THEY BARELY SURVIVED THIS!!! *Star Wars: Rebels | S3 Ep 21+22 | Reaction*

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

Quite literally Ben is the only reactor to realize Kanan wanting Bendu to get involved is immediately a bad idea, XD.

[@darthdracul8372]

Good then maybe he could also say how much of a criticism he can give Kanan because that was reckless because of it nearly got everyone killed. I hope this lesson make sure that there won’t be a stunt like that again!

[@Mis7erSeven]

But it wasn't a bad idea. Without his intervention, the rebels would have died in the battle. Yes, Bendu didn't chose a side here, but if you are on the losing side right now, someone who is equally attacking both sides and causing confusion will probably be more helpful for you to escape in the chaos. Kanan didn't call him a coward out of frustration, he knew exactly what he was doing.

[@darthdracul8372]

@ still provoking something like that was reckless don’t ever pull a stunt like that again. There are some things that are best left alone even a Jedi should understand better than most

[@ARandomInternetUser08]

@@darthdracul8372 🙄🙄

[@benspiller]

Really 😂 Thought it was obviously a dangerous idea to try and make the literal Middle take a side.

[@Mysteriam.]

The rebels defeat is actually way worse than you realize, they lost Sato who was their leader, 16 out of 18 ships were destroyed including their flagship (remember the rebels were already struggling to find ships), most squadrons were also nearly or completely destroyed, a lot of soldiers, their base, thougth by now they have the other base on Yavin IV (the one from New Hope), and most importantly made it so the rebellion is less likely to fight as one organized and united force. The empire didn't accomplish their main goal in wiping out the rebels, but it was still a major victory.

[@timsudmeier6482]

Also Thrawn managed to prevent them from attacking the imperial factory which was the reason for why the rebels met up in the first place.

[@darthdracul8372]

@@timsudmeier6482 and that factory will be taken care of in due time, hopefully

[@benspiller]

I think the fact that we’ve been following the Ghost crew is why it softened the blow for me, as long as they're fine I’m happy but in retrospect, this loss was devastating to the Rebellion at large.

[@katxiii3660]

The rebels needed a fuckup from admiral Konstantine, a sacrifice of their own leader and their biggest ship, Mandalorians coming in to help them out, and a murderous weird force creature, all to turn things around from an overwhelming absolute defeat, to a total defeat that at least let the stragglers run away with their lives.

[@ihn-90]

Zeb: what is that? Thrawn: *speechless*

[@BalletStrong-cl6cb]

Kallus: "You talk too much" Of course he talks too much. Thrawn loves to hear himself talk. Everyone loves hearing Thrawn talk.

[@liaml.e.5964]

With that voice, who could blame him‽

[@benspiller]

😂😂 He could explain how he's going to brutally defeat and torture the rebels and I'd still enjoy listening to his voice!

[@ItApproaches]

A trait of highly intelligent people is they speak aloud to themselves, to run their ideas by themselves and challenge their own views to try find errors and think clearly.

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

General Dodonna was in Episode IV, as he was the brains of the Rebellion's attack on the Death Star.

[@brucechmiel7964]

"Men normally with this information we'd take time to make a more intricate plane of attack. However, rather than transmitting the technical readouts of the Imperial battle station and keeping our rebel base SAFE! Princess Leia insisted on delivering the plans herself knowing full well her ship was being tracked. Thank you Princess Leia." "I'm picking up on your sass." "That's good. Cause you deserve it. So In short, we have one chance to make this right, and it's all Princess Leia's fault."

[@benspiller]

Nice to see another returning Rebel from the OT.

[@liaml.e.5964]

"I do not require glory, only results for my Emperor." That phrase suns up Thrawn's character quite well. But something often misunderstood of this quote is that Thrawn does not like, nor trust the Emperor, he has sworn his allegiance to him out of utilitarianism (he believes the Empire is the only force that would be able to stand a chance against the alien conquerors that are laying siege to most of Wild Space in their own secret war. Their threat terrifies Thrawn and has calculated that nothing short of the efficient tyranny of the Empire can stand a chance against them. He swore his loyalty to the idea of the Empire, more so than Palpatine himself. Edit 1: There is a quote from Zapp Brannigan from Futurama that helps illustrate Bendu's kind: "I hate these filthy Neutrals, Kif. With enemies you know where they stand but with Neutrals, who knows? It sickens me." What people often forget about neutrality is that it is not only passive, but has unbridled fury towards all that is not itself, if it comes to it. Take Switzerland during WWII, for instance, it declared absolute neutrality and had NO qualms about shooting both ally and german aircraft that dared fly over its territory. They were brutally protective while remaining neutral. Same thing with Hondo, he has no alliances or no one he'd help over himself, and can damage his allies as much as his adversaries. That's what makes truly neutral characters dangerous. Edit 2: Walkers. The reason the Empire phased out most repulsorcraft in favour of walkers is because they come with a very particular advantage... walkers, unlike hover tanks (whose repulsorlifts malfunction when crossing a shield), can walk through energy shields, giving them a tactical advantage. AT-ATs, for instance, are a very reliable combat vehicle. Admittedly slow but capable of offering decent protection to the troops inside and moving command posts for the Empire during operations; and contrary to what we see over and over again in the media, toppling them is no easy task, those things are MASSIVE and very heavy. Edit 3: There are two kinds of shields in SW: Particle Shields and Energy Shields. Particle shields, like the name suggests, impede the penetration of solid objects in their entirety (but offer no protection against energy based attacks), basically functioning as a physical shield. Energy shields CAN be traversed by physical objects (save hovercraft) but are meant to stop energy blasts, mainly blasters, lasers, turbolasers, etc. The best shields are dual, offering both physical and energy projection, but they tend to be the largest ones, like planetary shields (like Rogue One which withstood all attacks against it until an entire star destroyer was bought down on it) or the shields the Death Stars had. These last ones are rarer and far more expensive, hence less common. Edit 4: There is a tad bit of information I seemingly forgot to mention about the Chiss (Thrawn's species). They are mostly deaf to the Force. Not to the extent of being cut off from it, mind you, but instances of adult Chiss being Force-sensitive are exceedingly rare. Most, if not all, of Chiss Force Sensitives are chikdren and their gift often fades with age. Hence the Force being doubly unknowable to Thrawn, not only do his people have a VERY limited access to it, but no adults have it at all, that's why it is even more difficult for him to try and understand it. (All of this is explained in the new Thrawn Saga).

