The first two episodes of Rebels introduced us to some old faces that are willing to help out the Rebellion. With the re-introduction of Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor, clone commanders from the clone wars and a major asset to a fledgling Rebellion that is heavily outgunned and manned by the tyrannical Empire. The Empire has a massive edge in its pool of resources, and while the death of the Grand Inquisitor last year was an unwelcome happenstance for them, he wasn’t the only Inquisitor to fall back on and “Always Two There Are” gave us two of his underlings, one female and the other male.
Confliction Points of View
After a bit of bad luck, Kanan and company put to use of the locations Rex gave them and looked one up. Having some lounge time, Rex showed Zeb that brawn wasn’t everything and soundly defeated him in a game of dejarik while Kanan was giving Ezra a lesson in the force. Sabine’s little prank had some unintended consequences besides testing Ezra’s patience and belief in his ability to use the force. Rex took this as an opportunity to speak his view on the force and this led to a nice little verbal spar with Kanan, who has a different outlook on the force than did Anakin Skywalker.
Alerting the Shadows
Hera breaks up the verbal spar by briefly assigning Sabine and Zeb a mission to check out a medical facility from one of Rex’s locations. Ezra decides to join them on the mission while Kanan and Rex are distracted arguing with one another. Unfortunately, he is about to jinx him and the group when he says it will be safer on this recon mission than staying back on the Ghost. The abandoned medical station that was formerly active during the clone wars is a massive space station. Eerie and desolate, the group leaders chopper to a place to start it up while searching for medical supplies that the Old Republic might have left there. Unseen by the crew is a small droid that alerts an unknown female that the station has some visitors. We then cut to Kallus and Konstantine who are with a male alien they call a mystic. Alerted to the station becoming active, this mysterious figure heads there on his own.
The Inquisitors Strike
Exra and Zeb have a little fun trying to be the first to find the medical supplies with both ending up a bit banged up; a bit of fun in a Rebels episode that is tending to be dark. Chopper goes in search of some noises he hears and comes across the little droid from earlier with a few more friends. He is briefly able to get a message out that he needs help and Ezra and Sabine are quick to head back to the command center. This turns out to be a trap as we come across a slender figure in the shadows, someone who Ezra quickly identifies as an Inquisitor. Her mask gives her a synthetic voice and while her and Ezra are quick to duel, it is very clear with her skill and unique lightsaber that he is outmatched. Ezra and Sabine’s plans for escape (as the man we first saw with Kallus and Konstantine) is behind another door and cuts off their escape, only for Ezra to play the hero allowing Sabine to run for it. It is interesting to note that the Inquisitors aren’t exactly on the same page and that the male seems slightly subservient of the female Inquisitor. An interesting dynamic going forward to be sure.
Brain Over Brawn
Ezra and our new lady have an interesting conversation which reveals that there are many Inquisitors out in search of him and Kanan. Zeb and Sabine are outplayed by the male Inquisitor, who uses their explosives against them and manages to capture Sabine while Zeb is thought loss. While Zeb makes a plan to rescue the group, Ezra is being tortured with the force by the female Inquisitor, and after it is obvious that Ezra won’t cooperate, we find what she is really after Ahsoka Tano. Sabine is brought to where Ezra is and Sabine implies to Ezra that Zeb is dead. This leads to a fun part as we see Zeb take Rex’s advice to heart and attempts to use brain over brawn to save his friends. Misleading the Inquisitors who think that the alliance is going to send help, they are led to the landing bay where Zeb releases his trap, allowing Sabine and Ezra to use the distraction to hop on the Phantom to escape. The Inquisitors almost capture them through the use of the force, but their lack of unity allows the group to escape.
Rex and Kanan are still battling wits with Kanan winning a game of dejarik when the Phantom arrives back to the Ghost. Thanks to Zeb and Chopper the group escaped, but it is with shocking news that they reveal the revelation of two new Inquisitors. A very enjoyable episode that only gives a taste of the new baddies while showing that they are all following the same path on the dark side. Seeing Rex able to share a bit of his hard earned wisdom to the group was a nice dynamic even if Kanan’s mistrust of clones continues keeping him at odds with Rex. No sight of the other clones or Ahsoka this episode of Rebels, but it should only be a matter of time before all the new characters meet one another this season.