Prior Episodes | 7976 (1 BBY) | Next Episodes
Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: Rebels - DUME (2018) [S4E11]
Following the loss of Kanan, the Ghost crew looks for direction and answers.
Star Wars: Rebels - Wolves and a Door (2018) [S4E12]
Ezra and Sabine go to the Jedi Temple on Lothal...and discover that the Empire has reached it first.
Star Wars: Rebels - A World Between Worlds (2018) [S4E13]
Now inside the Jedi Temple portal, Ezra finds himself in a place like no other.




CONTINUITY
These three episodes form a single storyline about the Jedi temple on Lothal.
The planet Lothal is the only world seen in these episodes:

Episodes 5 through 16 of this season are really one continuous narrative, however it is segmented by smaller storylines.
Episode 10, 'Jedi Night', the final episode of the last storyline was originally titled 'Ascension - Part 1', with the episode
'DUME' from this storyline originally titled 'Ascension - Part 2'. Episodes 5 through 13, as well as the following three
episodes which complete the series, take place in rapid succession, with no significant gaps of time between episodes
or storylines. This storyline and the two which precede it take place in the last quarter of 7976 (1 BBY), with this
storyline certainly taking place in the last month. Ezra has now been a Jedi for more than four years.

- Com-scans are integrated computer systems which cross-reference sensors of every available kind with communications data to produce real
time information models. This gives a record of all available data about what was going on at any point which more closely approximates
reality than a collection of scans or logs. It also allows a large amount of complex data to be reduced to a single display, allowing
operators in the middle of ongoing activity to have full access to the big picture as well as the most minute known details. These
units are used by both the Imperial military and the Rebel Alliance, and may be advanced military equipment not sold to civilian
entities. Com-scans would have been unable to detect Kanan surrounded by the energy of the explosion, however the Empire also
uses security recorders at its facilities, so in this case a visual log of his death was available.
Main Article: Scanners, Sensors, and Cloaking Devices


Moff Pryce is briefed by an officer she specifically refers to as Lieutenant, however according to his rank insignia he is
a high-ranking flag officer, or is in serious trouble for impersonating one. This is the sixth and final incarnation of
'Sideburns', a ridiculously overused animation template who appears across the Empire, often in an inappropriate role for
his high rank. Three different 'Sideburns' were killed in the span of two episodes earlier in this season, and this template
is also used for the executive officer of Thrawn's flagship, Fleet Commander Woldar, who appeared in the previous
storyline and will appear also in the next storyline. This officer cannot be Woldar, as he departed with Thrawn during
the last storyline for Coruscant, and they have not yet returned to Lothal. This 'Lieutenant' is wearing an insignia which
would be worn by a Major General, Brigadier General, or Brigadier Colonel in the Army, or a Rear Admiral, Commodore,
or Fleet Commander in the Navy. This is a two-row 'box' insignia, with four tiles across. A Lieutenant's two-row insignia
would have two tiles across. Additionally, a Lieutenant can be indicated by a single-row 'bar' insignia with three or
two tiles across, depending on their officer grade, i.e. 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Lieutenant, or Junior Lieutenant. Although
Lieutenant is one insignia which has been well-established in SW material, the creators sometimes totally fail to note
details like this, and often reuse animation templates to save on production costs, assuming that few will notice.
This could be written off as an animation error, except that Pryce directly addresses him as "Lieutenant". As with
all her appearances, Moff Pryce's insignia is also incorrect, and is a continually repeated continuity error.
Main Article: Ranks and Rank Insignia




