Thank you Dave Filoni for a wonderful series finale of Star Wars Rebels because it made me excited about the future of Star Wars again.

The final episode that there will ever be of Star Wars: Rebels created such a "David Filoni" inspired universe of potential that I'm actually excited for the future of the franchise. Knowing now what Disney executives must have known a year or more ago when all of this was being discussed, I can see why episode 8, a.k.a. The Last Jedi, was made. So if you want to hear the ideas that bubbled into my head, please know that there are going to be spoilers from here on out as I discuss the Star Wars: Rebels revelations and what they may mean for the Star Wars universe at large.

So...I get it now. All of the old cast needed to be buried so that new stories could be created with young characters who are alive and well at the end of Star Wars: Rebels. The universe may have lost its last Jedi, but "Jedi" was just a title. It was a name given for people trained in the use of the Force that also had membership within an organization. But even Shakespeare in a universe not so far far away realized that a rose by any other name smelled just as sweet.

Surviving the end of Rebels, which had its curtain call beyond the events of Return of the Jedi are pretty much everyone. The universe has Ezra Bridger doing who knows what (the guy sailed off into hyperspace riding space whales and towing Grand Admiral Thrawn's Star Destroyer along with Grand Admiral Thrawn as his prisoner). Those stories have yet to be created. The galaxy also has Ahsoka Tano, who has incredible training, and who could potentially train Rey, who (in my opinion) is wielding power the equal of Yoda. I mean...all those rocks at the end of the Last Jedi were easily as heavy and massive as an X-Wing, and she didn't look all that strained to be throwing them around.

So what can we expect then in Episode 9 and beyond? I personally think that we're looking at Ezra Bridger and Ahsoka Tano getting cast as live action stars. I think we're going to see the fate of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and somehow he is going to be connected to the remnants of the First Order. And I think we're looking at new force powers that will resemble magic more than they do science fiction. Most people know (by now) that Jedi's were based on fantasy wizards anyway.

I'm hoping that my friend, Kevin Long, will weigh in somewhere in the comments. He's also a fan of the series and has quite a few insights that I value and that I don't pick out myself in my own viewings of the shows.

But yeah, thanks to Dave Filoni I'm excited for Star Wars again!

Star Wars Rebels just took a sledghammer to the Star Wars universe in one of its last remaining episodes called "Wolves and a Door." Let's talk about it.

There are spoilers here, and we need to talk about what Star Wars: Rebels has done. I hope that there are some of you that are brave enough to talk about this with me, spoiler warning be damned.

First, Star Wars Rebels is canon. This is not "fake news." Disney (the company that purchased all of the rights to Star Wars from George Lucas for $4 billion a few years ago) has said as much. Here's a quote from the article on what is canon and what is not canon from Wookiepedia.

"The new canon began on screen with the Star Wars Rebels animated television series and in print with the novel A New Dawn. Under the direction of the Lucasfilm Story Group, all elements of Star Wars canon now operate in a unified and collaborative storytelling setting...."

The sledgehammering of the Star Wars universe took place in the Jedi Temple that had an entrance picturing the "Mortis gods" from an episode in The Clone Wars. This was a very interesting (old) episode, for the father (pictured in the middle) had two children: one represented the Dark Side of the Force and the other represented the Light Side of the Force. The father was essentially the balance between the Light Side and the Dark Side. The three of them were very powerful.

Anyway, once inside the temple, Ezra used the power in the temple and his own abilities through the Force to save Ahsoka Tano from Darth Vader (who I had presumed was dead two seasons ago in a spectacular battle on Malachor, where a Sith holocron was located). So he used time travel to actually save a major character who is now alive in the universe because Ezra chose to save her. Just think about that a moment. Time travel has now been introduced into the canon of Star Wars, and it is not just an observation kind of time travel. It is a kind of time travel that can undo literally anything.

Mace Windu was killed by the Emperor. Well not so fast. Are you sure? Let's time travel and fix that by giving Mace Windu a heads up at Anakin's betrayal.

The Jedi were taken by surprise that Senator Palpatine was in fact, Darth Sidious. Well...not so fast. Let's time travel and fix that by giving the Jedi council a heads up that's years in the making.

