Thanks for checking out my reaction to Star Wars: Rebels Episode 15
– The Siege Of Lothal
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0:00 – Intro
3:05 – Episode 16 Reaction
22:04 – Episode 17 Reaction
42:00 – Thoughts
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The animation for "The Siege of Lothal" still looks glorious.
Hera be a better pilot then Anakin? HA, she's good but Anakin is the best pilot in Star Wars.
An intense two -part opener! So many moments that gave me chills. I love that Darth Vader's appearance is based on Ralph McQuarrie's early concept art — which has been a major influence on the series already — for the character. This is really where the series kicks into high gear, and I'm excited to be along for your reaction.
Minister Tua, and most of the imperials are very under used in this show. Imagine if the show had the resources to dedicate time to them like was done on Andor. Part of the reason is because Rebels had less than half the budget of TCW per episode. Thus the seasons had to be much shorter and feature less locations. But on the plus side Phoenix One is a Pelta Class med frigate from the clone wars so some assets can be reused. Travis is out as well. I don't even think he's in a comic. Speaking of, had you a chance to read Kanan: The last Padawan yet or at the very least A New Dawn?
The reason Ashoka said no she doesn't know who the Sith Lord is, was because she is in denial. She's thinking back to what Maul told her, that the Emperor would have Anakin as his apprentice, she called Maul a liar, yet he wasn't lying. She is struggling to accept that Maul told her the truth and that Anakin did indeed join the dark side and the Emperor. She doesn't want to accept that and is trying to convince herself it's not Anakin.
When Ahsoka reached out to Vader, she was surprised that within that darkness was a presence that wasn't foreign to her. It had been so long, she forget whose presence it was, but her muscle memory did, and she was overwhelmed and fainted.
Now she's confused, the Sith Lord is someone she knows, a force user from back when she was a Jedi, but every force user she knew is supposedly dead…
Hi Ben! Hope you are well!
There's something I want you to remember: The Jedi caused their own downfall, and could be considered a "great reset" for the Jedi Order. Their hubris was used against them. Future Jedi will learn a different way than the Jedi of old, while they are still influenced by it. "Light side good, Darks side bad" is no longer the prevailing thought (except with maybe Yoda and Obi-Wan). "Shades of gray" can work if the Force user doesn't succumb to evil. At least, that's how it appears at this point.
Seeing Vader on the bridge of a star destroyer in animated form like the original films.
Opposite of seeing Tarkin on the bridge last season, which he didn't get to do in the original film.
Kanan and Hera arguing in Phoenix Home is beat for beat Han and Leia in Echo Base.
For Palpatine's little moment at the end, he was voiced by Sam Witwer, since he always voices him in the video games.
A later rerelease of the episode had Palpatine's lines redone by Ian, though his version sounded annoyed at Vader's report and not the friendly manipulator.
Filoni's explanation of Anakin's mindset during this is that anything that remains of his former self, anything that could potentially make him drop the Vader persona, invokes fear and anger. Anakin wants to destroy those remnants because those very remnants are a reminder that he's wrong, that he still exists.
It's the extreme version of what Vader tried to do when Luke rejected to join him.
SPOILER WARNING!!!
I am watching all Star Wars in Chronological order; I have seen the Original Trilogy but nothing else beyond the Kenobi so please be careful of spoilers in the comments.
To go along with a previous comment, I mentioned about Minister Tua being underused. Originally she was the show’s main baddie. Governor Pryce was supposed to be killed in this episode. But I guess they realized Tua was too cute and feminine to be a credible head, bad guy. Which was the right choice she’s nowhere near ruthless enough. But the episode also has a big plot hole. How did Tua know how to contact the rebels? If she knew how to do that, why didn’t she report that to Agent Kallus? And how did you figure out how to do that in the first place?
There should be one more episode in season one. In my head canon, the Phoenix sell attempts to contact Tua in hopes of convincing her to defect.
Perhaps they do get to her and she has conflicting feelings about her devotion to the Empire over her duty to her people.
This isn’t a spoiler. Tua was heavy supporter of the empire when they first came to Lothal. She should’ve done er the previous governor. And was promoted when he was deposed. One of the earliest policies she did was improve quality of life among the people with a new affordable housing initiative for the new factory laborers and miners. When the population boomed massive increase in commerce. As such she was favored by the public. Tua like Pryce is also born and raised on Lothal. The Empire upheld their end of the bargain by modernizing Lothal.