[@mikhaillisovoy3055]

Among the Chiss, the Force is a rare gift. Otherwise, they wouldn't take such good care of their "skywalkers" (yes, that's what the Chiss call it, funny, isn't it). As for the Force leaving them, in the novel "Thrawn: Treason" there was a fully grown Chiss who retained her abilities. Thrawn also chose to serve the Empire because he hates bureaucrats who interfere in the military. There are fewer of them in the Empire than in his homeland. And by the way. Why did he leave Governor Price, a civilian, in his place? Where is Commander Fairo, Lieutenant Hammerly, Lieutenant Yves, Commander Brand? In short, the core of his officers, personally selected and tested by him, why leave everything to a person incompetent in this area?

[@0LadyV0]

Thrawn worked with Anakin before. And he knows, he is Vader.

[@kronos327-1]

Kevin Kiner's score for Zero Hour is one of his best and just adds to how good the finale is.

[@DiamondFire]

Kiner Gang is so sick. Sean and Deana carried hard this Season (and in S4) Sabine's Theme is so good 🙏🙏

[@benspiller]

Absolutely! The music is just phenomenal for this show and this score captured this final perfectly.

[@Ezramando16]

34:18 Always felt bad for that one A-wing pilot...

[@JamesVirtue-xu7wb]

The black stormtroopers in this episode are called death troopers. They are basically cybernetically enhanced super soldiers that are supposed to be extremely hard to kill in the lore. They usually guard things of extremely high importance to the Empire, like a person, location or object. You can think of them as Imperial navy SEALs on cybernetic based space steroids.

[@Mis7erSeven]

Even without reading any books, you easily see the difference in this show. They're taller than regular stormtroopers and have way better aim.

[@benspiller]

I'm so glad there seem to be fairly few of these as I imagine a whole army would be too much for the Rebels to deal with.

[@sentios5593]

The ending doesnt really show how devestating that lose was. They lost like 90% of the rebels and almost all ships

[@jasoncaldwell5627]

Yeah, that transport the AT-ST shot down would have had more than a hundred people on it- same with the Nebulon B and Blockade Runner that was destroyed. And, of course, they lost the carrier with Commander Sato.

[@benspiller]

Yeah in retrospect this loss was very bad for the Rebellion, I think following the Ghost Crew so closely softened the blow for me as I'm happy as long as all of them escape.

[@sakisaotome6753]

"I see your defeat, surrounding you like many arms in a cold embrace."

[@williamgingrich8361]

So excited for season 4 it is where [REDACTED] happens

[@sindregrnning7648]

Have to say the only Weakness that Thrawn has is also his biggest strength. The fact that he is always 50 steps ahead It gives him a huge advantage in planning for everything But it makes his plans more dificult to Improvise when they go wrong Also, his Underlings Are NOT 50 steps ahead like him, so his plans migth not make sense to them, making them more likely to screw it up. (Edit added meme) Grand Admiral Thrawn: Suffering from Success

[@benspiller]

Completely agree and it makes him such a good villain in that he can only lose thanks to those around him, he himself is perfectly competent and if he was all-powerful, the Rebels would be done, thanks to others not being as smart as him they will improvise as they can't grasp the big picture much like Thrawn's enemies.

[@adarshsaseendran2199]

I like how when Thrawn is defeated or his plan fails because of something he couldn't possibly imagine.

[@ImprovedCameraman]

11:37 Even Emperor Palpatine considered Thrawn as the true heir of the empire

[@Dauth312]

Hey Ben, just found your reaction series and binged it up to this point. So happy you are enjoying Rebels, it's personally my favorite Star Wars story. To give you a little tidbit of info since I noticed you mentioning that the ships trying to flee the Empire and their Star Destroyer blockade should go in other directions, there is actually a explanation for why they don't. Hyperspace acts like a 2-way highway system that stretches over the entire galaxy. To get to a certain planet you have to take the "off ramp" of hyperspace to that planet and that will always spit you out in the same area in front of the planet. Most planets in the galaxy only have 1 of these "off ramps" to go in and out of hyperspace. So if you have a fleet of ships at the mouth of that "off ramp" you are blockading any ships from entering or exiting the system. There are a handful of planets that have 2-3 of these "off ramps" and they are considered major trading hub worlds, one such planet is actually Tatooine. Hope this helps with understanding the Star Wars universe just a little bit more in depth :)

[@benspiller]

Thank you so much for putting it like this! I've always been confused as to why people can't hyperspace away from things but this makes so much sense and makes the term Hyperspace 'lanes' finally click for me 😂 It makes this whole blockade feel so much more imposing to realise that they are essentially blocking the mouth of the escape rather than an infinite void.

