'Star Wars Rebels' Season 4 Premiere recap: 'Heroes of Mandalore' rediscover their warrior spirit 

The final season begins on the desolate plains of Mandalore.

The final season begins on the desolate plains of Mandalore.

We join Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar) and Padawan Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) as they work to free Sabine's captive father, scoping out a towering Imperial installation from a distant trench.


Blind Jedi Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is suspicious about the Empire moving their prisoner so far from the capital, and Fenn Rau (Kevin McKidd) notes that the Imperial forces are still being led by "Saxon clan traitors" — collaborators who he believes are capable of anything.

Wielding the Darksaber, she commands her hidden allies to charge the tower. Some take to the air using their jetpacks, though Ezra struggles comically with his.

The stormtroopers on the ground are soon reinforced by jumptroopers, but Kanan leaps into the air and takes each of them out effortlessly.

As the rebels gain ground, the tower's commander communicates with Tiber Saxon (Tobias Menzies, known for his dual roles in "Outlander") high above. The new clan leader, who has apparently taken over after the death of Gar Saxon, is sending reinforcements — a pair of AT-PTs — and orders that Sabine be taken alive.

Sabine manages to hit one of the walkers with a rocket, but is almost immediately blasted and left stunned on the ground.

"Stand down Jedi, or she dies," says the commander, threatening Sabine with his weapon.

Sabine Wren leads Ezra Bridger and her fellow Mandalorians into battle.
Sabine Wren leads Ezra Bridger and her fellow Mandalorians into battle. (Disney)

We know he's bluffing, but Ezra doesn't. The Padawan deactivates his lightsaber, until a trio of new Mandalorians blast in and continue the attack. A second rocket brings down one AT-PT, while the other collapses when Ezra slices its leg.

The remaining Imperials retreat and the rebels search the base. Disappointingly, they soon realize that it's empty.

"This was a trap set to lure you in," says the new Mandalorians' leader, whose voice fans will no doubt recognize.

Fenn Rau introduces Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), whose sister ruled Mandalore until she was murdered by Maul in the fifth season of "The Clone Wars." It would seem that the Jedi named her regent after Maul was driven from the planet in the unseen Siege of Mandalore at the end of the Clone Wars.

Though many still see Bo-Katan as the true leader of Mandalore, she refused to bow to Emperor Palpatine and the Saxon clan was given the leadership role instead.

Sabine tries to hand the Darksaber (and thus the mantle of leadership) over to Bo-Katan, but she refuses.

"I had my chance to rule and I failed," she says. "I am not my sister … I am not the leader you seek."

Related Gallery
'Star Wars' movie posters through the years

Ezra finds himself alone with a dejected Sabine, who notes that Mandalore was once green and vibrant like Lothal. However, constant war has stopped life from returning.


As Ezra suggests that Sabine can change things, her mother and brother arrive with news of the family's imprisoned patriarch. Ursa Wren (Sharmila Devar) notes that the Empire is moving her husband back to the capital, Sundari, for a public execution.

We move to a mountain ridge overlooking a large canyon roadway, as Kanan fills a holographic Captain Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall) in on the plan to ambush the prison convoy and rescue Sabine's father.

Hera tells Kanan that she needs him and the rest of the Ghost crew back as soon as they do so, but the Jedi flirts a little and we get the first strong sense that the pair are an item. The ever-irritable Chopper complains about having to witness this as she signs off.

The rebel team sees a distant explosion and Ursa comms to let them know that their attack has caused the convoy to divert towards the canyon. Rau spots three transports and four speeder bikes on the road below — his scans indicate that Sabine's father is in the heavily guarded center transport.

Sabine decides that attacking the lead vehicle will force the one carrying her father back, allowing them to sneak in, sabotage its controls and force it to a halt.

Ezra offers to go, but Sabine is a little concerned about his performance with the jetpack — but why was he equipped with one in the first place then? It seems like the jetpack makes him more of a liability than anything.

After Sabine is stunned, Ezra is faced with a difficult choice.
After Sabine is stunned, Ezra is faced with a difficult choice. (Disney)

On board the Imperial transport, a holographic Tiber Saxon informs the captain that he's ordering "the weapon" to be readied and we are finally introduced to Alrich Wren (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa).

"I do love the capital," he says. "It is a masterful expression of our architecture."

Apparently, he is more interested in art than his impeding execution.

Sabine leaps down towards the convoy and blasts the one carrying her father with a rocket filled with purple paint, obscuring the viewport, marking the target for her allies and tipping Alrich off to her presence. The rest of the Mandalorians soon join the battle, slowly but surely taking down the enemy troopers.

Kanan leaps onto the lead transport, distracting the enemy as Ezra comes from behind and gets onto the target vehicle, which pulls ahead. He gets inside and has an awkward first encounter with Sabine's father before freeing him.

