Star Wars Rebels: Heroes of Mandalore (Parts I & II)
October 16, 2017 7:48 AM - Season 4, Episode 1 - Subscribe

Star Wars Rebels returns for its fourth and final season with the two part premiere, "Heroes of Mandalore." Fulfilling a promise to return assistance to Clan Wren from the Season 3 finale, Kanan, Ezra, and Chopper find themselves in the thick of a Mandalorian Civil War. The two part premiere centers around Sabine Wren's effort to rescue her father, taken captive when Sabine defected from the Imperial Academy, and the debut of a fearsome weapon designed by Sabine to destroy Mandalorian warriors.

Additional Facts!
  • "Heroes of Mandalore" features the return of Bo-Katan Kryze, a character from The Clone Wars, and sister to Duchess Satine Kryze, who was killed by Darth Maul. Katee Sackhoff, who voiced the character originally, returned to do so again for Rebels.
  • This episode also featured the first return to Mandalore as it was presented in The Clone Wars, complete with its desolated plains and massive domed city.
Check back in on Wednesday for more facts, once StarWars.com updates with its episode information!
posted by Atreides (8 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I watched these this morning. I thought they were great - a clever plotline to allow Sabine to return to the Rebels group. I was fooled by the ending of part 1 --- won't say more to prevent spoilers.
posted by wittgenstein at 3:38 PM on October 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


Great to hear Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan again! But the real surprise of the evening was to recognize the voice of Governor Saxon as that of Frank Randall, Edmure Tully, and Brutus* himself.

Off to a bang-up start -- I too was fooled by the end of the first episode, and a little surprised by the end of the second. Really looking forward to this (final, sob) season, and plan to savor every moment. I am bemused how Ezra, who loomed dramatically at the beginning of last season, is now (along with Chopper) the chief source of humor.

* This makes three Rome alums in SW:R so far: Kevin McKidd as Fenn Rau, Ray Stevenson as Gar Saxon, and now Tobias Menzies as, er, the other Saxon brother. We just need some voicework by CiarĂ¡n Hinds to complete the set.
posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 4:42 PM on October 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


A'ight, time for more trivia because they have released the episode guide!

Trivia
  • One of the ideas for the episode had Ezra getting used to his jetpack in the same way that Cliff Secord, aka The Rocketeer, did in the 1991 film. That film was directed by Joe Johnston, who designed Boba Fett's jetpack when he was at ILM.
  • Actor Andrew Kishino, the original voice of Saw Gererra from the Clone Wars returned to voice Imperial Mandalorian Captain Hark.
  • The chase to rescue Sabine's father, Alrich Wren, from the armored transport was inspired by chase scenes from both Raiders of the Lost Ark (truck scene on the island) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (tank scene to save his father).
  • Bo-Katan's character's appearance was adjusted to fit the Rebels animation style and to age the character 18 years.
  • The design of the Mandalorian capital, Sundari, was inspired by George Lucas' suggestion to start with a mouse's trackball during the Clone Wars series.
  • This episode aired originally six months ago at Star Wars Celebration Orlando.
  • An earlier version of the script had Sabine "knighting" her Mandalorian warriors with the Darksaber, leaving scorch marks on their armor.
  • This episode featured the first time the term "beskar" was used on screen to describe Mandalorian Armor. It was created by Karen Traviss in the Legends universe.
  • The idea that Sabine had created a terrible weapon for the Empire was original to her creation in the show's earliest story bible. What the weapon was, was left to be figured out later.
  • An earlier version of the story had Bo-Katan eager to use the Duchess to destroy the Empire, before choosing to destroy it. This was shifted to Sabine and Bo-Katan was made the voice of reason.
  • This episode increased the number of Mandalorian clans and houses.

posted by Atreides at 6:52 AM on October 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


I enjoyed the episode, myself, but that enjoyment was tempered by what I felt was a decision to lower Sabine's character for the benefit of raising Bo-Katan's, the purpose being to show why Bo-Katan was the rightful leader of the Mandalorians. In short, I felt an episode that was originally going to be about Sabine turned into a story that was really about Bo-Katan. Sabine's reunion with her father was kind of rushed (compare her return to her mother back in "Legacy of Mandalore,") and throughout both episodes, Sabine figuratively and physically stumbles, only to be repeatedly saved by Bo-Katan.

I feel like we could have had the same result without having to knock Sabine to the ground.

I'm not the biggest Ezra fan at times (because he just hasn't developed that much), but I did love his goofy introduction to Alrich Wren. "I'm with Sabine, I mean, not WITH Sabine, I mean..." Heh.

I was ready to be shocked and a bit outraged if they had gone the way of the fake out with the introduction of the weapon.

I'm curious if this was the last we see of Tiber Saxon (Gads, that name makes more sense now that I know the actor behind it), or if he survived the episode. I'm guessing he did, but, I could be wrong. Thrawn's appearance was a bit surprising, but hit all the Thrawn notes.
posted by Atreides at 6:59 AM on October 17, 2017


I found the first two fights, attacking the compound and attacking the convoy, both really weird and off. Like the animation was done by people who hadn't read the script. They described the plan for the convoy attack then do something different with no discussion/acknowledgement.

Kanaan is also occasionally more powerful than any jedi we've seen on canonical screen?

It wasn't bad.. but felt off, like I was watching something cleverly clipped together on youtube.
posted by French Fry at 6:30 AM on October 19, 2017


I found the first two fights, attacking the compound and attacking the convoy, both really weird and off. Like the animation was done by people who hadn't read the script. They described the plan for the convoy attack then do something different with no discussion/acknowledgement.

I had something of a similar feeling, too, especially the compound fight, where Sabine gets knocked to the ground (and out cold) for the first time, too. It didn't seem as a bad when I rewatched them, but I don't know why, either.

I think Kanan is operating within his abilities, those of a Jedi Knight, it's just the animators/writers are simply getting clever with how to use those abilities. Thinking back to The Clone Wars, I feel like there were a few times where the Jedi in that show pulled off some spectacular stunts. In this episode, he was generally using that Force powered jump with some exquisite deftness. I thought it was a nice touch of having Ezra try and do the same thing, but not quite pull it off.
posted by Atreides at 7:10 AM on October 19, 2017


FYI, will post the two new episodes tomorrow unless someone wants to post them later tonight. They're technically airing at 9pm EST now, so not unusual to have day after posts for airings at that time.
posted by Atreides at 11:04 AM on October 23, 2017


Meh. Waiting on the episode guide to drop. (Let's go folks!)
posted by Atreides at 7:47 AM on October 25, 2017


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