[@ItApproaches]

To explain what happened with Bendu, he is a Force being, like the Father, Daughter and Son. Now in regards to his body and "dying" well you heard his laughter so Bendu isn't "dead" dead. You noticed his body vanished after Thrawn shot him. This was the same thing that happened with Obi-Wan, Vader struck him down but Obi-Wan vanished. If you remember in Clone Wars, when Qui-Gon's voice guided Yoda and taught him about the living force that's what happened here. Bendu much like Qui-Gon is one with the living force. His body is gone, but he lives in the force, and also like Qui-Gon and UNLIKE Obi-Wan and Yoda, Bendu can't be a Force ghost cause he didn't do the Force Priestess training and wasn't granted being worth of it. Not that Bendu would care. As a Force being, he is still neutral and "the one in the middle" just without a body now. He is one with the force and while I don't believe we ever see or hear from him again, his laughter showed he COULD communicate like Qui-Gon could, via his voice.

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

First time Kallus is on The Ghost.

[@kronos327-1]

Zero Hour is as thrilling today as it was when first broadcast in March 2017. The quality of the animation is so much better than season 1 with regard to lighting, shadow, reflection, atmosphere, pyrotechnics etc. Check out the reflection of the sun on Kanan's visor or how the canopy frame shadow and light sweep across Hera and Ezra's faces flying the Ghost and Gauntlet or the glow of the laser bolts in the clouds. The space battles look great too. I love the visual impact of the progressive closeups of the Bendu and Thrawn's faces at the end. I do have to say that Rebels animation still doesn't do a very good job with hair, just look at General Dodonna's hair and beard - it's still kinda just a blob, but it's not too distracting.

[@benspiller]

Thought the same! The animation and visuals have skyrocketed this season and it’s made it even more enjoyable to watch, but yeah the hair being just a blob feels like the show's signature at this point.

[@ImpossibleCaseEdits]

This was an amazing season finale, which had been building up and up with intensity throughout this run. I cannot begin to imagine how these complex events were animated, but it ranks as some of the very best. How lucky were we to have Tom Baker -- recently awarded a long overdue MBE -- as Bendu? That iconic voice brought an insurmountable power to this mysterious being who became more frightening than Thrawn himself!

[@benspiller]

This final was spectacular! The way the story built up coupled with the increase in quality of the animation was just so cool to see. Tom Baker has to be one of my favourite parts of this season, his performance as Bendu has been mystifying and terrifying, such a cool way to bring an end to this by having his character go nuts and fully embody the middle.

[@willydadog2]

ep 20 so the thing that really screwed over Thrawn majorly was that the empire wanted to make an example out of the rebel leaders which meant he'd have to be careful and make sure the leaders were kept alive so they would have a public "trail" and exacution. if Thrawn didn't have to keep some of the rebels alive they could've just bombarded from space as they still had the numbers and could if they wanted to siege them out until either the shield breaks which it did or starve them out. Thrawn had pretty much thought what he found was the rebel fleet along with their home base. it was probably when he didn't see or hear mon mothma that he realized it was at best their biggest grouping of their forces but not their main base. ezra's jump to escape was for him likely confirmation that it wasn't the main base because why would they send a ship to escape a siege unless they were coming back with reinforcements or warning the rest of the rebellion to not return like obi-wan's message to not return to corasant since they were proabbly not only jammed but on the off chance they were able to get a call out its possible it might have been traced later by the empire. General Dodonna is I believe one of, if not the the last Original Trilogy characters we see who works with the rebellion in rebels. he was pretty much their military brains and was the one who gave the debrief on how to destroy the death star in A New Hope. he dies a year after ANH in canon trying to get other rebels out of the empires hands after a betrayal. in legends he survived a8 more years and became a statesmen in the new republic. we also see that for Thrawn has no care for glory only results. while konstanctine was a glory hound and it got him killed. ep 21 Bendu was very much still being neutral he didn't just attack the empire but also the rebels as well. a real equal opportunity attacker. it not that Thrawn doesn't understand the force he very much does. he worked with anakin when he was still a jedi and also with him as a vader. he is one of the few people in the empire who likely knows they are the same person Tarkin is also among those who know or at least managed to guess who was under the mask from working with him. Now according to Thrawn force sensitives in his species are called sky walkers and were used to chart the stars. this is according to Thrawn a rough translation of their name which he would say to Vader him self where he would explain the confusion when he met Anakin. since in his species they are often females who are sky walkers and often the sensitivity lasted from 7-14 and on rare cases 22. Tharwn does have an under standing of the force its just not as much when compared to others. for the rebels escaping is really their only victory as they not only lost about 90% of their fleet and forces but also lost one of their leaders. the empire technically id win a crushing victory however they missed their goal so they don't really see it as a true victory but just another step in the right direction at best.

[@LadiesmanB007]

The rebels very much lost this one badly. When you estimate the numbers they lost around 85-90% of their ships and people. Their only measure of victory was a few of them, including most leadership, escaping to fight another day.

