Review: Star Wars Rebels “A Fool’s Hope” ; “Family Reunion and Farewell”

The series finale of Star Wars Rebels delivers a rewarding farewell, packed with epic action, emotional character moments, and plenty of surprises along the way.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The penultimate episode of Rebels finds our heroes in a tough spot. They’ve lost Kanan and the backing of the larger Rebellion while the Imperial presence on Lothal remains strong. Only a fool like Ezra could still hope for freedom. He concocts a clever plan to lure Governor Pryce to them and then unleashes a tag-team of friends we’ve met throughout the past four seasons.

In Family Reunion and Farewell, the plan begins to fall apart as Thrawn catches wind of the Rebel’s actions and intervenes in time to stop them from launching all of the Imperial soldiers into space. Running out of time and options, Ezra makes the choice to surrender himself to Thrawn while the rest of the Rebels attempt to raise the shield generator in an effort to protect the civilians from Thrawn’s warship. Zeb manages to defeat Rukh just in time to get the shields back online, and the city is saved. Ezra defeats Thrawn as well but doesn’t have time to escape from the doomed vessel himself. What began as a conquered world in season one finishes with freedom – and a new hope for the future!

Our Take:

A Fool’s Hope starts the finale off strong with a touching scene between many beloved characters from Rebels and beyond. Hondo, Rex’s crew, Ketsu Onyo (wish we had seen more of her), and more answer Hera’s call to aid in Ezra’s plan. It’s a bittersweet moment, seeing everyone coming together for Ezra’s benefit, but knowing the odds of survival are low in the battle to come.

And what a battle it was! This was definitely one of the most epic fight sequences the show has ever pulled off. From Sabine flying in and out of Imperial transports to Ezra’s duel with Rukh, the action had me on the edge of my seat throughout. If I had to complain about something, it would be the toned-down attack of the Lothwolves, who merely shake their enemies and toss them off cliffs, since they can’t be depicted ripping and shredding on DisneyXD.

Family Reunion and Farewell continues the tradition of sappy opening scenes when Hera overhears Ezra having a heart to heart with his deceased parents. Ezra’s search for a sense of family and belonging have been important character traits since we first met him, and this final episode really does a nice job of showing how he’s grown in this regard since we’ve known him. Palpatine’s temptation is certainly not the most delicate way of bringing Ezra’s character arc to a close, but it works and isn’t overly-complex.

There are some very nice small moments in this final episode. One of my favorites was Sabine and Ezra’s silent farewell. In that moment, one might imagine a lot of different thoughts going through their minds. But after a few seconds, Sabine knows what she needs to do, and subtly creates the distraction necessary for Ezra to sneak away unnoticed.  Lots of funny one-liners poked out amidst all the drama, too, helping to ease the tension of such a grand finale. (Hondo, we will miss you.)

I’m a little conflicted about Ezra’s final act of sacrifice. On one hand, it was great to see his connection with animals utilized in such a major way. On the other hand, we just saw a Jedi sacrifice himself to save others just a few episodes ago, and this makes some of the emotional beats feel overly-familiar. Then again, that epilogue makes me think Ezra may not have actually sacrificed himself permanently after all?

The epilogue itself struck me as a bit of a hurriedly tacked-on way to bring some storylines to a quick close. I definitely wasn’t expecting such a major time skip, but seeing Zeb and Kallus together was worth it. Also, Sabine’s haircut! Also, Hera had a baby. Also, SABINE AND AHSOKA TEAM-UP TEASE!

Throughout its four season run, Rebels has had its ups and downs. At times, it could be clunky and obvious, with stereotypically-inept villains and heroes who always triumphed. In these last couple seasons, it really seemed to hit more highs than lows, though, and the finale is a fitting end to what Dave Filoni and crew have accomplished with this series. Whatever the future holds for the surviving Rebels, one thing is for sure: the Force will be with them. Always.

Score
8.5/10