Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Mid Way Trailer

So the mid way trailer has arrived for Rebels Season 3. I now believe that this season is not the last one. That is what I believed when the series began but I don't think so any more due to the fact the series is probably going to finish just before or during the events of Rogue One and the battle of Scariff does not appear in this trailer, which doesn't completely mean that the battle will not appear in season 3 but it certainly doesn't look that way.

Familiar Faces

The Ghost Crew - I'm talking about the Ghost crew as a whole because their appearance in the second half of season 3 is certainly not a surprise. Before the beginning of this season, Dave Filoni who was the series director at the time said that season 3 would focus on Sabine as much as Ezra. This trailer certainly shows that Ezra and Sabine are the highlights of this season with the other members of the Ghost crew taking a back seat. If this season ends with a death of one of the main characters - which I heavily believed the last season would - then I think it would be either Kanan and Zeb. Every time I make this speculation at the end of the season I always guess Kanan because Ezra can serve as a Jedi without him and I think the loss of Kanan will make Ezra and the other members of the Ghost crew more vulnerable. A reason why I think it might not be him to die at the end of the season is that the previous two seasons have already had something drastic to Kanan (Him being kidnapped and sent to Mustafar at the end of season 1 and Darth Maul blinding him at the end of season 2). Whether or not Kanan dies at the end of this season the chances of him dying in Rebels is very high. The Empire Strikes Back saying where Yoda says "No there is another" was originally implied to be Princess Leia (or, someone else perhaps at first) or generally perceived to be Princess Leia. The "other" could be retconned to be Ezra or Kanan but Ezra more likely. Therefore from the events of Rebels now, which takes place in 2 BBY and the events of the Empire Strikes Back, Kanan is likely to die.It is possible of course that the next animated series that Dave Filoni is currently working on could be set between the events of A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back and be a sort of Clone Wars like show but set with the original trilogy characters instead. If this is the case than it is possible that Kanan will die in that series. I think a series set between A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back is the most logical of the next animated series in less Rebels is still going after the sequel trilogy has ended as then a series set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens is the most likely. As with Zeb, I just feel that off all the characters he is the only one I think would be killed off. We know it can't be Chopper or Hera and I think the Manadalorian storyline will likely continue into Season 4 and Ezra is the main character so the chances of those two being killed off is also very small.

Commander Sato - Sato's back and due to his nephew, who I forget the name and hope that he never returns, I think he will have a larger role to play. It also looks like he has some history with Grand Admiral Thrawn. Sato seems to be working with Dodanna in the trailer.

Rex - Rex seems to feature in the Ghosts of Geonosis the most, looking at the trailer. Rex so far has been in Season 3 less than at this stage of Season 2 so the second half might be making up for that. Rex and Saw will be interesting to see as the two have met previously on Onderon and perhaps elsewhere too. Admiral Yurlaran aslo seems to be making a return so it will be interesting to see how that plays out with Rex, that is of course if we see a meeting between the two.

Kallus - Kallus is one of our few charcters remaining that have been in the series from the start. In fact he along with the Ghost Crew themselves are the only ones left. Now us viewers are aware that Kallus is fulcrum and the Empire are probably going to find that out this season as well. Kallus seems to be investigating Ezra's old home that we haven't seen in a while. Rumour does have it that Kallus will kill Thrawn. I do believe that this is Kallus' last season.

Thrawn - Thrawn is this season's primary antagonist, despite claims that it would be Maul. This season wants to go further towards the time period of Rogue One and A New Hope and Thrawn isn't there so perhaps this season will be his first and last. However I don't think this will be the case. If we have to go down the villain dies in the final cliché then I don't think it will be Thrawn. Instead I think Thrawn might disappear. Thrawn always needs to win to make him a threatening character just like Darth Vader so perhaps he will be needed elsewhere at the end of the season. The reason why I don't think they will kill Thrawn off his because he is one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars community before and after he was introduced to Canon (I suspect that he will do very well in the This Is Madness competition this year). Thrawn seems to have a big plan for the rebels and I hope it is that: A Big Plan. Thrawn seems to be also getting involved in the fighting which I am pleased to see.