[@benspiller]

Looking back, this loss was overwhelming and I'm just glad it focuses on the Ghost Crew as it makes me feel better with them all escaping this, but going forward the Rebellion itself has lost lots and will take a while to rebuild its strength.

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

Ezra wearing a Jedi spacesuit from The Clone Wars.

[@TheTrytix]

General Dodonna's fleet that arrived to reinforce Sato's fleet, consisted a bunch of ships, most notably 3 EF-76 Nebulon-B Frigates. And those frigates are quite interesting, because they are ACTUALLY Imperial ships. We just never see the Empire use 'em, and the Rebels just stole quite an amount of them. EC Henry here on KZbin even created a 3D model of a Imperialized Nebulon-B, since they don't look all that Imperial as we see them in the movies and Rebels. It looks really cool, wish it was a canon appearance. Hell, wish the Empire used those ships better because they are rather decent anti-starfighter ships, something that could complement the Star Destroyers and their abysmal anti starfighter capabilities quite well... But I digress. The Fleet Thrawn arrives with though? It's basically the largest Imperial fleet the rebels have had to deal with up til then. Normally they only had to take on 2 Star Destroyers at most, but Thrawn doesn't mess around, and he brought 6, which includes his flagship, the Chimaera. He also brought 2 Interdictor Star Destroyer to prevent the Rebels from fleeing, and additionally 2-4 Arquitens-class command cruisers. The Rebel fleet, though consisting of more ships, starfighters excluded, are WAY too underpowered by comparison. The largest vessel they have, Sato's flagship, the large carrier, is still orders of magnitudes smaller than a Star Destroyer. The Rebels are in essence fighting a force that has likely 7 times the tonnage and firepower. In Return of the Jedi, the Rebels are at their highest, and they bring a gigantic fleet of spaceships to face the second death star. In THAT fleet they get to use several Liberty and Home One-type Mon-Calamari cruisers, which are their largest warships, and around 80% the size of a Star Destroyer. However the second death star isn't the only concern they have as they soon find themselves ambushed by ca 30 Star Destroyers, a couple battlecruisers and Vader's flagship, the Executor. A dreadnought, which itself is around 12 times the length of a Star Destroyer. The Rebels were in a similar situation in that battle, they DID have more ships, but they didn't have anything on par with a Star Destroyer, let alone an Executor dreadnought. The rebels won regardless though. Thanks to Palpatine's death, Imperial leadership going whack, and the 2nd Death Star blowing up. The Rebels are resourceful, lucky and has ample amounts of plot armor. Though had Thrawn been at the Battle of Endor... things would have turned out differently, however Thrawn was elsewhere when that battle happened, so he was unavailable.

[@sakisaotome6753]

mon mothma was being timid. thrawn had a plan, but that plan also had to be vague because it including things like "somome is going to do something unexpected so i'll have to be prepared for that." you literally can't make exact plans for that. what is the unexpected thing they will do? he doesn't know, thats why he called it unexpected. but what he is ready to do is to improvise his original plan. too many imperial commanders forget that no plan survives contact with the enemy. thrawns plan also can't account for everything. but he has created such a good reputation of being able to plan for just about anything that everyone is scared that he already planned for it. to use tvtrope terminology Thrawn is using a batman gambit. he's planned for everything you will do and some things you might do but there are still things outside of his ability to plan for. ezra got mandalorians rather than rebels, things still could have gone the rebels way if they had come, but they were too scared of thrawn to risk it.

[@sakisaotome6753]

anytime someone needs help, the answer is ALWAYS gonna be Sabine.

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

As Episode IV states, the Death Star plans being stolen is the Rebellion's first victory.

[@benspiller]

Really paints a clear picture that no matter what we see from this show, it will never be able to do anything significant against the Empire.

[@Eva_H]

Thrawn only has loyalty to the Empire because he needs a structured military faction to help his people (The Chiss) take on their enemy (the Grysk). I should probably mention The Chiss & Grysk are in a completely different galaxy to the known galaxy. Again Ben if you wanna learn more about Thrawn pre-rebels you can read the ascendancy trilogy (this is set during the clone wars and the early years of Thrawn within the ascendancy and before he gets the rank of grand Admiral within the Empire). Thrawn also meets a certain Jedi General in the form of let’s call them Anakin. Then the new Thrawn trilogy (Thrawn/alliances/treason) is set just before S3 of rebels all the way until just before the season finale of S4 of rebels (and rebels as an entire show). I should probably point out at this point Thrawn also worked out on his own but Darth Vader is Anakin, not that he ever divulge that information but still. What Bendu says to Thrawn about seeing his defeat like arms wrapped in a cold embrace, this may come into play later. 😜

[@msoundg]

Great reaction! Can't believe we're here, already! RIP Commander Sato and the brave men that stayed with him. Thrawn's victory wasn't complete only because Constantine disobeyed him and The Bendu, well, that was impossible for Thrawn to anticipate, lol It's cool how you really pay attention and remember a lot of the minutiae! So, since you're already in S04, please remember to turn the subtitles on for Episode 13, you will not regret it!

[@benspiller]

It feels like this show is just flying by! Sato was such an amazing captain and he really was the MVP of this final, without his sacrifice they would have completely lost. Love how Thrawn only loses because of those around him, Constantine didn't follow the plan and destroyed it all, and then Bendu is just something Thrawn can never anticipate! I will absolutely turn on Subtitles moving forward, I keep meaning to but I forget to this is a great reminder!

