Thrawn implements his plan to take out
the rebel base on Atollon.
What I thought
Here’s what the whole of the season has
basically been building up to; Thrawn’s long-game of learning about his
opponents via acquiring history and testing them is to be rewarded by him
launching his assault to destroy the rebellion before it even begins. It’s a
two-parter but thankfully shown together or it really would have nuked any
tension there might have been. As it was we did get to see Thrawn really bring
in the heavy artillery in terms of star destroyers this episode after learning
of the rebel base’s exact location via utilising his trump card from a few
episodes ago, Kallus. Quite how everyone’s favourite special agent didn’t foresee
how much Thrawn knew about him, I’m unsure. Maybe he did? We know he took a
risk by hanging around after that incident where he had to frame the other guy
as Fulcrum, and we knew Thrawn knew it was him. Seems he was just waiting for that
next communication to get what he needed from Kallus. Poor Kallus was then
dragged around all episode by Death Troopers having suffered the indignity of a
black eye, exposure as a traitor and that single section of hair being out of
place!
It was great to see Thrawn actually show
he’d been building up to something big and taking down the rebel base. He truly
showed his hand and used everything the Empire had to throw at the Rebels.
Seems he didn’t realise he was actually not targeting the whole rebellion, so
his homework wasn’t that accurate.
There were some epic space battles as
both General Dodonna fleet and Herra’s are partially obliterated in space and
retreated back to the surface as a new Empire ship, the incidentor, blocks
hyperspace jumps. It was full epic space battle there in part 1, much like the
end of Rogue One or start of Revenge of the Sith.
The ground assault was very low-key
though, and nothing like I expected. It seemed to be only Rex and Zeb defending
the base with several smaller walkers easily taken out before the bigger AT-AT
wannabies turned up, one of which was ridiculously taken down by Kanan’s
lightsabre as if he was chopping up butter. The Rebel base has always looked
like a library as it’s so quiet and the numbers of people so few. Even with the
extra fleet hanging out there, I’m still wondering where they have all parked
up their big ships and personnel? Then there’s how quickly and simply Thrawn is
down and in the base in a nanosecond, with the main Rebel gang surrounded. Of
course, it was sadly never going to be as easy as that. However, this should
have been a much bigger pay-off for Thrawn but it came across as half-hearted.
Yes, he looked like a tactical genius and an excellent thinker but also someone
who didn’t really live up to the billing he’d had pre-season or the screen-time
he’s mustered this season.
The Bendu is another I’m unsure about
this season. We all knew he sat on the fence in terms of dark and light side,
but he was largely helpful in the first half of the season with Kanan’s issues.
Here he suddenly goes super aggressive and angry over being called a coward.
His immense storm is a seriously long time building up a head of steam and then
he seems to be super picky on taking down more Empire than Rebels despite his
supposed impartiality. If he was really angry with Kanan, why not take him out?
Hmm, slightly odd behaviour by the Bendu whom I think there’s a reasonable
chance we’ll see more of. We also got more Mandalorian action this week as Ezra
convinces them in record time to send a few people to help out. The whole
landing on a massive ship and effectively destroying it was cartoon-style ridiculous
but effective I guess.
Overall, I was disappointed with this
episode. I’d hoped throughout the season that there was a real build-up to
Thrawn proving how masterful he was, but also that he got big results. He
largely failed to really do what he set out to do, although how he could have prepared
for a force-sensitive creature getting in the way, I’m not sure. I’d have liked
Thrawn to have achieved a better result, and some meaningful sacrifices, other
than Sato, Constantine and Bendu, neither of whom had enough build-up or
meaning for us to really care about their demise. All the main cast live to
fight another season without any real losses. Sure, lots of rebels did die and
ships destroyed this episode, but we didn’t see those deaths really, nor know
who those people were. It was a solid finale but I’d have liked a lot more ruthlessness
and perhaps a twist right at the end.
Verdict 6/10 - Decent finale but not one that quite lived up to the season-long billing.
What I liked:
- Death Troopers! Great to see, although they were mute and not overly highlighted.
- Thrawn’s master plan is a real show of the Empire’s strength
- Great space battle
What I didn’t like
- The Bendu I’m struggling to totally understand his role in this season or his logic with who he targeted at the end.
- Thrawn didn’t really achieve anything significant enough, thus downplaying his whole build-up this season.
- Not enough meaningful sacrifices for a finale that was what the whole season was all about.
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| That shield they nicked off Geonosis came in handy! |
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| Poor Kallus. Paraded about all episode as a traitor. |
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| In the space of a minute, Ezra obtains their help. |
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| One man, a rebel and Zeb; the sole defenders of the rebel base it seems. |
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| Uh Oh. That's a lot of trouble! |
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| Death Troopers! Can't get enough of them. |
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Surrounded.
And he would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids, I mean Bendu.
|
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| Lightning doesn't strike twice, or on target much, even if it is Bendu. |
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| Looks somewhat picturesque but it's Bendu's demise. |
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| Classic spacesuit worn by Ezra as he and his Mandaloian pals take down a Star Destroyer; yes, really. |
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| Kallus makes his escape. |
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| Bendu has a few parting words for Thrawn |
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And the final scenes with everyone from the main gang intact and almost in hugging mode.
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