Awesome / Star Wars Rebels

All paths are coming together.

WARNING: Per wiki policy, all spoilers are unmarked on Awesome Moments pages.

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Promo Shorts

• Chopper blowing up the last TIE fighter in "The Machine in the Ghost".
• The way Sabine handles the distraction in "Art Attack" is both this and funny.

Season 1

Spark of Rebellion

• During Ezra's rescue, Sabine stops to paint her graffiti signature on the floor of the Star Destroyer's hangar. At first, it's just funny — until the Ghost is making its escape, whereupon Kallus takes a sniff of the paint and immediately orders everyone to take cover. Sabine presses a detonator, and it explodes, blowing a large hole in the hangar floor.
• The scene where our heroes and the Wookiee slaves they're rescuing are pinned down and cut off, and Kanan calmly steps out into the open, effortlessly walking through blaster fire without being singed — and for the first time in years, openly draws his lightsaber against the Empire.
  Ezra: Care to let me in on the secret?
  Kanan: Kid, I'm about to let everyone in on the secret!
  [Kanan climbs over the crates they're hiding behind and walks through the blaster fire. Kallus signals the troopers to stop firing. Kanan assembles his lightsaber and ignites it. Cue Stunned Silence.]
  Ezra: . . . Whoa.
  Agent Kallus: All troopers! Focus your fire on . . . [nervously pauses] . . . on the Jedi.
  • Kanan effortlessly waltzing into a hail of blaster fire and nonchalantly dodging the blasts serves to show just how much the Force can elevate someone above the rank and file of the galaxy.
  • Noteworthy in that its the first time we've ever seen Agent Kallus show so much as an instant's hesitation, let alone sound afraid. And as soon as the lightsaber ignites all the stormtroopers openly gape, just as the Wookiee slaves being rescued all stop to gaze in awe at an ancient legend seemingly come to life to come save them. It's like the entire galaxy is pausing to pay its respects, as if a beacon has been lit to announce to all the stars in the sky that the Jedi Order is not dead and gone and that it will continue the fight. That one scene makes the entire 43-minute pilot.
• Getting to see Obi-Wan's warning message mentioned in Revenge of the Sith, complete with a Role Reprise from James Arnold Taylor.

Droids in Distress

• A simple thing, but watching Ezra jump from building to building quite a few meters above the ground while dodging air traffic in the meantime as he makes his way to Hangar 7 is quite awesome to behold, as is his instinctual Force-push against Agent Kallus right as Kallus was going to finish Zeb off late in the same episode, saving Zeb's life in the process.
• Agent Kallus vs. Zeb, bo-rifle to bo-rifle. Kallus wins. Then Ezra interrupts the victory with an awesome moment of his own.
• In one episode, we are reintroduced to C-3PO, R2-D2 and Bail Organa. Who knows who else might pop up from this point?
  • Try Darth Vader, voiced by James Earl Jones.
    • And Ahsoka Tano, voiced by Ashley Eckstein. And Hondo and Lando and Leia and Rex and…

Fighter Flight

• What, no love for Zeb flying a TIE fighter UPSIDE DOWN — WITH HIS FEET??!!!

Rise of the Old Masters

• The fact that Luminara Unduli survived Order 66 is nothing short of impressive. It's just too bad that it was only for her to get captured and executed later.
• The Inquisitor's entrance, coupled with the fact that Kanan and Ezra realize too late that Master Luminara is dead and her corpse is being used as bait, is a pretty powerful moment for the Empire.
• The Inquisitor gets one for his fight with Kanan. It's clear that he is in control in pretty much every moment of the fight, while Kanan is fighting for his life. Special attention should be paid to while Kanan is holding his lightsaber with both hands, the Inquisitor is only using one, showing just how skilled he is.
  • It's worth noting that before this episode, Kanan hasn't actually done any lightsaber duelling since before the end of the Clone Wars, when he was a teenager. Keeping that in mind, he actually does fairly well for himself.
• Hera using the tibidees that were chasing the Phantom (because they wanted to mate with it) as her own personal fleet.
• Kanan showed that he was very skillful with using the Force, but severely lacked self-confidence:
  • Capturing a free-falling living being after more than 10 seconds of freefall (which would have reached the terminal speed of 160 km/h or faster), out of sight.
  • His usage of the Force to throw the stormtroopers over the railings, and later to pull a pair of stormtroopers at breakneck speed to be clotheslined by his arms.
  • Using a mindtrick in a hitherto unseen way, casual conversation style instead of the usual imperative style.
  • Actually immobilized the Inquisitor for a short time (followed by slamming the Inquisitor against the ceiling) to allow Ezra to escape.

Breaking Ranks

• Hera destroys an entire Imperial supply convoy by shooting down only one Gozanti freighter, which was carrying a large kyber crystal (Stated by Word of God to be used in the construction of the Death Star's superlaser).
• Ezra, after completing his mission, deciding to stay in the Imperial Academy a little bit longer so that he can get Jai Kell (another cadet) out before the Inquisitor turns up to take the two of them for "special training" due to the two of them appearing to be Force-sensitive due to their higher level of capabilities. Compare that to the pilot, in which he wasn't initially willing to stick his neck out for strangers.
  • One of Ezra's recruits decided to stay back with the Inquisitor to find his missing sister. To do this, he pretends to have a Face–Heel Turn and fire at Ezra.

Empire Day

• Old Jho stands up to the Empire by throwing the law back in their face after being ordered to display HoloNet News, but then refusing to turn it off after Gall Trayvis hijacks it. Most Lothal citizens get arrested for showing the slightest disrespect for the Empire, but Jho doesn't because he was technically obeying their laws (that and the pilots were busy hunting for Tseebo).
• During the highway chase scene, we are introduced to Imperial Mooks that are surprisingly competent. Namely, the bike trooper who plants an explosive on the door, then jumps on top of the troop carrier, waiting until the door is opened before swinging in and kicking Ezra back. Then Kanan jumps in and starts pummelling him, and the trooper then actually manages to knock Kanan to the ground. At this point, Kanan proceeds to Force-throw him into the other bike trooper outside.
• Though it's short, Kanan and Kallus have a rather cool fight on top of the speeding troop carrier.

Gathering Forces

• Kanan vs the Inquisitor: Round Two. Much ass proceeds to be kicked; most of it Kanan's.
  • Kanan, despite getting beaten, does somewhat better for himself this round — he's clearly been practicing.
• A rather dark example, but Ezra taps into the Dark Side and sicks the mother of the nasties at the abandoned base on the Inquisitor in response to a taunting speech.
  • The Inquisitor gets one in turn for managing to scare it off, though it took a few hits to make it back down.
  • Just to elaborate on this. Kanan is out for the count, Ezra tries to make a stand with Kanan's lightsaber, only for the Inquisitor to rip it from his hands. Alone, defenseless and backed to the edge of an abyss, the Inquisitor taunts Ezra into using his fear and anger to strike back. With the Inquisitor advancing on Ezra and nowhere left to go, he does just that and taps into the Dark Side; but his face as that anger is channeled into the fyrnock mother is terrifying to the point the Inquisitor, whom prior to this hasn't shown fear, backs away slightly. As Ezra sics the mother on him, Kanan wakes up to see this event unfolding. Ezra may be new to the force, but at the age of 15 has a lot of Force potential.
• A less ambiguous one is Ezra taming the fyrnocks. Kanan puts him right in their midst, he can't do it, and Kanan asks him what he's afraid of. Ezra admits he's afraid of knowing what happened to his parents and forgives Tseebo, who hears it and accepts it. Cut back to Fort Anaxes, where Ezra has all the fyrnocks sitting down obediently.

Path of the Jedi

• Ezra finally makes his own lightsaber. Also notable is that, aside from the kyber crystal, Ezra did not build this saber with conventional parts (especially since the Empire most likely banned them) but from random tech donated by his friends. It might not look as elegant as other lightsabers — especially with it being a blaster hybrid — but it's still a working lightsaber, and that civilized age is long gone.
  • Everyone on the Ghost chipped in to give Ezra the parts. This lightsaber isn't just the weapon of a Jedi. . . it's a physical manifestation of the True Companions, and how Ezra accepts and is accepted by them.
• Ezra is pushed to the final step of passing his test by none other than Yoda. And since he also talks to Kanan, it seems this isn’t just part of the illusion, and Yoda really is contacting them after sensing a new Padawan taking the test from Dagobah.
  • On a sidenote, it also shows just how insanely powerful with the Force Yoda is: Lothal isn't exactly next to Dagobah. Communicating through the Force across interstellar distances puts a huge strain on the user - when Luke did it in The Last Jedi (albeit with full illusion instead of just voice and some lightshow), it was implied to be a Godzilla Threshold move on his part and it killed him. Here, Yoda does the lesser but still taxing version basically just to give some words of encouragement.

Idiot's Array

• Lando effortlessly beating Zeb's otherwise-unbeatable hand with the Idiot's Array.
• Hera calmly making her escape from Azmorigan's ship, based on nothing more than a offhand remark by Lando about the location of the escape pods. Then giving him a well-deserved Groin Attack for the trouble.
• Ezra uses his saber-blaster in combat for the first time. Even Kanan is impressed, lamenting that his lightsaber can't shoot people.

Vision of Hope

• The episode starts with Ezra trying (and failing) to master deflecting blaster bolts into a target with his lightsaber. He blacks out and has a vision of the future only to wake up and realize that every shot he deflected hit the target.
• Ezra and Kanan working together during the rescue. Especially the Back-to-Back Badasses moment when they ignite their lightsabers.
• Hera knocking out Trayvis after revealing that the gun she gave him was empty and she saw him being an Imperial Agent parsecs away.

