Jaws, joopas and familiar faces! This season opens on a very good note.
This review contains spoilers for the Star Wars Rebels episode “The Lost Commanders.”
“The Lost Commanders,” Star Wars Rebels S02E01
The highly anticipated season two of Star Wars Rebels has returned! And what an excellent start it was. Can you say Jaws meets Star Wars? More on that later…
The episode begins with the crew of the Ghost needing help finding a possible base for the rebellion, and Ahsoka suggests enlisting the help of a former Clone Wars colleague. That colleague was none other than Captain Rex, a great military commander and leader, according to Ahsoka. The crew uses the head of an old tactical droid to locate Captain Rex, as Ahsoka departs to find answers to questions about the Sith lord that Kanan and Ezra fought. Does this signal a possible Vader/Ahsoka meeting in future episodes? One can only hope.
As the crew of the Ghost arrives at the planet Seelos, the ship breaks down, forcing Chopper and a none-to-happy Hera to stay aboard to fix the hyperdrive. The tactical droid is able to locate a moving highly altered Republic clone tank in the desert wastes of the planet. Three men are aboard, the “lost commanders” themselves–Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor. When Ezra asks them if the number 7567 means anything to them, Rex replies that was his birth number. Immediately Kanan is on guard, he realizes they are clones. He ignites his lightsaber, and Wolffe shouts “Jedi! They’ve come for revenge!” It’s an intense, yet brief, standoff, with Wolffe firing a few shots and Kanan parrying them with his lightsaber. Ezra and Rex quickly jump in to forestall more fighting. Rex tells a very tense Wolffe that the Jedi weren’t the ones that betrayed them, or perhaps, this isn’t the particular Jedi who betrayed them. An interesting use of language here; it raises more questions than answers.
This scene gives us an insight into how much Kanan doesn’t trust clones, as well as how fearful Wolffe is of being found. It’s a foreshadowing of deeper conflict to come in the episode.
Ezra tells Rex they were sent by Ahsoka Tano, and Rex wistfully recalls fighting along side her from the Battle of Christophsis to the Siege of Mandalore. (Siege of Mandalore? Can we get more info on this like right now Dave Filoni, cause that sounds awesome.) Ezra explains that the rebellion needs help fighting the Empire; they are outnumbered and taking a beating. Rex seems content to sit by in his “retirement” on Seelos; they’re not interested in getting involved. A skeptical Kanan sneers, “You heard the clone,” and goes to leave. The way Kanan says ‘clone’ comes out as bitter, almost derogatory. Again, more insight on his true feelings about the Clone Wars. An ever hopeful Ezra still manages to enlist the commanders’ help in getting a list of coordinates for new Rebellion bases. Wolffe, however, is very upset about helping the rebels, he is extremely fearful of the Empire finding them. Gregor, on the other hand, has other ideas for a quid-pro-quo exchange.
Gregor has the crew, specifically Zeb, help them catch a joopa, an underground creature that the Commanders hunt for food. As they prepare to “go slinging” for one of these elusive creatures, we get a cut to an Imperial Star Destroyer and Agent Kallus, who appears to have received a promotion since season 1. They received a binary transmission, “something about a Jedi,” to the Empire from an old clone unit on Seelos. The Imperial ensign says, “ The clones’ number checks out, but he has a record of calls of delusional distress.” We find out later this message was sent from Wolffe. What happened to Wolffe to make him so untrusting of anyone? He seems almost hysterical when discussing the possibility of the Empire finding them, but he’s even more concerned about Jedi seeking revenge.
Agent Kallus decides to send a probe droid to the system to investigate the message.
Back on Seelos, Kanan and Ezra have a talk about why Kanan doesn’t trust the clones. Kanan says they’re dangerous and gets angry with Ezra for not understanding. Kanan relents and tells Ezra about the end of the Clone Wars. He painfully describes how the clones, the soldiers that the Jedi fought beside, turned against them and slaughtered the Jedi. The pain and disbelief comes through his voice when Kanan tells Ezra how he watched clone troopers kill his master. Then he tells how the clones came for him. Kanan tells how the clones said they had chips implanted in their heads that commanded them to kill the Jedi. Rex overhears and says he didn’t betray his Jedi; he, Wolffe, and Gregor removed their control chips. They all had a choice. Ezra and Rex depart, leaving Kanan to mull over his past and his present.
The crew and the commanders start out on a trek to catch one of the Joopa creatures, using an oblivious Zeb as bait. Gregor seems slightly overly excited about the chances of catching a Joopa; he’s almost giddy. The Ghost crew discovers Gregor is using Zeb as bait, but it’s too late and Zeb gets taken by one of the creatures. The fight is on! Cue the lilting music in the back ground, which is very reminiscent of the scene in Jaws when the crew of the Orca is shooting barrels at the shark to slow it down. You could watch this Rebels episode and that scene in Jaws side by side and see the similarities. It’s such a great homage to Jaws. Also, notice the set of Joopa jaws on the front of the commanders’ ship? Just like the shark jaws on the front of the Orca!
A great chase ensues, with the team finally capturing the Joopa, and Zeb surviving. Gregor supplies plenty of comedy throughout this scene; but one has to wonder if he’s slightly off his rocker.
Kanan sends a transmission to Hera about the clones. She understands his mistrust in them, but urges him to think it through.
The probe droid Agent Kallus sent as a spy is able to infiltrate the Commanders’ tank and send a message to the Imperials. Sabine thought the clones gave them up, and said Rex never answered any of Ahsoka’s messages. Rex says he knows nothing of either the message, or the communications from Ahsoka. At Rex’s questioning, Wolffe confesses he contacted the Empire to try to protect his brother clones. Rex said they cannot live their lives in fear any longer. The probe droid attacks the crew, but Captain Rex manages to shoot it down while it flees. However, the probe managed to fire a shot at the engine of the Phantom, and now Kanan, Ezra, Sabine and Zeb are stuck on the planet, with the Empire on its way.
This episode ends with “to be continued,” which can only mean we see more action from the lost commanders in upcoming episodes. Will they decide to join the rebellion? Will Ahsoka and Rex get to finally meet again? Kanan has severe trust issues with the clones; will he be able to forget the past, or at least learn to trust these three clones? There seems to be many interesting storylines on the horizon for this season of Star Wars Rebels. I can’t wait for the next episode!
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.