Why, exactly, does the Empire need the fuel depot to produce the TIE Defender? Obviously, once built the fighters will
need fuel, however the implication is that they cannot be produced without the fuel. There are four different accounts
given in 'DUME' of exactly what issue this creates. We are first told, "with the loss of the fuel depot, production lines
for the TIE defender will halt", suggesting the fuel will power some aspect of the factory. Next, Thrawn says that due to
losing their "entire fuel supply" on Lothal, "the operation on Lothal, my TIE Defender project, has been compromised."
This suggests that this fuel was needed for the ships already produced as well as the TIE Defenders, which could make
sense whether the factory needed the fuel or not to build them. Next, Sabine logs into the Empire's data network and
learns that "the TIE defender factory was shut down" because "it took serious damage when the fuel depot blew up."
This suggests that the fuel was unimportant to the production of the TIE Defender, except that its explosion damaged
the factory. We are last told that the Empire now has "no fuel for the factories", and thus "their entire production
line has stopped." This episode was written by Dave Filoni and Christopher Yost, who did a really terrible job getting
their own story straight in this brief, 23-minute-long adventure. Either the Empire cannot use the TIE Defender
without fuel, cannot produce them without using the fuel to power the factory, or can't build them anymore because
their factory was damaged in an explosion. It could also be more than one of these factors, however the dialogue does
not suggest this, as each instance makes a clear assertion which does not elicit additional questions from others present
about why that would stop the TIE Defender project. Zeb and Sabine also refer to the fuel depot as a "refinery", which
it absolutely is not, so it seems the writers were just somewhat oblivious to the most basic aspects of industrial
production. Most factories run on a common source of power and don't require special fuel for specific production,
however this could be the case here. This seems highly dubious, given the energy sources available to the Empire.
It is best not to try and make too much sense of all this, as the writers obviously didn't.


- As has previously been implied but is here fully established, the rank of Grand Admiral is superior to that of Moff in the integrated Imperial
command structure. Ordinarily, Imperial military government officers have authority over regular military officers, however this
is only the case if one is at a superior officer grade. The highest officer grade has the "Grand" designation, and as a result
a Grand Admiral or Grand General is superior to any officer other than a Grand Moff, who is on the grade level but is part of
the military government. A Moff is the governor rank immediately below Grand Moff in terms of officer grade, and thus is inferior in
integrated operations to a Grand Admiral or Grand General. As a result, Pryce takes orders from Thrawn, who takes orders from Tarkin.
Main Article: Ranks and Rank Insignia

- Zeb states that "the Empire doesn't give days off", which is assumed to be literally true rather than hyperbole. This suggests the Empire does not
permit its workers to take any holidays off, even Empire Day, and that there is no version of a weekend, with workers reporting for duty
every day. It is not known if Human-dominated societies had some form of weekend before the Empire, or if days off are traditional anywhere.


Rukh has a wrist band which projects a personal cloaking screen. This is the fourth instance of cloaking technology seen in
SW material, and the first example from non-Lucas material. The creators could be excused from showing Star Trek-style
'invisible to the eye' cloaking in SW, given that Lucas-era material had already made this grievous error, however Dave
Filoni was responsible for the earlier material with cloaking devices as well, so this is as much his fault as it is Lucas'.
The statement about cloaking devices from Episode IV established in canon two important facts: cloaking devices were
large or extremely energy intensive, making it "impossible" for something as small as a freighter to have one, and that
when in use, they cause a ship to "no longer appear on scopes." There is no indication they make a ship invisible to
the eye in space, and the suggestion that only large ships would have them implies that all star destroyers must be
equipped with them, being the single largest and most technologically advanced ships in the galaxy. Since we don't ever
see the Empire's forces emerging from invisibility to ambush ships like a wing of Romulan ships, we must assume that
ships using them can still be seen out of a window. By extension, the existence of this kind of technology would render
most of the tactics and stories in other SW material incredibly stupid, and also hard to believe. There is no genre
where believability is more essential than in sci-fi and even fantasy, where there is such a degree of separation from
reality that grounded elements are most important. After establishing very clear particulars in the first film, Lucas-era
material foolishly introduced invisible ships, droids with personal cloaks operating inside an atmosphere, and one
example of an ultra-elite starfighter which had a cloaking device even though it is tiny. These were all continuity
issues or errors, but fortunately not revisited by future material, until this episode. Rukh's personal cloaking device
could be considered ultra-advanced technology which was not widely-available, and given the time period that might
not destroy canon, however why Thrawn would not be sharing that with the Empire makes little sense, and the Empire
would certainly be using this everywhere if it had the technology, considering that it has most of the galaxy's wealth
and production capacity. This cloaking device has most of the same issues as the chameleon droids from Clone Wars
'Chapter 14', specifically, if these systems exist, why are they not used everywhere, or at least often, and why even
bother using other forces in most instances if cloaked droids could be sent out to shoot things while invisible, and
cloaked fighter droids could attack a ship without being seen. While this instance is absolutely not something that should
be shown in SW again, at least this device had some realism and limitations. Rukh was not entirely invisible, as his
outline was apparent from the constant disruption of the atmosphere, and they were able to see him on thermal scan.
This is ironic, since it is scanners and scopes which cloaks are supposed to work against, rather than the eyeball.
While still a canon issue, this could be a new stealth tech unrelated to the devices termed "cloaking devices."
Main Article: Scanners, Sensors, and Cloaking Devices


