Rebels - S2E1 - "The Siege of Lothal - Part I"

After a successful rebel mission in "The Siege of Lothal - Part I," there's a meeting on one of the command ships.  Significantly, Kanan is sitting apart from the others:

Shortly after this scene, he complains to Hera about joining a larger rebellion:  "When you and I started together, it was rob from the Empire, give to the needy:  a noble cause.  Now we're gettin' drawn into some kind of military thing, and I don't like it."  The distance between him and the others in this meeting visually indicates his misgivings.

Rebels - S1E6 - "Breaking Ranks"

At the beginning of "Breaking Ranks," there's a brief establishing shot of Lothal City.

The shot contains some visual symmetry (the Imperial facility is centered, and the Star Destroyer on the left is somewhat balanced with the sunset on the right), but the two sides of the shot also exhibit a contrast that illustrates how the Empire's occupation is changing Lothal.

The right side shows a bright city with rolling hills beyond it, but the left side shows a darkened city emitting smoke from Imperial factories.  The Star Destroyer overhead indicates the Imperial oppression, and the sunset with which it's balanced may even represent the fading of the old days of Lothal.

There are episodes later in the series that demonstrate more clearly how the Empire is stripping the planet of its resources ("The Occupation" S4E5 and "Crawler Commandeers" S4E8), but this episode shows it in its early stages.

---&---

Ezra poses as cadet Dev Morgan in order to infiltrate the Imperial facility and acquire a device that will allow The Ghost crew to locate an Imperial shipment containing a Kyber crystal.  During his time there, he befriends fellow cadets Jai Kell and Zare Leonis.  These three contrast with an-other cadet named Oleg in superficial ways that mirror deeper differences in their characters.

Ezra Bridger (even undercover as Dev Morgan), Jai Kell, and Zare Leonis all have first and last names, and their last names highlight their familial connections:  although he's separated from them, Ezra has a strong attachment to his parents, and he recently joined his Rebels family; Jai mentions that his family consists of just him and his mother; and Zare is looking for his sister, who disappeared from the academy.  Oleg's single name seems to indicate that he lacks a family; all he has is the Empire.

Throughout the episode, Ezra, Jai, and Zare frequently take off their helmets or at least open the face panel, but Oleg is never seen without his.  That Oleg remains faceless illustrates that his individuality is being subsumed as he becomes part of the standardized Empire.

Both of these contrasts also match the difference in the characters' ties to the Empire.  Ezra was never truly a cadet; he was only working undercover at the academy.  Jai defects at the end of the episode, after Ezra and Zare explain the true nature of the Empire to him.  While Zare does stay at the academy, he does so only to continue searching for his sister, not because of any true allegiance.  Oleg, on the other hand, was always loyal to the Empire.

---&---

Near the end of the episode, the Inquisitor reviews the events that happened at the academy.  He looks at images of Jai and Ezra and says, "I do not know this boy [Jai], but this one [Ezra] I know."  His comment has a chiastic structure, which emphasizes these opposites:

I do not know

this boy,

but this one

I know.

Rebels - S1E5 - "Rise of the Old Masters"

After the Ghost crew hears Senator Gall Trayvis's broadcast claiming that "one of the Republic's greatest peacekeepers, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, is alive," Kanan says that "she was a great Jedi master, brave, compassionate, disciplined" and tells Ezra that "she'd made an excellent teacher for you."  From the moment she's introduced, Luminara is presented almost as the epitome of the Republic-era Jedi, but in this time period (the "dark times" of the Empire, as Obi-Wan describes it in A New Hope), she's more suited for this idealization than some other Jedi.  Luminara's name is related to lumen (gen. luminis), the Latin word for light, so in a way, she's the embodiment of the light side of the Force and acts as a symbol of the old Jedi order.

Rebels - S4E15 - "Family Reunion - And Farewell"

7:07 - Vizago (after Mart tells him and Wolffe that Ezra gave him a special mission):  "What are you talking about?"  This line appears three times in A New Hope:  twice, C-3PO asks R2-D2, "What are you talking about?" [6:51 and 9:47], and later, in response to Luke's urge to rescue Leia, Han asks, "What are you talkin' about?" [1:11:03].  In Attack of the Clones, Anakin also asks Padmé, "What are you talking about?" [1:43:07].

24:52 - Rex (after Chopper is shocked):  "Great.  Now what?"  Han also wonders, "Now what!?" during Princess Leia's rescue in A New Hope [1:18:11].

