Warning! Spoilers ahead!
This recap obviously contains major plot details for Star Wars: Rebels episode 1.09 “Path of the Jedi”, which aired Jan. 5, 2015. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
Rebels is back! You know, it’s a good thing we had the holidays to pad the wait until the show came back from its midseason hiatus. Otherwise I might’ve gone crazy. And lucky for us, it’s one of the most compelling pieces of Star Wars storytelling in quite a while. Not much makes me sit on the edge of my seat anymore but I had no idea how “Path of the Jedi” was going to play out.
As is usually the case with Rebels episodes, they lead off with some really great imagery before really diving into the main plotline. The shot above is one of these, as Kanan lands the Phantom at the base of the large stone that marks the entrance to the Jedi temple on Lothal. As a fan, this idea was very interesting to me; the fact that there are several temples around the galaxy. It seems to me that this would make a great plot point for future episodes of the series. Although it should be noted that towards the end of the episode, Kanan remarks that the temples only contain “the past”. This show, so far, has been as much about looking forward as it has been looking back.
“Path of the Jedi” delivered the action in a way that felt important and not too flashy. I was reminded of classic lightsaber duels from the original movies when we saw Kanan and the Inquisitor face off in the depths of the temple. Something that stood out to me during that fight was that the lightsabers have a very distinct, heavy glow to them that they haven’t had in previous Star Wars animation. I’m glad that the VFX team added that touch in because it makes a big difference in the on-screen presence of the sabers, especially in low-light sets.
This was one of those episodes where I made sure not to watch any of the preview clips or anything that might have spoiled it for me. Normally, I’m not too concerned with that kind of thing, except for when it comes to the mythology of Star Wars. That deserves to be kept unspoiled, in this fans opinion. So when I heard that Frank Oz would be coming back to reprise the role of Yoda, I knew that “Path of the Jedi” would be steeped in mystery and mythology.
There are the obvious comparisons to Clone Wars episodes that could be made here, but I’m sure you don’t need me to point those out. What I’m really interested to know is how much of an impact will the adventures of Kanan and Ezra have on the future of the Star Wars franchise? With Yoda having entered the picture as a guide of sorts, this early on in the show, tells me that Filoni and crew mean business for this series and the story it is going to tell.
Rebels crossed a major hurdle with this episode. Ezra now has purpose in his quest to become a Jedi and Kanan has gained more confidence in his becoming Ezra’s teacher, although I’m sure that the pair will continue to struggle with their own personal dark sides. But with Ezra finally getting his cyber crystal and constructing his lightsaber (which I love, by the way) it feels like we can wade into even more critical storytelling that moves us closer to what the cinematic future of Star Wars will be in 2015.