[@battlefries]

Hey there! Sorry for the delay in commenting, but I just wanted to thank you for sharing your reactions! You've been very insightful and caught a lot of details that might have gone over many people's heads. You're a pretty cool guy to watch reactions with! I'd like to point out a very scary alternative scenario for this episode that shows just how dangerous Thrawn can be, and how much damage he could have done. He probably would have destroyed Chopper Base entirely, BUT Tarkin told him to take the leaders alive. Not for interrogation, but to make examples of them. Thrawn warned him that it would be difficult to take prisoners in a battle like this, but Tarkin just said, "Oh, a man of your talents will manage, right?" or something to that effect. What if Thrawn hadn't been ordered to take prisoners? What if he'd been free of that restriction and been able to bring his full might to bear down on Our Heroes? And when Ezra escaped due to Konstantine's recklessness, Thrawn didn't say, "One ship escaping won't be enough to do any damage." He actually said, "Let's hope this doesn't undermine my efforts." I love Thrawn because even if he's in a superior position, he takes his enemies seriously. And I love that he has this sort of respect for Hera. Kanan may wield the Force, but he's not the primary leader of the Phoenix group. So many other bad guys would gloat and be overconfident in their victory. Thrawn doesn't rest until he is sure that he's won the day or else if he needs to retreat and regroup and find a new strategy. And then there's the Bendu. "What Jedi devilry is this," indeed. The Force is indeed a blind spot for Thrawn, but he probably knows at least some of what the Jedi can do. The Bendu, however, is nothing that he could have predicted. Just imagine what Thrawn might have done if he'd known about the Bendu ahead of time. As it stands, Thrawn can only look forward to a defeat, like many arms surrounding him in a cold embrace. And I love the Bendu's sinister laugh in the air when Thrawn thought he could harm him. Thank you again for sharing! Can't wait for Season Four!

[@IggyStardust1967]

Hi Ben! Hope all is well! Yeah, Thrawn knew about Callus... and now Callus knows that Thrawn knows. But it changes very little, in the overall scheme of things. 7:30 - Bingo! Never under estimate Thrawn. He goes down rabbit holes no one else would even consider! 10:25 - My friend, you have no idea how right you are right now.... but you're gonna find out. 10:38 - Take notice what ship Ezra is taking.... it's a hint to where he's going. 15:55 - Ben, I absolutely LOVE how you try to think of all the possibilities of what's going on! I really do! It makes you quite special. You would be really good at Chess (assuming you aren't already). Hell, I'm a bit rusty.... but I'd love to play you. 16:30 - Yeah.... Kanan just pissed Bendu off, royally! Remember, one in the middle can access both the light AND the dark! Bendu is "balance". And he will treat every situation in a balanced manner. 17:35 - Mon Mothma is right, here. Thrawn's plan WAS to draw the rest of them out. But Ezra isn't helpless here.... 18:25 - Yeah, that's a bit of a "spoiler" that you get by watching the OT first.... you KNOW who has "plot armour". But I still think it's the right way to go. OT first, then "Fanboys" (you REALLY should watch that movie... there's no spoilers in it except for the OT, which you've already watched), then just start at the beginning of the timeline and go through it. But please, trust me on Fanboys. That movie is SO under rated! AND it was approved by George Lucas (he even had some input in it)!! 20:00 - This is still about a year away from Rogue One/A New Hope (minor spoiler: They fit together perfectly). Season 4 covers that year before those two movies. 24:30 - Star Destroyers were BUILT for "orbital bombardment". That's what makes them so dangerous to any planet under the Empire's influence. 31:00 - Mandalorians are the people you do NOT want to get into a fight with. 32:40 - BINGO! The one in the middle..... the one who stands for balance and will not take a side. 36:05 - I don't think you noticed the smirk on Callus' face when that lift door closed.... 37:40 - Take notes to what Bendu says here. 39:35 - They didn't "defeat" Thrawn.... they SURVIVED Thawn, technically with the aid of the will of The Force (Bendu). 40:30 - Just a little advice (because I know what's coming).... strap yourself in for season 4. It's going to get WILD.

[@benspiller]

This was such an insane ending to the season and really proved what a phenomenal threat Thrawn is, in retrospect, he certainly won this, and the Rebels barely escaped with their lives. I’m just glad that Thrawn’s colleagues’ incompetence plus the influence of the Force was able to throw him off and weaken his victory enough so the Ghost Crew could get away. Can’t wait to start season 4 now just to see how they rebuild after this especially now that Thrawn’s defeat has been dictated by the Force!

[@IggyStardust1967]

@@benspiller I will only say ONE thing to that...... "All is, as The Force wills it." I think you will understand that better than most.

[@emobirb2302]

i love that even though this version of thrawn is way different than the original one from the book trilogy, he is still distinctly one of the best when it comes to planning. but i do kind of dislike that he is more objectively evil in the disney canon. 50:56 i mean a lot of the (legends) books and comics delve really deep into stuff like that, and most of them are worth reading (if one likes reading)

[@ARandomInternetUser08]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned yet, but General Dodonna is the same one that briefed the rebels, including Luke, before the first Death Star Attack in the OT. In my personal opinion, Bendu is evil but he doesn't admit it. Being in the middle, to deny the good and evil sides, automatically makes one evil to me. "I see your defeat, like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace" Remember that line. I won't say anything else. 😉

[@benspiller]

Love to see another Ot Rebel show up in this show! The connections the Ghost crew are making between themselves, and the events of that movie feel like they’re getting larger and larger which just makes me wonder where they are during it. I agree with this logic. To be in the middle is to be outside of good, he would refuse to save lives even if he could if it would conflict with his neutrality and basically every situation would do that. I’m never going to forget that line!! Thrawn’s defeat is now written in the Force!

