#do you think they’re gonna start a reaction series and react to clone high because i hope they do

[fazbearfart]

you guys see it too right

[witwerlove]

#RememberingRebels

Since the Star Wars Rebels season finale is tonight and I’ve been feeling SUPER nostalgic all week, I figured I’d take a trip down memory lane and reminisce on Sam’s involvement in the show.

This is under a cut because it’s REALLY long and overly detailed. I might have gotten carried away. It includes a collection of my own personal thoughts, opinions, experiences, tweets, and anything else related to Sam and Rebels that seemed appropriate that happened over the past FOUR YEARS OF MY LIFE. It’s amazing how much happened. I didn’t do this for anyone but myself. It serves as a reminder and a look back at all the wonderful experiences I’ve had because of this show and my love for Sam.

Here come the feels. 

AND I MEAN 

ALL 

THE. 

FEELS.

First off, I LOVE Rebels. Not as much or as deep as I love Clone Wars, but it definitely has a place in my heart. Ever since TCW “ended” (without any real closure) and it was announced that the new animated series was called Star Wars Rebels, I’d been hoping that Sam would be cast in it in some way. I feel like that was just as important as it being Star Wars. By then he’d cemented his place in Star Wars and in Dave’s agenda, so I inevitably knew it was going to happen. But it really surprised me with what happened vs what I wanted to happen. Because I’m sure if I asked 2014 me now if she wanted or expected Maul to be in this show, she’d laugh and be like hell no. Probably how much of the world was in 1999 when Maul died and then George and Dave were like BITCH YOU THOUGHT! HE’S ACTUALLY NOT DEAD! Dave Filoni is such a phenomenal storyteller and I have the upmost respect and admiration for him. He is the only one at Lucasfilm that I trust completely. He’s had 10 years to prove to me that he knows what he’s doing. And he knows what he’s doing. I never have any doubt when it comes to Filoni’s work. And I so happy that Sam and Dave have such a great relationship, professionally and personally. Because they both have such a passion to tell great stories and take care of this franchise. I love them together and I hope Sam will always have a place in Dave’s Star Wars.

Thinking back to the early days, I remember there was speculation before Season 1 aired that Sam might be playing The Inquisitor (which I was absolutely here for). There was a picture that revealed the character and I was like I WANT SAM TO VOICE HIM PLEASE LORD LET SAM BE THE VOICE. I had high hopes for that.....until Sam went and crushed all my hopes when this interview came out on January 30, 2014 and he said he was definitely NOT playing the Inquisitor. Which was fine...once the blow healed. It left the door open for him to play another character. I wasn’t gonna give up so easily. I knew he was gonna be in the show. Filoni would not let me down.

Then months later on October 26, 2014 (a few weeks after the show started airing), there were rumors that Sam was “deeply involved” with the show. It hadn’t been officially confirmed that he was in it. There was just that quote from Making Star Wars. But that was enough to get me super excited. I 100% believed with all my heart that it was true. And it was all I ever wanted.

We didn’t get official confirmation that Sam was in the show voicing Emperor Palpatine until April 18, 2015. It was confirmed at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim when the trailer for Season 2 dropped and Sam tweeted this:

But you didn’t have to tell me.

So everyone who attended the Rebels panel  at SWCA was able to see the first 2 episodes, titled Siege of Lothal Parts 1 and 2. The rest of us didn’t see those episodes until June 20, 2015.

But like a month before they aired, I was blessed with the opportunity to meet Sam at Tidewater Comic Con (May 16, 2015). And it was truly the best day of my entire life (or one of them because I met him again the next day....a few times actually)

We actually had a conversation about Rebels. Sam asked me if I’d seen the show and I said “Yes! I’m so excited for Season 2!” I told him I’m so happy that he’s going to be in it. He told me what it was like recording the Emperor for that. He said he was by himself, as opposed to being with the cast. And I'm like "that must have been weird because I know you guys usually record as a cast." Sam also did his Dave Filoni impression for me (before it became the overused gimmick it is today). I laughed and told him I loved it.

Sam also mentioned that James Earl Jones was doing the voice of Vader for Rebels. And I'm like "I know! That's huge!" And he's like "Yeah, because usually I'm up against a Vader sound alike. Never the real thing." Sam said he felt so much pressure to get his Emperor to sound just right next to James Earl Jones’ Vader. But he felt better when the audience at Celebration cheered when they heard his Emperor during the screening. I said I couldn't wait to hear it too. Sam also told me that he voiced multiple characters in the episode and that I should keep a listen to hear him.

