Star Wars: Rebels

[The Romulan Republic]

I hope they don't have all the main cast die. It worked okay for Rogue One, but no need to retread it, and unless it was very well done, it would just come off as catering to the grimdark crowd.

[Shroom Man 777]

I actually wanted Ahsoka's story to "conclude" the previous season. Everyone and their mom survives a terrible near-fatal encounter with Vader that leaves Vader's mask damaged too...

[K. A. Pital]

I hope they don't have all the main cast die. It worked okay for Rogue One, but no need to retread it, and unless it was very well done, it would just come off as catering to the grimdark crowd.

Making them all live wouldn't make a lot of sense either - they've risen to prominence in Rebel ranks before Yavin, but were nowhere around when Luke and Han took out the Death Star and not afterwards.

Kanan was a blind Jedi who took out AT-ATs using just his lightsaber. I don't think this asset wouldn't be used by the Rebellion, unless really unavailable for the "missing in action" or "dead" reason.

Making everyone a hermit like Obi Wan and Yoda wouldn't make a lot of sense either. Yoda went into exile because he failed to kill Palpatine. Obi Wan did it to take care of Luke. But everyone else... why?

As it is, the 4th season has already been mentioned by the creator to be "dark" and unlike the previous ones. You can't give a better hint towards the untimely, but plot-necessitated departure of at least some of the cast.

[Lord Revan]

Hera and Chopper seem to survive until Battle of Scarrif so we know they can't die, IIRC it's implied that Sabine survives also (at least for sometime). Nothing on Zeb and I could see him dying on top of a pile of Stormtroopers and we know for a fact that Ezra and Kanan cannot be avaible cost Battle of Yavin as IIRC it's was said that Luke had no teachers beyond Obi-wan/Yoda nor did he have any to pass on "jedi lore" to him.

As I said I personally prefer if Ezra and Kanan are MIA in a way that in universe there's no realistic way of telling if they're alive or not. Just killing characters off to be dark is not my idea of good storytelling, sure if the story demands that a character must die then keeping him alive is not gonna work either but killing of a character for the sake of killing of a character isn't gonna really work either.

[Ender]

I hope they don't have all the main cast die. It worked okay for Rogue One, but no need to retread it, and unless it was very well done, it would just come off as catering to the grimdark crowd.

Grimdark, no. Dark side, yes.

I mean that's a big point of what it happening now. Luke is the new hope because before him, the dark side was unquestionably ascendent and there was nothing that could defeat it. Rogue One showed Saw was basically the only effective opposition at this point, and look at him - he is more machine than man now, using a breath mask, torturing people and his crew targeting innocents. The very clear parallels to Vader are there even as he pays lip service to the Jedi and lives in an old Jedah temple because of the point being made - the dark side has won on a structural level, even the forces opposing the Empire draw on and feed into the darkness. What is really playing out is a spiritual war on a whole different level than any of the mere mortals understand. The Empire is bad because it is doing evil things in service to the dark side but even those fighting the Empire are serving the dark.

So here you have the crew of the Ghost. To the showrunners credit they have consistently if subtlely shown how their actions are escalating the conflict and promoting the Empire to step up harsh reprisals to everyone else (eg at Skystrike Academy cadets are now taught blow up disabled freighters because trying to police them just makes them targets for the Ghost crew.). Trying to do right they are feeding the dark. And they were also advancing that with Ezra's narrative as well, having him be drawn to the dark side and dragging Kanan with him. I don't want to knock them ending that arc this season, because Maul's stuff was the highlight of it. But they need to tie back into that. Ashoka was keeping the light alive in her own way and was snuffed out. Ezra and Kanan similarly need to be removed, either falling to the dark side or being fully removed from the board in a way that the dark is now stronger for their absence. Death in a way that seems to boost the dark like Ashoka or falling to the dark side are the only ways I see that they don't break the larger overall narrative of the series.

Now that said the teaser for The Last Jedi could be read as them doing a complete retcon on to everything that has come before about the Force and the Jedi. In which case, I guess all bets are off, but isn't to my tastes. I like the firm spiritual narrative to the series and how even the most advanced technology and a galaxy full of mortals are dust before the divine forces at plan, but ymmv.

