LogFAQs > #971870610

Okay lets finish this.


Season 7 - The really remarkable thing about this is how after so long and after this team made a whole other show, this fits in perfectly with the other seasons, like the series never went away at all. You can just go from season 6 to season 7 without watching Rebels or knowing the other stuff in-between and have a seamless viewing experience. Of course in top of that this season is excellent.

The Bad Batch Arc

This is mostly an action focused arc that really feels like a backdoor pilot for the Bad Batch show. Which it both is and isnt as this arc was mostly finished during the production of season 6. The real star of this arc is Dee Bradley Baker showing off his impressive voice acting range, but the action is solid throughout. It does drag a little in the middle which apparently is cut down from the original version so they made the right call there.

A few highlights spring to mind here. The Anakin/Padm scene confirming that Obi-Wan super knows everything was great. Echo surviving was pleasant after so many clone deaths. Lastly I really loved the last scene with Anakin and the villain, every time Anakin acts a bit dark side in this show is amazing.

The Martez Sisters Arc

A lot of people hate this arc, but I quite like it! I understand why, when this was releasing weekly, with only 12 episodes I can see why you would be concerned about the pacing. Watching it all together though, its fine. Its all worth it for Ahsokas arc, and to highlight how the common people if the Republic view the Jedi. It emphasises how the Jedi Order is no longer fit for purpose and serves to make Ahsoka more disillusioned with them which justifies some of her actions in the final arc. This was also the first arc where I felt the animation could easily belong in a feature film.

The sisters themselves get there as characters but come across as abrasive at first, and Trace dumping the spice may be the single stupidest action anybody has ever done in Star Wars. Good acting fir them both though. All things considered though this is Ahsokas arc and thats why it works for me.

The Siege of Mandalore Arc

I knew this was going to get real the moment I saw the original Lucasfilm logo.

There is so much to say about this arc I need to go through it mostly linearly, but to summarise, this is amazing. It is the best arc in the show by far, and the animation was already great but here is some of the best I have seen. If this were a Star Wars movie, it may be the best one.

Even from the start its clear this is special, after those titles I almost would have preferred a text crawl to the narration but it was nice to give the narrator one last hurrah and we get a chad new Grievous model for one shot. Seeing all the Jedi Masters fighting where they are killed in Order 66 sets up that this is going to be a tough one and it definitely is. The intro battle sequence mirroring the movie further brings that sense of finality. Anakin even does the same war crime as the one in the film!

Everything about Ahsokas interactions with Anakin and Obi-Wan is perfect. The way that she never actually has a proper final conversation with Anakin hits home, thats how it usually is. You dont often get to say goodbye to people before you lose them. I could tell they were going that way with it and every time somebody mentioned the next time she talks to him it really gave the dread of knowing that conversation would never happen.

So they go do another war crime by breaching a treaty to invade Mandalore, and the resulting battle sequence is just stupendous. The action is the best in the series, but the atmosphere along with the new Mandalorian characters makes Mandalore feel even more real and lived in than it did before. Of course at the centre of it all is Maul, who is at his best hear. For all his bravado you can tell hes terrified of Sidious and whats about to happen. He is clearly broken, clinging to a terrible, no-hope plan to get Anakin before its too late.

The duel between him and Ahsoka (with Ray Park doing the mo-cap for Maul) is stunning and one of the best in the franchise though it did feel slightly shorter than I expected. The way hes defeated is pretty unique too. Two episodes in and youre already like wow that was an amazing finale.

Then the third episode hits. First of all I found the scene with the Jedi council really interesting. It confirmed what had been suggested for a long time - if Anakin hadnt interrupted and Mace had killed Palpatine the Jedi would have pulled a coup to take over the Republic. In a sense Palpatines propaganda reason for destroying the Jedi was accurate - just leaves out the whole evil Sith lord and genocide including mass killings of children part if his plan! The meat of the episode though is Order 66, its terrifying through Ahsokas eyes. I love how Fives is the reason Rex hesitates at first, making it do he didnt die for nothing, actually he is the one that ultimately sets Rex free. It really feels like Ahsoka can die here (Lucas wanted to kill her off) despite the fact that obviously she cant due to shows set in the future. When she frees Maul and he immediatrly tries to Rule of Two her AGAIN I laughed, and I really enjoyed how candid she was about regarding him as no more than a distraction.

This all builds up to the final episode. First of all I just want to say that the moment that got me to nearly tear up again wasnt any of the big headline moments but when the droids helping Ahsoka got shot. I was not okay. The last big action scene is really beautifully staged and takes us to the powerful last scene.

Ahsoka marking graves for the ones who were just forced to try and kill her was touching. You can tell just by looking at her that nothing will be the same for her as a character after this. Using the image of the clone helmets juxtaposed against Darth Vader to close out the show really highlights how this age of the universe has ended. It contrasts even with the end of Revenge of the Sith in that its not a triumphant or remotely hopeful ending, its just a sad tribute to a bygone era.

This was so good I immediately wanted to watch it again. Even the best arcs to now did not do that! Stellar ending.