Hindsight: Star Wars Rebels

Star Wars Rebels is a flawed series, as is every series. I am going to provide my own thoughts on the decisions the producers could have made which I believe would have improved the show. I could easily do a similar post-mortem on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, though I believe the disconnected nature of that show makes its problems more obvious, and easier to point out on an arc-by-arc basis.

I am going to attempt to apply decisions that would have been realistic for Filoni and his staff to have made at the time. I am going to pretend that I have no knowledge of The Mandalorian and am completely unaware that The Clone Wars will be allowed to return in the future.

Also, I stated before that I believed Rebels would feel much more significant if the Ghost Crew were the team that stole the Death Star plans. But it is completely unrealistic for Dave Filoni to ask Kathleen Kennedy to remove Rogue One from the film schedule or change its story, so I will not be considering that idea.

Even with those self-imposed constraints, I acknowledge that it is still much easier to look back on a story and pull apart what didn’t work, rather than to build one yourself. If Filoni were able to remake any of his series, I’m sure they would be substantially improved from the iterations we see now.

I don’t think there are many who would argue that Star Wars Rebels was on the same level of quality as Star Wars: The Clone Wars. And it would be extremely difficult to attain that level with the financial and creative constraints set by Disney. The animation was never going to be as good without the insane budget supplied by George Lucas. And the story was never going to have as much freedom while being mandated to keep a TV-Y7 rating. There may be some constraints that I am unaware of as I make this post, constraints which may totally justify why my ideas could never be considered.

But as I reflect on the show, there are several areas which I believe were lacking and could have been improved. I will move through the show as possible while addressing the changes I would make.

Beginning with the show’s cast, I think there was some room for improvement. Despite my impulses, I will refrain from removing any of the central five characters from our cast. Firstly, I don’t have much of a problem with Kanan and Hera. For the most part, they were fine characters and worked well together. The only thing I would do is establish their relationship earlier. Yes, it was always obvious the two had feelings for eachother, but that the show only admitted it in the final season was I think a bit nonsensical. I think we could get some more interesting moments throughout the show if it is acknowledged that they are a couple.

Sabine and Ezra, I have a few more issues with. The first thing I would do is age up both characters, actually for different reasons. As Kenbo laid out, Sabine is way too accomplished for her age, having a resume of Mandalorian warrior, Imperial Academy dropout, expert weapons designer, bounty hunter, and now freedom fighter. Setting her age at about 25 would make this a little less egregious. Ezra, on the other hand, is actually portrayed accurately for his age, acting like just about every dumb high school underclassman you’ve ever met. And this just makes for a very annoying character. This one is more personal than logistical, but following some who is 19 or 20 would I think be more compelling and less grating.

Sabine is at her most problematic in Season 1, and I don’t think her usage of art to thwart Imperials was very well done. That certainly came off as cringy. I would tone down the zaniness of her armor as well. Change it from the Hot-Topic look to something more in line with her deep appreciation for art we see in later seasons. Also, even when we’ve aged her up, her list of accomplishments is still a little too insane. I think we at least have to remove “PhD in Weapons Design” from her character. That always felt a pretty forced element of her character and one I don’t think we need.

Ok, and for Ezra, this may be the most drastic change I make, but I don’t want Ezra to be force-sensitive, or at least not in the traditional ways we know. He can keep his connection with animals though. Even though this is a little overplayed in Season 4, I think it’s a pretty cool aspect of his character. And I like the idea that if you’re not a Jedi, you can still have a connection to the living force, sometimes in ways a Jedi couldn’t understand. And I like the message that you don’t have to be a Jedi to be a hero. I want Ezra to be as relatable as possible, letting them know they don’t need a lightsaber to do the right thing.

Another big thing about Ezra I want to change is that it doesn’t just take him one episode to get over his selfishness and become a part of the team. Hear me out on this, but in the beginning, I really want Ezra to spend some more time where he’s purely in it for himself.One of the best moments in the show comes when Ezra is thanked by a civilian at Tarkintown for bringing food, but then he says that he didn’t do anything. I just want to extend this story through at least half of Season 1.