Oh, the singular moment where Han Solo is killed by his own son in The Force Awakens goes down as a spectacularly bad decision on Han Solo's part. Well...let's fix that by undoing a few things.

Seriously...everything that we know about Star Wars' entire story from the very beginning can now be rewritten. Nothing is sacred unless Disney wants it to be. Holy Cow! That is just crazy to consider, and I don't know how exactly I should feel about this. It's incredibly tempting to say that it is a good thing for the franchise which now has a way to deal with plots that are unpopular. But does it feel like maybe too powerful a weapon with regard to a story that is close to the hearts of so many? Does it feel like Star Wars Rebels maybe crossed a line somewhere?

I want to talk about this with someone. Let me hear your thoughts. Hopefully there are going to be some who are intrigued or horrified by this new development in the Star Wars universe's canon. Maybe Princess Leia should have uttered the phrase (back in A New Hope), "Help me Dave Filoni...you're my only hope" instead of "ObiWan Kenobi," because Dave Filoni has just upended everything.

Star Wars Rebels is already over.

Well that's a disappointment. At Star Wars Celebration Orlando, Disney announced that the upcoming fourth season of Star Wars Rebels will be its last. I'm disappointed, only because I rather liked Star Wars Rebels. It had interesting connections with the universe at large, introduced us to the screen version of Grand Admiral Thrawn, drew connections to the movies, and allowed us to revisit beloved characters like Wedge Antilles (he's so goofy that it's pretty adorable).

The trailer (which I embedded below) for the upcoming fourth season is pretty heavy. But maybe Star Wars is at its best when the stakes are high and everything is falling apart. When Rebels first launched, I had my concerns that it would never live up to the growth I saw in Star Wars: The Clone Wars by Cartoon Network. But Rebels established itself pretty quickly as a show willing to commit to its premise and conflict especially in the back half of each season. Yeah, it was kind of goofy as a kid's show is aught to be, but it also got serious when it needed to (like in the showdown fight between Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano--a character arc that was literally seven years in the making).

The most interesting character by far has been Kanan, mostly due to the fact that he's basically a fallen Jedi, and the Jedi are very interesting plot devices. However, Sabine has really grown on me, and her Mandalorian connections and the fact that she has the darksaber is quite cool. I also like the influences from Princess Mononoke that obviously made their way into this trailer for the fourth season.

I'm also still convinced that Ezra will end up being Snoke at some point. I guess we'll see.

Maybe by ending this series in season four, it means that the last season will be spectacular. Let's hope Disney gives it the sendoff that it deserves.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is in the Star Wars Rebels season three trailer and that's a pretty big deal

This weekend Star Wars: Rebels released its trailer for the third season, and among the surprises was the appearance of a fan favorite: Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Timothy Zahn trilogy that I read when I was going to college in the early nineties. Heir to the Empire was a fantastic book, and it hit at just the right time as I was getting heavily involved in the Star Wars RPG that was published by West End Games (I should have held onto my books). Aside from being very well written, Grand Admiral Thrawn was this evil, calculating, military genius that studied alien civilizations through their art and culture, and then figured out how to defeat them. Additionally, Zahn also introduced an alien called an ysalamiri that could create a bubble that pushed away the force, effectively neutralizing it. This is very useful stuff when you have to deal with Jedi and Sith on a regular basis.

Ever since reading that trilogy, I'd wondered if Grand Admiral Thrawn would ever make it to some kind of movie or television series. And now (it appears) that he's canon, although whether or not he will follow the plotline outlined by Zahn's narrative remains to be seen (as Grand Admiral Thrawn survived the destruction of the Death Star and would be more in the timeline of "The Force Awakens"). So seeing him in Star Wars: Rebels makes me think that Disney liked the ideas behind the character, but has something else in store for him that has nothing to do with the extended universe stuff.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the trailer yet (and you're a Star Wars fan) hit play below.

Could Ezra Bridger on Star Wars Rebels end up being Supreme Leader Snoke?

