‘Lord Vader, hunt the Rebels down.’
‘Yes Master.’

So begins the latest trailer for the upcoming ‘Siege of Lothal’, the first episode of the second Star Wars: Rebels season.
Has a command ever sounded this jubilant? Darth Sidious, voiced by SW:CW veteran Sam Witwer, has a knack of knowing things he shouldn’t know and using them against others, especially Anakin. I might be hearing too much into this, but I would not be surprised if Sidious knows that Ahsoka/Fulcrum is with the crew of the Ghost and is hoping for a confrontation between her and Anakin. Based on recently released images of her it is also beyond doubt she will be using her white light sabers against someone soon.

‘I survived one war, I’m not ready for another one.’

Star Wars has always been very conscious of the consequences of war. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars there was a lot of time dedicated to the Clones and their experiences during the Clone Wars. With the introduction of Commander Rex, Gregor and Wolfe, some of Kanan’s old wounds are bound to reopen and it will be interesting to see how he responds to that. The summary for this episode is as follows:

When the rebel crew plan to evacuate, Ezra disagrees to let the people be in danger of the empire and gets some unpleasant company.

‘Fire Across the Galaxy’ ended with Darth Vader being introduced as the solution to an imminent insurrection on Lothal, triggered by the Ghost crew’s call to action and escape from Tarkin’s ship. Kanan will be exhausted by his imprisonment and his fight with the former Inquisitor, whereas Ezra’s connection to Lothal is bound to make him desperate to help them against the Empire’s plan to punish Lothal, as Agent Kallus (voiced by David Oyelowo) seems to be planning. This set-up will doubtlessly lead to some great action scenes but it will also be interesting to see the power dynamics between Darth Vader, a relative Imperial newbie, and Agent Kallus.

Now for the most tragic part of the trailer, Ahsoka screaming ‘no’. The way the shot looks, at 0:20 in the trailer, makes me think that she may have a vision to which she responds that way. Since we are already getting a fight between Kanan, Ezra and Dart Vader, I doubt we will also be seeing Ahsoka fighting in ‘Siege of Lothal’. There have been many debates about whether Ahsoka will guess that Darth Vader is Anakin. She is aware of a presence she hasn’t felt since the Clone Wars but doesn’t seem to have connected the dots yet. Perhaps this is the moment where she does.

The new trailer ends with the confrontation between Kanan, Ezra and Dart Vader which will undoubtedly also be the climax of this episode. The way Vader saunters in at the end of the trailer is typical of Anakin and shows his confidence that he will be successful in this encounter. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone look as hesitant while switching on their light saber as Ezra does. There is bound to be a lot of things happening in this fight, both at the surface and in the sense of character development. During the fight with the late Inquisitor Kanan found a new strength when he thought Ezra had died, but will he be able to do so again? And will Ezra be able to stand his ground in this fight? And what will the crew of the Ghost do?

I guess we will have to wait until the 20th of June for answers to all of these questions. But it is fair to say that this trailer has everyone edging even further off their seats. Watch the trailer in HD below!