Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Episode Guide:
3.01 Steps Into Shadow Part 1 - Review
3.02 Steps Into Shadow Part 2 - Review
3.03 The Holocrons of Fate - Review
3.04 The Antilles Extraction - Review
3.05 Hera's Heroes - Review
3.06 The Last Battle - Review
3.07 Imperial Supercommandos - Airs November 5
3.08 Iron Squadron - Airs November 19
3.09 The Wynkahthu Job - Airs November 26
Star Wars Rebels 3.06 "The Last Battle - Review:
Directed by Bosco Ng & Written by Brent Friedman
I love episodes of Star Wars Rebels that tie into events that happened in The Clone Wars and that's partly why The Last Battle worked so well for me featuring the return of Battle Droids for the first time after the majority of them were terminated at the end of Revenge of the Sith. It turns out however that not all of them were shut down and a small group survived, capturing Captain Rex and their group when they go on what should have been a routine salvage mission. It's a blast from the past for Rex who now, along with his teammates find themselves up against a Super Tactical Droid who wants to finally end the Clone Wars by determining which side is superior, the Droids or the Clones, in a last battle. Both are outcasts from their own kind with the Droids having not gone down with the rest of the bunch and Rex and his clones refused to join up with the Empire, making for an interesting episode.
The introduction of the Super Tactical Droid in order to create some conflict was an interesting one and worked pretty well. The episode had a lot of ground to cover but one of the most refreshing things about this episode was actually seeing Battle Droids in the Star Wars Rebels timeline which is about as close as you can get to Rogue One or A New Hope without actually being Rogue One or A New Hope. They had the nostalgic feel about them that worked and reminded you of a time when it was just the Republic against the Droids, rather than the introduction of the Empire.
Ezra of course knows little about the battle droids and it was great fun to see him deliver the Roger joke. It may have been a tad too obvious but it still really worked. But more importantly it was about exploring the effects of the Clone Wars on both sides of the divide, not just the Republic, but also the Separatists and their Battle Droids who had also been manipulated by Palpatine in their own way. Palpatine's actions allowed for incredible consequences and it was interesting to explore what they were for the Droids because previously it hadn't really been touched on that much especially in this show.
One of the most rewarding things about this episode was the teaming up of the Battle Droids with the Clones to fight against the Empire in a crowd-pleasing moment that was great to see. The unlikely factor having Droids go up against Stormtroopers rather than those bearing the colours of the Republic was awesome and their alliance with the Rebels was a fun one. The fact that the Super Tactical Droid got away at the end along with Ezra suggests a possible return in the future? It's probably unlikely but it's good to know that there are at least some Battle Droids out there. I wasn't too keen on them in the prequel movies but here the writers have found a way to make them work. However there is a danger of them becoming a bit too repetitive and diminishing their surprise value if they're used too often though, so hopefully if they do end up coming back it's in a way that was just as well executed as this episode was here.
I loved that this episode also played homage to The Clone Wars' title logo, and also included the same end theme in the final. It served as an effective epilogue of sorts to the series and reminded once again just how awesome Star Wars Rebels can be and how despite the fact that it includes plenty of fanservice it does so effectively, struggling the balancing acts that it needs to do to succeed very well. When you combine this with having Princess Leia, Ahsoka, Darth Maul and more show up over the course of the series, it's a welcome relief to see that you know they're in good hands.
The Last Battle therefore was an excellent episode that effectively served as an end to The Clone Wars, acting as an epilogue that gave the Battle Droids their moment in the sun. Ezra has now done what no member of the Republic or Jedi could ever do and that was set aside the differences of The Clones and the Jedi, and it was great to see them fighting against the Empire. It definitely shows how much stronger this show has become since the first season as the series continues its winning streak.
Let me know what you thought of the episode in the comments section below and be sure to check out the next episode of Star Wars Rebels this Saturday on Disney XD.
Overall Episode Verdict: A
Positives:
+Battle Droids!
+Droids & Clones vs. Empire
+Plenty of throwbacks to The Clone Wars.
+ "Roger Roger"... "Wait, who's Roger?"
