Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/27/star-wars-rebels-season-three-3.html
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Bored by the Bendu? I thought it was the best part. Then again I could listen to Tom Baker read the phone book.
It was a little disjointed. It was nice to see the Gravity Well (Indatictor?) class from the old RPG. Fulcrum is now a Rebel. Other than that, yeah, not a lot was accomplished. I guess from the Empires view the Rebels were routed.
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I like Tom Baker but the Bendu advanced nothing except, perhaps, delivering a prophecy for Thrawn to fail even more. Really kinda valueless character, I don’t think Star Wars was missing MORE non-Light or Dark side attuned Force users. We seem to run into more of them than the Light/Dark type.
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The reintroduction of the Interdictor-class destroyers made me inordinately happy. For all the hand-wringing people did about Disney throwing out the extended universe, it’s been bleeding in from all over, and I love it.
Ultimately the finale does maintain the status quo for the most part, but as a side story, I don’t think they really have a whole lot of leeway to shake things up too much - none of the major imperial characters can succeed too much, the rebels can’t really strike any serious blows against the Empire, and they can’t really kill anybody important but Thrawn in the end - Tarkin and Vader both have to make it to Rogue One, which canonically is where the rebels have their first major victory. I do think they’ve done a good job of impressing just how desperately outnumbered and outgunned the rebels are, though. ANH never really illustrated just how close to faltering the Rebel Alliance was before they blew up the Death Star. Just in this episode alone they’ve lost about a dozen starfighters, a major command carrier, a veteran general, several frigates and (presumably full) troop transports, and an important base of operations. Those are heavy losses.
Bendu prophecies aside, poor Thrawn seems destined to lose simply because his subordinates can’t seem to follow his orders. There’s some serious discipline problems in the Imperial Navy.
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Let’s not also forget the lovely Dues Ex leveling the Imperial forces so the Rebel’s could escape!
Overall agreed, it seemed like the Bendu were gonna lead this season on a different angle with Ezra’s brief dabbling in dark side actions. Too bad that nothing really came of that. I will say it again, if this show has any balls (even for a younger audience) then Kannan and Ezra need to be dead or dealt with in some final way before this gets near ANH territory.
Honestly, the Bendu’s Imperial take-down felt like “the easy way out” and Hera somehow outflying the Bendu’s force wrath was also horseshit. If the Bendu wanted to zap Kannan out of the sky, it appears the Bendu is force powerful enough to do it – however not as “middle of the force” powerful as the old man who died in Clone Wars trying to keep his two Icons of the Force children mellow.
Thrawn failing to keep up the Imperial bombardment is very NOT Thrawn. Pretty much all the failures were ones he made, except the mutinous bonehead.
I keep thinking we’re going to learn there is no real light and dark side, and somehow the Force and the Chosen One just don’t wanna be bothered – much like the Bendu.
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Agreed 100%. This whole season was a great improvement on the overall narrative of the show and it all fell apart in this finale. Filoni is supposedly moving on to a different animated SW project and won’t be as involved in Rebels. Hopefully he won’t be so hamstrung there.
Except that we’ve see–many times over–that Hera is a super pilot. Also, at least one Rebel ship was destroyed on the way out. The Ghost also took a hit. So they didn’t get out unscathed.
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OK show of hands, who ships Ezra and Sabine?
I don’t. I am just asking out of blind curiosity… (whistles non-nonchalantly)
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He is on my short list of British actors who have that honor. [Michael Caine, Ian McShane, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Brian Cox…]
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He isn’t even the best voice cameo by the Doctor. That would be of course Huyang (voiced by David Tennant) A much cooler character than Force-Grey-Moose-Bear-thingy (I love the fan-wink of Huyang being around for so long that he helped young Yoda build his first saber.)
Bendu ex machina.
Meh.
But then - not really for me, is it.
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I liked it. It was a little flat but I like it. It was tough to top the ending of season 2.
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Well, Tarkin did order him to take prisoners. He could have flattened the rebels from space, but that wouldn’t be following orders, would it?
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As much as I love Tennant, Baker has something he will never have. The voice.
Fair point the character is a bit weak - but hey, you play what they give you. The performance was still solid.
I suggested to a friend he would make a kick ass GPS voice. And he sent me this:
“You dare deviate from the course, I have laid before you?! You have Chosen whatever fate befalls you!”
Also, check out how hilarious this commanding presence sounds when talking rubbish in Little Britain.
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True enough. Baker just never did anything for me as the Doctor. I was a much bigger Pertwee fan and hated that everyone claimed I had to love Baker as the ultimate “only true” Doctor. Didn’t help that my PBS station never seemed to play his serials in any kind of order.
But for this Bendu character? Baker was perfect. I wouldn’t mind some force-ghost what everness from Bendu to pop up in s4.
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THIS. The whole point was that Thrawn wanted to crush them but he was done in by greedy superiors and incompetent underlings.
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So stealing that. 
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