Maul - Before the start of Season 3, former series director Dave Filoni informed us that Maul was the primary antagonist which contradicts with another statement that Filoni said that this season would be close to the time period of A New Hope and that's why we won't see another inquisitor. Maul however is not in A New Hope so I imagine that Rebels will kill the character off. Rebels tends to have a "Kill the major villain off in the series final" cliché and I believe that due to his final confrontation with Obi Wan Kenobi this will be the end of Maul. I really wanted to see a Darth Vader V Darth Maul confrontation but it looks like this won't be happening this season as Vader doesn't seem to be in this season at all.

Pryce, Konstaine and Lyst - Our three imperial regulars are set to appear further in the second half of season 3. Not sure what there going to do but I'm pretty certain that Pryce is filling in the role of Agent Kallus in the previous seasons.

Tarkin - Tarkin does appear, probably just to share his thoughts on the growing rebellion, nothing more.

Wedge Antilles - Wedge only appeared in one episode in the first half of the season and it appears we will see him again. He appears twice in the trailer and the outfit that he wears suggests that he is in more than one episode of the season. Hobbie -or what ever his name is -, his pilot friend does not seem to be in the trailer so might be doing a "picked up by the rebellion and you want see me again" cliché.

Bail Organa - I am pleased that Bail is back. I was sure we would see him in Season 2, as well as Tarkin but he didn't appear. Now he is back and leading the rebellion.

Ryder Azadi - Ryder Azadi is now the lead rebel on Lothol which appears to feature prominently in the second half of season 3. He only appears briefly in the trailer so he is probably only in one episode.

Fen Rau - Fen Rau is the Mandalorian associate of stories. There is a two part story coming up that will probably feature him in. I think that this season may be the end of Fen Rau. I think he will die in the battle that is featured in the trailer that does contain Manadlorian starfighters.

Gar Saxon - Saxon is our imperial Manadalorian who is set to fight Sabine Wren with the darksaber. I reckon he will perish at her hands or his fellow Mandalorians after he is defeated.

AZ 5 - AZ-5 looks like he is going to be attacked by Chopper which suggests that one of them is an imperial spy and it probably inn't Ghost crew member Chopper. So is AZ 5 really an imperial spy?

New Faces to Rebels

Obi Wan Kenobi - Well you have to start with this one don't you. Obi Wan Kenobi is my favourite Star Wars character so I am thrilled to see him back into the Star Wars universe. We haven't seen anyone impersonate the Alec Guiness version of Obi Wan Kenobi before. Obi Wan Kenobi is a character they have to be careful with. In A New Hope he is very slow fighting Darth Vader and we know that Darth Vader is perfectly capable of fighting a lot faster than what he does do during that duel thanks to the ending of Rogue One. However Obi Wan and Maul will only have one survivor because Obi Wan can only remain where he is on Tatooine and therefore Maul will have to die. Maul is a fast fighter and took on three inquisitors and has plenty of practice in terms of fighting and Obi Wan has not (the last lightsaber duel Obi Wan participated in was against his fallen apprentice on the volcanic planet of Mustafar), which is 17 years prior to his presumably last meeting with Maul. We do know that Obi Wan is pretty powerful with the force at this stage has he has been learning from his deceased master, Qui Gon Jinn. Therefore I hope that Obi Wan kills Maul via the force. I also don't believe that Ezra will find his "Key to destroying the sith", which is Obi Wan because I don't believe that anyone from the rebellion has made contact with him until C 3P0 and R2 D2 do on Tatooine in A New Hope. Rogue One certainly alludes to this also with Mon Mothma and Bail Organa's discussion.

Saw Gerrera - Saw's appearance in Star Wars rebels is certainly no secret. It was announced only a few days after the release of Rogue One that Saw was coming to Rebels to bridge the gaps between is Clone Wars appearance and his Rogue One appearance. Saw is to feature in the Ghosts of Geonosis duel parter that is the first of the episodes of the second half that are to air tomorrow on 7th January. As Saw is being forced by award winning actor Forrest Whitaker, I believe he probably won't have time to feature in any more episodes of Star Wars rebels so this is almost likely his only appearance in Star Wars Rebels. It will be really interesting to see the different tactics that Saw carries out to the rest of the rebellion and why the rebellion don't like to affiliate themselves with him. The Rogue One Visual Dictionary describes that Saw needs his breathing apparatus because he inhaled some Geonosian poisonous gas. As the episodes that feature Saw also feature Geonosis, I find it highly likely that this will occur in these episodes.

