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After watching Star Wars Rebels’ newest episode, “The Holocrons of Fate,” I think that last week’s season premiere should have been longer. Yes, “Steps Into Shadow” was already a one hour event; however, this week felt like a continuation of a premiere’s tradition of laying the groundwork for adventures to come. Enjoy the recap, then, let’s tweet!

It all starts when Ezra and Kanan find a derelict Rebel ship, with a survivor attacked by none other than Darth Maul. Did you think he was gone? I’m so glad he’s not. His resurrection was one of the finest achievements of The Clone Wars, and his character, along with Ventress, is one of my favorites in the Star Wars universe. This time, he’s not after control of Mandalore (which gets a shout out in his brief exchange with Sabine), or even to lure Ezra to be his apprentice (which he still kind of thinks is a thing). He wants Holocrons—both the Sith one he lost on Malachor, and the Jedi one in Kanan’s possession. And his leverage? The whole Ghost crew, of course. So off go Kanan and Ezra, back to Bendu to get the Sith Holocron, which is in the giant creature’s safekeeping.

Ezra and Kanan’s journey this week is all about regaining their balance as master and apprentice, and it’s touching when they finally have their closure. Part of Ezra’s moodiness and distance from Kanan is that he blames himself for his master’s blindness, but Kanan assures him, “I never blamed you at all.” And then they embrace. It’s a simple gesture, but it speaks volumes about their relationship: they’re well past the uptight Jedi and the unruly thief from the beginning of the series, and even beyond strictly master and apprentice. They’re friends and almost peers, even though Ezra has much to learn. It’s also an expression that continues this season’s efforts to differentiate itself from Seasons One and Two, and from its own legacy as a part of Star Wars canon. If the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars were partially about documenting the transgressions and fall of the Jedi Order through the sin of love, here, Star Wars Rebels shows fraternal love restoring balance to Ezra and Kanan’s small corner of the Force.

STAR WARS REBELS - "The Holocrons of Fate” - When Maul takes the crew of the Ghost hostage, Ezra and Kanan must recover an ancient Sith artifact to save them. This episode of “Star Wars Rebels” airs Saturday, October 01 (8:30-9:00 P.M. EDT) on Disney XD. (Lucasfilm) KANAN, EZRA

Meanwhile, on the Ghost, our other Specters get to bond with Darth Maul. To me, Maul is to Star Wars is kind of like what Eva Green is to everything—I can watch him endlessly, and he’s usually the best part of anything he’s in. That’s doubly accurate this week, when the Ghost crew’s plan to escape is both lackluster robot punching, and then firing at Maul’s lightsaber, which can deflect all the shots (duh). In short, they weren’t inspiring, and most of their interactions with Maul felt like they were treading water until Kanan and Ezra arrived.*

Easily the biggest part of “The Holocrons of Fate,” though, is when Kanan and Ezra meet with Maul, and the Holocrons are joined. Bendu warns the Jedi that if the Holocrons meet, all secret knowledge will be accessible, and that it’s not necessarily a good thing. When it finally occurs it’s a beautiful scene to watch, calling to mind the monochromatic aesthetics famously used in Samurai Jack’s “Samurai versus Ninja,” and mysterious too, with the kind of slippery dream dialogue that Joss Whedon employed in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Season Four finale “Restless.” Where the prequels sometimes made the Force feel scientific, and The Force Awakens uses it as a Marvel movie superpower, Rebels succeeds—more than any recent Star Wars story—in returning the bedrock of what makes a galaxy far, far away so special to its wild, mythic roots.

And, if the broadening of the Force and the blurring of lines between dark and light weren’t enough, the episode ends with the best hint at what’s to come. When the Holocrons join, Maul tells Ezra he looks “for hope,” but doesn’t explain what that means. After the Ghost crew rescues Ezra, however, and Maul flees, his last words as he launches his ship are “he’s alive.” I think that implies that, somehow, Maul’s brother Savage Opress survived his run-in with Palpatine in The Clone Wars, and it’s possible we’re going to see a family reunion. If that happens, I don’t what will be worse for the Ghost crew—the Wonder Twins, or Thrawn. At this point, I think we’re in for a truly incredible season of Star Wars Rebels, my friends, so buckle up.

*Still, we did receive one special piece of information: Kanan Jarrus is not Kanan Jarrus’ name. Now, I can’t say if this is old news (it doesn’t seem to be, going by Wookiepedia; I’d be happy to hear more in the comments), but it’s certainly interesting. How much of Kanan’s past will we see on television? And how much from the novels and comics will come into play? It would be interesting to see his past bleed into this story of the fledgling Rebellion, and I eagerly await to see how this plays out.

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Eric Mayrhofer

Eric is a Hogwarts student whose letter got lost in the mail. While he's waiting for his owl, he does social media during the day and fiction at night. He loves reading, and currently adores anything by Cathrynne Valente, Elizabeth Strout, Steven Millhauser, Patrick Ness, and of course, JK Rowling the Twitter Queen. When he grows up, he wants to be a water bender. In the meantime, he pursues his MFA.

2 CommentsLeave a comment

  • Kanan as Caleb Dume is explained in the Kanan Comic which came out in the last year. It goes through how he escapes Order 66 and what he did until he became “Kanan”.

    BTW your spam filter for comments sucks. I tried to post this five times and couldn’t use my normal internet username.

    • Hey Jeff,

      Sorry you were having issues, but thank you for making the effort to comment; I appreciate it. After you posted this, I rewatched the episode with a friend, and he said, “OMG that’s in the comic!” I obviously have to make room in my To-Be-Read list for Disney/Marvel’s other Kanan stories.