STAR WARS REBELS Writer And Producer Dave Filoni Confirms That [SPOILER] Survived The Show's Finale

STAR WARS REBELS Writer And Producer Dave Filoni Confirms That [SPOILER] Survived The Show's Finale

In a recent interview on the Star Wars show, Star Wars Rebels executive producer and writer Dave Filoni reveals what became of two major characters whose fates were left up in the air in the series finale.

News
By Nebula - Mar 06, 2018 11:03 AM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars
Source: Star Wars Show
In last night's epic finale to Star Wars Rebels we saw Ezra Bridger sacrifice himself to save his friends, just like his master Kanan, and take Grand Admiral Thrawn down with him. The two were catapulted into hyperspace aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer. The actual ending showed Sabine and Ahsoka, post-Return of the Jedi, just before they set forth on an adventure to find their missing friend.

As far as the show itself was concerned, Ezra and Thrawn's fates were totally ambiguous; that is until Dave Filoni chimed in on a recent episode of the Star Wars Show. Filoni, the show's executive producer and writer, explained why he opted to end Rebels as he did:

I felt a lot about that… It’s one of those things that you go “oh boy I love the idea of an end credits scenes” but as tempting as that is but I go “well if I cover that, then I want to do it right” and I don’t want to commit to things right now because things might change. So I have a lot of theories about it and what I think happens and where they are. I’ll say this much, they’re not dead. Both of them survive, both Ezra and Thrawn I would say survive it.

There you go. Confirmation that both Thrawn and Ezra survived the Rebels finale.

In a seperate interview with Entertainment Weekly Filoni elaborated further his thoughts on the finale. Stating how he believes the finale planted many seeds from which a new story can grow:

I’ve always felt the best stories end and then other stories begin, and there’s no better way to take two of my favorite characters and have them ride off into the sunset, like I’ve seen so many cowboys over the years, or Indiana Jones. One thing ends and another begins, and the story continues. That’s a saga.

So perhaps the next animated Star Wars show will focus on this mystery, maybe even a live-action film. Would you like to see a post-Return of the Jedi animated show or movie? Would you like it to centre around the plot-threads set up by the finale? And would you like Sabine and Ahsoka to appear in it?

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Nerdman3000
Nerdman3000 - 3/6/2018, 11:16 AM
InfinitePunches
InfinitePunches - 3/6/2018, 11:26 AM
The perfect ending to a show. Wholly wraps up the story, services the characters properly, and makes your imagination wonder about where the characters will go in the future.
Nebula
Nebula - 3/6/2018, 11:30 AM
@InfinitePunches - I'm thinking a new animated show that focuses on the OT characters between ROTJ and TFA, Ahsoka and Sabine appearing like Rex and crew did from Clone Wars.
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 3/6/2018, 1:57 PM
@Nebula - I'm hoping for something like that. Sort of do for the sequels what Clone Wars did for the prequels.
Darkknight2149
Darkknight2149 - 3/6/2018, 6:42 PM
@InfinitePunches -
I disagree that they serviced all of the characters properly. I love that they introduced Thrawn into the new canon, but I have to wonder... Why was he on the show at all?

Don't get me wrong: Lars Mikkelsen was perfect, Thrawn's characterisation was on point, and he had several great moments, but they really wrote themselves into a corner bringing him onto the show. He pretty much accomplished nothing the entire time.

He spent all of Season 3 letting the Rebels go free just so he could either study them or because he was after the larger Alliance fleet, then when he finally found the fleet in the big Season Finale, the writers had to contrive an explanation of something Thrawn couldn't predict just so the Rebels could escape.

Then he spent all of Season 4 either being undermined by his incompetent underlings or simply doing nothing of note (such as studying the Rebels EVEN MORE, or leaving altogether to visit the Emperor just to explain why he hasn't annihilated the Rebel's on Lothal). Then when the Season 4 finale hit, they pulled another Force-based "completely out of left field" explanation for Thrawn's defeat after he spent two seasons doing nothing. Now, they're probably going to bring him back post-Return of the Jedi, just like in Legends.

It's great that he was introduced in the new canon, but putting him in Star Wars Rebels simply was not the way to do it. He was way too over-powered for that particular show. All it really did was undermine an otherwise great character, even if they nailed his voice performance and portrayal.
LordRyuk
LordRyuk - 3/10/2018, 5:39 PM
@Darkknight2149 - I didn’t read the Zahn books so I wasn’t familiar with the character like others but did have some knowledge of him. I loved the character on Rebel’s but I have to agree with you on your points...too much studying and contemplating, no way the emperor would put up with his results.
kylo0607
kylo0607 - 3/6/2018, 11:33 AM
That ending was beautiful!

