Never forget your past, always be mindful of the future
Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Episode 4 was a mini story of Hera’s past, but also it showed us some of the inner strength of the character. Because of the title “Hera’s Heroes”, we thought it would be focused on her alone, but no. Thrawn came to steal the show.
Story Recap
Hera’s father is being chased by Imperial scout droids on speeders. The Ghost piloted by Hera comes to the rescue. Aftera brief update on the situation, the crew decides to help Hera out and they all take on a mission to help her save a very important family heirloom – the Kalikori. After sneaking into the Syndulla home in an attempt to find and take back the Kalikori, Ezra and Hera are caught by Grand Admiral Thrawn. During a scheduled exchange where Hera’s supposed to be traded off with her father, who gives up to the Empire to save his daughter, Hera sacrifices much to clear an escape rout for all of them – she blows up her own house. Thrawn has already won his victory today, he allowed the Rebels to have their own too. Happy ending, this time a steep price.
The Details
Let’s see now, what was REALLY the important and interesting from the episode!
The Kalikori
An ancient Twi’lek tradition dictates families to hand-craft heirlooms and give from a generation to generation. The Syndulla family made no exception and in this episode we saw Hera’s attempt to recover the priceless Kalikori. This item is a symbol of Family and how much it means. She risks a lot, but is backed up by her friends, the Ghost crew. We see the full team in action together. The fact that the episode was all full of family relations hints, integrated all through the storyline, helped us realize how important the Ghost crew are for each other. They aren’t just a team, but a functioning family. As I’ve said family already like 8 times, let’s move on to the next topic…
The topic of the Kalikori was quite popular in the SWTOR SubReddit yesterday. Yes, we have a Twi’lek village on Tython with that exact name, but, unfortunately, I don’t think that the word “Kalikori” being brought to the Official Disney Star Wars Canon, is nearly enough to start even speculating. Or.. is it?!
Hera’s families
The episode was about her, alright. We learned that she values her past and loves her home, which is not overtaken by the Empire. However, what we didn’t know is how she would react when forced to choose. Hera didn’t even for a moment hesitate to destroy the very house she grew up in in order to secure an escape rout for her and Ezra.
Today we saw also a development in the relationship between Ezra and Hera. As they have said it in the Rebels Recon show, the relationship between these two characters was left unexplained for the most part. Ezra already has a brother figure (Zeb) and a father figure (Kanan) on board of The Ghost. During their captivity, we learned that what Ezra and Hera have in common is mutual respect. The two of them are very different by nature – one is explosive and impatient, the other is calm and always thinking before acting.
Thrawn
He totally stole the episode from Hera. His time on the screen wasn’t much, but we learned a lot about his plans and style. Much like in the books, he thinks and plans well ahead of actions. He’s always prepared and has studied everything there is to study about his next mission or objective.
When Hera and Ezra enter her house, now occupied by the Empire, Thrawn is already there. Well, let me make that one small note – when I say Hera’s house, I mean something more like a palace or at least a mansion. I wont even discuss how obvious it is that Ezra isn’t an imperial soldier in this uniform. It was also very weird that a scout trooper would be hanging around the mansion. Ezra made a stupid mistake deciding to stand face to face with Thrawn in an attempt to stay closer to Hera. The Grand Admiral knew he isn’t his soldier. Thank God! Thrawn isn’t dumb. Oh, spaeking of dumb imperials… did you count the ration between shots fired by the empire and hit targets? If a negative zero was a number, I’d use that to emphasize on the stupidity of the troopers.
Back to Thrawn. He easily revealed Ezra’s identity, but what was more captivating, he knew from the very beginning who Hera is and why is she here. His knowledge is his power after all. Knowledge is exactly what the Rebels are lacking when it comes to Thrawn:
“Who was that blue guy?” – asked Ezra after they escaped Thrawn’s sight the first time.
There’s something important to be said here. Thrawn’s definition of a win is a lot different than what the usual leader would go for. To him extracting a bit of new information, learning something he didn’t know is more valuable than a physical victory over the escaping Ezra and Hera.
There’s no way I can skip on that moment… I wont say much, just look at the picture.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind? Mine was “beast in a cage”, but then… that’s Thrawn. His secret is a lot more deep than just a simple beast, packed up nicely in the uniform of a Chiss Grand Admiral. His true identity is far from revealed and we have a whole season ahead of us to learn more! I cannot wait!
The Verdict
If it wasn’t about Thrawn, I’d judge this to be a mediocre episode. The presence of this “new” villain in the show made it one of the best Star Wars Rebels episodes I’ve ever seen. We saw a great mix of back-story for one of the main Rebels – Hera, we saw Thrawn in action, we have the full Rebels crew in action all together, we had a chance to see once again how bad Ezra is as a trooper (he got a new scout uniform this time, thanks to Zeb!). We yet again had the chance to enjoy beautiful vistas and improved graphics. I can’t say I enjoyed the predictability of the ending. Though, it was nice to see that freedom was earned via a dear sacrifice from Hera.
