Star Wars Rebels Recap with Spoilers: Fire Across the Galaxy

The first season finale starts with a TIE Fighter landing field. Sabine distracts a handful of Stormtroopers on guard duty while Ezra and Zeb move in – managing to power up and steal a large transport ship. Sabine jumps on and with a couple of cocky quips, and a lot of well-placed and well-timed explosions, escapes the scene.

Then it's away to Mustafar, where there are several Star Destroyers, including Grand Moff Tarkin's where Kanan is being held. In a call back to episode 3, "Fighter Flight," Ezra reminds the team they have a TIE fighter hidden back on Lothal. Unfortunately, it's been given a nice new paintjob makeover by Sabine. Despite the Technicolor dream TIE, they decide to go ahead and use it to board Tarkin's ship.

Meanwhile, on said ship, Kanan is being tortured, with the Inquisitor trying to gain the knowledge of Fulcrum and the larger rebellion. Inquisitor uses Kanan's Master, Bilaba, against him, including her last words to him, "run." He calls him a coward, afraid of even his own power, and warns that he can't save anyone, just as he's never been able to.

The Rebels in the stolen transport, with the stolen TIE docked, arrive in the Mustafar system. Ezra finds Kanan with the force, and they send in the TIE fighter – by remote pilot – to knock on the proverbial door of the Star Destroyers. Oh, and Sabine rigged it to go boom, with a large EM pulse. The Inquisitor was expecting it, however.

Now on emergency power, the "all clear" message ceases to be sent from Tarkin's ship, which means reinforcements from the other Destroyers in the system. Several troopers disembark while the Rebel crew is looking for their lost member. After being attacked by several troopers, Ezra seals off their only way in, and heads into a vent to find Kanan. Fulcrum is seen, hooded, on their stolen transport, talking to Chopper.

Ezra finds Kanan and recovers him out of his jail cell, while the rest of the crew keeps looking for another way out. The Inquisitor is, naturally, waiting for the escaping Jedi. Kanan grabs Ezra's blaster/saber and uses its dual attacks to go after the dark force wilder. A major battle ensues, and while they're locked in saber combat, Ezra force pulls Kanan's saber from the Inquisitor's belt, joining the fight. But it doesn't look good, as the Inquisitor's superior swordsmanship and force abilities look quickly overwhelming… and he hits Ezra with his thrown, spinning lightsaber, seemingly killing him as he falls from the ledge.

"That was a mistake," Kanan says, "Because now I have nothing left to fear." He force-grabs his own lightsaber from the ledge, ignites it, and begins the fight anew. Ezra is down, unconscious, on the ledge below. Luckily, all he really picked up was a couple of new ssoon-to-be-scars, and he wakes up and reports in. Kanan, meanwhile, seems to be gaining the upper hand against the Inquisitor. "Now I know there's something stronger than fear. Far stronger. The Force." He cuts the Inquisitor's spinning lightsabers in half, sending them careening into some sort of power coupling.

As he readies for the killing blow, he instead retracts his sabers as the Inquisitor warns, "There are some things far more frightening than death," and voluntarily falls to his own demise. Ezra and Kanan reconnect. Hera, Sabine, and Zeb get into their stolen TIE and take off as Tarkin readies for evacuation.

Chopper's not answering his comms, and Kanan and Ezra still need a way out. Naturally, they take the Inquisitor's TIE fighter. The Rebels get into a major space battle, trying to escape the fleet – without hyperdrives in the TIEs, they need Chopper and the Transport vessel, and they still can't find him. He jumps suddenly back into the system, with a bunch more ships! Three Corvette cruisers, and the Ghost. Everyone docks up, and jumps out of the system.

"The Rebels have escaped, sir," Tarkin is told – he looks… displeased.

Kanan and Ezra reconnect with the crew, and Hera says, "You're welcome, dear," and hugs him. They all go back to the Ghost together, and there are Rebel soldiers guarding its bridge. Bail Organa is on the comms in a hologram, and explains that other Rebel cells came to help.

"The protocol has changed." And Fulcrum reveals herself: It's AHSOKA TANO! "One chapter has closed for you, Ezra Bridger. This is a new day, a new beginning." She's got dual lightsabers, and she's all grown up.

We'll pause while you scream for joy with us.

Back to the Imperial forces, Agent Kallus reports to Tarkin that "some are viewing the Empire as weak." Tarkin speaks of an "alternative solution," and Darth Vader comes down from his Lambda-Class, ready to take the fight to the Rebels…

…in season 2, of course.

What did you think of the season finale? Did you enjoy the big reveal (despite that it leaked early)? Sound off in the comments section below! #AhsokaLives, you guys. Ahsoka. LIVES.