Dororo (2019) The Tale Of The Nue- Conflict Of The Want And Need

Dororo (2019) The Tale of the Nue- Conflict of the Want and Need

The Tale of Nue is actually a great episode to watch for an example of character writing and the conflict of want and need they go through in an arc. This is a great example of a setback in a character’s arc. They do this by making it seem like the need necessitates the want. We see Hyakkimaru start to get and realize what he needs, connection and an understanding of others through his interaction with Dororo at the beginning of the episode. The lack that he has seems to have eased because of Dororo. The conflict of the episode creates a clash between the want and the need by having Dororo be in trouble and Hyakkimaru be unable to save her because of the limits of his prosthetics. If he had his real arms he would have been able to save Dororo. This makes him lean even more into his lie that to fill the lack he needs his real body. This pushes him even further into his descent than before despite being so close to discovering what he really needs. 

Infinity Train Book 2 Thought/Review

I wasn’t sure what to think when I saw Infinity Train will return at the end of the first season. I felt that it was a really good self contained story that didn’t really need a continuation to feel satisfying to me and I was nervous that they would try and churn out more and more episodes and seasons and maybe lose what I initially loved so much about the show, but I have never been so happy to be wrong. Infinity train book 2 managed to, in my opinion, be even better than the first season. Lake’s journey was one of the most real, emotional, and heartfelt I’ve seen in the past year. They took what worked with the first season and expanded on it. They took the heart and willingness to explore real and painful emotions as well as expand on the world of the infinity train. 

Lake was such a strong character that I haven’t been able to get her out of my head since watching the season. The way the show portrayed her journey and existential dread over not being her own person just a reflection was phenomenal. The last few episodes of the season where she is left to struggle to find her own way out and growing despair were the strongest of the season. They were, in essence, a character study. My personal favorite episode was “The Tape Car”. The scene where Lake fails to get her own number and grabs onto the robot begging it to look at her, that she is a real person, and then breaks the robots in the midst of a breakdown was so full of raw emotion and desperation. I couldn’t help but feel sad for her situation and want her to escape the train just as badly as she did. The whole scene felt like an emotional gut punch and I had to rewatch the scene quite a few times afterwards because I couldn’t get how it made me feel out of my head. And that’s what I like the most about shows, having a character, episode, plot point, or scene that blows me away and sticks with me after the show is over. I like it when a show is able to evoke strong emotions from me and make me look back on it positively and this season managed to do that with Lake. Her question about whether she needs a story like the dead lizard struck me because she has suffered and struggled and grown. Her struggle has been real and just because the robots couldn’t see it and she doesn’t have a number doesn’t make it any less true. She’s had to fight to experience even the simple things that people take for granted and yet she wasn’t allowed a number or a way off despite working to grow unlike many others on the train like the people on the mall car. When she is finally free after all her struggling and finally able to look at her reflection without fear it felt validating in a way. She is finally free of the constant fear for her life and freedom and she can finally embrace her initial identity as a reflection and make it her own.

Lake’s relationship to Jesse was another strong part of the show’s season. I really liked the dynamic that they had with each other and how it made them grow as people. Lake made Jesse stop giving into peer pressure and do what he wants and what he thinks is right despite the fact that other people may not like it. This is a characteristic that Lake starts out with, alibi a bit to the extreme, and she is able to teach Jesse this lesson because of it. Jesse is more open to people and get Lake to first open up to him and the possibility that she doesn’t have to be alone, that connections are another part of life that she has the right to experience. They both had to find a way to define themselves outside of the expectations and pressures of others. It’s hard not to be devastated when they get separated and be happy when they finally both get off the train together. 

This season just seemed to hit more emotional beats for me than the first. And that’s saying something because I thought the first season was really good at addressing the problems that it dealt with and conveying the frustration and denial that Tulip was going through. This season spoke more to me personally. Both Jesse’s struggle to not give into peer pressure and be who he wants to be not who others will like and Lake’s struggle to find validation in her identity and carve out a path of her own outside of expectations that were forced upon her. 

This season was also darker than the first, especially when it comes to Lake’s story. Lake has the mirror feds chasing her and actively trying to kill her, she experiences existential dread over being her own person, and goes through what could be considered psychological torture at times. A show doesn’t have to be dark to be great, but this show handled these dark themes well and made them compelling by attaching them to a strong main character like Lake. Jesse is a strong supporting character/part main character. He does take a backseat to Lake in the latter half of the series and Lake is introduced as our perspective character. I really liked this choice because it keeps the initial concept of the infinity train while attaching it to deeper themes like what it means to be “human”/ be your own person. 

I also want to give props to everyone who worked on the show. From the fantastic performances of Ashley Johnson and Robbie Daymond to the writers of the show like Owen Dennis and Alex Horab to the animation which seems to improve with each episode of the show. 