- The giant loth-wolf in Ezra's vision named Dume may be, in some way, Kanan's presence in the Force, something implied by Ezra later suggesting
that Kanan is "really gone" only after the task for which the loth-wolves wanted Kanan was complete, and Ezra's discussion with Ahsoka
about how Kanan, through his energy in the cosmic Force, could still be trying to complete his mission. Dume tells Ezra to "restore past,
redeem future" by protecting the gateway in the Jedi temple. This suggests the cyclical nature of the time continuum in SW, as introduced
in this episode, where any interference in the past will inevitably lead to the future where the interference originates in the first place.


- Hera was made a General prior to the Rebel assault on Lothal. The patch on her sleeve still says Captain, although she was probably promoted
just before coming to Lothal, and just hasn't changed it yet. It seems to be a patch sewn on to her clothes.
Main Article: Ranks and Rank Insignia

- The Jedi temple on Lothal is identified as being far to the north on the planet. It was previously clear it was located in a polar region.

- The loth-wolves of the Force are "on Lothal's side", rather than the Rebels. This means that they're on the Rebels side as long as what the Rebels
are doing suits the will of the Force. Ezra hopes there is not a difference, otherwise the Force is unlikely to be with them in a larger sense.
The Jedi and their allies usually believe they are following the Force's will, however they are not in perfect sync, unlike an ecosystem.

- Minister Veris Hydan is part of the Imperial Council - Palpatine's advisors, inner court, and executive functionaries. They are the highest ranking
Imperial officials other than the Emperor, and carry his direct authority, which Hydan describes as, "my power is but a reflection of
the might of my Emperor." Hydan is the first of Palpatine's Ministers to be seen outside of Episode VI. He and the other Ministers are
entirely complicit in the Emperor's plans, and know that he is Darth Sidious. They probably know him better than anyone other than
Vader. Hydan's portfolio as Minister seems to focus on, or at least include, Sith and Jedi concerns, as evidenced by his assignment to
this project and his prior research in the Jedi archives. He dies because he cares so much about his purpose and preserving these
powerful antiquities that he is crushed by them while he is overcome with grief about their impending loss.


- Palpatine has now been Galactic Emperor for exactly 18 years, and despite being essentially at the apex of his power, is noticeably concerned
about his many and sundry enemies moving against him, and is as uncertain as ever about the future, about which he is continuously
preoccupied. Just as Yoda and the Jedi Council before him, Sidious' relies more and more on his vision through the Force to provide him
with insights into both the present and future, fearing missing vital warnings or making critical errors. This vision is imperfect, intermittent,
and often uncertain, showing more than one possible outcome. This still give Sidious one of his greatest advantages, but due to his
reliance it also becomes his greatest weakness, one that ultimately proves to be fatal. His urgency concerning the gateway project is due
to his fear of his enemies. Kanan's choices and the actions which led to his death have cause a great disturbance in the Force, which has
not only changed the fate of Lothal, but clouded Sidious' vision about its probable future, leaving him increasingly concerned.
Main Article: Darth Sidious and The Plan

