After 40 years of films, TV shows, novels, and comic books, this week’s episode of Star Wars Rebels united the legacy of the overall narrative in a way never before seen. With the show being an animated series that is tame enough for children, some audiences have dismissed the series, yet, ahead of its series finale, Rebels is going into uncharted territory in fascinating ways. One scene in particular changed what many fans had assumed they knew about the franchise.
Videos by ComicBook.com
***WARNING: Spoilers for Star Wars Rebels below***
In the episode “A World Between Worlds,” Ezra Bridger is transported to another realm that seemingly connects users of the Force across space and time. While in this realm, he hears iconic whispers of dialogue that date back to The Phantom Menace and forward to The Force Awakens.
To help give context to the disembodied voices, one fan intercut footage from the respective installments to bring the sequence even further to life.
Given how brief some of the audio snippets are, the above video helps distinguish who says the various lines from the series, while also introducing the idea of time travel to some degree.
“To me a very dangerous thing would be this world where all things are happening and possible and time is fluid,” executive producer Dave Filoni shared during a Q&A (via Nerdist). “So, we sound designed in a line from pretty much every single Star Wars film to be happening all at once in this void, to prime you for the idea that time is always happening in here. And all these events are happening.”
The time travel abilities have already been utilized in this series, with Ezra plucking Ahsoka Tano from her battle with Vader that would have spelled certain doom.
“What particularly excited me about this story was I could tell a story that takes place within the Malachor episode that shows you how she gets out of the conflict with Vader, and then puts her at the end of that episode, which is her going down the staircase and the triangle doorway,” Filoni said. “So, you’re not technically further than you were before with her story, but you get an interesting part of that story. Because I’m not doing that story right now.”
While we don’t expect to see these concepts explored in future live-action movies, it made for a riveting scene in Star Wars Rebels and is sure to create a compelling series finale next week.
Tune in to the Star Wars Rebels season finale this Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET on Disney XD.
Do you want to see an exploration of time travel in a future live-action film? Let us know in the comments!
