“Relics of the Old Republic” ‘Star Wars Rebels’ S2E3 Recap/Review

“Relics of the Old Republic” followed up the previous episode’s reintroduction of the clones by bringing back another fan favorite element from the Star Wars universe! This time it was the AT-AT walkers!

Recap

The episode opens the day after the events in “The Lost Commanders,” with the crew of the Ghost preparing to flee the Seelos System. Behind the clone’s tank a massive dust storm approaches and it doesn’t look like they will be able to get off-world before it hits. While Sabine works quickly to repair the Phantom, Rex gives Ezra a chip with the location of every possible hideout the rebels could use. He accepts it, but tries to convince the clones to come with them. They all refuse, not wanting to get involved with another war at their age.

Up in space, Hera is still trying to repair the Ghost, when an Imperial Star Destroyer emerges from hyperspace in front of her. She quickly warns the others and tells them she will pick them up as soon as she finishes her repairs. She then shuts down all electronic equipment to avoid detection, including Chopper. She watches silently as four TIE fighters emerge and head to the planet below.

Below, the clones receive a transmission from the Empire. Rex tells Wolffe to answer the message, since it was he who sent the message that brought them there. The transmission is from Agent Kallus, requesting their coordinates so he can investigate Wolffe’s reported Jedi sighting. Wolffe tries to play off his report, but Kallus already saw proof from the probe droid. Rex jumps in and says they won’t give them up without a fight.

Suddenly the TIE fighters are on them. The clones fight them off, but they’re not out of the woods yet. In space Agent Kallus tells Admiral Konstantine to prepare for ground assault. They will send AT-AT walkers to take them out.

Sabine has the Phantom basically finished when the clones spot the walkers coming for them. They know they can’t fly away without being shot down, so they have to think of something else. Rex decides to turn around and they head straight into the storm. He explains that, even though the storm will blind everyone, a Jedi will still be able to see using the force.

In space Hera decides to turn Chopper back on. She thinks the Empire would have finished their initial scan and she can’t wait any longer. The Ghost needs to be repaired so they can escape. She switches Chopper back on and tells him to get back to work.

Inside the storm, the Empire is basically lost. They surround the clone’s tank, but the storm took out their scanners and no one can see through the dust. Sabine tells the crew that the walkers have one weak point, their necks. Knowing that one shot will give them away, they can’t afford to miss.

The clones turn to Kanan as their general, knowing that he’s the only one who can lead them out of the path of the walkers. Once they are surrounded, he tells Ezra to man the gun. Ezra is unsure what to do, but Kanan talks him through it. He tells him to trust himself. Ezra, focusing as hard as he can, takes the shot. It’s a direct hit. As soon as the walker is down, Kanan leads them through the opening away from the other walkers.

Back on the Star Destroyer, Admiral Konstantine receives a message from Lord Vader telling them to immediately rendezvous with the shuttle. On board the Ghost, Hera watches as the star destroyer disappears into hyperspace. She says this disappearance is either really good or really bad and tells Chopper to quickly finish the last repairs.

Below, the clone’s tank emerges from the storm and Sabine finishes the repairs to the Phantom. The crew asks the clones one more time to come with them, but they refuse and say they’ll cover the crew’s escape. The Phantom takes off as the other walkers emerge from the storm.

As they make their escape the walkers attack the clones. It’s obvious the clones don’t stand a chance, but they put up a great fight. Ezra tries to convince Kanan to go back, but Kanan is still wary of them. Ezra asks him what they will tell Ahsoka. He may have a problem with clones, but these men were her friends. Kanan can’t argue with him, and they turn around.

As the clones are about to be finished, the Phantom flies overhead and Kanan, Ezra, and Zeb drop onto one of the walkers, cut their way inside, and hijack it, using it to take out the other one. From the wreckage, Agent Kallus and a couple troopers escape on a speeder and flee into the desert.

Back at the star destroyer, Admiral Konstantine meets the shuttle that he assumes contains Lord Vader. Instead, a new inquisitor emerges and tells Konstantine he was sent in Lord Vader’s place. Admiral Konstantine tells him this unnecessary diversion may have cost them the mission and they need to go back for Agent Kallus. The inquisitor tells him he doesn’t care about their struggles. He will succeed where they have failed.

Back at the rebel fleet Ahsoka meets the Ghost crew expectantly, but is disappointed to see the clones are not with them. Suddenly Rex steps out from behind Zeb and greets her, telling her, “You got old.” She replies with, “Had to happen sometime, Rex,” and wraps her arms around him. She thanks Kanan for trusting her friend, even though it wasn’t easy for him. “Nothing worth doing ever is.”

Review

This episode was pretty good for the most part, but it’s one of those episodes that takes a little while before you get fully invested. It was a pretty small scale episode and the characters are in a desert so there’s not too much that can happen. My favorite episodes are ones with exotic creatures in exotic locations, and this one really wasn’t. It didn’t help that, once again, it was very clone focused.

Like I said in my last review, I was never a huge clone fan. I expected going in that this episode would be a bit slow for me. It’s hard for me to get that invested in the clones, but I am trying. I will say that the reunion between Ahsoka and Rex did touch me a little more than I expected, especially the “You got old” exchange.

I also really liked all the scenes inside the dust storm. They were really hard to see, but they were very well done. I just thought these scenes were excellently composed and worked really well.

The new inquisitor was another high point. As far as I know, this is a brand new character and I was not expecting anyone new yet. When his ship opened I actually expected this to be the new character that will be played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. I wasn’t aware of this new character, so that was a surprise to me. I will be interested to learn more about him in the next episode (including his name, which I don’t think was ever said).

All in all this was a good episode, but I’m still really looking forward to moving on to something more epic. I expect things to heat up when Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character comes on the scene, so I’m really looking forward to that. Hopefully she’ll come soon!