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I was disappointed with the length of the Maul and Kenobi fight to begin with, but through the passing days I like it more and more.
The duel started as soon as the two Jedi and Sith laid eyes upon each other, knowing that only one of them will come out alive. Maul took a gamble, he either kills Kenobi and has no more purpose, or he gets killed by the last person he can call family, in a messed up way. He went to seek Kenobi for closure.
Old Ben's mindset was much calmer, much more defensive, parrying the offensive, rage filled moves of Maul, who saw Kenobi's change in stance, the change to Qui-Gon's stance, so he got overconfident. But Kenobi isn't Qui-Gon so it's easy to parry his old rival and strike. Kenobi lived, he would still have a purpose beyond Maul, whereas what would Maul do with Kenobi gone? 
Maul seeks solace in his last moments and finds it through Obi-Wan's words that Luke is the chosen one, knowing that someone will avenge US. Us perhaps relating to Maul and Savage, Maul and the Night Sisters, Maul and Kenobi. Or perhaps all of the above. After all, these two characters have both lost so much throughout their lives, and they have both been ruined by the Sith and most importantly the Emperor. So Maul's hatred for Kenobi fades as he realises he can't survive this, he directs his hatred and thirst for revenge towards the man who had ruined both of them: Sheev Palpatine. A broken man dying a peaceful death to his oldest rival. A better way to go then to be tortured by the man who raised Maul into the Sith Empire; getting killed by a man who would honour him despite all that he has done to Kenobi. 

This also solidifies Obi-Wan as the definitive Jedi. He doesn't fight Maul out of hatred, but to protect Luke, and to help save the galaxy. He has no hatred for Maul when he goes, letting him die in relative peace with the knowledge that Luke is the chosen one. A death Maul may not deserve in Kenobi's eyes, but he grants him it all the same.

 

Zero Hour was a great episode! In Depth: 

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• My baby lives! Kallus lives!  I was not expecting that at all, so it was a huge shocker. I had resigned myself to his inevitable death for the past few weeks, so it was crazy for him to escape at the last minute. During the episode I kept expecting Thrawn to just randomly execute him on the spot, so that did raise the tension level. That or his escape pod getting blown up at the last second. Although despite how much I would have hated it, I wonder if it would have been better for the character to have been killed off? I don't know if I want to see the whole transition from Imperial to full blown Rebel for Kallus actually, as he was always more interesting as a grey character.
• My bloodlust is only partially quenched: Sato sacrificing himself was a noble move (although later undercut by another Interdictor just showing up, frankly) and it was especially nice that arrogance led to an end for Konstantine, and helped end the blockade (but why didn't the Rebels just get out then?). But...that was it. Random ship explosions and troopers aside, I'm shocked that we did not loose any of our Ghost crew in this episode. It felt like Thrawn's attack was billed as a serious blow to our rebellion--logistically that's true, but for our characters they seemed to get off easy. I was expecting Kanan to be killed here, what with all of his speeches to Ezra, but even he survived an orbital bombardment. And once Zeb and Rex boarded the Ghost for the space fight, it was clear they were going to be ok too. This felt like a high stakes episode, but it really ended without any gut-punch losses for the viewer. Oh well. 
• On Thrawn: good episode for him. Although I do still feel that he was cheated out of his true victory. First his hands are tied by Tarkin who wants prisoners not corpses, then the first Interdictor is blown up because of Imperial incompetence, then a cloud starts shooting lighting at his AT-ATs. It was all a lot of random junk that should not have gotten in the way of the inevitable. On the flip side he did get an impressive fight with Kallus, so there's that. Oh and he lived! That was great too, although I didn't expect him to be killed off...Bendu's premonition doesn't seem to bode well for him later on though.   
  • On the plus side we saw Thrawn's numerous tactics in battle which was impressive. 
  • Hopefully we'll see more of Thrawn next season, but I could also see this being the end for him on Rebels, for the time being.
• On Bendu: I'm not a fan of how he was used in this episode. It made sense for Kanan to seek him out just before the battle, but I felt like after he disappeared the first time, he should not have come back. The force storm he turned into was nothing more than a literal Deus ex Machnia, lighting and all, and it really just played into the narrative that the rebels always make it out because of some stupid favorable divine intervention at every corner. On the plus side Bendu did give us that hilarious shot of a Deathtrooper just randomly shooting into the sky!
• On Sabine: I said earlier that I didn't want the Mandalorians in this finale, and I tend to stand by that assessment now. Watching the episode I thought they were fine, but actually thinking about it now, I realized their inclusion was entirely unnecessary. largely because of the two Interdictors. We need two of them getting destroyed in one battle? It's like the writers came up with a cool sacrifice scene for Sato in destroying the Interdictor, but then realized "oh wait, we need Ezra and Sabine to do something important, let's have them destroy the Interdictor! Wait we already killed it...let's just add another one!"  
• It was cool to see the inclusion of Deathtroopers, and apparently Thrawn gets a lot more of them than Krennic. 
• Hera's increasing concern for Kanan was awesome. She touched his arm once. Closer to a kiss than ever before! 
• I absolutely loved Pryce's disappointed face when the rebel fleet finally jumped out of there. She never wins, it's really sad at this point. 
• Ezra was tolerable this episode, despite the run to Sabine, which felt like a pace killer. 
• Mouse droids are meant for two purposes: getting in the way and spying on Admirals. 