Call To Action

• Villainous one for the Empire. Grand Moff Tarkin shows up and he doesn't play around.
• Kanan managing to get a kick on the Grand Inquisitor during their fight, thanks to practice. The latter acknowledges this.
• Ezra's Rousing Speech at the end, something his parents would be proud of. It also provides the main page quote.
  • Within the show, we only get to see Lothal's reaction to the broadcast. Hera assures him that other systems heard... And she is correct. Not only did the local characters of Servants of the Empire and Rebel Bluff hear, but according to "A Princess on Lothal", the message reached as far as Alderaan, and maybe even farther (a rebel in the magazine comic strips even ran away from home to join the Rebellion because of the broadcast). And when "Fire Across the Galaxy" came along, Organa and the other rebels agreed that because so many people heard his message, the point needed to be drilled in by supporting and gaining a victory in the rescue of Kanan over Mustafar. It works, as only a mere few hours later, Kallus reports of planetary unrest on Lothal, as well as rumors that the Empire isn't so strong as they claim to be (although what happens next within the following weeks is a different story).
  • The novelization of Return of the Jedi reveals that this is still remembered eight years later. Threepio recounts to the Ewoks of the stories before the movie, including how "brave rebels far away began spreading the word from planet to planet to fight back. And one boy sent a message across the worlds that ignited a spark of rebellion." Perhaps Ezra will suffer much loss in his future, but he will have as many victories, and while we won't know his allegiance in the Force until the end, there is no denying that this was his defining point as a figure of the Rebellion.
  • And as we find out later in "Legacy", the broadcast even made it into prison, where Mira and Ephraim Bridger (and Azadi) were able to heard it. And to hear their son's voice again is what brought back the Determinator in them to fight back against the Empire one last time. Are they proud of you, Ezra? Yes, the proudest.

Rebel Resolve

• The pickup after Chopper spaces himself to escape. Great camera angles, crazy maneuvering by the Ghost, Chopper opening his jet booster throttle...

Fire Across the Galaxy

• Sabine's repeat performance of "Art Attack", dancing around blaster fire while planting a ton of explosives, all while taunting the Stormtroopers. Then, as they fly off with their stolen transport, the engines distort the fumes of the trashed TIEs into the shape of the rebel starbird.
  • There's also her paint job on the captured TIE. Even that one Stormtrooper liked it.
• Kanan actually manages to beat the Inquisitor when he thinks he has nothing to lose, stabbing his and Ezra's sabers into the ring mechanism of the Inquisitor's saber to destroy it.
  • Hell, just Kanan vs the Inquisitor. After a season of being upstaged by the Inquisitor in every battle, Kanan finally defeats him whilst dual wielding both his and Ezra's lightsabers, continuously switching between the blaster and saber modes on Ezra's lightsaber to keep the Inquisitor off balance. It's not a case of Kanan getting lucky, either — at the end of the battle, the Inquisitor would rather fall to his death than admit his failure to Vader.
  • This all starts with an awesome pre-asskicking line. When Kanan thinks Ezra's been killed, he calmly rises to his feet and fully embraces his connection to the Force and becomes the Jedi Knight he was always meant to be.
    Kanan: That was a mistake.
    The Inquisitor: Why? Because you have no one left to die for you?
    Kanan: (Force pulls lightsabers to him, cue Awesome Music) No. Because I have nothing left to fear.
  • It gets even better when you realize that Kanan defeated him using a shatterpoint. See the fridge page for more.
• It looks like Chopper's abandoned the crew and they're stuck in TIE Fighters about to get blown up by a whole lot more hostile TIE Fighters. Then Chopper shows up in the transport, followed by the Ghost and three Rebel Blockade Runners. Cue the hostile TIEs getting shredded and the Rebels making a clean break while Tarkin's Star Destroyer goes down in flames.
  • This is made even more spectacular in the context of their conversation with Fulcrum. This is the moment when the Rebels stop being a bunch of loosely organized cells and become the Rebel Alliance, all because Kanan and Ezra had the guts (and lack of sanity) to broadcast a message of hope to the people of Lothal.
  • As Kallus notes later, word of what happened on Mustafar leaked out, and now people are seriously questioning if the Empire is as unbeatable as it likes to claim. They not only broadcast that message, they backed it up.
• The Reveal of Fulcrum. After the fake-out with Bail Organa's brief appearance, Ahsoka Tano comes down from the top of the Ghost. Also awesome is that Chopper managed to fly to her location, and she was able to pilot the ship, call in support, and allow for the Rebels to escape, all of that in what can only be an hour at most.
• Grand Moff Tarkin's words, "Not to worry, Agent Kallus. The Emperor has sent an alternative solution." Followed by the most iconic breathing in cinema history. Darth Vader walks down the shuttle ramp without saying a word, the Imperial March starts up triumphantly and you know that he is about to bring the hammer down on Lothal.

Season 2

• Ahsoka isn't the only cast member from The Clone Wars to make a comeback. Captain Rex and his squad can still kick ass.
  • Who are the other two clones? Commander Wolffe (from Plo Koon's force), and Gregor, the lost Clone Commando from "Missing in Action" who helped R2-D2 and D-squad. Yes, he survived all that.
• The midseason trailer just screams Shocking Moment. Among many other events, we have Darth Maul offering to become Ezra's Evil Mentor, a Sith pyramid activating, and the beginning of Ahsoka's long-anticipated confrontation with Darth Vader.

The Siege of Lothal

• Darth Vader throughout the premiere. He effectively undid everything the crew had accomplished over the last few months with the space of a few hours. Some highlights include:
  • Planning the perfect trap to lure the rebels out, and then have them lead him back to the Rebel fleet:
    • First, he instilled such fear in Maketh Tua that she attempted to defect. Unfortunately for her, it was Just as Planned.
    • Then he had her followed and killed and blamed it on the Rebels, turning Lothal against them.
    • After raiding their hideout and destroying their transport, he planted a tracker on one of his own shuttles, correctly anticipating it would be the only way out.
    • He then staged a massive firefight, even appeared in person to make their escape as believable as possible.
    • When they got to the fleet, he followed alone in a single fighter and utterly decimated them. The only reasons he didn't wipe them all out were Hera's uncanny piloting skill and Ahsoka's attempt to mind-probe him.
  • Beside his strategic mind, his combat skill, piloting skill and mastery over the Force were no joke either:
    • He easily overpowered Kanan and Ezra during a duel. Using one hand, in a fight he intentionally let them escape.
    • He alone vs an entire rebel squadron and their ships. It's a Curb-Stomp Battle in his favor. Anakin or no, he's still got it.
    Sato: How can one fighter best our entire squadron!?
    • Even though he's half machine, his mastery of the Force was still very powerful. He easily lifted the fallen walkers single handed when they fell on top of him. And when Ahsoka attempted to read him through the Force, the backlash (along with the sheer horror at sensing exactly who he is/was) was enough to knock her out.
• Hera really gets to show off her piloting skills in this episode. Not only does she take command of the remains of Phoenix Squadron, she manages to evade Darth Vader long enough to trick him into a Star Destroyer's tractor beam and escape.
• During the fight with Vader, Sabine actually takes a shot at him despite being totally outmatched, potentially saving Kanan and Ezra. It gets her shot in the head, with only her helmet saving her, but still.

The Lost Commanders

• When Rex introduces himself.
  "Well actually my name is Rex, Captain, 501^st Clone Battalion. And any friend of [Ahsoka's] is a friend of mine."
• Rex taking out the Imperial probe droid with one shot.

Relics of the Old Republic

• The Ghost crew and the clones working together to take down three AT-ATs despite being outnumbered and outgunned.
  • In particular, Rex and his crew. During their Last Stand they go full ham at the AT-ATs, with the intent to prove once-and-for-all that the clone army was far superior to the Stormtroopers.
    • Give one to whoever the hell designed the AT-TE. Under direct fire from two much larger vehicles, clearly not in the best condition, yet it's still pushing forwards. That's one hell of a walker. If it wasn't for the fight being two-on-one, it's very likely the old hunk of junk would have won.
    • The clones ram their AT-TE into Kallus' AT-AT, briefly lifting it in the air and making him freak out.
    Wolffe: I'm going for the legs - all four of 'em!
    Kallus: They've lost their minds!
    • Lifting the AT-AT in the air was to position themselves to shoot at its weak spot under the cockpit. If it wasn't for the main cannon losing power at the last moment, the clones would've taken out Kallus' walker and likely could have gone on to destroy the second walker. Not bad for three old clones manning an old, rusty AT-TE.
  • Kanan, Ezra and Zeb jumping out of the Phantom in midair, landing on top of an AT-AT, cutting their way in to the cockpit and proceeding to hijack it was pretty badass.
• Rex's Badass Boast to the Empire.
  Rex: If it's a fight you want, I hope you brought a better class of soldier than those... Stormtroopers.
  Kallus: They serve the Empire well, and I have a great many of them.
  Rex: You're gonna need ALL of them.
  • And exactly HOW badass is that boast? According to canon sources, an Imperial I Star Destroyer carries 20 AT-At's, 30 AT-ST's, 15 troop transports, 8 Lambda-class shuttles, 72 TIE models for air support...And 9,700 stormtroopers. An entire legion equal to a full division in the modern day U.S. Army, at least in numbers. Against three prematurely aged clone troopers and an obsolescent GAR walker. That might qualify as the most badass boast in the entire Star Wars franchise.

Always Two There Are

• Say what you will about the Seventh Sister and the Fifth Brother, but both were pretty badass in this episode.
  • The Seventh Sister manages to knock out Chopper, lure Sabine and Ezra to her location with a fake distress call and proceeds to capture Ezra.
  • The Fifth Brother, meanwhile, manages to No-Sell Sabine's usual tricks and throws them right back in her face.
• Zeb's rescue of Ezra and Sabine from the Inquisitors, complete with parking the Phantom on the hangar ceiling.

Brothers of the Broken Horn

• Two little words made this a great episode: Hondo's Back.
• Chopper grabbing a couple blasters and going Guns Akimbo with them against Azmorigan and his goons.
• Ezra utilizing Combat Parkour against the assassin droids.

Wings of the Master

• Hera gets to test-fly the B-Wing, and in doing so once again shows off how phenomenal a pilot she really is.
• During the B-Wing test flight, Hera is unimpressed with the ship's standard weaponry. Quarrie tells her to pull the big lever on her right... and cue a glorious Converging-Stream Weapon Wave-Motion Gun blast that punches a hole through the nearest mountain.
• Hera, with Sabine's help, then takes on the blockade in said B-Wing, taking down a cruiser while accompanied by a triumphant blast of the main Star Wars theme as Kallus stares open mouthed with shock and dismay.

Blood Sisters

• Ketsu takes out several stormtroopers, using only her pike and martial arts training.