However, he's a little too late in doing so — the three transports are barreling towards the cliff edge. With all their Imperial pilots defeated, they fly off. Ezra gives Alrich the jetpack, then uses the Force to leapfrog between the falling vehicles and barely reaches the safety of the cliff.

"Indiana Jones" fans will note the visual similarities between this chase and those seen in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade."

Bo-Katan Kryze returns to the fight.
Bo-Katan Kryze returns to the fight. (Disney)

When Saxon hears of the rescue, he tells the retreating commander that he's going to deploy the weapon.

"Before the end, they will all kneel before the Duchess," he says, suggesting that the planet has a new, unseen leader.

Sabine reunites with her father and embraces him after a brief moment of tension — it seems he has forgiven her for running away.

"Sabine, you are my daughter," he says, before offering a little constructive criticism of her artwork.

Elsewhere, Sabine's mother and brother seem to have Saxon's forces on the run. Tristan Wren (Ritesh Rajan) reports that the Empire has dispatched a single scout walker to cover the retreat, but Sabine recognizes a peculiar sound over the comm and frantically warns her family to run.


She appears to be too late, as we see Ursa and Tristan bathed in deathly white light and Sabine's team sees a distant blast. Those with jetbacks blast towards the incident, while Kanan and Alrich take the last remaining speeder bike.

They arrive to find only ashes and burnt bits of Mandalorian armor.

"A weapon did this," says Alrich. "A weapon created by my daughter."

Sabine drops to her knees in front of a destroyed set of armor and Kevin Kiner's mournful score rises as Part One comes to its dark conclusion.

Part Two opens with a Sabine weeping as a piece of armor disintegrates in her hand, and she admits that it was her weapon that did this.

However, we learn that all is not lost as Ursa and Tristan limp out of the debris. It seems Sabine's warning gave them a chance to get out of the weapon's range.

Their reunion is cut short when Rau sees a squad Saxon's Imperial Mandalorians flying towards them. Ezra tries to get Ursa and Tristen away using the speeder bike, but a rocket destroys the vehicle and their escape is cut off.

Three TIE fighters fly in from above and things are looking bleak until a friendly Gauntlet Fighter blasts in. It shoots down a TIE and several troops, then allows Sabine and her allies aboard.

One of the TIEs damages the Gauntlet, taking down its weapons and forcing Sabine to make repairs. Bo-Katan brings Ezra to the landing ramp and prepares to leap out.

Fenn Rau introduces Sabine to Bo-Katan.
Fenn Rau introduces Sabine to Bo-Katan. (Disney)

"A Mandalorian with a jetpack is a weapon," she tells the teen before jumping.

He reluctantly follows, planting himself in the viewport of the second TIE while Bo-Katan smoothly blows up the first by flinging a detonator into the cockpit. Ezra manages to blow up his target with a rocket and they return to the Gauntlet.

On a Star Destroyer hovering outside Sudari, Saxon shows a holographic Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) a recording of "the first test trial" of Sabine's weapon.

We see a walker firing arcs of electricity, which pierces nearby Mandalorian armor. According to Saxon, it is attracted by the beskar alloy used in the armor and superheats it until the target is vaporized — but leaving stormtroopers untouched.

"Effective, yes," says Thrawn. "But you miss the true artistry of this weapon Gov. Saxon. It turns an armor legendary for its strength into a crippling weakness. And it strikes at the very heart of your people's tradition."

He wonders about how the late Gar Saxon would feel his brother's tactics.

"He no longer feels anything," says Tiber. "I have evolved — Mandalore must evolve with me."

Despite having been named as Mandalore's regent after the Clone Wars, Bo-Katan is reluctant to retake the mantle of leadership.
Despite having been named as Mandalore's regent after the Clone Wars, Bo-Katan is reluctant to retake the mantle of leadership. (Disney)

He is confident that the weapon will strike fear into the people, compelling them to join the Empire. Thrawn, however, is disappointed with the weapon's limited range and says Saxon needs Sabine to bring it to its full potential.

Thrawn signs off and Saxon's second-in-command, Capt. Hark (Andrew Hishino, who played Saw Gerrera in "The Clone Wars"), expresses his concern that the Empire will use the weapon on them. Saxon says their "unquestioning loyalty" will ensure that doesn't happen, then orders the captain to find Sabine.

Back on the Gauntlet, Bo-Katan and Tristan confront Sabine over her weapon, which she created as a student at the Imperial Academy.

"I was young, it was a challenge and I was arrogant," she admits.

She claims to have sabotaged the prototype and destroyed the plans as soon as she realized the Empire intended to use the weapon. Ezra suggests the Mandalorians try making their armor out of something different, but they tell him that their armor is hugely important to their identities and culture.

"Ezra, the armor I wear is 500 years old," Sabine explains. "I re-forged it to my liking, but the battles, the history, the blood all lives within it. And the same goes for every Mandalorian."