It totally went over my head the first time I saw the episode that Sam was the voice of Lando’s droid, W1-LE. It had to be the thick Southern-esque accent that threw me for a loop. But after listening to it again, I felt dumb for not realizing. I think my ears are definitely more attuned to his voice now that I can pick up on it no matter how much or how little he speaks. It just comes naturally now. The tech was obvious though.

The best part of it all was obviously hearing Sam as the Emperor. Though we couldn’t see him (and wouldn’t see or hear him until 2 season later), it was still thrilling. Sam has such a distinct Emperor voice. It’s completely different from Ian McDiarmid’s voice, but not so much that it’s distracting or you don’t know who it is. Which I remember Sam talking about before (but I don’t remember where...probably twitch). How his Emperor has to be effective so you know it’s the Emperor. Especially because in that scene, the audience doesn’t see him. We just hear his voice. And Sam nailed it. As always.

The rest of Season 2 didn’t start airing until October 14, 2015. And while I was enjoying the show, I really missed my dude.

There was a mid-season trailer for Season 2 that was released on January 15, 2016 that had a Maul voiceover and shot of Maul in the dark...but I honstly can’t recall reacting to it at all. So I can’t remember if I saw it or not. Which is odd because I’m usually on that stuff. I’m sure if I saw it, I’d have lost my shit. And I can’t find any tweets or posts I made about it so..... I probably didn’t see it and was in the dark about Maul’s return. Or I didn’t care at the time. I don’t remember seeing any news or speculation about it either. I feel really dumb. I don’t know where my head was at.

In my ignorance, Sam didn’t pop up in anything Rebels related until the Rebels Recon for 2x18 when he teased about being the voice of Chopper. That was on March 16, 2016.

The Star Wars twitter account even “confirmed” it by liking my tweet about it. Plus their youtube channel said it too. So.....it must be true????

All I know is I lost my mind seeing Sam again. I don’t remember when I became aware of Maul coming back to Rebels. The segment in RR said he was “Emperor Palpatine”, but this was 2 weeks before Maul made his first appearance. This was also the day after he was announced to be on Once Upon A Time so I was on cloud 9 with all the new Sam content. I blame myself for being too occupied with OUAT over Rebels during this time to document my reaction to Maul on social media.Lucasfilm wasn’t being that discreet about it though. And Sam even called them out on knowing they’d make a promo revealing Maul, but he was gonna disguise his voice anyways.

Lucasfilm released the official info about Maul’s return on March 24, 2016.

These images were published in an article from Entertainment Weekly.

Sam tweeted the article. I think that is what finally brought it to my full attention that Maul was coming back. I’m sure I knew by that point, but it was there. It was actually happening.

I tweeted this to him and he liked it (so did Tracy Cannobbio...who is awesome btw):

And I replied to his tweet about Maul coming back with this gif. And that was the first RT I ever got from him. It was a good day!

And he replied with this....cheeky bastard.

We like had a whole conversation. It was great.

So Maul was officially back. It had been 3 years since we’d last seen him. Clone Wars Season 5 (5x16 The Lawless aired on February 2, 2013). I was psyched! This is what I wanted for years, but never expected this. But I was happy. Sam had made me LOVE Maul in The Clone Wars...against my initial skepticism. And I was so pumped to see what had happened to him in the 20 so years between The Clone Wars and the current timeline. Lucasfilm also released a preview clip on March 24, 2016 and this was a totally different Maul then we’d ever seen before. I couldn’t wait for the episode to air!

On March 29, 2016, Sam was in Vancouver filming OUAT and there were A LOT of pictures from the set. It was a good day. 

I couldn’t resist making a joke about those awful sideburns.

Twilight of the Apprentice aired on March 30, 2016 and it was absolutely amazing. Everything just blew my mind. It was the best Rebels episode up until this point (and is still in my top 5). Here’s my initial reaction to the episode that I posted here on tumblr. I also spazzed out on twitter too. 

