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 - Review
3.08 Iron Squadron - Review
3.09 The Wynkahthu Job - Review
3.10 An Inside Man - Review
3.11 Visions and Voices - Review
3.12 Ghosts of Geonosis - Part 1 - Review
3.13 Ghosts of Geonosis - Part 2 - Review
3.14 Warhead - Airs January 14
3.15 Trials of the Darksaber - Airs January 21
3.16 Legacy of Mandalore - Airs February 18
3.17 Through Imperial Eyes - Airs February 25
Star Wars Rebels 3.12 & 3.13: "Ghosts of Geonosis" - Review:
Part 1 directed by Saul Ruiz, Part 2 directed by Mel Zwyer & Written by Dave Filoni & Matthew Michnovetz
The first episode back after the winter break was always going to tie in with Rogue One, especially when the timelines were incredibly close, and it was great to see that Ghosts of Geonosis gave us several callbacks not only to the film itself but also to The Clone Wars, with the inclusion of Rex on the scouting mission to Geonosis, which was a crucial planet in Attack of the Clones as it was where the residents were being forced to build the Death Star. We also got more answers to what happened to its occupants after the coming of the Empire and it's clear that it wasn't a pretty sight, with the planet virtually abandoned. And it was also very cool to see Battle Droids again after The Last Battle, even if they weren't the same group of Droids that the team had fought alongside. This was a treasure trove of fun for fans of both The Clone Wars and the whole of Star Wars in general, with plenty of references throughout and a lot to unpack.
This episode introduced Saw Gerrera, voiced by Forest Whitaker, as it showed The Ghost crew investigating a mission where Saw has already headed. Although given that Saw had been mentoring Jyn in the past and this could have been an opportunity to include a younger Jyn Erso, we obviously didn't get that this time around and it's probably understandable this close to the release of Rogue One. However given the history between Jyn and Saw it seems like Rebels would be the best suited to tell that story. At least we got to see Rex and Saw reunite in Ghosts of Geonosis, and we also got an Anakin reference no less, with nobody seemingly knowing that Darth Vader is Anakin as they still hold Anakin in high regard, with the little joke about Kanan not being as good as Skywalker being an amusing one. It's also interesting that it looks like Rebels stands in a good position to tell the story as to how Saw became as deranged as he did in Rogue One, as he speaks clearer and is more physically active. The fact that he was an extremist in the Rebel Alliance is dealt with here as well, and there's a lot of backstory to explore the different politics of the Alliance that Rogue One only touched on.
It was also painful to see the Rebels come so close to discovering the existence of the Death Star there and then with Klik-Klak showing them drawings of what they were building on Geonosis. The fact that the Death Star could have been discovered there and then was interesting but they were unfortunately unable to work out Klik-Klak's message, coming up with alternate ideas to what the Death Star actually was. I really hope we get to see a storyline for the Rebels that ties in with the events of Rogue One further down the line, especially given the references to both Hera, Chopper and The Ghost all being featured in the film, meaning that any connection with the events on Scarif even would be welcome. Maybe even seeing as we have Saw involved we could have more Rogue One characters featured, if not this season than in later seasons? There's so much potential there to explore with the timelines so close together, and it would be very awesome if that were the case. I'd also love to see a tie in with Claudia Gray's fantastic Lost Stars if possible as well, given that the novel shares a similiar timeline. No matter how unlikely it is, Rebels hasn't shied away from well-executed fanservice in the past so it could happen.
One thing I love about this show is just how good it looks, particularly with the scenery and background, and the art design is incredible. This gave way to a fantastic sequence about the realization about the real identity of what the Droidekas were when they were buried beneath the sand, and it was a chilling moment that really worked, and also brought the Shield Generator back into play, something that has been used so much in the past but has rarely featured in the timeline of the original trilogy until Rogue One at least. The fact that this show gave pretty much everyone plenty of things to do was very awesome as well, with the writers splitting up the team to give them their own objectives, as well as giving Hera something to do in order to get the ship in the air. Combine this with the constant references there was no way we weren't going to get a comment about sand (especially given Anakin's infamously bad dialogue about sand in Attack of the Clones), and it was funny to see Sabine complain about it. She and Anakin would have gotten on well.
The two parts of Ghosts of Geonosis are up there with the best that the show has had to offer so far, with plenty of awesome moments to boot. It proves that Rebels is it at its best when it draws from the rich history of Star Wars itself and I can't wait to see what the writers have in store further down the line. There's a lot of promise here and from the looks of things, the biggest and most notable addition to the series since Thrawn, Saw Gerrera will show up again. And maybe next time, he'll bring Jyn with him.
What did you think of Ghosts of Geonosis? Let me know in the comments section below and check out Star Wars Rebels' next episode on Saturday thanks to Disney XD.
Overall Episode Verdict: A (Parts 1 & 2)
Positives:
+Saw Gerrera!
+The group almost discovering the existence of the Death Star.
+How the show looks.
+References.
