After four seasons, the (very underrated) Lucasfilm animated show “Star Wars Rebels” came to a close in a poignant and unexpected manner last night. Spoilers ahead, though I suppose if you don’t really know this show you either don’t care or you’re happy to read these Cliffs Notes. In the two part ‘Rebels’ finale,’ “A Fool’s Hope” and “A Family Reunion and Farewell,” the beloved “Star Wars” animated show concluded in a very unexpected fashion.
For years, many expected the show to end in tragedy, much the same way “Rogue One” ends with all of the character sacrificing their lives for the greater good of the Rebellion once they have passed on the plans to the Death Star. Further to that end, three Jedi who survived the Jedi purge of “Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith“— Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger and a character we’ll get to in a moment—also appeared on the show. Given that none of these characters would appear in the timeline of the movies, many fans assumed that they met their final fate at the end of ‘Rebels.’ And this was Lucasfilm’s President Kathleen Kennedy‘s reasoning for killing off all the characters in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story“; if Jynn Erso and those Rebels had survived surely you would have seen them in the movies. Given that position it seemed inevitable, the animated characters of this show would meet the same fate.
And the Dave Filonli-led show certainly lead the audience to believe this might be the case, killing of the blind Jedi Kanan Jarrus in the antepenultimate episode of the show in a similar sacrifice for the greater good of the team.
But ‘Rebels,’ which was always refreshingly its own thing, tied to “Star Wars” but still apart and not beholden to the rest of the canon, went its own way. In its last two chapters, ‘Rebels’ set up the do-or-die battle for Lothal, the planet where the story first began and the homeworld of what emerged as its main character, the young Jedi Ezra Bridger, still reeling from the loss of his Jedi Master Kanan Jarrus. Old, familiar characters from the ‘Rebels’ past are recruited for one last desperate siege to reclaim Lothal from the Imperial forces, and spoilers, nary a character died in doing so except Gregor, a Clone Commando Captain who first appeared on the “Star Wars Clone Wars” animated show.
READ MORE: ‘Star Wars Rebels’: The Final Season, Beginners Guide [Bingeworthy Breakdown]
But there is one big sacrifice of sorts. In a hail mary-like deux Ex Machina, Ezra calls out an SOS to the Purrgil, a species of massive, whale-like creatures that lived in deep space, traveling from star system to star system and first seen in the second season of ‘Rebels.’ These creatures have the natural ability to fly through hyperspace and are dangerous because they inadvertently wander into hyperspace lanes and crash into and destroying ships. And Ezra, who has given himself up so that the Empire won’t destroy Lothal, is banking on their hazardousness.
With a fleet of Star Destroyers flying above Lothal led by General Thrawn waiting to destroy the planet (welching on the deal that Ezra had set up with his surrender), the Purrgil appear and essentially destroy the fleet, tearing into these Star Destroyers and or enveloping them whole with their massive tentacles. As Thrawn’s Destroyer is about to explode, with Ezra onboard in a final battle with the General and his men, the Purrgil suddenly light up and make the jump into hyperspace, taking all the Destoyers, Thrawn and Ezra with them to who knows where. As the Rebels have already secured the Empire’s stronghold and blow it up soon afterwards, Lothal’s destiny ends up one of providence: the planet has been saved.
Yet, ‘Rebels’ doesn’t end there and continues with a moving coda that jumps into the future and enlightens the fate of many of its characters… to a point. General Hera Syndulla goes on to fight in the Battle of Endor in ‘Return of The Jedi‘ for one prime example, and the retaliation from the Empire on Lothal never comes. It’s also revealed that Syndulla eventually gives birth to a boy, the son of Kanan Jarrus (apparently they’d been getting busy some time during the final season). Also, Sabine Wren, the Maldorian character that many assumed would become romantic with Ezra at one point, is one day visited by Ahsoka Tano, the former Padawan Jedi of Anakin Skywalker before he turned to the dark side. Tano was believed killed in a final battle with Darth Vader in season two.