REBELS REWATCH: Season 1, Episode 15:  Fire Across the Galaxy (Season Finale)

The season finale of Star Wars Rebels packs a lot of action into twentysomething minutes. Is some of it stupid? You know it is! Some of it is not stupid though! With Kanan in Imperial custody and in orbit around Mustafar; Zeb, Sabine and Ezra sneak onto the Imperial base on Lothal to steal a cruiser. Try as they might, those ten stormtroopers just can’t hit Sabine as she somersaults around.



Honestly, at this point, is there something wrong with their weapons? Are they shooting blanks? Are these even really stormtroopers? Are they auxiliaries culled from 8 and 80 year olds like in Berlin in April 1945 as the Red Army was closing in? Needless to say, they get the cruiser. Then they have to get the TIE fighter from that awful episode where Zeb and Ezra stole it because the cruiser is too big to get in a star destroyer.



The heart of this episode is the extended confrontation, both mental and physical, between Kanan and the Grand Inquisitor. He continues to torment Kanan, shocking him and taunting him about his actions during Order 66 as well as his continued hiding of his true nature. I should say the taunting is quite severe. Hera and the kids infiltrate the SD (why bother having them in orbit of Mustafar? This whole thing should have taken place in a facility on the planet!); but of course Ezra is the only one that can make it to Kanan.



As they make their escape, they are confronted by the Grand Inquisitor. What follows is the best non-Lando part of this whole season. The fight between the three of them is fast paced, even frenetic at times, but that’s okay with an animated show. The beauty of it is that you can see things that would be limited or even look stupid in a live action format. The whole thing had a TPM final lightsaber fight vibe to it. The only real drawback to the whole fight is the terrible tease where it looks like Ezra gets killed.



Oh, how I would feel sorry for someone watching this show for the first time and thinking they were rid of him. After that, Kanan doesn’t hold anything back and drives the GI until he ends up hanging from one of Star Wars’ patented no safety rail catwalks. GI says something about some things being worse than death and drops to his doom. Not sure why; I’m assuming he saw Ezra with a meiloorun out of the corner of his eye.



Yadda, yadda, yadda Tarkin escapes his Star Destroyer which has come aflame. The Rebels escape too with the help of other Rebel cells because Chopper called Fulcrum. At last, the identity of Fulcrum is revealed: it’s Ahsoka Tano! From that other show! From the Clone Wars!



I remember it being a pretty powerful moment when I first saw it 5 years ago; and it still packs a bit of a punch. So, the gang's back together and find themselves part of something bigger than just setting off paint bombs on Lothal. Oh, and Vader shows up at the end!



Rewatch worth it? Of course. Here’s my thing, though: Kanan has no idea who Bail Organa or Ahsoka are. How is that possible? He remembers meeting Bail in Droids in Distress, but didn’t know who he was then or now. Bail was/is a prominent Senator and Kanan was a Jedi. Ahsoka was the padawan of the most famous Jedi of the Clone Wars. What gives? Another thing that irked me was that Mustafar was just way too busy in this episode. It should be a place where very few Imperials ever go, or even know about. Minor annoyances for an otherwise fine episode. Random sampling of some favorite things about season one: AT-DP’s, Imperial Troop Transports, Brent Spiner, Lando, Ezra telling Kallus his name is Jabba and Kallus running with it.

All four seasons of Rebels are currently streaming on the Disney+ service.

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