[bilateralrope]

I hope they don't have all the main cast die. It worked okay for Rogue One, but no need to retread it, and unless it was very well done, it would just come off as catering to the grimdark crowd.

The only two I want to see dead, or fallen to the darkside, are Kanan and Ezra. Mainly because I don't trust the writers of Rebels to produce any other convincing reason for both being unavailable to train Luke.

[Ender]

Also, wow, the leaks from the first episode indicate that this season will be WAY more grimdark than "Ezra and Kanan are dead and or have gone to the dark side" would ever be

[Adam Reynolds]

A sharp contrast between the crew of the Ghost and Rogue One is that the crew of the Ghost are willing to sacrifice the mission to save each other, while the crew of Rogue One volunteered their lives to ensure that the mission succeeded at all costs, knowing that it was a one way trip. It would require a significant change of circumstances that leads to this policy being revised. I am thinking it might be a Thrawn/Vader teamup, that can threaten them both personally and strategically at the same time and especially serve as a threat to Kanan and Ezra personally.

At this point my predictions on their fates are:
Hera - She is the most likely to survive the entire war. Though if she survives until Endor, why would she not be in charge over Lando given her much greater experience? Perhaps the deaths of her friends cause her to give up her command and take a demotion to serving as a lower level pilot and possibly squadron commander. The Ghost might also not survive Scarif.
Sabine - She likely survives until Yavin at least, though what happens to Mandalore could be quite bad. She might or might not remain with Hera, though it could also be an on and off partnership at different points.
Zeb - He could go either way, though I am leaning towards a heroic last stand, possibly even saving Kallus
Ezra and Kanan- They either die or go into exile. Ezra might fall to the Dark Side first, but he is still extremely unlikely to survive.
EDIT: Watching the trailer again, I am revising Ezra and Kanan's fates to be akin to Ahsoka's, in which they appear to have a role of importance with respect to the Force that might pay off later. Though it is still likely death in the conventional sense.

Based upon existing sources, there is evidence that Spoiler

Hera, Sabine, and Chopper survive out of the main crew of the Ghost. Rex has also been officially confirmed to be the older trooper at Endor. Everyone else is up in the air, which isn't good for them.

The only two I want to see dead, or fallen to the darkside, are Kanan and Ezra. Mainly because I don't trust the writers of Rebels to produce any other convincing reason for both being unavailable to train Luke.

Even falling to the Dark Side is likely out. Tarkin's comment that Vader was all that was left of the Jedi indicates that even the Inquisitors are gone as well*. It is either exile or death for both of them.

* Filloni noted that he killed off the Inquisitors because of Tarkin's comments. They wouldn't leave Kanan and Ezra as loose ends with that in mind.

[Ender]

So what are people's thoughts on the design of the noghri? In the old EU they never looked remotely the same in any two depictions (same with the bothans).

I'm not that big a fan from what we saw real quick. Rukh is Ezra's height and is hunched over, and the facial rig looks really similar to the trandoshans.

It doesn't really fit with the whole feel of "what if the ewoks were mean rather than teddy bears" thing. I think shorter and bulkier would be better, though that's probably the old thrawn comics design influencing me

[Tiriol]

I'd like the showrunners to bring back Vader to off Ezra and Kanan, if they go that route: Disney is intent on keeping Vader menacing and that both Ahsoka and Lothal Jedi survived hin don't speak well about it. Plus it's clear that this Thrawn is not really up to the Jedi tricks (he probably hasn't encountered them first-hand, unlike Tarkin, and even Tarkin seemed to discount their threat). Plus Ezra is obsessed with defeating the Sith, I can't see him abandoning that goal even with Maul gone.

Of course there are currently no indications that Vader eill return for the show. And Thrawn just might figure out that the best way to defeat the Jedi is massive bombardment, targeting civilians and Rebels alike. The Jedi would try to stop the massacre or save the civilians and get destroyed.