Mon Mothma - Mon Mothma along with all ready seen Bail Organa is a founder of the rebel alliance. Mon Mothma seems to be the key player in Rebels in uniting Pheonix Squadron with all the other rebel cells. For character with only one line in her first film has gone on to have such an important role in the Star Wars community appearing Revenge of the Sith, the Clone Wars, Rogue One and now Rebels as well. I guess that we will see Mon Mothma in several episodes of Rebels, even if it is only one this season. It looks like Genevive O'Reily is reprising Mothma once again.

Jan Dodanna - Dodanna is another background character that seems to be having larger roles of late with appearing in Rogue One recently. Dodanna has already been mentioned in this season with the Y Wings being transported to his establishment on Yavin. Rebels has a habit of mentioning characters that will later appear. Now of course it is important to note that the bearded man who dresses like Dodanna might not be Dodanna but I find it highly likely that it is. Rogue One continuity has established Dodanna has the leader of the Rebel army so he plays a big part in the early stages of the rebellion until he is replaced by Crix Madine by the time of Return of the Jedi. Dodanna also has a heavy link to the Yavin base which we are yet to see. The rebels are currently located on Attalon and still have to go to Datooine before heading to Yavin.

Yurlaren - Yurlaren is a character that I am most exciting to see in Rebels, after Obi Wan Kenobi of course. Yurlaren was one of the team of five in the early days of the Clone Wars (Along with Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex and R2 D2). It will be really interesting to see how Yurlaren interacts with Rex if that happens, which heavily hope it does. Yurlaren is the leader of the ISB, which Kallus is part off so I imagine he is brought in to investigate Fulcrum who is a danger to the intergalactic interests of the Empire.

Characters that were not seen in the trailer which is a suprise

Cham Syndulla and friends - Cham, Fen Rau and Ryder Azadi are the regular recurring characters in Star Wars rebels. Rau and Azadi both appeared in the trailer but Cham did not. This does not mean though that he is isn't in it. I think that if Cham is not in this season this isn't the end for him. He will certainly appear in the future seasons.

Hondo Ohnaka, Munich and Azmorigan - None of our pirate friends appear in this trailer which probably means they are not in the second half of this season. This is good because these characters often fill the "filler" episodes, which might not be returning for the second half of this season. This being said the mid way trailer for season 2 was more jam packed than this trailer and they still had many more filler episodes and jam packed all the good stuff into the last two parter and Shroud of Darkness. I hope this time it is not a repeat of that.

Lando Calrissian - Many of you may wonder why I mention this scoundral. Well earlier in the year I read a report that Billy Dee Williams was to reprise Lando in Rebels for at least three episodes for season 3. Lando has not appeared in the previous half of the season and his absence from the most recent trailer sort of suggests that he will not be in Rebels this season. Perhaps we will see him in Season 4.

Leia Organa - Many expected to see a younger Leia and what she was doing in the Rebel alliance before the events of  A New Hope. Her absence from the trailer might have been as an act of respect for the late Carrie Fisher. As I said on my first season 3 trailer discussion I said that a member of the rebels production team said that Leia was only in this season once. Why mention this season? Unless of course we would see her again. I hope we do.

Darth Vader - Season 2 sort of showed us that it would be our final appearance of Vader in Rebels. I did want to see Vader again but I can wait for the next season. That is of course if he is in the next season which I certainly hope he is.

Familar Rebels - We see Mon Mothma and Bail Organa but we are yet to see others like Raddus, Draven , Ackbar, Garven Dreis, Dutch Vandor, Rickieen and so on. I would like to see these characters.

Bo Katan Kryze - It has been confirmed that Bo Katan is back but no sign of her in the trailer. As soon as she was confirmed fans thought that she was Sabine's mother but the trailer seems to suggest that another woman is her mother. So where is Bo Katan?

The Bendu - Voiced by the brilliant Tom Baker has made several appearances so far in Season 3 but is no where to be seen in the second half trailer. As the trailer suggests that the base at Attalon will be under attack, probably near the series conclusion, the Bendu will need to rehouse and probably will do this.