Stealth Strike

• Ezra is all sorts of badass in this episode. He extricates himself from capture by starting with clever application of the Force on his lightsaber's ignition switch, exhibits enough control of his blaster deflection skills to do so while flailing in zero-g, and cuts a swath through a hallway through of trigger-happy stormtroopers that pinned down Sato and the rebel corvette crew. The Force is with him.
  • Not only that, but after learning of Ezra's initial capture, Agent Kallus specifically requests for Ezra to be held under high security.
• Speaking of Chopper, his sabotage of the Interdictor is glorious. The gravity well generators drag in the escorts, scraping them along the hull, before the Interdictor collapses in on itself.

The Future of the Force

• Ahsoka vs. the two Inquisitors. In the episode's Recon commentary, Filoni specifically stated that she was never in jeopardy during the fight. To elaborate:
  • She tossed around Fifth Brother like a rag doll; he only got to lock blades with her once.
  • The Seventh Sister does marginally better, until Ahsoka eventually shows her just how ridiculously outclassed she is: after a vicious exchange, Ahsoka deactivates her lightsabers, closes her eyes, spreads her arms and knees down in a "Here I am, come and get me!" gesture. Then, when the Seventh Sister strikes, while she's in this position, she still has enough time to put down her own lightsabers, before catching the hilt of the Inquisitor's mid-swing while the blades are spinning on it, stopping it. Then she extinguishes the blades with the Force and tears the useless hilt from its owner's grasp, tossing it aside. She finishes off with Force-powered Shockwave Clap, that slams the Sister into a stone pillar, which cracks from the impact.
• Before that, we have Ezra facing the two Inquisitors with Kanan and Zeb down, and only himself between the Inquisitors and the children. He doesn't get to do anything, but the fact that he was willing, combined with the coldly determined expression on his face, is awesome in its own right. Big Brother Instinct indeed.

Legacy

• Ezra is getting better and better at advancing towards heavy stormtrooper blaster fire and using his lightsaber for deflection. And this time, he Force-pushes Agent Kallus deliberately.
• Hera shows off her flying chops again, managing to collide just hard enough with the Star Destroyer's tractor beam emitter to smash it and free Sato's corvette from its grip, but not so hard as to smash the Ghost too.
• Even though it's a massive Tear Jerker, Ezra guessing that his parents have died before he's been told and sadly accepting it as opposed to being in denial about it and/or angrily blaming the force visions for getting his hopes up shows a lot of maturity and Character Development on his part. Especially since this is the sort of thing that drove Anakin to the dark side.

A Princess on Lothal

• Leia spends almost every moment of screentime she shares with Lyste playing him like a fiddle, despite his Crazy-Prepared reputation. It ends up with him assuring her that she'll be compensated for her "stolen" ships, and calling for a new shuttle to take her home, after she'd already commandeered his and gotten it blown up. Keep in mind, Leia is only fifteen, running circles around probably the most competent Imperial on the planet; Padme would be proud and Anakin would die laughing.
• This episode showcases just how tough AT-AT walkers really are. The Ghost hits one with four torpedoes and it manages to get back up. Then Kanan showcases his skill with a lightsaber by taking it down for good.
  • Kanan charging an AT-AT with his lightsaber and downing it — still in stormtrooper armour, no less.
• You have to admire Lyste's competence. While he still lost in the end, he still made it hard enough that it discouraged the crew about retrieving the ships.
  • And as Leia points out, Lyste's Properly Paranoid precautions are wholly due to the rebels' fearsome reputation, meaning that the Empire considers them so dangerous that they aren't taking ANY chances.

The Protector of Concord Dawn

• You know how good a pilot Hera is right? You remember how she outmaneuvered Darth Freaking Vader, right? Fenn Rau manages to shoot her down, although it should be noted she was piloting an A-Wing at the time.
• Sabine managing to talk down three Mandalorian guards by invoking the Mandalorian code of battle, something that hasn't occurred since the Clone Wars. Bonus points for revealing her lineage to them (her clan served House Vizsla), which gets her branded as a Death Watch traitor, but she replies that while her mother was Death Watch, she herself is not.
  • The fact that they caught her, before she was ready is pretty cool itself, considering that stormtroopers usually don't notice her, until she wants them to notice her.
  • And then there's the fact where she brazenly taunts them by asking them whether they or the Empire call the shots.
• Kanan hangs on to Fenn Rau's fighter as it flies upward towards space, busts an engine with his lightsaber to impede Fenn's ascent, puts his lightsaber through the canopy and into the control console beneath it, pries the canopy open, and escapes the crippled craft into the Phantom with a Force-augmented jump. Sabine is impressed... and kinda frightened.

Legends of the Lasat

• Zeb accepting his role as "the child who shall show the way" to Lirasan, and uses his bo-rifle first to find the planet's location in the uncharted Wild Space, and then to channel the hyperspace coordinates of the route the leads through a cluster of blackholes from the Force to the navicomputer of the Ghost. Also part Heartwarming, part Awesome is when Kanan and Ezra decide the help him, and put their hands on his shoulders.

The Call

• Ezra connecting with the purrgil while asphyxiating from the planet's lower atmosphere, then leading them in a Big Damn Heroes moment.
• The purrgil saving Ezra from asphyxiating.
• We've seen animals who can live in space before in Star Wars. But the purrgil are not only capable of space travel, but hyperspace travel as well.
• It's Ezra's turn to take down a fighter with his lightsaber, slicing off a TIE fighter's wing strut while riding a purrgil.

Homecoming

• Ezra and Kanan clearing a hallway by Force-pushing each other through closing doors, leap frog style.
• Ezra successfully using a Jedi Mind Trick for the first time.
• Cham wanted to blow up the carrier as a symbol for his people. He gets a nice consolation prize when Sabine and Ezra's plan to stop the cruiser is so effective that the cruiser bursts into flames and loses orbit in a most spectacular fashion.

The Honorable Ones

• During the ambush, Chopper rolls out of the Ghost and essentially drop-kicks the Imperial droid trying to block their escape, then dodges his shock attacks and disables him.
• Considering Zeb's temper and how easily he could choose to end a helpless Kallus, who was the man who gave out the order to massacre his people allegedly, you have to give him credit for controlling his temper. The most remotely hostile thing he did to him is throw him out of the pod and threaten him, and exchange remarks on their situation.
• Zeb and Kallus working together to drive off the Bonzami.
• When Kallus loses his grip on Zeb as they climb to the surface, Zeb improvises by catching him with his foot, then flips him upside down onto the ceiling, with only the blade of the bo-rifle temporarily holding him.

Shroud of Darkness

• Kanan and Ezra pulling off their Fastball Special again, this time in combat against the Inquisitors.
• The return of the Temple Guards, appearing to fight Kanan, then later the Inquisitors.
  • Even better, the Temple Guard that appears to be the leader initiates an Awesome Moment of Crowning as he knights Kanan. Then, he takes off his helmet when Kanan asks what the ceremony meant, revealing who that familiar voice belongs to:
    The Grand Inquisitor: It means that you are now what I once was: a Knight of the Jedi Order.
• Two words from Yoda made any fans of the Old Republic rejoice.
  Yoda: Find... Malachor.
• The sequence where the Inquisitors are engulfed in light and are implied to have their own visions when they get surrounded by the Sentinel and his Jedi Temple Guards.

The Forgotten Droid

• Chopper getting rid of the stormtroopers on the freighter.
• Chopper beating the crap out of the jerkass freighter captain with a droid leg.

Twilight of the Apprentice

• In a world where The Force Awakens has been out for several months, seeing Ezra ignite a lightsaber similar to that of Kylo Ren is breathtaking, even if it only lasts a single second. In that short amount of time, we see the initial blade ignite, and then the crossguard — and all three blades are bright green.^note It should be noted that Ren's saber was inspired by a similar saber from Legends. That doesn't make it any less awesome, however.
• While Maul has been slightly slowed down by age, his fights with, and subsequent killings of the Inquisitors, along with his duel with Ahsoka and Kanan, paints a clear picture that even well into his fifties, even with his old cybernetic legs, he's still a force to be reckoned with.
  • Of particular note are his entrance on the scene of the battle between the elder Jedi and the Inquisitors, prompting reactions of fearful recognition on the part of both Ahsoka and the Eighth Brother, and his subsequent entry into the battle wearing an expression of pure uninhibited glee, laughing at seeing two Jedi, three inquisitors and his old friend Ahsoka. Actions really do speak louder than words!
    Maul: What fun. [delighted laughter] What fun!
    • Considering all the above, Maul's quiet admittance that he can't defeat Vader on his own really underlines just how powerful Vader is. It also shows how humbled Maul has been since his prime.
  • Maul's battle against the Inquisitors is one-sided, even before Ahsoka and the Jedi join in. Three wannabe dark side acolytes against a fully-fledged Sith Warrior? There was never any doubt.
• There is a shot of the three Inquisitors attacking, and Kanan, Maul, and Ahsoka defending. Each three on on either side of the screen so their blades meet in the middle. The six are at most a foot apart, and they are have grim expressions. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's amazing.
• How does Kanan top his feat of defeating the Grand Inquisitor in Season 1? By throwing Darth Maul himself off the Sith pyramid.
  • What's better is how Kanan did it: Maul thinks Kanan will be an easy target because Kanan has just been blinded by Maul. Instead, Kanan focuses with the Force and his now heightened hearing. Maul, perhaps in the desire to quickly finish a blind Kanan, leaves himself too open, allowing Kanan to grab his exposed wrist and pull-throw him off the edge.
  • Kanan donning the Sentinel mask, symbolic of him continuing to be a protector of the old fallen Jedi Order even in darkness.
  • In a blink-and-miss-it moment, Ahsoka clearly glances to the side when she locks blade with Maul. Then when she leaves the battle to Kanan, it's clear she knows that Kanan, though blinded, has got this. And she's right.
• Darth Vader has always had a talent for powerful, dramatic entrances, and this latest instance doesn't disappoint. Here, he's standing on the top of his TIE Advanced, which slowly descends to the grounded, lightsaber ignited, cape billowing, ready for battle.
  • To make it better? Vader would have to have gotten out of his TIE Advanced in the air before doing this. Even as an evil despotic dictator, Anakin still has to show off...
• As Darth Vader towers over him, Ezra defiantly declares that he doesn't fear Vader, who himself is slightly impressed. Short as this moment was, it sure was sweet.
  Ezra: I don't fear you!
  Vader: Then you will die braver than most.
  [They exchange three blows before Vader destroys Ezra's lightsaber. Ezra recoils as Vader approaches.]
  Vader: Perhaps I was wrong.
• Darth Vader vs Ahsoka Tano. It's been anticipated all season, it is the first battle between real masters on the show, and it lives-up to the hype. The two combatants are nearly equally matched, know nearly every move the other makes, and execute their own counters with flawless precision.
  • The brief discussion between them prior to starting also counts:
    Ahsoka: I thought I knew who you were, beneath that mask. But my master would never be as vile as you.
    Darth Vader: Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him.
    Ahsoka: Then I will avenge his death.
    Darth Vader: Revenge is not the Jedi way.
    Ahsoka: I am no Jedi.
  • While Ezra's reaction upon witnessing the duel brings levity to the serious tone, it also underlines how impressed he is by the two:
    Ezra: I need a lot more training.
  • Let's not forget, that this is the first time ever that we really see Darth Vader go all-out onscreen, in motion! Production reasons aside, in every fight he had on the Original Trilogy, even in-universe, he was holding back for one reason or another, but not here, and he sure doesn't disappoint: he's like an unstoppable moving fortress that slowly but surely overpowers Ahsoka, who initially nimbly dances around him, but eventually tires out.
  • Ahsoka being a Combat Pragmatist and sneaking up on Vader, tackling him and cutting off part of his mask. Let that sink-in: just a few inches closer and that strike would've killed Vader instantly! She came closer to killing Vader than even Obi-Wan did!
  • And as scary as it is, Darth Vader speaking with both Anakin's voice and James Earl Jones's bass after that is amazing.
    Ahsoka: I won't leave you! Not this time.
    Vader: Then you will die.
  • Whatever happened in the end, Vader did not escape unscathed. Ahsoka did a number on him, which is something few people can achieve.
• The fact that Ahsoka is one of the two known Light-aligned Force-wielders capable of going toe-to-toe with both Maul and Vader, the other being Obi-Wan. Not only that, it's implied (and we finally see it in season 7 of the Clone Wars) that Ahsoka has survived a previous encounter with Maul in his prime, during the tail end of the Clone Wars, when she herself was just around 17.
• Ahsoka's statement that she is no Jedi is this. In The Clone Wars, being a Jedi was a major part of her character and her motivation, and being betrayed at the end destroyed her confidence and her identity. Her statement symbolizes that she is no longer dogmatically blinded by the Jedi Order and has moved on, found assurance in herself, and will do what she feels is right. Which at this particular moment is to kick the ever-loving tar out of Vader.
• Vader and Ahsoka both survive an exploding temple.
  • Even more awesome? Ahsoka has to be rescued later by Ezra. Vader appears to walk out under his own power, despite being about ready to drop. Whatever he's become, he's still a badass.

