Why Rebels Is The Best Star Wars Series

It has become a rite of passage for Star Wars fans and critics to reassess the canon at the advent of every new production. Where does a new show or movie rank within the hierarchy? Which film's reputation has been rehabilitated, and which doesn't hold up so well? Now that The Mandalorian is well into its second season, the shape of its overall Star Wars-iness rounding into view, enthusiasts can begin a new assessment about what belongs at the top.

Recent episodes of The Mandalorian have been chock-full of the usual Star Wars elements — X-Wing fighters and Stormtroopers, Mon Calamari and Tusken Raiders. But they have also featured very specific elements from various Star Wars animated series, including Rebels, which ran for four seasons from 2014 to 2018 and remains a huge fan favorite. The Mandalorian leader Bo-Katan, Anakin Skywalker's padawan Ahsoka Tano, and even the giant Krykna Spiders that menaced Ezra Bridger and company at their base on Atollon have all made appearances. This isn't surprising, given that Dave Filioni, the creative vision behind Rebels, is also an executive producer and director on The Mandalorian. And of course every version of Star Wars references some other version. But perhaps Filoni is also drawing on his own show as a way of suggesting what we argue here: that Rebels is not only the best Star Wars show but one of the best expressions of Star Wars so far.

The original trilogy gave the world an indelible heroine in Princess Leia Organa, though many have pointed out that the female presence in the first three movies is otherwise negligible. Two decades later, the prequels arguably regressed, featuring only one female character of note — Padme Amidala — who is mostly relegated to the sidelines and who succumbs to one of the most inexplicable deaths in movie history. The sequels feature diversifying representation, particularly The Last Jedi. Despite criticism of the later trilogy, most fans praise Rey as an excellent lead.

But Rebels is the high water mark for both the movies and the TV shows. Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren are complex, independent, fierce, funny, skilled female warriors who exist far beyond their connection to the male characters (Hera and the Jedi Kanan Jarrus are in a relationship, but it is rarely mentioned). Beyond the two leads, the show populates an entire female universe, including villains such as the malevolent Seventh Sister Inquisitor and the ruthless Imperial Governor Pryce. The show also centers a number of episodes on Sabine's fellow Mandalorian women — her mother and sister, the bounty hunter Ketsu Onyo, and the Mandalorian leader Bo-Katan. And there are crossover appearances from other Star Wars series. The popular Jedi Ahsoka Tano continues her role from The Clone Wars, while Mon Mothma of Rogue One and Return of the Jedi returns as a rebel leader. Even young Princess Leia makes an appearance.

The spaceships are the glue that holds Star Wars together, whooshing heroes and villains across hyperspace and lighting up the empty expanses like a galactic Main Street Electrical Parade. The most prominent ship in Rebels is the popular Ghost, home to our main cast, along with its detachable Mini-Me, the Phantom. As the Ghost joins forces with the fledgling Rebel Alliance, the classic Rebel fighters show up — X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings, Corellian corvettes, anything that ever sold a million Lego sets. There's even an entire episode devoted to the birth of the B-Wing from Return of the Jedi, with Hera taming the prototype like some kind of willful winged beast.

Rebels features the Imperial favorites as well, including the ubiquitous Imperial Star Destroyer and early versions of AT-AT and AT-ST walkers. But the show tops itself with its TIE fighter bounty. Everybody loves TIE fighters, which is why Star Wars has created so many versions over the years. Rebels features many of the classic TIEs from previous Star Wars entries, including the standard TIE, the Interceptor, the Bomber, and Darth Vader's specialized fighter. Rebels adds a couple of sublime new entries to the TIE fleet with the TIE Advanced Prototype — the wing-folding baddie piloted by the Inquisitors – and the yellow-winged Mining Guild TIE. The series also showcases the six-winged TIE Defender. Last but not least is Sabine's personally decorated TIE, decked out like something you'd find at a Berkley art walk.

Each of the Star Wars trilogies feature Force- and Jedi-focused narratives, while the stand-alone entries, Rogue One and Solo, tell stories from mostly Jedi-free corners of the Star Wars universe. Having to focus on one or the other can be a limitation of a feature film, but a series — especially one that runs for 75 episodes as Rebels did — has the freedom to explore stories across the saga spectrum. The effect of this is narrative balance. The show can delve deeply into Jedi lore and then just cut away to Sabine paint-bombing something if things get too supernatural.

The lore in Rebels centers around Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, who adopts the Force-sensitive orphan Ezra Bridger and then takes it upon himself to train the boy. This is a somewhat treacherous undertaking because Kanan has never attained the rank of Jedi Master. For further guidance, the two make several pilgrimages to the Jedi Temple on Lothal, which sits above a natural wellspring of Force energy. Using the temple as a narrative conduit, the show dramatizes Dark Side showdowns and spiritual revelations for the Jedi heroes, as well as encounters with famous Jedi such as Yoda. It imagines new manifestations of Jedi mysticism as well, including ancient archaeological treasures, portals to astral planes, and giant Force-sensitive Loth-wolves. At times, the mystical menagerie verges on a psychedelic freak-out, but the deft storytelling keeps even the most out-there elements rooted in Star Wars mythology.

As with its fellow series, The Clone Wars, the ship-to-ship combat in Rebels is fast-paced, inventive, and so well-animated that it's almost photo-realistic at times, with laser flurries, tremendous explosions, and blazing hyperspace jumps popping against the inky, black background of space. (In one incredible moment, Hera jumps the Ghost to hyperspace through an Imperial docking bay, obliterating it as she escapes the system.) The Ghost and the Phantom take on TIE fighters and Star Destroyers in balletic displays, especially as they regularly get past the Imperial blockade around Ezra's home world of Lothal, which they attempt to liberate from the Empire. As the Rebel Alliance adds ships to its fleet over the series, the battles become more immense. The show makes stellar use of not only TIE fighters but also the A-Wing fighter, prominently featured in both Return of the Jedi — in the galaxy's most famous kamikaze moment — and The Last Jedi.

As with the best of the saga, Rebels also stages tense and exciting ground battles, with our heroes going up against early versions of the AT-AT walkers and AT-ST scout walkers made famous in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Taking yet another cue from Return of the Jedi, the show also heavily features exciting speeder bike action. But Rebels doesn't just repeat these moments from other Star Wars entries. It uses them as a jumping-off point for high-stakes scenarios within its own original storytelling.

One of the reasons why Rebels is so compelling is that the storytelling grew along with its young audience over the four seasons. The show has always given adult viewers plenty to enjoy, from the exciting action and gorgeous visuals to the Easter eggs and classic characters. But season 1 especially, with its 14-year-old protagonist, is aimed at kids. The earlier episodes feature more silly moments with aliens and droids, and the stakes and consequences are lower. Imperial Stormtroopers can never hit anything, so the heroes rarely seem to be in danger.

But the series deepens and darkens. Each protagonist has lost something dear to them, and their grief is explored more intensely as the story progresses. And as the Rebel Alliance evolves to become more of a threat to the Empire, the danger to the good guys becomes more palpable. More characters are killed in battle, and the final season includes (spoilers) the torture of one beloved main character and the death of another. These storytelling choices make sense. If viewers at the start of the show's run are Ezra's age or a little younger, then by the time they became older teenagers, not only are they equipped to handle more serious themes, but they seek them out as part of their own development. The maturation of Rebels is one reason why it is so emotionally resonant and satisfying — and why it remains the best Star Wars series.