And now we play the waiting game for the season four trailer...

The episodes were good. I don't think the episodes will really ever be able to top last season's finale... But it was really good none of the less. Bendu was cool. Like @Captain Nemo said that Kanan and Hera's relationship is growing. She calls him love in the episode so...  

Also, on the topic of relationships, what ever happened to Ezra having a crush on Sabine? 

Sato's sacrifice and Bendu telling Thrawn about his fate were my favourite parts of the episode.

 

I wonder. Did Bendu forsee Thrawn's fate, the Empire's fate, or the ultimate fate of fascism? I'm not so sure its Thrawn he was ultimately talking about although if Thrawn remains the villain next season its possible its meant to be him.

First the positive. The rebels got wrecked. That fleet was roughly twenty ships and only four escaped in the end. I love finally seeing the Empire curbstomp the rebels. Konstantine screwing up the Imperial plan and Sato's sacrifice were awesome moments well set up by previous episodes. Thrawn as always is fantastic and I loved seeing Deathtroopers although is Kanan afraid of them? Visually this was a fantastic episode and oddly enough explosions on rebels always look really amazing, especially on rebel ships 

Ultimately a really great finale although marred by some iffy choices. Im not keen on how the second interdictor blew up, that was pretty dumb. A ship designed for combat with capital ships, with high ordanance should make any missile or lightsaber attack laughable. I love Kallus but he shouldnt have made it out of this episode. Also why did the creators ever have Thrawn walk so close to Kanan, one slice and game over.

Kanan and Ezra's conversation at the start of the episode mimicked Obi Wan and Anakin's in Episode 3, I was sure Kanan was going to die! Heck even by the Bendu himself. 

It was great to see Kallus survive the Episode, and I think these episodes really showed his bravery since he was constantly laughing and making snide remarks behind Thrawn's back, even though he was at gunpoint and could have been killed at any point during the episode. 

The Space and ground battles were good, my only qualm was that I would've liked to see more familiar faces like Wedge, Gold Leader, Hobbie etc. As oppose to random, generic pilots. 

Overall a nice finale, it was a Rebel ship massacre; all they have left in the end is a couple fighters, the Ghost, a hammer head and a corvette.

A couple things threw me off though, Bendu being the worst offender. I like how a being so old and considered ''grey'' gives a temper tantrum by getting called a coward, then proceeds to be a deus ex machina of insane proportions. Also Bendu can't be killed but getting AT-ATs firing at him sure as hell did the trick, only it's more conveniant to dissapear when almost dead. It's almost like when you grew up watching OT Yoda and see him fight in the prequels, it kinds of ruins the character. 

