“Rise of the Old Masters” Star Wars Rebels Season One, Episode Three

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“It’s not easy to teach.”

If I were to recommend but only one episode of Star Wars Rebels to someone who’s never viewed the show, it would be “Rise of the Old Masters.” The depth of character development and richness of storytelling in this episode is exactly what fans clamor for when conversation gets going. Who hasn’t wanted more Jedi training? Or clandestine missions during the Dark Times? Or greater insight into the Jedi purge? Much is explored here, and I’m still left with the fact that this is only the third regular episode of the series. There is still so much to develop in Rebels; these characters are just out of the gate.

The thrust of the plot in “Rise” centers around the start of Ezra’s Jedi training, as promised in the previous episode. We begin with Kanan and Ezra on top of the Ghost, as it hovers in the clouds, with Ezra being put through a barrage of concentration exercises administered by Kanan. Along for entertainment are Zeb and Chopper, who gladly provide more than enough white space for Ezra to tune out.

This scenario immediately brought to mind a mental image of a quote of mine from one of my personal favorite movies, The Big Kahuna. (If you ever feel inclined to watch Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito give amazing performances for 90 minutes, watch it.) In this scene, a new salesman is talking to a veteran salesman about getting started at their first conference:

Bob Walker: Throw me in the water and see if I can swim

Larry Mann: I think you’re missing the point here Bob, we’re about to throw you off a cliff and see if you can fly.

Clearly, Larry isn’t all that interested in teaching Bob; in fact, he is basically telling Bob that he’s on his own. Yet, in this episode we find Kanan forcing Ezra into a very literal interpretation of this scenario! It’s obvious that like Ezra, Kanan has much to learn about being a teacher. After all, he is not the right person for this job by a longshot. He was a padawan when the Jedi fell, after all, and never passed the trials, never rose to become a Jedi Knight, and never trained anyone before. In all fairness, Kanan is likely looking for a teacher himself to complete his own training. This unpreparedness is blatant right int he first scene–Kanan is going through all the motions he remembers previous teachers putting him through, but it is not sinking in, even on top of a starship! He’s trying too hard; throwing everything against a brick wall, hoping something will penetrate the young mind of his student. And it nearly gets Ezra killed in the process.

Sure, Kanan can recite the words of master Yoda all he wants, but they will always sound hollow and thin, until he understands them himself. It is an exciting dynamic to explore. Kanan and Ezra are truly a pair of misfits in this Galactic Empire; not quite Jedi, but striving hard to both become so. And just as with any true master-apprentice relationship in the real world, a master often learns just as much by teaching as the apprentice does, only on different levels of understanding.

However, all of this doesn’t preclude Ezra from being the perfect student either. He is impatient, frustrated and cynical. Without knowing it, he creates more barriers for himself in his training than Kanan’s inexperience ever could. When presented with an idea like, “do or do not; there is not try,” think about it! And, while Kanan and Ezra discover the true meaning of this in dispensable tenet together, I cannot but somehow think that Ezra’s personality could prove to be a major concern in the future, as his Jedi training progresses.

Focus quickly shifts once a Holonet broadcast is hacked by Senator-in-Exile Gall Trayvis, and soon the rebels are headed to Stygian Prime, home of the Spire, an impregnable fortress-prison first featured in “Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir” to rescue imprisoned Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. She would make a fine teacher for Ezra, as well as Kanan! There is almost no delay; the crew is instantaneously focused on carrying out this rescue mission. The tone suddenly turns quite serious, as the crew readies themselves aboard the Phantom for battle. It’s a beautiful moment, and the series shines when they take time to linger on Zeb twitching from the anticipation of battle, then to Kanan meditating on what is to come, and Sabine furiously preparing down to the last minute. All the pages of dialogue in the world couldn’t inform these characters as well as this moment did. Even Ezra notices there are no fun and games this time: this mission is for real, and there are far greater stakes at play beyond their very lives. You could even get the impression that, until this episode, Ezra may have figured it was going to be saving wookiees and stealing TIE fighters all the time.

