TFN Rebels Review: "The Protector of Concord Dawn"
If you like Mandalorians, then this episode of Star Wars Rebels is for you.
While the fledgling rebellion is searching for safe hyperspace lanes, Sabine suggests using the Concord Dawn system, which is a Mandalorian colony on the planet Concord Dawn.
Rex later says that The Concord Dawn once assisted the clones in the Clone Wars, and finally the rebels decide to go check it out.
Upon arrival, things get hairy, and it sets up more Sabine backstory, while infusing some really great western-style action.
WHAT WORKED:
This episode had a really great story. It is interesting to me to see how this rebellion survives. We have seen them gain allies, last week we saw them get new transports, and this week we see the rebels gain hyperspace lanes. Now when you see the fully formed rebellion in the original trilogy, you understand how they got to be such a formidable foe to the empire.
The stakes in this episode felt huge. Even though Hera didn't die. For a second, they really had you believing something bad had happened. It's nice to finally see the team get challenged on a real level.
The idea of Concord Dawn was something that we saw in the EU, so once again LucasFilm did a great job giving a nod to those stories. It was also great to see the story of Mandalore further explored in canon form. Fenn Rau's character, voiced by Kevin McKidd, was not only an interesting character, but he felt believable in the Star Wars universe.
Kanan's moment with Fenn was really great. On the same day this episode was released, the latest issue of Kanan came out, and we saw the Third Battle of Mygeeto that Kanan references. Having them be connected in the past was a nice touch, but seeing the story group connect two stories through two different mediums was the triumph here.
The final action scenes were straight out of old western movies, and it's fun to see the team dabble in different styles of storytelling.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
Sabine's role in this episode was interesting. The tie to Pre Visla was a bombshell, but beyond that, her attitude and fierce motives felt forced. You can feel that the team has something big planned for Mandalorians and Sabine, but her anger and defiance felt just odd at times.
I couldn't tell if it was the pacing or just the way the story played out, but I was much more interested in Kanan and Fenn Rau's story than his and Sabine's. I think there is more to this story, and we will see Rau again, but it'll need to be something big before I can feel Sabine's true importance in the overall story. We keep getting big hints and moments from the character, but at times it leaves me scratching my head.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
If you have friends that are Star Wars fans, and they aren't watching this show, you've failed as a friend. This has been four or five consecutive episodes that have been both fun and epic.
Seeing gunslinging Mandos with Jedi backstory is a perfect recipe for success in Star Wars storytelling. Another week, another great episode from the animation team at LucasFilm.
This review was done by Fan of TheForce.net Ryan Donoho. You can contact him at donohonba@gmail.com.
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