Tua should have been seen a tragic victim politically speaking she’s a bit of a wallflower. Why would a public minister be put responsible for the acquisition of illegal weapons? Those disruptors were banned by the imperial Senate, which she technically serves while Pryce is absent. They way I see it she always was Pryce’s errand girl/pawn. Doing the dirty work to keep the important people safe from the Imperial Senate. And in the end, she was ruthlessly sacrificed.
Ben, you keep saying Anakin, it's only Vader, we don't see Anakin again until Episode 6.
Hera is a pretty good pilot, off course, HOWEVER, Vader is probably even better. After all Obi-Wan stated in A New Hope when talking about Anakin to Luke for the first time, "He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy." And that is very likely true. He already possesses the skills, but being force sensitive to the ludicrous degree that Vader is, makes him even better, heightened reflexes, slight precognition, etc. Vader still possesses the same skills Anakin did, except it's amplified by his connection to the dark side.
Other really good pilots out there would be people like Hera, Han Solo, Plo Koon was also revered for being one of the best pilots of the Jedi Order… But Anakin has seemingly always been at the top, and as such, so has Vader.
Thank you for the reaction, and your commentary I think you are in for a treat for the rest of the series, I don't think the storytelling will let you down
26:49
This scene is crucial in the context of the symbolism from Season 1. The Grand Inquisitor, who symbolized fear, has been defeated, indicating that our heroes can overcome fear. However, many questions arise about the context, the method, and the cost of fighting fear.
Ezra, at this point, is showing something he believes is bravery, but let’s be honest—it's foolishness. His reckless, blind bravado may lead to unnecessary dangers or even worse outcomes.
(In my opinion, this is Ezra's biggest flaw.)
Kanan, on the other hand, represents a fear of returning to the past. He expresses concern that Ezra wants confrontation but isn’t seeing the bigger picture, being overly focused on his Clone Wars experience.
Kanan's philosophy of fighting fear is different: Yes, fight, but not the way you did before. You have to fight, but in a new way, because repeating the same mistakes always leads to failure.
I advise keeping an eye on the other characters, as each will face some form of questioning regarding their philosophy on fighting fear this season, though it will be most prominent in our Jedi duo.
Now for Vader:
Vader eliminates the minister to frame the Rebellion as the villains and to create a pretext for doing literally anything. It’s a brilliant strategy.
As for his duel with Kanan and Ezra, Vader was toying with them. He could have easily decapitated Ezra but pretended that the young Jedi could resist. In Kanan’s case, there were moments when Vader used his hands instead of his lightsaber. This entire fight wasn’t serious. Vader’s goal was merely to show his superiority and force them into retreat. If he had been serious, no one would have survived.
Then there’s the aerial battle with the pilots. Again, if Vader wanted, no one would have escaped, not even Hera. But he wanted them alive because of Ahsoka.
Speaking of Ahsoka, both she and Vader sensed each other. Ahsoka literally passed out from the shock of the realization, while Vader did nothing to her. It was simply overwhelming for her.
34:32
Relating to the fight against fear, Ahsoka also has her own philosophical context here. This is an important scene that starts it.
Finally, the conversation between Vader and Palpatine:
The fact that Palpatine immediately senses "something more" says it all. Vader is already fixated on Ahsoka and couldn’t even hide that information from his master. The fact that Palpatine is the one to point out there’s something Vader isn’t saying suggests that Vader was trying to hide it.
We have to remember that in Empire Strikes Back, Vader proposes to Luke that they rule the galaxy together – kill Palpatine.
Ahsoka hasn’t harmed Vader, and the way he talks about her as a "tool" to find and kill other Jedi but not her suggests he's testing the waters with his master. He’s essentially asking, "Can we keep her alive?"
Palpatine isn’t a fool, and he knows it. His response is clear: Yes
Just think of all the opportunities this gives him.
And I noticed now that in the link to the Old Republic trailers there is a problem with the sound for a moment. I'll give you a link to the official playlist for these trailers.
That'll be the best😅
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiJsK_sFeeKyS5pJSePa5eH_TfwThyrxE&si=hSQk7Yoj9hQ24Xlz
(The other links I gave are ok, only the link with trailers should be changed to this one.)
All you have to do chronologically is watch first trailer "Deceived" as third one.
I am just so sad they killed off Minister Tua so quickly, I really would have wanted at least a couple episodes of her working with the rebels, as she is the rare kind of imperial who isn't a total dick, but is really just an official trying to do her job as fairly as possible.
