REVIEW: Star Wars Rebels "Holocrons of Fate"
This is a very interesting episode. With the premise of Maul, Ezra, and two holocrons, you would think that this episode would be big in scale. However, surprisingly, it isn't. In fact, if anything, this episode acts like a set-up episode to possible future storylines in this season or beyond. However, the small scale in a way kind of worked and what it sets up leaves the door open for so many questions and possibilities.
The episode starts with Kanan and Ezra investigating a damaged Rebel ship. One surviving crew member tells that a "red blade" wants them and it is revealed that it is Maul and that he captured the other members of the Ghost and wants Ezra to bring the Sith holocron to him. I admit, I would have liked to have seen both events Maul did, even if the former event would have been a massacre. However, we get to see an early look at Maul and his motivations which I'll get to later. One thing though I can say is that the animation in this episode is superb. The episode has great uses of lighting and it proves that this show is really improving with its quality of animation.
It is this point that the episode breaks into two storylines, one dealing with Maul interacting with the crew of the Ghost and Kanan and Ezra getting the holocron from the Bendu. I'll talk about the latter storyline first. Once again, right off the back, I have to say that Tom Baker does a fantastic job voicing the character and adding a unique personality to the character. It was nice to see Ezra's reaction to seeing him for the first time as it was a cool sight to behold to actually see him walk and move. He tells them that by combining both holocrons, (as Maul wants Kanan's Jedi holcron as well) is a pathway to learning great knowledge but can come at a great cost.
He tells Kanan and Ezra that the Sith holcron is in a spider cave and that there is a great imbalance between Kanan and Ezra.
What is this imbalance? It is the rift in the relationship between Kanan and Ezra. This whole sequence in the cave leads Ezra to learning more about the force from Kanan while also learning to forgive himself for what happened to him on Malachor. Ezra still feels guilty for Kanan being blind on Malachor by Maul as he was the one that trusted him to help fight the Inquisitors. He also feels disconnected from the force by not being able to connect to the spider creatures. However, eventually, thanks to Kanan's words of wisdom and guidance, Ezra is able to learn how to remain calm in front of the creatures while also patching up his relationship with Kanan.
Some people may say that their relationship was fixed too quickly, but I would have to respectfully disagree. I think that the way the whole sequence was written and performed was executed greatly plus I honestly thought it was a real genuine heartwarming moment when Ezra thanked Kanan and called him master again. After how infuriating Ezra acted last week, it was nice to see the softer, more appreciative side of him that we usually see.
Now, let's talk about the other storyline with Maul. Maul himself is still as great of a villain that we've been seeing in recent memory. He has a calm, controlling, and manipulating side to him that was in full display in this episode. This was highlighted when he was able to read Hera's mind to not only find out where the Jedi holocron was located in, but also that Kanan's real name is Caleb Dume. We also see just how overpowering Maul can be as the crew escape and try to fight him off, only to be quickly defeated and recaptured a few moments later. The only thing about Maul that I didn't like was when he tried to open the Jedi holocron and failed miserably. Gee Maul, I wonder why you couldn't open it? Maybe because you need someone of the light side to open it.
Anyway, both of the episode's storylines collide as the Jedi end up meeting Maul. Kanan and Ezra are separated and Maul tries to kill Kanan again by putting him through an airlock into space. Somehow Kanan is able to survive but I wonder just how he was able to because he got sucked into space, wouldn't you think he would have suffocated immediately? Eventually, Kanan rescues the crew and goes to find Ezra.
During this time, we see Ezra, still distrusting and pissed at Maul, work with him to combine the two holocrons. They ask each other what they want to do with the information. Ezra wants to learn how to defeat the Sith and Maul wants a form of hope. When the holocrons combine, a blinding light is created and before the holocrons burst from a blast of energy, both get a slight glimpse of an answer. Ezra sees twin suns. Yeah, they just referenced Tattoine which means they just referenced Luke, as in Luke Skywalker! Now, this doesn't mean that we will see Luke in the series, but it makes me wonder how Ezra will interpret from this information. Maul meanwhile sees that someone from his past is alive and in the end of the episode as we see him escape, we see him smile and laugh with glee. Since the twin suns of Tatooine is mentioned, we can greatly assume that he is of course referring to Obi-Wan Kenobi! Yes, this episode may have just teased a final Obi-Wan, Maul rematch. YES, YES PLEASE...GIVE IF TO ME NOW IF IT'S TRUE!
Overall, this episode was more low-key in scale than I would have imagined, I think that it may have worked to this episode's favor. While I would have liked to see Maul more in the episode, the episode wisely tackled some of the conflicts from last week's episode and Twilight of the Apprentice, while also telling its own great story of learning patience and setting up possible huge crossover storylines with original trilogy characters. Plus, both holocrons survived the explosion so both of their knowledge and temptations will most likely come up later in the season as well.
