Star Wars Rebels - The Siege of Lothal Review

With the end of series 1 promising Darth Vader himself to enter the fray, things could never end well for our heroes, and here we are.

The one thing I do love about Star Wars, Rebels particularly so, is the acknowledgement that actions, however well meaning, can have dire consequences. We saw a bit of this in the finale of the last season, and it really comes to the front here.

Sure, our rebels may have destroyed a star destroyer, killed an Inquisitor and generally caused unrest on Lothal, but the Empire is ready to strike back hard, naturally, Darth Vader’s hand in this is clear

With our band assisted by the Phoenix squadron, it draws Kanan into a war he never wanted to fight given his experiences in the Clone Wars. I’ll be talking a bit on this when I review The Last Padawan but for now, I can see his side in the debate, even though he’s clearly overruled in that opinion.

So, Minister Tua, a character I barely even touched upon last season, she was the leader of Lothal who made a few public speeches that got ruined by the rebels, decided after increased pressure to punish her citizens to defect from the empire. Unfortunately for her, she was being watched, and Vader manages to kill her before she reveals Imperial secrets and does it in a public enough way that it turns the people of Lothal against the rebels.

I’ve got to say, Anakin’s strategies have vastly improved from the days of shoot first and keep shooting during the Clone Wars. But it doesn’t end there, he faces Kanan and Ezra in combat and at no point does it seem like he’s at any point putting in any effort as he completely thrashes them. They get away but one could argue that was intentional.

James Earl Jones returns as Darth Vader and whilst there’s a difference in tone, which can easily be accounted for by the fact that it’s been years since he last did that voice and he’s growing older. Still it’s great to hear his voice again.

The Rebels are sent running but Vader’s plot allowed it, a tracer on the shuttle used for them to escape leads Vader right to them and he destroys the command ship and several fighters, breaking the rebel fleet. Not to mention Ahsoka discovers that her former master waves the banner of the Sith now.

We’re moving away from A New Hope right into Empire Strikes Back territory and that’s a good thing, the Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie in my opinion. They’ve built up a lot to happen when the show returns later this year and if the pay-off was anything like this episode, we’re in for a hell of a ride.

Rating 9/10 

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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.