"Happy birthday, Ezra Bridger."
— Sabine Wren
As the crew of the Ghost tries to escape with Tseebo, Ezra tries to come to terms with his past.
Tropes in this episode:
- Accidental Hero: Tseebo never meant to steal a massive amount of critical data; he only wanted to find data on Ezra's parents and just got far more information than he bargained for.
- The Atoner: Tseebo joined the Imperial Information Office so he could find out what happened to Ephraim and Mira Bridger. He felt guilty about not doing anything to keep them from being arrested as well as failing in his promise to take care of Ezra after they were taken (which they had asked Tseebo to do in the case scenario). He hoped that by doing this, it would somewhat make up for his failure.
- The Beastmaster: Kanan and Ezra use this power to sic the fyrnocks on the Imperials. Then it takes a dark turn when Ezra's anger and fear summons their big brother.
- Big "NO!": Ezra's response to the Inquisitor's taunts that his friends will all die.
- Bonding over Missing Parents: Sabine continues to warm up towards Ezra as she learns more about his past and what happened to his parents. Given that Sabine herself is separated from her family (albeit for different reasons), it's understandable that she's sympathetic to him.
- Breaking Speech: The Inquisitor hits Ezra with one about his own weakness and how afraid he is. It works... just not in the way the Inquisitor intended. Instead of becoming broken with lost hope, Ezra's fear and anger allow him to tap into The Dark Side and call a giant monster to fight on his behalf. The Inquisitor is visibly surprised at this while Kanan is naturally horrified.
- Call-Back:
- The disc Ezra found in the previous episode and left behind was picked up by Sabine, who managed to extract an image of Ezra and his parents from it.
- Ezra puts on his helmet from "Breaking Ranks" while trying to ignore Kanan, and like "Fighter Flight" he's had Sabine paint it for him.
- Kanan's animal taming lessons come in handy here.
- Fort Anaxes, the asteroid base from "Out of Darkness", makes another appearance.
- Tseebo is left in the care of Fulcrum, Hera's mysterious contact. Sabine still wants to see Fulcrum, but Hera turns her down again.
- Chekhov's Skill: Kanan's beastmaster lessons are used to take control of the fyrnocks.
- Combat Pragmatist:
- Kanan tries to shoot the Inquisitor with his pistol during the lightsaber duel; the Inquisitor dodges, but points for trying.
- In response to that, the Inquisitor steals the blaster, kicks Kanan in the stomach, then flings him across the hangar into a gunship, knocking him out.
- Ezra tries to use Kanan's lightsaber against the Inquisitor, but doesn't even get to swing it before the Inquisitor uses the Force to yank it from his hands.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Kanan doesn't do much better against the Inquisitor this round, and the Inquisitor is still clearly toying with him. Ezra gets it even worse. When he tries to use Kanan's lightsaber, the Inquisitor just pulls it out of his hands.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Detaching the Phantom from the Ghost while in hyperspace.
- The Dark Side: Ezra accidentally taps into it after the Inquisitor starts taunting him, making him reach a point of genuine desperation.
- David Versus Goliath: While the giant fyrnock frightens the Inquisitor and takes him some effort to scare off, it's still outmatched against a lightsaber-wielding opponent.
- Didn't See That Coming: The Inquisitor taunts Ezra about being too weak to use the Dark Side without it consuming him, only to be genuinely surprised when Ezra does just that.
- Die or Fly: Invoked by Kanan when getting Ezra to utilize his beastmaster lessons, realizing that Ezra does best when he needs to survive. Ezra succeeds more than Kanan could have hoped for when Ezra skirts the Dark Side and summons a giant fyrnock that gives worry to even the Inquisitor himself.
- Dual Wielding: The Inquisitor manages to capture Kanan's lightsaber and temporarily wields it along with his own.
- Evil Is Deathly Cold: When Ezra wakes up after channeling the Dark Side, he says he feels cold.
- Evil Me Scares Me: After learning he used the Dark Side, Ezra's hugging his knees and more than a little rattled by what he did.
- Forgiveness: Ezra has a lot of pent up resentment for Tseebo since he didn't do anything to save his parents (despite the fact that he tried to retrieve the intel on the Bridgers' fate to make up for it). Later, Ezra ultimately forgives him (via telepathy) when he confesses to Kanan (who put him in a situation that requires him to let go of his fears) that he's just afraid of learning the truth of what happened to his parents.
- Giant Mook: Turns out the fyrnocks from "Out of Darkness" were just the small ones.
- Guilt Complex: Tseebo's got one over failing to help the Bridgers, and to take care of Ezra when they're gone (which they asked him to do as a final request). When Ezra forgives him, his head clears a bit.
- Hannibal Lecture: The Inquisitor gives a speech about just how screwed Ezra is. He probably didn't expect that he had pushed Ezra too far, though.
- Hope Is Scary: Ezra tells Sabine that he had refused to allow himself to believe that his parents were still alive for this very reason. Later, during his Die or Fly confrontation with the fyrnocks, Kanan forces him to admit this fear and come to terms with it.