Season 3

• According to the Season 3 trailer shown at Star Wars Celebration Europe, Grand Admiral Thrawn is back. That's right, the most iconic villain from Star Wars Legends is officially canon! And best of all, Dave Filoni collaborated with Timothy Zahn in order to bring Thrawn into the new continuity!
  • Speaking of bringing Truth to Legends, we also see a ship that looks a lot like the Outrider, and what appear to be Darktroopers.
  • The lead TIE Interceptor doing an attack run on a Rebel ship appears to have red markings, hinting at Soontir Fel, basically Star Wars' Red Baron and a Worthy Opponent of Wedge, who is also being introduced this season. A later trailer also shows that said TIE Interceptor has the multiple kill marks◊ of an Ace Pilot, lending further credence to the possibility.
• The Season 3 trailer also has the return of the Darksaber, in the hands of Sabine no less!
• Season 3 is going to feature a performance by the legendary Tom Baker, who voices an enormous and presumably ancient creature calling itself The Bendu who declares itself "in the middle" of the Jedi and the Sith in a pitch perfect recreation of The Fourth Doctor's deep voice.
  • Here's a clip of Baker's voice in action.
• We see some Mandalorian Stormtroopers, and it looks like Fenn Rau's officially joining the Rebellion. While his armor is presumably confiscated for now, a Freeze-Frame Bonus in a promo shows he still has his helmet and can still kick ass, proving it with a Second-Person Attack camera shot.
• This promotional art of the Big Bad Ensemble◊.
• The newest mid-season trailer brings lots of hype for the mid-season, like the appearances of Mon Mothma and the Death Troopers, Sabine also wielding Ezra's newest lightsaber, and last but not least... the long-awaited rematch between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul.
  • The trailer shows Mon Mothma organizing a larger rebellion against the Empire, giving us several glorious shots of a united rebel fleet rivaling the armada at Endor. This may very well build up to Phoenix Squadron's involvement in Rogue One.
  • Fenn Rau kneeling before Sabine when she proves herself worthy of the Darksaber. When she draws it in front of the other Mandalorians (including a woman heavily implied to be her mother), even the Supercommandos take a step back in respect.
  • We also see Thrawn training in hand-to-hand combat against multiple Sentry droids at once. Think about it for a minute - his routine is going up close and personal with the droids that nearly killed Ezra and Zeb in a group of four.
  • Other Freeze Frame Bonuses include plenty of awesome details:
    • A brief shot of a TIE Defender in action.
    • An Imperial officer that looks an awful lot like Colonel Yularen with a group of Stormtrooper officers.
    • The apparent return of the Y-wings from the season premier, now painted red.
    • A rebel officer next to Mon Mothma that could be Cassian Andor in the art style of Rebels.
    • And as noted above, the return of Krennic's Death Troopers as they accompany Thrawn and another armored officer. With Saw Gerrera's imminent return (which is awesome in itself) hinted to be about the Death Star, this may bring Krennic into the series as well alongside his Death Troopers.

Steps Into Shadow

• In the newest preview of the Steps Into Shadow episode, we now get the display of Ezra's Force abilities that now have grown much stronger, why? He mind tricks a Stormtrooper... no, he practically forces himself into his mind like a puppet, and said Stormtrooper happens to be manning an AT-ST, which Ezra uses to blast his fellow Stormtroopers. Woah there, Ezra.
  • It gets even crazier from there.
  • And before that, we see how he Took a Level in Badass — his speed, blaster accuracy, and swordfighting abilities have greatly improved to the point where he's almost a One-Man Army.
• The Bendu casually opening the Sith holocron, one of the most dangerous artifacts in the galaxy, and admonishing Kanan for being afraid of it.
  Kanan: It's a source of evil. My student's been using it and I'm afraid it's changing him.
  The Bendu: An object cannot make you good or evil.
• The Bendu also dresses down exactly what can make one evil, and perfectly summarizes Anakin's descent - the temptation of power and forbidden knowledge is Darth Plagueis' ability to keep people from dying through the Dark Side, and Anakin's desire to save Padme from the vision of her death - normally a desire to do good - all led him down the path to the Dark Side. And the one who made the decision to go down that path was Anakin himself.
  The Bendu: The temptation of power, forbidden knowledge, even the desire to do good can lead some down that path. But only you can change yourself.
• The rescue on Reclam Station. Hera once again proves her piloting chops by keeping pace with the plummeting station despite heavy turbulence, while Kanan puts his lessons from the Bendu to use and grabs a freefalling Ezra out of the air. The animation, the voice acting, and the music just sell the entire sequence and its symbolism of Ezra putting his trust in Kanan and the Light again.
• Thrawn immediately deduces the next move of Phoenix Squadron, as soon as he's brought on board. At the end, he lets them escape, knowing that they'll eventually lead him to the larger rebellion.
• A minor one in the form of a Call-Back to both "Call to Action" and "Twilight of the Apprentice": during his talk with Governor Pryce, Tarkin mentions that Lord Vader has dealt with the Jedi leadership of Phoenix Squadron, referring to Ahsoka's presumed to be dead status. Now remember how he roasted the Grand Inquisitor, Kallus, and Minister Tua, about the impossibility of the Lothal rebels being led by a real Jedi, since the real ones are all long dead. That's right. Even though according to our current knowledge that last time he met Ahsoka was some 16-17 years ago, she left enough impression on him, that he acknowledges her as a true Jedi.

The Holocrons of Fate

• Maul has become even more dangerous since "Twilight of the Apprentice"; when Hera decides not to reveal the information about the Sith Holocron to him, he reads her mind in a way very similar to Kylo Ren to Poe, and receives all the necessary information.
• A minor one when compared to other examples on this page, but when Hera declines to give the information, Maul states that she knows all about Kanan Jarrus, and then asks "Or should I use his real name: Caleb Dume?"
• The Ghost crew's escape attempt, be it the way they disable Maul's droids, how they use Maul's metal legs to their advantage by sticking him to the ceiling with magnetism and finally how easily Maul gets out of that predicament before regaining control of the situation.
• Pretty much everything Kanan does in this episode, from getting Ezra through the spiders to saving himself from the void of space to saving the Ghost crew to getting Ezra away from the holocrons.

The Antilles Extraction

• Phoenix Squadron gets in a Curb-Stomp Battle with a squadron of TIE Interceptors. As in, the Interceptors completely demolish them. Not only were they outnumbered two-to-one, they pulled through with no casualties.
  • For that matter, the way the Imperials outwit the rebels on top of beating them in a straight-up fight. Knowing that the rebels are desperate for pilots, Governor Pryce organizes a spaceflight exercise, granting any disloyal cadets the perfect opportunity to defect... after rigging every imperial fighter to shut down on her command. It works perfectly, and Sabine and co. are denied an easy escape with a mere press of a button. After two seasons of rebel triumphs and escapes, the Imperials continue to avert Villain Decay.
• Doubles as Heartwarming Moment; Ahsoka's legacy lives on through the title of Fulcrum.
  • And whoever this new Fulcrum is, they're doing a pretty good job of it if somehow getting information on rebel sympathizer cadets in a high security academy means anything.
• Sabine infiltrating Skystrike.
• The fact that Skystrike has created a simulated version of the Ghost to train cadets. Over the past few years, the crew of the Ghost has become The Dreaded to the Empire.
• A villainous example in Sabine vs. Governor Pryce. We knew Sabine could kick ass, but Pryce makes her earn this one.
  • The fight itself, which completely averts She-Fu in favor of one of the rougher fights in the series. There's no quick takedown, no graceful maneuvers, no weapons, just two people striking as hard as they can and using everything around them to their advantage.
• Agent Kallus repays his debt to Zeb from season two by helping Sabine, Wedge, and Hobbie escape Skystrike Academy, letting them go and telling them which levels to avoid and which hangar they can use to find escape ships.
• Wedge gets one of his own when he's able to escape the Academy in an old and slow TIE Bomber while being chased by an ace TIE Interceptor pilot.