I shed a tear...
Nebula
Nebula - 3/6/2018, 11:35 AM
@kylo0607 - Not so much when you think that Kylo probably murdered this kid..
StormXmen123
StormXmen123 - 3/6/2018, 12:01 PM
@Nebula - I dislike that he is a human-Twilek hybrid yet his only "alien feature" is that his hair is green.

We already saw human-Twilek children in the clone wars and they seemed to resemble Twileks with a skin discolouration.

It likley he will be a prominet character in the next series (the padawan like Ashoka and Ezra were to theirs), it be nice if they had him be an alien lead.
Nebula
Nebula - 3/6/2018, 12:05 PM
@StormXmen123 - Agreed, though he could just has skin like Hera's father

Maybe his tentacle-hair things will sprout later.
Armageddon26
Armageddon26 - 3/6/2018, 12:12 PM
@Nebula - At the very least they could have have him pointed ears, I was confused on why he was so human
Asturgis
Asturgis - 3/6/2018, 3:09 PM
@Nebula - It's Jason, not Jacen, though. Jacen was Han and Leia's first son in the novels now non-canon, who later became Darth Caedus, killed Luke's wife, and was killed by his sister, Jaina. Kylo is based off him, and Rey off Jaina. Biggest reason why they scrapped the expanded universe, so they could take the material they wanted and just tweak it (but I'm sure you know all that).

I think the person who made this GIF either did it on purpose as an homage, or heard the name wrong.
Nebula
Nebula - 3/6/2018, 3:10 PM
@Asturgis - I figure it'd be Jacen too, I didn't make the gif.
Asturgis
Asturgis - 3/6/2018, 3:25 PM
@Nebula - I figured you didn't make it :) I just saw a tweet from the official Star Wars account saying it's spelled "the way you think it is" with a smiley face, so I was wrong. They really went there and named him Jacen. So they recycled the character as Kylo and his name as well. Nothing goes to waste, it seems.
Nebula
Nebula - 3/6/2018, 3:31 PM
@Asturgis - Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Asturgis
Asturgis - 3/6/2018, 3:33 PM
@Nebula - LOL I had never seen this meme, but it's so simple and to the point it's brilliant.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 3/6/2018, 11:36 AM
Knew it.
Mostly glad for Thrawn rather than Ezra.
Dunno if i'd like another show where Ahsoka is one of the lead characters...oooor finally a live action gig.
StormXmen123
StormXmen123 - 3/6/2018, 12:06 PM
@Doomsday8888 - Why I love Ahsoka, I always felt it was too complicated to bring her to live action during the Empire era because it would be difficult to explain to general audiences (who have only seen the films) that Anakin had a padawan.
But now that she survived past Ep6, they don't really need to mention it. They can have her a force sensitive mystic (like Maz). But my god is she came into episode 9, it would be amazing.

That being said, atleast for the a time, I think her story continues in in the next series. They can't set up that ending with her and Sabine and not continue it in animation. The tradi on now seems that each of the animated series will bleed into each other so they are all really one conintous story within the greater Star Wars canon.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 3/6/2018, 12:12 PM
@StormXmen123
Yeah, besides i think they are already about to announce the next animated show, but after that
..who knows, Filone said he'd be willing to make a live action tv show, don't think they ever talked about a movie, but it would be a welcome surprise! :)
Asturgis
Asturgis - 3/6/2018, 3:14 PM
@Doomsday8888 - From what I understand from the forums I'm active on, that terrible short series Forces of Destny featuring only women to make some buzz, was kind of a test run for an animated series based on a team of primarily female characters. There was definitely talk of Ahsoka, so since she and Sabine leave at the end to look for Ezra, that could be it.

I want to believe they didn't bring back Ahsoka 3 episodes before the ending just for no reason, they want to use her again, and I also don't want to believe they asked a legend like Gina Torres to voice Ketsu for only 2 or 3 episodes. I have a feeling we'll see those 3 again soon.
FrankieDedo
FrankieDedo - 3/6/2018, 11:46 AM
Rebels had a lot of up and downs in seasons 3 and 4, but the last four episodes were worth of being up there with the movies, if not better than some of them. Also, this was a very good example of how you end a show.

