Warning: major spoilers ahead for the Star Wars Rebels series finale.
Star Wars Rebels has officially come to an end after four seasons on Disney XD, and the finale was an intense three-part affair that brought the story of Rebels to a largely definitive end. Most of the characters' storylines were brought to a conclusion by the end, and some big and/or burning questions were finally answered before the final credits rolled. Read on for a rundown of how Star Wars Rebels managed to answer significant questions in its grand finale!
What Happened To The Ghost Crew?
Fans of Star Wars Rebels have been wondering from the very beginning of the series what exactly happened to the Ghost crew that they don't appear in the original trilogy. The two Jedi were especially problematic, given that Luke was touted as "the last of the Jedi" by Yoda in Return of the Jedi. Luckily, the Rebels finale revealed what happened to the Ghost crew immediately after the successful liberation of Lothal all the way to the aftermath of the Battle of Endor. They all survived, although Ezra's whereabouts are currently unknown. Sabine intends to find him after he was traveled through hyperspace by mysterious space creatures. Zeb took Kallus back to Lira San. For her part, Hera survived the Battle of Endor, and she wasn't alone in the Ghost after the battle was done. Unbeknownst to the audience (and probably Kanan himself), Hera apparently had a bun in the oven when Kanan died, and she's the proud mom of young Jacen Syndulla.
Where Was Thrawn In The Original Trilogy?
Grand Admiral Thrawn was a huge character from the Star Wars Expanded Universe before the canon reset when Disney took charge of the franchise, and he was the major villain for Star Wars Rebels Seasons 3 and 4. It seemed unlikely that Rebels would kill such a legendary character off, but he was notably absent from the original trilogy, leading to the question of where he was if he was still alive. According to the Rebels series finale, he was zapped off through hyperspace with Ezra to an unknown location. He was alive at the time of his exit from the series, so he could very well still be alive as of the end of Return of the Jedi. Thrawn could return in Star Wars stories set after Rebels, which is very good news for fans of his character.
Who Lives And Who Dies?
Star Wars Rebels held off on killing any major characters for the majority of the series, but the death of Kanan and the absence of most of the characters from post-Rebels canon meant that fans couldn't take anybody's survival for granted aside from Hera and Chopper. Well, the good news is that the rest of the Ghost crew survived the finale. There were some deaths, however, including none other than Rukh, which is proof that Thrawn's destiny in current Star Wars canon will be very different from his story in the Expanded Universe. Pryce died as well, along with a whole bunch of Imperials who were blown up, shot, and/or shredded by wolves. Among the rebels, the clone trooper Gregor died.
Could A Happy Ending Actually Happen?
Just as it seemed Kanan at least wouldn't be able to survive the end of Rebels because of the original trilogy, the opening crawl of A New Hope seemed to require Star Wars Rebels to end on a tragic note. If the theft of the Death Star plans was the Rebel Alliance's first victory, surely the Ghost crew couldn't successfully liberate Lothal, right? Well, the finale found a way around the A New Hope opening crawl without ending on a tragedy. The Ghost crew and their friends successfully liberated Lothal, but they did so without the help of the Rebel Alliance, and Zeb explicitly said that they didn't want the Alliance's help in holding Lothal if the Empire was to return. While the rebels of Rebels scored a major victory, the Rebel Alliance did not, and so the A New Hope continuity was preserved.
Where Were The TIE Defenders?
The TIE Defenders introduced by Star Wars Rebels were a formidable threat that seemed like they could have absolutely put an end to the Rebel Alliance in the original trilogy, and Rebels indicated that the Emperor was on board with Thrawn's plan to manufacture Defenders. The explosion of the fuel on Lothal put production of the Defenders on pause, and Thrawn's disappearance at the end of the series finale almost certainly meant that the Empire stopped working on the Defender project altogether. In a way, Ezra taking Thrawn away to whereabouts unknown may have saved the entire rebellion in the original trilogy. The two Death Stars were huge, expensive, took a long time to construct, and were pretty impractical, given how the good guys managed to blow up two of them. Hundreds of thousands of TIE Defenders could have taken out the rebellion very early on.
Were Kanan And Hera Hooking Up?
Okay, this question isn't exactly one that will have a huge impact on the entire Star Wars franchise, but Kanan and Hera's romance was as mysterious as it was adorable for the majority of the series, and fans have wondered for years now just what they were to each other. They obviously loved each other very much, and Kanan's death obviously changed Hera in some lasting ways. Still, it was never clear if they were actually hooking up during the run of the show. Hera was always focused on the rebellion, and Kanan was raised to be celibate, so it was possible that they were staying mostly hands-off until the war would end. Well, the series finale seemingly answered this question in a big way with the reveal that Hera was the mother to a child who looked exactly the right age for Hera to have gotten pregnant shortly before Kanan died. It's not like she would have had a child that age with anybody else, and he did have green hair, even if he didn't look all that much like a half-Twi'lek. Kanan and Hera were pretty much married anyway, right?
What Was Up With The Purrgil?
Back in Season 2, the Ghost crew took a pretty bizarre detour to a remote corner of the galaxy to steal fuel that was meant to be delivered to the Emperor. They encountered a whole bunch of purrgil, which were basically space whales that could travel through hyperspace. Purrgil are some of the oddest creatures introduced in Star Wars canon, and Ezra formed a deep connection with them. Viewers had to wonder why there was so much focus on the purrgil during that episode when they never came back. The series finale answered the question of their relevance by bringing them back in a big way as part of Ezra's plan to liberate Lothal. He found a way to summon what appeared to be hundreds of purrgil to the atmosphere of Lothal through hyperspace, and they proceeded to destroy the Imperial blockade. They also jumped Ezra and Thrawn away to hyperspace. The purrgil were hugely relevant to the climax of the entire series.
The end of Star Wars Rebels is a bummer for those of us who have gotten used to weekly doses of Star Wars action on the small screen, but this isn't the end of Star Wars TV forever. A live-action series is in the works, and more could be on the way in addition to the movies. Check out our picks for Star Wars Rebels characters that need to appear in the movies and Star Wars shows that need to rise up now that Rebels is done. For your other viewing options, take a look at our midseason TV premiere guide and 2018 Netflix premiere guide.