Sam did a lot of press after the Season 2 finale aired, but the best thing was definitely his appearance on Collider Jedi Council with Freddie on April 7, 2016. It was the first time was saw the Force Bros together and I just fell in love with their bromance beyond what we’d seen on twitter. I love seeing them together every chance we get because they’re hilarious and adorable. And they obviously have mutual love and respect for each other. I never would’ve pictured this dynamic ever happening if it weren’t for Star Wars Rebels. And even though the show is ending, I have a feeling Force Bros will last well beyond.

Going through some old videos (for what I don’t remember), I came across an old Clone Wars press conference from 2012 and this part caught my attention so I decided to tweet Sam and Ashley about it (tweeted that April 14, 2016). Because they kinda sort called the Ahsoka/Maul thing in Rebels YEARS before it happened.

The next major thing was Star Wars Celebration Europe. Dave, Sam, and Tiya were the only ones who attended SWCE in London to represent Rebels (July 15-17, 2016). That was one of the best weekends ever because there were so many pics and videos. 

this one being the best:

Since the panel was small, Sam got to talk a lot. I remember going through a crisis not knowing if the panel would be livestreamed or not. But it was and it was awesome! Here’s my full thoughts on the panel because I just had to rant! (July 16, 2016)

The panel gave us the poster and the trailer for Season 3. And it was definitely going to be the most EPIC season yet. Everyone was all excited about Thrawn. But I was just hyped for more Maul! There was also a preview clip of a scene with Ezra, Kanan, and Maul that left us on sort of a cliffhanger until the fall. That was torture. At least for those of us who weren’t there at Celebration to see the first couple episodes. Sam did an interview that I pestered the Star Wars twitter account to upload and they finally did and I was so happy. There was also a press conference on July 16, 2016.

Rebels Season 3 started airing September 24, 2016, This preview clip of Maul was uploaded on September 28. Maul’s first appearance was in 3x02 The Holocrons of Fate (originally aired October 1). I dubbed this the start of “Witwer Weekends” because he was in Rebels AND Once Upon A Time. But that was a mistake because he didn’t appear much in either show. But I enjoyed it while is lasted. Tbh I think I was more caught up in Once Upon A Time than Rebels. I wrote WAY too many rants about it during this time and not enough about Rebels. 

Sam’s first interview on The Star Wars Show was on October 12, 2016. I remember seeing the tweet and being so mad I couldn’t watch it til I got home from work.

But seeing this face was worth the wait because he’s so adorable OMFJSHSHS

Too bad this never happened:

But this is still my favorite SWR promo that was ever made. 

And this is one of the best things I’ve ever made and tweeted Sam (November 21, 2016):

This is another lip sync video I did of Hyde and Maul using audio of Sam from a twitch stream. He didn’t see it but I still love it. (December 9, 2016)

After 3x02, Maul didn’t return until 3x10 Visions and Voices, which aired on December 10, 2016. In hindsight, comparing it to Mortis was lame. But fangirling with Tracy over Sam is always fun!

But it was blowing my mind that we were going back to Tatooine because that meant OBI-WAN!!!!! I don’t think I’d ever been more excited for a Rebels episode up until that point.

The mid-season trailer for Season 3, which came out January 4, 2017,  teased the Obi/Maul reunion, but the 3 month wait after that for Twin Suns was brutal. But completely worth it. There was a promo clip released on March 10 (a week before the episode aired) and it featured the infamous KENNNOOOOOOBIIIIIAHSHDGGGDG scream. Which I set as my phone notification sound and still have to this day because I’m lazy.

But the description of the promo basically spelled out the outcome of the episode.

Sam did lots of press before the big episode, including this livestream interview with Sideshow on March 15, 2017. I was at work when he did this so I didn’t watch it live. Which was disappointing at the time, but it is what it is and I LOVED it.

On March 17, 2017, Lucasfilm released the clip of Maul going insane in the desert on Tatooine, which also included the scream. In a way it felt like a spoiler, but it hyped me up.

There was also a Twin Suns and Zero Hour screening at the LDAC that same day. Sam was there. 

And that’s where this audio came from. "I’M FIRED BUT I’M ALREADY DEAD!” STILL CRACKS ME UP! XDDDDD. Shoutout to the Skywalking Through Neverland Facebook Group for posting videos of the panel with Sam, Dave, and Andi Gutierrez.

Twin Suns aired March 18, 2017 and it left me emotionally wrecked. Maul was a character who was part of the Star Wars saga for 18 years til that point. I grew up with this character. I got to follow his journey from the beginning in 1999 until his death. And I’m not gonna lie, but Sam definitely influenced my love for the character. But Maul really grew on me from TCW and SWR. It was such a privilege to go on this long journey and watch his character develop. I wrote more intimately about my feelings on Maul and Twin Suns here.

