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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: Rebels - The Future of the Force (2015) [S2E10]
After the Empire's Inquisitors begin targeting select babies for abduction, Ahsoka Tano
and the Ghost crew investigate. What they find is unsettling, and it all leads to
a deadly confrontation with the children's fates hanging in the balance.
Star Wars: Rebels - Legacy (2015) [S2E11]
After seeing his parents in a strange vision, Ezra believes they may still be alive. He heads
back to Lothal for answers, while the Empire comes to Garel hoping to crush the rebellion.
Star Wars: Rebels - A Princess on Lothal (2016) [S2E12]
While Ezra grapples with the news about his parents, the rebels make plans with Senator
Bail Organa to secure three much-needed cruisers. Leading the mission is an agent
hand-picked by the Senator: his daughter, Leia.




CONTINUITY
These three standalone episodes are about Ezra, Leia, and other 'children of the Force'. The planet
Takobo is seen for the first time, as is Chandel, but only from space. Four worlds are seen in these episodes:

These episodes take place throughout the first quarter of 7974 (3 BBY). Some time has passed since 'Stealth Strike' (S2E9), probably a month
or more. 'Legacy' occurs shortly after 'Future of the Force', so there is likely an even longer interval between 'Legacy' and 'A Princess on
Lothal'. Ezra has now been Kanan's apprentice for about a year and a half.

- Chandel is a terrestrial planet located at some unidentified location in the galaxy. It is primarily covered in large oceans, although only one
hemisphere is shown, and the planet could feature large continents on the unseen side. Even if there is not, there is certainly some land
and some population on Chandel, enough to warrant regular travel too and from the planet by commercial passenger liners. Chandel is
one of only a handful of planets which have appeared in SW material without Lucasfilm eventually giving its grid-coordinates and location.


- Ahsoka tells Kanan, "you qualify more than I do" to hear "Jedi business", which is meant to recall that she was expelled from the order, but
is also meant to illustrate her dubious status as a Jedi. She was repeatedly invited back to the Order when it still stood, and maintains
Jedi traditions, practices, and priorities at every point she is seen. She has adopted a Qui-Gon-like philosophy on her own and follows
a very pious Jedi path seemingly devoted to the light side of the Force. Although she was never promoted from the rank of Jedi Padawan,
she is most definitely a Jedi Knight at this point. There is no Council to confer these ranks officially, and even when there was it was
the Force which granted promotions by challenging students with tests. Ahsoka has certainly faced such tests, and is definitely a Jedi
Knight. At the same time, she resists the Jedi label often, but never entirely, seeing herself as an associate to the Jedi rather than a Jedi
leader in her own right. This is largely a matter of semantics and definition, as she clearly still practices all aspects of the Jedi religion.

- Ahsoka has been monitoring transmissions from Mustafar to find out more about the Sith Lord. Whatever means she is using is probably
a bit risky, and she has learned little about him, but has learned more about the Inquisitors. Her conversation makes it clear that she
is still unwilling to believe it is Anakin, despite having basically had this confirmed to her when the connected briefly in the Force.

- Takobo is a habitable planet located in the Noonian Sector, in the New Territories of the Outer Rim, along the Braxant Run hyperspace route.
The planet was clearly colonized long ago, and has significant population. Many of the people in the small city the Spectre's visit are
Ithorians, which is not surprising as this planet is relatively close in galactic terms to Ithor, the Ithorian homeworld in the Mid Rim.
Supplementary material identifies this city as 'Takobo City' and calls it the capital, which is lazy and unlikely. There is a far larger city
visible on the horizon about 40 kms away, and there are likely many more cities on this planet. If this is indeed Takobo City, it may be
called that and serve as the capital if it is the historical first city, despite having later been eclipsed in size by others. If this is the case,
it is only because the lazy and simple-minded creators usually send the protagonists to the one city which is a homonym of its planet.
Takobo has two moons, one of which is quite large for a satellite and must have a low mass and density.


- Two different 'average citizen' characters refer to the Inquisitors as "red blades", which seems to imply that the Inquisitors are somewhat
mysterious but known for carrying red lightsabers. It could also mean that they didn't really know who the Inquisitors were, and can
only associate them with their unusual red swords. Either way, they didn't know who Inquisitors are well-enough to identify them as
such, despite both being mother's to Force-sensitive children. If a worldly Jedi like Kanan who was poking his nose in Imperial business
knew little to nothing about the Inquisitors when he encountered them, it seems unlikely that most people in the galaxy know anything
about them unless they have a specific reason to, such as having worked with them in the Empire, or seen one in action in the field.
Main Article: Awareness of the Jedi and the Sith


Why does the driver of the speeder Kanan and Zeb fall into keep driving? There is probably a language barrier, since
Ithorians require technology to speak Basic, so perhaps he doesn't know what to say. He is possibly intimidated by these
two individuals who are obviously not concerned about having jumped into his vehicle, however it is strange that he isn't
reacting at all, just keeps driving. They are soon being chased by people with weapons, and yet the driver acts like this
is the kind of thing that happens and there is no reason to say anything. He even tries to get away, which is a logical move
when being attacked, but still he is remarkably calm about all of this. He made no attempt to get the two out of his
speeder, was seemingly not concerned about who they were and what they were doing, and then proceeds to help
speed them away from two people in uniforms chasing them. What exactly were his motivations in this scene?


