gffa:

SO, I HAVE WATCHED REBELS’ FINALE.  And I can barely contain my feelings because, wow, I didn’t expect to get so invested in these space nerds, BUT I REALLY DID.

I loved these last four episodes, I loved everything they added to the story, I love that Ezra Bridger became this character that I deeply loved.  When he first started out the series, I wasn’t all that into his character.  I understood the point of him, but I just didn’t feel him, not the way I did with Kanan, then Hera, then Sabine, then all of them.

But in the end the scene that made me Actually Cry?  When Ezra sacrificed himself to stop Thrawn.  When he was truly selfless, when he was the epitome of a Jedi in realizing that he would miss his friends, he’d miss them so, so much, that this isn’t the path he wanted, but it is the one he had to do.  I fucking cried when they shot off into hyperspace.

I had this thought of, “I started out thinking, well, they have to kill them because otherwise Luke would have known them, right?  And then slowly started to hope that maybe they WOULDN’T kill them!  And then Kanan died and, well, okay, Ezra just isn’t strong enough to teach anyone and– NO, EZRA, NO–!” and my heart was so, so broken over his loss.  I never expected to be here!  I just wanted my cute, funny show that had occasional connections to the bigger picture!

I’m so glad that Dave Filoni cleared up that he’s not dead, that Thrawn isn’t either, but I kind of love that they were taken out of the picture so that we know why we didn’t see them in A New Hope or playing a bigger role in Rogue One, why they still needed Obi-Wan’s help, why nobody ever sent Luke to Ezra or Kanan–because Kanan was dead by the time Luke joined the Rebellion, because Ezra was gone and everyone thought he was dead, too.  And apparently Ahsoka never showed up again in those years between Twilight of the Apprentice and Family Reunion – and Farewell, so she’s up to something. But, oh, I’m so, so glad that she’s alive and that her staff being similar to the rings of the Mortis mural probably means she’s been investigating them.  But eventually she will come find him again.

I love the connections so, so much.  I love that Dave’s talked about how that was really important to him, the sense of connection and fitting this into the bigger story, which I could really feel in “A World Between Worlds”, like, yes, this is all part of a bigger galaxy, a bigger saga.

And I love that their victory on Lothal made the Empire seem vulnerable for the first time.  That Dave says that this what helped lead into Scarif.  Which helped lead into the Death Star’s destruction.  That’s it, that’s exactly what I wanted from Rebels–that it’s a piece of the puzzle, that it doesn’t have to be THE central fight to be important, to be a symbol for the bigger fights we know are coming elsewhere with Rogue One and A New Hope.

Oh, and as much as it hurt, Kanan’s death was beautifully done for this, too.  That he wasn’t just dead and gone immediately, but also that he wasn’t a Force Ghost, because he didn’t learn how to do that.  His will sticking around through that deep connection to the loth wolves, allowing for one more lesson on how to let go–it was perfect.

I am so sad to be saying goodbye to Rebels, but it really did fit so, so well into the greater Star Wars mythology and just Got It.  Some people are just Bad At Star Wars and some people just Get It.  Thank you, Dave Filoni, for Getting It.