Hera's Heroes

• That one determined Scout Trooper who was part of a squad hunting Cham down. Despite the Ghost arriving and blasting the armoured transport accompanying him, he continued the pursuit and even followed the Twi'lek rebels onto the Ghost proper. He quickly leaps off his speeder bike, draws his blaster and barks out, "Halt!"
  • The moment is undercut by the fact he realises he's facing down at least three blasters, and Zeb even points out he probably didn't think things through.
• Hera slips into her Ryloth accent again, this time, on purpose to automatically look like another ordinary Twi'lek citizen despite being in her pilot garb. It tricks the Imperial officer accompanying Thrawn, though Thrawn isn't fooled. This is awesome for two reasons: one, it's Vanessa Marshall showing off some of her French-speaking skills again, two, Hera is that good.
• Thrawn proves how useful his knowledge of alien art is. He realizes that Kalikoris are monetarily worthless and the only reason a Twi'lek would steal one is if she is from the family it belongs to. He sees through Hera's disguise and captures her.
  • A subtle one throughout the episode for just how obvious it is that Thrawn's done his homework about Ryloth. In addition to knowing exactly what a Kalikori is and not letting on until Hera was better secured, he consistently gives her name the proper Twi'leki pronunciation, not the mangled Basic inflection everyone else, including Hera and Cham, generally use. He respects the culture enough to, if not become fluent in the language, at least develop his accent perfectly.
• Hera glaring down Thrawn when she's at his mercy and refusing to let him intimidate her, even though she knows there's very little chance for escape. And when Thrawn tells her he'll keep the Kalikori in a place of honor, she retorts that she'd rather it was destroyed than used as an occupier's trophy.
• Thrawn grabbing Captain Slavin by the collar and hissing in his face when he suggests destroying the Kalikori as a piece of "Twi'lek trash," a statement that hits not one but two of Thrawn's Berserk Buttons—destroying art and xenophobia, which Thrawn no doubt had to endure a lot of as a Chiss in the human-dominated Imperial military—before releasing him and apologizing for the outburst. Slavin looks about as afraid as if it was Darth Vader or Palpatine himself who was snarling him.
• Hera and Chopper blowing up the front of the Syndulla home to escape, then Kanan grabbing a rocket in mid-air with the Force and redirecting it into the AT-DP pursuing them. Thrawn even acknowledges it, telling his gunner to let them go because they've earned their victory (and so he can use what he learned more efficiently later).
• Thrawn, a Muggle, being too quick on the draw for Ezra, a Force-sensitive, and consequently stun-blasting him before he can even draw his own weapon. Of course, the fact that it's implied that Thrawn had already deduced that the "scout trooper" was actually a disguised rebel helped.

The Last Battle

• General Kalani from the Clone Wars is back, and he plans to "end the Clone Wars" with an army of Separatist battle droids!
• Rex briefly having a flashback about Cody.
• The droids themselves are nearly 20 years out of date and they still manage to put up a decent fight, shooting Rex and Ezra a couple of times and nearly killing them in the hallway (before they overheat from age), and Ezra even acknowledges that had the droids been in better shape Kalani would have won handily. It seems that it wasn't just the clones who were a Super Prototype to Stormtroopers.
• Ezra realizing that the Clone Wars were, by design, a Hopeless War that only benefited the Empire and convincing Kalani to stand down and ally with them. A 17-year-old Padawan did what the Republic, the Confederacy, and the entire Jedi Order couldn't: saw the Clone Wars for what they were (though it helps he's looking at them from retrospect) and convinced the two sides to ally against the true enemy. Basically, Ezra ended the freaking Clone War by finding a middle ground. Maybe it isn't a complete coincidence that his last name is "Bridger"...
• The fact they played The Clone Wars theme instead of the regular Rebels theme during the credits of the episode is a pretty awesome call back for fans of The Clone Wars.
• Kalani thinking up an Indy Ploy: Having the Jedi redirect his Battle Droids' fire more accurately in order to set off the charges. So much for tactical droids being unimaginative machines.
• Kalani lives up to his title of Super Tactical Droid by not only learning from all other Tactical Droids' shortcomings, but also the aforementioned indy ploy. 20 years of studying Republic victories, he anticipates almost everything Rex and Kanan came up with, a far cry from the Clone Wars era droids' habit of "throw everything at them and see what sticks" mentality. Even with the meager resources on hand, he proved to be a legitimate threat and that his boasting about a Separatist Victory isn't unfounded.

Imperial Supercommandos

• Sabine, Ezra, and Rau versus Saxon and the ISC. It doesn't disappoint.
• Saxon not being fooled by Ezra's lies, knowing that he'll eventually break. It's a far cry from the Genre Blind Imperials who took his tales at face value.
• Sabine, unarmed, injured, and worn down, fighting Saxon to a draw in a fistfight. Her hits are clearly weaker and slower than they would normally be, but she fights through the pain and manages to stun him long enough to escape.
• Sabine finally gets her jetpack! And then Saxon snipes it . . .

Iron Squadron

• The Ghost and two A-wings attempt to help Iron Squadron against a group of TIE Fighters and an Imperial transport. The Ghost and A-Wings shoot down a few TIEs . . . then the Iron Squadron releases a group of cargo containers which are filled with explosives. The Imperial transport is crippled, and gets out of Dodge fast.
• When the Ghost and Mart are trying their hardest to fight against Konstantine and his troops, it looks as if they're hopelessly outnumbered. Then Sato and his troops drop out of hyperspace, and Sato reminds his nephew he will not fight alone.

The Wynkahthu Job

• The sentry droids. Maybe they're not Dark Troopers, but they actually managed to put up a fight and the crew never actually managed to destroy one; they had to flee and the droids were taken out by the exploding ship.
• Zeb and Ezra making their escape from the ship.

An Inside Man

• Marida Sumar wielding a freaking RPG! And blowing up a troop transport with it!
• Ezra and Kanan try to escape a pair of AT-ATs by using them as cover against each other. When their AT-DP moves underneath one of them, the crew simply sits down, crushing it beneath them.
  • But the heroes turn it around by using their lightsabers to cut through both walkers, hijacking the AT-AT, and using it to blast the other one.
• We finally find out why the Empire wants Lothal so much. They're making TIE Defenders!^note Although, if you think about it, that would seem to be a cover story for the real reason . . . after all, they could have put that facility anywhere.
• Throughout the series (and most of the greater franchise) the Rebels' greatest advantage has been their creativity and adaptability, which usually allows them to outwit the close-minded and unimaginative Imperials. That is, unless Thrawn's around. Cruel though Mr. Sumar's death may have been, Thrawn not only anticipated and nullified the Rebels' vaunted ingenuity, he threw it right back in their faces.

Visions and Voices

• Ezra and Maul vs a possessed Kanan and Sabine may have been brief, but it shows two things; 1) Ezra's presence meant Maul was constantly on the defensive against a foe he would rather have killed, lest he be struck down in turn, and 2) Maul was smart enough to incorporate their paranoia for Ezra into his gambit to get out of paying for his mother's magic.
• Even if the plan was shaky and impetuous, Ezra managed to succeed in driving Maul away from Atollon and extract the information he wanted on his own terms.
• While "The Holocrons of Fate" was unclear as to who the visions were referring to, this makes it crystal clear: Kenobi is alive on a planet with twin suns. This answers Maul's question so he can have his final bout with the Jedi Master, while Ezra and the rebels now know a Jedi Master survived the War. However, Ezra doesn't know the significance of Tatooine, so Maul has a headstart on getting to Kenobi.
• Sabine using the Darksaber in the exact same manner as Pre Viszla did in his duel against Kenobi, as well as recovering the Darksaber from the wrecked Nightsister altar.

Ghosts of Geonosis

• Kanan giving Ezra a Force-boost across a wide canyon, levitating and supporting a fallen pillar to allow Saw and Rex to cross, and then leaping across the gap, executing a perfect forward roll at the end and on his feet immediately.
  • Made even more impressive by the fact that, because Ezra needed a boost, the audience thinks that Kanan won't be able to make it across by himself — until he does.
• Sabine's jet pack is back, and and she uses it to cut through Rocket Troopers like a knife through butter.
• Saw's Big Damn Heroes moment when he blasts through a wall and destroys an entire battle droid squad singlehandedly.
• The fact that the Ghost is such a thorn in the Empire's side that its destruction will earn promotions for the entire crew of the Imperial cruiser.
• A light cruiser tries to cut off the Ghost's escape route from Geonosis. How does Hera respond? By using proton torpedoes to blow the cruiser in half and flying through the warship as it breaks apart.

Warhead

• The Rebels blew up a whole Star Destroyer by turning their own infiltrator-sabotage droid against them, almost as if it were a middle finger to the Empire and more importantly preventing it from giving away their position. Even Thrawn is impressed that the rebels pulled off a stunt like that, but also points out that while they prevented getting caught immediately, in doing so they just significantly reduced the ground the Empire has to search, from thousands of systems to the 94 planets where they deployed these droids.

