TFN Rebels Review: "The Siege Of Lothal: Part 2"

The epic opening of Star Wars Rebels continues, and it does not disappoint. After leaving off with an epic face off against Vader on the horizon, our heroes get tested, but show how resilience and prove themselves as worthy foes to the empire.

WHAT WORKED:
Vader. Again, they nailed the character. Vader shows up and owns Kanan and Ezra. After defeating the grand inquisitor in season one, Kanan undoubtedly feels confident, but he has zero chance against the Dark Lord of the Sith. They did a good job establishing Vader's dominance and power, and made sure he remained one of the most epic villains in cinematic history.

The story is good from there as we see these rebels use their quick thinking skills to escape a huge trap. Not only do they use their allies like Lando as a resource but they outsmart a much larger and more powerful entity in the empire. Using those sensor buoys was a smart idea, and I loved the way they included Lando.

In the end the rebels do escape Lothal but their problems are far from over. Lord Vader shows up in his tie fighter and absolutely demolished Phoenix squadron. That whole sequence was well done, and reiterates the point that Anakin Skywalker was an ace pilot, and still is. That was legitimately terrifying and the team did a good job of making the rebels feel outmatched for the entire episode.

Hera does her thing and escapes with Vader trapped in a tractor beam by his own empire. It was hilarious and smart to show how the imperials reacted to that, and it felt like something right out of the Original Trilogy.

In the end, this was a perfect set up to the season. We now see how this fledgling rebellion operates. We also know the motivation for Kanan, Ahsoka, and Ezra. We are also left with the lasting image of Vader finding out that his apprentice lives. He brings this up to the emperor, and this sets up for an epic meeting between the two of them. But does she know it's Anakin? We will just have to find out.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Nothing. It was amazing. If you didn't like this, then you are the problem.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Dave Filoni and the Rebels crew knocked it out of the park. Having to follow up that fantastic season one finale was no easy task, but they delivered.

It was filled with a heavy dose of Vader, it opened up a lot of story threads for the season, we also got a lot of action, and overall this was maybe the best two episodes of the series.

If this was any indication of things to come in season two, then strap in. We're in for a wild ride

This review was done by Fan of TheForce.net Ryan Donoho. You can contact him at donohonba@gmail.com.

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