Star Wars Rebels promised us Yoda last week. This really just tells me that unless two of the characters in this show are dead or missing by the time The Empire Strikes Back rolls around, he is a little green lying bastard. Regardless, there’s some crazy stuff afoot here.
Ezra and Kanan keep running into the Inquisitors. This is a problem, because they’re supposed to be looking for a secret base for the rebels. Notably, their last escape shows that Ezra’s training has been paying off, as his ability to get giant alien flap flaps to help them escape shows.
Ezra asks Ahsoka what she thinks, after noticing she’s watching a holocron made by Anakin and mentioning how much his lessons helped with his saberwork. She knows that if they were able to get in contact with Yoda, he might have the answers they need. Ahsoka has no idea how to go about this, but Kanan thinks that their best option is the old Jedi temple on Lothal.
Since it takes at least two Jedi to open the temple, Kanan and Ezra set to it. Ezra originally thought Ahsoka would take part in raising the temple as well, but she refuses. She doesn’t consider herself a Jedi anymore, since she left the order. Kanan suggests that since the last time required meditation, they start with that.
Kanan almost immediately sees a door and walks to it. He finds himself in what would appear to be a very contemporary Japanese dojo, with a single form at the center. Kanan identifies him as a temple guard, and he has a pretty cool double lightsaber which folds in half while deactivated. He asserts that Ezra will undoubtedly fall to the dark side, and that he must be eliminated.
Ezra suddenly disappears, to Ahsoka’s surprise, and finds himself talking with Yoda in an acid trip space. The nice thing here is that you can tell Yoda’s projecting from Dagobah, since you get the tiny hint of a fallen tree he’s sitting on. Yoda talks with Ezra in the usual cryptic way he pretty much always has, mostly about Ezra’s precarious position in regards to the force. The bulk of their brief conversation, aside form the nature of fear, is in regards to what to do about the Inquisitors. Ezra wants to fight them, but Yoda doesn’t give any actual advice about defeating them. As their time grows short, he tells Ezra to go to Malachor.
Ahsoka just seems to trip out, which makes me wonder if the temple has a gas leak. She initially sees a vision of Anakin as he appeared in the Holocron, asking her why she left. This vision quickly turns to Vader. It’s pretty obvious that this is a manifestation of her guilt at choosing to leave in light of her knowledge of her old master’s fate.
The Inquisitors show up and begin to force their way into the temple. This has an impact on each of their visions, with Kanan’s being the most impacted. Despite his best efforts, he can’t beat the temple guard. things get worse as the number of guards multiplies. He is pressed to the point that he admits to them that he’s done the best that he could to teach Ezra, and that has to be enough. The Guard Knights him, And informs him that he is now what the guard once was: a Jedi Knight. The revealing part is that he removes his helmet as he says it.
They each make their way towards the back exit of the temple. The Guards actually deter the Inquisitors as they do so. The Inquisitors are, themselves, surprised to see the Grand Inquisitor again. As Kanan, Ahsoka and Ezra escape on the Phantom, Ezra mentions the fact that Yoda told him to find Malachor, which Ahsoka reluctantly explains isn’t a person, but a place.
The Inquisitors survive, and call in their boss. Vader is pleased with their work. There are, after all, very few Jedi temples remaining that he didn’t find himself. And good lord, is it nice to hear James Earl Jones’s voice.
Star Wars Rebels did a good job with this one. It could’ve easily been one of those episodes that got very heavy-handed with the visions. I’m guessing Malachor is going to bring the Maul.
Final Thoughts:
- I like that they do their best to get the original actors for roles like Yoda and Vader, when applicable.
- I have no idea why there were katanas in a Jedi dojo.
- Anakin’s appearance is clearly pre-Clone Wars. I don’t know why.
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