How in hell did they managed to destroy an Interdictor by landing troops and attacking it I have no idea. 

Constantine was the greatest idiot alive; yeah, let's intercept that big empty ship carrier that has no intention of crashing on us, the only reason they can't escape for the moment. What a retard. I thought governor Pryce wasn't a complete idiot until now, she completly botched the space battle and she lost Kallus. 

This episode would have been handled so much better if Kanan would have sacrified himself holding off the Death Troopers and Thrawn with some kind of buff given by Bendu, giving enough time for the others to escape under fire of the AT-ATs. Bendu wouldn't have been ruined. 

 

Edited March 25, 20177 yr by RetroInferno
Keeps calling Kallus Kanan

The episode was really nice. The space battle was great. The ground battle was good until the Bendu which I thought was kinda weird. I expected Sato to die. I really expected Kallus to die but I'm glad he survived. I really like that Ezra is using Mauls ship. The mandos landing on the ship reminded me of a clone wars episode. Thrawn was great. Glad he lived and I hope he is not the main villain in season 4. I was expecting the rebels to go to dantooine but it sounds like they may go to Yavin 4.

Bendu wasn't a Deus Ex Machina for the Rebels, he shot down both Imperial and Rebellion ships. He is the one in the middle after all.

  On 3/25/2017 at 10:20 PM, TheOneBrick said:

Bendu wasn't a Deus Ex Machina for the Rebels, he shot down both Imperial and Rebellion ships. He is the one in the middle after all.

His intervention thwarted the capture of the rebels leaders at the trade off of a single a-wing. That's hardly fair to both sides.  

  On 3/25/2017 at 10:29 PM, RetroInferno said:

His intervention thwarted the capture of the rebels leaders at the trade off of a single a-wing. That's hardly fair to both sides.  

Well to be fair, I feel like he was trying to shoot down Kanan and the Ghost too right? But you know, Hera is just an amazing pilot so 

  On 3/25/2017 at 10:31 PM, Ashnflash said:

Well to be fair, I feel like he was trying to shoot down Kanan and the Ghost too right? But you know, Hera is just an amazing pilot so 

Yeah the Ghost's shield have mysterious ways: surviving a space bomb run from TIE bombers, getting shot point blank by 3 light cruisers and 2 two thunder strikes that took down 2 AT-ATs in a single strike. 

  On 3/25/2017 at 10:41 PM, RetroInferno said:

Yeah the Ghost's shield have mysterious ways: surviving a space bomb run from TIE bombers, getting shot point blank by 3 light cruisers and 2 two thunder strikes that took down 2 AT-ATs in a single strike. 

So what mysterious weapon or ship shot it down during the Battle of Scarif 

Edited March 25, 20177 yr by Ashnflash

  On 3/25/2017 at 10:50 PM, Ashnflash said:

So what mysterious weapon or ship shot it down during the Battle of Scariff 

It had to accidentaly get it by the Death Star, there's no other way 

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• Grand Moff Tarkin appearance! (Albeit via hologram transmission for less than a minute...) 

 

Edited March 26, 20177 yr by Sir Gareth

Here's my season 4 hopes and predictions.

1) More Rogue One material. For the Empire I want to see the Imperials upgrade their AT-DP's to AT-ST's and the AT-AT's they currently use to the ESB models as well as AT-ACT's. I want to see the Empire employ Occupier Combat Assault Tanks and I hope the show's ISD's get a whiter paint job.

  For the Rebels I think we'll see X-Wings and U-Wings and most certainly Admiral Raddus. I hope we get to see Ackbar and Raddus on screen together and see them interact and maybe even clash in their tactics. If Raddus is Patton then make Ackbar General Montgomery and get some conflict between them. The more internal conflict within the rebellion like we see in Rogue One the better.    

