Finally returning from that random break, we finally have Sabine going home to the Krownest whereby she will try to recruit the Mandalorians to the rebels' side. From the beginning, this episode was incredibly done. I feel like this may have been the one of the best produced episode of Rebels so far. From the animation to the score, everything seemed to be perfectly executed. There were some odd plot elements that were not as sound, but it was still a really well-done episode.
Sabine has always been the character that I wish Rebels would have gravitated towards since the beginning as I would rather have a show about the Rebel Alliance where it would actually show the various members that constituted the Alliance instead of the usual Jedi. However, it makes sense how Lucasfilm would gravitate towards having a show that follows one specific rebel cell with two Jedi. Anyway, we finally get to see how Sabine is viewed by her family given how she did, in a sense, betray them, and then suddenly decides to come back after all these years. With that, I enjoyed watching her struggle with being surrounded by her biological family and all the tribulations that come with coming home after a troubled past. We are able to see the vent up pain she showed from the previous episode as she deals with having her own family now betray her in return when Ursa Wren ends up notifying Gar Saxon of the Ghost crew's location.
Regarding Ursa Wren, I loved how conflicted of a character she was. We were shown her own personal struggle of being a mother to Sabine while still recognizing her Mandalorian culture. Given how she now needs to protect all of Clan Wren from the Empire, it made sense when you look at all the decisions she ended up making throughout the episode. She has to continue to be the leader of this shunned Mandalorian clan, while having to deal with the return of a daughter whom she has not seen in years, knowing full well the history of Sabine and her impact on the Mandalorians as a whole, and still having to be mindful of the fact that the Empire has her husband imprisoned. Ursa is such a complex character that I just wish we had a bit more time with her in order to learn about how was still able to keep her clan alive under the Empire and Saxon.
Speaking of Saxon, I was surprised to learn that he is/was in fact an Emperor's Hand. What that means in this new canon still remains to be seen, but what we do know is that it meant that he was a pretty significant member of the Empire. Now that he's dead, it makes you wonder how the Empire is going to handle the news of his death as he was meant to be the ruler of the Mandalorians in the name of the Empire. However, when he was alive, i thought he was a great villain for the Wrens. I really liked seeing the small glimpses of fear and submission Ursa had under Saxon as it only made you wonder what he did in order to gain that from the Mandalorian clans. I liked how he was the type of villain who ultimately had to be killed in the end because his survival would only continue the dominance and possible enslavement of the Mandalorians under the Empire.
Finally, the best part of the episode had to be the last act. We're finally given the Sabine vs. Saxon fight shown in the midseason trailer. I must say, it did not disapoint. Along the way, we were handed some incredible music by Kevin Kiner, but this episode actually ramped it up even more. It added to the climax between the two characters during their showdown where it was almost reminiscent of Kanan's fight with the Grand Inquisitor in Season 1. Both characters went all out with their respective fighting styles using whatever tool in their arsenal they needed in order to gain the upper hand. And once Sabine finally got possession of both lightsabers and almost cut off Saxon's head, I knew without a doubt that Sabine now deserves her own Mandalorian show, comic book series, or novel. I found this part of the episode incredibly interesting as she showed her determination to stray from the old Mandalorian ways of going down that dark path and incorporate some of her Jedi lessons in this moment. It is almost reminiscent of this new notion of a "Gray" instead of being a Jedi or Sith. I feel that Sabine is going to be important in establishing this new idea of what a Mandalorian should be going forward in the the Star Wars mythos.
I truly loved how this episode set Sabine up to explore her growth as a Mandalorian as well as a human living under the Empire's rule while having to deal with the struggle of trying to convert her own family to fight alongside her. I feel like it even opens the possibility that Bo Katan might be the leader Sabine might be looking for, in which Bo Katan could end up grooming Sabine to actually take the mantle of Mand'alor. Either way, I loved the world-building this episode did regarding the Mandalorians, and I really hope we get to see Sabine return to the Ghost crew at some point during the finale.
No comments:
Post a Comment