TV Month: Star Wars Rebels Episodes 8-9 review: Empire Day/Gathering forces

In the penultimate instalment of TV Month

We take a look at the motley crew of the Ghost once again, as we have the first 2-parter of the series

Episode 8 – Empire day

A lot of episodes have focused around Ezra, but despite this we actually know fairly little about him; and that’s apparently because he knows very little about himself. It was actually good to see him lose his more childish persona for the day, as he remembers things about his past.

So, the day is empire day, it's also Ezra's birthday and possibly the day his parents died too (parents died/were taken on his 7^th birthday, poor kid, I'd make a Batman joke, but I'm saving it for another review) so the empire was busy parading and the rebels busy planning to stick it to the empire in the only way they know how, blowing sh*t up

Then we have a former imperial spy named Tseebo who has taken one of the imperial personality transplants and now has a lot of imperial data that the Empire doesn't want getting out. You know, I know it's been 15 years, but it seems like there are no good people in the empire any more.

So this episode is made up of several quite long action scenes, but they continue to make it more interesting by adding new elements, the blockade, the inquisitor etc.

There are some lovely touches to the episode, the scene in the bar where there's a clone trooper helmet on display, and a broadcast about the brief origins of the empire are shown; I'll give them kudos for that work.

Ezra's story is only just beginning, it'd be best to examine the resolution to fully understand the character, otherwise, good work

Rating 9/10

Episode 9 - Gathering Forces

It's time for the mid-season finale apparently, so let's dig into it

The plot is that the imperials have a tracker on the Phantom, so it must separate from the Ghost as it delivers Tseebo to the mysterious Fulcrum.

This is another great episode of the season, because for all its adventure, it does dive into character, particularly the growing relationship between Kanan and Ezra. They return to the abandoned republic base and once again we get Clone Wars references.

OK, I'll be honest, they're likely trying to save animation budget by using the same scene backdrop as they did in a previous episode. But hey, it's still a good backdrop so… Anyway, the title is a tad misleading; neither side gathers any permanent forces in the episode (unless it means force in a different way). I assume it's a reference to Ezra using the force to connect with the creatures on the base, but…

It's time for some mentions about fear and the dark side of the force, Ezra admits his fears of knowing what happened to his parents, hence his inability to forgive Tseebo, better to assume the worst (that his parents are dead) than face up to what really happened, which could be much worse knowing the empire.

Of course the first step to conquering a fear is admitting it, but it is just the first step and Ezra having control of the animals did lead to possible descent into the dark side, especially when faced with the Inquisitor.

The problem is, the Inquisitor is yet to do anything major, he hasn't killed anyone personally (aside from a few of those creatures, but who cares about them) with his lightsaber, and there's little you can do to build up a threat of a villain, if you aren't willing to demonstrate it. The other problem is he's not that intriguing, like Vader was. He lacks any personality.

The show still has work to do to make the series, but it's been taking great leaps forward, and I have confidence that it'll try and keep up this quality.

Rating 8.5/10 

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Images used in this review are from Star Wars Rebels and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.