- The iconography on the gateway was of the Mortis gods, suggesting a direct connection between Lothal, the World Between Worlds, Mortis, and
the cosmic Force. The gateway is in located at "the roots of the temple", and is obviously ancient. Hydan reveals that the Mortis gods
"appear throughout the Jedi's recorded history", suggesting that the recent changes in Mortis are a monumental shift in the cosmic
landscape of the galaxy. Sidious is not only aware of the Mortis gods, he also seems to know the WBW is "a conduit between the living
and the dead", which suggests there is some record of this, either from Jedi records or Sith, or both. Morai, the convor, is described
by Hydan as "a servant of the Daughter, or possibly the Daughter herself when acting as a spirit guide." Morai was the spirit animal of
the Daughter, the Mortis god devoted to the light side of the Force. Since she gave Ahsoka some of her energy to restore Ahsoka's life
in The Clone Wars 'Altar of Mortis' (S3E16), Ahsoka is now connected to her in the Force in some way, and Morai is often seen in her
presence. The painting on the temple acts as the gateway's control panel, with a star map showing paths to doorways within the WBW.


- The public-address announcement at the site of the temple excavation informs personnel, "Attention. There is a safety hazard zone in standing 25
meters from the temple. Special teams are exempt, and look out for static charge. All operational departments signal by beeping twice."
This indicates something of their procedures, as well as the possible strange energies connected to the site. Areas adjacent to the mural
are a restricted area. Sabine tries to explain her presence there as following Imperial military protocol, namely code 6-1-1-0, which by
implication makes investigating a suspected immediate threat a priority. The investigating trooper tells her this is a non-military operation,
"classified under directive AT-1-4", which would seem to be a special executive order pertaining to antiquities related to the Force or Jedi.
The statement that Sabine "should have been informed about the new directive" implies this irregular classification was a recent move.

- The World Between Worlds is an ethereal realm of the Force located on a plane of existence entirely outside of spacetime. According to supplementary
material, it is also known as the 'Vergence Scatter', although this name has not been used in canon. It is an ancient nexus in the Force
which links all moments in time and space together. Living beings can apparently survive in the World Between Worlds without difficulty,
and although it is unclear what they are breathing, this is not surprising since realms of the Force are composed of the energy of the Force,
which is entirely generated by life. It is experienced by living beings as a series of pathways and portals leading to different locations
in space and time. These paths and the events the portals lead to change and respond to the individual exploring the realm, and offer different
potential destinations. This is the only known gateway to reach the WBW, which was mostly destroyed during these events and shortly after,
however once opened by a Jedi, a Sith Lord was able to access Mortis using a Sith Force ritual. This suggests that the WBW was known of and
accessed by both the Jedi and the Sith at some point in ancient history. Why this knowledge was partly lost is not known. The portals in
the WBW have different designs based on what kind of portal they are. Their meanings are not fully known, however the gate with
the loth-wolves led to and from the Jedi temple on Lothal. Some gates seem to indicate critical junctures in a person's history, while
other gates seem to connect to events taking place in what is the present time period on Lothal. Thus far, five portal designs have been seen.


- Hydan says that Sidious was "rather impressed with young Bridger", considering that Ezra accessed the temple under guard and opened
the gateway without the help of other Jedi. He and Sidious not only know about Kanan Jarrus, a.k.a. Caleb Dume, they obviously
know plenty about Ezra at this point, but had considered him to be a non-threatening Padawan of little power. This has now
changed, and Sidious will temporarily take an interest in trying to recruit Ezra rather than destroy him.

- One gateway in the WBW shows us the conclusion to Vader and Ahsoka's battle in 'Twilight of the Apprentice' (S3E22), which took place
about 2 years and 1 month earlier. Ahsoka was seen to have survived the battle, but had not been seen since. Morai was also seen
in the aftermath of that battle, and is here seen waiting in the WBW to direct Ezra to intervene in those events. Ezra pulls her out,
saving her and maintaining the continuity of the timeline. Ahsoka explains that events cannot be changed through the WBW, and
just as Ezra saving her was part of history, so was Kanan giving his life. Kanan cannot be saved by someone who he saved reaching
back in time and pulling him out, because there is only one temporal continuity in SW, and this would create an impossible paradox.
Just as Kanan cannot be saved any more than Ahsoka can go back from here and save Anakin from Sidious, Ahsoka also cannot
use the intervention to return to a different time period with Ezra. She must return to Malachor, near in time to the point in which
Ezra pulled her out. The WBW does offer a wealth of information, and the valuable time-travel aspect it offers is the ability to pull
people out of time and have a conversation with them, as Ezra does with Ahsoka, but only if that intervention was already part of
the past for the individual concerned who comes from a later point in time.

