Rebels is dead! Long live Rebels!
Unlike The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels jetpacked off into the sunset with a bonafide series finale and, to be honest, it was pitch perfect.
The thing that I enjoyed most about the finale was that almost every main character got to show off the change and growth they’ve displayed since the beginning of the series. Zeb, no longer the brooding last-of-his-kind disgraced guard, had found new purpose and had long since let people in to see the real him. Sabine, no longer the rebel artist without a cause, had become a confidant and leader. Ezra, no longer the cocky little turd we first met, had gained Jedi abilities, a family, and the demeanor of a peaceful warrior. Hera… All right, Hera didn’t really change. Kanan got dead. Chopper still has the highest body count.
So, yes, it’s been a harrowing four years with these crazy kids and I do mean “kids” because what is Rebels than the story of orphans and castaways who became a family? We’ve seen them fight, we’ve seen them laugh, we’ve seen them cry and the finale was a poetically perfect way to drop the curtain on them.
If I had a major gripe, and I know this is going to sound weird, it would be that the finale had too much fighting in it. For all of its scale and audacity, one action sequence bled into another and then into another with no break and no breath and almost became boring in of itself.
When it wasn’t being boring, however, it was really good. Watching Ezra face Grand Admiral Thrawn one last time and finally get the best of him with those space whales and then hyperspace away to his destiny was wonderful. I like closure with finales, but I also like a few doors left open for interpretation.
The closure was granted by showing the fates and destinies of some of the characters after the fall of the Empire, the door was opened when Sabine and Asoka embark on their quest to find Ezra. Personally, whether the story is picked up by a future spinoff or just left at that… I’ll be happy. I like the idea that the adventure never really stops.
So, it was a good finale when it was being quiet and a little annoying when it never stopped running and exploding, but I am happy with it. It’s been a heck of a journey.
Jason Gaston 