In which we meet Buffy the Jedi Slayer.
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
We got a tease of the “Fifth Brother” at the end of the last episode, but “Always Two There Are” introduced us to both of Season 2’s new Inquisitor threats in a suitably intimidating manner.
With Sarah Michelle Gellar voicing her (albeit with some notably distortion), it was hard not to be intrigued by the “Seventh Sister”, and she certainly made a notable entrance. Her attack on Ezra felt almost horror movie-like (both Inquisitors having those small, creepy probe droids as pets was a cool touch). But what was even more interesting was when she had him held captive afterward – since, appropriately, Ezra still isn’t at a point where he could stop someone like her on his own. She treated him like a toy, to some extent, but was also notably seductive with him – caressing his face and even calling him “pretty” (which amusingly got a “huh?!” reaction from Ezra), which was an effective, predatory touch.
We want to hear it.
While not a huge part of the episode, it was interesting to see the friction between Kanan and Rex early on – complete with Rex insinuating maybe he could be a better teacher for Ezra in certain ways. Though I do have to say, why have Rex not just say Anakin’s name and continually only refer to him as his old general? He doesn’t know Anakin is Vader, right, since that isn’t common knowledge? Although actually, the 501st did accompany Anakin (calling himself Vader, but still not in the mask) when he attacked the Jedi Temple in Revenge of the Sith, so once again, we have to ask if Rex was actually around for any of that and what exactly he saw when Order 66 occurred. [Check out my new interview with Dave Filoni where he discusses the tricky situation Rebels is in as far as those specifics, as it’s a story Filoni still hopes to actually tell on its own one day.]
Zeb’s whole rescue method with Ezra and Sabine was pretty ridiculous. It was fairly obvious he was giving a hint when he said the whole “chin up” thing – but it would have at least worked better if he was making a reference to something from earlier only Ezra could understand. Instead, he was just hinting Ezra and Sabine should look at the ceiling, where he was with the ship… where anyone, the Inquisitors included, could have easily seen him. It just felt too lucky and like a reach that neither of them happened to glance up and see him, not to mention the whole “disturbance in the Force thing” could have been a factor (which, granted, isn’t exactly the most ironclad/defined of abilities).
We want to hear it.
Still, it was nice to see Zeb’s determination to rescue Ezra and Sabine, especially given he was once willing to leave Ezra behind. The Ghost crew, Kanan and Ezra aside, still need some fleshing out, so while this wasn’t a Zeb-centric episode, it did at least give him some good moments.
This episode was the first time we heard the term “Grand Inquisitor” in reference to Season 1’s villain, and it’s exciting that it seems we’re going to learn more about the Inquisitors in general this season. While not Sith per se, they still have all of the leanings we expect from the Dark Side, as the Fifth Brother tried to claim a kill with Ezra and it was clear there is some major completion – only fueled by the death of their apparent leader last season.
It’s also impressive how fast some of the subplots are moving, as the Ghost crew now know that the Inquisitors are aware of Ahsoka Tano’s existence and hunting her. While Ahsoka doesn’t seem to know, at least on the surface, that Vader is Anakin, this seems like another step in that direction.