They arrive at Bo-Katan's base, where her men immediately confront Sabine and accuse her of being a traitor. The Wrens defend her, but Sabine takes responsibility and implores everyone to help her destroy the weapon.

Rau, Ezra, Sabine and Bo-Katan prepare to rescue Sabine's father.
Rau, Ezra, Sabine and Bo-Katan prepare to rescue Sabine's father. (Disney)

Bo-Katan steps forward and takes Sabine's side, prompting her men to step down.

"It's time for you to prove your loyalty," she says. "Not just to your family, but to all of Mandalore."

Planning the attack on Saxon's Star Destroyer, Sabine decides they must divide into two teams — one to destroy the weapon itself and another to wipe any plans for the device from the Imperial computer systems.

Rau wonders aloud if the weapon could be turned against stormtrooper armor, and Sabine briefly considers it before dismissing the notion.

They fly to the Destroyer, moving stealthily through the hangar and concluding that "the Duchess" is being repaired up in the command deck. Bo-Katan questions why Sabine would name the weapon after her late sister.

"It was a series of bad decisions, okay?" replies Sabine.

Interesting that she would name it after Mandalore's leader and it would later be used to subjugate their world.

The rebels are soon noticed by patrolling stormtroopers and the shooting begins. Sabine and Bo-Katan sneak off to take out the weapon itself, while Kanan, Ezra and Chopper hunt the plans and the rest of the Mandalorians engage the Imperials in the hangar.

When they find the weapon, Sabine and Bo-Katan are immediately stunned by an arc of lightning and Saxon steps out of the shadows. He tells an increasingly unsure Capt. Hark to stay back as he taunts Sabine.

"I am the Empire," he shouts maniacally. "Palpatine has shown me the way to true power."

He activates the weapon, stunning the captain along with Sabine and Bo-Katan.

Interesting that he mentioned Palpatine specifically as he made the weapon fire lightning, no doubt the "Rebels" team's effort to mirror the power displayed by the Emperor in "Return of the Jedi" and "Revenge of the Sith."

Also worth noting is the fact that Saxon is unaffected by the weapon, indicating that he has shed his Mandalorian armor in favor of the type worn by stormtroopers. In doing so, he has further betrayed his people's traditions.

In a computer room, Chopper works to erase the data as the Jedi pair take out the troops. When Sabine fails to answer Ezra's comm hail, Kanan orders the teen to help her. Unfortunately, the older Jedi quickly finds himself outnumbered by trooper reinforcements.

Sabine and Bo-Katan take on Imperial Gov. Tiber Saxon.
Sabine and Bo-Katan take on Imperial Gov. Tiber Saxon. (Disney)

Ezra rushes through the hangar and sees his Mandalorian allies barely making a dent in the Imperial walkers that have engaged them.

Meanwhile, Sabine agrees to fix up the weapon to save Bo-Katan's life. Saxon claims that it will bring peace to Mandalore, uniting the houses at last.


"As long as our people are on their knees before you and your Emperor," says Sabine, disdainfully.

She fixes the weapon, but begs Saxon not to use it.

"I'll take it that into consideration," he replies, before activating it on his gauntlet.

He and the other Imperials are blasted by the electricity, which then forks out and strikes the walkers and troopers elsewhere. Even Ezra, wearing his stolen scout trooper helmet, gets a nasty shock — it seems that Sabine didn't dismiss Rau's suggestion to turn the weapon on Imperial armor.

"This isn't enough power to kill you, just to make you suffer," says Sabine to a writhing Saxon.

"How does it feel?"

Bo-Katan tells Sabine to stop, suggesting that she can't stoop to Saxon's level.

"Will the future of Mandalore be one of honor or cowardice?" she says. "Hope or fear? The choice is yours."

Sabine agrees, using the Darksaber to slash the Duchess and ending the Imperials' suffering. It's cool that she used her people's traditional weapon to destroy one that threatened their ways. Ezra arrives, a little too late to help.

As the Imperials recover, the Duchess continues to spark electricity and Sabine concludes that the whole place is going to blow. She and her allies make their escape and the Star Destroyer explodes behind them. Did Saxon manage to get out?

Back at Bo-Katan's base, she concludes that the Empire will send "everything they have to crush Mandalore." Sabine says Bo-Katan should lead their people, having guided her to make the right decision regarding the Duchess.

Stepping outside, Bo-Katan finds the Vizsla, Rook, Elder, Kryze and Wren clans willing to follow her, along with Rau's Protectors. She accepts the Darksaber (and leadership of Mandalore) from Sabine.

"I accept this sword for my sister, for my clan and for all of Mandalore," she says, raising it above her head and activating the black blade, as the clans kneel before her.

Watch "Star Wars Rebels" on Mondays at 9 p.m. on Disney XD and check out the official trivia guide for this episode.