Phantom to go on a supply run for the mysterious Fulcrum. Sabine continues to push Hera about Fulcrum and wanting to know more but Hera tells her it’s for the safety of the whole crew that she only tells them what they need to know. Although Sabine came off as bratty a few times throughout the episode, her complaints about secrecy and search for answers made more sense after we heard part of her backstory. When Sabine was a cadet at the Imperial Academy on Mandalore she trusted the Empire and blindly followed orders but it ended up being a “nightmare.” I’m interested to learn more about Sabine’s backstory and whether or not it ties into Bo-Katan and the remnants of the Death Watch, Sabine’s armor is similar to that of the Death Watch. Bo-Katan and the Death Watch don’t seem like the type to let the Empire to occupy Mandalore without a fight so I have to wonder if they have been wiped out by this point or if they are fighting the Empire on Mandalore like the crew of the Ghost are on Lothal. When Sabine tells Hera that she feels like they can’t defeat the Empire on their own Hera responds by telling her she needs to have faith that there is a plan bigger than the Ghost, bigger than Lothal, even bigger than the entire Outer Rim. This is what I have been waiting, conformation that the Rebels onboard the Ghost are a part of a much larger plan.  I love the idea that this mysterious character simply known as Fulcrum could be providing intel to groups all across the galaxy. It will be interesting to find out who Fulcrum actually is, I’d be surprised if we don’t find out at some point. Bail Organa seems like the obvious choice but it could be anyone from Mon Mothma to Ahsoka or even a new character.

This was a great episode for Hera. Up until this point all we’ve really seen her do is fly a ship and give orders. By now it has become clear that Hera, not Kanan, is the real leader of this group. Her belief in the rebellion and fighting back against the oppression of the Empire is really what is driving this series. I’m glad she, and Sabine, finally got the spotlight this week. The focus on Hera this week demonstrated why she is one of the show’s strongest characters. After some great character development early on, the episode devolved into a rather forgettable mission of the week and string of action sequences. Hera and Sabine discover that the abandoned Clone Wars era base where the supplies are located is infested with bloodthirsty creatures known as fyrnocks that can’t come into direct contact with sunlight. Unfortunately, an asteroid is about to block the sun and the Phantoms’ fuel leak has trapped them on the planet. Hera contacts the Ghost for help. While waiting for the Ghost, Hera and Sabine use explosives to hold off the fyrnocks. This was an admittedly fun action sequence that contained some great visuals. The Ghost arrives and Hera and Sabine are rescued even though Ezra almost got himself killed trying to impress Sabine. I thought the resolution to the story was pretty weak. Hera tells Sabine that she trusted her with her life, it’s not like she had choice, and Sabine says she can try to trust her too. I almost forgot, space waffles were introduced in this episode so that happened.

What Worked

• Hints to a larger Rebellion and Sabine’s past
• The focus on Hera demonstrated why she is one of the show’s strongest characters
• Fun action sequences

What Didn’t Work

• The constant, childish bickering between Chopper, Ezra, and Zeb is getting really annoying
• Weak Resolution
• Forgettable mission of the week

External Links:

• StarWars.com Episode Guide
• Wookieepedia Episode Summary