Unfortunately, the Spire was a trap to catch Ezra and Kanan, specifically. Luminara has been dead for years, her bones used to lure Force sensitives into heroic deeds, where they will be slaughtered. It begs the question: was the Gall Trayvis “hacked message” just another trick by the Empire, or does he actually exist and just reported bad information? Either way, Kanan and Ezra come face to face with the Inquisitor, who is intimidating in his stature, power, and knowledge. He deduced who Kanan was (as well as his former master) based merely on his fighting style, and set his sights firmly on luring Ezra to the dark side. The Inquisitor showed off a lot of tricks, and in his attempt to intimidate his would-be prey, he also shows his weaknesses to us. The creators of the show have been clear that his studious knowledge and his mechanically whirring blades are stand-ins for intuition and talent that would have been found in Force users of a generation prior. The Inquisitor has shown us his limits, I think, and they are quite limited. Despite all his hubris as being a top dog among stormtroopers, he’s just another attack dog that a true Jedi can (and hopefully will) dispense of.

Caught between a closed door and a red lightsaber, Kanan and Ezra learn the hard way what it means to do or do not: they either lift that massive door with the Force, or they and their friends will die.Without the room for “trying,” they succeed, and in a spectacular clash make it off Stygian Prime by the skin of their teeth. The show closes with Kanan and Ezra both understanding that they are a mismatched pair as far as the Jedi Order is concerned, but they will succeed, together. There is no room for merely trying anymore. We’re leave the pair in a charming scene, with Jedi training commencing (on the ground this time). However, as the camera pans out, it looks less like Star Wars and more like our own world, and if you squint hard enough you may think it’s a father and son playing baseball in front of their house. It’s a beautiful allegory for a story involving a ragtag crew of rebels coming together to form a family.

But, wait! The title of this episode is “Rise of the Old Masters.” Not a single old master rose, let alone plural old masters! What are you doing, Dave Filoni?

There is a realization in this episode that Kanan and Ezra are truly on their own when it comes to learning the ways of the Force. There are no more masters; there are no more Jedi; there is nowhere to go and no one to turn to for guidance. They must rely on themselves and on whatever training the old Jedi masters have passed on to Kanan. Knowledge and wisdom are the conduits through which the old masters rise, and Kanan realizes this by the end of this episode.

Final Thoughts

• Zeb calls the Jedi “the Old Religion that died, similar to how Han Solo referred to it in Star Wars. Zeb also repeats his taunt of “use the force,” like its a common joke around the galaxies cantinas.
• While Kiner’s score is becoming downright transcendent, the lack of music outside the ship was refreshing. I appreciate the score more when it is not wall-to-wall music throughout the entire episode.
• Kanan is very strong in the force. He saved Ezra from falling even out of sight, and was able to overpower the Inquisitor, holding him in place midair!
  
• The tiny moment where little animal (a Loth-cat?) is hit with the “milk bottle” is just so Star Wars. These moments are essential, and I am very happen attention is being paid to these details.
• Did you notice the stormtrooper helmet kill-decals aboard the Ghost?
• I appreciate how the events of each episode are having a compounding, reactionary effect on every subsequent episode. There doesn’t seem to be any level-setting going on. It is an increasingly escalating story.
• Enter: Brent Spiner! It’s great to have his voice talents in Rebels with Gall Trayvis.
  
• The “mileage” of this crew is on display on this mission. These rebels are a family, but they are also a small militia. Watching them in action is a formidable sight.
  
• Ezra’s role is locksmith on the team.
• Nice callback to the OT from Sabine: “This plan gets worse all the time.”
  
• Even the stormtroopers think Luminara is alive in the cell.
• The idea of lightsaber forms are now canon!
• Can we all agree that Ezra’s slingshot is clearly useless now? It’s time for him to put that thing down and pick up a lightsaber of his own. I don’t doubt it will happen, and I am looking forward to that moment very much.

Sorry this was a little late; I’ll be catching up on Rebels reviews throughout this week. There’s a LOT of great content coming soon!

-JT