[Galvatron]

I hope they don't have all the main cast die. It worked okay for Rogue One, but no need to retread it, and unless it was very well done, it would just come off as catering to the grimdark crowd.

I don't know about you, but I think it's important to see the rebels getting their asses handed to them on a regular basis so we know that they'd be fucked without Luke.

[Chris Parr]

Yeah, plus if they stick to canon the Rebels are bound to lose to the Empire in most of their engagements pre "A New Hope" since the opening crawl explicitly states that the Rebels won their first major victory against the Empire by stealing the Death Star plans.

[The Romulan Republic]

I hope they don't have all the main cast die. It worked okay for Rogue One, but no need to retread it, and unless it was very well done, it would just come off as catering to the grimdark crowd.

Making them all live wouldn't make a lot of sense either - they've risen to prominence in Rebel ranks before Yavin, but were nowhere around when Luke and Han took out the Death Star and not afterwards.

Kanan was a blind Jedi who took out AT-ATs using just his lightsaber. I don't think this asset wouldn't be used by the Rebellion, unless really unavailable for the "missing in action" or "dead" reason.

Making everyone a hermit like Obi Wan and Yoda wouldn't make a lot of sense either. Yoda went into exile because he failed to kill Palpatine. Obi Wan did it to take care of Luke. But everyone else... why?

As it is, the 4th season has already been mentioned by the creator to be "dark" and unlike the previous ones. You can't give a better hint towards the untimely, but plot-necessitated departure of at least some of the cast.

Since I never said I objected to any of the cast dying (just to all of them dying), I don't see what the disagreement is here.

If someone's going to go, incidentally, Kanan would be the most obvious choice.

[The Romulan Republic]

I hope they don't have all the main cast die. It worked okay for Rogue One, but no need to retread it, and unless it was very well done, it would just come off as catering to the grimdark crowd.

I don't know about you, but I think it's important to see the rebels getting their asses handed to them on a regular basis so we know that they'd be fucked without Luke.

Again, I'm not saying they shouldn't loose.

I'm just saying their's no need to copy Rogue One and kill every single one of the main cast.

Its a relatively minor thing, but it is annoying to have what I'm saying consistently misread on even the most trivial of points.

I suppose their's something to be said for them all going down in a blaze of glory together or something. I suppose it would fit with Rogue One, if reports of them ending the series with Scariff are true. But if it were up to me:

Ezra falls (redemption optional, but he doesn't become a full Jedi). Kanan dies (possibly at Ezra's hand). The others (or all but one of the others) survive, at least to Scariff and possibly beyond it.

[Galvatron]

Its a relatively minor thing, but it is annoying to have what I'm saying consistently misread on even the most trivial of points.

I know how you feel, but I don't think most people want Star Wars to turn into WH40k. There are plenty of shades of grey between the two.

[Adam Reynolds]

On the point of character death, it has apparently been confirmed that someone who apparently died has actually survived Spoiler

It now appears that Ahsoka survived her duel with Vader in some form. Whether she physically survived or did something closer to Obi-Wan's feat is unknown.

[Knife]

Its a relatively minor thing, but it is annoying to have what I'm saying consistently misread on even the most trivial of points.

I know how you feel, but I don't think most people want Star Wars to turn into WH40k. There are plenty of shades of grey between the two.

I'm with RR here. To kill of anyone who could have been of use to the Rebellion or to Luke is silly. Yeah, it made a point in Rogue One. But if we go back to legends, plenty of Jedi survived and Luke's story was ok. The new EU can survive as well. Kannan isn't really a Jedi, rather than a Padawan not trained. Ezra more so.

Killing them off is lazy. Sure you can say why didn't they help Luke or do things in ANH. Easy, they did other things. Oh, there is this mission to do X, while you were gone there was this thing with the death star. Thanks for doing X, now we need to move due to the Death Star thing you missed. End of problem.

[The Romulan Republic]

Its a relatively minor thing, but it is annoying to have what I'm saying consistently misread on even the most trivial of points.

I know how you feel, but I don't think most people want Star Wars to turn into WH40k. There are plenty of shades of grey between the two.

