Star Wars Rebels Season 4 episodes 12-13 review - Wolves and a Door/A world between worlds

Wolves and a door

You know what, this series is fascinating, not content with 1 episode that focuses on grief, we get 3. Although this one leans more heavily on the mythology of the jedi and particularly the Mortis Trio. You may vaguely remember them from the Mortis Trilogy, which was my favourite story in season 3 of the clone wars.

Brief rundown, Anakin, Obi Wan and Ahsoka get stranded on Mortis, an ethereal place that holds the balance in the force but is in a constant state of conflict. A message that’d later be repeated in the Last Jedi. The world holds 3 beings: the son who embodies the dark side of the force and the daughter who embodies the light, and the father who keeps balance between them.

The father had brought the trio here feeling that Anakin’s destiny as the chosen one would be the key to keeping the others in check as he passes away with old age. Conflict arises as the Son grows stronger and it ultimately ends in the Daughter’s death. The father kills himself to sap the Son’s strength so Anakin can kill him. It’s dark, tragic, and does a bit of foreshadowing of what’s to come.

Why is that important here? Because the Mortis Gods as they’re known now hide a particular secret in the Temple on Lothal, a secret that the Emperor himself wants to unlock. He’s sent a Sith Acolyte to try and unlock the Temple’s secrets. One can presume this is what Minister Tua was referring to when she said the Emperor had interests on Lothal outside of the factory.

We don’t find out what that secret is until the next episode, but it carries something else of interest, Sabine showing her worth as an artist. I wonder whether Thrawn would’ve been a useful asset here given his interest in art, but perhaps the Emperor who knows the force better is more suited here. Sabine works out the clues and I’ve got to say the animation looks really nice on those paintings.

But just small touches in this episode like Hera saying she used to be sure they’d get out of everything alive but isn’t any more and the fact that she feels Kanan touching her shoulder and is touching it back, showing the effect of grief isn’t lifted instantly, which is why I’m glad Kanan’s death didn’t come in the season finale like other deaths in this series have been.  

I liked this episode, a lot actually.

Rating 9/10

A world between worlds

OK, first off if your suspension on disbelief doesn’t allow for, the temple is a gateway between all of time and space and Emperor sith magic flame thrower, I get it. Personally, neither of these things bother me so let’s get to the meat of the episode.

Ezra’s grief was not a primary focus of the last episode, but it is in this one, as we draw toward a conclusion to the jedi-themed story arcs that have been building. This marks the second appearance of the Emperor, and I think we still see Ezra talking to a hologram of the Emperor in a trailer, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing too much of him now.

And the Sith Acolyte that’s talking to Sabine is interesting. Much like Thrawn he seems less quick to anger and more calculating and manipulative. If it wasn’t for the Sith connection I’d almost say it was Thrawn. He and Sabine discuss the art in detail and what they feel things represent. I’m still not sure what the Lothwolf connection is, I don’t remember seeing them on Mortis.

The rescue is handled fine, I am slightly concerned the Emperor didn’t think to have more firepower on site, but for what it is it was it’s fine on that regard, I didn’t really expect there to be a massive fight with the finale in touching distance.

OK, let’s get to the point. Ahsoka lives and is back for one episode. Though they don’t tell us what she’s doing in the temple after, we get more of a sense of how her final moments played out. Starting with how she stale-mated her fight with Vader by stabbing the floor and making it collapse makes sense without overpowering Ahsoka or making Vader look weak.

As for what she does in the episode, I’m sad to report her input is relatively minimal, with the setup and conclusion essentially being without her and the rescue subplot taking time, she doesn’t have a lot of time to shine. They make use of it by providing closures to be her and Ezra’s character arc, at this point it’s acceptance, Ahsoka has accepted that she can’t save her master and Ezra can’t save his, even if he could pull him out like he did Ahsoka, it’d end up killing everyone else. Does her character return? Possibly but it seems unlikely at this stage.

I have to wonder how much they had to pay out to use all the stock audio clips they used in this episode. I was hearing things from the original trilogy, the prequels, Rogue One, the Clone Wars, earlier episodes of Rebels and the Force Awakens. It’s quite an impressive line-up.

With closure to the force given and Lothal largely safe, it’s time to see what Rebels has in store for its season finale, next week.

Rating 8/10