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this show since the finale. I really hope it gets a third season and gets to explore more of the train and the deeper themes it likes to tackle. The setting is rife for potential and the showrunners clearly like to push boundaries. They constantly push the envelope on what they can show and cover in a cartoon that is aired with a rating of TV-PG. I’m really glad that shows like infinity train exist that are willing to try and one up itself and keep growing and expanding instead of playing it safe.

Destiny - Conflict of Feelings through Juxtaposition

Adora breaking the sword is a perfect example of showing conflicting feelings through juxtaposition in scenes. This moment of victory and triumph is followed quickly by sadness.

 It starts out with loud, intense music that sounds similar to the music that plays during the revelation that Adora doesn’t get to refuse firing the heart of Etheria in Destiny part 1, which usually conveys a sense of inevitability or lack of control. The main difference between the two is the end in the original one the music fades to a quiet, somber note, but in the one used during this scene the music cuts off completely when Adora breaks the sword. Adora has stopped the heart. She has broken free of her destiny symbolized through the music breaking off. The scene is also brightly colored matching the triumphant tone, but is quickly followed by a sad, quiet, empty scene where Adora is left alone with the broken shards of the sword.

The stark juxtaposition this scene has from the loud, epic, colorful scene just prior puts the conflicting feelings Adora must be feeling on full display. Yes she just broke free from her destiny, yes she just stopped a universe destroying weapon, but she also lost everything that she felt gave her worth in this war. She just lost she-ra and her power and it happens just when Horde Prime has discovered them and set etheria in his sights. The lack of music in this scene is for a very different reason than in the previous one. This is a deeply personal moment for Adora. Adora has effectively “killed” she-ra (as far as she knows). This is her moment to grieve before she has to face the hardships to come.

Catra and Glimmer - Moments of Truth

The episode “moment of truth” is a major turning point in both Glimmer and Catra’s arcs. They both get their own moments of truth in the episode, but both are framed very differently despite the episode making it clear they both made the wrong choice.

First up is Glimmer. There are two scenes in this episode that can be viewed as her moment of truth. The first is when she initially goes to shadow weaver who persuades Glimmer to free her through the promise of power and the second is when Glimmer actually takes Shadow weaver’s hand to teleport everyone to the fright zone.

For the first one shading is the biggest motif used. The more glimmer considers shadow weaver’s offer the more bathed in shadow she becomes. Glimmer is partially covered in darkness and partially covered in light. Bow is shown on her left completely covered in light while shadow weaver is in the shadows on her right. This is reminiscent of the angel and devil on someone’s shoulders.

 And in this case the devil on her shoulder wins. Shadow weaver tells Glimmer that she has near limitless potential and guarantees she can help Glimmer obtain power. This is ultimately what gets Glimmer to free shadow weaver, step into the shadows, and take her hand.

The second instance and the one that is framed the most as Glimmer’s moment of truth comes when she is on the rooftop and makes the final decision to take shadow weaver’s hand to teleport everyone into the fright zone. The entire scene is framed very sinister using dark colors to emphasize this point. The music called “moment of truth” swells as shadow weaver holds out her hand and Glimmer takes it. Glimmer doesn’t know this is her moment of truth. She doesn’t know that she is making the wrong decision, but the audience does.

Catra’s is framed as the exact opposite.The lighting is much brighter and the music quiets when she pulls the lever. 

The same music that played during Glimmer’s moment of truth plays during the buildup to this moment not for the actual moment. Catra knows her decision is wrong and I believe this was framed from Adora’s perspective. This was a chilling moment of realization for Adora. This is shown through the quiet music. Adora is shocked, everything outside of this moment is being blocked out and the brighter lighting is used to similar effect and emphasize her realization. In this moment any hope that she had of being able to personally get through to Catra was squashed. Catra made the decision to pull the lever in spite of Adora’s warnings. The look of horror on Adora’s face tells the audience all they need to know about how this moment effected her.

The Symbolism and Motifs Behind Adora and Catra’s Designs/Looks

Adora 

(Hair down)

The biggest visual motif that is used for Adora is her hair. When she is Adora her hair being up symbolizes her being constrained by her destiny, obligations, responsibilities, past abuse, etc and every time she has a breakthrough or is freed from one of these her hair is let down. This first happens in Destiny part 2 when Adora breaks the sword and for the first time in 4 seasons Adora’s hair is down and she has “freed” herself from her horrible destiny. In season 5 this happens more frequently. In Save the Cat Adora’s hair comes out of her ponytail when she is saving Catra, when she has resolved herself to mend their relationship and reconnect. She has once again “freed” herself from the guilt and emotional pain that came from having to believe that Catra was lost, of being able to reconnect and keep childhood promises and make new ones. And another big one in Heart part 2 after Catra and Adora confess to each other her hair once again falls out of the ponytail symbolizing Adora finally being able to reach for a future that she wants and being “freed” from the obligations that she thought she had to neglect her needs and sacrifice herself for others. Adora’s hair coming loose is (clearly through the examples mentioned) meant to symbolize emotional breakthroughs that Adora has. Adora is a character that isn’t that in touch with her emotions and struggles to comprehend things beyond what she was raised for, battle and war, so each breakthrough is her gradually breaking free of her upbringing.