- Sidious is able to use Sith alchemy, first seen in The Clone Wars 'Sacrifice' (S6E13), to access the WBW once the gateway has been opened
by a Jedi. It is an old art of the dark side, and part of the inheritance which Darth Bane's Rule of Two has successfully passed down from
the ancient Sith orders down to Sidious. The fact that there is a way known for a Sith Lord to do this suggests that the Jedi had opened
the gateway at some point in the last 8000, or probably 6000 years, such that the Sith also figured out how to access it themselves.
This would have led the Jedi to keep the gateway closed at most times in the future. Sidious is able to attack those inside the WBW, but
needs their assistance, voluntary or involuntary, to enter himself, although that may not have been the case if he activated himself
activated the gateway. His inability to grab either Ahsoka or Ezra before they leave means he cannot return without the gateway.


At what point in time does Ahsoka return to Malachor from the WBW, and where has she been for the past two years?
She promises to "come and find" Ezra when she gets back, so where is she now, and for that matter where will she be
during the next 4 years? She does not seem to have helped the Rebels, met Luke, or helped him deal with Sidious.
Dave Filoni prefers to remain vague about the timeline of Ahsoka's events, probably because he hasn't actually
figured it out himself, preferring to leave as much room as possible for later changes or new directions he might want
to introduce. It is possible he does know when this was supposed to have occurred, and just won't tell us because he
doesn't like to be creatively limited later. This has proven to have been a very bad production choice for most disney
SW material, which doesn't have a story to tell so much as events they want to show. The story is filled in piecemeal
as new content is developed, leading to horrible issues with continuity, characters' motives, and underlying message.
Perhaps this is Filoni's way of removing a character that is too important to have been sidelined during the Civil War
and the events of the original trilogy, just as they will do with Thrawn in the next storyline. If Ahsoka was sent back to
Malachor, but it was actually a several years in the future, this would explain why she was unavailable during those
events. It is also possible that she became temporarily trapped on Malachor, like Maul before her, although there
was probably at least one of the Inquisitors' TIE fighters still available to make her escape, just as Maul had. It is also
possible Ahsoka was returned to Malachor only minutes after she left, with Vader having already left, unable to
access where Ahsoka was, and unable to sense her presence since she was in the WBW. If so, where has she been?
She could at least have returned like she promised to thank Ezra, before going off to cowardly hide and become
a pathetic hermit who is emotionally crippled and spends their time wallowing in pity, like all Jedi in disney SW.


- The gateway was opened by accessing the hand of the Daughter using the Force. Hydan and Sabine determine that the hand of the Son
closes it. This seems to be incorrect, as the Son's hand seems to permanently seal not only the gateway but also the entire temple
complex. Ezra probably should have accessed the Father's hand probably, which by deduction would probably have returned
the gateway to closed without essentially losing the temple forever, although Ezra probably would have chosen to do that
anyway to keep it out of the Empire's hands. The dark energy of accessing the Son's hand causes Ezra to pass out.

