Rebels Season Four Prediction Time!

Posted onAuthorTodd

With Star Wars Rebels season three firmly in the rear view mirror, it’s time to wax on what we (I) think will transpire in season four. I’m going to cover plotlines, character growth, new character introductions, new tech – you get the point. However, I’m gonna group these predictions and theories into three categories – SLAM DUNKS, EVEN MONEY, and WISHFUL THINKING. Let’s start things off with…

Slam Dunks:

  • Grand Admiral Thrawn will once again be the bane of our heroes’ existence – we all watched a calculating and patient Grand Admiral Thrawn in season three, studying the rebels of Phoenix Squadron and the Ghost crew throughout the season, waiting until the final two episodes to strike. He would’ve been successful if not for two things – Admiral Konstantine’s idiocy and the presence of the Bendu. He will most certainly still be the main Imperial chasing down the now united Rebel Alliance and I predict he will continue to have success.
  • Somebody is going to die – it has to happen, right? As we inch closer and closer to the events of Rogue One and A New Hope we can’t possibly be so naive to suspect that all of the Rebels we’ve grown to love are going to survive, right? Well, we know Hera and Chopper are going to make it, as evidenced by the Easter Eggs in Rogue One. I think we can most likely assume Sabine is going to survive the season as well, as I don’t think the Lucasfilm story group is going to blow and opportunity to explore and exploit her journey to unite Mandalore. That leaves us with Zeb, Kanan, and Ezra. The safest money is on Kanan, followed by Zeb, and lastly Ezra. However, we also have to assume that neither Kanan or Ezra are in a position to help the Rebellion by the time we get to Rogue One and/or A New Hope or they would’ve been helping, right? Surely when Mon Mothma asks Bail Organa about his Jedi friend in R1 she has to be aware that neither Kanan or Ezra is available. The story group will not let us down here, I assure you.
  • Darth Vader will return and/or a new, capable Inquisitor will arise – one of the things that bothered me about season three was Vader and the Emperor’s seemingly lack of interest in finding and eliminating Kanan and Ezra – presumably two of the very last remaining Jedi in the galaxy. Vader will have to return in my opinion, even though Filoni and crew have stated they are reluctant to have him come back and dominate the show. However, it’s time, let’s do this. And Kanan has to die, no better way than to have Vader do it. And if we don’t get Vader, give us a worthy Inquisitor to do the job, one more reminiscent of the Grand Inquisitor from season one and not a putz like this three follow-ups…..
  • Hera will get a promotion – with Commander Sato sacrificing himself at the end of season three it’s a no-brained that Hera Syndulla will get a promotion. We know she’s a general by the time of Rogue One, so the writers need to get on it, right?? This is as big of a slam dunk as it gets…
  • We won’t see Ben Kenobi again – another no-brainer here, he served his purpose, time to let that go until A New Hope. Twin Suns was a divisive episode, but I personally rather enjoyed it. Having said that, no more Kenobi, got it powers that be??
  • Wedge’s injury revealed – in the Aftermath series it is revealed that Wedge Antilles was severely injured while piloting an A-Wing fighter. I’m pretty positive we will see this unfold in season four. It’s also stated that the Empire took someone near and dear to his heart, so could a love interest be in the works for Wedge?
  • Dantooine, finally – I have to admit, I was surprised when it was revealed the rendezvous point at the end of season three for the Alliance was Yavin 4. We had just seen the Rebel fleet unite at Dantooine for the first time, and we are already on to Yavin 4. My hope is that this is simply where General Dodonna’s Massassi cell is located, and Dantooine is still the main Alliance base at the beginning of season four. Either way, we will be seeing the (supposedly) barren planet we’ve been hearing about since A New Hope, bet on that.
  • Saw Gerrera is gonna Saw Gerrera – it has already been hinted on that we will see what amounts to the final straw of Saw Gerrera and the united Rebel Alliance in season four. I hope the story group does this justice, and I’m betting they will. Season four has the potential to grow up quite a bit, especially as we near the events of Rogue One, which showcased the Rebels doing some morally questionable things in the name of their cause. And Saw is supposedly the king of this type of extremist tactic.
  • X-Wings, there you are– another total no-brainer, but we will finally see T-65 X-Wing starfighters enter into Star Wars Rebels, as we inch ever-closer to the events of the battles of Scarif and Yavin. Bet the house on this one….

