Premiering first at the Fan Expo in Canada, the second trailer for Star Wars Rebels‘ fourth and final season has been unleashed to the masses, so make sure to check it out now! Be prepared to collapse into a heaping pile of emotions and excitement, as this trailer teases plenty of epic events to come, like the fight for Lothal, Kanera moments, Sabine’s fight for Mandalore, Rukh’s devious mission against the Ghost crew, and of course what happens to the Jedi characters. If you’re like me and curious about the answers, you won’t have to wait too much longer, as the season premieres on October 16! More thoughts, and how some of the trailer connects to what I’ve already seen at Celebration Orlando, below!
Fans lucky enough to have been at the Fan Expo panel in Canada had a whole Rebels panel to enjoy, including several clips, the trailer above, and the moment I’m most jealous of, the full season 4 premiere, “Heroes of Mandalore.” Back in April, I was at Celebration Orlando Rebels panel and while yes, we were treated to the first trailer and the premiere episode, we only got part 1! If you’ve read my review, the first part ends on quite the emotional cliffhanger, something I imagined the rest of the season would emulate and the trailer above seems to back up. Sure, myself and the rest of you Rebels fans thankfully only have to wait until October 16 now to see the whole thing, but together both trailers seem to answer my biggest questions: who lives and who dies. Please note: I can only know certain parts of the second trailer are from the second part of the premiere because I didn’t see them in the first part, so unless there’s another episode or two set on Mandalore, it has to be part 2. Anyways, the weapon Sabine created years ago and is now being used against the Mandalorian people to turn them into dust was shown in the trailer, and considering it targets foes individually, there’s a possibility certain characters who seemed to have died in part 1 actually might not of; Now, piecing together both a shot at the end of the first trailer and a moment at 0:41 of the trailer, it seems NEITHER of those characters die. This is both exciting but a little disappointing, the latter feeling because maybe the stakes aren’t as high as the first part lead me to believe, and if you want to know who I am talking about specifically, check out my review of part 1 (which I’ve updated to include this new information).
But that is a minor thing compared to the rest of the trailer, as my emotions certainly couldn’t escape the Kanera moments throughout. I mean, the scene where he says, “I wish I could see you,” and she takes off his mask and says, “You can always see me,” keeps making me reach for the nearest Kleenex. I really hope this doesn’t point to Kanan’s death, but the somber tone and the focus on them could be taken to mean it’s coming. On the other Jedi front, Ezra not only mentions Yoda’s advice to him from S2 ep, “The Shroud of Darkness,” but he seems to hint he has an answer in the trailer. Yoda responded to Ezra’s demands about knowing how to win back in S2 with a typical Yoda-ism, “How Jedi choose to win, the question is,” and here in the trailer Ezra tells Kanan, “Maybe we’re choosing the wrong way.” What form will their choice take in the fight ahead? Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be directly related to fighting for the Rebellion anymore, so maybe and hopefully it’s retirement on Lothal running a farm for all those creepy, mystical wolves. Alongside Ahsoka’s pony farm. Happy ending for everyone. Sounds good to me! Unfortunately, S4 won’t be all happy endings, but a fan can dream, can’t he?
UPDATE 9/20/17: US viewers curious to know the schedule for the 4th season should rest at ease: the official site unveiled the unusual, but very detailed viewing schedule! I’ve copied it below:
- Monday, 10/16 – “Heroes of Mandalore” Parts 1 & 2
- Monday, 10/23 – “In the Name of the Rebellion” Parts 1 & 2
- Monday, 10/30 – “The Occupation” and “Flight of the Defender”
- Monday, 11/6 – “Kindred” and “Crawler Commandeers”
- Monday, 11/13 – “Rebel Assault”
Following a holiday break, Star Wars Rebels will be back in early 2018 for its final run of episodes leading up to the top-secret series finale.
Look for new episodes every Monday with five airings throughout the day at 12:30 a.m. ET/PT, 3:00 a.m. ET/PT, 7:30 a.m.ET/PT, 5:30 p.m. ET/PT, and 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Disney XD, the Disney XD App, and VOD. StarWars.com’s Rebels Recon behind-the-scenes series will be posted after the 9 p.m. ET/PT broadcast, and episode guides will be published on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT.
