May the Force Be With You...

[quipxotic]

Hi. Long time no talk.

Life has been...weird, for all the reasons it's been weird for everyone else.

But I'm not going to get into that right now. Hurricane Isaias is knocking on the door, so instead of dwelling on any any real life stress or anxiety, I'm going to talk about the thing that I've been hyperfocused on since COVID-19 hit in March: Star Wars...or, more specifically, Star Wars Rebels and why you should watch it.

"Hey Quipxotic," you say in this conversation I'm imagining, "isn't that show aimed at kids?" Well yes, sometimes it is, imaginary person, but it also has plenty of storylines adults will appreciate. Plus, it has the best found family in Star Wars, my favorite Jedi of all time, some gorgeous scenery, and (something that is lacking from lots of other Star Wars properties) actual character development.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First off, did you like The Mandalorian? Most likely the answer is 'yes' because, while there are people who dislike that show, they are few and far between. (Although, if you haven't seen the first season yet, you should probably stop reading this post as there will be SPOILERS below.) What does The Mandalorian have to do with Rebels? Plenty. The two main forces (see what I did there?) behind The Mandalorian are Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, both of whom serve as executive producers, writers, directors, and seemingly half a dozen other roles within the series production. Favreau is the more famous of the two, but it's Filoni who is the most interesting for my purposes because he was supervising director, writer, etc., for the 2008 animated series The Clone Wars and the creator, executive producer, etc., for Star Wars Rebels.

And here's the thing about Filoni: although he's knowledgeable about all aspects of Star Wars, there are certain elements he really loves and he finds new and creative ways to use them in everything he does. The black lightsaber (aka the Darksaber) at the end of season 1 of The Mandalorian had its origins in The Clone Wars and then appeared again in Rebels. Mandalorians predate all three series, but their history and politics feature pretty heavily in both The Clone Wars and Rebels. Jedi are in both as well, obviously, but Filoni does more than just make stories about cool space wizards; he explores what the Force actually is, what the Jedi believe and how that's sometimes really fucked up, and he makes it clear that the Jedi aren't the only Force-wielders in the galaxy, in fact they're not even the oldest.

Do you need to know all this backstory to enjoy The Mandalorian? No, thankfully not, but it does give the series added depth if you know where things come from. Plus, it sounds like a few characters from Rebels are going to be showing up in season 2, along with no doubt a few more of Filoni's favorites narrative toys. All of which are great reasons to watch Rebels before the new season.


Want some other reasons? Okay...

• A lot of the art and character design is based on concept art created by Ralph McQuarrie for the original trilogy. That's cool for sheer geekiness, but it's also gorgeous art.*


• The music by Kevin Kiner, who also scored The Clone Wars, is some of the best music in the franchise not penned by the legend that is John Williams.


• This is not an imagined found family. You don't have to force it (I know, I know) or squint to make the stories fit that trope. It's something that is referenced frequently by the characters in the show itself. If, like me, found families (and stories about dealing with difficult families) are your catnip, you'll love it in this show.


• Hera Syndulla is a better pilot than Han Solo and The Ghost is a better ship than The Millennium Falcon. (It's true, don't @ me.)


• Kanan Jarrus, while not the most powerful Jedi, is perhaps one of the best, most interesting Jedi ever created. He starts out the series very much in the gunslinger mold, but as the series goes on he gets a lot of added depth. He's flawed, he struggles with self-doubt and guilt, but he's fundamentally a good, caring guy who finds a way to defy expectations (ours, his own, the Jedi Order's, the Empire's, everyone's). The comic series Kanan: The Last Padawan, which deals with his experiences during the Clone Wars, is really good too, and the book A New Dawn which features both him and Hera is a lot of fun. And the voice acting for him by Freddie Prinze, Jr., is just *chef's kiss*.


• All the voice acting in this show is fantastic.


• Chopper is the third best droid in Star Wars, after K-2SO and R2-D2.


• The Inquisitors are a fascinating concept and make for excellent villains, particularly the Grand Inquisitor who features heavily in season 1.


• Unlike The Clone Wars, which is the more acclaimed show of the two, Rebels is linear, not jumping around to different parts of the timeline from one episode/story arc to the next. It features characters who, for the most part, don't feature in later media, meaning that anything can happen to them and they actually have space to grow and change as characters. And the quality is more consistent. I mean, I love a lot of The Clone Wars episodes and if you were to say that the best Star Wars content ever is in that series, I wouldn't disagree with you; but there's some real stinkers in there too. While I love some Rebels episodes more than others, there's only one episode in four seasons that I'd call bad.

Those are only some highlights, because I could go on and on about why I love this series. I won't because if you also follow me on Tumblr, you've already been subjected to months of Rebels GIFs and are probably sick of this topic already. If that describes you, thank you for putting up with my current obsession. I'm sure I'll move on to something else...eventually.

[* - The art in Rebels is something of a divisive topic among Star Wars fans. People tend to either love it or hate it. Personally, I love it, but if you don't there are plenty of folks who will agree with you, so your mileage on this point may vary.]

[Oh, PS - want to hear the song I reference in the "music" field below? You can do that here and you really should.]