Rebels Rewatch: "Jedi Night"
Right, just going to go ahead and pass around the boxes of tissues.
Live reaction version.
And here we are at last. The entire latter half of the season had already began shifting at "Rebel Assault", but here the shift becomes permanent.
From the promos and synopsis put out before this episode, the genre-savvy among us could kind of already tell what was coming. But it was still devastating.
All right, enough stalling, let's get into it.
Aww man, this is the same spot Ezra sits in the finale isn't it?
Dammit we're barely ten seconds in and I'm already sad.
The Loth-wolf theme is heavy over this scene as Kanan is bombarded with an audio portent and foreshadowing of things to come in the WBW.
"You want a ride?" "The Jedi Temple is in danger." "Kanan, you haven't gotten me a present since we met." "You can learn what it truly means to be a Jedi." "You didn't prepare me for this, Kanan." "There's something I need to tell you." "I know I can always count on you."
Kanan hears mostly himself, and the two most important people in his life--Hera and Ezra. He hears Ezra's despair at losing him, and his resolve in entrusting his life and mission to Sabine. He knows the Jedi Temple is in danger. He's connected deeply with the wolves at this point, and either knows or at least suspects what he and Ezra will be asked to do.
This is probably where those extra episodes explaining Kanan's backstory and connection to Lothal would have come in handy. As it is we get the mysterious voiceover dump and have to piece things together after the fact.
What I think makes the most sense is that the Loth-wolves stopped Kanan from going to rescue Hera last episode precisely because--connected deeply as they are in the Force, associated with the WBW--they could see ahead to the potential futures of that course of action and knew that if he went after her, he would die. No matter what he did, no matter which way he moved, one way or another, it would happen. So they warned him. They showed him why lay ahead.
If you do this, we cannot save you, they told him.
And that's why he spends so much of this episode trying to mentally prepare the others, especially Ezra, for his absence.
Because the wolves still a Jedi to save the Temple from Palpatine's evil intentions.
Kanan is resolved in his purpose: He's going to save Hera. He's resigned to his fate: He will trade his life for the chance. And he's determined in his resilience: "Then I will make it count." He won't just make his death a meaningless sacrifice. He will ensure the completion of her mission, honor her by fulfilling the end goal of her failed attack. He will save Lothal by destroying the fuel pods and bringing the factories to a halt. He will give his life for Hera's dream.
Kanan proves in the end that he understands how to love without attachment. (Also why he makes Ezra formulate the plan, because he knows his feelings are compromised when it comes to Hera.) He will not cling selfishly to her. He will free her and then let her go and then let his own life pass away. He will take his place in Hades, and then teach Ezra how to grieve. Because Ezra won't be able to save him.
Because you can't go back down into Hades to retrieve the ones you lose.
โIn mythology, if you go to Hades to get them back youโre not doing it for them, youโre doing it for yourself. Youโre doing it because you donโt want to give them up. Youโre afraid to be without them. The key to the dark side is fear. You must be clean of fear, and fear of loss is the greatest fear. If youโre set up for fear of loss, you will do anything to keep that loss from happening, and youโre going to end up in the dark side. Thatโs the basic premise of Star Wars and the Jedi, and how it works."
George Lucas, Mellody Hobson George Lucas - Virtual Speaker Interview, 2021
I love this shot, Ezra entering lightsaber-first, a visual emphasis on the fact that they are Jedi, and the Force requires much of them. Much sacrifice, much compassion, much selflessness. To whom much is given, much is required. With great power comes great responsibility.
All that jazz.
Kanan is preparing Ezra for the greatest responsibility he's going to have, to be asked to do what is right regardless of what it will personally cost him. And he's about to become a very painful object lesson.
He also talks like he's been given multiple visions of the future and is arranging things specifically so that they'll fall out in a specific way. It mirrors how Ezra speaks in the finale--If Thrawn shows up too soon, then this path, if he doesn't, then this one.
Some very painful paralleling that you don't realize the first time through.
Ezra's a bit uncertain at first, but honors Kanan's request, and gets started formulating a plan to get them into the Capital.
OH HEY WOULD YOU LIKE TO DESPISE PRYCE A BIT MORE?
Conducting the interrogation personally in her own office is quite the flex.
Once again paralleling to the Season One finale, another character comes in to start the questioning, and gets awfully personal with the digs, bringing up the interrogated party's painful past and history. In this case, Thrawn has brought Hera's kalikori down from its pedastel in his office on the Chimaera--that "place of honor" he promised her--in order to rub it in how he's deciphered the cultural meaning behind it.
