The Lost Commanders
Stinging from the losses incurred by Darth Vader’s attack at Lothal, the Rebel cell including the Ghost and the remnants of Phoenix Squadron limps into hiding, hoping to find a base. Ahsoka sends Kanan, Ezra and the Ghost crew to the outer rim desert planet Seelos to track down a “great military commander” she once knew, who may be able to help the Rebellion. What Kanan and Ezra find there is a leftover AT-TE “walking tank” from the Clone Wars, manned by aged Clone Troopers who want nothing to do with either the Empire or the Rebellion. Kanan, reminded of the horrors of Order 66, doesn’t trust them anyway, but Ezra tries to find middle ground between the two groups. But one of the Clones still feels loyalty toward the Empire, and has sent word that the Rebels are there.
written by Matt Michnovetz
directed by Dave Filoni and Sergio Paez
music by Kevin Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steven Blum (Zeb / Imperial Officer / Tactical Droid Head), Dee Bradley Baker (CC-3636 / CC-5576-39 / CT-7567 / Kassius Konstantine) David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Keone Young (Commander Sato)
Notes: Commander Rex was a mainstay of the Clone Wars animated series, appearing in a great many episodes throughout the show’s run as the Clone Trooper Commander assigned to Anakin Skywalker. (Dee Bradley Baker provided the Clone Troopers’ voices in that series too.) Rex says that he and his surviving comrades discovered and removed their control chips before Order 66 was issued, and did not turn against their Jedi compatriots. But this also made them likely targets of the newly formed Empire, hence the Clones’ dropping out of sight on Seelos. The Clone Wars ended 15 years prior to this episode, and Kanan says that Ezra wasn’t born yet, so Ezra was probably 12 or 13 years old when he joined the Ghost‘s crew. The Lost Commanders is part one of a two-part story further tying Rebels in to the Clone Wars animated series.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus / Stormtrooper 1), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steven Blum (Zeb / Technician 1 / Technician 2), Dee Bradley Baker (Admiral Konstantine / Clone Troopers), David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Dave Filoni (AT-AT Pilot), Philip Anthony-Rodriguez (Fifth Brother)
Cast: Melissa Benoist (Kara / Supergirl), Mehcad Brooks (James Olsen), Chyler Leigh (Alex Danvers) Jeremy Jordan (Winn Schott), David Harewood (Hank Henshaw), Calista Flockhart (Cat Grant), Dean Cain (Jeremiah Danvers), Laura Benanti (Alura / Astra), Helen Slater (Eliza Danvers), Owain Yeoman (Vartox), Faran Tahir (Commander), Ben Begley (Tobey), Robert Gant (Zor-El), Derek Mio (Hayashi), Maline Weissman (young Kara Zor-El), Jordan Mazarati (young Alex Danvers), Briana Venskus (Agent Vasquez), Chriss Anglin (Pilot), Rick Garcia (Himself), Nick Jaine (Another Staffer), Kinna McInroe (Waitress), Leyna Nguyen (Herself), Paul Stuart (Yale), Julien Yuen (Terrified Teen)
Notes: Kara’s parents are portrayed by actors with significantly super roles of their own. Helen Slater played Supergirl in the character’s sole big-screen adventure in 1984, while Dean Cain played Superman himself, almost as a side-note to the role of Clark Kent, in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. Supergirl was developed for TV by the dynamic duo of Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, who brought Arrow and The Flash to CBS’ sister network, the CW; it was felt that Supergirl was enough of a high-profile character to add her to the CBS schedule rather than the CW. Supergirl proved popular on CBS, winning the series a full-season pickup, though she would eventually migrate to the CW for her second season.
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steven Blum (Zeb / Imperial Technician 1), Dee Bradley Baker (Admiral Konstantine / Rex), David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Philip Anthony-Rodriguez (Fifth Brother), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Seventh Sister)
Notes: Sarah Michelle Gellar starred as Buffy Summers throughout the wildly popular ’90s TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and is married to Rebels regular Freddie Prinze Jr., the voice of Kanan Jarrus. This is the first hint that the Inquisitor previously defeated by Kanan was the Grand Inquisitor.
