Monday 15 February 2016

Star Wars Rebels 'Legends of The Lasat' Review



This episode WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS for the episode to be discussed, if you do not want certain plot points or story spoilt for you, please do not read further.

Whilst the last episode of Star Wars Rebels explored some of the backstory of one of the Ghost's crew whilst adding to the overall story through the need of the rebels to find new hyperspace routes, 'Legends of The Lasat' doesn't add much to the overall story, but does take a look at Zeb, along with a side of the Force we don't normally see.

When Ezra gets a message from Hondo Ohnaka (boy am I glad he's back in Rebels) the Ghost crew go on a mission to steal some contraband from the Empire.  The shipment turns out to be two Lasat, Chava and Gran, and the crew go on a mission to help the two find their new homeworld whilst trying to avoid a pursuing Agent Kallus.

We get to find out a little more about Zeb this episode, but if you were expecting big reveals you're going to be left disappointed as we're only given tiny pieces of his past.  Zeb, along with Gran, were members of the Royal Guard on Lasan, where Zeb was a captain.  That's about it though, other than that Zeb does speak briefly about the massacre on his homeworld with Ezra, in a scene that shows how close the two characters have become, but there's not a great deal of information given over.


If I'm being honest, it's something of a shame.  Zebs backstory is an interesting one, and one that many fans of the series want to learn more about, unfortunately this episode feels a little bit of a lost opportunity to explore in greater detail some of that backstory, especially the Imperial massacre of his species.

The episode does spend a lot of time exploring the Force as it's interpreted and used by the Lasat, though, and this adds another dimension to it.  While we've mostly seen the Jedi interpretation and use of the Force we have seen how the Force is used by other groups in the Star Wars universe, the Night Sisters use it to create zombies and super soldiers, and the Mortis realm exists as a physical manifestation of balance of the Force.  The Lasat version of the Force adds to these and explores one of the most important aspects of the Star Wars universe.

The stand out part of the episode though has to be the musical score.  When Zeb embraces his destiny to lead the Lasat to their new home and guides the Ghost safely through a field of collapsed stars the music takes on a stirring, almost mythical feel to it.  It's not like anything we've had before in any of the Star Wars films or television shows, and if anything feels more like something from Battlestar Galactica, but it fits brilliantly and gives those scenes a sense of grandeur and impact.


Whilst there are definitely some missed opportunities in this episode there are some great moments, from Hondos trickery and double dealings to Zebs messianic moment, 'Legends of The Lasat' might not be perfect, but its damn good.

Amy.
xx

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