(She-ra’s look season 1-4)

(She-ra’s look in season 5)

It’s interesting to note that She-ra’s redesign follows the exact opposite motif with her hair, but symbolizes something similar. She-ra’s redesign looks a lot more like Adora does than her original design and this is meant to show how Adora has made she-ra her own. She-ra is no longer what the first ones intended, she is not the sword, she-ra is Adora. Another detail is how the new design incorporates certain aspects of each of the most important people in her life: the heart on her chest for Bow, the wings on her shoes for Glimmer, and her new mask for Catra. She-ra and her meaning have been altered by Adora and her experiences and I really love that fact. This is Adora taking back control over something that was supposed to be used to manipulate her. Which is a core part of her character because of the struggles she has with her abuse at shadow weaver’s hands. This is a part of the culmination of Adora’s arc of discovering she is more than what she can do for others. That her destiny, the destiny of she-ra, is in her own hands. That the manipulations of people trying to use her isn’t what has made Adora the person and hero she is today, but the personal connections she forged and her own personal drive to do what she believes is right.

Catra 

Season 1-3 look

season 4 (and beginning of season 5) look

Season 5 look

(under prime’s control)

(once she joins the rebellion)

One of my favorite recurring motifs with Catra is the literal mask that she wears and that in this season after she decides to save Glimmer the mask is gone from her design completely. The dark exterior that Catra uses to hide her feelings and pain is gone and she has finally decided to be true to herself. Same with her eyes. Catra has heterochromia which is used to outwardly display her dual nature and warring inner conflict between her love and hatred of Adora and in the 5th season it’s used to portray her struggle between self betterment and sliding into old habits and self destruction. This is shown very clearly in the episode “Taking Control”. Whenever Catra is lashing out at Adora she’s turned so that her blue eye is the only one in frame and when Catra is being vulnerable or showing regret her yellow eye is the one that’s in frame. When she decides to use the chip to discover Horde Prime’s plan and protect Adora her yellow eye is the one in frame further emphasizing her decision to change. I really liked this detail in the episode. There is also the very obvious one in the season 3 finale where the blue eye is the one covered by the corruption in season 3 symbolizing Catra’s decision to commit to her villain role. Her darkness had won over her light. And it comes full circle once again in the series finale. Once Catra makes the decision to go back for Adora and stands up to shadow weaver her blue eye is the one shown in side views. Showing that she has overcome what had been her biggest shortcoming in this series, pushing others away to protect herself.

I just really loved how they used Catra’s character design to its fullest and didn’t waste details. It’s really easy to just be like “wow this looks cool” and then do nothing with it, but the she-ra crew was like “wow this looks cool now let’s do something with it”. For example when Catra gets her redesign in season 4 her hair is a lot less poofy and her ear tufts are gone and it’s tied into her character progression. Catra got rid of her ear tufts because shadow weaver had used caressing them as a way to manipulate Catra and her feelings. Catra now associates them with negative emotions and weakness and wants to “cut off” any possibility of feeling that kind of emotional pain again. The darker colors of her clothes also reflect her decision in the previous season. Catra’s main colors before this season were much lighter reds, but now it’s a deep, dark red showing her descent into the darkness when she opened the portal and her denial. Her color scheme changes once again in season 5. Her shoulders have maintained the darker red, but the dark sleeves that she had are now gone making it so that the lighter reds overcome or overshadow the darker red symbolizing how the light inside of her has overcome the dark. Yet it’s still keeps the colors darker than season 1 because Catra has done things since then that have made it so that she can’t go back to being that same person before she committed her mistakes. She’s a much healthier person though and has come to accept her mistakes and try to move forward in a better healthier direction (again symbolized by the color of her clothes).

I also want to point out Catra’s design in save the cat. In Save the Cat Catra is in all white and grey with her hair slicked back perfectly in place. The more Catra comes to her senses and is freed from primes control the messier her hair gets. It is similar to Adora’s hair motif, but with Catra’s hair becoming messier it can also symbolize her embracing/remembering her mistakes and the messiness that comes from trying to move forward in a more positive direction. When brainwashed and under primes control she doesn’t even remember her mistakes because Prime has “washed” away the pain along with the memory. Also white is typically used to symbolize purity but in this context it feels very out of place. This isn’t who Catra is. The reason she goes back to the red is that once again it symbolizes her decisions and choices. Catra can’t undo the mistakes so she “wears” them and acknowledges them after this episode. This is why in the transition episode Catra is wearing grey undergarments. Catra isn’t at the point where she can face her mistakes even though she has admitted them, symbolized by the transfer from white to grey. Her clothing being undergarments alone shows how vulnerable and insecure Catra is feeling about these mistakes. The very next episode after she resolves to face her mistakes she goes back to her red color scheme, again with less of the dark red than in season 4 showing her decision to change and go down a “lighter” path.

