Dave Filoni on the ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Ending, Who Survives, and the Future of ‘Star Wars’ Stories

The Star Wars Rebels finale raises just as many questions as it answers. I very much enjoyed this final installment of the Disney XD series, but am surprised that the story seems far from concluded. The ending even appears to feature a cliffhanger that teases a new adventure which could be explored in another Star Wars animated series or feature film. But was that the intention? Find out what showrunner Dave Filoni had to say about the Star Wars Rebels ending.

What Happened In The Star Wars Rebels Ending

Spoilers for the ending of the finale of Star Wars Rebels coming up.

Ezra takes down General Thrawn with the help of his purgil (space whale) friends, seemingly sacrificing himself as the creatures take Thrawn’s starship and make the jump to hyperspace. Were Thrawn and Ezra killed in this jump? We can make assumptions, but the answer is actually unknown.

The rest of the Ghost crew was able to blow up the Galactic Empire’s facilities on Lothal, giving hope to the people of this world who overtook the remaining Stormtroopers on the ground. The city waited in fear for the Empire to return, but they never did. The final coda jumps six years forward in time, after the original trilogy in the Star Wars timeline, to introduce that Hera has a kid named Jason, the son of Kanan. Kallis and Zeb have become good friends.

But the final image is probably the most interesting. Sabine, through voiceover, says that she “used to think Ezra was counting on me to protect Lothal, the planet and people he cared for so much, but one day I realized there was more to it. There was something else I was meant to do. Ezra is out there somewhere, and it’s time to bring him home.” Sabine takes off with Ashoka into the galactic sunset on a new adventure.

Dave Filoni Explains The Happy Ending For Rebels

At the premiere of the Star Wars Rebels finale held at Walt Disney Studios on Friday night, Dave Filoni was asked by moderator Amy Ratcliffe about how he came to this conclusion for the series. Here was his answer:

“Well, the difficult thing is there is so much story at the end of this part of the story. I wanted people to understand that once they got rid of the Empire that there were expectations of a large battle that never happened because basically our story ends and then Scarif and the whole Luke Skywalker thing happens. When Luke happens, the Emperor’s attention is completely refocused and things like Lothal, he had a series of defeats, but his entire plan of fear is based on having the Death Star. Now his trying to subject fear across the galaxy is completely inversed and now the Emperor is now afraid because that wasn’t supposed to happen.

And so when evil starts to sense a series of events that aren’t supposed to happen, they become afraid. Because the secret of every real villain is that they are the most afraid, and the reason they have accumulated this power is because they are terrified inside. And so they cause pain and devastation to compensate for this fear. So his fear of Luke Skywalker draws his attention away from Lothal and those people end up benefiting in the end.

So it ends up being a matter of timing. But I wanted to get through a part of the story that you understood the happy ending… So many people are obsessed with everyone dying. I’ve seen the original trilogy that people like so much and it’s not like a death count type of movie. It’s a rather positive outcome that I enjoy.”

It’s also interesting because he’s able to get around the plot hole of “Ezra can’t be alive because there were no Jedi when A New Hope begins” by essentially freezing Ezra in a theoretical carbon chamber for the entire timeline of the original trilogy. And in the ending, we are left with the realization that he could still be out there somewhere. And since it’s after Return of the Jedi in this coda, it creates a loophole in Star Wars canon.

 

Are Ezra and Thrawn Still Alive?

On The final episode of Rebels Recon, Dave Filoni does confim that Ezra Bridger and General Thrawn survive the climactic sequence in the finale. Asked where Ezra and Thrawn ended up, Filoni offered the following tease:

I’ve thought about that. It’s one of those things where you go, I’d love to do an end credits scene but as tempting as that is, I go, if I ever cover that, I want to do it right and I dont want to commit to things right now because things might change. I have a lot of theories about it and what I think happens, where they are… I’ll say this much, they’re not dead — both of them, both Ezra and Thrawn survive it!

Continue Reading What The Star Wars Rebels Ending Means For The Future of Star W >>

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