Trials of the Darksaber

• Fenn Rau's account on the history of the Darksaber, specifically the Art Shift into a shadowy montage of events, similar to the shift seen in the movie adaptation of Deathly Hallows.
• When the team ask her to use the Darksaber, Sabine boasts of how she is proficient with almost any weapon.
  Kanan: She might not be able to fight like a Jedi, but she can learn to be proficient with the blade.
  Sabine: I am proficient, with many types of blades. And blasters. And explosives. But that is a lightsaber.
• Kanan laying down the law when Sabine gets overconfident during a sparring match. While her new vambraces allow her to blindside her opponent, they won't save her life in the long run. Pre Viszla learned that the hard way, and she knows this.
  Kanan: History lesson: the Jedi won the war with Mandalore!
• Kanan channeling the Warrior Therapist in order to break Sabine's mental block. She reveals that the Imperial Academy on Mandalore was developing weapons, ones that she herself helped design. When the Empire started using these weapons on their creators, she spoke out against them. However, her family didn't back her up, and she was branded a traitor. She ran from Mandalore to protect her family from punishment for her actions, and to run from the shame of her family essentially disowning her.
  • During this particular scene, Kanan is essentially dodging each and every one of her attacks, unarmed, and she still can't get him. It is only once he pushes too far that she snaps, and suddenly Kanan is the one on the defensive. Sabine, fueled by her emotions, rains down blow after blow on Kanan, even landing a kick that sends him off the hill they were fighting on. Rau and Ezra both stand in utter shock at her strength.
  Sabine: I don't quit. I never quit!
  Kanan: Really, that's not what it looks like. You did run didn't you?
  Sabine: No!
  Kanan: But that's what your people believe, isn't it? You ran from the Empire, you ran from your family!
  Sabine: Lies!
  Kanan: [ignites blade and blocks her saber] Then what's the truth?
  • Tiya Sircar's and Freddie Prinze Jr's voice acting really helps deliver Sabine's gut punch and make this scene.
  • Kanan letting Sabine whale on him like that so she can get her issues off her chest.
• The final shot of the episode, Sabine looking at the Darksaber no longer with trepidation, but with determination as the others kneel around her. After so long running because that was the only way to protect her family, she can now return and save them all.

Legacy of Mandalore

• How much of a symbol is the Darksaber? When Sabine reveals it to her family, it induces a silent Oh, Crap! from every Mandalorian in the vicinity!
• Rau spies on Ursa's conversation with Saxon, and then proceeds to sneak into the Wren stronghold, steal back Kanan and Ezra's lightsabers, and knock out the one Wren warrior who had the misfortune to run into him, all without otherwise being detected.
• Rau's Big Damn Heroes moment when he smashes into the Wren stronghold through the glass wall.
• Sabine's duel with Saxon. Sabine manages to hold her own in lightsaber combat against the physically stronger Saxon, who even emulates Pre Viszla from his duel with Maul, using his air superiority to gain an advantage over her. Sabine counters by damaging his jetpack and hitting him with a flamethrower. The two trade saberlocks, with the ice underneath cracking from the strain, until Sabine is able to land a blow to Saxon's arm, and relieving him of the Darksaber (and some fingers).
  • Also notable in that it's the first time in the franchise that two non force-sensitives have gone head to head with lightsabers. While Maul didn't actively use his Force powers against Pre Vizsla, he still had the superhuman reflexes and agility that force sensitivity brings. This is the first time we see two people fighting it out on skill and Combat Pragmatism alone.
  • When she tells him to yield, holding his neck in between her blades à la Anakin, he spitefully tells her she needs to kill him. She retorts that while that is the old Mandalorian way, that is not her way.
  • Saxon gets rewarded for his traitorous behavior, both by betraying Clan Wren once he has the Darksaber, and when he pulls his pistol on Sabine following her victory in single combat, by being shot in the heart. By Ursa Wren no less!
• Part Tear Jerker, part Awesome is Sabine's decision to stay with her family. She not only has the humility to acknowledge that she is not going to unite the clans, but she is determined to find the person who can.

Through Imperial Eyes

• Though it was played more for comedy, Ezra being able to hide in the ceiling of his cell with his hands cuffed behind his back is pretty damn impressive.
  • Kallus should also get some credit in that moment. He sees a cell seemingly empty, yet figures out almost instantly exactly where Ezra is hiding.
• Thrawn versus his training droids after Kallus sics them on him. He manages to destroy them, although there are some hints that it was somewhat tiring.
• Kallus nearly manages to put one over on Thrawn, by framing Lyste as being Fulcrum. The only thing that led Thrawn to have absolute proof of the actual situation was that Kallus forgot to dispose of Ezra's helmet, which Thrawn recognized as having been painted by Sabine.
  • And Thrawn knows this — he now seems to regard Kallus as a Worthy Opponent.
  • Thrawn clearly already suspected Kallus back in "An Inside Man", and his summation of Ezra's identity only comes after he tells Yularen that no, Lyste isn't capable of what he's accused of. Really, between the training droids (practice and when his life's at stake) and seeing straight through Kallus and an admittedly-simplified version of his Legends art analysis, Thrawn is finally in full Magnificent Bastard mode.
  • Seeing Thrawn pull his infamous Sherlock Scan in the new canon, with Wulff Yularen (no idiot himself) playing Pellaeon. First, Thrawn has been shown to be intrigued by Sabine Wren's art, even having a piece of her graffiti (and the wall it was painted on!) transported to his office. He notes that Ezra's helmet has a loth-cat painted on it, and the loth-cat was done in Sabine's distinctive style. Since Sabine painted the helmet, the captive must have been Ezra Bridger, and since Agent Kallus knows Ezra Bridger on sight, the only reason he wouldn't have reported it is if he is Fulcrum. Yularen, like Pellaeon before him, notes that Thrawn's logic is flawless, and leads to a conclusion too sensible to be wrong. . . while stating that he never would have come to it himself.
• Governor Pryce gets a few more notches on her Badass Bureaucrat belt when confronting Ezra and Kallus' extraction team in the form of Kanan, and Rex who have arrived disguised as Stormtroopers with an Imperial shuttle. Kanan tries to use a Jedi Mind Trick on Governor Pryce to de-escalate the situation. It doesn't work.
  Pryce: (Approaches Kanan and Rex) Troopers, stand down and remove your helmets. I'm placing you under arrest.
  Kanan: There must be some kind of mistake, sir. (Begins to make the Jedi Mind Trick gesture) I'm sure we can-
  Pryce: (To the actual Stormtrooper next to her) Shoot him.
  • Not only does Kanan then get (non-fatally) shot by the Stormtrooper, Pryce then gets into a fistfight with Rex, a trained Clone Trooper and veteran of the Clone Wars and almost wins but for the intervention of Lieutenant Lyste.
  Rex: I don't wanna hurt you, lady!
  Pryce: Don't worry. You won't.

Secret Cargo

• After spending nearly two decades being covert about her association with the rebels, Mon Mothma ends her Senate career by calling Palpatine a lying executioner.
• The TIE Defender is just as lethal as Thrawn hoped, and when piloted by the far more competent Captain Skerris it easily shreds through the Y-wing escort and tanks the heat of a forming star with its shields. It's only stopped by Ezra's moment below, and even then it's hinted that he's survived to see another day.
• Ezra taking out the TIE Defender by luring him into the squadron leader's sights and giving the order to fire at the right moment.
• At the end, Mon Mothma makes a broadcast, calling for the different pockets of resistance to stand together in resisting the Empire. At first it seems like nothing has happened, until one ship arrives, followed by more, culminating in a full fleet above Dantooine. We finally see the birth of the Rebel Alliance, and it's as spectacular as you'd imagine.
  Mon Mothma: This is our rebellion.
• Rebels shows yet again that the Y-Wing is nothing to scoff about. Not as maneuverable as X-Wings and TIEs, they easily take down capital ships, with only a handful easily destroying a light cruiser.

Double Agent Droid

• Hera destroys the Controller's ship by sending energy back to it along the signal the Controller used to control Chopper, thus ensuring the rebel secrets he'd stolen would never make it to the Empire.
  • Hera has destroyed Imperial ships before, but how many characters throughout the franchise have done so from light years away, with nothing more than an tiny droid and a signal jack? Even Macgyver would have been impressed.
• AP-5 was nothing but a comic relief character before, but here he proves his worth. Not only would he have indeed been able to complete the principal mission on his own (with much less risk than Chopper's approach), he also saved everybody when Chopper was hijacked by Imperials. And that's in addition to telling a Cassandra Truth for most of the episode.

Twin Suns

• This episode is The Last Dance for Maul. After eighteen years, Maul's arc is coming to a close, and he's going out with a bang. They couldn't have picked a better final opponent for Maul: Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi.
• Maul and Obi-Wan circle each other, trading last remarks and taunts, and Obi-Wan tries to reason with Maul one last time, not wishing to kill him if he can avoid it, and also remaining a tad polite to his old foe. However, the dawning look of subdued horror on Obi-Wan's face as Maul hints that he knows he's on Tatooine to protect Luke is powerful. Obi-Wan proves he's one hell of a Papa Wolf, ready to defend the Jedi's last hope, the moment Maul confirms he knows about Luke, and stops playing around and immediately ignites his lightsaber.
• To say nothing of how Obi-Wan does in the duel. He kills Maul in a mere three strikes!
  • The abruptness of the duel showcases not just Obi-Wan's technique, but also his personal philosophy; that of a supremely talented man who appreciates the brilliance of simplicity. In A New Hope, he could have fought his way through the Death Star, felling troopers left and right, before engaging Vader in an wild, epic lightsaber battle... but the mark of a true master is one who can temper his skill with patience and humility, thus accomplishing more with less. He's not as random or as clumsy as one of the more "modern" lightsaber duelists, but a more elegant warrior from a more civilized age. Which is, of course, the lesson Anakin "Why-Can't-I-Be-A-Master" Skywalker never learned.
  • What makes this even more epic you ask? Obi-Wan and Maul sweeping into their respective “Mastery” stances. Obi-Wan with Soresu (Form III), Maul with his combined-salute that he learnt after his reawakening - and then they both shift, back into the forms they used when they met on Naboo. Ataru (Form IV)for Kenobi, and a Juyo (Form VII)/Jar’Kai mix for Maul.
  • The way Maul decides to Face Death with Dignity is awesome, when you remember Maul's Tragic Villain qualities. Despite all his evil, he spends his last moments quiet and polite, which is more than you can say for most villains. Death may not mean redemption, but for Maul, it sure as hell means something.
    • This is a man that was raised by Sidious from infancy, and on his deathbed he is able to genuinely reach out and empathize with one of his most hated enemies, something that is anathema to the dark side. He broke free from the conditioning that had been engrained in him his whole life and found the hope he was looking for. (Note that he doesn't use "revenge" — he uses avenge, the more heroic word.) Really makes one wonder how he could have turned out if he'd been picked up by the Jedi, and it's almost as if the stolen child avenged himself by defying his master's teachings.
  • And if you look closely, you realize that the strike that killed Maul was a counter to the same strike that Maul used to kill Qui-Gon. Poetic justice at its finest.
    • Also, its worth noting that when Obi-Wan gives his final strike to Maul, his signature double bladed lightsaber gets sliced in half.
• Can we give a round of applause to Stephen Stanton, Obi-Wan's voice actor in this episode? He sounds so much like Old Ben you'd think they brought back the Force ghost of Alec Guinness to record the lines.
• The episode ends with Ben facing a certain house in the Tatooine desert with a young man being called in for dinner as John Williams' stupendous Binary Suns from A New Hope is played, continuing over the credits.

