Friday in Review: Star Wars Rebels

So, I've been a fan of Star Wars for like ever. In my family, you just kind of grow up knowing how Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are. My little brothers watched the original trilogy when they were like five and six! I also watched Disney's TV show, The Clone Wars and have been watching Star Wars Rebels since it first came on. But now, Star Wars Rebels is coming to a close which is so sad cuz I think Disney does a fantastic job broadening the Star Wars universe in their shows. I feel like I know so much more about the world and the characters from those shows, than I ever did from the movies. They have so much more creative licence and it's also cool how everything that is introduced in the shows is totally cannon. It effects what they do in the movies. Anyways, in honor of Star Wars Rebels ending in just like a week or so, I think I would share some of my favorite, and in my opinion, best characters in the Star Wars universe.

Just so you know, I am a fan of the prequels. That always gets me a lot of weird looks when I mention that cuz everyone hates the prequels. I'm not going to say they were amazingly written or acted, but I will say, the characters, at their core, were compelling and complex. Especially, Anakin. I don't care what you say, his character arc and character himself had depth and was unique among the light vs. dark, black and white, good vs. evil theme of the Star Wars universe. Plus, after watching The Clone Wars (that did a better job portraying his character and making him more likable), he is by far one of my most favorite characters. And yes, I am a fan of Jar Jar. I don't understand the hate people have for him.

Anyways, so here are some of my favorite Star Wars characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels:

• Anakin Skywalker: Like I said, he's one of my favorite Star Wars characters. Mostly because he had a really great negative character arc and I love my negative character arcs and antiheroes. In the Clone Wars, he also just has a really great personality. A rebellious streak and cockiness that is fun to watch. 
  
• Ahsoka Tano: I love how Ahsoka has become this beloved character in the Star Wars universe. If you watched The Clone Wars, I can guarantee you ended up watching it mostly because of her. I think giving Anakin a padawan was the smartest thing the writers ever did. Ahsoka just has this great, snippy personality and I really loved the bond she had with Anakin. Even though it was sad, I did kind of like how she left the Jedi Order at the end of season five. I feel like, in the shows, they do so much more than just the cliche light vs. dark. Jedi vs. Sith. They really get to blur the lines and show people a different perspective on both the Jedi order and the Siths. Ahsoka left, which was really fresh and original and I feel like it would have been uncharacteristic of her to stay. She needed to learn how to trust herself and be who she is without the Jedi Order. She had to learn how to be a "Jedi master" in a way, without her master there to guide her hold her hand, which I think is a cool theme within both The Clone Wars and now in Star Wars Rebels. I was so excited when she came in Star Wars Rebels all grown up and wise! 
  
  
  
  
• Sabine Wren: She's from Star Wars Rebels. I've always loved the Mandalorians, ever since watching The Clone Wars. Maybe it's their armor and how awesome they look in it, or the cool jet-packs and guns they have, or just how the writers set up their society. They did a lot of world-building for the Mandalorians in Clone Wars and I really enjoyed getting to know their society, their laws and codes of honor. Plus, Sabine is an artist and loves blowing stuff up and her armor is so stylish and cool and her hair is always different colors. She's just really awesome and spunky.  
  
• Kanan Jarris: I liked Kannan from the start. Again, in the shows, the writers get to do more than just your either a Jedi or your not. Kannan, technically, is a Jedi, but the Jedi Order died when he was younger and he became a rebel. He respected a lot of the traditions of the Jedi Order, but he also did his own thing. The rules of the Order didn't tie him down, like the fact that Jedi weren't allowed to marry or fall in love (you know what I'm talking about if you've watched season 4). I wish we could have had more backstory on him and had some flashbacks because his life before Ezra, seems so interesting. Hera has mentioned his past several times, how they first met and stuff, and it would have been cool to see how they did meet and how Kannan ended up with the crew that he starts out with on Rebels. I also liked how he learned more about himself and how to be a Jedi, through teaching Ezra. It was like they were teaching each other and learning together at the same time. 
  