Star Wars Rebels Rewatch Thoughts and Partial Review

Okay this is going to be a bit long because I have a lot of things I’d like to talk about. When I talk about the characters and standout episodes those are mostly my thoughts. When I talk about seasons as a whole those are more of a review.

I remember first hearing the announcement that rebels was going to be a show, reading the synopsis, and being immediately enthralled and excited. I love Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Obi Wan, clone wars Anakin and Ahsoka, but I was really interested in seeing how the empire’s rule would have affected other people and liked the idea of having a survivor of order 66 be part of the main cast. I remember this show fondly because unlike the clone wars, where I got into it in season 3, I got to watch this show all the way through from start to finish in real time. After a rewatch I still hold it in high regard and think that season 1 while not the best was a solid introduction to the characters, their struggles, and the beginnings of a wider rebellion with seasons 2-4 being great. 

Characters

Ezra:

Ezra is a character I have conflicting feelings about. In seasons 1 and most of season 2 the show seemed to struggle with what exactly to do with him and force him into every storyline even if the storyline would be better with focus elsewhere. This caused the show to give the rest of the ghost crew very little focus in season 1 and it wasn’t until season 2 that you got actual development and backstory for them. In seasons 3 and 4 this isn’t nearly as big of a problem and there are a lot more episodes dedicated to the rest of the main cast and they all have plotlines and arcs separate from Ezra. He also wasn’t the most interesting and, in my opinion, the least interesting of the main cast until twilight of the apprentice, which made the intense focus on him to be frustrating at times. Once the end of season 2 rolls around they do a much better job with him. Ezra is a character that I found to be by far at his most interesting while interacting with Darth Maul and struggling with the dark side. His struggle with the dark side was over way too quickly in season 3. He’s a character that I could see being a bit similar to Anakin in that his intense fear of being unable to protect his friends and family drives him closer to the dark side and this was shown wonderfully in twilight of the apprentice and steps into shadow. I was disappointed that they didn’t explore it more in depth because it could have been incredible. My only other problem with him in season 3 was how wildly inconsistent how capable he is was portrayed. In some episodes he would really screw up in ways that he should know better by now, like turning his back on a dangerous hostage and getting him and Sabine attacked, or too capable and “wise”, like when they had him “end” the clone wars and get the separatist and republic fighters to see his point of view. That last one bothered me because it took a lot of the nuance and sad pointlessness (because in the end both sides lost and were taken advantage of by the empire) of the clone wars and had Ezra, someone who didn’t even really understand what happened, resolve the conflict. They did take steps back in his development at the beginning of season 4, which I didn’t understand, and made him relearn the lesson “how we fight is what matters”. This is quickly rectified though and I absolutely loved what they did with him from Jedi Night on. His end saving his home world was fitting and I found myself sad to see him go. I’m conflicted on Ezra because I didn’t really like him that much in season 1 and a bit of season 2 and found him to be a lacking main perspective, but really liked what they did with him in seasons 3 and 4. Overall I liked him as a character, but not as the main perspective.

Kanan:

Kanan is who I felt should have been the main character. His journey of finding who he in the midst of tragedy after being forced to cut off a part of himself for so long and having to come to grips with having to face his trauma to do what’s right was fascinating. I liked how he was knighted despite the fact that he was so counter to what the Jedi were during the republic and I felt that was purposeful. Kanan seems to be the template for the new Jedi knight in a way. When Yoda gets around to training Luke he isn’t stuck to the old ways and doesn’t discourage attachment and I think that could have been influenced by Kanan. Kanan throughout rebels opens up more and more to people and suffers greatly, but because of those connections he isn’t tempted to the dark side. Every time he is beaten down it’s his care for others that makes him get up. His blinding and how he learns to connect with others and the world afterwards was one of my favorite parts of the show. He has to learn to see not just the world differently, but the force and everything's connection to it as well. He actually grows to become more pacifistic in a way and learns to better understand the feelings of the people and creatures around him. His relationship with the people around him grow and change as he does especially his relationships with Sabine and Ezra. He grows into a father figure of sorts for them during the course of the show. When his end finally comes he seems at peace with what will happen and dies so that his crew may live and Lothal will have a fighting chance. His death, while I knew it was coming since his introduction, was one of many emotional gut punches of the show and I really cared when he died. Kanan was my favorite character and I loved his growth in the show. I thought overall they did a really good job with Kanan and they seemed to know where they wanted him to go from the beginning. He was always meant to grow as a person and teacher with him finally dying for what he believed in and the family he made. 