This is your spoiler warning as I intend to talk about all of the events in Wednesday night's Star Wars Rebels season finale: Twilight of the Apprentice.

There is so much to say about the second season finale of Star Wars Rebels that I hardly know where to begin. Called "Twilight of the Apprentice" it may be thus named because we've just seen the swan song of one of my favorite characters: Ahsoka Tano (Anakin Skywalker's one and only padawan), which has been an epic seven-year arc if you consider the character was created in The Clone Wars with the sole intent that there would be a showdown with Darth Vader at some point in a blazing lightsaber battle to the death.

The ambiguous outcome/dream sequence following the lightsaber battle on a Sith Temple on Malachor has led the online community to believe that Ahsoka may not be dead. However, Rebels is a story that has always seemed to me to be about Kanan and Ezra, so I doubt we will see much of Tano in the future. I'd like to think that she survived, but what better way to end a character than with the biggest bad of all taking them out. It's a little sad but also elegant in a way.

The other thing that came as a real surprise to me was the appearance of Darth Maul again. Now going by Maul (how he survived a lightning storm battle with Emperor Palpatine is beyond me, but then again, this is the same guy that survived being cut in half by Qui Gon). Maul lured Ezra to the Dark Side so easily it wasn't even funny. I like to think that it was written this way, because Star Wars Rebels is a television show on the Disney channel with an audience (target group) around thirteen or fourteen years old. But literally, Ezra had became fully engaged with the Dark Side of the force basically in the time it took to ride two elevators to the top of a pyramid. Enough at least that he was able to open a Sith holocron all by himself by show's end...something that only a Sith is supposed to be able to do.

This revelation leads me to conclude that (in recollection of the events we saw in episode VII) either Ezra Bridger or Darth Maul might (in fact) be Supreme Leader Snoke (whom we saw in the chair overlooking Kylo Ren in the movie). It seems fairly simple to assume Snoke could be either of these two. If Ezra Bridger were Snoke, it would explain his fascination with Luke Skywalker because he faced his dad in combat and Luke's dad destroyed his first lightsaber and basically opened his mind to the true power that the Dark Side possessed because Ezra saw him kill Ahsoka Tano. It also could be that Ezra (as Snoke) just wants to kill Luke Skywalker because he wants revenge against Vader (who happened to be Luke's dad). There was also the bit of foreshadowing when Ezra picked up a lightsaber that looked a lot like Kylo Ren's, and Maul did name Ezra "my apprentice" and kept stressing how there was always "two" in a Sith relationship (no more no less). So the path to Ezra becoming Snoke could be as easy as 1) Ezra killing Maul, and 2) then taking Kylo Ren as an apprentice at some point in the future (before the events of episode VII).

However, Snoke could also be Maul. Here's my evidence: first, the body types look eerily familiar if you contrast what we saw in episode VII to the way Maul moved in the series finale last night. As part of gaining the secret of immortality (previously known only to Darth Plagueis) I would think might also come a profound undead appearance and possibly the loss of the horns on his head? That would make him look a lot like Supreme Leader Snoke, if you could swallow that there would be those physical changes. Maul has already shown (and stated) that he no longer cares about the "Darth" title (I've never really been sure what that means). Perhaps it's a declaration similar to what Ahsoka said when she faced off against Vader and declared, "I am no Jedi." It's propagating this idea that (while the movies concern themselves with Skywalker and Yoda) there are other Force users in the galaxy that don't belong to either group as traditionally identified by the old Jedi Council. This gives leeway to walking around the statement from Yoda when he says to Luke on his deathbed, "When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be."

And then there's the matter of the whole Sith holocron that Ezra recovered. A holocron is like a huge library/database of Force knowledge. The Jedi have them and they can be used to teach other Jedi how to manipulate the Force. I never realized that the Sith would have them too. Presumably, it's going to be filled with all sorts of Sith tricks: Force Lightning and Undead Immortality spring to mind. Perhaps the ability to stop a blaster bolt in mid flight is also included (we saw Kylo Ren do this in episode VII). The thing that's got my mind swirling is why was Asajj Ventress' voice coming out of the Holocron? It could be that they used the same voice actress for the holocron. Or it could mean that the Holocron is Dathomirian technology (think witches from the planet Dathomir) as she was raised by the Nightsisters (who employed "magick" as opposed to the Force to do any number of miraculous things).

