Star Wars: Rebels (TV Series) Steps Into Shadow: Part One (2016) User Reviews

Star Wars Rebels - S03E01 Step Into Shadow

[j_forbesy · 8/10 · 28 September 2016]

Rebels is back! If you have read my previous reviews on Star Wars Rebels you will know that I am very big on this show. After getting sucked into Clone Wars and then getting flown straight into Rebels, I've really loved what they have done furthering the Star Wars world in this animation format. As I've said in previous reviews, there are 2 things I look for in a season premier that makes it a success for me. The first one is it has to catch as up as an audience on what's been happening since the finale of the last season and act as kind of a reminder as to what's happening in the show. The second is that it sets up the season to come. This means new story plots and characters that will drive the story forward for the season.

The opening episode of Rebels season 3 really hit both those points for me. I thought they were able to show the time progression really well through having a episode arc of Ezra having a leadership role. Within that, we got to see Ezra put his training into action. While we could see his training progressing through the second season, we never got to see him be so fluent in his fighting style like we did here. This makes me really excited to see this show starting to go more towards the Jedi and force stories rather than a show about a group of rebels.

Personally I loved all the Kanan scenes. A large part of that was because of the ancient The Bendu and his interactions with Kanan. I really love when shows and movies further deeper into the world it is in and this is what these scenes do. I really hope that we get more of this and we get to see Kanan become the wise blind guy. With this too, ruling Kanan out of turning to the dark side isn't too far out of the question for me.

As mentioned, the second thing a premier has the do is set up the future plot points of the season, and again, Rebels nailed it. I didn't have much prior knowledge of Thawne before this season but I've heard nothing but great things about the character, and by the sounds of it, what Rebels gave us, is what Thawne is know to be. I really enjoyed the introduction of Thrawne this episode. I'm happy that they introduced him straight away rather than having us wait a number of episodes. This way we get to see more of him as a villain and for people like me, learn more about what he is like as a character.

Overall it was a great welcome back to Star Wars Rebels. From everything they set up in this hour premier really has me exited for to see the season that is ahead and get to learn more about the Star Wars world as a whole. Throw in the release of Rogue One later this year and I think we are in for yet another great season of Star Wars Rebels.

8.5/10

The Bendu

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 14 October 2020]

I love this 2 part story. The first episode is not as dramatic or exciting as some other episodes but it is really interesting and thoughtful as well as powerfully moving the characters on from the previous season's incredible conclusion.

One of the great plus points is the wonderful character the Bendu. A force powerful creature who Kanan encounters. The Bendu is voiced by legendary actor Tom Baker - the 4th Doctor from Doctor Who - who is an enchanting man, superbly magical actor and has the most gorgeous voice. Tom is perfect and the creature is a fascinating and fantastical figure who teaches Kanan important lessons.

Kanan is suffering from his loss of sight and this is used very well in the story with his despair being explored.

Ezra has a new look and is shown to have become very powerful. This is shown to be with help from the Sith holocron which brings the power a dark complexity. This creates great suspense for where Ezra is heading. In the meantime, Ezra's immense fighting skills and powers are thrilling to see. He is not greater in power than Jedi we have seen elsewhere but uses his powers in a different, flamboyant and more ruthless way than a Jedi.

I love the dark underlying threat, the progression in the story and the character interactions.

The second part is more action packed and develops the storylines well in amongst the battles. This is lots of fun but with plenty of depth.

My rating: Parts 1 & 2 - 9/10.

Steps Into Shadow

[lassegalsgaard · 7/10 · 17 December 2019]

While not as strong as the previous season premieres, this had something that none of the others had. It began after what was considered a failed mission, and we find all the members of the crew at different points. Ezra is older and more advanced, but he is also using the Sith holocron from Malachor, so he is a little more reckless. I think that his development was the best thing about the episode, because the things that he has been through has had big scars on his life. I loved Kanan's storyline, and how he is slowly starting to get used to his new blindness, and his encounter with this new entity called the Bendu. Of course, the introduction of Grand Admiral Thrawn into canon lore was great, and his presence in this episode was felt, even though he had limited screentime. I bet that we are going to see more from him in the future, and I think he is going to pose a real threat to these rebels. The overall mission they went on weren't as interesting as I had hoped, probably because Hondo joined them, and I haven't really liked him on this series, but still a promising start to what will hopefully be a great season.

mmmmm so good

[xhermax · 10/10 · 22 January 2021]

Liking season three this far ;) Recently I binged The Clone Wars, and then binged Rebels immediately after. I prefer TCW, but Rebels is definitely under-appreciated. The show is actually a pretty good animation depicting the Imperial Age of Star Wars. It does for the original trilogy timeline, what TCW's did for the prequel trilogy timeline; flesh out new stories. It makes for highly entertaining TV. Sure, it may be childish at times, but, much like The Clone Wars, perfectly balances mature content with the childish content. Star Wars fans of any age can watch this and enjoy.