You have to remember that Ahsoka left the Jedi Order, she technically isn't a Jedi due to this. If Ahsoka had stayed, she would very likely have been given the rank of Jedi Knight on the spot, Mace Windu stated after all that "This was actually your great trial, now we see that." Signifying that all the unnecessary BS that Ahsoka went trough in order to clear her name was the challenge she had to overcome in order to become a Jedi Knight… As Pedantic of a conclusion that would be. Mace isn't really known for being emotional after all. So Ahsoka WAS a Jedi Padawan that could have gained the rank of Jedi Knight, but chose to leave the order instead. And honestly? I do not blame her for that decision in the slightest.
Awesome reaction! So many emotions, I love how the writers are able to balance so well the amount of focus on each character or group of characters, the pacing, the tension mounting there, with them, but overall here with us, because we know what's about to happen and how it will hurt! The two parter finale to this season is some of the best, and I mean, the best Star Wars, imo.
My favoritt part about rebels is that they dont overuse Vader, shows up a handfull of times and they always make it an important moment
Just a slight correction, Vader wasn't piloting a TIE fighter, he was piloting a TIE interceptor, just like he does in the battle of Yavin in a New Hope.
👍
Ahsoka doesn't know yet at this point that it's Anakin.
Darth Vader in this was voiced by the great James Earl Jones, it sounds a little off but that may have been what they were using to make the helmet sound effect.
Also Palpatine in this was originally voiced by Sam Witwer (who voices Maul, the Son, and a few others) but was later re-dubbed by Ian McDiarmid.
11:13 Okay so she's in…
Us: in the grave! 😂 RIP Minister Tua
RIP Ezra's old house. Also Kanan and Ezra don't know who Vader is quite yet, so obviously their first instantinct is to try and fight him 😂
Vader wasnt trying to kill Kanan and Ezra, probably because he wanted them to lead him back to the fleet. And possibly Ahsoka.
Too bad he underestimated how stubborn these guys are, and that their command ship being destroyed won't "break" them the way he'd have liked.
this just popped up in my recommend, imma watch everything and sub. I like rebels alot especially due to the fact that it introduces a variety of ships (im into SW ships alot) including at 29:51 where you can see a TIE Advanced x1 which is one of my fav's, but not my top 1.. If anything new pops up I would glady inform you on it.
Also fun fact even through the TIE Advanced x1 has missiles and shields, Vader never has to use them because hes that good lol
What I love the most about this is that we see all the sides of Vader that he plays. As a tactical mind working in the background, as a skilled lightsaber duelist, and even his abilities as a pilot
And I also love how you were just telling everyone to run the entire time.
I think ahsoka felt the same thing she felt on the jedi cruiser. It was the same presence that appeared as anakin disappeared into the force.
Love this two-parter. Show makes excellent use of Vader & Ahsoka. Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts.
Imagine he took time off to go kill the person who said she died.
Lol
Having Kanan and Ezra feel Vader's presence before landing on the planet was such a great play. If they had chills being a whole planet away, they must have gotten goosebumps the moment he appears. The thing about Vader is that we know who he is, we know what he has been able to do, but THEY DON'T. To them, Vader is something mysterious, something powerful, something scary. Sometimes, something is much scarier when you don't know what it is.
Ahsoka learning who Vader truly is (or used to be) is incredible. I'm not surprised she fainted because imagine if someone you looked up to and taught you so much had fallen so far! I think part of her didn't even want to believe she knew who he was.
Oh and to answer one of your questions at the end, this isn't the entire rebellion. This is arguably one of the most significant groups but there are many we haven't met yet.
If you're curious about some of the visual styles for characters, ships, etc in this show, I'd suggest looking at some of the original Star Wars concept art by Ralph McQuarrie. Star Destroyers with a taller control tower, Darth Vader being slimmer with a more "angry" mask, the lightsabers with thinner blades, etc. are all visual styles adopted from his original concept art. It's such a cool callback, and elevates the animation to another level imo
Another tidbit is that Zeb's species is very much visually inspired by McQuarrie's original concept art for Chewbacca
"You and governor Tarkin, are asking for miracles"…"You will explain that to governor Tarkin, when you visit him"
Sounds a lot like a call"back" to "But he asks the impossible. I need more men"…"Then perhaps you can tell him when he arrives" from RotJ/ep.6. Even more OT references.
