World Premiere of Star Wars Rebels Season Two at Celebration

On Saturday, April 18^th we had the privilege to attend the Season Two premiere of Star Wars Rebels at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, CA. Below is our review of the episode. Please be warned that this review contains SPOILERS so if you do not want to know what happens, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!

SEASON TWO, EPISODE ONE:
“The Seige of Lothal”

The motley crew of the Ghost is adjusting to change in the sophomore season, after discovering other Rebel cells with the same mission of fighting the Empire in season one’s finale.

The story picks up right where the last season’s finale left off, with the Rebels working with Rebel Commander Sato, Ahsoka Tano and the Phoenix Squadron.

After receiving a surprising request for help from the Minister of Lothal, Hera, Kanan, Zeb, Sabine and Ezra attempt to offer the Minister safe passage off of Lothal in exchange for a list of Rebel sympathizers who can help their cause. During their attempt to rescue the Minister, she is killed by the Empire who blames Kanan and his crew for her death.

As they attempt to leave Lothal, they are confronted by Darth Vader who Kanan immediately confronts and begins a lightsaber battle with the Sith Lord. Vader quickly tosses Kanan aside and then sets his sights on Ezra. Before Vader can finish off the young Padawan, Sabine blows up two AT-DPs, which drop onto Vader, seemingly ending the fight. As Kanan and Ezra make their way back to the Imperial Shuttle they have stolen, Vader emerges from the rubble. Sabine offers cover by opening fire at Vader, who deflects one of the laser blast back at Sabine, knocking her off of her feet. The Rebels manage to escape in their shuttle where Kanan confirms to Ezra that their attacker was not another Inquisitor, but something much worse, a Sith Lord.

The Rebels, realizing there is an Imperial blockade above Lothal reach out for help in order to leave the planet. They make contact with Lando Calrissian who offers to help smuggle them off of Lothal in exchange for some shield generators that they had inside the stolen shuttle. While meeting with Lando’s droid (another nice odd to Ralph McQuarrie’s early Star Wars concepts) Ezra notices flames coming from the direction of Tarkintown. He quickly decides to check it out, with the help of Kanan. They soon realize that Vader has had Tarkintown burned to the ground and all of its residents have been taken prisoner in an attempt to turn the citizens against their Rebel protectors.

Kanan and Ezra return the stolen shuttle and with the help of some decoy transponders, they manage to evade the blockade and make the jump to lightspeed where they will rejoin Phoenix Squadron. During the trip, the crew discusses working on their own versus working with a larger group going forward. Arguments are made for both sides of the conversation.

As they rendezvous with the other ships from Phoenix Squadron, Chopper discovers a tracking device on the shuttle. Vader has placed it and he is on a one-man mission to find the Rebels and put an end to them. His TIE Advanced fighter enters the system and quickly manages to eliminate most of Phoenix Squadron. The crew, along with Ahsoka takes off in the Ghost to stop Vader. Vader’s piloting skills are too strong for the Ghost to handle so Kanan and Ahsoka attempt to use the Force to try and stop their mystery attacker. When they make contact, Vader immediately identifies Ahsoka, stating “The Apprentice Lives”. Ahsoka realizes the pilot’s identity and passes out. Vader pulls back on his attack of the Ghost in order to take them alives, but doing so puts him in the direct path of a Star Destroyer’s tractor beam which gives the Ghost a chance to escape by making the jump to lightspeed.

Back on board the Ghost the crew asks Ahsoka if she knows the identity of the mysterious Sith Lord. She says “No” but obviously does now know who it is with her look of concern after she turns away,

Vader meanwhile has contacted the Emperor to inform him that Skywalker’s apprentice is still alive and she could be used to help track down other Jedi. The Emperor agrees with this plan and order Vader to dispatch the OTHER Inquisitor to hunt Ahsoka and the Rebels down.

THE END

Our thanks to the folks at Lucasfilm and Disney for inviting us to participate in this amazing premiere. No date has been set yet for when the Season Two premiere will air on Disney XD, but early indications are that it will be broadcast at some point this coming Summer.