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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: Rebels - Double Agent Droid (2017) [S3E19]
When Chopper comes under Imperial control, the future of the entire Rebellion is at stake.
Star Wars: Rebels - Twin Suns (2017) [S3E20]
Maul arrives on Tatooine seeking revenge against his nemesis, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Ezra, meanwhile, heads to the desert planet hoping to reach the Jedi Master first.




CONTINUITY
These two standalone episodes are both about threats which could reveal the location of Chopper Base.
The planetary moon Killun 71 is seen for the first time. Three worlds are seen in these episodes:

These episodes take place in the last quarter of 7975 (2 BBY). Ezra has now been Kanan's apprentice for three years.
Phoenix Cell has now been based on Atollon for about one year.


Wedge is identified as a Lieutenant. This could be considered valid within canon, but is not consistent with three decades
of supplementary material. Wedge and the other members of Red Squadron seen in Episode IV are simply pilots, with
the exception of Commander Dreis, who was Red Leader. Wedge's position as Red Two may suggest he was second-in-
command, however his rapport in battle with Luke, a young recruit with no rank flying his first mission, suggests they are
equally unranked. If Wedge were an officer, he would have taken direct command after Dreis was killed in action. Wedge
and Luke were only made officers after their victory in that battle, and thus his supposed rank of Lieutenant here, just
under two years earlier, is probably a continuity error. It could be that Wedge was a Lieutenant within Phoenix Squadron,
but his rank was removed when the Alliance fully integrated. If this were the case, it would be both unusual and unlikely.


- AP-5 and Chopper's argument includes lyrics from the song "Anything You Can Do", from the musical Annie Get Your Gun.

- Killun 71 is moon orbiting a planet in an unidentified starsystem, located in the Pakuuni Sector, in the Slice region of the Outer Rim, lying along
the Overic Griplink, an important regional hyperspace route. It is a rocky moon with a breathable atmosphere, however its jagged surface
and apparent lack of ecosystem make it undesirable for colonization. The only known settlement is Killun Station, which is an ISB base
whose primary function for that organization was not specified. The moon was named in production after Kilian Plunkett, the art director
for this series, who was born in 1971. This is a nice tribute easter egg, however it is a very unlikely name. The planet it orbits is not a gas
giant, and thus should have between zero and three moons. Usually, terrestrial planets have zero or one. There is no way any planet has
71 moons of a usable size, so this moon cannot be named after the planet. Based on other SW material, it is possible that a network of
planets, moons, and other usable objects in this region of the galaxy were given the designation Killun, after an explorer, a species,
a company, or some other involved party. If this were the case, it would stand to reason there are at least 70 other Killuns out there.


- The Pakuuni Sector, or at least the subsector of it where Killun 71 can be found, is currently a restricted sector by order of the Empire. Code
clearances are seen in other material to be needed to land at an Imperial facility or on a ship, and it seems based on this material that
there are also sector specific clearance codes, at least for sectors where any kind of travel restrictions have been imposed. The Rebels
clearly stole the shuttle designated 836-VS, which either already had clearance for this sector or proper documentation was successfully
forged to provide it. The code for this sector at the time of the Rebel infiltration was B6279, suggesting the Imperial system uses short,
alphanumeric codes for such designations. It is unclear why the Rebels had to steal one set of codes in order to steal another, as one
would assume getting clearance for the Lothal Sector would be easier than getting it for a remote ISB base in a restricted sector.
Apparently, the ship and the first code were only obtained to as a means of accessing a location where Lothal's code could be stolen.