Hera:

I really liked Hera as a character. I appreciated that her idealism did not equal naïveté. I think those two are too often associated with one another. Having Hera be idealistic and yet have the most realistic outlook of the ghost crew was refreshing. Hera truly believes in the rebel cause and puts everything she has into it. She creates a tunnel vision on fighting for a better future because war is all she has ever known. Hera doesn’t know what to do without a battle to fight and very nearly lets herself be consumed. She even states herself that she is fighting for a better future but has never considered a future for herself beyond the fight. She is pulled back from the brink by Kanan. Kanan and Hera have my favorite relationship of the show because there is actual communication between them. There isn’t any forced drama and you can tell what their relationship is through their actions. In the quiet moments between and after battles. It was devastating to see how Kanan’s death effected her. Shutting herself off from others and even doubting the cause she’s dedicated her whole life to. Hera was always the one encouraging everyone and providing hope when it looked lost, but in this moment she unravels and can’t do either of those things. And this realization that nothing last and that her new family may also be lost like much of her birth family carries through even after she regains her will to fight. When Ezra is going to turn himself over, despite it being what she would do in his place, she begs with him to find another way and it tug at my heartstrings because we know why she’s like this. She was always the pragmatic one that put the mission first and in this moment she was throwing it out the window and acting from her hurt and desperation. In the end even when Ezra turns himself over she does command the forces alongside Sabine and successfully help Ezra free Lothal. I really liked her character and my only real gripe is that I wish they had focused on her more in the earlier seasons. She also has some incredible feats while flying and the things they had her do were really creative. I really liked how capable she was behind the “wheel” and how that was a product of her love of flying and dedication.

Sabine:

Sabine was a character that I was initially very intrigued by. The fact that she was mandalorian and was at one point in the imperial academy were enough to get me interested, but the first two seasons didn’t explore much about her. When the episodes Trials of the Darksaber came around and the bombshells about her hand in Mandalore’s downfall and her family’s betrayal I was left in shock. I really liked these revelations at the time and appreciate them more in hindsight. Everything about her character in the first few seasons makes a lot more sense knowing her past. Horrible weapons don’t have to be created by bad people. Pride and arrogance can blind you and that’s what happened with Sabine, but she chose to own up to her mistakes and try to set things right. That’s what makes her one of our heroes instead of a villain. I really liked the way they handled the exploration of her guilt and determination to do what’s right. The sibling bond that her and Ezra grew to have ended up having some of my favorite moments of the show like when her and Ezra make eye contact in the finale and she distracts Hera for him to go and turn himself over to Thrawn. Overall I like what they did with Sabine, but once again felt like she should have had a bit more focus in the earlier seasons.

Zeb:

Zeb was a big casualty of the shows problems with spreading out the focus. He’s a character that actually got more focus in seasons 1 and 2 than he did in seasons 3 and 4. There was a lot of potential with his character that the show didn’t fully explore like his survivors guilt and his anger toward the empire because of the genocide. Zeb is a survivor of a genocide like Kanan and I think the show should have put an emphasis on their understanding of each other. It’s said but not shown nearly as much as I felt it should have been. I did like the storylines that did put focus on him though especially how he plays off Kallus in the show. From bitter enemies to reluctant allies to friends. And his relationship to Ezra was touching at times like how he hugged Ezra after Kanan’s death. Zeb is a character that I liked, but thought was underused the most out of the main cast.

Chopper:

Chopper was a surprise to me. I expected him to just be the token droid and he seemed like he may be in the first two seasons, but he actually gets a lot of development is seasons 3 and 4. Chopper doesn’t want to be put in a y-wing in the season 3 premiere and in Hera’s Heroes he’s frozen when he sees the y-wing he crashed in during the clone wars. There’s and underlying sadness and trauma there that is made very clear despite not real words being spoken. It’s also very clear that below his tough, cranky exterior he really cares about the members of the ghost crew. When Kanan dies he goes and holds Hera’s hand and makes sure she isn’t alone during this time. I loved this because it shows how close they really are. Hera shuts everyone else out at that time but Chopper. I truly felt by the end that chopper truly was part of the family of the ghost crew not just the token droid.

Kallus:

Kallus started out as a character you loved to hate and cheered when he lost. Kallus was threatening despite being unable to defeat the rebels in seasons 1 and 2. He was giving a good redemption arc that was kick started in the episode “the honorable ones” in season 2 where he is shown compassion by zeb and forced to reevaluate what he thought of the empire when he learns more about the rebels and their compassion for each other. The end of the episode perfectly juxtaposes zeb being found and happily accepted back by the rebels with Kallus returning to the ship with no one noticing he was gone and his poor condition with him sitting on his bed alone and disillusioned. He is finally faced with the reality of the empire’s cold calculation and uncaring nature and the rebels’ caring, fierce protectiveness. In season 3 I found him to be one of, if not the most, interesting character in the show. He had some fantastic episodes that centered around him like The Honorable Ones and Through Imperial Eyes. I really liked his storyline and how his relationship with Zeb became a story of compassion and forgiveness. The idea of breaking free from your programming and risking your life and everything you worked for because you now know what the right thing to do is the heart of Kallus’ journey. Rebels managed to turn a character I wanted to lose into a character I cheered for and was worried about when he was in danger. I wish he was used more in the 4th season when he’s with the rebellion because I think that would have been a fascinating dynamic for the show to explore.

