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 - Review
3.15 Trials of the Darksaber - Review
3.16 Legacy of Mandalore - Review
3.17 Through Imperial Eyes - Review
3.18 Secret Cargo - Review
3.19 Double Agent Droid - Review
3.20 Twin Suns - Review
3.21 Zero Hour Part 1 - Airs March 25
3.22 Zero Hour Part 2 - Airs March 25
Star Wars Rebels 3.20: Twin Suns - Review:
Directed by Dave Filoni & Written by Dave Filoni & & Henry Gilroy
It feels like we've been waiting since the start of Season 3 to finally get an appearance by Obi-Wan Kenobi after it has been teased for us all this time. The show handled it pretty well and was able to factor in his involvement without defying anything that we know of events in the canon movies, and also served for a nice transition between the Obi-Wan of the prequels and the Clone Wars show into the Old Ben type character of the sequels, really strongly. There were shades of both Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness in this Obi-Wan and it was fantastic to see that the character was handled with care and respect, whilst at the same time not ignoring the main focus of the Star Wars Rebels storyline. It also served as a great way to finally get some closure on Darth Maul, who has been a persistent thorn in the Rebels' side for a while.
Whilst unfortunately we didn't get a fully blown encounter between both Obi-Wan and Maul in Rebels and an epic "Duel of the Fates"-esque style duel, it was only to be expected. After all, both Obi-Wan and Maul have been around for years now, and they're not exactly going to be jumping around fighting each other like they did on Naboo, especially Obi-Wan. The fight was short and sweet, and although it could be argued that to a certain extent it was anti-climatic, especially after all the hype built up around this episode, and it perhaps would have been nicer if the show had kept Obi-Wan's appearance hidden from all promos to make his reveal more of a surprising one, but I felt that it really worked. The performances by both voice actors Sam Witwer and Stephen Stanton, who voiced both Maul and Kenobi respectively, were really solid here and done well. It's a shame it looks as though we won't likely see Kenobi again on Rebels that we never got to see a reunion with him and Rex, but it was at the same time it was an interesting resolution to the Clone Wars storyline and stands out as another excellent episode of Season 3.
Maul continued to test Ezra in this, and although Ezra was a bit stupid in defying orders to go looking for him, as it was obviously going to be a trap, but it was a very effective one and did allow us to see Kenobi again. The chilling opening voiceover of Maul searching for Kenobi was an effective one, as well as putting Ezra in danger to lure Kenobi out. Even with Kenobi being in A New Hope I couldn't help but feel that the writers did an effective job at conveying the tension in the episode here, and Maul in particular felt like a credible threat who could easily match up with Kenobi, even if ultimately, the duel was shorter than expected. The show itself did a fantastic job at finally after all these years seeing Maul's fate end on a high note as well, rewarding audiences who have followed his journey across both this show and The Clone Wars. It feels like now is probably the right time to remove him from the game as even Maul can't go on forever, and resolving this chapter before the Lothal battle in the next episode seemed like the right thing to do as the writers can now focus solely on Thrawn's impending attack.
The episode itself also gave us a teaser of Luke Skywalker. Whilst it's unlikely that we'll ever see Luke in person on the show unless the series decides to take us beyond Rogue One and A New Hope, the teaser at the end was very chilling and a very awesome moment, and definitely a highlight of the series. Seeing Maul realise that the reason why Kenobi retired to Tatooine was to protect someone was a great moment, and then when Kenobi told a dying Maul that he believed Luke was the Chosen One was a great scene. It might have been intended as simple fan-service but really, from the moment Ezra set foot on Tatooine there was no way Luke was not going to feature at least even if it was only to a small extent, and it was handled well. I half expected Ezra to run into Luke somewhat unexpectedly in Mos Eisley for instance and not knowing who he was, simply decide to let him go, but this moment was handled with a lot more respect and really ended the episode on a high. Much like Secret Cargo, Rebels is showing in Season 3 that it really knows how to end its episodes and I can't wait to see how the show wraps up its third season with the concluding chapter this Saturday.
The writing that saw Ezra's character growth when he meets Kenobi feels earned and delivered. The show has been building to this moment for a while and I had this feeling that Ezra meeting Kenobi would have a great impact on his character, and it was great to see that the writers decided to use this decision to hopefully change his character for the better. He's always been a brash, daring character but hopefully this is the beginning of where he starts to become slightly less annoying going forward. The fact that Maul lured Ezra into a trap was a great way of showing how good of a tactician he has been in the past. I also liked that we didn't necessarily get a big fight between Kenobi and Maul mainly because we've already had one before, in The Clone Wars, so this almost acted as an epilogue which a few Star Wars Rebels storylines have done in the past effectively, such as The Last Battle which acted as an epilogue to the Droid and Clone conflict.
The decision for Ezra not to reveal that he saw Kenobi when he returned home was a nice one. It seemed like this would be typical of Ezra to do but in the end he didn't reveal his location, deciding to keep him secret. Although this was left off screen it was likely that he decided that Kenobi's location was a secret and left unknown for a good reason, and he decided to keep it that way. It'll be interesting to see if Ezra does get a scene with Bail Organa, who does know that Kenobi went into hiding in the future.
But for now, it's safe to say that Twin Suns was a fantastic episode that was fully deserving of bringing someone like Kenobi back into the picture, giving a great send-off for Maul as well as serving as a way to develop Ezra's character in the process, balancing both the old and the new characters strongly and keeping both in play. The show has really hit several highs over the course of its third season and it's safe to say that Twin Suns will go down as one of its best episodes.
What did you think of Star Wars Rebels' Twin Suns? Let me know in the comments section below and check out the concluding chapter of the season this Saturday at 8:30pm on Disney XD.