[@ogTryhard21]

And so begins the Battle of Atollon. In my opinion, the most underrated in Star Wars, and the first major battle for control of a planet in this series. Death Troopers made their debut in this episode. And they look super menacing. Wish they had more time to shine, because their armor looks awesome. Tarkin is so arrogant and foolish, attempting to capture the Rebel leaders instead of just wiping them out when the Empire had the chance. Kallus getting his ass kicked by Thrawn was wild. With Thrawns theme playing in the background through the whole scene, that was probably one of the greatest fists fight in Star Wars. He looked SO intimidating. Thrawn finally gets to show his skills as a tactician. As it should be expected, he's second to none. He crushed the Rebels in space with his vice like pressure with just his overwhelming pressure. Going "underneath" or "around" blockades isn't a thing in Star Wars. Hyperspace lanes and other things prevent this (plot. Its plot.) TIE Defenders hadn't made it to mass production, which is why they weren't featured at the Battle of Atallon. Same for TIE Interceptors. It would've been cool to see them though. Admiral Konstantine's political views on the battlefield led directly to his downfall. He was far too focused on looking good and not on results. Its a shame because Thrawn tried to save him. Commander Satos sacrafice was crazy. I THINK this was the first time we saw a ship ram another outside of comics (Rebels would often do this with A-wings). And yeah, gotta feel for Mart. His father and Uncle both died due to the Empire, and he has no other family as far as I'm aware of. Hope his friends (whichever ones survived all this) can help him through it. Thrawn could've eliminated Phoenix Squadron with his orbital bombardment, but of course Tarkin wants the leaders alive, so he can't do it. Had to have the Star Destroyers fire with low power and he held back before the shield blew up. Guarantee he would've obliterated them without hesitation too. The shield is designed to block kinetic attacks (blaster bolts, rockets). Its useless if something big and slow walks through it, like ATATs. Thrawn beat the Rebels in space, he beat them in orbit, and he beat them on the surface. If not for Bendu and Konstantine, who obviously Thrawn can't plan for, he would've absolutely embarrassed everyone who was unfortunate enough to be on Atallon that day. This battle was anything but a Rebel victory. They may have escaped, but Thrawn still destroyed a solid 80% of the Phoenix fleet. Compare the size of the fleet at the beginning and the end of the battle. It's frightening.

[@benspiller]

Loved this finale, so much went down and it’s all so insane to think about! I think you covered pretty much everything and the amount that goes into how complex this battle is incredible with how, in retrospect, Thrawn won overwhelmingly but the only way the Ghost Crew could escape was because of Konstantine’s incompetence and Bendu’s interference.

[@Flirtz420]

damn the finally already? 💙

[@benspiller]

Yep, feels like this is all flying by so fast and I'm really not ready for it to end!

[@Eva_H]

Thrawn only has loyalty to the Empire because he needs a structured military faction to help his people (The Chiss) take on their enemy (the Grysk). I should probably mention The Chiss & Grysk are in a completely different galaxy to the known galaxy. Again Ben if you wanna learn more about Thrawn pre-rebels you can read the ascendancy trilogy (this is set during the clone wars and the early years of Thrawn within the ascendancy and before he gets the rank of grand Admiral within the Empire). Thrawn also meets a certain Jedi General in the form of let’s call them Anakin. Then the new Thrawn trilogy (Thrawn/alliances/treason) is set just before S3 of rebels all the way until just before the season finale of S4 of rebels (and rebels as an entire show). What Bendu says to Thrawn about seeing his defeat like arms wrapped in a cold embrace, this may come into play later. 😜

[@benspiller]

His history sounds so awesome, and I’ll definitely be checking out these books, but I want to wait till after Rebels in case of any spoilers or anything, plus it’s glad to know that Thrawn’s loyalty to the Empire isn’t blind and he’s only doing it so he can benefit from it. Bendu’s prophecy is not etched into my mind! I cannot wait to see how that plays out but all I can think of now is the Crew embracing Thrawn in a massive hug or something 😂

[@Eva_H]

@ trust me you’re gonna absolutely fall out of your chair when you find out what it all means. Thrawn is a tactician in everything he does, including the alliances he makes. If you ever wanna get into reading Star Wars novels I’d strongly suggest reading dark disciple also. Dark disciple was originally going to be an eight part arc for TCW before it got cancelled in 2013. Much in the same vein as Maul Son of Dathormir which is a graphic novel set after Maul gets captured by Sidious after their fight on Mandalore, then when he gets rescued by Gar Saxon and the Mauldalorians and is given the Darksaber. The graphic novel is yet another example of an unproduced arc of TCW

[@abthedragon4921]

OMG where do I even start with this finale!? There's so much I could say but I'll I love how Thrawn won the battle here technically (he forced the Rebels into retreat) but this battle also perfectly demonstrated his 2 biggest weaknesses! 1. Thrawn is a very capable strategist, but his strategies mean nothing if those under his command don't carry them out properly! We saw this with Konstantine, if he had just followed his orders and stayed put, the Empire's victory would be even more complete! But he let the promise of glory go to his head and he paid for it! 2. As you already stated, Thrawn understands many things but one of the few things he doesn't fully understand is the Force. And if he can't understand it, he can't predict it and if he can't predict it, he can't control it! If it weren't for Bendu creating that storm, the entire Rebel command structure in that battle likely would've either been captured or killed. So yeah, it took something totally unpredictable to throw him off. All in all, this is one of my favorite finales and favorite battles in all of Rebels, we spent entire seasons building up a force to attack the Empire head on and much of that is gone now. But our main cast managed to get away and they can continue the fight in season 4!