- I Want Them Alive!: The Inquisitor says this regarding Kanan and Ezra.
- Little "No": When Kanan sees Ezra tap into the Dark Side to summon the fyrnock mother, he has this moment.
- Mid-Season Twist: We learn that Ezra is not the Incorruptible Pure Pureness we thought he would become, as evident by how powerful he is in using the Dark side.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Inquisitor's speech to Ezra is very similar to Emperor Palpatine's speech to Luke in Return of the Jedi.
- Ezra says that he feels cold after waking up, which is similar to a comment made by Luke in The Empire Strikes Back about the cave on Dagobah.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Inquisitor had victory in the bag, but he just had to taunt Ezra about his inevitable demise and trigger a new power level in him nobody saw coming.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Hera has a moment when the Ghost is being hit hard by the Inquisitor's TIE squadron, the nav-computer and Chopper are knocked out and just as she is telling Ezra to fix the computer she spies two Star Destroyers directly ahead of them on an intercept course.
- The Stormtroopers get one when they realize Ezra and Kanan brought friends.
- Once Ezra summons the big fyrnock, everyone gets this and runs for their lives, including the other fyrnocks.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: When the Inquisitor arrives at Fort Anaxes.
- Power-Strain Blackout: Ezra blacks out after using the Dark Side, likely due to not being used to such power. When he comes to, he doesn't remember what happened and simply feels very cold.
- Put on a Bus: Tseebo is sent to Fulcrum for his own safety.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Inquisitor gives a little taunting speech telling Ezra just how screwed he is. Ezra responds by tapping into the Dark Side and sicking the mother of all Fort Anaxes' beasts on him.
- Rule of Symbolism: It puts Ezra in immediate danger and provides a dramatic entrance for the fyrnock he summons, but it's no coincidence Ezra has his first encounter with the Dark Side while standing on the edge of an abyss.
- Sensor Character: The Inquisitor can sense Kanan and Ezra through the Force. This prevents them from simply dumping the Phantom along with the beacon, as the Inquisitor will sense their absence and ignore it.
- Ship Tease: Ezra and Sabine, especially the ending as she gives him the recovered photo of his parents as a birthday present.
- Shout-Out:
- The Ghost detaching part of itself at FTL speeds is similar to the Enterprise-D pulling a similar maneuver in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot. In both cases, it's even pointed out how dangerous it is.
- The larger fyrnock Ezra sics on the Inquisitor resembles a giant Stripe/Mohawk from Gremlins.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Part of the reason Ezra failed at learning to connect with animals was that Empire Day is a really bad day for him, so Kanan throws him in front of a bunch of Frynocks, forcing him to deal with his issues.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Kanan gets the idea to turn the fyrnocks on the Stormtroopers and the Inquisitor, though they only prove effective against the former. When Ezra summons the big one, however, it proves a sufficient distraction to facilitate their escape, though he still defeats it.
- Swirling Dust: When Ezra taps into the Dark Side, small pieces of rubble around him levitate as he summons the big fyrnock.
- Sword Drag: The Inquisitor drags his and Kanan's lightsabers along the ground while advancing on Ezra.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The Inquisitor knows he's in for a rough time when the Rebels manage to get Tseebo out of his grasp and he has to give Darth Vader a status update soon.Inquisitor: My Master will not be pleased.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: At the end of the episode, Sabine gives Ezra his family photo all cleaned up as a birthday gift. She then genuinely wishes him a happy birthday.
- Tracking Device: The Inquisitor plants one on the Ghost so he can keep tracking them in hyperspace. Fortunately, he ends up tagging the Phantom, allowing Ezra and Kanan to split off and lure him away from the Ghost.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: A minor case. Ezra doesn't remember tapping into the Dark Side and, after blacking out and coming to, asks Kanan what happened.
- Troubled Fetal Position: Ezra does this after he and Kanan have escaped from the Inquisitor. Though he doesn't remember using the Dark Side, he still feels he had done something wrong.
- The Unreveal: Hera learns what happened to Ezra's parents, but Kanan insists that he needs some time alone first and the episode ends before she can tell him.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Played with. As they arrive on Fort Anaxes, Ezra asks whether they're going to go over the plan again. Kanan replies that he never told Ezra the plan, to which Ezra responds, "Exactly". Kanan then does explain the plan, and while it works on the stormtroopers, it fails to slow down the Inquisitor even slightly.
- Villain Respect: The Inquisitor admires Ezra's devotion to Kanan.
- Wake Up Fighting: When Hera reactivates him, Chopper starts swinging at everything with his mechanical arms.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to that star destroyer that dropped off the Inquisitor and his squad? Why didn't they try and stop the Phantom escaping? It could have been explained by them realising they'd been tricked and leaving in a futile attempt to chase the Ghost while the Inquisitor stays to handle the Jedi and his padawan, but we don't see this.
- Zerg Rush: The fyrnocks again, but for our heroes this time.
