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tarisilmarwen · 1 year ago

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Rebels Rewatch: “Rebel Resolve”

Boy, say that ten times fast.

Some ominous rolling piano notes that accompany the chicken walker, sounding just as lumbering and mechanical.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: That one extra squashing himself flat against the crates to give the troopers and walker some room.

Cymbals crash on cue with our pan up to Sabine and Zeb. And some heroic trombones pipe in the moment Zeb and Ezra make their move.

He’s a little shit and I love him.

The downbeats stagger along with the walker legs. This cue is tight-wound and frenzied sounding, no recognizable themes but still a dynamic, exciting track for the scene.

Chopper’s vocalizations are so pronounced you can almost make out words here.

This is not the first stolen Imperial vehicle we will see them in the cockpit of lol.

Ezra very insistent that Kanan’s alive. Of course, he can probably sense it. High canon still hasn’t really confirmed that Force Bonds are a thing (outside of the dumbass dyad thing but we’re not counting that) but Ezra’s agitation this episode and his uncanny “just a feeling” type knowledge that Kanan’s alive has all the earmarks of it.

Oh hey speaking of!

Kanan seems juuuuuuuust slightly out of it, safe to say he’s probably had truth serums pumped into him in preparation for a mind probe.

Not only no fanfare but a deep bellowing bass note, oh fun.

Sabine has decided to take up the back gunner’s seat and this whole sequence of the three of them sniping at each other is a bit darkly hilarious.

“Excuse me I’m the rear cannon thank you very much!”

The Alliance variation of the Force Theme comes in as Hera swoops down and let’s just appreciate the skill it must take to keep the Phantom both steady and ahead of an advancing walker.

I unabashedly love that Chopper stayed behind still trying to get information that would help them find Kanan and how sorely he misses the man and how he really steps up this episode to be useful. The orange tin can murderhobo does care.

Oh boy, do I get to talk about Ahsoka ordering Hera not to rescue Kanan now?

You know it’s really kind of amazing that this moment of all moments did not garner many bad faith rancid takes.

Ahsoka gets a weird amount of leniency from fandom on this, frankly.

I mean arguably Ahsoka is basically choosing to let Kanan get tortured and killed or turned, in order to keep the wider Rebellion quiet and out of sight. That plays a bit into the conflict in later seasons and even Rogue One, and the Alliance’s eternal debate about when to take direct action and when to wait and be cautious and shore up. It’s a bit interesting that both the Spectres and Rogue One taking the risk and initiative essentially forces the Alliance’s hand, tipping them into more open conflict with the Empire.

The Rebel Alliance might tell you off for being stupid but at the end of the day it will have your back.

So yes, in that sense it was right for Hera et al to disobey orders and go after Kanan anyway.

...But Ahsoka also kind of has a point. Hera was risking getting herself and her whole team captured or killed and that could have been disastrous for secrecy reasons and a devastating blow to morale for the people who’d heard the message, squashing any thoughts of rebellion inside them before they could fully form. Because you know Tarkin would advocate to make an example of them, he even said as much.

I want to point out the emphasis Ahsoka puts on Ezra here. It may have been Kanan’s idea to send out a transmission, but it was Ezra on the broadcast, Ezra’s message and words that rang out across the galaxy, and so it’s Ezra’s safety that’s paramount.

Stop me before I go into sobbing meta about Ezra as the Hope Bringer and Ezra as a narrative Chosen One (but not THE Chosen One), he is the bridge between peoples, he is the voice of freedom, his power of connection is the key to liberating his people, if Ezra is caught that hope will die.

*blubbering*

See fandom, this is what we call a “protagonist”, as in their actions drive the plot and the narrative shapes itself around them, y’all seem to forget that towards the latter half of things.

Anyway have a cap of Hera being emotionally devastated and sad by the hard call she has to make now.

I notice at least six Star Destroyers shown in orbit above Lothal here.

Ahhh there’s the strings of the Force Theme prelude and more of Ezra just knowing that Kanan’s alive, tell me it’s not their Force Bond, Dave, I dare you.

If Hera sounds stilted and rehearsed here it’s because this is the Rebel Leader script coming out. These are the kind of lines she practices and repeats over and over inside her head to keep herself on-mission, remind herself of The Cause and what it costs to achieve.