[@benspiller]

This final was amazing, and it was so good to see Thrawn fully in action with all this, in retrospect he won overwhelmingly in forcing the Rebels to retreat and by decimating most of their forces. Loved getting to see his ‘weakness’ explored here with his colleagues costing him the victory as they understand his plans as much as his enemies, and the Force I think will just forever be beyond him so as long as Ezra and Kanan are in with the Rebels, they’ll always have a good chance at success. Overall I loved this final but I have to say it didn’t feel like an ending like how the other have felt, I like this difference in that going into Season 4 I’m expecting a rather direct continuation with the Rebels just building back up after this.

[@ahsokafan8959]

Don’t forget Bendu’s words to Thrawn

[@benspiller]

I am never gonna forget that Thrawn's defeat is literally written in the Force! 😂

[@ItApproaches]

Sabine makes a good leader but doesn't want to be one. That's the mark of a good leader...someone who doesn't want to be a leader.

[@hehu4025]

Let’s start with Bendu: Kanan forces Bendu to make a decision and help him. This can be described in one word: passion. Kanan imposes his will on Bendu, forcing him to act, and in doing so, he shows no respect for Bendu’s neutrality. Even the first line of the Sith Code applies here: "Peace is a lie. There is only passion." Bendu responds to Kanan’s dark and passionate approach with an equally dark, destructive response. If Thrawn had prevented the rebels from leaving the planet, Bendu would have annihilated everyone. As for Bendu’s “death,” he has the ability to "dematerialize" and "rematerialize", weird I know. He is a manifestation of the Force, much like the Mortis Gods. You can kill his physical form, but he would become One with the Force, and the Force could potentially recreate him. (It’s unclear how the Force interacts with the gray path that Bendu follows, which doesn’t seem to have any purpose other than existence itself.) Most likely, Bendu continues to exist on the planet, returning to his gray path, finally at peace in solitude - bigest winner :) Now, Thrawn: This was a winning situation for Thrawn from the start. Immediately after the attack began, Thrawn realized that this was not the entire Rebel fleet, only a portion of it. He knew from the outset that this wouldn’t be a total victory. When Konstantine disobeys orders and gets himself killed, Thrawn remains calm. At that moment, his goal shifts to maximizing his success and preparing for the next steps, as he understood that complete victory was unattainable in this scenario. (Ironically, you could argue that Thrawn slightly overestimated the Rebels here-he believed this might be an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow. He was likely disappointed.) During the battle, Thrawn’s objectives evolved to: - Destroy as many Rebel forces as possible and capture their leaders. - Minimize Imperial losses. - Avoid any surprises (Caused by Konstantine's stupidity) - Prepare for the next steps So Thrawn’s initial goal was to crush the Rebellion entirely, his focus shifted to simply winning the battle. (He might have hoped the Rebels would send reinforcements, but since he couldn’t be certain of that, he left Pryce in charge of the fleet - so he was skeptical.) Initially, Thrawn wanted to bombard the planet, and he seriously considered continuing to do so because of the unknown factors. However, when he saw that the Rebels had no countermeasures, he decided on a ground invasion to achieve a more significant victory and attempt to capture the Rebel leaders. But then, an unpredictable, external factor entered the fray: Bendu This unforeseen variable caught Thrawn off guard, allowing the Rebel leadership to escape. Even so, Thrawn achieved substantial results: - He inflicted enormous losses on the Rebels. The heavy fleet of the Rebellion was essentially destroyed. - His own losses were minimal-two Interdictors and some ground forces. Why did Thrawn spare Kallus? Kallus was still a valuable asset. The Rebels didn’t know that he had been discovered, so Thrawn could continue to use him strategically. Additionally, Thrawn has a certain respect for Kallus because their philosophies are similar. Kallus was loyal to the Empire because he had a reason-his sense of honor. That same sense of honor ultimately led to his betrayal. Thrawn is loyal to the Empire because he has his own reason: the protection of his people in the Unknown Regions. For Thrawn, a strong Empire is essential. He doesn’t believe the Rebellion is capable of creating a stable and powerful entity, nor does he think they would concern themselves with the Unknown Regions. The Empire’s expansionist nature, on the other hand, aligns with his goals. This is why, in legends, Thrawn fought against the New Republic and essentially bled them dry. To him, the New Republic wasn’t good, and he sought to destroy it to establish a stronger foundation for a new Empire. (If the Empire weren’t viable, Thrawn would have orchestrated a coup himself or influenced the Rebellion to become a better alternative capable of establishing itself as a hegemon and protector.) Now Hera vs. Thrawn: Hera attempted to counter Thrawn’s moves and play his game, but this was a problem. Thrawn had already placed the Rebels in a checkmate position. Hera entered the game too late and made predictable moves-moves Thrawn had anticipated well in advance. Moreover, Thrawn knew Hera would assume command after Sato’s death, so he was prepared for her tactics, further minimizing any potential surprises.