The last thing I wanted to touch on is that Kanan is now the Star Wars version of Daredevil. Maul blinded him, which is going to have a lot of repercussions I'm sure. Maybe it will make his Force use stronger. Or perhaps it's just a nod to the original Star Wars movies that with 1) Kanan blind and 2) Ezra embracing the dark side, that Luke really is the only alternative the Jedi have with any kind of chance to take down the Emperor.

Looking forward to season three. That season two finale was pretty darn incredible.

I have a wishlist for Star Wars Rebels but the second season opener really got my attention

Star Wars Rebels is off to a great start for its second season. Years ago when I was in college (this would have been around 1990 or so), I was involved with the Star Wars RPG put out by West End Games. At the time, I mostly ran these modules for my players (put out by West End) and some of them were really well done. They all had the Ralph McQuarrie artwork on the covers and I modified some of them to feature "run ins" with the big bad himself, a.k.a. Darth Vader (always with an escape in mind because no one can really defeat Vader except Luke). I always expressed to my players that the money behind Star Wars really missed an opportunity by not featuring a television series that occurs in the time period between Episode IV and Episode VI by following the escapades of another group of rebels. I'm glad to see that almost thirty years after I had that idea, that an animated series is doing just that.

Star Wars Rebels is fun. We all know that Vader cannot be taken down by anyone but Luke, and we all know how much of a badass he really is. But that doesn't mean other stories can't rely upon his huge shadow to throw darkness and dread over everything. And having a common enemy to fight against really brings out the best in people, which is another reason why Star Wars Rebels really works for me.

Anyway, here's my wishlist for the second season. First off, I want to know more about Ahsoka Tano's involvement in the rebel alliance. I also want her to have some kind of standoff with Vader wherein (hopefully) she shows him that she's pretty powerful, and that he should fear her just a wee bit. That would be really cool. Second, I want some more aliens. Star Wars is known for its alien worlds, and I really think they've been kind of lazy giving us truly alien worlds so far in this animated series. One of the best episodes from the Clone Wars featured Anakin meeting this sister and brother combo that were embodiments of the Force itself (which came across as kind of magical and wizardly). It was really interesting. I'd like to see some more of things like that. Finally, I want to see some "Mission: Impossible" style episodes where Ezra's crew does some pretty spectacular things for the Rebel Alliance. Ideas like stealing new ship plans from the corporation that makes the tie-fighters or encountering spooky dangerous aliens from another part of the universe outside the galaxy on a derelict ship (cue music from Alien) could work really well. How about giving us some force vampires? Wouldn't that be interesting?

So if you are a fan of Star Wars, and you watch Star Wars Rebels, do you have a wishlist? If so, what's on it? I'd like to know.

Star Wars Rebels has turned in a pretty good first season making me ask if it is really possible for a Star Wars story NOT to succeed?

Sheena Kay Graham asked me if I could do a Star Wars Rebels post, so here it is :).

The fact that Star Wars Rebels got renewed for a second season is more a testament to how intriguing the universe of Star Wars really is (and by extension, how much of a genius move it was for Walt Disney to scoop up the rights from George Lucas) than it is to solid animation, lightsaber mechanics, or any characters that we actually care about.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of Star Wars Rebels, but it's not because I think Ezra or Kanan are particularly awesome. It's not because I think Hera is the most badass pilot ever to fly the skies, nor am I particularly enamored by the Mandalorian Sabine. It's because I just like the universe, and the writers of the show obviously know this about its audience because the strongest episodes in the debut season all incorporate cameos from the best characters that have already appeared in everything outside of Star Wars Rebels.

The latest face to grace Star Wars Rebels is Grand Moff Tarkin, and I got to admit, he looks a lot like the character once played by Peter Cushing. And he remains someone that you really don't want to mess with (there's a reason that he actually outranked Vader--the only Imperial "non-force using" officer I know of with that kind of power). But knowing this, it begs the question: who else have we seen this season?

