“Brothers of the Broken Horn” ‘Star Wars Rebels’ S2E5 Recap/Review

Star Wars Rebels toys with nostalgia once more, this time bringing back a prominent recurring character from Star Wars The Clone Wars.

Review

We open on the planet Garel, where Captain Rex is giving Ezra blaster lessons when they are interrupted by Kanan, who wants Ezra to come with him for Jedi training. With his two mentors disagreeing about whether he is a soldier or a Jedi, Ezra wonders whether he even wants to be either. Suddenly the group is interrupted by Sabine, who informs them that Hera has called a meeting, and attendance is mandatory.

Inside they gather around a table where Commander Sato, communicating via hologram, informs them that a small ice planet called Rinn, is experiencing an energy crisis. Their supply of generators is dwindling, and if they don’t receive a new shipment soon, the people living in the settlements there will freeze to death. He tasks the Ghost crew with finding a new supply of generators, and delivering them to Rinn.

As the crew all prepare to leave and search the markets on Garel, Hera stops Ezra and reminds him that she asked him to clean the Ghost. Ezra protests, as he had blaster, and Jedi practice, but Hera won’t have it, and tells him to stay behind. When Chopper laughs at his plight, she leaves him there as well.

As they clean, Ezra voices his frustration, and tells Chopper that he kind of misses the old days, when there wasn’t so much to do, when everything was simpler. Suddenly they intercept a distress signal from the Broken Horn, the ship of the smuggler, Vizago. Ezra tells Chopper that he owes Vizago a favor, and if he comes to his aid, this could make them even. Besides, Kanan taught him to always help those in need, so he really has no choice but to go. The two jump into the Phantom, and take off for the Broken Horn.

Out in space they try to make contact with Vizago, but there is no answer. The two board the ship to look for him, but are soon separated. Inside the maze of the ship, Ezra runs into a group of Vizago’s droids that have been shut down, and Chopper finds a cache of power generators of the exact model that Commander Sato told them to find for Rinn. When Ezra gets to the cockpit, he finds not, Vizago, but the pirate, Hondo Ohnaka, who tells him that he won the ship from Vizago in a game of Sabacc.

When Hondo asks who he is, Ezra tells him that he is Lando Calrissian. As Lando is “semi-famous” as Hondo puts it, he is excited to finally meet him. Though he is a bit younger then he’d imagined. He invites Ezra to join him, as he has lost his entire crew to the empire. Ezra politely declines, and asks where his droid is, but they are suddenly interrupted by and Imperial ship, which opens fire on them for breeching an Imperial checkpoint.

The Broken Horn’s power is down, and it is currently unable to make a jump to hyperspace, so Ezra jumps into action to try to get it running again, while Hondo tries to talk to the Imperial ship and stall for time. Just as Ezra gets the power going again, Chopper bursts into the room and programs the computer just in time to make the jump.

In hyperspace, Hondo once again propositions Ezra, this time asking him to help him with just one job, smuggling the generators that Chopper found earlier. Ezra agrees, but only if Hondo give’s him, two of the crates of generators, and half of the profit from a third. Hondo agrees, but as he congratulates Ezra for his bargaining skills, Ezra palms the controller for Vizago’s depowered droids, which he slips to Chopper.

When they arrive at the base where the deal is going down, Ezra tells Chopper to stay behind, just in case there is any trouble. Chopper keeps one of the crates with him, while Hondo and Ezra go on ahead. As they enter the bay, Ezra asks Hondo who the buyer is. Suddenly the door slams behind them, and the buyer steps out, revealing himself to be Azmorigan, the criminal who, some time ago, had been thoroughly defeated by the Ghost crew after he’d been tricked into buying Hera from the real Lando Calrissian.

As Azmorigan demands to know where Vizago was, Ezra closes the mask on his helmet, knowing that if he doesn’t, he would be recognized immediately. Hondo tries to calm Azmorigan down, telling him that Vizago was temporarily indisposed, so he would be conducting his business in his absence. Azmorigan laughs in his face, and tells him that he does not conduct business with washed up old relics. He motions to his crew, who draw their weapons, and surround Hondo and Ezra. As they are being pushed forward, Ezra activates him com, and pretends to get angry at Hondo for getting them captured, alerting Chopper, who jumps into action.

As Azmorigan’s crew shoves them onto a loading dolly, he tells them that there is a bounty on Hondo’s head, so he’ll be taking the generators, and collecting the bounty. Before he kills them, by launching them from the dolly into space, he demands to know who Hondo’s associate is, and one of his crew pulls off Ezra’s helmet. Azmorigan recognizes him immediately, as Hondo introduces him as Lando Calrissian. Azmorigan tells him that no, this is not Calrissian, this is just a guy who robbed him.

Bursting with evil glee, he tells them that now, not only does he get to collect the bounty on Hondo, he gets to have his revenge on Ezra, and keep the five generators from Vizago! Just then he notices that there are only four crates there, and demands to know where the fifth crate is. Hondo tells him that the droid had the fifth crate, just as the bay doors burst open and Chopper comes screaming into the room pushing the crate at top speed, plowing down Azmorigan’s men left and right.

As Chopper wreaks havoc in the bay, grabbing guns and shooting the place up, he get’s Ezra’s blaster back for him, and Ezra uses it to free himself and Hondo. As Chopper chases down Azmorigan, Azmorigan loses hold of his money, which lands in Hondo’s arms, just as a malfunctioning dolly launches him into space. Thinking quickly Ezra uses the Force and grabs Hondo, just before he is flung through the bay door.