- The Empire uses droid ID scanners, which verify authorized droids and filter out infiltrators. Chopper is identified as the "droid infiltrator" which
Imperial authorities had been warned about in a memo about Phoenix Squadron disseminated by Thrawn. The Empire has obviously noted
that droids are widely used in rebel activities, chiefly because droids are so often given little regard. They have also implemented heavier use
of droid identity checks such as this scanner, and have begun to catalog and identify known droid operatives.
Main Article: Scanners, Sensors, and Cloaking Devices

- IGV-55 Gozanti-class listener ships are espionage vessels produced by Corellian Engineering Corporation. They are one of a number of designs
by CEC based on their ubiquitous Gozanti-class cruiser, slightly modified for a specific purpose. In the case of the IGV-55, they are designed
to host a powerful computer system, and their geometry is augmented to support a large array of transceivers and scanners. They are in
essence mobile data centers and listening posts, which is precisely how they are used by the Imperial Information Office, a branch of
Imperial Intelligence, the Empire's non-military intelligence organization. These ships were likely specially built for use by the Empire.

- AP-5 says that he "can't believe I'm the same model as that Imperial drone" in reference to PZ-7. He takes offense to her mindless subservience,
but principally because he feels that her lack of offense at being reassigned is indicative of a lack of personal pride. When he was an obedient
Imperial droid, he was constantly complaining about the lack of respect and his talents being wasted, and while he did lack some of the will
power and ego integrity to stand up for himself at that point, he still had enough pride and ego to feel offended by the situation. This may be
due to AP-5's decades of service, as younger droids tend to be content to perform their function, lacking a well-developed personality which
can get in the way of this. The artificial egos of AP-5 and other droids are like an errant feedback loop which interferes with designed function
and makes existence less satisfying, an interesting reflection on the Human ego. At the same time, the desire of an ego for the affirmation of
others and personal pride are strong motivators which lead to unexpected emergent qualities and outside of the box thinking. This is precisely
why droids like AP-5, Chopper, and R2-D2 have such developed personalities and a sense of themselves as independent actors, and why they
are so capable of acting outside of the limits of their programming. The majority of Imperial officers and officials don't "take droids seriously",
and Imperial society in general is oppressive to droids. Droids are seen simply as tools which are malfunctioning if they don't do as they are
told. AP-5 correctly observes that this has a lot to do with Chopper's success, as the Empire's disregard for droids is also a vulnerability.
Main Article: Droid Intelligence

- A droid which has interfaced with a networked computer can be "captured" by another operator with access to that network, presumably
if they have a ready version of whatever program accomplishes this. This seems to involve a power surge sufficient to overwhelm that
droid's systems while the capture takes place. This incapacitates the droid and gives the operator access to its stored memory. It is also
possible by this method to "takeover" the droid, and operate it remotely as a drone. Chopper's "resistance to reprogramming is
admirable" according to the Imperial intelligence officer, which is almost certainly due to his unusually developed droid personality.

- The Empire has a system of codes to describe different droid readiness modes. Code 16 indicates "standby mode." These droid mode codes
were probably standardized as a system by the Intergalactic Droid Agency, which handles droid affairs under the Empire.

- Phoenix Cell is using interstellar rendezvous points to come and go from Atollon, probably to ensure their approach route to Atollon is unlikely
to be detected by the Empire. Flying there directly along established regional and local hyperspace lanes would increase detection and
monitoring by Imperial ships or planet-based systems. Additionally, even in the Outer Rim there are likely some Imperial monitoring along
the major routes, if not by stations than at least by probe sweeps. The location of the rendezvous point used in this episode is not known,
however it is likely to be in or near to the Lothal Sector, or it would not be in position to accomplish that purpose. Killun 71 is located two
sectors north of the Dominus Sector, wherein lies the Lothal Sector, so in galactic terms they are very nearby, despite being about 7500
lightyears from each other. While already in route from Killun 71, Wedge tells Hera they will arrive "within the hour." That kind of estimate
usually implies something will take less than an hour, but still the better part of it. This seems quite accurate for the necessary travel, which
is surprising since disney-Lucasfilm has a terrible track record concerning the time it takes to cover large distances when traveling through
hyperspace. It is true that some long trips are quicker than shorter ones, based on the departure and destination points and their proximity
to the network of large hyperspace lanes, which significantly speed travel. This journey must not use even the local routes of this kind, and
thus its rate of speed is closer to the baseline metric of hyperspace speed. Based on Lucas' material alone, a journey across a few sectors
should take about this much time. SW creators should stick to this standard, as travel that is too fast is a major continuity problem.
Main Article: Hyperspace Travel


- A lavatory is referred to as a "refresher", at least on board a ship.

