Star Wars Rebels: Five Biggest Game-Changers in Season 2 Finale

SPOILERS for Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale

Star Wars Rebels left season two with a bang – or rather, with three definite deaths, a blinding, a maybe-death, an explosion, and a dark side reveal. Yeah, things have changed significantly for the nascent Rebel Alliance.

Without further ado, let’s get right into the major changes that have hit the Rebels. Season three will be very different, suffice to say.

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Darth Maul Returns

The return of Darth Maul had immediate consequences – dead inquisitors, an Ezra closer to the dark side, and Kanan’s blinding, for instance (more on all three of those things in a moment).

But he’s also out and about, and at one point or another, someone has to do something about him, because he’s made it clear that no matter how long he’s away, no matter how much of his mind he loses, he comes back strong and raises hell. If one Inquisitor was sent after him before a massive Sith weapon was destroyed (also partially his fault), it’s only a matter of time before the Emperor decides enough is enough.

Three Inquisitors Dead

And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust.

Say good by to the Fifth Brother, the Seventh Sister, and the Eighth Brother (who we only met in this two-part finale), as Darth Maul killed two of them in the finale, with Kanan slashing the third – the new one, the Eighth Brother’s lightsaber, and sending him to his apparent death.

So what do their deaths mean? Well, that’s four Inquisitors including the Grand one that have died at the hands of this Rebel cell, which will only increase the weight with which the Empire will strike down upon them. We also know there are at least eight positions for Inquisitors to hold, now that we know the newbie was Eighth Brother. That also means we presumably have 2, 3, 4, and 6 left to meet, at least.

Kanan is Blind

Darth Maul eventually showed his true colors. He planned to take Ezra as his new apprentice (because taking an apprentice worked out so well for him the first time, right Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans?), and he struck. His first blow was all it took to change the Rebels forever, as he blinded Kanan Jarrus. Now, Kanan proved capable of adjusting, using the Force to overcome Maul in the short term, but in the long term, as someone who is supposed to be training a padawan who already has some pretty big problems of his own (more on that in a moment), this could be very, very bad.

Ezra… to the Dark Side?

Ezra Bridger was tempted more than once in this finale to turn to, and embrace, the dark side of the Force. While he resisted for the most part, in the end, he was able to open the Sith Holocron. Only the dark side can open one, and that means he inherently had to have tapped into it to do so. His master wounded, his friend apparently dead, he’s naturally going to feel lost. He’s naturally going to feel anger. Sadness. Hatred. And Yoda knows where that all leads.

Ahsoka – Presumed Dead

Ahsoka stood toe-to-toe with Darth Vader. She even wounded the Dark Lord of the Sith, though her emotional wounds inflicted by him, probably cut deeper. In the end, the two of them stood alone at the top of the Sith Temple as it exploded in a huge wave of dark side Force energy. Vader stumbled off, and someone was seen – barely – walking into the shadows of a Temple door – while some fans thought it may be an inquisitor, it’s now been confirmed by Filoni and voice actress Ashley Eckstein that was Ahsoka.

Whether or not she’s actually dead – showrunner Dave Filoni says that for now, that’s up to the viewer (but we’ll learn for sure eventually) – everyone on the show, in that universe, definitely thinks she’s dead. The look on Rex’s face alone was just so heartbreaking.

In season one, she was the unseen Fulcrum guiding the Rebel Alliance and keeping it held together. In season two, she helped train and directly guide both Kanan and Ezra. Now, she’s gone, and with everything else that happened, it couldn’t be at a worst time.