Like maybe Ezra is on the run from some debts so he just hangs out with the Spectres to try and keep away from the Star Wars equivalent of Arthur Morgan. Or what you could do is have him actually planning to betray the Ghost crew. Like maybe there’s a big reward for Rebel info so he’s trying to gain their trust so they can lead him to all the other cells and he can sell that info to the Empire. Either way you do it, he is eventually won over by them and puts his selfish ways behind. This is cemented when he rescues Kanan in the finale.

As for Zeb, well he’s a pretty annoying stock character but I get why he’s there. I guess I’d just make him a little less dumb and more dignified. Like I get that people are complicated, but the way he acts most of the time makes it a little hard to take him seriously when you’re supposed to. There’s another big change I want to make but we’ll get to that later.

Chopper, well I really don’t like Chopper. Like I think he’s a little shit and I want him deactivated. Fuck Chopper. But anyway, I guess I’d keep him. It’s kind of cool that instead of an R2-D2 clone, they made him a total jackass. Like I wouldn’t have expected that. I don’t really have any great ideas for Chopper. I guess he’s fine. Though I’ll say I would have been totally fine if they replaced him with that Imperial droid at the end of Season 1. Like it makes more sense to have an Imperial droid on your side than constantly repainting the one you already have. But whatever.

I wouldn’t change the story too much in Season 1. Like of course all the Force stuff would focus on Kanan, but that’s a bad thing. I think Kanan should be less sure of himself as a Jedi. I think a lot of the insecurity we saw with Ezra could actually be transferred to Kanan and would make him a more multifaceted character. But otherwise, not much changes besides Ezra’s more gradual character arc.

Season 2 is where the changes come. As the season began, we were teased that the Rebels were going to be forced to live in a more constrained setting as they were now part of the larger alliance. But then, the show never did that. In fact, Season 2 was basically the same old shit as Season 1, but more forgettable and on more planets. I was also excited to meet new characters that were part of the greater alliance, and we really didn’t do that either.

Sato, for example, was a very generic and boring ass character. And he didn’t have to be. All you needed to do was to give him some kind of conflict with the main cast. Like maybe he finds them reckless and wants them to follow his strict methods of accomplishing missions. So some of the crew wants to say screw this and do it on their own, but Hera argues for them to stay. And as the season goes on, the crew and Sato develop a mutual respect. And by Season 3, they’re pretty much on the same page.

And we should have met some more characters in the Rebellion. I was really surprised by how we never got to know anyone. There’s a whole array of original characters you could have added in Season 2. You could have a character who is sent on the missions with the Ghost crew who they don’t really like, you could have someone who’s friendlier and acts as a mentor or go-between with them and Sato, you could have someone who threatens to get between Hera and Kanan, and you could have someone who turns out to be a traitor. There’s just so much potential here, so I would definitely add these characters.

Another big reason to add these characters is to give these Inquisitors someone to kill and have them actually appear threatening. I didn’t mention the Grand Inquisitor because honestly he’s fine and there’s not much I would change. The Season 2 Inquisitors however are complete jokes. An easy way to fix this would be to have them kill someone we care about.

As for Rex, I stated before that I thought he felt too similar to how he was in The Clone wars except how he was nicer. I think there’s a more interesting direction you could take him. Personally, I would have him living as an aging and depressed bounty hunter in the Outer Rim. Basically a Star Wars Mike Ehrmentraut. He should feel pretty bad, battling with the knowledge that he was created as a weapon to kill his best friends. He feels enormous guilt for not listening to Fives and is very grumpy. We could meet him by having him capture Ezra for running out on debts. Then he’d come face-to-face with the Ghost crew and Ahsoka, and be convinced there’s still something to fight for. I want him to be a broken man who eventually rediscovers his sense of purpose.

And speaking of Ahsoka, yes I am including her. I said before that her story should have ended in The Clone Wars, and I stand by that. But in 2015, there was no reason to believe that story could be told onscreen, so there’s every reason to have her here.

I do think she was underused though, only having substantial appearances in 6/22 episodes. I would include her more and have her help Kanan become a better Jedi. This would build Kanan’s confidence and he’d basically become the character we see in the show.

Ahsoka would die in the season finale, her confrontation with Vader identical to what we saw in the show. Kanan is still blinded, though I would have this come from Vader instead of Maul. The Inquisitors, despite being more intimidating than we see in the show, are executed by Vader for their failure to kill Kanan and Ahsoka. Before being blinded, Kanan meets Maul in the same way Ezra does. He dosen’t trust Maul at all, but is forced to work with him to find Ahsoka. And he also gets the Sith holocron. Maul flees in the same way but Kanan is helped to the ship by the Ghost crew.