Sam appeared in the Rebels Recon episode for Twin Suns and it just ripped my heart out when he said this:

Sam is synonymous with Maul now. He is who I think of when I think of that character because he’s played him the longest and brought so much to him. It’s amazing what he did for the character. He put so much passion into playing Maul. I’m immensely proud of him.

There was so much press and interviews that came out after Twin Suns. It was fucking LIT! Including this amazing article from Star Wars.com on March 23, 2017.

Sam was announced for Star Wars Celebration Orlando on March 24, 2017

I got my Rebels Maul pop on March 29, 2017. Totally worth the 30 something dollars I spent on eBay. I really want Sam to sign it for me someday..along with a bunch of other things.

NEVER FORGET THIS PART FROM AN PODCAST INTERVIEW ON REBELS CHAT! THE POWER OF HANDSOME CAN NEVER DIE. EVEN IF DAVE FILONI KILLS YOUR CHARACTER! (April 6, 2017)

Next cam Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida. Sam kicked off SWCE by posting this pic with Ray Park on April 12, 2017. 

AND HOLY SHIT I LOST MY SHIT

Star Wars Celebration Orlando lasted from April 13-16 2017. And it was the absolute best Celebration ever. There was just so much content that my brain was melting. I was fangirling and nerding out so much and so hard. It was crazy. Sam wasn’t on the Rebels panel, but there was so much other stuff that it didn’t really matter. I know he had such a good time there and it made me so happy. He’d been confirmed for BF II, so that was cool. And the Schmoedown (which he lost and it was a bit humiliating...but I forgive him and he redeemed himself later). Also Smuggler’s Revenge.

But most importantly, on April 15, 2017 at the Rebels panel @ SWCO. It gave us this epic trailer , but t was announced that Season 4 would be the last season of Rebels. That was very sad. But what keeps me going is that Dave and everybody will get to tell a complete story. Unlike Clone Wars. That is what makes me most happy.

Still holding a grudge over this:

This interview Sam did post Maul’s death came out on April 24, 2017. It’s my favorite. I just love him so much. He’s just so intellectual and his passion comes through so much in his words.

Sam even liked my tweet to the woman who wrote the article. Did I mention I love him because I LOVE HIM!!!!!

On May 8, 2017, I got this cool Maul pin from an artist on twitter. He’s wearing a shirt that says MAUL LIVES?. It’s currently on my Starkiller bag that Sam signed (which is probably my most prized possession). I fucking love it!!!!

SPEAKING OF THE MAUL LIVES SHIRT, SAM HAS ONE OF HIS OWN! HE WORE IT ON JUNE 13, 2017 DURING A TWITCH STREAM! I asked him if it had an exclamation point or a question mark (like Dave’s Ahsoka Lives shirt) and he said “ it depends on what you want”

On June 15, 2017, The Star Wars Show released an interview with Eugene Byrd. And the conversation landed on Sam. And there was some bts footage of Sam recording Maul. FINALLY WE HAD FOOTAGE OF THE SCREAM!!! 

But the audio was very faint. So....I got the idea to take the audio from Twin Suns and sync it with the clip of Sam screaming.

I tweeted it to Sam and this happened:

And it’s become one of my most popular posts here on tumblr. It currently has over 2,000 notes. Which is like so surprising to me because it seriously makes me cringe now. But this was before we got the actual footage from a BTS featurette on the Season 3 bluray. So....I was ahead of the curve???

I was so excited when it was announced that Sam was going to on James’ Arnold Taylor’s show called Clone Wars Conversations. His episodes were recorded on June 15, 2017.

They were uploaded to JAT’s YT on August 5 (part 1) and August 11 (part 2). This interview was A LOT of fun and still one of my absolute favorites. I love Sam and James together. Two of my favorite people. Bless James for doing this! He’s the real MVP!  The scene they did of Wesley and Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride as Obi-Wan and Maul is still thing ever.

Season 3 of Rebels came out on DVD and bluray on August 29, 2017. I was at Disney World that day. Sam did a Rebels bluray giveaway during one of his streams in September (I don’t remember the exact date)...but I didn’t win. But I was the one who asked him to sign them..so whoever won, you’re welcome! I eventually bought Season 3 and it goes nicely with my CW and other Rebels DVDs. I can’t wait to add Season 4 to my collection!