29:41 - Ezra (to the Emperor):  "You're wrong.  I have a family; I don't need anything from you."  In Return of the Jedi, Luke also says, "You're wrong" to the Emperor, after the Emperor tells him that Vader and soon Luke himself cannot be turned from the darkside [1:31:52].

31:32 - Hera:  "Shields up!"  It's unclear whether this is a statement or a command, but both appear in The Phantom Menace.  The captain of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's ship shouts it as a command [5:11], and Anakin says it as a comment [2:02:18].

32:06 - Sabine (smacking him):  "Chop, wake up!"  In A New Hope, C-3PO pushes R2-D2 and tells him, "Wake up.  Wake up!" after the Jawas' sandcrawler stops [15:53], and in The Empire Strikes Back, Han similarly hits a control panel on the Millennium Falcon to get it working again [35:07].

35:05 - Ezra (after Thrawn says, "Whatever happens next happens to both of us"):  "That's the idea."  According to the subtitles, Greedo also says this in A New Hope; after Han says, "Over my dead body," Greedo replies in Huttese, "That's the idea" [50:44].

36:42 - Ezra (to the rest of the Rebels):  "And remember:  The Force will be with you always."  Through the Force, Obi-Wan says the same thing to Luke near the end of A New Hope:  "Remember:  the Force will be with you always" [1:57:24].

Rebels - S4E14 - "A Fool's Hope"

1:48 - Rex (after Wolffe says Rebel command didn't send a briefing):  "That's because, old friend, this mission isn't for the Rebellion."

Hera:  "It's for Ezra.  We are liberating his home, and we need your help, all of you."

First, the phrase "old friend" is also used in Attack of the Clones (where Palpatine suggests "an old friend, like Master Kenobi" to protect Padmé [6:34] and Count Dooku calls Mace Windu "my old Jedi friend" [1:50:24] and just "old friend" [1:56:05]), in Revenge of the Sith (where Obi-Wan says, "Goodbye, old friend" to Anakin as he leaves for Utapau [51:13] and Yoda refers to Qui-Gon as "an old friend" [2:09:56]), in A New Hope (where Leia sarcastically says, "We, uh, ran into some old friends" when Han asks her and Luke where they've been [1:31:33]), in The Empire Strikes Back (where Yoda says that through the Force, Luke will see "Old friends long gone" [1:17:05]), and in Return of the Jedi (where Luke says, "I have a promise to keep to an old friend" [37:37] and Han calls C-3PO "an old friend of mine" [1:11:53]).

Second, variations of "we need your help" appear in The Phantom Menace (Queen Amidala tells Jar Jar, "I need your help" [1:37:55]), Revenge of the Sith (Obi-Wan says, "Padmé, I need your help" [1:38:44]); and A New Hope (Obi-Wan says, "I need your help, Luke.  She [Leia] needs your help." [36:03]).

2:07 - Hondo (after Wolffe says, "Those are difficult odds"):  "I agree, but that boy has spirit."  In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin says, "I agree" twice (once after Obi-Wan says that Anakin is not helping by firing at the buzz droids on his fighter:  "I agree, bad idea" [6:04] and once after Palpatine explains that the Jedi would kill the two of them and the senators [1:17:36]).  Yoda also says it twice (once to Ki-Adi-Mundi's suggestion that it's Obi-Wan who should confront Grievous [49:09] and once to Obi-Wan's suggestion to turn off the retreat message coming from the Jedi temple [1:30:50]).

4:02 - Imperial officer (to Governor Pryce):  "We've scanned the outer reaches, and we found the remains of several small encampments, but no signs of the Rebels' current whereabouts."  In A New Hope, an Imperial officer gives a similar briefing to Tarkin:  "Our scout ships have reached Dantooine.  They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time." [1:02:46]

8:30 - Hera (to Rex):  "Coming up on Lothal."  In A New Hope, Han uses the same expression when he says, "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan" [1:02:27].

11:03 - Ezra (wondering out loud):  "Hera, where are you?"  The same sort of situation occurs near the end of A New Hope, where Luke exclaims, "Blast it, Biggs, where are you?" [1:49:09].

11:13 - Hondo (to Rex):  "Patience, patience, my friend."  Palpatine says basically the same thing to Vader in Return of the Jedi:  "Patience, my friend" [38:57].

12:56 - Zeb (about the stormtroopers):  "There's too many!"  A rebel pilot says the same thing in Return of the Jedi (referring to TIE fighters):  "There's too many of them" [1:35:13].

