I know, I have not been reviewing much lately, but that all changes today. Now that I am off for the Summer expect reviews much more frequently than before. So this review is fairly late, but I need to talk about this great season of Rebels.
Call Me Old Master
I thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Rebels, but the animation was quite stiff and there were a handful of episodes that were not necessary. This season is even better. Sure there are still some “filler episodes” but some really great plot points were also introduced. For example, I loved seeing Ezra’s struggle with the Dark side. I never thought a show on Disney would take such an innocent character like Ezra down such a dark path, but it seems like they are committed to it. Ezra is still part of the Light side, but the finale made it seem as though his role may start changing sooner rather than later. The show hinted at this possibility in the first season since it was so hard for Kanan to train Ezra, but as this second season progressed it became clear that Ezra is being drawn to the Dark side. Speaking of Kanan, what a great season it was for him. He demonstrated some great maturity and growth from how he was last season. He has been taking his role as Ezra’s mentor much more seriously and his force abilities have definitely grown. He still has a long way to go, but seeing how the season ended, I am intrigued to see what his character will do next season. One of my problems with the first season is that some of the secondary characters of the show did not really get much attention. Thankfully this season took some time to explore the secondary characters, which made me care for them much more than before. One of my favorite episodes this seasons oddly enough involves Chopper. These episodes may be defined as “Filler” but the show-runners made it flow into the the main narrative much better than the first season did.
Our Long-awaited Meeting Has Come At Last
Before I talk a bit about the finale, I do want to point out some negatives. First of all: not every “filler-episode” worked as well as the Chopper one. Some of the early episodes were pretty boring, so I was losing some interest in the show. In the same vein, some of the plot points this season felt a bit uninspired. The rebels were searching for a base all season long, but it hardly felt like a compelling plot point to drag around from episode to episode. I know the show is mainly for kids, but there is so much good material here it is hard not to point out some of the flaws. Other than that, I really did enjoy this season, especially the finale. Darth Maul came back, Darth Vader fought Ahsoka, and Kanan became blind. The scenes between Vader and Ahsoka are the ones that truly resonated with me. There was so much emotion in there that I simply did not expect. In the end it seems like Ahsoka is still alive (conveyed in a beautiful montage), but we do not know what condition she is in. We do not know where Maul is heading with his tie fighter, nor where Ezra of Kanan are headed. The finale does a great job of setting up a third season which has so much potential to take these characters to newer and darker places.
Closing Remarks
Overall, this season is quite good. Sure there are some episodes that aren’t as strong as others, but there is still a lot to behold. I barely scratched the surface on characters like Ahsoka or Vader, but that is mainly because their storylines were so minimal. Here’s hoping that the next season expands their roles.