One of many pleasures of Tony Gilroy’s “Andor” is how standalone it feels throughout the “Star Wars” universe. It’s a uncommon prequel that manages to make you afraid for characters you realize rattling nicely survive till the top — of the sequence, anyway — and employs a definite, refined tone that uncovers wholly new sides of its galaxy far, distant. It’s inherently “Star Wars,” but additionally not like something within the franchise.
Besides that final half isn’t totally true. As a result of there may be one other “Star Wars” title that covers a lot of the identical floor in a means that’s in fixed dialog with “Andor” — a present that gave us our first have a look at the start of the Insurgent Alliance, that portrayed infighting between nascent insurgent cells, the rivalry between Noticed Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), and far more.
That present is “Star Wars Rebels,” and it’s the most important piece of “Star Wars” media to look at earlier than “Andor” returns with its second season on April 22.
“Star Wars” animation has grown quite a bit since its humble beginnings as a brief movie throughout the notorious Vacation Particular. Although reveals like Genndy Tartakovsky’s “Clone Wars” have been decanonized, characters from the 2008 “The Clone Wars” and even “Rebels” have made the bounce to live-action, whereas we had a whole TV present revolving round a personality that originated in a cartoon — shoutout to Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein in animation and Rosario Dawson in reside motion).
“Rebels,” although, has the excellence of feeling like a cornerstone of all the “Star Wars” saga from “Episode I” to “Episode VI.” It touches upon each the unique and prequel trilogy in a means no different title does, and spins an journey yarn that may be at residence in both of them.
The animated sequence created by Simon Kinberg, Carrie Beck, and Dave Filoni follows the crew of The Ghost, a ragtag band that features a hotshot pilot, a noble daughter on the run who may additionally simply be the most effective shot within the Outer Rim, a humorous droid, a hidden Jedi mentor and a younger apprentice with a chip on his shoulder.
However the dramatic mission of “Rebels” is similar as Gilroy’s in “Andor” — to point out how disparate folks create the group, certainly the household, of rebels that can be essential to topple the Empire’s tyranny. All through “Rebels,” we see how the Ghost crew goes from a small revolt on the planet Lothal to becoming a member of more and more larger insurgent cells that finally kind the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Similar to the Tony Gilroy sequence, “Rebels” explores the pitfalls of organizing a rise up. This battle is most outstanding in Season 4 (which got here out after the discharge of “Rogue One”) the place the Ghost crew has to steadiness the rising, typically slow-to-act command construction of the Insurgent Alliance with the addictive satisfaction of simply going and taking the battle to the Empire the best way that Noticed Gerrera (who’s an enormous a part of the sequence) does. “Rebels” might not monologue about whether or not the founding father of an rebel cell like Luthan Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) will ever see closing victory, nevertheless it does discover other ways of resisting the Empire.
On the identical time, “Rebels” reveals the infighting amongst imperial factions, with every admiral and sector overseer solely searching for his or her greatest pursuits, and within the course of letting the Rebel develop undetected. Characters like Tarkin (Stephen Stanton) and Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) present up repeatedly, every vying for their very own secret tasks to get the eye — and, extra importantly, the funding — of the Emperor, with Tarkin particularly lamenting a number of occasions that Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn, about to look in “Andor” Season 2) is consuming away at imperial budgets to fund his personal ineffective challenge (The Dying Star).
The animated present additionally portrays how flimsy loyalty towards the Empire will be, with the episode “The Honorable Ones” stranding an ISB agent (David Oyelowo) and a insurgent (Steve Blum) on a abandoned planet, starting a disaster of conscience that turns into among the finest arcs in all the present, and a unbelievable companion piece to the story of characters like Lonnie in “Andor.”
Clocking in at 75 episodes, “Rebels” has much more time to supply context to the battle towards the Empire and to tie to the blunders of the Clone Wars. The present makes it clear that the Rebel could be very a lot a consequence and a follow-up to the battle between the Republic and the Separatists, exhibiting how the galaxy continues to be reeling from that battle even many years later. In different phrases, “Rebels” treats the politics and cultures of the “Star Wars” galaxy significantly, and creates a spiralling set of unintended penalties out of each insurgent ambition and imperial oppression.
Season 2 of “Andor” is taking these connections to a brand new degree, with Tony Gilroy promising to depict the Ghorman Bloodbath within the new season. “Rebels” followers know that this can be a pivotal second within the historical past of the Rebel and will get talked about within the present’s Season 3 episode, “Secret Cargo.”
We’ve seen loads of nods, callbacks, references, and cameos in “Star Wars” earlier than, however seeing “Andor” straight tie into “Rebels” feels notably vital. Gilroy and his crew are taking the wealthy world-building of the animated present and translating that to the language of a live-action spy thriller, telling a narrative that’s in fixed dialog with the themes, occasions, and characters depicted in “Rebels.”
These in search of spoilers of what “Andor” will do and the place it would finish might discover some clues in “Rebels,” in fact. However the cause to return to the animated present earlier than Season 2 or whereas the Disney+ live-action sequence rolls out is that viewers who’ve seen “Rebels” could have a fuller appreciation of the story of the Rebel towards the Empire and the individuals who made it occur.
“Star Wars Rebels” is on the market to stream on Disney+.