The Star Wars franchise has become an ever expanding place in the past few years. Between the main film installments, standalone films, and animated series Star Wars Rebels, the mythos of the space opera is continuing to be fleshed out. Star Wars Rebels takes place in between the prequel trilogy and A New Hope, and the newest episode took some major steps toward catching up to Luke's first adventure in a galaxy far, far away. For fans who have been watching the show for three seasons, this was a major payoff they had been eagerly anticipating.
Last night's episode of Star Wars Rebels, titled "Secret Cargo" focused heavily on Mon Mothma, who diehard fans will know best from her line or two in Return of the Jedi. The character was expanded in Rogue One as well, showing the former Galactic Senator leading the early stages of The Rebellion. And Rebels revealed just how important Mon Mothma was before the events of Rogue One.
During "Secret Cargo" we saw Mon Mothma abandon the new form of the Senate, quickly realizing that it was never going to function the way it did before Palpatine took executive power. But even more important that that, Mothma declared an open rebellion against The Empire. Considering her status as a government official, this is a massive move that surely helped inspire many to join the Rebel alliance. Additionally, she seems to be the first person to say the word "Alliance", meaning she may have actually named the movement herself.
This moment was pretty big for fans of Star Wars Rebels. The whole concept of the series is to show how The Rebel Alliance was formed (hence the name). So to see such a big moment for the Star Wars canon was extremely satisfying. And considering how much attention that time frame received through the massively successful Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Rebels has the ability to accrue new viewers who loved the standalone film. This is likely why characters like Saw Gerrera and Mon Mothma have been featured so much as of late; it's a perfect tie in for Rogue One that will encourage fresh audiences to start watching the show.
It should be interesting to see where Star Wars Rebels goes from here. The animated series was recently renewed for a fourth season, meaning that the scrappy group of young Rebels will continue their adventures for another year. But with the timeline quickly approaching the events of A New Hope, how long could the Rebels actually run for? Will they eventually end the series with A New Hope, or bring the group into the events of the original trilogy? Seeing another perspective on Luke's journey would definitely be cool, and it would flesh out the tertiary characters who fought alongside our heroes.
Star Wars Rebels airs Disney XD.