There’s a featurette on the DVD that focuses on Maul and Kenobi called  Apprentices to Outcasts: Kenobi and Maul. It’s really awesome and has great insight into those characters and their dynamic over the years. Plus it has the Kenobi scream in beautiful HD.

A second trailer for Season 4 was released on September 4, 2017. And it was fucking epic af!!!!!!

It had been up for discussion since August that Sam and the Rebels cast including Freddie, Steve Blum, Mary McGlynn, Vanessa Marshall, and Taylor Gray were planning to start playing a SW tabletop role playing game that they would broadcast on twitch. Freddie tweeted a short fun promo video featuring Sam on November 8, 2017. It was adorable and hilarious and I’m still not over it.

The first game was on December 8, 2017. And it was so much fun.

The second game was on January 12, 2018. And it was even more fun.

When the Season 4 mid-season trailer came out on January 19, 2017, it was confirmed that Sam would not be voicing the Emperor, but the man himself, Ian McDiarmid. I’ll be honest and say I was really disappointed, but my respect for Ian outweighs my disappointment. He’s the man! And Sam happily stepped aside, so it’s all good.

Oh...and this happened.

THE MORTIS REFERENCE. I SCREAMED. MORTIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE ARC IN THE CLONE WARS. AND TO SEE IT STILL RELEVANT IN 2018 JUST BLOWS MY MIND. I WAS SO HYPED FOR THAT.

So Sam’s been the voices of a few minor characters here and there, but it was such a surprise to hear him in 4x11 DUME, which aired on February 19, 2018. He was the Imperial tech who talks to Pryce in the first scene. I was like HOLD UP! IS THAT SAM. IT SOUNDS LIKE SAM!

So I checked the credits and it was him. He was also the trooper who finds the com and then gets blown up. I’ve seen the episode like 4 times and I don’t think there is a “biker scout #2″ in that episode. Pretty sure that’s a mistake.

The episodes that had the Mortis Gods (4x12 and 4x13) aired on February 26, 2018. It was epic and beautiful, but I think I hyped myself up too much. The archived sound of Sam’s voice as the Son was great, but I wanted more. But it makes my heart happy that Mortis still has a place in this story so many years later.

______________________________

And that brings us to where we are today; the series finale of Star Wars Rebels. It feels like the end of an era. One that will actually have some closure. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years. I know I tend to focus mostly on Sam when it comes to this show, but honestly, I love everything else about it just as much. I went on this journey with these characters for 4 years. Not all of them made it to the end, but they’ll be in my heart forever. Rebels is such an important part of the new age of Star Wars. It was the first taste of content we got from Disney. It held us over until Episode VII. My wounds from losing The Clone Wars healed because of this show. I knew it wouldn’t replace TCW and I wasn’t expecting it to. From day one, Rebels was its own thing, telling its own stories. Acting as a bridge between two trilogies, the same way Clone Wars was the bridge between two films. It was quality and surpassed my expectations. I’m grateful that I’m here to see the end of this amazing show and got to be a part of this journey. I had some wonderful experiences in relation to Rebels. Ones I’ll never forget.

I want to thank Dave and his incredible team of talented people who created and contributed to this series. We deserve this closure after being screwed over with Clone Wars. And I’m really glad Sam got to be a part of it. I’m really proud of his contributions.

I’m really excited for what the future holds for Star Wars and Sam. And how my two favorite things will collide again. I’m sure they’re all hard at work on the next installment in the franchise and I can’t wait to see what it is. I’m grateful that I get to be a part of this fandom and contribute to this fandom. Star Wars is very important to me. It’s my favorite thing in the world. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up with the films as a child, The Clone Wars was a part of my high school and college years, and Rebels was a part of my adulthood and discovering what I want from life. Star Wars, especially the animated series, have been my escapism. 

Reflecting back on all these wonderful memories filled me with great joy. Yes, I’m sad the show is ending. But I’m honestly happy. Not happy that it’s over. But happy that this story was told. And that this story gets an ending. I trust Dave will do it right. I have complete faith in him and his people. They’ll do it justice. Rebels will always have a place in my heart. I love it. And I will continue to love and appreciate it long after it ends. Thank you to everyone involved and everyone that made this series one of a kind and truly special.