This Is the Best Disney+ Show and No One Even Talks About It

Disney+ is a treasure trove of entertainment with content for every type of fan from any fandom. Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and Pixar are some of the categories viewers can choose from, as well as Hulu series. Nestled in among the Star Wars movies and shows is the single best series Disney+ has to offer: Star Wars Rebels. While every Star Wars fan has their own opinion on what is the best piece of media in the franchise, Star Wars Rebels should rank among the top of the list for the rich history it adds into the Star Wars universe.

As the era of The New Republic expands after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, this series will help introduce audiences to a number of characters and themes that we’ll be seeing in both movies and TV.

Star Wars Rebels is a Must-Watch for Fans of the Franchise

Star Wars Rebels is an animated series that ran from 2014 to 2018 that follows a small group of rebels who mainly operate in the Outer Rim. The group is more than singular actors who take their own actions against the Empire, but rather a found family who live on the ship, the Ghost. The team consists of Ghost pilot, Hera Syndulla, and her trusty (and oftentimes untrustworthy) droid, Chopper; a young Mandalorian artist, Sabine Wren; a warrior from a race of peoples known as the Lasat, Zeb Orrelios; former Jedi padawan and Order 66 survivor, Kanan Jarrus, and his own padawan he stumbled across in the series premiere, Ezra Bridger. 

Rebels takes place in the few years before Star Wars: A New Hope and weaves an overarching story of how the Rebel Alliance went from being small, independent cells to an organized and cohesive unit that was capable of taking on the Empire by the Battle of Yavin. If not for the actions that took place on Rebels by the Ghost crew, the Rebel Alliance would never have existed. Moreover, the events in many of the live action Star Wars series, such as The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Ahsoka, hinge on the characters and events from Rebels, showing just how much of an integral part of Star Wars canon the series is.

Star Wars Rebels Is an Essential Prerequisite for Ahsoka

The Disney+ series Ahsoka introduced Hera, Chopper, Ezra, and Sabine into the live-action universe, as well as the Ghost crew’s main antagonist, Grand Admiral Thrawn. The series sets Thrawn up as the next huge threat to the New Republic in its fledgling days; a threat that Ahsoka is trying to keep at bay by preventing Thrawn’s return to their galaxy from exile. In Season 2 of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka’s first appearance shows that she is searching for information about Thrawn. However, the significance of her quest is underscored without knowing what happened in the series finale of Rebels. 

Grand Admiral Thrawn was one of the most intelligent and strategic adversaries the Ghost crew and fledgling Rebel Alliance went up against. He was essentially unbeatable, except for Ezra Bridger. Ezra, who was a fully trained Jedi by this time, concocts a plan that traps Thrawn and transports him into another galaxy in wild space, freeing the Rebels of their biggest threat besides the Empire. However, Ezra’s plan hinges on sending himself along with Thrawn, leaving his friends behind with a message saying he knows they will bring him home.

Ahsoka’s search for Thrawn is just as important to Sabine Wren, who initially set off to find Ezra with Ahsoka. However, in Ahsoka, years have passed and Sabine and Ahsoka have a strained relationship. While Ahsoka fights to keep Thrawn in exile, Sabine fights with equal passion to get Ezra home; a goal Sabine shares with Hera.

Ahsoka also introduces the World Between Worlds to live-action canon in Episode 5, when Ahsoka is reunited with her master, Anakin Skywalker — in the mystical plane of existence. While Ahsoka does not explain this place, the World Between Worlds is a major plot point in Rebels and explained with detail. In fact, Rebels establishes that Ahsoka would not even be alive if Ezra did not change the past and save her during his time in the World Between Worlds.

An Important Legacy of Two Rebels May Change the Future of Star Wars

The live-action introduction and prominence of Hera and Kanan’s son, Jacen Syndulla, is another part of Ahsoka that is made richer due to Rebels knowledge. While Jacen is shown to have “abilities” that wind up locating Ahsoka and saving her during her experience in the World Between Worlds, the true significance of his heritage is unscored. It is briefly mentioned in Ahsoka that Jacen’s father, Kanan Jarrus, was a Jedi. Kanan was perhaps the most important player in Rebels, if not one of the most important Jedi the galaxy had ever seen. Seeing Kanan’s journey in Rebels has massive implications for his and Hera’s Force-sensitive son in the future of the live action Star Wars universe.

The entire plot of Ahsoka is essentially another chapter of Rebels, picking up with the biggest problem left at the end of the animated show.

The Mandalorian Could Not Exist Without Star Wars Rebels

Season 2 of The Mandalorian also introduces the former regent of Mandalore, Bo-Katan Kryze, on a dire mission to retrieve the Darksaber from Moff Gideon. The Darksaber and its impact on Mandalore as a planet and Bo-Katan’s character was a pivotal arc in Rebels. 

The Darksaber has a complicated history and has changed hands many times. In season 3 of Rebels, Sabine finds the weapon stashed among Darth Maul’s belongings and takes it, as it is a weapon that belongs to the people. What she does not realize is that whoever wields the Darksaber rules all of Mandalore, uniting the people behind a single leader. Sabine relinquishes the Darksaber to Bo-Katan, whom she believes is truly fit to rule Mandalore.

Bo-Katan’s intentions and the direness of her search for the Darksaber in The Mandalorian have lower stakes without the backstory fleshed out in Rebels.