[@benspiller]

I have to say Bendu really saved the day here, yes it was a just unleashing chaos, but it was the perfect chaos necessary. I love how detailed his reaction is with how he met darkness, aka passion, with darkness like how he met all the other light interactions with light. Good to know he should be back to neutrality, and I assumed he would still be alive after this with his creepy laugh lingering at the crater. Thrawn was just incredible to watch here, the show has built him phenomenally and this went all out! Love seeing his plan adapt to new information and it also awesome that the only way the rebels got away and he didn’t achieve totally victory was because of other people and not himself. It means that if his plans were followed to the letter, he’d be unstoppable, apart form the whole Force thing. Seeing Thrawn spare Kallus for so long was awesome as it does add so much depth to him, I can’t really call him a villain at this point as it’s clear he’s just doing his job and due to his respect for Kallus and the usefulness he presented, he kept him alive. Also really like getting this understanding behind Thrawn’s loyalty in that he will side with whatever can benefit him, he wants to help his people, and the Empire is the best thing there is to do that. I just like that this was Hera’ first go against Thrawn, yes she made predictable moves but I still think she held her own rather well and now in the future she could do even better and can provide a more difficult challenge to him.

[@TheAMcDoom]

oh can't wait for you to see S4. You will have: a laughing fit, you will explode in rage, you will cry hard. Honestly I'm not sure your even ready for S4 yet. 😁 Looking forwards to your reaction.

[@LawrenceSeetoh]

Thank you Ben for your reaction and always insightful commentary, the other comment s correct, you are the only reactor who realised Bendu would be unhappy wth the situation. Yes we are down to the final season, It will be quite something as they tie up all the loose ends. I hope you are ready. I am glad you love the Ghost crew ask much as the rest of us..

[@benspiller]

I’m shocked more people did think this was obvious 😂 What else could possibly happen by trying to make the literal Middle join a side? I cannot wait to get into the final season now, I don’t want to say goodbye to these characters, but I think I’m ready to see where this story ends up.

[@LawrenceSeetoh]

@benspiller I hope you are ready. [Self redacted comment] okay take care. See you soon.

[@darthdracul8372]

First off everything that has been transpiring has been leading up to this moment and my God it was brutal And honestly provoking the neutral creature, even though I respect his wishes that was absolutely reckless and completely idiotic. I take risks but not like this. It’s no wonder why the Jedi order to deserve to be criticised for arrogance. But the important thing is the survivors of the Phoenix squadron get to live to fight another day, but we shouldn’t rest yet. The grand Admiral is not one to rest. Every setback gives him a chance to learn and to improve his forces, especially since one of them went too far in their arrogance and stupidity that cost them victory he will not make that mistake again be ready, Benjamin

[@benspiller]

This final was so amazing, and I do love that Kanan actually managed to anger Bendu enough into acting 😂 it’s a really bad idea that could have gotten everyone killed but it proved just the chaos they needed to escape Thrawn. So happy that the Ghost crew got away unscathed and hopefully they can start planning what to do next so when they next face Thrawn, they could be on equal playing fields.

[@corgiluver9718]

Such a great finale. So much to like including Bendu's warning to Thrawn of his defeat, the terrific battles, and Ezra's seeking out Sabine. Of course the Rebels took a big L here with surviving the only success (also a big one though). I also very glad that Kallus survives and is rescued by the Ghost. On to season 4.

[@benspiller]

This finale was so good! Loved Bendu’s role in this and how the Rebels only got away by having him attach everything. Thrawn also now having basically a prophesy against him is amazing and I just can’t wait to see how that unfolds. The loss was devastating but I’m just happy the main crew got out unscathed, it’s going to be fun to see them rebuild after this now that Kallus is with them.

[@josephtingley654]

Say what you want about most Imperial officers, but Tarkin and Thrawn are brilliantly ruthless and 100% loyal to Palpatine. There was no way Sabine was going to abandon them. Callous knows what the Rebellion truly is and he knows Thrawn/Empire can't win.

[@benspiller]

Absolutely! These two are insanely competent and loyal which just makes them incredible villains! Loved that Sabine came back, she’d never leave them when they needed her and Kallus was exceptional, so happy he’s finally with them for good.

[@Thundertron5]

Despite what you said, this isnt a rebel win. They lost, badly. They got decimated. Dodonna's forces were basically completely wiped out, Jun Sato is killed and Phoenix Nest is destroyed, only 3 cruisers survived out of 2 rebel fleets alongside the Ghost and a few A-Wings, Chopper Base was lost which is a big loss and the attack on Lothal was stalled. Vader may have destroyed a Squadron and the command ship but thats all. Sure, it was a major loss then because they had less then, but compared to this battle it was a fairly minor loss. These episode does show that when it comes to the Force, Thrawn is outmarched. Hera, Jun Sato and Jan Dodonna are all great tacticians but Thrawns played past them all but, like you said, he cant play or predict the force. A great and brutal finale.

[@benspiller]

Yeah in retrospect this loss was devastating but I think the way it centres around the Ghost Crew makes me look at it better since all of them were fine, but the larger Rebellion definitely has a lot of rebuilding to do. So glad to see that Thrawn is powerless against the Force, someone who seems to be so unstoppable all this time and is always in control, yet to be rendered helpless in the face of something he can’t understand.