Just like the old days.
“Relics of the Old Republic” of this season picks up right where the first episode ended—the crew of the Ghost (minus Hera and Chopper) are stuck on Seelos with the three clone commanders and the Empire is on the way. The clones are hesitant about being brought into the rebellion against the Empire – they already did their part in the last war. Being clone troopers, is their war ever really over? They owe their lives to the Empire, but the Empire used them to defeat the Jedi in a horrible way. Perhaps this is why they fear the Jedi (as seen with Wolffe’s concern over Kanan’s arrival in episode one) so much. They fear the Jedi’s possible retaliation against them. It’s obvious the Clone Wars took a severe toll on the clones; Wolffe is highly untrusting, Gregor seems a bit, well, loopy, and Rex is ever cautious. Without Rex’s guidance, the other two clones may not have made it this far; he seems to be the one guiding beacon of thought and reason in their trio.
Above Seelos, Hera must power down the ship as well as Chopper so the Empire won’t scan and find them. This is a pretty funny scene; poor Chopper definitely doesn’t want to be powered down. It might be a good thing we can’t understand what he’s saying. Also, it’s rather interesting that just by powering down the ship the Ghost can avoid any scans. It seems it is a stealth ship for sure; we’ve seen the stealth used in past episodes. Perhaps this will figure more prominently into future missions.
We also see Hera prodding Kanan to have some trust in the clones. Once again Hera is providing the voice of reason to some of Kanan’s distrust. Does anyone else see a comparison to the Leia/Han relationship here? Hera is able to ground Kanan in the sense that he does truly value her opinions. I think Hera is even better at convincing Kanan to do the right thing than Ezra is.
With the Empire’s arrival on Seelos, Rex and the commanders prepare to fight. Agent Kallus says he has a great many Stormtroopers, who serve the Empire well. Rex’s reply is excellent (spot on cheeky Rex), “You’re gonna need all of them.”
It seems the clones never lost a beat. Gregor impressively shoots down and incoming TIE fighter with one shot. It’s great to see the clones in action again, so long after the Clone Wars, doing what they do best: fight. Who would’ve thought we’d see Rex and his comrades again? Kudos to Filoni for bringing them into Rebels.
One main theme through these first two episodes of season two is Kanan’s constant distrust of the clone troopers. Will Kanan ever be able to trust Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor? Or, is this going to be a continuous internal battle with him? I certainly don’t blame him for not trusting clones—he saw too many of his Jedi companions die during Order 66. Due to brain implants, the clones turned against their Jedi and massacred them. But Rex said he, Gregor and Wolffe took out their implants—so what exactly did they do during Order 66? Did they hide, or did they try to save the Jedi they were working with? If these three clones stay part of the Rebellion, perhaps we be able to find out what happened. Perhaps Ahsoka will get some answers she was looking for about her Jedi master.
Kanan does overhear Rex and Ezra’s conversation, with Rex explaining how much he trusted his Jedi general. Can we hope this will ease Kanan’s dislike of the clones? Or will it just raise more questions in Kanan’s mind (such as which Jedi did Rex serve with)?
The Empire was able to quickly track the group down and arrives in fashion—with AT-ATs. The clone troopers put their faith in Kanan to lead them in the fight. Kanan seems almost taken aback by this; is he starting to trust the clones just a bit? Kanan is progressing as a Jedi more and more with each episode. He needs to let go of his anger towards the clones in order to stay on the Jedi path.
Side note here: this scene’s music is great, it brings up visions of the Battle of Hoth. And Agent Kallus ordering the AT-ATs full ahead is just like General Veers. Excellent reference; any Star Wars fan that has seen The Empire Strikes Back will relate to the similarities. This scene brings up vintage feelings for the original trilogy.
When the AT-ATs head into the storm the animation is amazing. Dust everywhere, slowing lumbering giant machines attempting to weather the storm. The animation of the dust storm gives a sense of foreboding, the giant AT-ATs tracking the small AT-TE walker. It almost appears the AT-ATs might step on the petite AT-TE! During the storm, Rex loans Ezra his clone trooper helmet (Ezra in a clone trooper helmet…who would’ve thought?). It’s up to Ezra to take the shot at the AT-AT, much like Luke’s trench shot in A New Hope. This is Ezra’s first big test of using the Force for guidance; one missed shot would show the Empire where they were hiding. Like Luke, Ezra doesn’t entirely trust his Force abilities, and attempts to use the scanner. But with Kanan’s faith in him, he is able to trust his feelings and get the shot off perfectly.
The Ezra/Kanan dynamic is very similar to Luke/Obi-Wan in so many ways. Throughout the series we have seen the ever hopeful and trusting Ezra, and the thoughtful, cautions Kanan. Just like Luke and Obi-Wan in A New Hope.
One thing that is worrisome to me is that Ezra almost always convinces Kanan to do the right thing (like going back to help the troopers fight the remaining AT-ATs). What happens in the future if they fail to see eye to eye? Will this lead to a fracture in their relationship, much along the lines of Anakin and Obi-Wan? This may prove to be an interesting development in future episodes.
We get our first look at a new Inquisitor during this episode—the Fifth Brother. When we see a close up of his eyes, they blink like a reptile’s. What species is he? We also know there will be a second Inquisitor this season, so that begs the question of what is the origin of the Inquisitors? How many are there? I’d love to see the back story of the Inquisitors develop, I think it would lend more credibility to how dangerous they are. This new Inquisitor seems just as impressive as the one from season one, and I can’t wait to see him in action in upcoming episodes.
At the end of the episode, we see the Ghost meeting with a Rebellion command ship, upon which Ahsoka awaits. The only clone trooper we see is Rex, so did Gregor and Wolffe join the Rebellion group as well? I hope all three have joined up with the Rebellion; their knowledge of war and the Empire is sure to provide help for the struggling rebels. Perhaps they won’t be regulars on the show (well, maybe Rex might be), but their inclusion would be a nice element to future episodes.
And here is Rex and Ahsoka’s first meeting since the Clone Wars! Their reunion is perfect. I’d liken this happy reunion to long lost relatives finally finding each other again. Relief, happiness, and love at seeing one another. Tears and smiles all through the Star Wars fandom.
Courtney Martin is a graduate of Indiana University and works in publishing. She’s an avid Star Wars fan and wrote the recipe blog Courtney Cooks Star Wars on suvudu.com. When not enveloped a science fiction or fantasy novel, she is watching television with her husband and son, doing crossword puzzles, or playing with her Shih Tzu, Burt.