Zero Hour

• Look at how many characters are in this episode. We've got the Ghost crew back together again, Captain Rex, Commander Sato, Wedge and Hobbie, AP-5, General Dodonna, Senator Mothma, the rebel fleet including Gold Squadron, Agent Kallus, Governor Azadi, Clan Wren including Ursa & Tristan & Rau, versus Thrawn, Tarkin, Governor Pryce, and Konstantine. That's gotta be around twenty voice actors in one episode. Talk about a reunion.
• Kallus and Thrawn's Good Old Fisticuffs fight. Thrawn even throws him to the ground in the beginning, but does Kallus give in to any of his hits? Hell no.
  Thrawn: Your technique is good, but limited by your training at the Imperial Academy, predicable.
  Kallus: You talk too much!
  • At which point, Thrawn stops talking and administers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown including smashing Kallus's face into his knee, a Groin Attack, and throwing him out the door into the railing. For the rest of the episode Kallus sports bruises and a black eye, and his hair is mussed. Thrawn doesn't even get a speck of dirt on his white uniform.
• Commander Jun Sato's Heroic Sacrifice. Sato watches as Rebel ships are blowing up left and right, and on the comm Ezra says that he can't make a break through the Interdictors. Sato then gives Ezra a set of coordinates and tells him to prepare to jump to hyperspace before telling his crew to abandon ship. Two of his bridge crew decide to stay with him, and they plow right through Admiral Konstantine's Interdictor, allowing Ezra to make it past the blockade and bring back help.
  • And a villainous one for Thrawn: that wouldn't have worked if Konstantine had followed Thrawn's orders and stuck to the battle plan.
• Thrawn's bombardment of Chopper Base and its surroundings. Although Sabine's shield did hold up (a Moment of Awesome for Sabine's engineering skills in itself), it's made very clear that if it wasn't for Tarkin's order to capture the Rebel leadership, Thrawn would've won then and there. This fact is punctuated by a switching profile of him looking down at the planet and Hera looking up at the incoming laserbolts, as if they were staring down one another in person: Thrawn gives the order to cease the bombardment a moment after Hera looked away in defeat, anticipating certain death.
• Ezra and Clan Wren making a comeback against the Seventh Fleet over Atollon, with both supercommandos and starfighters flying around taking things down.
• Bendu entering the battle via THUNDERSTORM and obliterating AT-AT Walkers with LIGHTNING BOLTS and introducing himself via Badass Boast.
• Kallus goads an infuriated Pryce into having him literally Thrown Out the Airlock — only to quickly defeat his guards, get to an escape pod and launch himself into the middle of a warzone, trusting that the Ghost crew will get his message and pick him up. It's a good thing Clan Wren's fang fighters joined the battle and all Imperial forces were too busy trying to stop them.
  • It's implied he beat up his guards with his hands cuffed behind his back, as when the elevator door opens we see him finishing taking off his handcuffs with the guards unconscious behind him.
• Credit where it's due; Thrawn and his forces, having been blindsided by what looks like an angry god, refuse to retreat and strike back with all they have. Having no idea who or what the Bendu was, there was no certainty that it could be harmed by conventional weaponry; it takes serious guts to fire a measly rifle at a rampaging deity that could very well be immortal, even with AT-ATs providing backup with their cannons. The fact that they actually defeat the Bendu was merely icing on the cake.
  • Bonus points to Thrawn for quickly regaining his composure and ordering the Alpha Strike that ultimately sends the Bendu plummeting to the ground.
  • Given the conversation the Bendu has with Thrawn, and the ease with which the Bendu escapes, there's also the possibility that Thrawn actually didn't hurt the Bendu at all. The Bendu tells Thrawn that he is "beyond [his] power to destroy"; it's possible the Bendu let himself be hit just to taunt Thrawn and foretell his defeat.
• This exchange between Thrawn and a wounded Bendu:
  The Bendu: You cannot see, but I can.
  Thrawn: What? What do you see?
  The Bendu: I see . . . your defeat . . . like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace.
  Thrawn: [Visibly unnerved, fires his blaster at the Bendu]
  The Bendu: [Laughs deeply and almost sinisterly, having vanished before Thrawn fired]
  • Even better: come the series finale, we see that Bendu was spot-on with that description, with the many arms that surround Thrawn in a cold embrace being the tentacles of the purrgil.

Season 4

• Since this was the final season of the show, Rebels managed to achieve what The Clone Wars could not (at least not for five years after its cancellation): gain a proper finale.
• X-Wings! And Hera leads a squadron of them at one point.
  • The implication that it is Green Squadron makes it slightly even more cooler if you consider it as One Degree of Separation, as a fun theory by the fandom is that Hera and Shara (Poe's mother) know each other. And since we already know Hera survives past Hoth and Shara joined a bit before Hoth further makes this theory possible.
• Hera hyperspace-jumping through an Imperial hangar bay. In a U-Wing. And setting the hangar bay on fire when she does so.
• Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Mandalorian Resistance.
  • A promo clip from the Blu-Ray release of Season 3 shows Mandalorian warriors in various colors and various ethnicities, all smiling at presumably at their leaders and the rebels. Given that The Clone Wars got flame for depicting the New Mandalorians and Death Watch as blonde white humans in two different extremes that were controversial for They Changed It, Now It Sucks! in-universe (hence reacting with Death Watch) and out-of-universe (the Mandalorians having originally being written as honorable warriors that accepted anyone without prejudice towards their identity; Pre Vizsla and his cronies only rarely hung to the honor code and Satine exiling warriors that disagreed with her ideology from their own homeworld), to even the point that Jango (and therefore Boba) may not even be Mandalorians in this canon anymore. It looks like Lucasfilm has listened and is rebuilding the Mandalorians from one of their most lowest points in their history to one of their greatest, as the Mandalorian Resistance is birthed by a young Asian woman and her family, with Mandalorians of all kinds of people joining together to drive away a tyranny from their home. As the Star Wars fanbase is full of people from different backgrounds and have dealt with prejudice & exclusion numerous times from fellow fans & official content, representation means a lot more than one may think.
• Not only is Rukh immigrating to canon, it appears that he and Ezra will fight at some point. It's not sure what's more impressive, that Rukh can take on a Jedi in hand to hand, or that Ezra, who started the series having to escape from Stormtroopers, has grown to the point where he can evenly match a Death Commando.
• The Mid-Season trailer is full of these. Among the returning characters we have Hondo and Commanders Wolfe and Gregor, there's a reference to the Mortis Force wielders, and who else makes an appearance? None other than Emperor Palpatine himself.
  • It gets better: Ian McDiarmid is voicing him!

Heroes of Mandalore

• Sabine leading Clan Wren along with Ezra, Rau and Kanan against the forces of the facility her father was kept in.
• Bo Katan and the Nite Owls' Big Damn Heroes.
• Sabine's Dad. Despite being held prisoner, that didn't stop him giving several snarks at his captors.
  • Plus, despite he wasn't trained in Mandalorian combat, he at least was proficient in using the Jet Pack.
• Ezra and Bo-Katan taking down TIE Fighters with Ezra shooting his with the Mandalorian rockets after it taking some time getting use to the thing.
  Bo-Katan: A Mandalorian with a jetpack is a weapon.
• Sabine taking responsibility for building the superweapon that destroyed most of Clan Wren before pleading to the other Mandalorian warriors that it wasn't the time to be divided but be together when their planet needed them the most.
• Sabine turning the Duchess against Governor Saxon and the Empire. The weapon ends up targeting every Stormtrooper armor and every single one of them are down to the floor and screaming as they're being fried to death. It won't kill them but Sabine wanted this to be burned inside their brains how it felt when their own weapon turned against them. But what makes this awesome is that from Bo-Katan's wisdom, Sabine chooses not to exact revenge and instead destroys the machine so that it isn't ever used again.
• Bo-Katan finally accepting the Darksaber and becoming the Mandalorian Resistance, with the other clans swearing fealty and bowing to her.

In the Name of the Rebellion

• Kanan guiding Hera through the fog while the TIE Defenders get destroyed by the environment.
• Ezra, Sabine and Saw's Curbstomp Battle against the Death Troopers whose members effectively wiped out Jyn's Rebel Commandos in Rogue One.
• Ezra has grown since the last time he took leadership.
  • His decision to order Chopper to move the dish not only allowed him and Sabine to evade the Stormtroopers but also prevent the Star Destroyer from hitting them unless they destroyed one of their assets.
  • Even though he believed that Saw was actually helping but after his run ins with Maul, he made sure to hold some form of skepticism rather than let blind determination caused problems for him and his team.
  • Not only that upon discovering the kyber crystal and while Saw made a point to track to its destination, Ezra saw that there wasn't an effective means to track it and instead prioritize the crystal's destruction and focus on saving the prisoners as the main objective.
  • His Big Damn Heroes moment when he stopped the remaining Death Troopers and Stormtroopers from boarding the ship.
• While the Death Troopers suffered a Worf Effect, the only survivor managed to mitigate it by leading her men to find the kyber crystal.

The Occupation

• The sewer fight, where everyone gets at least one cool thing to do. Zeb taking out a probe droid by dragging it along a wall, Sabine going full Gun Kata on another, Ezra's wall run and spin to avoid fire and cut it down, and Hera shooting Stormtroopers in the chest.

Flight of the Defender

• Thrawn barely blinked when the TIE Defender got stolen and was used to take shots at him. He even took out his blaster to challenge it.
  • His entire reaction to Sabine and Ezra's heist of the TIE Defender is this trope all over. Does he panic, sputter incomprehensibly, rage at his underlings, or retreat? Of course not. He calmly identifies the hijacking as a perfect opportunity to test the Defender in real-world conditions, carefully observing its escape and the dogfight afterwards. Based on its performance in Ezra's hands, he concludes the prototype is a success, and orders its mass production.
• While Ezra dogfights the TIE Interceptors, Thrawn is able to tell Hera isn't with him, because if she were the Interceptors would have already been shot down. He's also able to tell that Sabine is with him due to how quickly she disarms the TIE Defender's homing beacon.