14:23 - Ruhk (to Zeb and Ezra):  "Drop your weapons."  A battle droid also says this to Obi-Wan and Anakin in Revenge of the Sith [9:05].

15:08 - Governor Pryce (to Ryder):  "Stand up, my old friend."  See above, 1:48.

19:04 - Hondo (in the nosegun of The Ghost):  "I got him!  I got him!"  He actually doesn't hit anything, but this is also what Luke says after successfully shooting down one of the Imperial sentry ships in A New Hope:  "Got him!  I got him! [1:35:25]

Rebels - S4E13 - "A World Between Worlds"

9:09 - Ahsoka (to Ezra, about Morai):  "She's an old friend."  The phrase "old friend" is also used in Attack of the Clones (where Palpatine suggests "an old friend, like Master Kenobi" to protect Padmé [6:34] and Count Dooku calls Mace Windu "my old Jedi friend" [1:50:24] and just "old friend" [1:56:05]), in Revenge of the Sith (where Obi-Wan says, "Goodbye, old friend" to Anakin as he leaves for Utapau [51:13] and Yoda refers to Qui-Gon as "an old friend" [2:09:56]), in A New Hope (where Leia sarcastically says, "We, uh, ran into some old friends" when Han asks her and Luke where they've been [1:31:33]), in The Empire Strikes Back (where Yoda says that through the Force, Luke will see "Old friends long gone" [1:17:05]), and in Return of the Jedi (where Luke says, "I have a promise to keep to an old friend" [37:37] and Han calls C-3PO "an old friend of mine" [1:11:53]).

11:59 - Ezra (to Ahsoka):  "I know what I'm doing."  This is also Han's claim to Chewbacca in A New Hope:  "I know what I'm doin'" [1:42:25].

12:05 - Ahsoka (after Ezra says he can stop Kanan from dying):  "You don't know that."  Obi-Wan also says this in The Empire Strikes Back, after Luke claims that "Han and Leia will die if I don't [go to help them]" [1:23:09].

15:22 - Sabine (to Minister Hydan before the mobile commander center is upended):  "Sorry about the mess."  Han tells Wuher this after shooting Greedo in A New Hope [51:04].

15:58 - Ezra (to Ahsoka):  "Are you alright?"  In The Phantom Menace, Anakin asks Qui-Gon, "Are you alright?" [1:17:31].  In Attack of the Clones, Padmé asks Anakin, "Ani, are you alright?" [50:02], and later a clone trooper asks Padmé, "Are you alright?" [2:05:54].  In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin asks the Chancellor, "Are you alright?"[11:49], and a bit later, Mace Windu asks him, "Chancellor Palpatine, are you alright?" [24:53].  Padmé also asks Anakin, "Are you alright?" [1:27:59].  In A New Hope, Luke asks Obi-Wan this [59:16] and Biggs asks Luke [1:46:44], and in The Empire Strikes Back, Luke asks, "Rogue Two, are you alright?" [30:31].  Luke also asks Han, "Are you alright?" when they're captured by Jabba in Return of the Jedi [28:31].

17:11 - Ahsoka (promising to find Ezra):  "I will; I promise."  In The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan tells Anakin, "You will be a Jedi; I promise" [2:07:43], and in Revenge of the Sith, Padmé tells Anakin, "I'm not gonna die in childbirth, Ani; I promise you," and he replies, "No, I promise you" [53:46].  Later, Anakin also tells her, "Things will be different; I promise" [1:29:13].

19:21 - Hera:  "Chopper, get us outta here."  In A New Hope, Han also says this (to Chewbacca):  "Chewie, get us outta here!" [55:26].

20:11 - Kanan:  "The Force will be with you always."  Through the Force, Obi-Wan says the same thing to Luke near the end of A New Hope:  "Remember:  the Force will be with you always" [1:57:24].

Rebels - S4E12 - "Wolves and a Door"

0:59 - Ezra (after Sabine says she might make sense of the symbols if she saw the Jedi temple):  "I agree."  In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin says, "I agree" twice (once after Obi-Wan says that Anakin is not helping by firing at the buzz droids on his fighter:  "I agree, bad idea" [6:04] and once after Palpatine explains that the Jedi would kill the two of them and the senators [1:17:36]).  Yoda also says it twice (once to Ki-Adi-Mundi's suggestion that it's Obi-Wan who should confront Grievous [49:09] and once to Obi-Wan's suggestion to turn off the retreat message coming from the Jedi temple [1:30:50]).

