Brothers of the Broken Horn (Star Wars Rebels - S02E06) - Animated Series

“You lied to me? I knew I liked you!” SPOILERS. 

One of Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ greatest strengths was its cast of recurring characters. It wasn’t just Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex that left an impression. Recurring characters like Cad Bane and Asajj Ventress quickly became fan favorites and made meaningful additions to the Star Wars saga. Professional scene stealer Hondo Ohnaka is a perfect example of a great, recurring character introduced in The Clone Wars. To me, Hondo is a character that immediately felt at home in the Star Wars galaxy upon his introduction. Hondo made his return to a galaxy far, far away in this week’s episode of Star Wars Rebels. As always with Hondo, it was entertaining.

As with the previous episode, Brothers of the Broken Horn began with Ezra struggling to balance the different teaching styles of Kanan and Rex. The divide between Kanan and Rex and his constant training caused Ezra to question if he even wanted to be a Jedi. Ezra was forced to stay behind with Chopper and clean the phantom while the rest of crew went on a mission to find power generators. Hera essentially asking Ezra, “How many times have I told you to clean your room?” was cringe worthy. I get that the Ghost crew is supposed to be like a family, but the writers definitely overplay that aspect of the show sometimes. When they do it feels like a bad 80s sitcom, not Star Wars. After receiving a distress signal from Vizago’s ship, Ezra decided to investigate. Instead of finding Vizago, Ezra found Hondo Ohnaka. According to Hondo, Vizago lost his ship to him in a bet. Apparently time hasn’t been kind to Hondo though. Since the formation of the Empire, Hondo lost the wealth he accumulated during the Clone Wars, his crew, and his base on Florrum. Despite all those changes, Hondo’s personality thankfully hasn’t changed. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Hondo stole the show this week. The always excellent Jim Cummings didn’t miss a beat in his return as Hondo. His delivery was perfect on lines like, “The stories I could tell you, so many of them true.” The humor in Star Wars Rebels often falls flat for me but it was actually a strong point this week. Very few Star Wars characters make me laugh as consistently as Hondo Ohnaka. Bringing in characters like Hondo and Lando seems to breathe new life into the humor of Star Wars Rebels, which is usually very inconsistent. Speaking of Lando, Ezra stole his identity for most of the episode. That was fine but we need a real Lando and Hondo team up. Make it happen, Dave Filoni!

Ezra agreed to help Hondo sell some power generators to a buyer in exchange for a few of them. The buyer turned out to be Azmorigan, who still isn’t a good villain. Hondo and Ezra were captured but Chopper came to the rescue. I have been critical of Chopper but I really liked him in this episode. Not only did he actually help for a change but seeing him charge Azmorigan while firing two blasters was a lot of fun. After Ezra saved him by using the Force, Hondo realized that Ezra is a Jedi. Hondo identified himself as an old Jedi sympathizer and told Ezra, “My best friend was a Jedi. I’m pretty sure we were friends.” I love that Hondo thinks Obi-Wan was his best friend. Their relationship as frenemies in The Clone Wars was always entertaining. Ezra and Hondo made a good team too though. Once they were back aboard The Broken Horn, Ezra discovered that Hondo lied and had locked Vizago in the brig and stole his ship. Ezra owed Vizago so he let him out of the brig. A mini battle broke out and ended with Hondo escaping with the power generators and Azmorigan’s money aboard the Phantom. Vizago put Ezra in an escape pod and left empty handed. It turns out that the phantom took Hondo back to the rest of the Ghost crew. Hondo gave them the generators they needed and he got to keep Azmorigan’s money. While I enjoyed this episode, the main story was weak and pretty forgettable. At times this felt like a filler episode. With that being said, I think the good definitely outweighs the bad here. Having Hondo back was fantastic and he and Ezra made a good team. I enjoyed the humor and lighthearted fun of this episode as well. Rebels has struggled with forcing humor at times, but Hondo helped the humor work really well this week. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Hondo Ohnaka. I still want to see Hando and Lando in an Oceans 11 style team up.

Fun Fact: According to Starwars.com, the symbol of Hondo’s old pirate gang (which was on his jacket in this episode) can be seen among the group of flags found in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer.

What Worked

• Hondo Ohnaka, need I say more?
• I can’t believe it, but Chopper was actually helpful
• Good use of humor this week

What Didn’t Work

• Weak central story that felt like filler at times
• Azmorigan still isn’t a good villain

External Links:

• StarWars.com Episode Guide
• Wookieepedia Episode Summary