Saw Gerrera’s extremist tactics for fighting the Empire will collide with the Ezra’s Jedi conscience in the final episodes of the third season of Star Wars Rebels. Upon being confronted with Saw’s violent extremism, young Ezra Bridger says dismissively, “You’re not better than the Empire,” as a sad Hera looks on. But what does it have to do with the Death Star?
Just after the release of Rogue One in theaters Executive Producer of Rebels Dave Filoni announced that Forest Whitaker would guest star as the voice of a younger Saw Gerrera in the episode “Ghosts of Geonosis.” Because Rebels takes place a few years before Rogue One, this episode (and possible others) will presumably depict exactly how and why Saw Gerrera broke from the mainstream faction of the Rebel Alliance.
The episode takes place on the planet Geonosis, and the trailer seems to depict at least one resident of that planet, an insect-like Geonosian. This means it’s a good bet Saw is hot on the trail of the original Death Star plans. In Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Count Dooku was given a rudimentary version of the Death Star plans by the Geonosian known as Poggle the Lesser, who is definitely no one’s favorite Star Wars character. Still, it looks like Poggle is totally in the trailer for Rebels, drawing a picture of the Death Star in the sand.
LEFT: Poggle in 'Attack of the Clones.' CENTER; The Death Star Plans. RIGHT: Poggle drawing a Death Star in the sand.
Chronologically, Poggle handing Dooku the plans in Attack of the Clones marks the “first” appearance of the Death Star in any Star Wars story, a fact the novel Catalyst attempted to reconcile with the backstory of Rogue One. Now, this episode of Rebels will further fill out that backstory by showing what these events look like from Saw’s perspective.
Because Ezra has been flirting with extremism and the Dark side of the Force this season, it will be interesting to see how his feelings about Saw play out in the end.
Watch the newest trailer (intercut with Rogue One footage) right here. Rebels returns to Disney XD on January 7.