On a side note: One small but telling moment with Kallus was when Thrawn is first introduced and everyone is praising him Kallus instead points out that civilian casualties outnumbered rebel casualties on Thrawn’s last mission and he is told that those numbers were acceptable because he brought the empire victory. Kallus looks displeased for a split second before getting his expression under raps.

Thrawn:

I really liked Thrawn as a villain. His cunning and genius was always intriguing when shown onscreen. I always felt like he was threatening and at times he even seemed unstoppable. Through Imperial Eyes showed a lot more sides of Thrawn than we had previously seen. He was a capable fighter and noticed intricacies within art that lead to him deducing Kallus’ identity as fulcrum. He was easily the best recurring villain of rebels. I never saw Ezra and Thrawn as true adversaries until the final episode of the series. He couldn’t be taken down unless something happened that was beyond his control and, at least I thought, it was implied that the force wanted Ezra to succeed in his mission to free Lothal and rid Thrawn from the rest of the rebel conflict. That the force had influenced the outcome in Ezra’s favor which just goes to show how much of an unstoppable force Thrawn was.

Standout episodes:

“The honorable ones” is a decidedly more nuanced look at soldiers within the empire. “I was… I was only doing my duty. I didn’t ask questions.”  This the first serious look into the inner workings of empire soldiers that I had seen up to this point. Kallus’ arc was about overcoming his training, drive, and brainwashing that what he was doing was right. That it was for the betterment of the galaxy and the protection of the empire and its people. He was sent into a battle he believed had to be fought believing that “it wasn’t meant to be a [genocide]”. All I could do was sit there and be amazed that we were actually getting a look into what soldiers must have been told and expected to do and realizing that what was happening around them wasn’t supposed to happen, but there’s no going back. It’s already been done. Having their fellow soldiers killed while on routine patrols just for being empire. Zeb tells Kallus “you can’t judge all Lasats by the actions of one” and Kallus shoots back “well does that apply to the empire too?” and it’s a valid question. The possibility of people being forced into the empire or taken when they are young and trained to believe what the empire tells them without being given a choice or even not truly believing and questioning the empire but being afraid to act out because of the empire’s power are all put onto the table here. As well as it being revealed that the soldiers aren’t given all the information about what the empire is doing and what they plan to do in their conquest. Not everyone within the empire wants to wage war and genocide. Not everyone is beyond redemption. I applaud this episode for daring to go here. It was willing to try and humanize the empire’s soldiers and kickstart one of my personal favorite character arcs of the show. With Kallus’ arc it managed to turn someone who was initially shown to be pretentious, ambitious, and cruel and have him admit to his wrongs, defy his programming, and risk his life and everything he ever worked for to do what he now knew to be right.

“Through imperial eyes” shifted the perspective character to Kallus with a very interesting choice to open with the audience seeing things through his eyes. This episode showed just how good Kallus is at being the rebel spy. He pins the blame on someone else through a series of well thought out actions and uses his observations and skills to evade capture and detection. Neither Kallus or Thrawn are depicted as anything less than cunning. Kallus is only found out by a blunder on Ezra’s part and the fact that Thrawn is a genius. The change in perspective to Kallus was a breath of fresh air. The change is tone and genre from action adventure to a kind of spy thriller works to the show’s favor. This episode showed both Kallus and Thrawn at their best and cemented Kallus as one of the most interesting characters in the entire show.

You can’t talk about standout episodes and not talk about “Jedi Knight”. This episode is probably the one, next to the finale, that I got the most emotional about during my rewatch. When I first watched this episode I remember there was a foreboding feeling throughout that the Ghost crew’s luck would finally run out. The entire episode was tense and despite knowing the outcome on my rewatch I was still on the edge of my seat and hoping the inevitable wouldn’t happen. The Kanan and Hera dynamic is touching and sad. I wanted them to get around to saying what they really meant and when they finally did I was sad because I knew their time together was at a close. I still wish they could have had their happy ending. Kanan seemed so accepting like he knew what was going to happen to him, but was okay because he would go out protecting the people he loves. When Kanan’s death finally happened and the episode quietly faded to white with ashes blowing past the star wars rebels logo I had to sit back once again and let that episode sink in. Kanan was my favorite character and his death impacted me and you could tell in that moment how much the ghost crew was hurting. I really liked this episode and thought it was well done from the music, to the dialogue, to the animation. Kanan’s death scene was one of the most visually stunning of the show and that moment when he regained his sight to see Hera, the woman he loves, one last time is etched in my memory.

