REVIEW: Star Wars Rebels "Wings of the Master"
Going into this episode, I thought this would be a Hera-centric episode. It was, kinda, but not as much as I would have liked. That's not to say that this episode is bad, but it could have been even better if it did some things differently.
The episode starts out with the Ghost leading one of the Rebel Network ships to try and give food to a planet under the control of the Empire. Guess who's there to stop them? Go on, take a guess. Agent Kallus of course. Even Zeb mocks that he always show up. It's not that I dont mind him as a villian, it's just that he is really not that multi-dimensional. He almost seems like a Saturday morning cartoon because his motivation in the episode seems like it. Anyway, in a cool fight scene, the Rebels lose the transport andd Phoneix Leader. Kanan volunteers Hera to go to a distant planet to get a fighter from old ship designer.
I understand why he did it, to boost her confidence, but honestly, Kanan was a little bit of a dick in this episode. Anyway, the planet they go on, (Hera, Zeb, and Sabine) is known for ships never being able to leave. They crash land and meet Quarrie (a homage to legendary concept artist Ron McQuarrie). He unveils the prototype ship for the B-wing. You know, the ship you see for a few seconds in Return of the Jedi.
Well, lets spend this block of the review to talk about each of the characters. Zeb, they've really got to start working on him. All he does in this episode is threaten Quarrie and be confused by every little thing. I know he is not the smartest person, but he's not an idiot. Sabine didn't do much in this episode. Quarrie, he seems cool. He's kind of the stereotypical hermit who won't let you fly his ships unless you're worthy. Later on, I didn't know whether to laugh or be mad whenever we figure out that he has never flown a ship before. How does he know how to make ships then?
Anyway, we do get some insight into Hera's past. We figure out that she loves to fly due to watching the Republic liberate her planet during the Clone Wars. Her speech is well done, the only problem is that I want more. I want to know more about her past. Why she left Ryloth, what was her past family life like, and more. It's a good start but it could still be improved.
Anyway, we see the ship in its test-run by Hera and it was a beautifully animated sequence, especially when she fires all of its weapons including a massive laser shot capable of destroying a destroyer. Hint Hint. The whole sequence in a way actually reminded me of some of the flying scenes from James Cameron's Avatar, and that's not a bad thing. Even if you hate the movie, you can't deny that the effects in the movie were good.
Anyway, it turns out that apparently the starving people from the planet can't wait another day so the fleet sends two transports to send supplies with the Ghost holding the cargo. Um, might I ask why? The people said they couldn't last another rotation, but that's still, let's say, the full 24 hours. You haven't heard from Hera, in what, a couple hours? You couldn't wait any more before deciding to try and risk more of your ships?
Well, the fleet go with their attack and the action sequence was once again cool-looking. Quarrie fixes the hyperdrive on the Phantom which allows them to transport the B-wing with them to the battle. The ship lost power to the hyperdrive during the test flight obviously. Right when the ships are about to destroy the Ghost, the reinforcements arrive and Hera uses the power of the B-wing to destroy one of the Imperial ships to clear a path to deliever the supplies.
In the end, Quarrie is recruited to make more B-wings and Hera is rewarded for her efforts by being promoted to Phoneix Squad leader. Let's hope she lasts longer than the others.
Overall, again, it's not that bad of the episode as it is a step in the right direction for development for Hera. However, this episode seems to highlight some of the flaws of the series such as lack of development for some characters and some idiotic writing and decisions. Still, the fights and animation were good and again, there is always room for improvement.