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), James Hong (Azmorigan), Keith Szarabajka (Cikatro Vizago), Keone Young (Commander Sato), Jim Cummings (Hondo Ohnaka), Dee Bradley Baker (Rex / Imperial Technician)
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (Zeb / Phoenix Leader / Blockade Runner Captain), David Oyelowo (Agent Kallus), Keone Young (Commander Sato), Dave Filoni (Phoenix 2), Dee Bradley Baker (Rex / Phoenix 3), Corey Burton (Quarrie / Eesh Fahm / Imperial Officer)
Notes: This is the origin story of the B-Wing fighter seen in Return Of The Jedi, though its focused-energy weapon seen here is nowhere in evidence in that movie, probably relegated only to luxury models with a sunroof and a decent sound system.
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (EG-86 Gonk Droid / Dispatch / Imperial Technician), Stephen Stanton (Imperial Officer / Pilot Droid / Stormtrooper 1), Gina Torres (Ketsu Onyo), Dave Filoni (Rodian / Stormtrooper 2)
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Imperial Officer #1 / Stormtrooper #2), Derek Partridge (Admiral Brom Titus), David Oyelwo (Agent Kallus), Keone Young (Commander Sato), Matthew Wood (Imperial Officer #2 / Imperial Weapons Technician #2 / Stormtrooper #1), Dave Filoni (Imperial Technician), Dee Bradley Baker (Rex / Rebel Pilot / Imperial Weapons Technician #1)
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Freighter Pilot / Ithorian Driver #2), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Grey Griffin (Darja / Oora), Philip Anthony-Rodriguez (Fifth Brother), Dee Bradley Baker (Pipey), Dave Filoni (Ithorian Driver #1), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Seventh Sister)
Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Imperial Technician), Dee Bradley Baker (Admiral Konstantine / Rex / Ephraim Bridger), David Owelyo (Agent Kallus), Keone Young (Commander Sato), Philip Anthony-Rodriguez (Fifth Brother / Rebel Trooper / Phoenix Squaron Pilot), Kath Soucie (Mira Bridger), Clancy Brown (Ryder Azadi), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Seventh Sister)
Decades after the defeat of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine at Endor, the Republic has been restored but is still terrorized by remnants of the Empire now known as the First Order, led by General Hux and Kylo Ren, a self-styled but temperamental disciple of the dark side of the Force. A resistance movement has arisen to combat the First Order, and one of the Resistance’s best pilots, Poe Dameron, has gone to the planet Jakku to search for clues to the whereabouts of missing Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. Poe gets the information he came for, but he has been followed by the First Order. Poe seals the secrets inside his trusty droid, BB-8, and sends it away for safety; Poe himself is captured, and is tortured by Kylo Ren. Poe finds an unlikely ally in a stormtrooper who wants to escape and defect from the First Order, so they steal a TIE Fighter and blast their way out of a Star Destroyer’s hangar, only to be shot down over Jakku. The former stormtrooper, given the name “Finn” by his new comrade, ejects from the fighter, but finds no sign that Poe survived. He heads for the nearest settlement he can find on foot, where he meets a young scavenger named Rey, who has befriended BB-8. Finn tries to help Rey out of a scrape with some other scavengers trying to take the droid off her hands, but quickly discovers that she’s actually more capable than Finn is at fighting her way out of the situation. But the arrival of First Order forces is more than either of them can handle, and they try to make their escape in a dilapidated Corellian freighter that hasn’t taken off in years. Rey manages to get it flying – barely – and with Finn manning the guns, they’re able to fight their way into space, where the neglected, cannibalized ship promptly breaks down, leaving it helpless as a larger freighter takes it on board. Finn, Rey and BB-8 prepare to mount a last-ditch defense when their newly-acquired ship is boarded by its former owner, Han Solo. With Chewbacca beside him, Han is delighted to take back his old ship, the Millennium