Tonight’s episode of Star Wars Rebels took the series deeper into the mythology of the Star Wars universe than ever before. With a trip back to the Jedi Temple on Lothal, the series catapulted the story of Kanan, Ezra, and the survival of the Jedi forward at faster-than-light speed.
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The entire episode was edge-of-your-seat, and I mean that literally as I was actually sitting on the edge of my couch leaning into the TV while watching, but there are a few moments that really stand out, both because of their significance to the story and the way they were presented.
Here are the five biggest, most mind-blowing moments from tonight’s momentous episode.
Ezra’s Growing Force Abilities
Ezra’s growth in the Force has been exponential this year, and that was on full display in this episode, from the very beginning. The fight scene between Kanan and Ezra versus the two Inquisitors was outstanding, with the pair acting now as a well-oiled machine. Using Force push to throw eachother into combat, Ezra calling the giant flying manta-rays, and even just his use of his unique Saber/Blaster were all impressive.
Ezra and Kanan’s combined ability also opened a second doorway to the Jedi Temple, and his Force abilities were now strong enough to actually SEE Master Yoda when communing with him… but it’s not all sunshine and lollipops.
An Omen of Doom
There’s a growing sense that Ezra’s rapid rise in Force abilities isn’t just surprising – it’s unnatural. For an older kid training late, he’s getting very strong, very fast.
That’s underscored by a few lines, from both the Jedi Temple Guard (um, more on him in a bit, obviously) and from Yoda.
When Kanan confronts the Jedi Temple Guard, the Guard has an ominous message:
“Try to fight, and you will fail. The rebellion will be destroyed, you will die, and your apprentice will become a servant of evil. The boy must be eliminated before he embraces the darkness.”
Yeah, not exactly the extra nudge of hope or direction Kanan was looking for. Yoda gave a similar message directly to Ezra, too:
“Growing your abilities are, and with them, danger.”
So what’s this all leading up to? We’re not sure, but it doesn’t sound good. And remember, Kanan and Ezra are not with the Rebellion at the start of A New Hope.
Ahsoka Knows Vader’s Secret
If it was ambiguous after their first encounter, there’s no doubt now that Ahsoka definitively learnds Vader’s secret in this episode. While meditating in the Jedi Temple, Ahosoka is very painfully contacted in the Force by Anakin – or at least by her guilt over him.
“Ahsoka, why did you leave? Where were you when I needed you?” Anakin pleads to her in the Force. When she said she made a choice, that she had to, he replies, “You were selfish. You abandoned me! You failed me! Do you know what I’ve become?”
And that’s when the Force apparition turns from Anakin to Darth Vader. Ahsoka’s outcry is tear-inducing, and you can feel her pain – she really feels as though it’s her fault, and that won’t do her any good.
The Grand Inquisitor Revealed
In an episode full of jump off your couch screaming moments, this was the screamiest.
When Kanan accepts his role in the Force, and in a very literal way turns from the dark side of the Force (by turning off the red lightsaber he’d been wielding in the fight – SYMBOLISM), the Jedi Temple Guard he’s been fighting knights him. Yes, this was all part of Kanan’s Jedi trials, as he’d never technically had them, allowing him to move from Padawan to Knight in the official Order.
After becoming a Jedi Knight, he then gets the shock of a lifetime when the guard says, “By the right of the council, by the will of the Force, Kanan Jarrus, you may rise. You are now a Knight of the Jedi Order, as I once was,” and removes his mask revealing the face of the Grand Inquisitor!
It’s a terrifying shock to learn the Grand Inquisitor was once not just a Jedi Knight, but a Jedi Temple Guard, one of the highest, most elite positions they can hold. If someone like that can be corrupted, then things look even worse for Kanan and Ezra’s futures.
Find Malachor
If you had just returned to normal breathing after that big reveal, and felt a little hope thanks to Ahsoka rising and stating, “There’s still a way,” then this one may have come like another kick to the gut. Yoda’s final message to Ezra on how to defeat the Sith and the Inquisitors?
“Find Malachor.”
Those two words may baffle some fans, thought they can still feel the weight of their importance, especially once Ahsoka and Kanan react to the news and reveal it’s a place, not a person.
But fans of the classic video game in the Legends universe, Knights of the Old Republic, know Malachor as a major seat of Sith power, and part of the old Sith Empire. This simply must be the Sith Temple that the Season 2 trailer showed them going to, and tying it to such a beloved part of the Legends world (though it has at least been referenced in canon) is a huge wink, nod, and thank you to fans who’ve stuck with Star Wars over the decades.
THEY’RE GOING TO MALACHOR on Star Wars Rebels, and that is just too exciting.