- Ahsoka's sabers have white lightsaber crystals. She is the second Jedi in canon to wield a white lightsaber, the first being Tera Sinube,
whose white saber was first seen in The Clone Wars 'Lightsaber Lost' (S2E11). His saber is clearly white, despite non-canon
sources to the contrary. All kyber crystals are white in nature, but take on one of the 6 primary colors in response to how they
first interact with the Force through living things, which generate the Force. Crystals tend to retain their color, except in very
rare situations. According to supplementary and non-canon material, red crystals do not occur in nature, and must be artificially
forced to turn red using the dark side of the Force, which is why only dark side practitioners are ever seen with them. In her
non-canon adventures, Ahsoka defeated an Inquisitor at some point much earlier in the Imperial era, and took the two crystals
from their saber and used the Force to undo this process, leaving the crystals in their natural state. Ahsoka's lightsaber color of
white represents her path of devotion only to the light side of the Force, as white represents the true nature of the Force which
combines all colors of light. According to George Lucas, the light side of the Force is the true nature of the Force. It is unknown
where Master Sinube got his white crystal from. If he did not get it from a rare opportunity to heal a crystal which had been
turned red, it is possible that when he harvested his crystal, his purity of spirit in the light side was such that the crystal took on
no color. Master Sinube was a valued example to young Ahsoka, and she embodies the same noble character he once did.

- Ahsoka is more than a match for two Inquisitors. She was a Padawan 16 years earlier when she defeated Darth Maul, a Sith Lord,
and she has grown considerably more powerful since that time. She was ready to face the Jedi trials when she won that
victory, just as Obi-Wan was when he defeated Maul, and should have been considered a Jedi Knight for a decade and
a half at this point. She is powerful enough in the Force as well as being wise and experienced, and again like Obi-Wan,
she should have been made a Jedi Master by now or in the very near future. Her ability to extinguish an Inquisitor's saber
using the Force is clear evidence that she has advanced to a high-level mastery of the Force and the Jedi arts.


- Ezra's parents "were taken to an Imperial prison, one of a thousand." Hera is obviously approximating, but it is probably an accurate
one. These Imperial prisons are in addition to the regular prisons which exist on most settled planets with any significant
population. The Republic also had such facilities, however they were unlikely anywhere near as numerous. Unlike Republic
prisons, Imperial prisons are mostly also work factories or housing for forced prison labor. Although these prisons are likely
large and their number impressive, this is only about one prison per sector, so they are not found on the majority of planets.


As seen in Season 1, once again blasting a door's control panel is shown to cause it to close. As before, when Kanan
shoots the door controls, the huge hangar door conveniently closes, as if the shot had triggered the command to close
or some kind of fail-safe mechanism. If this were the case for a second time, it is awful convenient. As was clearly
demonstrated in Episode IV, blasting a control panel is likely to prevent anything it controls from activating, and may
short out the mechanism entirely. In this series, shooting a door control makes the door close if it is open and open if it
is closed, which makes little sense. Only occasionally is shooting the controls shown to keep the door stuck as it is.


- Ryder Azadi was the Imperial Governor of Lothal prior to Moff Pryce's appointment. He supported Ezra's parents activities, and this
was partly the reason he was accused of treason and sent to prison with them. The other factors which contributed to his
being charged with treason are not explored. Ryder was used for forced labor like most Imperial prisoners.

- Ezra's message was retransmitted and otherwise disseminated well beyond the starsystems closest to Lothal. This suggests that
the Empire has been very successful in preventing similar messages being widely broadcast, and that many people were
very excited that someone was speaking up on holonet. These were apparently disseminated by rebels and sympathizers
to the degree that they were circulating in Imperial prisons, which are already home to many considered enemies of the state.

- Sphyrna-class 'Hammerhead' corvettes are seen for the first time, which are a product of the Corellian Engineering Corporation. They are
similar in size to other CEC corvettes, and feature familiar design elements. The hammerhead type of light star cruiser is a design which
was used by Republic shipbuilders in many different eras of ancient history. The Sphyrna-class has obviously been in production for
some time, as Ezra describes them as "some old transports", and upon closer inspection these ships have clearly seen some prior use.