Obi-Wan Kenobi made a disembodied appearance in the pilot episode. And of course who can forget Lando Calrissian? I always liked that space rogue, and it's fun to think we might see how the character came to possess the Millennium Falcon. And Darth Vader's breathing over the season finale's trailer means that we're probably going to see the most famous Dark Lord of the Sith fairly soon. I won't go into questions on whether it will be through a hologram or through an actual encounter. But I'd think they'd stay away from an actual encounter simply because Vader is too powerful for this group to even be able to remotely handle. If they run into him, it'd be ridiculous if people didn't die. And finally we've heard Yoda's voice through the actual Frank Oz. That was a fun episode that resulted in Ezra getting a crystal from a hidden Jedi Temple that he could use to make into a lightsaber/pistol combo. It's actually kind of a brilliant design no doubt motivated by the fact that Ezra knows he sucks with a lightsaber and would like a gun until he gets better.

Who is Fulcrum?

However, the thing that's got me intrigued the most is Hera's contact, Fulcrum. In this week's episode, Fulcrum (who strikes me as a woman) tells Hera point blank that they need to abandon Kanan who is now in the hands of the Empire. I'm beginning to think that Fulcrum is Ahsoka Tano from smash hit The Clone Wars. If this is true, then she's probably the best Jedi outside of Yoda and Obi-Wan that's still alive. Remember, Ahsoka was Anakin's padawan and was officially awarded the title of Jedi Knight but refused it.  So technically, when Yoda tells Luke in Return of the Jedi, "When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be" remains true. Additionally, the exchange between Yoda and the spirit of Obi-Wan where it's indicated "there is another" if Luke fails is probably a direct reference to Ahsoka Tano and not Leia (as many have speculated without evidence).

Suffice it to say that I'm glad the series has been renewed. I hope that the big reveal of who Fulcrum really is happens soon. But now that I tabulate all of the things that I love about Star Wars Rebels and realize that they are all connected to the overall canon, it makes me wonder if it is really possible for a Star Wars story NOT to succeed? 

Star Wars Rebels seems to be hitting its stride at last

Star Wars Rebels is about seven episodes in now, and I have to say it's growing on me. At first, the series seemed like all it wanted to be was a family-friendly show. For example, the first couple of episodes didn't have the feel of any kind of "dark" villainy which is an essential component to Star Wars. After all, things are either black or white in the Star Wars universe; there is no gray. Oh and the second rule of Star Wars is that things are big as in VERY big. But I digress.

So yeah, it's growing up a bit as we're getting plot lines where characters are actively pursuing undercover roles in an Imperial academy to get good intel that the alliance can use to fight the Empire. That and Star Wars Rebels is investigating the Force more (and I like that too). Finally, it's also tying itself to The Clone Wars, which as far as cartoons goes, rates as one of the finest ever made. For example, we got a plot line that led to a prison world to free captured Jedi Master Luminara Undulee only to find out that she'd been killed, and that the Imperials under the Inquisitor were just using her bones to lure Force users out of hiding.

Now as for the Inquisitor himself, I love his appearance and voice, but his lightsaber is kind of ridiculous. You see, it has the ability to spin like a fan, and this seems kind of pointless if not an all out desperate to appeal to the "under thirteen" crowd who will no doubt think "it's cool" without considering if the weapon is even practical (which it isn't). However, if one thing is cool about this series, it's the artistic license that they're taking with respect to Ralph McQuarrie's old illustrations. The lightsabers are thinner and more pointy and the animated hair even moves in the wind.

I am wondering if (at some point) Ahsoka Tano might put in an appearance. By the end of The Clone Wars season five, she decided to leave the Jedi order but she was incredibly powerful. I think it would be interesting if she decided to help the galaxy that is now under the foot of her former master, i.e. Darth Vader, who I'm sure "Rebels" is waiting to introduce in a season finale or something similar just to drive up ratings.

If you've been watching Star Wars Rebels, what do you think? Yay? Nay? It's definitely got my appetite primed for the movies that start arriving as early as next year.