Metatextually I can’t quite figure out if Ezra’s actions this episode are supposed to be any kind of endorsement or indictment or commentary on “attachment”, or rather what fanon osmosis thinks attachment is, as mentioned the rescue is portrayed as the narratively correct option aside from some token scolding about how reckless and dangerous it was, and I’ve already commented on Ezra’s clinginess when it comes to Kanan and his potentially problematic fear of loss.

The juxtaposition of the Ghost crew’s passionate actions against the clinically objective (somewhat cold-sounding) position that Ahsoka/The Rebellion hold, and how the Spectres are narratively validated, seems a bit deliberate despite that A) that’s just How War Be sometimes, which the show DOES know, and B) Ahsoka’s usually not allowed to be wrong.

I could make the argument that this is still early on in Ezra’s character development, and specifically in the back half of Season Four the show leans into the lesson of “don’t burn down the galaxy simply to prevent yourself from losing things, accept the loss and let go” for the express purpose of forcing Ezra to have to grow past the stubborn impatience, rashness, and cock-surety he displays here but I don’t think I could say with confidence that I have creator-backed intention on that end.

Filoni-led projects, for the most part, align about 85% with George Lucas’s own commentary and intentions when it comes to How The Force Works 101 (Spoiler Alert: It’s Space Buddhism), it’s that 15% of “steeped just a little too long in the rancid fanon soup” that you have to watch out for.

So this whole arc could maybe be a deliberate Played Straight/Ultimately Subverted comment on being willing to sacrifice for the greater good (and various other deep-seated Discourses™ in Star Wars fandom).

Orrrrrrrr this could be something I’m way overthinking and there wasn’t any kind of intended wider takeaway at all.

I rambled a bit there, I know, but basically my point is that even though Ezra’s right, so was Ahsoka, this could have gone Very Very Badly.

They’re lucky the Force loves them so much.

Moving on.

This scene here with Ezra and Chopper is adorable. It’s the first (but not the last) time Ezra would conspire with Chopper on a secret plan, which speaks to the depths of trust he’s managed to build with the droid.

How dare you inflict more pretty shots on me, show.

Frick, the waver in Hera’s voice right here always gets to me.

She kept the secrets from Kanan too, out of obvious necessity, and he trusted her, he agreed with her, and now he’s probably suffering for the things he doesn’t know and ghgkshkhkhkh stab me and it would hurt less there’s so much guilt and anguish in Hera right now.

Interesting to note, Sabine has already been informed of and trusted with the secret plan, and agreed to it. Zeb wasn’t told at all, just kind of roped into it once the kids ganged up on him.

And this is why he does not count as adult supervision lol.

Look at my little chaos gremlins. <3

Chopper’s diversion doesn’t last very long, Hera’s already suspicious.

Oh good, back with Kanan and the torture squad! Some ominous bassoons accompany Grand as he enters here. We forgo the dramatic chorals of his theme for very steady low bass notes just droning on under the dialogue. The chorals don’t return until mid mind probe when Grand exerting his power, and even then it’s fainter and quieter than usual.

Tarkin still doubting that Kanan’s really a Jedi, I guess it’s Kanan’s relative youth that’s throwing him maybe?

“You will tell me where to find your Rebel friends.”

“No... Ezra... Not him. Not. Him.“

<33333333333333

One of my absolute favorite Papa Wolf Kanan moments, Grand starts digging for information in Kanan’s head and his very first thought is to protect his padawan. (Again with the emphasis on Ezra’s importance, narratively overall and personally to Kanan.)

Kanan tanks the Force torture so Grand resorts to classic more mundane methods, his theme coming in stronger as the electricity comes on.

This scene is kind of a microcosm of what I was talking about earlier. Ezra is taking a huge risk by revealing that he and Kanan are Jedi, heck, by talking to Vizago in the first place. Does it work out? Yes. But it’s the kind of gamble you can’t always risk in a wartime scenario, no matter what personal feelings are involved.

Even secrecy-hating Sabine cautions Ezra against spilling the truth here.

That aside, this moment when Ezra floats the crate? Epic. The hesitant flute playing the Force theme right before Ezra makes his declaration, how it comes back stronger with a glistening sound effect and the familiar Force ring, Vizago’s dumbstruck look...

