Note: There will be spoilers in the recap and review.
Recap
There's an attack by TIE Fighters. The Ghost is trying to liberate some cargo along with some other Rebel ships. Things get worse when some Star Destroyers arrive. They manage to secure the cargo and jump to light speed. Just another day for the Rebels.
On Coruscant, the Minister Tua is talking about not being able to find any information on the Rebels, as per Governor Tarkin’s orders. Darth Vader arrives and says their problem is their lack of imagination. Vader says if the Rebels have left the system, they have to draw them back. They’ll put the squeeze on Lothal until the Rebels have no choice but to return. The minister says they simply aren’t used to their brutal tactics. Vader says she can explain that to Tarkin when she visits him to explain her failure. Agent Kallus tells her he and Vader will take care of things on Lothal while she’s gone.
The Ghost crew is being thanked for their part in getting supplies. Chopper comes in with a transmission from the Minister. Jarrus and Zeb say they can’t trust her and they should cut off communications. Hera wants to hear her out. Tua says she wants safe passage off Lothal and she’ll give them Imperial information in return. She wants to defect from the Empire. Ezra senses she’s telling the truth. She’s obviously afraid. She says she can give them a list of allies within the Empire. She also says she knows the true reason the Empire came to Lothal. There is an unknown reason from the Emperor. They agree to get her off planet. Ahsoka is quiet during the entire thing. Hera and Jarrus have an argument over procedure. She says his decision to allow Chopper to play an unknown transmission in a top secret debriefing was out of line. Jarrus says wants to go back off on their own after this mission and get away from the other Rebels.
Because of their last mission, they can’t take the Ghost since it could be traced. Their plan is to steal the shuttle Tua will be taking to visit Tarkin. As they approach, Ezra tells Jarrus he suddenly feels cold. Jarrus takes out a Stormtrooper to take his armor for a distraction. They see Tua approaching, but she’s not alone. She’s being accompanied by Agent Kallus. She tells him it wasn’t necessary to have an escort. Kallus says they just want to make sure she makes it on board her shuttle. Sabine makes her move and starts blasting the Stormtroopers as Jarrus shuts the door to cut off any other reinforcements. As they make their way to the shuttle with Tua in the lead, as soon as she gets on, there’s an explosion from within. The others are thrown back. Kallus comes up blaming them for the explosion. Their ship picks up them with Vader and Kallus watching. Before the shuttle can make an escape, an AT-ST blasts it in the rear and the ship crashes.
Kallus talks to Vader, via transmission, and says everything is going according to his plan. Vader orders all ships to be locked down. Any ship trying to leave Lothal will be destroyed. A transmission is released declaring the Rebels have killed Tua. Because all shipping docks are locked down, Jarrus suggests they head into the Imperial center to try to find a shuttle. With the Stormtrooper armor and a cadet outfit, they bring in a couple containers, telling the guard it’s power cells that need to be recharged for the Rebel pursuit. Ezra tries using the Jedi Mind Trick when the Trooper says he needs to look inside. It doesn’t work so Jarrus takes over. They find a shuttle they can take along with some military grade shield generators to take back to the fleet. Jarrus and Ezra both feel the wave of cold as Vader and several Stormtoopers arrive.
Jarrus and Ezra ignite their lightsabers as he tells Hera to load everything up. Vader takes out Jarrus by throwing him across the platform with the Force. He has Ezra pinned and tells him his master was wrong by trying to convince him he could be a Jedi. Vader starts forcing Ezra’s lightsaber to move up towards his head just as Jarrus manages to jump up and attack from behind. Vader is almost toying with them. Zeb and Sabine throw thermal detonators at some walkers. The explosion distracts Vader and Jarrus and Ezra both Force push him back. One of the walkers falls on top of him. Vader uses the Force to lift it off. They run towards their ship with Vader right behind. Sabine tries shooting at him and he deflects the blasts right back at her. Vader tells a Stormtrooper not to worry because they won’t be leaving the planet.
Ezra asks Jarrus if that was another Inquisitor. Jarrus says it’s worse, a Sith Lord. When Ezra asks how you fight him, Jarrus says you don’t. He also tells Hera they can’t try to leave because they’ll have a blockade waiting for them. Sabine says they’ll have to smuggle themselves off the planet.
Kallus informs Vader the shuttle hasn’t tried to leave the planet yet. Vader mentions a refugee camp they aided before and tells Kallus to burn it down. It’s not likely they’ll hide there but their compassion will draw them out.
Hera and Jarrus contact Lando about smuggling something passed the Empire’s blockade. When he says it’ll cost them, Hera mentions the shield generators and they haggle a deal. They meet with one of Lando’s droids since he’s off planet at the moment. Ezra sees some smoke in the background. Jarrus lets him go off on a speeder but soon follows. No one is left at the camp. They’re all prisoners now. They send off several transponders with the shuttles signal in different locations. TIE Fighters are ordered to destroy them.
The crew manages to jump to lightspeed. When it’s reported to Vader, he doesn’t seem upset. Kallus tells the officer there was a tracking device on the shuttle. Vader is making his way towards the convoy. Phoenix Squadron goes out to intercept. Hera says the squadron is outmatched and heads out to help. The others join her and Ahsoka asks if she can tag along. The main ship’s shields are down. Ahsoka senses the Force is strong with this pilot. Ahsoka and Jarrus try to sense who it is. Ezra points out it’s the same fear and hatred they felt on Lothal, the Sith Lord. As Ahsoka begins to get close, Vader says to himself, “The apprentice lives.” Ahsoka lets out a scream and passes out. Vader tells the incoming Star Destroyer he wants the Rebels alive. The Rebels abandon their ship in escape pods and get away.
Ahsoka talks to Jarrus and Ezra. She asks about the Sith Lord. They say the fear, anger and hate is like nothing they felt before—not since the Clone Wars. Ezra asks if she know who or what the Sith Lord is. She says she doesn’t but they’ll all be coming now.
Kallus tells Vader with the Rebel’s command ship destroyed, they’ll be on the run now. Vader orders the bridge to be cleared. Vader talks to the Emperor. The Emperor asks if he’s dealt with the Rebels in the Lothal system. Vader says they are broken now. The Emperor senses there is something more. Vader tells him that he believes the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker lives and is working with them. They see this as a good thing. Skywalker’s apprentice could lead them to other lost Jedi, such as Kenobi. The Emperor tells him to dispatch other Inquisitors to hunt them down.
Thoughts
The first season had its ups and downs. It did have to set up this moment in the Star Wars timeline and introduce us to the main characters. The season did continue to build up, leading into the big finale. Now that the characters are established, bringing in Darth Vader and Ahsoka adds to the overall feel for the series. The show will have to tread lightly with the use of both, especially Vader. If the coming season consists of failed attempt after failed attempt by Vader to capture the Rebels, that takes away from his might, even if this is an earlier moment in his 'career.'
It does feel a little early for Jarrus and Ezra to have a run in with Vader but it does crank up the excitement, something you want for a season premiere. The fight almost felt too short but it's understandable just a tease for what could be coming up. It's likely that Vader was simply toying with them to see where they would go and to try to gather more information.
While we're all on the edge of our seats to see how a confrontation between Vader and Ahsoka will go, the show also has to tread lightly as to not take away the spotlight from the rest of the characters that were developed in during the first season. Fans may want to see a lot of familiar sights and characters but the show's been doing a great job establishing itself as its own piece of Star Wars history.
It is hard to say where the season will go. We have a different setting and more characters the Rebels can interact with. It's a very strong start to the season but the downside is we now have to wait until the fall to watch the rest of the season.
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