Kindred

• The rebels' journey through the cave with the Loth-wolves, literally stepping into the Force itself to travel all the way across the planet. The animation is stunning and the otherworldly atmosphere makes it clear that even in this universe you're experiencing something extraordinary.
• Rukh is ridiculously competent and dangerous, immediately finding the rebels, out-driving them on a chase, nearly killing Jai at point-blank range, and putting a tracker on their bike with them none the wiser. And yet it's still made clear that Ezra's in no danger from him, easily besting him in hand to hand and weapons combat and Force pushing him into a spire so hard it cracks from the impact.

Crawler Commandeers

• Ezra's battle with the Trandoshan, using his Jedi training to best him.
• Hera getting fed up with the politics and convincing the leaders to allow her to take on Thrawn and destroy the TIE Defender factory. Not only does she succeed, she's promoted to general and given command of the attack force.
• After Kanan is taken out by a surprise attack from the foreman (thanks to Vizago distracting him), Zeb and the Trandoshan foreman have a pretty cool fight, which culminates in Zeb using his own whip to yank him off the bridge to his death.

Rebel Assault

• The episode marks the first chronological appearance of the Rebel Alliance's X-Wings in Star Wars canon. With Hera leading them, they take down a Star Destroyer.
  • Not to forget, Hera tricked Skerris into a trap by leading him to Thrawn's Chimera's defenses. With the Defender's shields gone, Hera performed a Ship Fu and blasted Skerris for smithereens this time. This causes a Disaster Dominoes where Skerris' TIE Defender crashes into a Light cruiser, which then crashes into and decapitates the Star Destroyer.
  • And the best part? The maneuver she used against Skerris is one that Darth Vader used while decimating Phoenix Squadron way back in "Siege of Lothal". Hera literally learned a trick from one of the few Ace Pilots in the Galaxy who could probably best her, just by watching.
• As always, Thrawn has a backup plan. The moment the second wave of TIE Fighters appeared, Hera gets an Oh, Crap! moment.

Jedi Night

• Kanan sacrificing himself to protect Hera, Sabine and Ezra from the explosion of the fuel depot is both Tear Jerker and this at once by itself, but it can't be understated how badass the fact that he was holding back the massive firewall with the Force for almost half a minute, is.
  • He not only holds off the fireball, he Force pushes Hera back onto the escape ship so she doesn't waste his sacrifice. And just as he does this, his eyes clear, his sight returning for a few seconds so he can look upon the woman he loves one last time before becoming one with the Force.
  • His eyesight returning was originally a storyboard mistake, since the animators forgot to cloud over his eyes for the last few frames, but they kept it because of the symbolism.
• Kanan leaves planning the rescue to Ezra, because Kanan knows and explicitly states he's too emotional to come up with a plan that won't get them all killed. That's Jedi discipline.
• The plan Ezra comes up with? Gliders, cobbled together from whatever they had on hand. Hera's suitably impressed they even worked, and not to be outdone, pilots one to (relative) safety. While it's on fire.

DUME

• Thrawn learns of Pryce’s mistake and her attempts to cover it up. He’s elated at the news. His immediate response to her patently false defenses send Pyrce, a MOFF, into sheer horror. What must be going through her mind is priceless.
  • Bonus points for those who read the Thrawn book. This might be his way of paying her back for the other mistake she caused, though this one is much, much more personal to him.
• Using teamwork and a little ingenuity, Sabine & Zeb managed to turn the tables in a fight against Rukh. Zeb then proceeds to take out all his grieving rage over Kanan's death on the now-hapless Noghri, and Sabine barely stops him from beating the guy to death, opting instead to send "a message" to the Empire by giving the out-cold Rukh a humiliating new paintjob and sending him drifting off atop a speeder for the Empire to find.
• It turns out Kanan didn't just save Hera, Ezra and Sabine as he died; his death destroyed Lothal Garrison's fuel stores, hamstringing TIE Defender production. No TIE Defenders means Lothal is one step closer to liberation, but it also means the Emperor turning his full attention to completing the Death Star, and a paving of the way for another Jedi to rise...

A World Between Worlds

• We finally see Vader's fury fully unleashed. After having engaged his former apprentice to a stalemate, he proceeds to utterly flatten her in a flurry of relentless strikes. Ahsoka seemingly having held her own before can no longer withstand Vader's brutal onslaught, and would have died then and there if Ezra hadn't interfered. Disturbingly during this brief segment Vader is completely emotionless, besides his eyes, which are now full of pure hatred.
  • Mixed with Heartwarming and Tear Jerker, Ahsoka actually effectively threw the fight: when she realised the Altar's about to blow-up, she created some distance between them, before plunging her lightsabers in the crumbling floor, trying to hasten its collapse under Vader. Not to kill him, or escape him, but to get him out of the blastzone. Even as Vader was about to deliver the killing blow, she was saving her Master and friend.
• An alternative explanation is that this is Ahsoka's desperate Last Stand and You Shall Not Pass! moment. Extra points for using her lightsabers to break the stone under Vader's feet exactly as Gandalf does with his staff to break the bridge at Moria under the Balrog. More extra points for Ahsoka's journey into the underworld, also paralleling Gandalf, and The Hero's Journey in general. And even more points for her subsequent return as 'Ahsoka the White' in the final episode.
• We've seen what the Force could do but this episode shows what is the Force's full strength. It not only grants people the ability to see into the future, it CAN change the future, past and present.
• Palpatine himself (with Ian McDiarmid's voice again, no less) finally gets some direct action — and almost conquers spacetime itself (the perfect consolation prize for never learning Plagueis's immortality secret)!
  • Which in turn leads to Ezra's and Ahsoka's moment: holding back Sith sorcery long enough to escape and deny him his victory. Followed by Ezra destroying the gateway despite the incredible temptation to use it to bring back his lost family, implicitly channeling the Dark Side to close the portal. The greatest Sith Lord in canon, at the height of his powers, was foiled by a street urchin with only a few years training and incredible conviction.
  • The fact that Ian McDiarmid himself is the one uttering the names "Ezra Bridger and Ahsoka Tano" truly makes the Star Wars films feel even more connected to Rebels, The Clone Wars, and the other animated series (much like the performances of James Earl Jones and Frank Oz before him). Also notable that in The Clone Wars, Palpatine would usually only acknowledge Ahsoka indirectly, or else patronizingly (almost passive-aggressively) refer to her as "child" or "one so young," whereas here, he now views Ahsoka (and Ezra) as a sufficiently large thorn in his side to address them by name and savor what he intends to be their long-awaited defeat (highlighting just how much they have accomplished to get under the Big Bad's skin).
• Just the fact, that from her perspective Ahsoka fought three Inquisitors, Darth Maul, Darth Vader and Darth Sidious within a few minutes, and survived all four clashes.

A Fool's Hope

• Ryder's triple agent plan, which was even suspicious enough to Pryce and got by because Pryce was under threat of execution.
• The Lothwolves utterly owning the Stormtrooper infantry as well as Rukh in their show of the planet being none too happy with the Empire, and reducing Pryce to the Dirty Coward she always was on the inside.
• Zeb taking down two gunships with a blaster cannon he tore off the stand, and then wielding it as a club when it runs out of charge.
• Ezra flinging Rukh off a cliff with his own weapon.
• Hera knocking a ship out of the sky with a quick twist.

Family Reunion — and Farewell

• Right at the start, when a captured Pryce refuses to help the rebels, Ezra threatens to have her become Lothwolf lunch, which would have been a case of Laser-Guided Karma for the politician, made even more noteworthy when she had just told Kallus what he had given up to defect to the rebels.
  • Kallus actual retort when Pryce asks him how could he throw away a promising career in the Empire. He calmly and concisely tells her that fighting for the Empire would surely mean working alongside like-minded people, meaning that him working with horrible people that walk all over innocents means he would be one too, and that's not a Empire worth protecting.
• Ezra, despite being sorely tempted by the image of his parents on the other side, collapsing the final portal. And then when the Emperor's guards try to finish him off, he force-throws a massive amount of debris at them and buries them in a rockslide.
• Ezra and Thrawn trading The Reason You Suck Speeches. Thrawn gets the last word, but Ezra is ultimately proven right.
• The implication that somehow, Ezra made it off the Chimera alive, given Ahsoka's appearance on Lothal after the Battle of Endor.
  • Word of God confirms that Ezra and Thrawn are both still alive, making it an awesome moment for both of them for showing how resilient they are.
    • Word of God confirmed that Pellaeon survived too. He appears alive and well in season three of The Mandalorian.
• The Cavalry being a pod of purrgil, who tear through the blockade and the Star Destroyers with ease, then straight up abduct the Chimera to parts unknown. Thrawn is caught completely unaware and only barely manages to get a shot off, and Ezra restrains both him and the stormtroopers (and implicitly protects them from hyperspace) so they can jump.
  • Ahsoka shows us just what happened: Ezra didn't just take Thrawn to parts unknown, he kicked one the Empire's greatest strategists out of the Galaxy for nearly ten years.
• Zeb fighting Rukh again, sans weapon this time. Rukh seems to get the upper hand, until Zeb pins him to one of the shield generators by using his prehensile hand-like feet to bend the metal tubing around Rukh's arm, just before the generator activates and fries Rukh.
• Random civilians taking the stormtroopers captive. They've likely waited a long time for this.
• In a strange way, Pryce's Face Death with Dignity moment. Being publicly exposed as a Dirty Coward clearly wounded her pride a lot, and she decides that the only way to find redemption for this is to go down with the base rather than flee for her life, a stoic look on her face the whole way through.
• Hera fought at Endor, as did Rex. Hera also participated in the Battle of Scarif, at which point she was likely heavily pregnant.
• Gregor died fighting for a cause he believed in. Very few clone troopers got that chance. Or, if you wanted to split hairs, lots of clones died fighting for a cause they believed in, but Gregor got to die for one that was untainted by the machinations of the Sith.

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