Fire Across the Galaxy (Star Wars Rebels - S01E13) - Animated Series

The game changing finale of Star Wars Rebels is finally here! SPOILERS.

The Inquisitor’s death, Ahsoka Tano, and Darth Vader! The season one finale of Star Wars Rebels was easily the most impactful episode yet and has me more excited about the future of Star Wars Rebels than ever before. The episode began with Sabine distracting a group of Stormtroopers while Ezra and Zeb stole an Imperial transport that would allow them to get close to Mustafar. We also saw the return of the TIE Fighter Ezra and Zeb stole in “Fighter Flight”, which still remains the series’ worst episode by a large margin, although Sabine had repainted it. While it was a small part of the episode, Sabine’s repaint of the TIE Fighter felt unnecessary but I have never been a big fan of the graffiti artist aspect of Sabine’s personality. Meanwhile, the Inquisitor continued his interrogation of Kanan, which was one of my favorite scenes in this very busy episode. The Inquisitor’s taunting of Kanan regarding his Master’s death was some of the best work from Jason Isaacs we’ve seen in Rebels.

The rebels arrived at Mustafar and used EMPs, provided by Sabine, to cut power to Tarkin’s command ship. The rebels boarded the Star Destroyer, but Imperial reinforcements quickly arrived. The rest of the crew held off the reinforcements while Ezra rescued Kanan from his cell. Kanan and Ezra tried to escape through the engine room, but were greeted by the Inquisitor. The duel between Kanan, Ezra, and the Inquisitor was fantastic and it was certainly reminiscent of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s duel with Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. I was initially skeptical, but I’m starting to really like Ezra’s lightsaber/blaster combination. After Kanan thought the Inquisitor had killed Ezra, he told the Inquisitor that he had nothing left to fear and quickly overpowered him. The Inquisitor’s lightsaber flew into the Star Destroyer’s engines and caused a massive explosion. Hanging onto the edge of the platform, the Inquisitor told Kanan that “There are some things far more frightening than death” and let go. The Inquisitor was engulfed by the flames coming from the Star Destroyer’s engines. The Inquisitor’s death was very well done and it’s the kind of bold creative choice I want the creators of Rebels to make, but it’s a shame that we’ve lost one of the show’s most interesting characters, and the very talented Jason Isaacs, this early in the series. The fact that the Inquisitor was willing to kill himself rather than face his Master’s wrath certainly set ups Darth Vader to be the intimidating force Star Wars fans expect him to be in this series.

Following the Inquisitor’s death, the crew of the Ghost used TIE Fighters to escape the imploding Star Destroyer. With enemy fighters closing in, all hope seemed lost. Then the Ghost and a fleet of rebel blockade runners jumped of hyperspace rescued the rebels. Chopper had contacted Fulcrum for help. Back aboard the Ghost, the rebels were greeted by a holographic Bail Organa. He and Hera explained that they are just one of many rebel cells. I’m glad we’re finally starting to see the larger Rebel Alliance after spending the whole season focusing on just the crew of the Ghost, which made the scale of show feel very small at times. The crew of the Ghost then met Fulcrum, who turned out to be none other Ahsoka Tano. Many had suspected Fulcrum was Ahsoka, and I’m glad that theory turned into reality. Welcome back to Star Wars, Ashley Eckstein. I wasn’t a big fan of Ahsoka when we first met her, but after five years of watching her grow and develop as a character on Star Wars: The Clone Wars she has become one of my favorite characters. I’ve been wondering what happened to Ahsoka ever since she walked away from the Jedi Order and I’m glad we’re going to get to see that in Rebels. I love the idea of Ahsoka being involved in the formation of the Rebel Alliance and I’m looking forward to her inevitable reunion with Darth Vader. Speaking of Darth Vader, his arrival on Lothal was the perfect way to end the season. Like I mentioned in the beginning of my review, the return of both Ahsoka Tano and Darth Vader in addition to our first look at the larger Rebel Alliance has me more excited about the future of Star Wars Rebels than ever before. These are the kinds of ideas and characters I want to see in show set during this time period in the Star Wars galaxy. I have had a lot of fun writing these reviews and I want to thank everyone who has helped make these reviews a success. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. See you next season, Star Wars Rebels fans!

What Worked

• Return of both Ahsoka and Vader
• First look at the larger Rebel Alliance
• The lightsaber duel
• “There are some things far more frightening than death”

What Didn’t Work

• A shame to see the Inquisitor (and Jason Isaacs) go so soon

External Links:

• StarWars.com Episode Guide
• Wookieepedia Episode Summary