Star Wars Rebels is a something of a followup to The Clone wars. Sadly, that show never really got wrapped up, despite getting pretty good by it’s later seasons. They had an uphill battle with that, but they did it. Luckily, Rebels has let the creators wrap a few things up here and there, though.
So in this case, they decided to give Rex some closure. Hera drops Rex, Kanan, Ezra and Zeb off near an old separatist base. She heads off for a fuel run while they grab whatever munitions remain. Ezra doesn’t think much of the bits of battle droid they find strewn around the base, but Rex knows better. He lost a lot of his friends to those droids during the war.
They find the bombs, but just as Rex mentions how these sorts of things usually went, they get caught. In exactly the same way he describes them going. The base wasn’t as deserted as they thought; all of the droids that weren’t destroyed years ago are still running. Chopper is the only one that didn’t get caught, and he uses the opportunity to send a distress call from a shuttle he finds in the cargo bay. Hera never gets it, but Governor Pryce does; she dispatches reserves at them.
The super tactical droid (Kalani, specifically) they get brought before is actually happy to see them. He’s spent years planning the final, decisive battle of the Clone Wars, and now he can put it into action. In a very limited sense, that is. Since the Lesat didn’t participate in the war, he decides Zeb will play the part of the hostage in the scenario. Rex is representative of however many Republic troopers, and Kanan and Ezra are obviously the Jedi.
The assault set up is initially pretty sad. It’s clear none of the droids have had any real maintenance since the end of the war. The only reason they’re even still standing is that Kalani deliberately blocked the shutdown signal, thinking it a Republic trick. It isn’t until the destroyer droids show up in the hangar that they are a bit overwhelmed. But they’re able to get through with a plan, though Rex isn’t happy with Ezra’s deviation from the plan, even though it saves them in the end. His “Last Battle” really feels more like going through the motions, anyway. The droids barely put up much of a fight.
When they make their way back to the bridge, Ezra decides it’s been enough. He lays out a string of logic for the droid that he hopes will help it understand the end of the war. Neither side actually won, its combatants were just discarded. The actual winner just happens to be on their doorstep.
With Kalani’s help, they use an overly complicated plan involving the remaining explosives to incapacitate the AT-AT’s. Everyone gets aboard the three shuttles, the first of which contains nothing but battle droids. While all named characters make it out, that first shuttle mysteriously can’t steer through the cloud from the explosion and gets shot down by an AT-AT.
Star Wars Rebels wrapped the actual Clone Wars with this. Which is why it’s a shame there wasn’t more to the battle itself. Then again, they only had half an hour.
Final Thoughts:
- The droids only get a few hits in on the heroes, and even then it’s not enough to do anything to them.
- Kalani spent nearly 20 years going over data on Jedi/Padawan duos. Still couldn’t stop ’em.
- Chopper may well have the highest individual kill count in the franchise.
3.5/5
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