They really just killed the Minister like that. I wanted her to live. 😭
This is the start of the show becoming much, much darker.
"I wish it worked on you", man that was a burn. 😂
22:30, Anakin's signature disarming move.
Man that shot of Vader lifting the walker up with the flames around him and them letting it drop was scary.
When Vader said "the apprentice lives" and Ahsoka passed out, you could tell she had an overwhelming surge of memories and shock flow through her in a matter of a second. Chilling. Whether she knows Vader is Anakin or not is up for debate, but my thinking is she does know, but is in denial. 🙁
That ending to the 17th episode with Vader and the emperor is just…wow. People say Rebels pales in comparison to TCW, but I genuinely love this just as much as that series.
Vader isn’t even in most of this episode and just the mere knowledge of his presence is terrifying enough because you know he’s there planning plotting looking for the Rebels
And here is how the Rebels stand a chance against Vader. The answer is they don’t so they need to run.
the kanan against hera at the start is in part from his trauma of being with the clones during the clone wars but also a a bit of lost trust. remember kanan was against order and bureaucracy since it reminds him of the war and his time with the jedi order. kanan defiantly feels like there's a bit of lost trust between hera and him since she promised to help but on a small scale not with more then their squad and despite it being from a point he understood that it helped free him from the inquisitor but that trust was probably built over the time they knew each other and was mostly thrown away. it doesn't have anything to do with him wanting to be leader he always knew he was the meant to be the face while hera was brains.
Hera once again showing she is the best non force sensitive pilot in this era. the moment the crew get in to face vader Hera pretty much states exactly how she sees the crew with "alright kids do mom and dad proud" at 32:12. she's mom, kanan's the dad, zeb's the older son, sabine is the rebelous daughter and ezra's the youngest son. chopper is obviously pet cat who clearly has a favorite he sticks to.
I've always assumed that since palpatine tells vader to back off that's when roughly he decides to check on the crash site from season 7, since that last scene in season 7 clone wars we have the snow cover the crashed ship and the graves quite a bit. its also obviously has been a long time since we see snowtroopers and imperial shuttles so it defiantly isn't immanently after ROTS.
remember by the OT both anakin and obiwan pretty much treat anakin and vader as 2 whole different people. vader actually does it earlier then we see in kenobi. I think the only time he acknowledges that they are the same person was in a comic when he is getting is new kyber crystal when he tells a jedi that he was anakin to break him after which that jedi i believe either stabs himself with his saber or throws himself off a cliff. he uses that jedi's crysital ends up being the one for the light saber he uses throughout the OT.
one thing to remember is that unless you had events happening in your area that involved jedi and the inquisitors are some not enough the only way you would likely know about is being high military rank or be close with palpatine. vader was very much the boogie man for rebels and imperials. so most people who weren't high ranking in the empire often learned about him mostly via rumors. equally so were the rebels if the survived any encounters with him.
another thing is that officially according to the empire anakin died protecting the younglings at the jedi temple. so for many that was how the rest of galaxy thought anakin died. including Ashoka since she tried to feel him though the force but couldn't and felt darkness.
ashoka is pretty much in denial of who vader is/was. and also i think doesn't want anyone to know since in the clone wars he was The Hero with no fear. i mean from ashoka's pOV you have 2 jedi one of which probably heard of him as a great jedi and now imagine telling him the bets of the jedi turned and become a sith. that's already gonna be traumatizing for kanan since he probably already had to deal with that fact durring the clone wars since dooku was at one point a jedi and probably heard how he was a sith and helping trying to kill jedi. that's just with the jedi.
there were many who anakin had helped or saved during the clone wars who joined the rebellion after they heard how anakin had died. i think Saw could be thrown in that group too. i believe in ANH there's a guy nicknamed fake wedge(not to be confused with actual wedge who luke becomes friends with after biggs dies in ANH and who helps him take a walker down in ESB) who luke meets up before their flight up to the death star and i'm not sure if legends now or still cannon but it was fake wedge or his parents who were saved by anakin at one point. so imagine telling that to your group of rebels. that would probably destroy moral for many involved.
I have been rewatching the series and I love listening to your reactions after I finish these episodes. I watched this show as it aired, so it's really cool to see someone experience it for the first time.
Except he was easily stopped by a child and a rusty Jedi god I hate this show and how they butchered Vader not as much as kenobi but still a lot