Really leaning in hard on those icky cultural appropriation vibes aren't we, writers? Let's be clear, it's not that Thrawn was curious about Twi'lek culture and researched what meant what on a kalikori that's so gross, it's that he did so in order to learn more about Hera specifically so that he could hurt her more personally, namely by taunting her about her dead brother. It's the context, not the curiosity.
Thrawn is an Imperial warlord and only comes into contact with these cultural relics because he's a member of the tyrannical force currently oppressing those cultures. If he really respected or cared about them as items important to the people the Empire was conquering, he should leave them in their damn place. OR, if destruction of the relics at the hand of the Empire was inevitable, he should save them from that destruction and then be finding a way to give them back to the people they belong to or the closest equivalent. Instead he hoards them in his own art gallery to dissect and study to glean more insight into the cultures, so that the Empire might better defeat them.
Yeah no, the staging parallels to the Grand Inquisitor are super 100% on purpose and deliberate.
Also! Because I like ruining people's days, would you like some more Fridge Horror that you may or may not already have seen if you've been following me?
IT-O droids monitor prisoner vitals. Heartrate, blood pressure, adrenaline, other hormones and physiological markers. Hera's already pregnant at this point. Possibly far enough along that the IT-O was able to detect it.
Thrawn and Pryce might knowingly have tortured a pregnant woman.
~You're weeeeeeeeeelcooooooooome.~
Love Sabine whacking Zeb and shushing him to not interrupt Ezra as he's meditating and sensing out.
Also this look. <3
And also the soft conspiratorial smiles between Ezra and Sabine as they vibe on the same wavelength in regards to this plan.
The Kiners go all out on the music this next scene, as we montage building the gliders and Kanan preparing to shave and cut his hair, fully reclaiming his identity as Caleb Dume, The Last Padawan, again.
Kanan's theme plays, in bright flute, with bouncy string accompaniment. It's ritualistic how he moves. Like a samurai slicing off his topknot. Luke's Theme crossfades in through his to mark the heroism of the moment, as the preparations are finished.
And thus begins a long series of hidden goodbyes.
"This is one of those times I'm glad the Force is with you." Zeb says, about how crazy the plan is, and Kanan just silently puts a hand on his shoulder, the last time the two men would ever speak.
(The animators also go all hell out, making this episode one of the most gorgeous yet put to print.)
Cut to our favorite blue asshole. And he's been summoned to Coruscant for a meeting of heads of state to quibble about budgetary proportions lol. Of all things to yank Thrawn away from Lothal, it's politics and bureaucracy, par the course. Thrawn seems offended and claims Palpatine assured him he supports the Defenders.
And while I'm sure Palpatine has paid a bit of lip service to Thrawn's face... yeah no sorry honey, Palpatine was always going to go with the Death Star thing, it's been in the works since before the Clone War broke out. The only issue is that it's sucking all the funding and resources of everything else dry because of the constant delays and problems (Krennic is apparently mismanaging to hell) so now they are considering ganking money from other various projects to feed it.
And that's just... SO like the government lol.
So exit Thrawn, straight into the Thrawn: Treason novel. And I am still SORELY disappointed that Zahn did not take full advantage of the fact that Treason was basically a Rebels tie-in in order to have Thrawn sloooooooowly losing his mind and patience over things dissolving on Lothal while he's not there so that by the time we get him back in the finale, his irritation and annoyance is peak comedy and perfect characterization follow-through.
"I was gone for ONE HOUR and you blew up my project???!??"
The gliders are telegraphed to us with a very slight sound effect, and the rigid wings. So it's amazingly effective at fooling the Troopers lol. Rukh on the other hand has probably picked up a whiff of Zeb lingering on the others so he's alert.
Aaaaaand hidden goodbye number two, frick my heart this one hurts. There's so much Kanan can't tell Ezra, lest the fear of loss cripple him and make him unable to act, drive him towards the Dark Side. Kanan needs Ezra to be able to function for this mission, so he just praises Ezra for being a good listener--a veiled admonition for him to continue listening to the will of the Force, to his instincts, to the wisdom of others, to the wolves--and tells him and Sabine, "May the Force be with you."
He entrusts their safety to the Force, and tells them to trust in it in turn.
"Ezra and Sabine have each other, they'll find their way home."
Oh boy, on this edition of "Terrible Rebels takes that make zero sense except to the perpetually offended", there were actually multiple people who complained about Hera's confession coming about as a result of the truth serum, and they were mad that her loopy state because of the truth serum was played for laughs.
To which all I will say is, shut up, Hera drunk on truth serum is hilarious. Maybe quit having such a stick up your butt about bad things happening to female characters and let them get in on the jokes and slapstick occasionally.
Heroic Main Theme here as Kanan makes his entrance.
