Eric Geller's Blog

Lucasfilm Every season finale is supposed to be epic. This is a given in serialized television. But "Twilight of the Apprentice" redefined epic in the context of Star Wars . The Rebels season 2 finale brought back and dramatically enhanced the stature of a villain once discarded as a broken tool; delivered on the promise and angst of a long-awaited fight while opening a new door for one of the combatants; and placed a promising but troubled young man in spiritual and philosophical peril, possibly setting the stage for him to clash with his master in the style of the finale's other main event.

Lucasfilm Given what we know is coming in the highly anticipated finale of Star Wars Rebels Season Two, the penultimate episode of the season was refreshingly unique. Our rebels simply had to deal with a spider infestation at their secret base, and despite Zeb's amusing jitters, this proved to be a relatively straightforward task. The real story in "The Mystery of Chopper Base" wasn't the action on the surface, as the rebels dealt with these creatures; it was the tension beneath the surface, as they dealt with each other and confronted the possibility of everything changing. "The Mystery of Chopper Base" dealt with this tension beautifully, saying so much in so few words.

Lucasfilm If C1-10P is the cat to R2-D2's dog, then "The Forgotten Droid" was about that cat meeting a stray and guiding it home. But what happens when the cat remembers that it's a loner for a reason? That's the question I was left with at the end of this episode. Yes, Chopper made a friend. But nothing that happened in "The Forgotten Droid" changed his essential nature: grumpy, selfish, and lazy. His encounter with AP-5 offered a few laughs and a study in contrasts, but it didn't produce any character growth—because, for reasons of series structure, Chopper must remain trapped in his stereotypically cantankerous role.

Lucasfilm Two of my favorite things about Star Wars are the political conflict and the spiritual conflict. The political conflict was Zeb and Agent Kallus sparring over competing ideologies, with one perhaps convincing the other to reconsider his allegiance. But the deeper conflict, the spiritual one, is a war for the "soul" of the Force itself. The spirit of the galaxy has always been contested between the forces of darkness and light. In "Shroud of Darkness," viewers and characters alike received another masterfully choreographed warning about the outcome of the latest phase of this spiritual war.