In Season 3, Kanan is blind, but is actually able to get along pretty well. Actually he’s better than ever, though he’s a bit less caring than he used to be. The other crew members are a bit confused as to why this is but Hera doesn’t want to hear it.

Eventually, it is actually Ezra who discovers the Sith Holocron in Kanan’s things, feeling its power and deciphering what it is. Kanan admits that it is powered by the dark side, but explains that he is unable to be a Jedi or even function without it, as it helps him see. He says that he needs it to hunt and kill Darth Vader.

So why push this storyline to Kanan? Well aside from the obvious of him being the only remaining Jedi, he really is our main character, not Ezra. So Kanan should get the most interesting arc. But we also see through the beginning of Season 3 that Ezra has become very wise, and he expresses he believes in Kanan and that he doesn’t need the Sith Holocron.

Kanan gives up the Holocron and learns from the Bendu about how to see without seeing. Still though, he never fully recovers. We never again see him fly the Ghost or drive a speeder. And he gives up his hunt for Vader, seeing it was bringing him too close to the dark side.

The Maul storyline plays out similarly with Kanan in Ezra’s place, though neither Kanan nor Maul show up on Tatooine. Kanan and Ezra’s bond really grows this season, with Ezra especially looking out for Kanan and being his guide. Also Hera and Kanan have a falling out due to some of his callous behavior on Ryloth

You might have noticed I haven’t said much about Hera, Zeb, or Sabine. That’s because up to this point, I would keep their stories basically the same. However, a huge turn of events comes in the episode “Ghosts on Geonosis,” where Zeb is killed. Yes, we’re doing that. Why? Well for a few reasons: he has little to no bearing on the story after this point, his death raises the stakes, his death can provide a much more powerful reason for Kallus to turn.

Kallus would be kept largely the same in this show, except his betrayal of the Empire comes later, and we would clearly see the moments it happens. Here, it is Thrawn himself who comes to Geonosis, Kallus in tow. In the chaos, Thrawn spots Zeb, who has become separated from the crew. Thrawn orders the cannons to fire on Zeb, while Kallus asks that a squad be sent down and Zeb be take prisoner instead. Thrawn dismisses the idea and has his men fire on Zeb’s position, rocks crumbling down on him, similar to Saw’s death except not stupid. We see the look on Kallus’ face and we know he’s out.

The rest of the crew escape and mourn his death. This brings Kanan and Hera back together as well. There’s a small funeral at Chopper Base, with Ezra giving a tearful speech about how Zeb was his family and he inspired him to be the hero he never knew he could.

Season 3 then plays out mainly the same, with Kallus revealing his true colors to the rebels in Through Imperial Eyes. I honestly would love to have Sabine die to Gar Saxon and have her death inspire the Mandalorians to rise up against the Empire, but I know Disney would never allow that. Kanan has visions of Maul hunting down Obi-Wan, but that’s really just a framing device and the episode belongs to Maul and Kenobi.

Season 4 stays very closely the same except for one change: I’m cutting out the whole World Between Worlds plot. This is a very cool idea, but I don’t think it should be introduced in Rebels nor was it used especially well. And with Ahsoka dead, there’s not much we get from going there.

I also think we spent too much time on Lothal. If we can’t tie in the finale to the Death Star plans (which I honestly think Rebels would handle better than Rogue One) then I guess it makes sense to go back to Lothal. But ten episodes is damn well enough. You could cut out another episode because Crawler Commandeers is garbage. So what to do with those extra three episodes? Literally anything else. Could have another great two-parter for episodes 5&6. Maybe throw in a Rex/Kallus/AP-5 side adventure somewhere in the middle too.

Kanan’s death was actually handled pretty well so we’ll keep that. We aren’t gonna have the Mabel bubble with Ezra’s parents. I actually like that but it doesn’t make much sense or fit in really with this version of the story.

The rest of the episodes play out the same, we still get an episode mourning Kanan, but then after that we got straight into “A Fool’s Hope” and so on. Also, Hondo’s pig friend actually dies.

TL,DR; Kanan is the main character, Zeb dies in Season 3, Ezra is not force sensitive, Ezra and Sabine are aged up.