ANALYSIS
After Admiral Thrawn succeeds in soundly defeating the Rebel Alliance's attempt to strike Lothal, Moff Pryce finally succeeds in killing Kanan and
dealing the Lothal Rebels a critical blow. She uses the political capital from these victories for propaganda purposes, holding a mandatory,
celebratory parade designed to send a message to the population about the futility of resisting the Empire, which was a tactful decision.
Despite these unprecedented successes, the defeat of Kanan required destroying the Empire's own resources, something which would usually
be celebrated by Imperial authorities, especially Pryce's direct boss, Grand Moff Tarkin. The difference in this instance is the setback for
the TIE Defender project, partly due to its strategic importance, but primarily because the Empire is a highly-political organism where stepping
on the wrong toes can be fatal. The setback to this project will affect Thrawn's prestige, as well as his plans and ambitions, and Pryce will now
have to answer for this. The Rebel goal of destroying the Empire's fuel depot and at least disabling the factory where the TIE Defender Elite
will be produced is achieved, but only due to Pryce's overenthusiastic actions. The Lothal Rebels are now without a Jedi leader, and have fully
exhausted the material support they can expect from the Alliance, which has already squandered a significant allotment of indispensable
pilots and military resources attempting to aid Lothal. The Alliance's leaders will take the small victory of delaying the TIE Defender production,
and concentrate on more realistic goals. Lothal was simply too well defended for a massively inferior force to attempt symmetric warfare.
This leaves the Lothal Resistance with the unpalatable options of choosing to disband or choosing to return to a guerrilla campaign which
achieves only modest gains, and for which the Empire will continue to punish the population of Lothal.

Sidious and the Sith always act like they know everything, but besides being obvious, arrogant bluster, it is also true that their collective knowledge
is vast, and in some areas exceeds that of the Jedi. This was inversely true as well, and there was plenty the Jedi knew that the Sith did not, or if
the Sith had, it was not passed down to the current incarnation of the Sith. This was due to the relentless persecution of the Jedi, who made every
effort to suppress the Sith's activities for most of their history. This is the first era in galactic history where the Sith can conduct their studies openly
and without interference, and for the first time have exclusive access to the many places, artifacts, and records which the Jedi had been jealously
collecting and guarding over the millennia. The Emperor now resides in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and their archives give him and his agents
access to most of their knowledge. The Imperial excavation at the Lothal temple is handled scientifically, with a Sith loyalist who is an expert in
the occult sciences of the Force, despite not being a Force wielder himself. Imperial personnel at the site are ordered not to touch the artifacts,
as the strange, Force-sensitive properties of a Jedi temple mean that "the tiniest blemish could erase evidence which is critical to understanding
the gateway." Just as the Jedi temple is set into the geological nature of the planet, and one with its surroundings, the Sith excavating it drill into
it and dismantle parts of it, using their artificial means with no regard for the harmony of the site, even a malicious desire to disrupt its harmony.
The potential power which could be gained it the Sith learn how the temple and gateway work would have been significant. This is why the Force
and its agents on Lothal sought the help of the Jedi, as they had in the past, showing faith that the Jedi can be trusted to responsibly protect it.

The World Between Worlds represents a nexus of power which can be used for good or for ill, and is potentially an incredible source of knowledge,
but all indications are that it cannot really be used to alter history. Any actions initiated by someone interacting with what is the past from their
perspective must have already occured in their history, and the course of events cannot be altered without a timeline shattering paradox.
Nevertheless, Sidious probably does not care about the implications of that, and may wish to explore the unnatural possibilities of meddling with
time. It is unclear if this would work, as in it may not be possible to circumvent the Force in this manner. This is somewhat irrelevant, as the power
which Sidious would gain by having access to accurate and direct insights into the past, present, and future, without having to rely on what
the Force chooses to show him through visions, would seriously increase his power, and potentially thwart any attempts to defeat him. The Jedi
obviously wish to prevent this, and other potential uses of the WBW by the Sith, and that is their primary purpose in this visit to the WBW,
however their brief time there does show how valuable it could be to the Jedi in many of the same ways. The Jedi should have the wisdom and
respect not to meddle with time, but Ezra's instinct to help Ahsoka led to him fulfilling his destiny and performing an act which had already
taken place in history from his perspective, thus preserving the continuity of the timeline. During their brief visit, Ezra and Ahsoka are able to
pass information across time to each other, and are shown events past, present, and future which could likewise bring them great insight.
With the gateway sealed, and the last portion destroyed by Ezra shortly after and then taken away to the Unknown Regions on Thrawn's
ship, the WBW can no longer be accessed through the wolf gate. It is unknown if there are other ways to access the WBW yet to be found.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
How Time Travel Works in Star Wars