Review: Star Wars Rebels “Gathering Forces”

How did part two compare to part one? Well, jump in to find out.

Spoilers!

I was sitting here, watching “Gathering Forces,” and I was feeling a wave of disppointment. But that faded as the episode went along, because the action picked up. there’s a lot to say about tonight’s episode, so, let’s hop into it.

The episode picks up directly after “Empire Day,” with Hera piloting the Ghost away from the Empire. Take a closer look at the Inquisitor in his souped up TIE Fighter. His helmet is unreal. As for the big reveal last week, there was no resolution at all from last week’s cliffhanger, just that Tseebo was supposed to bring up Ezra for his parents, but he got scared and bailed. If this is resolution, I am scared for the rest of the series. If there is a bomb dropped like Tseebo knows what happened to Ezra’s parents, don’t have Ezra just turn it on Tseebo. Get some resolution to this. The only thing I can think of is that they are keeping this for a later episode, or maybe season. This just had me really miffed.

That was until Ezra and Kanan decided to fool the Inquisitor to get off of the Ghost’s trail, and go back to Fort Anaxes from “Out of Darkness” by taking the Phantom. So, they make it to the asteroid, and Kanan finally threw Ezra to the wolves, I mean Fyrnocks, and Ezra finally learned to let go of the pain and anger he had for his parental situation. Kanan and Ezra managed to get the Fyrnocks under control, and attack the Inquisitor and his Storm Troopers. It’s about time for Ezra to progress past timid learner, and actually do something. How he managed to work the Fyrnocks tonight was long overdue.

Now, what got me excited was the duel between Kanan and the Inquisitor. This is something that has been sorely lacking from the series. I mean, there aren’t planets full of Jedi anymore, and there won’t be a Sith dueling another Sith. This was teased back in “Rise of the Old Masters,” but didn’t go much of anywhere compared to “Gathering Forces.” We need more of this. As much as people like blasters, you get the feel of Star Wars when people are wielding lightsabers. This had everything, and it mimicked the fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Count Dooku, where the Jedi got overwhelmed, and the Padawan jumps in to help and make the save. This had an unfortunate side effect however. With Ezra now becoming really in tune with the force, he taps into the Dark Side, with a little help from the Inquisitor.

That scene really delivered, with Jason Isaacs, Taylor Gray, and (surprisingly) Freddie Prinze, Jr all performed great as the Inquisitor, Ezra, and Kanan respectfully. The Inquisitor was such an intriguing character, that the wrong voice could have done a lot of harm to how the character was portrayed. Issacs portrayed the deep, dark, brooding voice that drives home the darkness that surrounds the Inquisitor. The interaction between Gray and Prinze, on the other hand, has strength that relies on one another. The pinnacle came when Kanan saw Ezra tapping into the Dark Side, and Ezra trying to dissuade himself of everything the Inquisitor was trying to say about everything Ezra loves is going to die. This was just a really powerful scene.

“Gathering Forces” did nothing to answer any questions I had going in to tonight. I was hoping to get something, but it looks like I will have to wait until a later episode. Hell, we even get more questions, like who’s the Inquisitor’s master? I should have thought of this earlier, because there is always a master, and an apprentice. Goes to show how much I wasn’t paying attention. The second half of “Gathering Forces” was great television. However, I don’t know if I would say that it made up for the mess at the beginning. Who knows when that’ll be, seeing as though there won’t be any new Star Wars Rebels for at least two weeks. It must be Christmas time in the House of Mouse, because their schedule just went into an upheaval.