I feel that Rebels left something important. It was an humble yet glorious show. A lot of nice stuff, one above all: the season 2 finale.
Armageddon26
Armageddon26 - 3/6/2018, 12:15 PM
Really glad to know Thrawn survived too, it was obvious that Ezra did but I thought Thrawn was a goner for sure.
As for the Jacen Syndulla I’m hoping he somehow makes the jump to love action, it’d be a cool way to introduce a new character but connecting back to the animated series
sickboy76
sickboy76 - 3/6/2018, 3:48 PM
@Armageddon26 - still don't understand why his surname was syndulla, would've thought Hera would've wanted him to have his father's name
Armageddon26
Armageddon26 - 3/6/2018, 8:32 PM
@sickboy76 - That caught me off guard too
Kryptonmatters
Kryptonmatters - 3/6/2018, 8:56 PM
@Armageddon26 - I want to know when they actually had time to... you know.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 3/6/2018, 12:33 PM
The only thing I don'u understand is why Palpatine bothered with the illusion of Ezra's parents. What was the point?
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 3/6/2018, 1:32 PM
@Nightwing1015 - Seducing him with false hope, so he could become his new apprentice. Like Vader. Palpatines wanted to replace Vader for a while. That's the way the Sith work.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 3/6/2018, 2:33 PM
@WYLEEJAY - If turning someone to the dark side is as easy is getting them to open a door then why did Palpatine bother with the 15 year plan to make Anakin his apprentice. Also, did Palpatine want to replace Vader? I know Vader wanted to overthrow Palpatine but I didn't know Palpatine ever wanted Vader dead. What would be the point of that? Then all the trouble he went to would be for nothing.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 3/6/2018, 3:18 PM
@Nightwing1015 - Oh I get ya. But yes in Return of the Jedi Palpatine tried to replace Vader, so yes it's true. He's opportunistic. Vader was a tool. Hunted the Jedi down for him. If Luke would have struck down Vader, Palpatine would have been happy to have the new apprentice. Because as long as the apprentice seeks wisdom from the master, they are less likely to betray the master. It's the Sith rule of two in a nutshell.

Now the idea of Ezra breaking the rules to save his parents, would have started Ezras corruption. I'm sure Palpatine had some idea of killing off his parents anyways. Crushing Ezras spirit. Making him easier to control. But there's no right answer there, since this was simply a writers plot device, to have the character have to make a choice. I'm sure they didn't think too much into what would happen if Ezra saved his parents, since the writer had already made up their mind to have Ezra turn away Palpatine.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 3/6/2018, 3:50 PM
@WYLEEJAY - Yeah I understand the choice thing. I'm just wondering what it would have looked like if Palpatine turned Anakin that way. Would he show Anakin a door in the temple with his mother on the other side? That would have probably been easier than constructing an extremely detailed 15 year-long plan.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 3/6/2018, 3:53 PM
@Nightwing1015 - Well his plan didn't involve Anakin losing to Kenobi. Anakin was broken physically and mentally after that.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 3/6/2018, 3:55 PM
@Nightwing1015 - Plus Palpatine didn't have access to the temple like Ezra did. He discovered it because Ezra, but he couldn't use it. So he wanted to learn from Ezra how to use it.
Prork
Prork - 3/6/2018, 1:58 PM
That was a really solid finale. I hope it leads into a new show, but if it doesn't then at least we had this.
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 3/6/2018, 2:10 PM
I thought it was a very strong ending. A lot of the filler episodes over the course of the series were pretty meh, and the writing for even some of the more significant arc episodes could've been better in places, but it definitely had its moments of being great Star Wars storytelling. Those last few episodes were some of the show's best and made me appreciate the story more. I realized that I had grown more attached to this cast of characters than I previously thought. I hope to see the movies put some of them in the spotlight.
Asturgis
Asturgis - 3/6/2018, 3:04 PM
@BIGBMH - I agree with everything you've said. Weak fillers and a sometimes very childish tone, and yet some episodes were phenomenal. I can't believe the animated show (which is canon) had the balls to give us Force wolves, Sith temples, the Force bending space, time and reality itself, space whales who can hyper jump, Mandalore, and so much more. I'm not a TLJ hater, but this show makes me realize how vanilla and spineless that movie was. Rebels explored the Force more than the movies ever did.

Plus, I'll say it again. Force wolves.
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 3/6/2018, 5:05 PM
@Asturgis - Agreed. The childishness was more of an issue here than it was with Clone Wars and both had their issues, but overall they've done much more for the franchise than the films have.

-Expanded mythology of the forces with what you've mention as well as the Nightsisters and the Mortis gods

-Deepened and improved upon several of the characters it featured from the films (Anakin, Obi-Wan, Maul) rather than messing with their arcs in an arguably disappointing way

-Put great, unique, and memorable villains on screen (the improved Maul, Ventress, Thrawn)

-Introduced new heroes who could stand on their own without feeling like copies of established ones (Ahsoka, Hera, etc)

-Told new stories within this world without recycling overdone plotlines (196 episodes between the two and none of them revolve around blowing up some version of a Death Star. 8 films in the main series so far and 3 of them blow up a Death Star)
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 3/6/2018, 5:06 PM
@BIGBMH - "but overall they've done much more for the franchise than the films have."

By that, I'm referring to the newest 3 films.
DeathSeal
DeathSeal - 3/6/2018, 2:13 PM
They could do a follow up show where Ezra and Thrawn fight the Vong in the unknown regions.
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