2) The Underworld. I hope next season gets down and dirty with the scum of the universe and I hope that the Empire along with new Inquisitors dispatches bounty hunters after remaining rebels. Give us old man Cad Bane and Boba Fett who has entered his prime as a total terminator like killing machine.  

3) Admiral Sloane. She has proven a crucial part of the new canon and unless the story group has plans for her to appear in one of the spinoff movies I think she should pop up in rebels. If you don't know who she is and you're a Star Wars nerd who goes beyond the movies you need to look her up.  

4) Lets keep far far far away from the Lothal sector. The Galaxy is absolutely MASSIVE. Lets explore other areas now.

Finished Zero Hour on YouTube. Real good stuff... though no main character dead (minus Sato)?

  On 3/26/2017 at 1:45 AM, VaderFan2187 said:

Finished Zero Hour on YouTube. Real good stuff... though no main character dead (minus Sato)?

Thats how I watched it as well 

So, yeah, I told you guys so that Sato was going to meet his end this season. Although, perhaps not in the manner I was originally predicting. Super glad my boy Kallus made it out in one piece. His whole arc has been incredible. It's amazing seeing him from his first appearance to now, how legitimately well the show staff have done his arc. Hopefully now that he's with the rebel alliance in person and not as a double agent we'll be seeing more of him.

Also nice to see Thrawn make it out alive. I found the Bendu's comment about Thrawn ultimately being defeated interesting, especially the "many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace" remark by the Bendu. A reference to the way Thrawn died in the original continuity, via assassins, maybe?

I'm just glad Konstantine died. He was literally the biggest megablock in the Empire. 

One wonders what would have happened to the Rebellion if Konstantine had followed orders and Bendu had never showed up... 

Not a fan of Bendu in this episode. He went full weird mode. I guess he died at the end right?

There is a bearded pilot. I thought it was Biggs at first... but he's not.

The force storm Bendu is unexpected. I wasn't even sure why Kanan asked help from the Bendu because I know he doesn't take any sides. Somehow making the Bendu angry worked.

There is still no information on Ahsoka's whereabouts. I hope they will revisit that next season.

Stormtroopers' tin foil armour is useless against Kallus... so I won't even doubt that Chitrut's staff in Rogue One made some serious damage.

Can't wait for September 2017! 

Honestly the person that screwed up the battle the most was Tarkin, and it wasnt with an unreasonable order either which I appreciate. Trying to capture the Rebel leadership and make an example out of them is entirely in his character.

In the book Tarkin theres a part about Tarkin as a young man in a sector defense fleet and his first real achievement. Tarkin manages to be the only person to capture this elusive pirate gang that has brought trade through the sector to a standstill for years. To make an example of the pirates and to prevent further piracy in his sector he puts the captain and the crew on a ship flying right into a sun and broadcasts the audio of them and their screams to the sector or maybe galaxy. Yeah not a nice guy 

However I think if Thrawn had been left to fight without restraint, I imagine the rebels wouldve been entirely annihilated.

I am just glad Thrawn survived for next season, he didn't "lose" the battle by his bad tactics (Constantine and Pryce did that themselves), and he really managed to wreck almost all of Phoenix Squad. All and all, we get one more season with Thrawn and that is the best news of all! I like the hints we are going to Yavin IV, a tie into Rogue One coming in soon! 

Also, time to get speculating for next season!

 

Edited March 26, 20177 yr by xboxtravis7992

I guess I can post this here? For all to watch :)

 

Some things in season 4 to look forward too. – New techniques on how the series will be presented.
– Continuation of telling the story visually “through Star Wars eyes.”
– New faces and the inclusion of some “very beloved old faces.”
– The determination of our heroes to free Lothal from Imperial rule.
– The rebels’ ability to get back & keep fighting for the success of the rebellion.
– More from Mon Mothma and Saw Gerrera and how their relationship crumbled.
– Our first look at an X-wing in the series.
– More action on Mandalore.
– Closure to the stories of some of the characters who began in The Clone Warsanimated series. Very interested in the last 2.