Other exciting things in the trailer:
- Rukh, the Noghri assassin most famous in Legends for killing Thrawn, is dispatched by Thrawn to personally capture Hera?! Could she be the one who turns him here in canon, sending him back to kill Thrawn (again)? Would certainly be one action of many which could give Hera a promotion to General, something Filoni teased back in April we would see this season.
- Tarkin mentioning both Krennic and Project Stardust, aka the Death Star, to Thrawn. This should be of note to everyone, but it has an added dimension to those who read Thrawn, as the military genius seems to have figured out about the project already, only to some extent, so his hunt to learn more continues this season!
- There are going to be tons of X-wings and they look glorious!
- Not just more Saw Gerrera and Mon Mothma ahead, but some scenes of them fighting seem to be in store.
- At 1:17 in the trailer, the kyber crystal explosion (I only say it is that due to it being mostly the same animation as the explosion back in S1 ep, “Breaking Ranks”) seems to engulf a Star Destroyer, hinting at victory for the rebels somewhere?
- According to Star Wars Underworld, who was at the Canadian panel, the last several episodes are almost all one large story. Fighting for Lothal, anyone? SWU has conveniently put all their live-tweets together, so check out this post for a few more details.
- Also, I’ll update this post with a link to The Wookiee Gunner’s video of the panel once it goes live. UPDATE: Her video is live! The audio might be a little choppy, but hey, at least you get to watch the panel (and for free) so don’t get to mad. Heck, she even has the clips they showed, so enjoy!
All the speculation begins to end on October 16, so come back for our reviews as the new and final season unfolds!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
SEE ALSO:
Star Wars Rebels Season Four Premiere Review: “Heroes of Mandalore” Part 1
Star Wars Rebels Final Season Panel and Trailer Impressions (SWCO 2017)
Dave Filoni: Animated Origins and Unexpected Fates Panel Impressions (SWCO 2017)
STAR WARS REBELS REVIEWS:
Season One: Spark of Rebellion | Ep. 2: “Droids In Distress” | Ep.3: “Fighter Flight” | Ep.4: “Rise of the Old Masters” | Ep.5: “Breaking Ranks” | Ep.6: “Out of Darkness” | Ep.7: “Empire Day” | Ep.8: “Gathering Forces” | Ep.9: “Path of the Jedi” | Ep.10: “Idiot’s Array” | Ep.11: “Vision of Hope” | Ep.12: “Call to Action” | Ep.13: “Rebel Resolve” | Ep.14: “Fire Across the Galaxy“
Season Two: The Siege of Lothal | Ep. 2: “The Lost Commanders” | Ep. 3: “Relics of the Old Republic” | Ep. 4: “Always Two There Are” | Ep. 5: “Brothers of the Broken Horn” | Ep. 6: “Wings of the Master” | Ep. 7: “Blood Sisters” | Ep. 8: “Stealth Strike” | Ep. 9: “The Future of the Force” | Ep. 10: “Legacy” | Ep. 11: “A Princess on Lothal” | Ep. 12: “The Protector of Concord Dawn” | Ep. 13: “Legends of the Lasat” | Ep. 14: “The Call” | Ep. 15: “Homecoming” | Ep. 16: “The Honorable Ones” | Ep. 17: “Shroud of Darkness” | Ep. 18: “The Forgotten Droid” | Ep. 19: “The Mystery of Chopper Base” | Ep. 20: “Twilight of the Apprentice“
Season Three: Steps into Shadow | Ep. 2: “Holocrons of Fate” | Ep. 3: “The Antilles Extraction” | Ep. 4: “Hera’s Heroes” | Ep. 5: “The Last Battle” | Ep. 6: “Imperial Supercommandos” | Ep. 7: “Iron Squadron” | Ep. 8: “The Wynkahthu Job” | Ep. 9: “An Inside Man” | Ep. 10: “Visions and Voices” | Ep. 11: “Ghosts of Geonosis” | Ep. 12: “Warhead” | Ep. 13: “Trials of the Darksaber” | Ep. 14: “Legacy of Mandalore” | Ep. 15: “Through Imperial Eyes” | Ep. 16: “Secret Cargo” | Ep. 17: “Double Agent Droid” | Ep. 18: “Twin Suns” | Ep. 19: “Zero Hour“
Season Four: Ep. 1: “Heroes of Mandalore” Part 1