You’re a dumbass but I’m proud of you kiddo. <3

Sabine sharing my worry about Ezra going with Vizago alone here. Sure we know Vizago cashes in the favor for something petty now, but this caused more than a bit of apprehension in all of us the first time around, trust me.

The ominous music didn’t help.

Ezra having no idea what to do to seal the deal is adorkable and Vizago’s offended bewilderment is hilarious.

Mama no happy.

Hera scolding Ezra here is pretty similar to how furious she gets in “Steps Into Shadow” and she gives the same reasons for it too: You put yourself in danger and the rest of us/the wider Rebellion at risk, you were reckless, and you disobeyed direct orders.

The difference between the two situations being that the plan here pulled off without a hitch (they might not have even needed the Rebel reinforcements if Chopper had stayed put instead of going to fetch them) whereas in “Steps Into Shadow” things went sour pretty much from the get-go, necessitating Hera to mobilize and risk the fleet to pull Ezra's ass out of it. (Again, the Rebellion will always begrudgingly come to help you.)

Maybe the major narrative difference is that here they could be argued to be trusting in the Force and in “Steps Into Shadow” Ezra was arrogantly relying on his own power and skill, plus the Dark Side, and that’s what caused disaster in one instance but not the other?

I dunno, like I said I think I’m getting a little bit too into my own head here. Apologies if that’s making this recap less fun.

(I at least think there’s a good case to be made that Hera could have easily been persuaded to change her mind without Ezra going off to consult Vizago since she relents pretty quickly here.)

Have I mentioned how pretty this show is yet?

Chopper’s little nod when Ezra says, “For Kanan.” awww.

Tarkin is finally starting to admit that Kanan seems very Jedi-like. And thus recommends transferring him to another torture location.

Meanwhile Grand seems weirdly baffled and perturbed that Kanan doesn’t actually know anything about the wider Rebellion and ow I just hurt myself stumbling over “Jedi cannot help what they are. Their compassion leaves a trail.” Kenobi show feelings, because of course Grand would assume that Kanan is deeply involved in the Rebellion because that’s what Jedi DO.

They get involved.

Lol this poor droid just straight up faints at the sight of Zeb.

Love how the troopers don’t question the missing sentries because they literally don’t care, they’re running late. That one guy sounds absolutely Done.

Please enjoy how beautiful Lothal was pre-crispening.

This is a new cue and I think a unique one, not used anywhere else in the show; the percussion stands out most to me in it, I’m hearing a lot of cymbals and a strong drum rhythm.

Chopper just brazenly starts copying data while the Imperials are looking on his memory drives, the balls on this droid.

Zeb’s maniacal grin when Ezra tells him he should watch the courier droid “Because you’re intimidating.” lol.

Oh yeah, nope, all those Stormtroopers that got sucked out the airlock with Chopper? They dead.

This is an excellently staged sequence.

Chopper adds another droid to his body count, lol. (Though tie-in material shows that this one winds up okay, runs out of power for a bit in that field but gets picked up by some farmers later.)

Seriously, show. These clouds have such a soft painterly feel and texture.

Hera holding Ezra’s hands here, awwwwwwww.

AND MUSTAFAR NAME DROP. Fandom collectively “Uh-oh”ed at that part and this was before Rogue One revealed that Vader has his personal Minecraft Lava Castle Of Bullshit And Sadness down there. Also before we learned the Inquisitors operate out of Nur in the same system.

So you know, it’s been a rolling ball of Fridge Horror since then.

Though softer, the lighting almost calls up the fires of Mustafar already, oranges and yellows, the brightest spot straight ahead as if to symbolize how they’re about to go into the inferno.

Another TO BE CONTINUED title card and yes, I was in fact close to gnawing my arm off the first time through lol.

Whew! Didn’t think I would have much to say about this episode.

And in fairness--aside from my attempts to mentally reconcile Hera’s “It’s okay to disobey orders when I do it/when it’s something that leads to what I want.” versus her reaming Ezra in Season Three even though he basically did the same thing both now and then, and whether or not there’s any kind of larger commentary on the themes and messages of Star Wars at play (probably not but a girl can hope)--I don’t think I had that much of substance to comment on.

This episode is just good. You get lost in enjoying it.

We’ll wrap up Season One tomorrow with the finale.

#star wars #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #rebels rewatch #liveblog #i get into my own head a bit on this one sorry #meta rambling #space dad and his precious pumpkin child

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