“A World Between Worlds” was a really good episode focusing on loss. This whole episode was fantastic and I loved the idea behind the world between worlds. Finally getting closure about what happened to Ahsoka and having the ghost crew especially Ezra and Hera get closure for Kanan’s death were really well done. I especially liked when Ezra was given the chance to save Kanan and he struggles to let go and accept that he can’t save Kanan and the rest of the ghost crew. The struggle to not save his master and surrogate father almost overwhelms him and it is only through Ahsoka’s guidance and his own inner strength that he is finally able to let go and accept kanan’s death. “He’s gone now, isn’t he? I mean, really gone?” This line hit me like a ton of bricks while rewatching because there could be no more denial by the ghost crew (and myself). Kanan’s death was set in stone. This realization happens while looking out at a beautiful view at the temple and Hera has her hand on her shoulder where Kanan’s force ghost had touched her before. Ezra get one last look at the loth wolf Dume on the horizon before he fades from view giving him closure before turning and heading back to the ghost and the future. This last scene with Hera and Ezra staring out into the horizon and then turning back to the ghost after their closure makes me think that this symbolizes them looking back at the past, the good times, and the people they’ve loved and lost and turning back to the ghost is them turning back to the fight and the future instead of letting the past continue to hold them back despite how beautiful the past is and how painful the future and present may be.

Rebels has incredibly strong season openers and finales with the most well known being twilight of the apprentice, but all of them were great. 

Spark of the rebellion was a solid beginning to the series and did a good job of introducing us to the ghost crew. While the weakest of the season openers it contains one of my favorite moments of the series when Kanan reveals himself to be a Jedi. That scene still gave me chills upon a rewatch. It was a solid introduction to the ghost crew and gave a glimpse of what was to come.

The finale of the first season was easily the strongest episode of the first season. Kanan’s rescue and fight with the inquisitor were both very exciting. The Inquisitor’s parting words to Kanan “There are some things worse than death” was incredibly foreboding and still gets me excited for what’s to come (even though I know what’s going to happen). I like it when Kanan steps up to the plate and takes out a powerful enemy like the inquisitor and maul. I still really like that the burn Ezra gets on his cheek stays for the rest of the series.

The second season premiere “the siege of Lothal” was an instant game changer and had our characters come face to face with Darth Vader for the first time and had Ahsoka discover his identity as her master. The rebels being driven off Lothal changed everything that was to come. This was where the massive jump in quality between seasons 1 and 2 became apparent. The stakes were immediately ratcheted up. The rebellion was forced to flee and Lothal was thought to be lost. Darth Vader was imposing and it was made very clear that none of the rebels stood a chance against even just Vader let alone the empire.

Twilight of the apprentice had me reeling for a few day after I watched it for the first time. I couldn’t get what had happened and how it had ended out of my head. How would the ghost crew move forward with this? How far to the dark side will Ezra sink? How will Kanan fight now that he is blinded? Was this the end for Ahsoka Tano? The second season finale is some of my favorite Star Wars content period. The long awaited confrontation between Ahsoka and Darth Vader, Maul’s return, Kanan being blinded, and much more. The final lines between Ahsoka and Vader with Ahsoka saying she won’t leave him again and Vader responding with “Then you will die” showing just how far gone he was and that he truly was no longer the caring person Ahsoka once knew, but a bitter empty husk. Everything was phenomenal in this two part finale. I think twilight of the apprentice is in a way comparable to the empire strikes back in that the good guys didn’t really win in the end. Both Maul and Vader lived, kanan is now blind, and nobody knew what happened to Ahsoka with heavy implications that she was dead (later proven wrong). There wasn’t a rebel victory. In a way this finale was truly the beginning of all the trials that would come for both the rebellion and the ghost crew. I still get excited every time I revisit it even knowing how everything pans out. This is the moment that cemented rebels as one of my personal favorite cartoons.

The third season premiere “steps into shadow” was another strong two part opening. Ezra’s struggle with the dark side and Kanan and Ezra reconnecting after Kanan distances himself were series highlights for me. The scene where Kanan tells Ezra to let go and trust him was emotionally resonant and showed that despite Ezra’s anger and frustration on the inside he was still a scared kid that just wanted to do what was right and got in over his head. While Twilight of the Apprentice got me really interested in Ezra as a character and where Dave Filoni wanted him to go these were the episodes that really got me to start liking him, kind of ironically I’ll admit. I do think they should have taken Ezra’s foray into the dark side further, but I’m happy with how they executed it in these two episodes.

The third season finale “Zero Hour” was a thrilling conclusion to the season and saw many things come to fruition. Thrawn was an incredibly threatening and capable villain. His capability and smarts weren’t undermined in his loss because his plan would have worked if his subordinate obeyed and the Bendu wasn’t on Atollon, which are both things Thrawn could not have predicted. He still gets incredibly close to wiping out the rebellion despite both of these and still survives and has the manpower to threaten the rebellion again. It goes to show the rebellion that they aren’t ready for full out war with the empire because they are outnumbered, outmanned, and outgunned with almost no advantages save their unpredictability which can only get them so far. Seeing the rebellion so close to being completely wiped out rattled me. I had forgotten how bleak the fight looked for the rebels and how many casualties had occurred.

The season 4 opener is meant to show a victory after the near destruction of the rebellion that ended last season showing that there is still hope for the rebellion. I really liked seeing Sabine leading with the darksaber and her finally being able to confront her mistake and destroy her creation once and for all. Bo-Katan’s return was exciting. I always enjoy seeing characters from other star wars media appear in rebels. Bo-Katan being the influence Sabine needs to ultimately do the right thing and getting the darksaber afterwards to lead Mandalore felt fitting as someone who has seen the clone wars.