Falcon, but is more than a little annoyed to find two young people and a plucky droid aboard. At the first mention of BB-8’s mission to take vital information to the Resistance, Han is once again being pulled into saving the galaxy, whether he likes it or not. Taking the controls of the Falcon and abandoning his smuggling life again, Han takes Rey and Finn to a watering hole on another planet, intending to hand them over to his friend, Maz, who has with ties to the Resistance. But Maz is able to pick up on other things as well: she knows Finn is a coward on the run, and not the hero he claims to be, and she has a gift for Rey – a Jedi lightsaber that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker and was then passed on to his son. Even touching the saber fills Rey’s head with unfamiliar visions and a few painful memories of her own childhood, such as being left on Jakku by her parents. Rey races outside, and when Han, Chewie and Finn try to find her, they witness a terrifying sight: a vast beam of energy streaking across the sky, the superweapon of the First Order’s planet-sized Starkiller Base firing at the seat of the New Republic government and destroying every planet in its solar system. The First Order storms in, and Kylo Ren kidnaps Rey because he can sense that Rey has seen BB-8’s partial map to Luke’s whereabouts. Resistance X-Wing fighters arrive, and as Han and Chewie blast their way through legions of stormtroopers, Finn takes the First Order in with the lightsaber that Rey rejected, only to find he doesn’t have the skill to fight with it properly. The Falcon follows the Resistance fleet back to its base, which is Starkiller Base’s next target. Han is reunited with Leia, and tells her that he has seen their son – who happens to have taken the name Kylo Ren. The Resistance prepares an audacious attack on Starkiller Base itself, but Finn wants to do something even more outlandish: he wants to go there and rescue Rey. Leia wants Han to go with Finn and bring back the son they lost to the dark side of the Force when he rejected Luke’s training. As Starkiller Base charges its weapon to wipe out the Resistance, the Resistance makes a last desperate play to relieve the First Order of its seat of power…and it’s a mission from which not everyone will return.
Cast: Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Max von Sydow (Lor San Tekka), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca Double), Pip Andersen (Lead Stormtrooper), Simon Pegg (Unkar Plutt), Kiran Shah (Teedo), Sasha Frost (Jakku Villager), Pip Torrens (Colonel Kaplan), Andrew Jack (Major Ematt), Rocky Marshall (Colonel Datoo), Greg Grunberg (Snap Wexley), Emun Elliott (Brance), Brian Vernel (Bala-Tik), Yayan Ruhian (Tasu Leech), Sebastian Armesto (Lieutenant Mitaka), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Korr Sella), Warwick Davis (Wollivan), Cailey Fleming (Young Rey), Mark Stanley (Knight of Ren), Ken Leung (Admiral Statura), Iko Uwais (Razoo Quin-Fee), Anna Brewster (Bazine Netal), Harriet Walter (Dr. Kalonia), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Erik Bauersfeld (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb), Kipsang Rotich (Nien Nunb), Michael Giacchino (FN-3181), Nigel Godrich (FN-9330), Judah Friedlander (Bar Patron), Victor McGuire (Bar Patron), Miltos Yerolemou (Bar Patron), Francesca Longrigg (Bar Patron), D.C. Barnes (Bar Patron), Matt Johnson (Bar Patron), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Leanne Best (Min Sakul), Crystal Clarke (Ensign Goode), Jeffery Kissoon (Rear Admiral Guich), Claudia Sermbezis (Lema Eelyak), Gerry Abrams (Captain Cypress, Jim McGrath (Vice Admiral Resdox), Philicia Saunders (Tabala Zo), Morgan Dameron (Commodore Meta), Jessica Henwick (Jess Testor), Tosin Cole (Lieutenant Bastian), James McArdle (Niv Lek), Stefan Grube (Yolo Ziff), Dixie Arnold (Resistance Soldier), Hannah John-Kamen (First Order Officer), Tom Edden (First Order Officer), Kate Fleetwood (First Order Officer), Richard Riddell (First Order Officer), Jefferson Hall (First Order Officer), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (First Order Officer), Jack Laskey (First Order Officer)