Day: January 7, 2017

The Ghost crew is tapped for a mission to the apparently abandoned planet Geonosis…to see what happened to the previous Rebel expedition to that planet, led by a freedom fighter named Saw Gerrera. But where their previous visit revealed useful debris scattered around the planet, and no signs of the planet’s natives, this time the debris has been cleared up, and battle droids dating back to the Clone Wars are still active on the surface. Kanan, Ezra and Captain Rex find Saw Gerrera, as well as a surviving Geonosian who panics and remotely activates the battle droids, putting Zeb, Hera and Sabine in danger. Saw is obsessed with discovering what the surviving Geonosians – presumably in hiding – are doing for the Empire, and is willing to kill to get that information.

written by Dave Filoni and Steven Melching
directed by Saul Ruiz
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios), Phil LaMarr (Bail Organa), Matthew Wood (Battle Droid Commander / Klik-Klak), Keone Young (Commander Sato), Dee Bradley Baker (Rex), Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera)

Notes: The Ghost crew previously visited Geonosis in the season 2 episode The Honorable Ones. Saw Gerrera first appeared in the fifth season of The Clone Wars (A War On Two Fronts), but had also recently appeared (in, chronologically, the character’s final adventure) in the live-action film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; he was played by Forest Whitaker in both Rogue One and his appearance in Rebels. Geonosis and its indigenous insectoid people – as well as the first hint of their massive construction project – first appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones (2002).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

An Imperial cruiser closes in on Geonosis as the battle droids and destroyer droids activated by the sole surviving Geonosian continue their attack on the surface, an attack brought to a halt by destroying the Geonosian’s remote trigger. Saw Gerrera is eager to interrogate the “bug”, though it seems more scared than aggressive, trying to protect an egg – possibly the last Geonosian other than itself. Hera maneuvers the Ghost down a tight passage from the surface to pick up Kanan and the others, and warns him against Saw’s extremist streak. Saw proves her right by taking the Geonosian hostage and trying to take command of the Ghost from Hera and her crew. With tensions among the Rebels threatening to explode into violence, they may be too preoccupied to notice that an Imperial platoon is approaching…and the stormtroopers won’t care which side of the Rebel ethical divide their targets fall on.

written by Dave Filoni and Matthew Michnovetz
directed by Mel Zwyer
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

Cast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Imperial Officer), Phil LaMarr (Bail Organa), Leslie L. Miller (Captain Brunson), Keone Young (Commander Sato), Matthew Wood (Klik-Klak), Dee Bradley Baker (Rex), Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera)

Notes: Hera and Anakin Skywalker share similar views on the subject of sand. Saw Gerrera’s extremist tendencies are also noted by Hera; by the time of the movie Rogue One, Saw and his extremist cell are all but exiled on Jedha with no contact with the Rebellion as a whole. Saw has yet to suffer the injuries in battle that will see the loss of his legs and his dependence upon a portable source of oxygen. By the time of this adventure, it has been several years since Saw helped Galen Erso go into hiding from the Empire, and he has already rescued Erso’s daughter Jyn after the death of her parents (as seen in the “flashback” opening of Rogue One). (Neither of these characters are mentioned or seen in this episode; these notes offer chronological context.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green