About 90% certain the thing Hera wanted to tell Kanan here was that she was pregnant. I refuse to accept that time on the fuel pod as the first time she told Kanan she loved him. Does not make sense, rejected.
Not gonna comment much on the Kanan/Hera scenes, they're adorable and sweet and heartwarming and heartbreaking in hindsight but I will say this soft romantic cue that accompanies them is very lovely.
Pryce sounds more than a bit pissy that Hera got rescued right from under her nose. This leads directly into her recklessness later with the fuel pods.
Love Ezra and Sabine casually commandeering a gunship. "I'm the backup pilot, so I'm in the back." And the Troopers just accept that logic lol.
And the "something" Kanan needs to tell Hera is either that he knows she's pregnant (but maybe doesn't know she knows?) OR about his upcoming expiration. Too bad Rukh interferes.
Oh hey, another sad parallel, neither Jedi have their lightsaber for their moment of ultimate sacrifice.
Hgngnh watching all the pieces move into place for what I already know is coming is awful.
Still cannot get over just how polluted the streets are, look at that rust colored smog.
Lol Ezra's little fist pump, completely forgetting where he is a moment. He's so cute I love him.
Their teamwork in taking out the other Imperials is great too.
*watches the kiss, sighs with sadness*
You did not have to dig so hard into the mood whiplash guys. You really didn't.
All right, let's just... pull off the bandaid.
The animation, the music full of mournful male chorus and high siren wail, the muted soundtrack, the emphasis on Hera and Ezra, that Kanan is so deeply utterly in tune with the Force that his blindness doesn't even matter (which is what his eyes clearing up was, clumsily, attempting to convey) he can see them...
And then he's gone.
And how awful it was for Ezra, who literally just felt his bond with Kanan snap inside his head, to have to be the competent leader and shout at Sabine to, "Go! Go!". For him to have to be the one thinking clearly, because Hera is completely numb and in shock.
Sabine wiping her eyes as she flies them out of there, somehow still able to see through her tears.
And then a stark white and gray titlecard as ashen dust flickers down around the text.
:((((((((
Frick man it still hits hard. Looking back though, it was inevitable. The death flags were all there, the pieces all set up and in place. This wasn't done on a whim, this was meticulously thought out, to devastating effect.
I was never quite as emotionally attached to Kanan as a lot of other people in the fandom, and I'm also a grown adult, so Kanan's death, while incredibly saddening, was not nearly as emotionally devastating to me as it was to quite a few younger viewers. For a lot of fandom this was their first time experiencing a fictitious loss like that, of having a character, a person they had as a staple in their lives, suddenly leaving it. Leaving behind an empty hole.
And that's one of the reasons I have to respect the writers for doing it. They had a story they needed to tell--about loss, about dealing with grief, about how to pick yourself back up and continue doing the right thing, as a Jedi specifically for Ezra, and as a person for everyone else--and they knew they needed to give it the weight and gravitas it merited.
You can't cling to things forever. It's one of the core staple lessons of Star Wars, the "point of the prequels" to borrow a common if oft-misused phrase.
Loss will happen. Death will happen. Do not give into fear about it. Do not let your fear of loss drive you into darkness.
Give yourself time to process the loss. Let yourself grieve.
And then let go.
So I appreciate that the next few episodes are spent almost as if in a funk, the cloud of grief hanging over us as we process through our loss with the characters and then pick ourselves back up and return to the mission. Because the war isn't won yet, and there are still things left to do.
It is darkest before the dawn.
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A promo for something new and unexpected;
Remnantโฆ
A world long since abandoned by its so called โgodsโโฆPlagued by creatures of darkness, and the stage of a shadow war that has been fought for over hundreds of yearsโฆ
What itโs inhabitants donโt realize, is that its conflict is nothing compared to the ones that occur among the starsโฆConflicts fought by defenders of Love and Peace, who protect the smiles of the people.
What should occur, if outside forces were to reveal a great secret to a chosen select fewโฆ
Jaune(as Remnant is seen from space): WaitโฆYouโre telling us, that all this timeโฆ
Jaune(continuing as other planets near Remnant are shown, with many dry and barren of life): Our planet existed in a place called the โLost Galaxyโ?
???: The so-called Brother gods were not what they claimed to beโฆ
Ruby(as a flashback is shown of her and her friends being driven back by Grimm in the deserts of Vacuo): Something saved us from falling in that pocket dimensionโฆ
Ruby(as a mysterious temple is shown rising out of the desert floor): Something tells me it was for a reasonโฆ
???: You were all chosen to learn the truth, to wield great powerโฆ
Ren(as they come across 5 swords in a stone): This changes everything weโve ever known about life beyond Remnantโฆ
Oscar(as his eyes are drawn to a sword with a medal depicting a wolf): This is bigger than Ozโs war against Salem!