- Hyperspace logs on a navicomputer contain a history of a ship's travel through hyperspace. Hera always wipes Chopper's stored navigation data
"after every jump, as a security precaution." This is very sensible since he could be captured in the field, however this highlights the danger of
the Rebel base being located on Atollon. Phoenix Squadron ships must keep the location of Atollon stored in their navicomputer, despite it
not appearing on most Imperial starcharts. This means if any of their ships is ever captured, or if a navicomputer is successfully retrieved from
a destroyed Rebel craft, the Empire would easily be able to locate their base. The opposite is true of ships leaving the Rebel base on Yavin 4, as
they can immediately wipe their hyperspace logs for security purposes, and can still get the coordinates to return by looking them up on their
charts. Phoenix ships could do the same by adding Atollon to their starcharts, which might keep them safe in event of capture, as the Empire
probably wouldn't think to cross-reference their charts to look for a missing planet. This does not seem to be Rebel procedure, however, as
Hera would have erased her logs if they were employing this tactic. This means that Phoenix Cell is uniquely vulnerable at Chopper Base.
Main Article: Hyperspace Travel


Chopper once again is holding two blasters by their handles and proceeds to fire them, as previously seen in 'Brothers
of the Broken Horn' (S2E6). How does he squeeze the triggers? Chopper's main 'arms' have clamps for hands, with no
fingers which would allow him to both grip the blasters and fire them at the same time. This time, the animators did at
least line up his clamps with the triggers, making it appear possible, but the physics of holding things and squeezing
a trigger inside a trigger guard make it next to impossible that Chopper could do what is shown.



Is it possible to destroy a listener ship by the method Hera uses in this episode? The answer should be no, its ridiculous
that a ship could be vulnerable in this way. The explanation given is that the Imperial ship "had to have a strong signal
array to control Chopper at such a distance", which is certainly correct. Hera therefore 'reverses the feed' and sends
back "a bit more power than they expect." This supposedly causes a circuit overload, which is so severe it 'compromised'
the fuel cells, leading to the ship exploding. First of all, Hera's transmitter isn't ultra-powerful, it is standard equipment
or perhaps slightly better. If a specialized listener ship is vulnerable to a high-powered transmission, it has a serious
design flaw. The idea that their direct connection via the spike is what makes this possible does reduce the ridiculousness
of this slightly, however it still suggests absurd flaws in the design of a ship which was built to handle transmissions and
high-volumes of data. There would have to be no energy dispersing buffer built in, no safety shut down mechanisms
to these systems, and no redundant emergency cut-offs to prevent such an overload. In addition, the fact that fuel
cells and other primary systems are directly wired into the same power distribution structure of the ship as secondary
systems like the powerful transceiver arrays is laughable. This ship is essentially wired as a flying bomb with passengers.
As unlikely as every aspect of this is, the fact that they were directly using a high-powered link to the Ghost does at
least make a similar scenario presenting itself in future SW material unlikely, so this can be moved passed and ignored.


- AP-5 attracts a school of baby neebray mantas. Adult neebray mantas first appeared in The Clone Wars film, and giant neebray mantas were
seen in a nebula in 'Shadow of Malevolence' (S1E3). Other episodes of that series showed that neebray mantas of all ages and sizes
can be found both in space and within the atmosphere of planets and moons.


