Star Wars Rebels: Season 4 Episode 5
Ezra’s return to Lothal is a chance to see just how much the young Jedi has changed. As it turns out, it’s also a glimpse at what Rebels might be doing more now that the series is drawing to a close. “The Occupation” wraps up a lot of loose ends from season one, showing an environmentally devastated Lothal and the oppressive rule of the Empire. It’s also mostly a set-up episode, getting our characters to where they need to be for the next one. Speaking of time, Ezra’s preoccupation with his home planet offers a lot to unpack here. The Ghost crew (sans Ghost) are dropped on Lothal by Rex and Kallus — and more on that later. They split up, and Ezra finds out that the places he thought would be the safest have been the most dramatically changed. There’s a lot going on with him here, from the environmental devastation of the planet, to his own process of growing up, to the more overt cruelties of the Empire such as the killing of the Ithorian bartender Jho. Ezra has clearly grown a lot, and lashes out a lot less than he would have done in the first season. He notes that he looks younger in his own wanted poster, and still sees Jho’s car as a refuge from the Empire — even though a place that didn’t make the Empire feel welcome was clearly a place that would soon take a beating. Speaking of Sabine, I feel like in every episode not actually focused on the Mandalorians I’m saying that I want her to take charge more. Yet again I expected her to bring up her own experience — she also saw her planet changed dramatically by a new regime, and that conversation could be a chance to bring her and Ezra closer together. It also might not sound natural, though, and I don’t expect the script to have to constantly remind fans of a history we saw just a few weeks ago. It still galled a bit that her own paintings were used by Ryder, though, instead of Sabine finding her own way out of the pipes. (Remember how I never trusted Ryder? I still … see no evidence to support my continued mistrust. It’s something in the eyes.) Between this week and last there was a lot of conversation around Star Wars Twitter on what Kallus’ seemingly seamless defection meant for both the Rebellion and the moral underpinning of the show. Was it setting a bad precedent for an Imperial murderer to be so easily accepted into the fold? This episode addresses that briefly but quickly, with Kallus assuming that he was left in command of the Ghost even though Rex was actually next in the chain of command. I liked Kallus’ over-eager awkwardness, as well as the idea that Hera is so far from considering the idea of leaving Kallus in charge that she talks right over him. The dialogue did intentionally make it sound like Kallus was going to get the captain’s chair, but the episode must have been written well before the fan chatter began. As someone who doesn’t expect the show to linger on Kallus very much, this short conversation was enough of an indication to me that he isn’t quite in the Ghost crew’s good graces yet. Rex’s mistrust is clearly still raw. “The Occupation” was essentially one long tracking shot across Lothal, showing how Ezra himself has changed as well as the environmental destruction on Lothal. There’s some universal truths about coming home here, about feeling tugged between the place where one grew up and a new life full of its own adventures. But this isn’t just a case of Ezra feeling different; things have changed dramatically on Lothal. “The Occupation” felt a bit like a grand tour because it reaches forward and back through the entire series, and that’s a good thing. Read the full Den of Geek NYCC Special Edition Magazine right here!