???: You were chosen to help bring an end to this chaosโฆ
Whitley(grabbing the sword with a medal depicting an ape, his aura glowing blue): I wonโt stand by while my familyโs in danger and I can do something to help!
???: You now wield great galactic power, and with it, a great legacy of power!
Jaune is shown along with Ruby, Ren, Oscar and Whitley. All of them now holding the identical swords that were embedded in the stone they found in the temple, their auras glowing red, pink, green, yellow and blue respectivelyโฆ
???(as the eyes on the medal depicting a lion on Jauneโs sword glow): We only hope that it will be enough to allow you to handle what the universe will throw at youโฆ
The swords glow the same colors as their respective auras, as special bracelets appear on their wrists as they stand defiant before the herd of Grimm heading their way.
Jaune(turning the golden dial on his bracelet to red): Ready?!
Ruby+Ren+Oscar+Whitley(turning their dials to their respective colors): Ready!
Jaune+Ruby+Ren+Oscar+Whitley(holding their hands open, palms outwards, before swinging their arms out and pressing the silver button with a zigzag pattern on their bracelets): Ginga, Tensei!
The five of them are engulfed in bright flashes of light, as they undergo aโฆmetamorphosisโฆ
Power Ran~gers~ Lost~
The five of them are now shown wearing what appear to be colored costumes with helmets depicting a different animal.
Lost~ Galaxy~!
Yang(watching them in amazement with everyone else): Woahโฆ
Far, far away, deep in space, to a galaxy you'll go!
Jaune(engaging the horde of Grimm before hopping and scratching the ground with his fingers, kicking up dust): GingaRed!
Jaune(standing up and swinging right arm into a thumbs up across his chest as fire rages behind him): Jaune Arc!
Power Rangers, Go! Power Rangers, Go! Power Rangers, Go!
Ren(pausing to scratch the ground like Jaune did): GingaGreen!
Ren(flashing a thumbs up as green tornado blows behind him): Lie Ren!
There, lies the key, to the answer and the powers you will know!
Whitley(managing to fight the Grimm despite having no prior fighting experience, before copying Jaune and Ren): GingaBlue!
Whitley(giving a thumbs up as a waterfall is shown behind him): Whitley Schnee!
Power Rangers, Go! Power Rangers, Go! Power Rangers, Go!
Oscar(dragging Grimm across the ground along with Ruby as they run on their hands and feet before throwing the Grimm at other Grimm and copying the others): GingaYellow!
Oscar(giving a thumbs up as yellow lightning flashes behind him): Oscar Pine!
Aaaah Rangers, Turn on the power, Power Rangers!
Ruby(copying the others): GingaPink!
Ruby(thumbs upping as a pink petals falling off a tree appear behind her): Ruby Rose!
Lost~ Lost~ Galaxy~!
Jaune(pointing towards an enraged Cinder): The legendary blade that pierces the Galaxy!
Turn on the power, Power Rangers! Lost-Lost Galaxy!
Jaune+Ruby+Ren+Oscar+Whitley(together as the others watch them): Seijuu Sentai!
Jaune+Ruby+Ren+Oscar+Whitley(as they assume a group pose): Gingaman; Remnant!
Turn on the power, Power Rangers! Lost~ Lost~ Galaxy~...Go!
Salem(witnessing the battle with her seer Grimm): Impossible!
Power Rangers~ Lost~
Lost~ Galaxy~!
Jaune(with his new helmet removed as he, the others and their friends are onboard what appears to be a space ship, addressing the voices): Who are you?
Ruby(besides her fellow leader): And what do you want from us?
???: We are defenders of life, love, peace, and the smiles of everyoneโฆ
The first three voices are revealed to have belonged to a groups of people who appear to be constantly shifting their forms, each of them a respective color.
Red(shifting between various red costumes and helmets): We are the Morphing Masters, guardians of the morphing grid.
Blue(shifting between similar blue costumes and helmets, and sometimes even genders): We are partially responsible for granting you these new powers.
Yellow(shifting between yellow costumes, and much like the Blue master, genders and gesturing towards the fourth and final voice): As for your second question, youโll have to ask him.
The final mysterious voice reveals themselves to be a man in a fully red costume, with a high collar, gold highlights, and a badge on his chest that bears the number โ45โ over his left breast.
???(striking his own pose): I am the one who inherits the red souls, Akared!
Akared(crossing his arms over his chest): We have quite a lot to talk about with you allโฆ
Akared(as various groups of people are shown in similar costumes): You have all become part of the greater universeโฆ
Seijuu Sentai Gingaman; Remnant!
Stay tunedโฆ
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