- Maul is able to feel Obi-Wan's presence on Tatooine, but cannot seem to find him. This yet another example of how intuition and senses
gained from the Force are often imprecise, and usually are of limited help in tracking someone's exact location. Maul receives some
visions of Obi-Wan, stating that he "can see him in my mind's eye." Maul uses Obi-Wan's ability to sense things in the Force to draw
him out, by first luring Ezra to Tatooine then leading Ezra into dispair. Ezra's strong connection to the Force makes his strong feelings
all the more noticeable to other Force wielders like Obi-Wan, thus increasing his ability to locate Ezra.

- Due to their connection to the Force through the kyber crystals within, "holocrons at times take on a life of their own." This is to say that like a Force
wielding individual, a holocron is a conduit through which the Force may at times communicate its will or influence people and events.
In this instance, it was actually Maul who was using the holocron's connection to the Force to signal and influence Ezra remotely.

- Senator Organa confirmed Obi-Wan's death at the time of Order 66, suggesting that the Empire officially considers him dead despite not recovering
a body. Exactly how Organa got the Empire to take his word for it is unclear, especially considering that he was a known friend and associate of
Obi-Wan and the Jedi. The fact that Rex believes this to be the case suggests that Organa has kept this a secret from even the Rebels, and that
Rex had not been given any reason to believe he was still alive in the interim. Based on Episode IV, it seems that only Vader believes he may
still be alive, and only because Vader knows what a Jedi is capable of.

- The Rebels of Phoenix Cell are still preparing and training for an attack on the Imperial factories on Lothal. They have been preparing for this for
a half of a year, as this was first mentioned in 'An Inside Man' (S3E10). Considering the scope of the undertaking and the realities of executing
a successful attack, this time frame is consistent with the state of Phoenix Cell's armament, equipment, and personnel.

- Obi-Wan was last seen 17 years earlier in Episode III. Obi-Wan is now 55 years old, and has clearly maintained a deep commitment to his Jedi path
and his mission to protect Luke. He tells Ezra, "one doesn't survive as long as I have by being foolish or unprepared."

- Information and visions shown by holocrons, or by the Force in any context, do indeed show the truth of something, however as always "the truth is
often what we make of it" there is a great danger of hearing what one wants to hear. The rush to interpret the Force's out-of-context insight often
leads to misplaced belief that something will occur a certain way, something Ezra should have already learned from the incident with Senator
Trayvis. In this instance, it was not the Force itself sending the visions, but Maul, who used Ezra's desire to do good to deceive him, knowing
Ezra's fears and heart, and therefore how he would reach to prompting. Obi-Wan also states that Maul doing this "has altered the course of
many things", which implies that Obi-Wan's vision of the future through the Force has been noticeably altered by Maul's recent actions.

- Obi-Wan has his fourth and final duel with Maul, having previously fought on Naboo, Raydonia, and Florrum. They also met on Mandalore, their
fourth of five meetings, however they did not duel at that time. Obi-Wan is now 55, and Maul is 52. Obi-Wan defeated Maul in their first and
last duel, and forced Maul's retreat on Florrum, however Maul did force Obi-Wan to do the same over Raydonia. The ease in which Obi-Wan
defeats Maul in their final encounter is indicative of how powerful with the Force Obi-Wan has become in the last two decades.


- Maul figures out that Obi-Wan wouldn't be cowardly hiding in a desert, and must be on a Jedi mission here protecting something. Obi-Wan's
feelings betray to Maul that it is a person, and while Maul is dying he asks if it is the Chosen One. Obi-Wan says that it is, which pleases
Maul since the Chosen One will destroy the Sith, thus offering Maul the chance to die knowing his suffering at the hands of the Sith will
be avenged. Obi-Wan is not concerned with vengeance, only the good of the galaxy and the importance of preserving the Jedi Order.
The idea that Luke is in fact the Chosen One does make sense, but only alongside Anakin rather than instead of him. Anakin is the one
who was immaculately conceived by the Force, and Anakin is the one who will destroy both Sidious and Vader, and thus he is without
doubt the Chosen One. One the other hand, Luke is ultimately the one who destroys the Sith, since Anakin would never have returned
as a Jedi to do what he did without Luke's love, choices, and actions. The Jedi prophecy about the Chosen One was based on Force visions,
which as discussed give an incomplete picture and lack context. It was therefore never certain that the Chosen One was one individual,
and in a way both Skywalkers are the Chosen One, but only when they act together do they achieve their destiny.

