Star Wars Rebels: Ghosts of Geonosis (Parts I & II)
January 11, 2017 9:14 AM - Season 3, Episode 12 - Subscribe

Two years before Rogue One, the rebels are sent on a mission to Geonosis to investigate the disappearance of Saw Gerrera and find themselves pulled into the mystery of what happened to the native Geonosians and what the Empire was up to on the red planet.

"Ghosts of Geonosis" is the mid-season premiere for Season Three for Rebels and introduces Saw Gerrera to the show, voiced by Forest Whitaker. For more information on the episode, check out its episode guide here!

Trivia!
  • The helmets found inside the cave are the same design as worn by rebels in Return of the Jedi and Rogue One and sport the Onderon symbol.
  • The battle droids are a mix from the typical tan-colored droids and the special rust-red Geonosian units.
  • The Saw Gerrera design in the episode is intended to match the "flashback" version seen in Rogue One. As a result, sometime in the next two years, Saw will lose a leg and develope a debilitating breathing problem (from Geonosian insecticide).
  • In Saw's original introduction in The Clone Wars, he had blue eyes. In Rogue One they were brown, here, they're green, as if transitioning.
  • The Imperial captain who appears in the second part, Brunson, is named after Look Development Production Coordinator Jessica Brunson.
  • The production team looked to District 9 for an example of an insect-like alien who could be turned int o something other than creepy through portrayal and circumstance as inspiration for Klik-Klak.
  • The jetpack wearing jumptrooper is based on flying stormtroopers developed for Star Tours: The Adventure Continues ride.
  • In one iteration of the script, Chopper was to drive over Klik-Klak's drawing of the Death Star and add the equatorial line with his wheel track.
  • The reveal of the Geonosian insecticide has been a story revealed over a couple years, from the Season 1 visit to Geonosis on Rebels to Marvel's Darth Vader #4, which had Vader visiting the planet and learning it had been "sterilized."
posted by Atreides (4 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
A good beginning to the second half! It was cool to see Saw (lol) again, though I thought his personality seem to (ahem) see-saw back and forth a bit. "I'm gonna kill all bugs!" "I'm gonna shoot this bug egg if you don't do what I want!" "Aw, here's your egg, bug, we're cool now." He just didn't seem very consistent – but maybe that was the point? Nonetheless there were some fantastic moments: Saw & Rex reminiscing, Sabine kicking butt. (Where did she get the jetpack? Gar Saxon shot the one she picked up on Concord Dawn.)

The circle-within-circle sketch was brilliant, particularly how all of their guesses were off, but made sense given what they know.
posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 4:41 PM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


The atmospherics on this were great, but it just didn't hang together as a plot. Also I'm confused about the total absence of the word 'genocide' and the fact that Zeb, whose race was also destroyed by the Empire, didn't have an opinion on this.
posted by bq at 10:27 PM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


Zeb was definitely a missed opportunity, that's a great point. At the least, for him, the Lasat did have that secret colony (or new world, whatever you want to call it), so perhaps the sting of losing everything wasn't as fresh. The more practical answer would be they just didn't find time for it in the script or didn't think to add it in - and of course, Ezra has to be the heart of the team, by default. So maybe Ezra scooped what would have been much more appropriately Zeb's perspective on the matter.

(Where did she get the jetpack? Gar Saxon shot the one she picked up on Concord Dawn.)


Ezra shouted something at her, either "Did you fix it?" or "Did you get another?" I'd have to go back and check.

Saw's personality is only two years from being the paranoid mad man he becomes by Rogue One, and I think they were trying to balance out a rationale and empathetic Saw versus the Saw who's willing to do anything to stop/fight the Empire. Not to mention, he had little love for the Genosians who built the war machine which killed his sister (technically, he fired a rocket at a ship, which then crashed into a cliff and killed her...it's really on you, SAW.) I REFUSE TO ADDRESS THE SEE-SAW COMMENT.

I loved the inclusion of a woman POC captain for the cruiser. That's a nice touch that I hope the show does a lot more of.

I thought this was something much more in line from what I expect from Rebels and indicative of the better second season. It also seems to reflect the first season more with the potential of having front loaded most of its weakest episodes for a more solid second half. A lot more tie ins to the Rebel Alliance in general is coming our way, if the trailer is any indication, and the conclusion of both the Mandalore and Thrawn storylines.
posted by Atreides at 2:34 PM on January 14, 2017


I liked this, thought Saw was maybe the weakest part of the episode. It's just a character idea that's a bit dark and realistic for starwars and if they had trouble exploring it in a PG-13 movie they certainly are stretching in a y-7 kids show.

Seemed like a staggering lack of middle ground between "i'm going to torture this person and potentially commit a bit of genocide" and "well we don't speak his language so let's let em go!"

Actually liked Ezra in this one, and Sabine continues to rule. I continue to wish Kanan seemed even the least bit blind. As a person with blind friends, I find the blind character who can see better than the sighted a tired trope.
posted by French Fry at 8:42 AM on January 20, 2017


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