The impending return of Star Wars Rebels is closing in as fast as a T-16 Skyhopper on a womp rat. Last March’s finale for the debut season teased that Season 2 will have the Empire pulling out A-list personnel with none other than Darth Vader set to hunt down Kanan, Ezra and the Ghost crew. Based on this new clip, it’s pretty clear that it’s going to be a long, devastating season for our heroes.
In this preview clip exclusive to IGN, we see what’s clearly the disastrous culmination of the initial meeting between the Ghost crew and the super-powerful Sith Lord briefly depicted in the trailer released a few months back during Star Wars Celebration. The scene seems to pick up with the gang in full retreat mode after they quite unsuccessfully tried to throw a proverbial kitchen sink of a fiery wreck at the former fallen Jedi Chosen One. Instead, it only provided him with a new clip for his Force-honed highlight reel.
What’s immediately clear based on the footage that we’re seeing here, is that Darth Vader will be depicted as nothing less than a force of nature. Being one of the most iconic characters in history, period, there’s clearly going to be the expectation to see Vader at the height of his Sith strength. We see that he essentially swatted away any bit of offense from the Ghost gang, even sending Sabine a stinging receipt for her blaster shots. Vader isn’t even the least bit worried about their stolen shuttle escapade, seeing as he must be feeling the Force so strongly that he can actually see their next move before that move is even planned.
Rebels certainly managed to impress with its first season’s lineup of villainy, headlined by the (possibly) late Inquisitor. Likewise, Season 2 seems to have quite the array of antagonists, with Vader clearly being the most notable. Yet, in finally codifying the show as a Star Wars property with the presence of Vader, the show also adds an odd dilemma for the show’s creative forces, seeing as his fate is quite secure with the events of the films still quite a ways in the future at this point in the timeline. However, it seems that this depicted shellacking dealt to our heroes could also be an opportunity to emphasize just how seemingly hopeless the good fight appeared at this point for the still-scattered forces of the Rebellion.
Fans who followed Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be seeing quite the dramatic return on their viewing investment this season with the teased return of clone trooper favorite, Captain Rex. Plus, the addition to the team of “Fulcrum,” aka, Ahsoka Tano, the older, more tempered version of Anakin Skywalker’s former perky apprentice could lead to the most fruitful scenes of the series. A Darth Vader/Ahsoka confrontation would pretty much be THE moment fans have been waiting to see since the launch of that series back in 2008.
Star Wars Rebels gets set to make its devastatingly destructive return this Saturday, June 20 on Disney XD! It’s almost exciting enough to make you forget that we’ve also got Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens hitting theaters in just six months.