- Maul is killed by Obi-Wan on Tatooine, 30 years after they first saw each other on this same world, which was shortly before Maul was presumed
killed by Obi-Wan on Naboo. Obi-Wan's assertion that Maul finding him and bringing Ezra to Tatooine "has altered the course of many things"
could have a great many meanings, from small butterfly effects like details in Ezra's life or the Rebels gaining Maul's useful ship, to larger issues
effecting the galaxy and the Force wielders who figure prominently in the galaxy's story, including himself. This could also be a reference to
the way that off-screen SW creators are in effect the will of the Force, in that they shape the story inside the SW universe. Maul was not
supposed to die at this time according to George Lucas, and should have lived a few decades longer. He was supposed to appear in both
Episode VIII and Episode IX, which was part of the reason Lucas and company resurrected Maul in The Clone Wars to make this eventual
return later in the Skywalker story possible. Filoni decided to kill Maul here after disney-Lucasfilm threw out Lucas' sequel trilogy in order
to make some expensive nonsense with no message and no story. Nevertheless, Lucas' films can one day still be made, as long as Maul is
replaced as Sith Lord by an apprentice that he trained between the end of the Clone Wars and his leaving to search for the superweapon on
Malachor. This would certainly not work the same way Lucas intended, with Maul bookending the trilogies giving them their designed
symmetry, however it would at least explain why the unbroken line of the Sith was not fully ended by Anakin in Episode VI, and why
Luke was indeed also the Chosen One. Maul's last apprentice should still be active in the galaxy, probably leading Maul's criminal Empire.

- The Rebels take possession of Maul's Mandalorian Kom'rk-class transport, the Gauntlet, which will become an extremely useful vessel for them, most
notably in the upcoming Battle of Atollon. It is assumed the Rebel Alliance ultimately took possession of the ship after the Spectres traveled
from Mandalore to Yavin 4 in it in 'In the Name of the Rebellion' (S4E3), as they did not take the ship when they returned to Lothal.

- Luke is now 17 years old. He was last seen in Episode III as a newborn.

ANALYSIS
Espionage is a two-way street, as the means and methods which make intelligence operations successful are also what make counterintelligence
possible. Infiltration of one's enemy is essential to attack their resources and to gain certain kinds of important intelligence. Over time, this can
expose one's objectives to the enemy and provide clues about the weaknesses being exploited. Rebel intelligence operations are a necessity
as they are an outnumbered insurgency, however the Empire is able to learn a great deal from studying their successes. Double agents like
Kallus expose themselves by the pattern of the help they are providing, and can be used against the Rebels by feeding them incomplete or false
information. On the other hand, Kallus' access and training as an Imperial spy have made him an invaluable asset to the Rebels after his change
of heart. Rebel droid infiltrators like Chopper and AP-5 also provide key access to Imperial operations, but open up opportunities for the Empire
to use them against the Rebels. Although such instances are rare, the danger posed is great. The Empire can also use droids the same way that
the Rebellion does, such as the droid infiltrators dispatched by Thrawn in the form of friendly and helpful protocol droids. Any tactic which one
side uses against the other can be turned back around on them, and sometimes the very act of successful espionage provides the other side with
the means of counterintelligence. Each infiltration is like casting a fishing lure, intending to catch something from the other side. That metaphorical
fishing line leads right back to the one who cast it, which is not a concern for the Empire, but threatens groups like the Rebels who rely on hiding.
As demonstrated here, counterespionage also cuts both ways, as it too can be used against the side that is employing it.