- Lieutenant Yogar Lyste makes his third appearance in this series. He was last seen in 'Fighter Flight' (S1E4), set almost a year and a half
before this appearance, where he was identified as Supply Master for the Imperial Army on Lothal. His reception of Princess Leia
may be connected to this function, or his function as part of the security command structure, or both. Whoever has replaced
Major Aresko as Lyste's superior officer is not known, nor is this individual ever shown in future episodes.

- Lothal is now a restricted system by order of the Emperor. Sidious has evidently had some visions through the Force which have led him to
believe correctly that Lothal and its fate are important to the Force and the unfolding of events. This may be partly why the planet was
so dramatically Imperialized in the last several years. Sidious probably does know there is an important Jedi temple somewhere on
the planet, and may have learned that the planet itself is something of a vergence in the Force, and that its ecosystem is deeply
connected to the Force. This connection is one of nature, and therefore is of no value to the dark side but does present a possible threat.
As will be seen, Sidious' five-year plan for Lothal intends to replace the planet's largely agrarian economy with factory labor, strip mine
the planet for rersources thus demolishing the planet's ecosystem, and ultimately to locate the nexus of this vergence in the Force.
Main Article: Darth Sidious and The Plan

- Princess Leia was last seen 16 years earlier in Episode III. She is now approximately 15 years and 4 months old. Leia is already a member
of the Senate, as she is an Aide to her father, but she is not yet Senator. According to the script of Episode IV, she becomes
the Senator from Alderaan sometime in the next three and a half years. She is very mature and experienced for her age, in
keeping with her character at 18 and a half in Episode IV. She was seen 6 years earlier in the non-canon series Obi-Wan Kenobi.


Kanan leaps up and slices right through the legs of an AT-AT walker in a single motion while in midair. This will be seen
again in 'Zero Hour' (S3E22), but is this really canon? Defenders of this point out that lightsabers cut without loss of
cutting power, and will not be slowed by friction when cutting through anything 'soft' enough to be cut. Others point out
that using lightsaber Form 5, Djem So, one can channel energy from the force into a blow against armor. Others have
suggested the most popular defense, that these walkers are not as well armored as those seen in Episode V, and these
walkers' legs aren't as strong. Explaining why this could make sense is not helpful if this ability would make the choices
and limitations of Jedi in other stories inexplicable. In Episode I, set about 30 years before these events, the metal
on standard blast doors was so thick and strong it was taking Qui-Gon half a minute to burn through it. In those events
and numerous examples, we see that lightsabers do experience more resistance from strong enough substances even if
they can still cut right through. Both Vader and Kanan are seen to be wearing strong enough armor on their shoulders
to get hit with a lightsaber and not have it cut clean through. These walkers have armor that is resistant to most medium
or heavy blasters, and one is even shown in these events to take multiple torpedoes to the same region before its armor
is significantly damaged. Kanan cuts through the legs like butter, and doesn't even have to grab on to them and slice for
even a second, he just powers right through them. It is not an issue for canon that he can cut through the legs, but
the speed and ease which he is able to accomplish this is almost certainly not possible to fit into canon.


ANALYSIS
Project Harvester is Darth Sidious' initiative to identify and collect Force sensitive children. Begun during the Clone Wars, this project was
intended to fill the void left by the collapse of the Jedi Order in tracking these children. Allowing Force-sensitive children to potentially learn
about the Force on their own would be a threat to him and his galactic order, just as it would have been for the Jedi. The Jedi also sought to
indoctrinate the children into their religion, believing that children with these abilities were given them by the Force in order to use them to
make the galaxy better, and to prevent any dark side teachers from influencing them. Sidious' purpose is the same, as he intends to make
them servants of the Sith, and deny them as students to any surviving Jedi, however unlike the Jedi, he will simply eliminate them if he no
longer considers them useful. Zeb sees one captured child and remarks, "I really hope that's not a baby Inquisitor", which is indeed not far
off from its possible future had the Inquisitor returned with it. While the Inquisition was not necessarily a permanent institution, it is likely
to have been preserved in some form if only to keep collecting and monitoring for new children. As revealed when Sidious had attempted
to begin this project during the Clone Wars, there are other uses for Force-wielders other than serving as knights that could be of great
use to him. At that time, the Jedi were too occupied to effectively execute their secondary imperatives like policing organized crime and
locating children. Thanks to Anakin, the Jedi were able to curtail that project, however since the destruction of the Jedi Order, Sidious'
agents now have nearly free rein, and have likely collected large numbers of children, whose fate is still unknown thus far in canon.