The season 4 finale is once again emotional and tense. It’s incredibly fitting that the ghost crew’s journey together began on Lothal and ends on Lothal. Everything comes full circle and Ezra and the pergil are able to free Lothal and defeat Thrawn, but him and Thrawn are jettisoned away on a star destroyer not to be heard from. The moment where Hera is desperately trying to come up with a plan and Ezra and Sabine just look at each other and nod before she gives him an opening to escape made me emotional on a rewatch and was when I realized how much I loved these characters. The series goes out on a bittersweet note showing the liberation from the empire, but also the losses the ghost crew faced and their trouble moving on from them. It’s filled with both hope and melancholy and is easily the second best episode behind twilight of the apprentice. The lingering shot of the painting of the ghost crew was cathartic and touching. Even after everything that has happened they will always remember each other and never forget their journey that we got to be a part of.

 Seasons:

 Star wars rebels has a shaky first season, but I do think is was fairly solid. It did a pretty good job of introducing us to the personalities of the members of the ghost crew and established right out of the gate what the show would be about and what to expect. We knew that this would be about the start of the rebellion against the empire and we would get to see the rebellion grow in manpower, resources, and influence. It dropped a lot of hints of what is to come and what has already happened in our character’s past. The first season’s problems mostly stem from their struggle with the main character Ezra and trying to be a lighter toned but serious star wars story. The show didn’t really know what to do with Ezra in the first season and seemed to struggle to find their footing with him. I personally didn’t really like or connect to Ezra until much later in the series, which is a problem considering he’s the main character. The lighter tone was also a problem because it restricted what the show could do greatly considering this show is supposed to chronicle the beginning of the Rebellion that is seen in A New Hope and that period of time was a dark time for the galaxy with the empire ruling tyrannically. When the show went darker like when Kanan was captured and it dealt with loss the show was enjoyable, but there were a lot of light hearted episodes that didn’t seem to push the show forward in this first season that kept it from being better.

 There is a massive jump in quality between the first and second seasons. The second season starts off with the introduction of Darth Vader and the Empire's “siege of Lothal”. It does a much better job with the tone and keeps it fairly consistent throughout the season. They also utilize the characters much better with many more of the episodes focusing on characters outside of Ezra and giving them backstory. It introduces a lot of familiar faces, like Rex, that don’t feel forced and that I was really happy to see once again. Kanan, Hera, and Zeb got their moments to shine and got a lot of development. This season started Kallus’ redemption arc and the episode that it begins in is a standout. I appreciated that it delved into trying to show how imperial soldiers must feel, their perspective, and the idea that they too cannot be seen as a faceless mass but instead individuals where not all are beyond redemption. The show keeps its momentum and produces Twilight of the Apprentice, which is some of my absolute favorite star wars content. I already gushed about it above so I won’t go into huge detail, but it did so much right and changed the status quo of rebels forever. This season started strong and ended strong and showed just what this show could give.

 Season 3 was an even stronger overall season than the last. This is where I really started liking Ezra. Once again even more focus is put on the supporting cast and Ezra isn’t really forced into a main role in storylines that aren’t about him. Sabine finally gets her backstory revealed in two really strong episodes Trials of the Darksaber and Legacy of Mandalore. I wish they had explored Sabine a bit more in earlier seasons, but the quality and strength of these episodes make the wait worth it to me. Kallus and Thrawn were probably the highlights of the season for me though. Kallus became an incredibly interesting character and the setup for his disillusionment with the empire and potential redemption were paid off wonderfully. I love his arc and liked that it allowed the show to have an episode from the imperial perspective. Thrawn was a fantastic villain every time he manipulated what happened and made deductions I found myself thrilled and actually cheering. I wanted our rebels to come out on top eventually, but I was enjoying what they were doing with Thrawn too much to want him defeated in this season.

 The show seemed to be given less and less limitations on what it could do the longer it went on and it gradually got darker with each season. This season was the darkest with Kanan’s onscreen death, Ezra’s ambiguous fate, and multiple onscreen deaths of supporting characters. This season was the one I felt was the strongest. The stretch of episodes from Rebel Assault to Family Reunion - and Farewell was easily the strongest string of episode in the show. I was consistently on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen. Kanan’s death was what I consider to be the biggest emotional gut punch of the show. I loved that we got to see each of the ghost crew members deal with their grief in different ways. Seeing Hera have a crisis of faith in the fight she has unwaveringly fought for this entire time made me emotional and I realized how attached I was to these characters because I understood how they felt and wanted them to be happy and get the victory they deserved. The series started on Lothal and ended on Lothal with the ghost crew finally freeing the planet from imperial grasp. I was happy that they finally got the victory they strove for since the beginning. In the end I was happy to follow the ghost crew through their journey and thought this was a really strong season and note to end the series on.