REVIEW: Star Wars Rebels "Twin Suns"
Oh boy! An episode that has been years in the making. An episode with such speculation, such fan anticipation, and I can already tell this will be one of the most polarizing moments in Star Wars history. No where near as polarizing as the prequels, but still divisive none the less. Yes, this episode will be remembered like that, why you may ask, well, you'll just have to read on to find out.
We see at the start that Maul has landed on Tatooine and begun his search for Kenobi. This is the first thing about this episode that can be divisive. Maul isn't in the episode much other than the ending. He terrorizes Ezra telepathically to draw Ezra to the planet, but otherwise, we don't see much throughout. On the one hand, they are building him up for the confrontation. On the other hand, as a fan of the character throughout his development over the years, I would have liked to see him more to see his driving passion and insanity to find his old foe.
Anyway, Ezra, big shocker, decides to ignore Hera's orders and flies to Tatoonie. I'm just surprised Kanan didn't really want to go, considering that in "Visions and Voices" he was determined to find and save Obi-Wan as well. Come to think of it, we really haven't seen much of Kanan this season, have we?
The episode then spends most of its time showing Ezra' and Chopper's (yes, he snuck away too) journey throughout the planet. I already knew and expected that Obi-Wan wouldn't show up until near the end so fans who were expecting him throughout are going to be disappointed. Ezra's journey through the planet is what you would expect for a typical day on Tatoonie. You know, dealing with blistering heat, blinding sandstorms, the local natives, (aka Tusken Raiders) you know, the usual stuff. However, towards the end, as Ezra and Chopper appear to be on death's door due to heat exposure, who comes in to save the day like he did for a local farm boy, why Obi-Wan of course.
Now, let's get this out of he way, Obi-Wan's appearance, which will most likely be his only appearance on the show, was short, but without a doubt the highlight of the episode. Stephen Stanton, who voices Tarkin and AP-5 on the show, voices Obi-Wan, and he does a fantastic job in the role. He truly captures the tone, mannerisms, and personality of Alec Guinness. Also, his talk that he has with Ezra was also really well done and the way he speaks makes you understand why, other than to protect Luke, he doesn't join the Rebellion.
Anyway, after their talk Maul finally shows up and Obi-Wan makes Chopper and Ezra leave. It is now just two old warriors and foes, in their final confrontation, the final rematch.
So, here it is, the moment that people have been waiting years for...and the duel lasts about five seconds. I'm not kidding, it's that short. The build-up was fantastic as the dialogue between the two was on point. Obviously it's no secret that Maul finally, permanently, dies and his final words to Obi-Wan, were very poignant and meaningful, which I won't spoil. So, the set-up and ending were all there, it was just the actual duel that was short. Now, I think the length of the duel were deliberate by Filoni and the team and to a certain extent I can see why they wanted it to be that way. Nothing flashy, one old master showing his old enemy just how wise and powerful he had become. Though, we really couldn't see how Maul died due to censorship.
That being said, I'm not going to lie, while I'm not mad like a lot of fans are right now, I am disappointed. I mean, I wasn't expecting the same level of duel as the Phantom Menace, I did expect a longer duel than five seconds. I mean, the Obi-Wan vs Vader duel in A New Hope lasted a few minutes and there was nothing flashy in that fight.
Now, I talked about this before, but my question is, what does this mean for the show, particularly Ezra? By that, I mean, bringing Maul in. Obviously, from the grand scheme of things, Maul was brought in to finish his story from The Clone Wars, but for Rebels, his appearance was brief to the point where you can say it was a gimmick. My guess is that Maul was brought in to give Ezra a taste and temptation of the dark side for either him to reject it or use it in the future, we just have to wait and see.
So, in the end, Ezra goes back to Chopper Base and we see Obi-Wan watching over Luke. (No, we don't actually see Luke) So, yeah, I really don't know what to think of this episode. On the one hand, it did give closure to Maul and gave us a really good appearance of Obi-Wan. On the other hand, it isn't that hard to feel short-changed on the length of the duel, especially after years of hype and buildup. In the end, I think that each fan is going to have to make their own opinion of this episode.