9:44 - Ezra (influencing a dark trooper with the Force):  "You don't need our numbers and clearance."  Obi-Wan's Jedi mind trick on the sandtrooper in A New Hope is similar:  "You don't need to see his identification" [43:34].

11:45 - Hera:  "With the Emperor involved, it's too dangerous."  Obi-Wan makes the same comment as Luke rushes back to the farm in A New Hope:  "It's too dangerous!" [39:52].

13:31 - Ezra (after Sabine asks him if he's "seen anything like this before"):  "Nope, but this temple is always full of surprises."  Luke uses the same expression during his duel with Vader in The Empire Strikes Back:  "You'll find I'm full of surprises" [1:43:49].

17:17 - Sabine (in disguise as a scout trooper, referring to protocol):  "I don't have time for this."  In The Phantom Menace, Padmé says, "We don't have time for this, Captain" to Panaka while exchanging fire with battle droids [1:52:54].

19:39 - Ezra (as the wolves run in a circle):  "This is it."  Red Leader also says this at the beginning of the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope:  "This is it, boys" [1:46:01].

Rebels - S4E11 - "DUME"

0:24 - Imperial officer (to Governor Pryce):  "Comscans indicate a stolen gunship escaped the blast."  General Veers also mentions Comscan in The Empire Strikes Back when he tells Vader, "Comscan has detected an energy field protecting an area of the sixth planet of the Hoth system" [23:01].

18:24 - Sabine (after Zeb asks what to do with Ruhk):  "I've got an idea."  Han says nearly the same thing in Return of the Jedi:  "I got an idea" [1:48:34].

Rebels - S4E10 - "Jedi Night"

19:40 - Hera (to Kanan):  "I love you."  Padmé says this to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith [1:46:02]; Leia says it to Han in The Empire Strikes Back [1:35:54]; and Han says it to Leia in Return of the Jedi [1:48:03].

Rebels - S4E9 - "Rebel Assault"

0:24 - The general composition of this shot matches a shot near the end of A New Hope [1:45:14]:

0:45 - Hera:  "Lock S-foils in attack position."  Red Leader gives the same instruction in A New Hope ("Lock S-foils in attack position" [1:45:38]), and so does Wedge in Return of the Jedi ("Lock S-foils in attack positions" [1:34:20]).

6:32 - Once again, Thrawn is standing in the same position and in the same posture as Vader in The Empire Strikes Back [20:27]:

8:13 - Ruhk (after Thrawn tells him to capture the Rebel pilots alive if possible):  "It will be done, Grand Admiral."  The similar line "It will be done, my lord" appears three times in Revenge of the Sith, all directed to Sidious/Palpatine:  General Grievous agrees to move the Separatist leaders to Mustafar [28:43] and a clone pilot and Commander Gree acknowledge Order 66 [1:22:18 and 1:23:01, respectively].

8:35 - Ezra (referring to Hera):  "We will find her, Kanan; I promise."  In The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan tells Anakin, "You will be a Jedi; I promise" [2:07:43], and in Revenge of the Sith, Padmé tells Anakin, "I'm not gonna die in childbirth, Ani; I promise you," and he replies, "No, I promise you" [53:46].  Later, Anakin also tells her, "Things will be different; I promise" [1:29:13].

 

11:13 - Governor Pryce (referring to one of the Rebel pilots):  "Take him away for interrogation."  In The Phantom Menace, Nute Gunray commands, "Take him away," to a pair of battle droids, referring to Sio Bibble [1:18:19], and in Attack of the Clone, Jango Fett says, "Take him away" to battle droids, referring to Anakin [1:42:30].

11:19 - Stormtrooper:  "Governor Pryce, found the flight leader's ship in the eastern district, but there's no sign of the pilot or astromech."  Luke also uses this expression during the Battle of Yavin at the end of A New Hope; after Red Ten asks Luke if he sees any fighters, Luke replies, "No sign of any- wait, comin' in point three five" [1:51:59].

16:31 - Kanan (to the Lothwolf):  "I don't have time for this!"  In The Phantom Menace, Padmé says, "We don't have time for this, Captain" to Panaka while exchanging fire with battle droids [1:52:54].

21:02 - Kanan:  "It's alright, Mart.  There's nothing you could have done."  In A New Hope, Obi-Wan tells Luke the same thing after he finds his aunt and uncle dead:  "There's nothing you could have done, Luke, had you been there" [42:02].

Rebels - S4E8 - "Crawler Commandeers"

1:59 - General Dodonna:  "Based upon data provided by Captain Syndulla, the TIE Defender Elite possesses speed, weapons, and shields superior to any fighter in our fleet."  There's some similarity between this and what he says about the Death Star during the briefing in A New Hope:  "An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station" [1:40:01].