The series overall starts slow and childish, but still fun all the same. It gets more mature as the show progresses, with a more childish tone episode thrown in here and there. It includes great cameos from both Prequel trilogy and Original trilogy characters. Seeing R2-D2 and C-3PO bless the show with their presence at the start was a treat. As seeing Leia, Lando, Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi-Wan, etc. Rebels also picks up some storylines from the unfinished Clone Wars show, which is now set to be finished at the time of this writing. Seeing Darth Maul, Ahsoka and Rex brought back are extremely hype-worthy moments, that only add to the show.

In short, these two parts were fantastic at displaying Ezra's defiant attitude and I can't wait to see where it leads.

[contactthegameatlas · 8/10 · 21 October 2016]

Part 1 - Introductions:

From what we presume some time has passed since the finale of season two, a much stronger Ezra leads a mission to rescue the infamous Hondo Ohnaka from an imperial prison for information that could help the Rebels by gaining new ships. Straight from the get go I could see how Ezra had changed, he was much stronger in the force than before and had much more skill, he even managed to mind control an AT-ST pilot. After the success of the rescue mission Hondo reveals the locations of the Y-Wing ships and Ezra is given command of the upcoming mission.

Later on we can see Ezra did not learn these new tricks by himself, he had been using the Sith holocron to teach him darker ways of the force, and that it had changed him. Eventually, a blind and struggling Kanan discovers this fact and confiscates it just before receiving a mystery call into the Atollon wild by an ancient force-wielder. Kanan discovers this force-wielder is Bendu, a wise and powerful individual who senses the confiscated Sith holocron, and inquires about it. Kanan answers Bendu's inquiry and later opens up about how he can not see and will never again. Bendu sees the potential in Kanan and mentors him to restore his senses to help him without his vision through various tests involving spiders, yikes.

Part 2 - New Faces:

We've already gone over Kanan and Ezra and there is still one important character left to talk about, yes I'm talking about Grand Admiral Thrawn. So far we have not seen much of him but already I can see he will fulfill the role of villain, he seems like a complex and smart antagonist that sees the bigger picture. ​

Just like in Star Wars Legends, Thrawn is a chiss who is favored by Emperor Palpatine so yes, we can finally say that Thrawn is back in canon and I can't wait for what they have in store for him.

Part 3 - Wrap Up:

Episode 1 and 2 of season 3 are definitely the best first episodes of Rebels, you can clearly see the rift caused between Kanan and Ezra, but also how they are trying to restore it. No doubt there will be difficulties as Ezra is much more defiant, but not as stupid. It was also nice having new characters like Thrawn and Bendu which most certainly made the episodes even better.

In short, these two parts were fantastic at displaying Ezra's defiant attitude and I can't wait to see where it leads. - Written & Reviewed by Nathan Beckett

Part One

[Trey_Trebuchet · 8/10 · 29 May 2022]

This is a pretty solid start to the season.

Some time has passed. Kanan has been much more distant from the crew, Ezra has been using the dark side of the force to strengthen his leadership and Jedi skills, and now Timothy Zahn's Thrawn has entered the pciture.

I would have loved an entire season of Ezra feeling conflicted between the power of the dark side and the light. That may still happen, but Kanan taking the Sith holocron away makes it seem less likely. It was still great seeing that conflict on this two-pat premiere though, and Kanan's encounter with the mysterious force weirder was so dang cool.

Season 2 went out with a bang. I can only assume Season 3 will keep much of that same energy!

Uh-oh, Ezra's hit puberty

[Fluke_Skywalker · 7/10 · 25 October 2016]

Plot; A newly promoted Ezra leads a mission to steal several Old Republic Y-Wing ships before the Empire can turn them into scrap.

Solid season opener sees Ezra struggle with growing pains as his powers grow and the Dark Side beckons. There's great dramatic potential here, even if we've seen this journey in Star Wars before (Anakin), but they've got to be careful not to make Ezra insufferable and whiny, which he flirts with here. On the other side, I would've liked to have seen them stretch Kanan's struggle to adjust to his loss of sight for a bit longer, and his met cute with a wise Bendu was just a *tad* convenient, but it all plays out fairly well and the animation continues to be first rate.

Getting worse...

[junk-mail-me-here · 3/10 · 13 January 2020]

The incredibly low quality of animation continues to shock me. Ezra has apparently aged a bit and has a new look. A TERRIBLE look. Lego Star Wars movies look a thousand times better than this. Some of the worst animation I've seen in a long time. Very disappointing.

Also, apparently Ezra is stronger with the force than anyone else ever anywhere. Either that or clueless Disney writers don't understand the difference between The Force and magic. Because the stuff Ezra can suddenly do is way more impressive than what I've seen either Skywalker or Yoda do.