Star Wars Rebels Review (Family Version)

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For those who have followed this page for a while, I posted several months ago about rewatching Star Wars Rebels and inviting my 6 and 4-year old kids to watch it for the first time. You can go back and check out that post here. In that post I promised to come back after we had finished watching the show and post some wrap up thoughts from both myself and my kids.

So here we are, on Thanksgiving night, two months removed from actually finishing the show, and ready to fire off some thoughts about all four seasons of Star Wars Rebels.

Disclaimers: 1) There will be spoilers for events at the end of the show in this post. Stop now and go watch the show before you continue further. 2) If you are one of those Star Wars fans who rides their high and mighty horse of only wanting Star Wars that is dark, gritty, cynical, and adult, step down off that high horse and go watch this show, or any kid-friendly show for that matter. It will do your heart some good. On to Star Wars Rebels.

When we first finished the show, I had three questions for both of my kids: What did you think? Who were your favorite characters? What story arc did you like best? I worded that last one slightly differently for them, but that was the gist.

6-year-old son's response: It was good. I liked it. Ezra, Chopper, and Zeb. The one where Ezra goes on a mission.

4-year-old daughter's response: It was good. I liked it (she likes to parrot her brother). The girls. When the one girl flies her ship.

Honestly, I was hoping for a little more to go on than the answers they gave, and I would probably say I was a little disappointed by their answers. I was hoping for something really cool or blogworthy to come out of their mouths, but the above answers were all I got. Disappointed, I moved on to whatever they wanted to do next, but the back of my mind kept chewing on their answers. Later that evening, it hit me. Their answers perfectly reflected the success and power of the show. My 6-year-old son, who is very 6-year-old boy right now, latched onto the characters who were aimed at young boys. Fart jokes, slapstick humor, and cheap laughs. My daughter latched onto the female characters, who were clearly aimed toward the female audience of the show and were written to be strong, independent and well-rounded women. I would be proud for my daughter to claim Sabine or Hera as a role model. Thank you to the creators of Rebels for two excellent female characters!

The simple answers that my kids nonchalantly tossed out helped me realize the simple premise of the show and why it works. The Ghost crew contains characters who represent all ages, genders, and phases of life and connects with them at their level. My kids are not going to grasp the bigger themes of the show, but they know the characters are entertaining and fun to watch and maybe even a little like them sometimes.

Which leads me to my own final thoughts. Perhaps my initial disappointment with my kids' answers came from my hope that they would have a deep connection to the themes and the mythology of the show, just as I do. This rewatch experience solidified what the show really means to me. Rebels is about family. Perhaps no character better illustrates that for me than the Jedi Kanan Jarrus. When I first watched the show as it aired, I had lost three of my grandparents in the span of three years and Kanan's death near the end of Season 4 hit me hard. I remember sitting in the basement of my house and bawling over the death of an animated character, yet knowing it was somehow connected to the grief of losing my grandparents. This time around, the same scene hit me no less hard but in a different way. As I watched Kanan sacrifice himself again, my thoughts turned to my own role as a more experienced father who would do anything for my children and the tears started to flow again. Same scene, two different times, two different family-based reactions. I don't know how this show could connect with me any more directly.

It took me a few words to get there, but I think I'm ready to answer my own questions about Star Wars Rebels:
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I loved it and will always love it. Kanan. The one where Kanan dies, even though it hurts me every time.



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