In the chaos, Azmorigan is able to get to his ship, and escape. As he flies away, Hondo laughs at Ezra and asks him why he didn’t tell him he was a Jedi. He tells him that he is an old Jedi sympathizer. Ezra tells him that he’s not really a Jedi yet, and Hondo excitedly suggests that he should be a pirate Jedi. He still thinks that they would make an excellent team.

Back on the Broken Horn, headed back to Garel, Hondo tries to sweeten the deal, telling him that if he joins him, he’ll even split the profits from this botched deal with him, since he got all of Azmorigan’s money. Ezra thinks about it for awhile, and tells him that all he really wants are the six generators. Hondo is ecstatic. Ezra gets the generators, and he gets Ezra for his crew!

To celebrate, he tells Chopper to go get drinks for them from the galley. Ezra offers to go with him, and as they walk he tells Chopper he doesn’t know what just happened. Did he just join Hondo’s crew? He doesn’t really want to leave the Ghost, but maybe he would make a good pirate. At least the inquisitors wouldn’t hunt him if he were a pirate. As they pass a door, they hear a clanging sound behind it and go to investigate. Inside they find Vizago, locked in the brig! Hondo had been lying this whole time!

Vizago tells him that he has to help him reclaim his ship. Ezra still owes him a favor, if he helps him, they’ll be even. Ezra tells Chopper to load the generators onto the Phantom, while he helps Vizago. The two of them go back to the cockpit where Hondo is furious that he let Vizago out. As Ezra tries to convince Hondo to share Azmorigan’s money with Vizago, Vizago secretly takes back the droid controller that Ezra took from Hondo.

Hondo tells Ezra that yes, his deal is a fair one, but it disgusts him. Vizago agrees and activates his droids, which march into the cockpit, while he tries to back out. As the droids attack them both, Hondo manages to shoot one, which falls over backward onto Vizago. As they fight off the other droids, the Broken Horn comes out of hyperspace over Garel, and as Ezra dispatches the last one, Hondo congratulates him and slips down a hatch, telling Ezra that he’ll invest his share of the money wisely.

As Visago gets free of the droid, he sends more into the cockpit, telling them to keep Ezra busy. Ezra manages to use the Force to get back the droid controller from Vizago, but a stray blaster shot from one of the droids causes him to lose it again. When Ezra finally manages to get it back and shut down the droids, he gets a distress call from Chopper, Hondo is stealing the Phantom!

As he runs down the corridor he collides with Visago who is furious that Hondo now has All the Generators, and the credits. He loads Ezra and chopper into an escape pod, and launches them back to Garel, saying, “I hate children.” As they fly back toward the planet, Ezra wonders how they are going to explain all this to the Ghost crew. Chopper beeps suspiciously and Ezra asks, “What do you mean you know where Hondo will be?”

When the get back to the Ghost, they can hear Hondo’s nervous laughter inside. He is trying to tell them what happened, painting himself and Ezra as great heroes, rescuing the generators from the evil Visago. They go inside and interrupt him telling the crew that what he said is not true. He stole everything including the Phantom; chopper had set it on autopilot, telling the Phantom to return to the Ghost. “Well, that’s another version of the story, I suppose,” Hondo tells him. Then he says he’ll just let them keep the generators, they are his gift to them.

As Hondo leaves Ezra tells him that he really was thinking about joining him before. Hondo laughs and tells him that he really is a Jedi. As the crew watch him leave, Hera tells Rex to contact Commander Sato, and tell him that Ezra Bridger found his generators. Kanan asks Ezra what he was thinking. Ezra tells him that he used to be like Hondo, only looking out for himself, alone. But that’s not who he is anymore, he has his friends now.

Review

Brothers of the Broken Horn was a great episode. It was great to see so many familiar faces, and have so many great callbacks, not just to earlier episodes of Rebels, but to The Clone Wars as well. Hondo was always such a great character in The Clone Wars, and funny too, so it was nice to get a little humor injected into an episode, when there’s usually not that much humorous going on. In fact, I think I might actually make a favorite quotes section for this review, a section I usually reserve for episodes of shows that are specifically comedies. And of course, those favorite quotes are all Hondo quotes.

Favorite (Hondo) Quotes

“I once was a captain you know. Oh, the stories I could tell; so many of them true…”

“The way you strike a bargain, you remind me of a great pirate I know. Me! Ha!”

Hondo: “Ah! Vizago is indisposed, uh, so to speak, granting me, the privilege of conducting business with you, oh legendary one. Hondo Ohnaka, at your service.”
Azmorigan: “Is this a joke? I don’t deal with washed up, old relics!”
Hondo: “Come now, let’s leave your wife out of this, there is no need for such impropriety among thieves!”

“You lied to me? I knew I liked you!”

“Ha ha! I’m rich! *pause* “I’m dead!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a Jedi? You know, I am an old Jedi sympathizer. I know, I wouldn’t believe me either, but one of my best friends was a Jedi. I’m pretty sure we were friends.”

“Let us celebrate! Droid, droid! Go to the galley, and bring me the most expensive drink you can! And something for my friend.”

*Overdramatically* “>GASP!< What an accusation! You wound me!”

Azmorigan was great too, in a completely different, disgusting way. His design, and just everything about him is gross, and I love to hate him. Plus it’s always fun to hear James Hong voice another character. He is never, not great in everything he does.

Chopper got an awesome moment in the spotlight in this episode too, it was great to see him kick into high gear, zooming all over the bay, brandishing blasters, shooting up everything in sight. That could have been, quite possibly, Chopper’s finest moment.

Final Thoughts

This was a great episode. After (In my own opinion) too much focus on the clones, and the rather dark episode previous, it was nice to get something completely different. I loved the callbacks to The Clone Wars, and the reappearance of old characters. Let’s hope they keep this up.

What did you think of this episode? How do you feel about the callbacks?