REVIEW: Star Wars Rebels "Ghosts of Geonosis"
Well, this Rebels episode is very interesting. Not only does this episode tie into Rogue One, but it also has elements from the prequel trilogy, as well as have elements that tie into some of the more recent Star Wars comics. With all that in mind, this seems like a very eventful two-part episode? Well, both yes and no.
When you get down to it, both parts have very simple stories. That isn't a bad thing, but that means not a whole lot happens, or at least not as much as you may would have liked. The Ghost crew and Rex are sent by Senator Organa himself to investigate Geonosis after Saw Gerrera's team went missing there who went there to find out what the Empire was building there. Obviously, we all know it was the Death Star, but in this point in time, the weapon is still a mystery to the Rebellion. Anyway, Kanan, Ezra, Rex, and Chopper go deep underground and are attacked by old battle droids until they are saved by Gerrera, voiced by Forest Whitaker, who played him in Rogue One.
Ok, so how is Gerrera? Well, canonically, this season I believe takes place two years before Rogue One and A New Hope so Saw isn't completely insane, and has his legs. However, you can tell through all his years of fighting that he is broken inside and is willing to do anything that needs to be done in order to win. Saw does things in these episodes, which I will talk about later, that paint him in the right state of mind that he was in Rogue One. I mean, this is a kids' show so they didn't go too severe. I would say he is about personality-wise, closer to Rogue One, but still has some elements of his character from The Clone Wars. It was also a nice detail for the show to remember his sister who died during The Clone Wars.
From there, the first part of the episode goes into two stories. The underground ground group chase after a surviving Geonosian, who Ezra later names Klik-Klak, who activates some destroyer droids that attack Zeb and Sabine, who is getting a shield generator. Now, why did I say surviving? Well, in the recently released Darth Vader comics from Marvel, it was revealed that early in the Empire's history, the Empire carried out a mass genocide campaign against the Geonosians. So, to me, I find it hard to believe that the Empire not only left a survivor but also left surviving Confederacy equipment around for the Klik-Klak to use. That kind of took me out of the story in a way. They end up catching Clit Clat and turning off the droids. Saw says that Klik-Klak took out his men and wants him brought back for questioning while it is later discovered that he is trying to protect a surviving queen egg.
Kanan wants to take Klik-Klak and the egg back to Chopper Base for protection and questioning but Saw tortures it and fights Ezra and Rex over it in a really lackluster and slow-paced fight. This is here where you get more Rogue One connections as we see some of Saw brutal tactics as well as see why the Rebel Alliance broke ties with Saw.
Most of the second part of the episode deals with this dilemma. Honestly, I can see both sides. I don't necessarily agree with Gererra but I can understand why he wants to do what he wants. On the either side, the Ghost crew in the end change their minds and leave Klik-Klak and the egg behind to help the Geonosians avoid extinction. Again, I don't necessarily agree with the choice as you could take Klik-Klak back and tell the senate or the Rebellion firsthand what the Empire what they are doing, but I can also see where they are coming from.
In the end, out of left-field, Saw agrees to do what the Ghost crew wants to do and even says that they should avoid extinction. Ok, I'm sorry, that came out of nowhere and was way out of character to me. That honestly felt that the writers wanted Saw to be a total good guy and teach a moral to kids.
The team eventually finds leftover poison canisters that the Empire used to eliminate the Geonosians. Again, why in the world would the Empire just leave them there!? The group begins to collect them when they are attacked by the Empire. Through some cool action scenes, the group is able to escape but end up losing the canisters so they can't use them to testify...good figure.
Overall, I thought these two episodes were...okay. I can imagine more people liking these episodes than me and that's fine. I just thought there were too many things in these episodes that felt too convenient or were rushed to make room for the plot. Honestly, the thing I liked most about these episodes was the connections between all the elements of the Star Wars canon, whether it be the movies, TV shows, comics, and books.
P.S., I love how they referenced one of the most infamous lines in Star Wars history by making Sabine say that she hates sand and it "gets everywhere!"