The Battle of Garel of a short, one-sided engagement where the Imperial Lothal Sector Fleet under Admiral Konstantine attempted to ambush
the rebel Phoenix Cell who had been using the planet as a base under the cover of its large population and starship traffic. Konstantine was
initially skeptical about a rebel presence there, stating that "Garel is a major port and under our control. Surely our garrison there would have
spotted rebel activity." The rebels had maintained their cover there by not engaging in anti-Imperial actions on the planet or in the starsystem
and using multiple spaceports to hide their ships. This cell primarily utilizes ships commonly used by commercial and civilian entities within
the Empire, or modified civilian craft like the Ghost. Although the information comes too late to be of much help, the Empire's prudent tactics
illustrate how such operations are route for the Empire at this point, and are executed according to protocol. The Empire begins by pulling
back patrols before a major strike to avoid collateral damage, and to put their enemies briefly at ease. The Empire bases its fleets around priority
planets with sufficient logistics to support them, and only deploys their major might for direct objectives. This does present a potential early
warning system for rebels if they have a wide enough intelligence network, since most of these fleets are stationed at populated worlds like
Lothal in order to take advantage of the civilian infrastructure for their supply needs. Garel is not identified as the source of the rebel activity,
and the planet is only known by the Empire as being used for a safe harbor, nevertheless any collateral damage to the planet in the battle is
considered appropriate for any planet which harbors rebels, knowingly or unknowingly. Even were Garel considered completely loyal,
the Empire has no legal need to refrain from hitting civilian targets during military operations. Ruthless efficiency in operations is demanded
of officers by the Imperial leadership, and military officers are well-shielded by many layers of political protection from ever being held
accountable for such criminal recklessness. Konstantine's failure to stop most ships from escaping is due to his single-minded fixation on
capturing the rebel command ship, believing that cutting off the head will kill the rebel body, a way of thinking central to imperialism.

Alderaan is the most proactive example of a number of important Imperial planets which are actively involved in humanitarianism and relief work.
Alderaan and similarly-minded planets were on the forefront of such activity in the Republic era, and it is not suspicious at all that they are so
vocal about rallying support for these efforts in the Senate. The Emperor cannot restrict such activities without appearing anti-democratic and
openly hostile to the plight of his citizens, and he benefits from these seemingly non-threatening operations, as they make the Empire look good
in the eyes of some of the public. Imperial officers like Lyste are not nearly as malicious as the Empire's leadership, but as nationalists and
imperialists, they love to see their side win at the expense of others. Lyste probably does not have a special desire to see non-threatening civilians
starve and suffer, but he also doesn't really care if they do. His somewhat abrasive reaction to "another meddling delegation from Alderaan" is
typical of this attitude that humanitarian efforts are a needless complication to the Empire's sole purpose in maintaining order, and that they
may even be a disruptive element. Alderaan is already somewhat suspect, as Lyste notes, "from what I hear, your ships have an unfortunate habit
of falling into rebel hands." Alderaan's increasingly common use of these humanitarian efforts to cover their assistance to rebels and espionage
of the Empire has begun to draw the Empire's attention. Leia's plan fails to account for how the Empire has already begun to adjust to these
methods. If the Empire could prove Alderaan provided ships to the rebels, it would lose its seat in the Senate and be charged with treason.
The Empire would naturally charge Alderaan's leaders with treason, however punishing the entire planet is very much in keeping with Imperial
strategy. It ensures that those in a position of power who wish to do good will cause countless innocent people on their planets to suffer for it.
This also gives incentive for others in positions of power on a planet to look for such activity and report it, thus ensuring they will be favorably
looked upon to assume the vacancies in power this will create. It is also said that Alderaan will lose its seat in the Senate, which would be a major
political coup as a world like Alderaan has probably been the capital of the Alderaan Sector for over 25,000 years. The Empire has no interest in
preserving Republic tradition, and would be all too happy to find a valid pretext to remove another deeply entrenched center of political influence.
It is prohibited from making such moves outright against any world with as much clout as Alderaan, because it still must maintain its illusion of
democracy, no matter how transparent it actually is. Alderaan cannot be caught openly aiding the rebels, and in the absence of such evidence
Alderaan is far from politically defenseless. Its voice still carries great weight in the Senate, and understanding how Imperial politics works allows
them to manipulate events the same way Palpatine did before and during the Clone Wars. Imperial officers are often all too happy to keep suspect
actions of Alderaan off of the public record, out of fear of what Senate scrutiny will mean for their careers. In this instance, Leia is able to use such
threats to get Lyste to repay Alderaan for the loss of their ships, basically charging the Empire the cost of providing the rebels with ships.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
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