Whenever a Star Wars fan tells me they haven’t watched either The Clone Wars or Rebels animated series, it makes me sad for them. Both of these shows add so much to the mythos of a galaxy far, far away. The fourth season of Rebels was a real game changer and once again proved that some of the most creative and exciting storytelling and writing for the Star Wars universe is not happening for the silver screen, but rather for what many wrongly reduce to nothing more than a children’s cartoon show.
As the Rebellion struggles against the might of the Empire, Ezra leads the Ghost crew back to his home world to defeat the oppressive forces under the command of cunning Grand Admiral Thrawn. Old friends are reunited and new alliances are forged in Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Four.
Star Wars: Rebels Complete Season Four wraps up the tale of Kanan, Ezra, and the rest of the Ghost crew quite nicely, although a bit tragically for some. There are things I really loved about this last hurrah and things I didn’t. Probably my biggest issue with where Star Wars Rebels took the mythos was the portals in the world between worlds. Here we’ve been given a way to change the past, much like the Guardian of Forever in Star Trek. I don’t want my Star Wars to be Star Trekked.
The whole thing that sets Star Wars apart from other sci-fi franchises is that when something happens, there are consequences. There are no magical do-overs. Darth Vader is dead. There’s no traveling back in time and saving him from his tragic life of evildoing and destruction.
Aside from that, Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Four is an exciting, passionate, and energetic close to an essential piece of George Lucas’s space opera. The series has taken a lot of bold steps over its lifetime, and most are ones Lucas would be happy with I believe. That’s what I love about anything Rebels creator Dave Filoni does with the Star Wars universe. He’s not afraid to shake things up and take us in unexpected directions we’re not always comfortable going in on our own.
Star Wars: Rebels Complete Season Four offers us some great bonus material. Three featurettes entitled “Ghosts of Legend,” “Force of Rebellion,” and Kevin Kiner: The Rebel Symphony” delve into the making and world-building of the series. Executive Producer Dave Filoni gives us insight through six audio commentaries that dig deeper into the world of Rebels. We also get eight installments of Rebels Recon which examine and dissect different episodes.