Star Wars Rebels Season 2 Episode 1 review - The Lost Commanders

Star Wars Rebels is back and that's really all I have to say, let's see what the season opener has to offer

The Lost Commanders

So we were promised the return of the clone troopers, and here is where they deliver on that promise. Unfortunately there are some problems, which I’ll get to in due course

But first the premise. Needing a new base and potentially some new allies the rebels are sent to find a general with military knowledge and access codes to certain republic bases. They find clone Captain Rex, Gregor and Wolfe from the clone wars. Naturally Kanan is distrustful given his history with the clone troops.

We only get 2 of the 3 acts you normally see in a rebels episode and as such the pacing feels much slower than usual. Not really helping matters is the clone version of a fishing trip which is largely just filler. The final act will likely come next week, but I can’t say I’m not disappointed, it’s not the episode you really want as a comeback. If it hadn’t have been so long since The Siege of Lothal, maybe it would’ve been ok, but unfortunately the lack of real action does little to earn favour with me.

But don’t take to mean there’s nothing good in this episode. Kanan’s response to the clones and their acknowledgement that he may never fully trust them is honest and I like it. I like how they tried to make connections to the Clone Wars by mentioning the chips (which raises a few questions, but maybe we’ll get to them) the use of Ezra as the mediator between the two, an excellent choice.

To get the plot moving we need an excuse to the empire, and that happens because Wolfe, still terrified of the wrath of the Empire sells them out. Whilst I don’t have a problem with this betrayal the fallout from it was woefully brief as they have to cut for what passes as an action scene (but only just, it’s 7 of them vs one probe)

We’ll see what comes of this, part 2 is likely to be the better of the 2 episodes, delivering the action that was missing in this one.

Rating 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.