”Peace? That’s not a word I hear often.”
By Eric Goldman
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
A strong, Sabine-centric episode, “The Protector of Concord Dawn” was a fast-paced and intense installment of Rebels, delving into the world of the Mandalorians.
While many Expanded Universe fans bristled at the pacifist version of Mandalore seen on The Clone Wars, even there, we heard about their warrior past – and saw it in action via the splinter group, Death Watch. And while we were reminded in this episode that Mandalore itself was under Imperial rule, it seemed the warrior side of these people was still in effect on Concord Dawn (the home world of Jango Fett).
While the basic design of Boba Fett’s armor (and its influence on other Mandalorian armor since) is just innately cool, and it was fun to see a Mandalorian pilot outfit variation, the main antagonist here, Fenn Rau, was also just a strong character, regardless. Voiced by Kevin McKidd (Rome, Grey’s Anatomy, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 3), he was a merciless warrior, quick to go all out attacking Hera and Sabine, thanks to his Imperial alliance, yet also with an open and even laid back demeanor in his one-on-one conversation with Kanan. His bemused reaction to what was happening (“One of you came here to befriend me, one of you came here to kill me”) was very fun as well.
Sabine’s big moment declaring who she was to the Mandalorian warriors was a nice little mini-reveal, as we learned her mother was a member of the Death Watch. This naturally makes us all guess her mom is Bo-Katan, because, well, that’s the only female Death Watch member named in The Clone Wars. But… her mom is totally Bo-Katan, right? Which would make her Satine’s niece, which would be an interesting connective tissue between Sabine and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hmm…
Side note: Anyone else go, “What?!” when Sabine said she was from “Clan Wren,” assuming for a second she said “Clan Ren,” as in Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren? And then remember her last name has always been Wren? Just me? Dang it…
I loved the final action sequence with Kanan on top of Fenn Rau’s ship. Seeing him slice open the cockpit, disarm Rau and punch him out was a pretty badass moment. Sabine’s retort – “When you set your mind to something, you’re kind of frightening” felt appropriate.
The only thing that didn’t quite work was the final resolution, as Rau declared Concord Dawn safe for the Rebels. The idea here, about Rau needing to make things look right with the Empire, made sense, sort of, but just seemed a bit rushed through, via a couple of lines of dialogue, after Rau had put up such a big fight.
Also, while Hera’s ship being so trashed and her so hurt was an evocative image, I was amused that this particular ship took such a beating and still managed to make it into hyperspace, considering one-man Rebel ships seem like they just explode with one good shot most of the time.
This was a strong episode for Sabine, who managed to show she could overcome her murderous, revenge-oriented instincts to help the Rebels in the larger picture, as we also got some more hints at her origin. It also gave us a cool, nuanced new character in Fenn Rau and some exciting Mandalorian action.
