Star Wars: Rebels

Back then around 2014 i gave 4/10 without watching the series, just based on some clips. I was so dissapointed that after my beloved Clone Wars show was cancelled, i got only some downgraded, childish looking replacement series. But i was so wrong... Now in 2023, I finally gave it a real chance and maaan, i got hooked. This show has way less fillers than BadBatch. Characters are built up great, as the show goes forward, you start to connect with them. Similarly as we got to love Ahsoka (I cannot wait for the live action show). This show adds so much to the story of the rebellion. One of the best SW content I recently had, again, my apologies.

I love Star Wars - the basic premise of an epic universe, battle of good vs evil, classic take on characters and their traits and promoting clean and pure values...Most of us love (or have loved) Star Wars for those reasons.

Now, do you think kids and younger teenagers will want to watch 30 year old movies and will be susceptible to the story and its values despite the "prehistoric" graphics and effects? Unfortunately, most of them won't be attracted and will watch it if you make them and look at it through that lens to some extent - and that is reality.

So if you look at "Rebels" as a new branch in that universe, fresh content promoting the same types of characters, similar story lines and the same values - can it not be only positive that it exists? To attract today's kids and to provide content of this kind to them, instead of them watching Game of Thrones, Dexter and alike?

I understand that, as a die-hard Star Wars fan of 30 or 40, you can disprove the lack of originality, the relative crudeness of animation and what not - but, hey - this is Star Wars, just the same as it always has been - if you loved it before, there is no reason to hate it now, in this form.

So I would understand reviews of 6+, but 1? That's just lame.

As a 31 year old, I found it interesting and entertaining and a nice watch. Worth my time and certainly worth your kid's time. Of course, some criticism stands - i.e. recycling Alladin and alike - but we have new SW content for new generations and it's good.

When I finished Clone Wars I asked if watching Rebels was worth it, and many people replied that no. They said that the show was very childish, with no memorable characters and that the animation was worse than in CW. Anyway, I did it and after finishing it I can say that it's as good as Clone Wars, in my opinion.

It's true that the first season isn't so good, you can even skip some episodes because nothing at all happens (There's a guide online showing which episodes you can skip), but after that the series really does get better. In season 2 many characters from Clone Wars return and there's plenty of references to stories from the previous show. Not only that, but the new characters evolve in a realistic way as the show progresses. It's funny how in the beginning I didn't symphatize with any of the main characters, but later I ended up liking all of them.

In Star Wars Rebels the stories are shorter than in its predecessor, usually of just one episode instead of the 3 or 4 episode arcs of CW. This is both a good and bad thing as the stories aren't so complex as we could expect and even sometimes feel rushed, but they're still pretty good. And since it's in the Imperial Era, it feels more like classic Star Wars movies. The worst part of the show is the animation, it's been downgraded from Clone Wars.

In conclusion, Star Wars Rebels is a very good show. If you like Star Wars you should watch it. The first season isn't good but later it gets really good and you won't regret watching it.

Season One (2014) There's a familial heart to this first season which makes it immediately appealing, centering on building a strong foundation in the relationships of our main cast and giving us an idea how tightly knit they would become over the series. The first season flounders a little when it comes to properly conveying the threat of the Empire, a flaw which is rectified very efficiently by the arrival of Grand Moff Tarkin; and it builds to a bold and satisfying resolution that lets the audience know that, like Clone Wars before it, Rebels is not afraid to push boundaries and embrace the Darker Side of Star Wars stories.

Season Two (2015) Where the first season placed a lot of focus on Kanan and Ezra, the second expands that focus to envelop the entire crew, taking their small weekly victories and allowing the events of the series to greater influence those on a galactic scale. It builds on the familiar and begins to dabble in new and darker ideas, opening the story up to unimaginable levels of potential; and the raw emotion at the heart of the season's climactic finale, an epic confrontation years in the making, gives fans the duel they never knew they wanted and makes them pay for it tenfold in heart-wrenching tension.

Season Three (2016) By far the most stylistic and best looking the series has ever been, the third season deals heavily with the consequences of the previous two, moving the story forward and making our heroes pay for every small victory they have achieved. Though a thorough and calculated slow burn to the finale, we are rewarded with some of the most visually stunning sequences in Star Wars animation; building toward a conclusion so rife in tension and nail-biting action as to be worthy of Grand Admiral Thrawn's inclusion to the series.

Season Four (2017) The fourth and final season is by far the strongest and most coherent of the series, blending the classically episodic nature of previous seasons into one long continuous story that grows and evolves week on week. But even through a season of some of the best action and most revolutionary additions to the mythology, the heart of the show is still its family of central characters and their powerful bond; forcing them to choose between their allegiances to the Rebellion and their relationships with each other as they face their hardest challenges and most tragic losses ever.

It is fourteen years since the Republic fell and the oppressive Empire took its place. A small group of rebels aboard a freighter called 'The Ghost' are striking back against the Empire around the planet Lothal. They are led by pilot Hera Syndulla and include Jedi knight Kanan Jarrus, a Mandalorian named Sabine Wren, Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios and a droid nicknamed Chopper. Into this group is added Ezra Bridger, a force sensitive teenager who Kanan takes under his wing; while all these characters are important it is clear that Ezra is the centre of the story. As the series progresses we learn more about the characters and get plenty of action as they face many dangers and adversaries both familiar and new to this series.

Having recently watched 'Clone Wars' and most of 'The Bad Batch' I looked forward to seeing this; when it started I was a bit put off by the change in animation style but, thanks to interesting characters and exciting storylines I soon stopped noticing the change. While Ezra can be a bit irritating at times I thought most of the new characters were a lot of fun, heroes and villains alike. I liked how some old characters pop up occasionally but never dominate the series. As one would expect from Star Wars there is plenty of action. This has a real sense of danger for characters, especially for those I haven't seen in films or series set later than this. Overall I'd say that while this might not be as good as 'Clone Wars' it is still well worth a watch. Make sure you watch it before watching 'Ahsoka' as quite a few characters introduced here reappear in that series.