REVIEW: Star Wars Rebels "Hera's Heroes"
This week, Rebels spent the entire episode on Ryloth, a place we haven't seen since the Clone Wars show, which was nice. We also then spent another episode involving Cham Syndulla and his rebellion on the planet. As you might remember from last season, the last episode dealing with Cham in season 2, "Homecoming," I wasn't the biggest fan of. Now, the question remains, did I like this episode more?
I'll answer that question eventually but for now let's just talk about the episode. The episode starts right in the middle of a chase between scout troopers on speeder bikes and Cham on a creature. The sequence itself is really cool because this is the first time we've seen scout troopers in a long time. After a narrow escape, Cham reveals that he and his forces lost a battle against a "commander" and that because they lost, they lost the area that included Hera childhood home. Hera realizes that in her house was a priceless artifact that is passed down from generation to generation and belonged to her late mother. She then decides to go and try and find the treasure inside her house and the rest of the crew agrees to help.
That is where I have the biggest problem with this episode. Out of all the characters from the Ghost to make a rash and emotionally-charged decision, I would expect Hera the least. She is now a commander in the growing rebellion, she has to make logical choices and to leave her personal bias out of them as possible. Not to mention that she yelled at Ezra in the season premiere for not being logical with his decision-making. So for her to risk the lives of not only herself and her father, but also the crew of the Ghost for an artifact, it seems kind of hypocritical. She does point this out in the end but the fact that nobody has any second guesses or doubts and goes along with it because "we're family" or "you would do the same for us" seems kind of unrealistic. Now granted, I can understand how important the artifact is the Hera and Cham, but I just don't think the risk and possibilities of what could go wrong justify the attempt.
From here, the group splits into two different group. While Hera, Ezra, and Chopper go undercover in Hera's home, the rest act a distraction for the Imperial patrols. I'll talk about the distraction group first. There's nothing really to say. They did their job well enough and the action was cool, especially seeing Kanan fight and deflect shots back blind. However, even in this sequence there are some things that are stupid. They are being chased by a walker and one of Cham's soldiers has a rocket launcher. He has a clear and open shot to take out the walker but instead shoots down some walks to try and block the patrol's path...which they blow away in about ten seconds. I'm going to quote Ren from Ren & Stimpy here..."YOU IDIOT!"
Meanwhile, Hera and Ezra manage to sneak through her house and find the artifact. However, they realize that the Imperial presence there is greater than they imagined. They almost manage to escape but are caught by the commander and Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Yes, Thrawn finally shows up again and he is without a doubt, the highlight of the episode. Much like in the season premiere, he is calm, calculating, and cold. He is able to quickly find out who exactly Hera is and tells her that he studies the art of war and that the only way to defeat an enemy is to know everything about them...including their history, philosophy, and art. He is also able to realize that Ezra is in disguise and knocks him out and captures him. It is so nice to finally have an Imperial leader who is smart other than Tarkin. Like I mentioned before, I don't have much history about Thrawn to go back on so I really can't compare. However, this Thrawn I like due to his soothing yet creepy voice, his bigger-picture mentality, and him wanting to know his enemies inside and out before defeating them. He also decides to take the artifact with him to study it and nearly beats up the commander for suggesting that he destroys it. YOU DARE TALK SHIT ABOUT ART YOU UNCULUTRED SWINE!
Thrawn decides to offer a prisoner exchange, Cham for Hera and Ezra. However, Ezra purposefully has Chopper rig her house with explosives and destroy it. In the distraction, Cham and the rest of the crew escape. Thrawn purposefully lets them escape saying they earned their victory today and that the experience enlightening. Ok, this is where I have my one concern with Thrawn. I understand his strategy of learning about his enemy and trying to drag all rebel cells out to defeat them all. However, as an audience member, you can only let them escape so many times before you begin to not take him as seriously as a threat. Not to mention, with all his military planning, how did he not expect that perhaps Chopper would be involved? I think this show needs to make him win a few times on screen for the rebellion to truly realize what they are up against.
Overall, how was the episode and did I like the episode more than Homecoming? It was okay and about the same. In Homecoming, my biggest problem was that despite the action being incredible, the story and choices that were made were cliché and didn't take chances. Here, much like before, the story and choices made were just as idiotic and more cliché. The action itself was good but not the best in the show. The only things that really elevated the episode up were Thrawn and his personal dynamic with his strategy. Hopefully the show will truly put Thrawn's skills and reputation to better use in the future.