• Ezra Bridger: Again, I really liked Ezra from the beginning, which I think shows how good the writers of these shows are. As I rewatch from season 1, I realize that he had the potential to become a Sith. If he had been picked up by someone other than Kannan, he would have been pulled to the Dark Side because of his past of growing up on the streets and the anger and fear inside of him. But Kannan found him first and Ezra has gone from cocky padawan to a true leader. A Jedi. I loved Ahsoka and Anakin, but I kind of liked having Ezra and Kannan as master and padawan. It just felt really right and balanced. Having a "nobody" kid who is picked up by a Jedi and trained, it felt like they were getting back to the roots of where Star Wars began with Luke Skywalker. In this latest season, despite being upset about the thing that happened that I won't say because I don't want to spoil it, I think it was for the best. It's a lot like how Ahsoka had to leave her master to become a person of her own and make her own decisions. To become the type of person she was meant to become. Like her, Ezra was at that time when he was old enough to sort of "leave the nest" or learn how to stand on his own two feet as a Jedi and leader and young man without Kannan there to guide or hold his hand. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Hera Syndulla: She is such a lovable character in Rebels. I probably should have realized this sooner, but its cool how like in the Star Wars universe there are stereotypes and how within that universe, the writers try to break them. Like she's twi'lek and in most of the movies and other areas of the Star Wars universe twi'leks, especially females, are seen in skimpy clothes hanging around Jaba the Hutt and bars and stuff. They're more like objects to people than anything else because their pretty. But Hera is nothing like that. She wears baggy, yet stylish, clothes, is fierce and strong and one of the best pilots in the Star Wars universe. I would even say she rivals Anakin's flying. She's like the mom of the Rebel group, keeping everyone in check and on mission Plus, her and Kannan are just so sweet and perfect together. It's adorable. 
  
  
• Asaj Ventress: Here's my list of favorite bad guys I guess. I liked Ventress from the beginning. She had a really cool look and she was just a really great bad guy. Her story and character arc through the Clone Wars was really cool too! Like she never truly turned to the light side, but she also didn't stay in the dark side. She was looking out for herself by the end of the series and even became a sort of ally to Ahsoka. The writers were smart and even gave her a few episodes just to her character arc and her story, which I think is really cool and made her a more likable character.   
  
• Darth Maul: He didn't really say a lot in the movies, but again... he looked really cool and was just a really good bad guy. I liked how they made more time to develop his character in Clone Wars. Seriously the guy just doesn't die. You can cut him in half and he'll somehow find a way to stay alive. It was really cool though, when they explored his home planet and the culture he grew up in and it gave his character more depth. 
  
• Cad Bane: I had to add him because even though he isn't in Clone Wars a ton, he's still pretty cool. He's a bounty hunter and has got rocket boots and a cool hat and voice and that's about all I can say about him. I guess when it comes to bad guys I swing one way or the other. Either I love them for a really deep reason like character arc and depth and complexity, or I just think they look cool. 
  

So yeah, I guess this is more just a goodbye to a sort of era of the Star Wars universe. I hope they do continue the Star Wars TV shows and I would love to see an older Ezra and Sabine and like Ahsoka and stuff in the next series they make. But I feel like, depending on how they close this series, this might be the end of the Clone Wars/Rebels period of the Star Wars world. Which would be bittersweet, because those are the two shows that made me more than just a passive fan of Star Wars. I've really loved sharing my love for the Clone Wars with my eleven year old brother and I look forward to getting to see Ever enjoy the show too. He's the true Star Wars fan of this family, and I think it's cool to watch him grow up playing Battlefront and watching the newest Star Wars movies that comes out. But yeah, I'll missing the characters of Star Wars Rebels and I hope they make another show because I think that would be pretty cool.

Have a great weekend everyone!!