I'm with RR here. To kill of anyone who could have been of use to the Rebellion or to Luke is silly. Yeah, it made a point in Rogue One. But if we go back to legends, plenty of Jedi survived and Luke's story was ok. The new EU can survive as well. Kannan isn't really a Jedi, rather than a Padawan not trained. Ezra more so.

Killing them off is lazy. Sure you can say why didn't they help Luke or do things in ANH. Easy, they did other things. Oh, there is this mission to do X, while you were gone there was this thing with the death star. Thanks for doing X, now we need to move due to the Death Star thing you missed. End of problem.

I mean, I get that a grand tragedy/heroic sacrifice, if done well, can be a satisfying ending. I'm not automatically against dark: hell, 1984 is one of my all-time favourite novels, and I very much doubt this show will ever get that bleak. Its just a question of how its done. Tasteful done tragedy or darkness, in service of a narrative, thematic, or characterization purpose, is fine. What I don't like is the idea of "killing off" characters by the boatload gratuitously, or simply for shock value, or marketing, or because the audience expects a high body count.

And yes, this idea that "They're not in the OT so they need to die" is stupid. The answer can be found in four words: "Its A Big Galaxy".

The only ones its at all applicable to are Kanan and Ezra, and even then, their are other options.

[Galvatron]

I don't care if anyone but Kanan and Ezra survives. The idea that they're still associated with the rebellion in any way and yet somehow fail to encounter Luke at some point during his quest for Jedi knowledge is beyond absurd.

[The Romulan Republic]

Okay, having seen the trailer now... I could see Hera (and maybe Chopper) as sole survivor.

Though of course, trailers are often misleading.

[bilateralrope]

But if we go back to legends, plenty of Jedi survived and Luke's story was ok.

How many of those surviving Jedi did the Rebellion know were still alive ?

The answer can be found in four words: "Its A Big Galaxy".

That doesn't work when characters are part of the Rebellion and thus the Rebellion can help Luke get in contact with them should he have a reason to seek them out.

[Galvatron]

Okay, having seen the trailer now... I could see Hera (and maybe Chopper) as sole survivor.

Though of course, trailers are often misleading.

I wonder if they'll give us a show that takes place after ANH. Something to explain where the Ghost was during the Battle of Yavin and beyond.

As I said once before, I could easily see it becoming Mon Mothma's preferred transport after developing a rapport with the crew. That could explain why she and the Ghost were both absent from all three of the major battles of the OT.

[Lord Revan]

But if we go back to legends, plenty of Jedi survived and Luke's story was ok.

How many of those surviving Jedi did the Rebellion know were still alive ?

0 by ESB, however it doesn't mean those jedi must have always been unknown to have survived to the rebellion, you can have jedi who was known to have survived order 66 but then later went MIA in a way that makes finding them if even still alive insanely difficult if not practically impossible and that's assuming those "lost" want to be found. For all we know there happens something that forces (excuse the pun) Kanan and Ezra into exile either willingly or unwillingly, thus explaining why those who in theory could contact them won't or at least don't want to.

[Knife]

But if we go back to legends, plenty of Jedi survived and Luke's story was ok.

How many of those surviving Jedi did the Rebellion know were still alive ?

0 by ESB, however it doesn't mean those jedi must have always been unknown to have survived to the rebellion, you can have jedi who was known to have survived order 66 but then later went MIA in a way that makes finding them if even still alive insanely difficult if not practically impossible and that's assuming those "lost" want to be found. For all we know there happens something that forces (excuse the pun) Kanan and Ezra into exile either willingly or unwillingly, thus explaining why those who in theory could contact them won't or at least don't want to.

Indeed. You don't have to kill them to make then irrelevant.

[RogueIce]

On the point of character death, it has apparently been confirmed that someone who apparently died has actually survived Spoiler

It now appears that Ahsoka survived her duel with Vader in some form. Whether she physically survived or did something closer to Obi-Wan's feat is unknown.

If you're talking about Filoni's shirt as the source behind this, we have no idea if that was legit or if he's still trolling people about the whole thing.