Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Finale review - Zero Hour

Well, we’re here. We’ve been building up to a major assault since September, does this pay it off?

Zero Hour

In some ways, yes. But there are a few niggles with this episode that prevent me from giving it the perfect score but let’s start with the positives.

First off, they’ve done wonders with Agent Kallus since the back half of the last season. So having him discovered as Fulcrum and what befalls from that is not only a great way to build from that but also begins to demonstrate the lethal precision Grand Admiral Thrawn is known for

Then there’s the attack itself, part 2 is especially good with Thrawn raining fire down upon them before launching ground troops, using walkers to anticipate their defences. It’s tense and Thrawn comes so close to succeeding in capturing everyone it does show him very well.

It’s interesting how the Bendu is used here. Because he’s in the middle, he refuses to take sides in the conflict, well, sort of, he targets the Empire mostly but really has it out for Kanan for provoking him into the conflict in the first place. The Bendu is a bit of a deus ex machina but it’s a destroys rebel ships as well as imperial stuff.

I also think this is a good use of Sabine. I don’t think she’s being fully brought back into the fold as the episode does say Clan Wren is facing a civil war with another faction which has the backing of the empire. But she’s able to take a small fleet of ships to take out the Interdictor, a name I cannot take seriously but that’s another matter, that’s the star destroyer that could pull ships out of hyperspace that was oddly never used in the original trilogy.  

OK, so to the niggles. I get that Grand Admiral Thrawn couldn’t totally succeed, that would be ridiculous, especially with a fourth season on the way, but his victory needed to hit home and as much as Sato’s death would certainly have an impact, he’s not exactly a well-developed character and doesn’t have much impact with the audience, especially since it could’ve been worth keeping him alive and exploring further his history with Thrawn. It could’ve easily been Rex, who’s more than served his purpose by this point, although there was definite foreshadowing for Kanan to die.

Also, whilst I’m on niggles, the space stuff, there is a little too much going on, it would’ve been better to focus a bit more on individual battles because it did become a bit hard to follow.

Still, the loss is pretty high for the rebels, probably putting a massive wrench in the attack on Lothal, which means that shielded TIE fighters may start to enter production before they can mount any such attack again. They’re heading to the main rebel base. If there’s another niggle, this finale didn’t leave the impact that the season 2 finale did, most of the loose ends are closed here for now.

Rating 8.5/10