Where Are The ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Characters During The Original Trilogy?
It’s an unfortunate given when you do a prequel series that you have to explain where your never-before-seen characters are during the action of the main franchise. This is something theStar Wars RebelsandStar Wars: The Clone Warscreators have struggled with — and the show’s fans have worried over — as the Disney XD animated series prepares to draw to a close with its upcoming fourth season.
Spoilers forStar Wars Rebelsahead.
The easiest solution to explain the absence of vibrant, beloved characters whose adventures take place before the originalStar Warsfilms, is to kill them off. We can call this theRogue Onestrategy. But what’s the point of having a rich, expanded universe if you don’t occasionally hint at its dense mythology?
Interestingly, it isRogue Onethat reveals the fate of severalRebelscharacter after the final season. The mention of “General Syndulla” and a quick glimpse of the droid Chopper and the shipTheGhostin the first “Star WarsStory” film seemingly ensure that certain members of the cast survive the fourth and finalRebelsseason.
Hera Syndulla in particular may evenThe Last Jedi,thanks to theForces of Destinyanimated shorts designed to highlight female heroes. The shorts are consideredpart of official canonandRebelsvoice actress Vanessa Marshall is reprising her role as Hera Syndulla alongside Princess Leia in a short set during the events ofReturn of the Jedi, asEntertainment Weeklydescribes:
“Perhaps most intriguing to movie fans will be the story set on the Ewok moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi. Although plot details are under wraps, Hera Syndulla from Rebels and Princess Leia team up for an adventure with Han Solo – and lots of little furballs carrying primitive weapons.”
It’s exciting stuff. And if Hera, Chopper and the rest of theGhostcrew do make it past theRebelsseason finale, there are options for them to become fully realized on the big screen in moreStar Warsanthology films, or even to appear alongside beloved main heroes like Rey and Luke.
How Thrawn Almost Changed the Course for Rogue One
But what of the not-so-nice characters fromRebels? It turns out Grand Admiral Thrawn was a major unseen force inRogue One, with the actions of the blue-skinned villain having repercussions in the live-action world.
In the third season finale ofRebels, Grand Admiral Thrawn decimated the Rebels in a devastating battle, the repercussions of which reverberated throughout the galaxy. In fact, the effects of that big battle was one of the reasons the Rebel Alliance didn’t trust Jyn Erso right away and send the Alliance to Scarif,Rebelsexecutive producer Dave Filoni said.
“You see the after effect of [Thrawn’s victory] inRogue One.They’re really hesitant to actually fight. It takes a lot to draw them out because they lost.”
The fourth and final season ofStar Wars Rebelsstarts in Fall.Rogue Oneis out now on Blu-ray.