4:44 - Ezra:  "Hello there!"

Captain Seevor:  "Pirate scum!"

"Hello, there" is also Obi-Wan's greeting to General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith [57:30] and to R2-D2 in A New Hope [30:07], and insults involving scum also appear in The Phantom Menace (before the podrace, Sebulba tells Anakin in Huttese, "You won't walk away from this one, you slave scum" [57:20]), Revenge of the Sith (General Grievous calls Anakin "Jedi scum" [19:12]), The Empire Strikes Back (Admiral Piett remarks, "Bounty hunters!?  We don't need their scum." [1:05:52]), and Return of the Jedi (an Imperial officer says, "You rebel scum" [1:33:51]).

6:13 - Mining Guild HQ:  "Is this operator 94-34?"  The number 94 also appears in A New Hope; after making an agreement with Obi-Wan, Han tells him, "We'll leave as soon as you're ready.  Docking bay 94." [49:17].

12:46 - Ezra (upon finding Vizago):  "Vizago?  I don't believe it."  Luke also says, "I don't, I don't believe it" in The Empire Strikes Back, after Yoda uses the Force to get his X-wing out of the swamp [1:13:10].

14:14 - Vizago (posing as the captain of the crawler):  "This is the captain, uh, 93-94."  See above, 6:13.

14:25 - Vizago:  "Eh, we're having a maintenance issue and, uh, lost our security codes, uh, but everything is under control."  In Revenge of the Sith, a clone trooper tells Senator Organa, "Don't worry; the situation is under control" [1:24:35], and in A New Hope, Han makes the same claim twice, once to an Imperial officer ("Uh, everything's under control, situation normal" [1:15:18]) and once to Leia ("I had everything under control till you led us down here" [1:19:37]).

15:10 - Vizago (to a stormtrooper):  "I told you everything was under control."  See above, 14:25.

17:12 - Captain Seevor (to the Rebels):  "Patch me through to the Empire, or I will destroy this crawler, you pirate scum."  See above, 4:44.

17:55 - Kanan (to the comlink to Sabine):  "Ugh, I can't cut through [the refinery doors] either; they're magnetically sealed."  In A New Hope, Luke makes nearly the same comment about the egress in the trash compactor:  "It's magnetically sealed" [1:19:31].

21:02 - Sabine:  "We're receiving a transmission."  In The Phantom Menace, a Naboo crewman tells Captain Panaka nearly the same thing via comlink, "Receiving a message from home" [37:23], and in Revenge of the Sith, Captain Colton tells Senator Organa, "We're receiving a message from the Chancellor's office, sir" [1:31:44].

Rebels - S4E7 - "Kindred"

4:17 - Ezra (referring to Ruhk):  "Blast it!"

Jai Kell:  "I'm trying!  I'm trying!"

There are two similarities to the original trilogy here.  First, Luke also yells "Blast it!" to Han in A New Hope (referring to the dianoga in the trash compactor):  "Blast it, will you!?" [1:20:38].  Second, Leia gives the same response to Han in the trash compactor in A New Hope [1:23:41]; Han says, "Get on top of it," and Leia replies, "I'm trying!"  In Return of the Jedi, Han also says, "I'm trying" in exasperation while trying to lower a spear for Lando to grab [34:21].

7:09 - Hera (to Kanan):  "Getting this TIE Defender data to the Rebellion is vital."  Leia says something similar about the Death Star plans in her message to Obi-Wan in A New Hope:  "I have placed information vital to the survival of the rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit" [35:21].

9:40 - Jai (to Ezra):  "Good luck."

and

9:49 - Sabine (to Hera):  "Good luck."

In The Empire Strikes Back, an unidentified Rebel pilot wishes Luke good luck [36:02] and Luke wishes Lando good luck [2:00:09], and in Return of the Jedi, Han and Lando wish each other good luck [Han to Lando at 50:33 and Lando to Han at 52:21].

10:56 - Zeb:  "We won't stand long against those tanks."  In Return of the Jedi, Admiral Ackbar uses nearly the same expression after Lando says to engage the Star Destroyers point blank:  "At that close range, we won't last long against those Star Destroyers" [1:43:58].

17:22 - Zeb:  "Where in blazes are we?"  Obi-Wan uses the same expression in Attack of the Clones:  "What in the blazes is he [Anakin] doing there [on Tatooine]?" [1:22:27].