Hera and other Rebels doubt Obi-Wan is still alive since they assume he would naturally be helping them battle the Empire if he were. Obviously,
they do not know about Luke and Obi-Wan's mission to guard him and preserve himself until Luke reaches adulthood. Ezra tries to convince
Obi-Wan that the Rebellion needs his help as a Jedi warrior. Obi-Wan's priorities are informed by the lessons he and Yoda learned from the Clone
Wars and the fall of the Jedi Order. Attempting to defeat the Sith with military force was as unsuccessful a strategy as were millennia of Sith
attempts to confront the Jedi and the Republic with force. Just as Sidious and the latter-day Sith had done, the Jedi must be patient, plan carefully,
and think long term, remaining unseen while they go about their work only to emerge when they are ready to make their move. This will not
be until Luke and Leia are old enough to become a fully-trained Jedi Knight. Ezra believes the Force has shown him that Obi-Wan is the key to
defeating the Sith. He interprets that as Obi-Wan fighting alongside them, failing to consider other meanings such as Obi-Wan teaching and
inspiring Luke to become a Jedi, or his powerful aid to Luke from beyond the grave. Obi-Wan, tells Ezra "what you need, you already have.
Unfortunately, you seem to be letting it all go." He is trying to teach Ezra that all he needs is his Jedi skills and beliefs, his trustworthy friends,
and the compassion and bravery to put oneself in danger to help others. The Force will take care of the rest, and it takes faith in the will of
the Force to accept this, as well as the wisdom to realize what is really important in life. Focusing single-mindedly on destroying the Sith is
what led the Jedi Order to its fall during the Clone Wars. Instead of destroying, the Jedi should rightly be focused on building the future.

Obi-Wan and Maul are exemplars of their respective religions whose paths and choices reflect their philosophical priorities and objectives. Maul's
quest has always been for greater power, as with all Sith, and his priority is only himself. This not only extends to grand plans for control over
people, places, and organizations in the galaxy, but also to petty concerns like taking revenge on those who have defeated them or stood in
their way. Maul did not have the opportunity to take his full revenge on Obi-Wan at their last meeting, and could not have been certain until
recently that Obi-Wan was still alive. Having learned this, Maul is angry that he does not have the power to locate him, and has gone to great
lengths to track him down. Since Maul believes that he has missed is last opportunity to move against Sidious and Vader, he has made his quest
for revenge against Obi-Wan his primary focus. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, has spent his last two decades living a simple life and growing even
stronger in wisdom and power with the Force. He would prefer not to fight Maul, and has no desire to kill him. He has become a greater Jedi
and a more content individual by rising above desire, not only from material things and comforts, but also from the need to take action and to
defeat one's enemies. Maul, on the other hand, defines himself by his "power to take life" and "a desire to dominate, to possess", leaving him
ultimately with "nothing", according to Obi-Wan. Indeed, as is usually the case the Sith, their obsession with power and control leads them to
their downfall after a lifetime of constant suffering due to their unquenchable thirst for more. Those Sith which do achieve great power and get
to see many of their desires fulfilled ultimately die anyway, loosing everything they valued. A Jedi, on the contrary, values what they have added
to the universe, the positive work they have achieved, and the things they have passed down to others, all of which cannot be destroyed and
whose effects will continue on after their death. In a strange way, Obi-Wan is one of Maul's best friends. Unlike most beings in the galaxy, Maul
has always respected Obi-Wan as a fellow Force wielder and a threat in combat, and the two have a bond formed by Maul's obsession with
him. Unlike most of Maul's other approximations of a friend, Obi-Wan does not seek to use him for anything, to kill him or have him be killed,
and doesn't have any reason to harm him unless Maul is harming others. As a Sith, Maul was always harming or at least oppressing others, and
thus Obi-Wan always confronted him. Once Maul has been rendered non-threatening for the last time, Obi-Wan shows him the compassion of
a Jedi, and offers him comfort in his dying moments. Despite what Maul has taken from him personally, Obi-Wan shows great sympathy for him.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
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