Less than 5 – Skip it, 6 – OK, 7 – Good, 8 – Great, 9 – Phenomenal, 10 – You owe it to yourself to watch this episode!
Taking a step back from the threat of the Inquisitors and the Empire, Brothers of the Broken Horn shifts its focus to Ezra and the reintroduction of the fan favorite Clone Wars character, Hondo!
So far this season there has been a heavy emphasis on reintroducing audiences to classic characters such as Rex, Ahsoka and Vader. While some may look at this as some kind of crutch the series is leaning on, it is far from it. Rebels has been using these characters in such a seamless manner that it makes the wider Star Wars universe feel like a much more cogent entity than it ever has. And Hondo’s appearance only adds to that universe.
Hondo has always been a funny guy but his debut on Rebels has to be his most hilarious. The guy throws out one-liners left and right from start to finish and I’m pretty sure I laughed ate very one of them. From his witty retort about Azmorigan’s wife to his quick transition from rich to dead, the guy was on fire with the funny. Hondo manages all of these jokes while still maintaining that exterior of the pirate lord he’s had since his first appearances, though with a noticeable lack of crew.
The years since the Clone Wars ended haven’t been all that nice to Hondo. He is the last remaining member of his crew and he is now forced to roam the galaxy scavenging for whatever he can. Much like how we found Ezra in the pilot episode but on a much grander scale. This parallel makes its way into the core of Brothers of the Broken Horn.
Ezra is, not necessarily breaking, but succumbing to the pressures of becoming a Jedi and his new tutelage under Rex as a soldier. When the episode starts we see Kanan and Rex argue over whether or not his training with the other is worth the amount of effort Ezra is putting in. Unable to bear listening to them any longer he returns to the Ghost searching for something to get his mind off of it. Instead he ends up getting tasked with clean up duty with Chopper (yay!). He soon intercepts a distress call from Vizago and makes his way to help (and to avoid cleaning duty). It is here that Ezra runs into the much older Hondo and there adventure begins.
Seeing Ezra return to his roots as a thief was interesting and offered a lot of insight as to what he is going through with the mounting pressure of the Rebellion and his duty to bettering himself as a warrior. That is a ton of pressure for someone Ezra’s age and Hondo’s appearance grants him the opportunity to leave it all behind. A tempting offer. But as Hondo says at episodes end, “you’re a Jedi”.
We also get to see how much Ezra has grown in terms of his Jedi prowess. The hectic battle with Azmorigan’s thugs has Ezra flipping around, deflecting laser blasts and showing off considerable skill with the force (it took Luke years to lift his light saber, Ezra can already lift Hondo with relative ease). It made for a fun sequence (Chopper riding around dual wielding blasters? Hell yes!) as well as bringing up the question, how much longer will it be till Ezra surpasses his master? The fact that he enjoyed his time with Hondo implies he doesn’t reject the thought of abandoning the Rebels and his fast learning and growing power is bound to draw comparisons to a young Anakin. Is there a future where Ezra turns to the dark side? Right now I’m not so sure but there is definitely potential for that to happen.
Brothers of the Broken Horn served as a nice filler episode and gave us a ton of insight as to what is going on inside Ezra’s head. As of now, he is committed to the cause, but that may not always be the case. We shall see.
Hondo is back and funnier than ever, Hera is set to get her individual episode next week featuring a prototype B-wing and Ezra is getting stronger every day. There is a ton to look forward to in Star Wars: Rebels!
Brothers of the Broken Horn gets an 8.5/10.
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