Even money:

  • Reveal of ‘The Presence’ – ever since Ezra came into possession of the Sith Holocron on Malachor in season two, everyone has been wondering whose voice it is that speaks to him via the device. Simply credited as The Presence, I think we are finally going to learn more about her and who she is. One would imagine this is a great opportunity to bring Darth Traya into canon, as things would line up nicely there with the events of KOTOR 2, but I’m thinking it’ll be a new character that draws from her history. Either way, I think we will learn more about this mysterious character.
  • Darth Revan’s triumphant return to canon – this is going to happen one way or another, and the story group has dropped a ton of hints in Rebels that he will return. This leads me to believe he will make his initial return in the show in season four, most likely in flashbacks and story telling similar to what we saw in Trials of the Darksaber or a holocron type of situation. With Sabine fighting to reunite Mandalore and Kanan already having mentioned the Mandalorian War (which Revan was the major player in from Legends stories), the breadcrumbs are there, the writers just have to make it happen.
  • Cassian Andor and K-2SO – while this is no slam dunk, I feel the time would be right to introduce Cassian Andor (admittedly from the Rogue One novelization one of the Rebel officers who uses the mantle of Fulcrum) and K-2SO to the cast of Rebels. Now that Kallus has been outed as Fulcrum, we need a new one, right? Cassian may just be that guy. Do I think Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk will return to voice them. Possibly, the latter more likely than the former I would imagine, and it most likely hinges on how large their roles are. Either way, it’ll be amazing to see them in animation form!
  • Exploration of the Massassi – OK, so the Ghost crew is headed to Yavin 4. The Massassi temples are on Yavin 4. The Doctor Aphra comic series has told tales that the ancient race of the Massassi were enslaved by the Sith almost 5000 years before the events of A New Hope, and there are ties to the Ordu Aspectu have ties to the temples as well. This presents the writers and story group with an amazing opportunity to continue to flesh out the history of the Jedi, Sith, and the Force in general and I don’t think they’ll let it slip away. It’s a pretty safe bet Kanan and Ezra will explore these temples and their rich history which will give us a ton of great storyline opportunities.
  • Ahsoka’s return – I never thought we had seen the last of Ahsoka, and I believe she’ll return in season four. But.. I don’t think it’ll be the way people think. My guess is that it will have something to do with the mysterious Convor’s, the birds we’ve been seeing since the Mortis arc in The Clone Wars every time there is a significant event that affects Ahsoka.
  • Hello there, Bendu – while I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the Bendu, I’m not 100% sure he’ll pop back up in season four of Rebels. However, I’m confident enough that I’m putting his return in the even money category here. Although for me he was an up-and-down kind of character since his introduction in season three, his arc in Zero Hour was amazing, and I think he will return to make Kanan understand exactly what being ‘in the middle’ really is all about. Another wild theory I have is that Ahsoka may join the Bendu in this, explaining to our Force sensitive heroes that there is more to the Force than just the dogma of the Jedi and Sith.
  • Leia will return to Rebels – again, just in a tiny role, but it would make sense for Princess Leia to be a presence within the newly formed Rebel Alliance as the story continues to advance.
  • The disappearance of Thrawn – while I most certainly do not think Thrawn will die in Rebels, I do think the seeds as to why he never shows back up will be planted. And as I kind of hit on during a recent episode of The Exhaust Port, I think his disappearance will have something to do with the Unknown Regions and the ‘Contingency Plan’ mentioned by Gallius Rax in Aftermath:Empire’s End. That is wild speculation on my part, but it just makes sense. Time will tell on this one…

Wishful thinking:

  • Director Krennic will show up – the timeline makes sense, but I’m really not sure the story group will go there. While I do think we will see hints at the construction of the Death Star at bare minimum, I’m not sure we would need to actually see Krennic in Rebels. I’d love it, but not counting on it.
  • More Palpatine – while I would love to see more of Emperor Palpatine in season four of Rebels, I’m not counting on it. It’s been made obvious that the Emperor is pretty much a recluse by this point, so I highly doubt we will see much if any of him. Which is a shame, because Sam Witwer killed it doing his voice in his brief appearance in season two.
  • Gimme way more AP-5 – dude, I freaking love AP-5, and I wanna see much more of him in season four. Unfortunately, I have to put this in the wishful thinking category, as it is obvious even before we see a teaser for the season that there is going to be a ton going on as we inch closer to Rogue One, and I don’t know how they’ll make room for more AP-5. Who knows though, maybe Filoni and the writers realize how rad he is and they are making more space for him. One can only hope!
  • Retcon of the Sith race – again, wild speculation, but if we do indeed venture into some backstory on the Massassi race on Yavin 4, this would be a great opportunity for the story group to retcon the ancient Sith race and combine them into the Massassi. Quite frankly I might be OK with this, and this is exactly something the story group would do.
  • Starkiller in canon?!?! – OK, chill. We all know I despise the character of Starkiller, Vader’s secret apprentice in the Force Unleashed games. However, this might be another chance to retcon a character that is beloved to many (not including me) into canon. This could be done by introducing a new, better brand of Sith Inquisitor to hunt Kanan and Ezra down. Obviously he wouldn’t be called Starkiller, because that would be dumb, but we could see a lot of this character’s traits brought to this new dark side apprentice.
  • General Draven is actually Kallus! – no, this WILL NOT happen, but it should have. What an easy missed opportunity to further Kallus’ story in a role that would’ve made total sense and been an easy fit. They even talk and look alike. Oh well, just wanted to vent.
  • Kalani and his Battle Droids will join up – out of my ‘wishful thinking’ predictions, this is the most likely. It would make sense, the groundwork was laid early in season three, and it would be a nice touch. I always like the Commander series Battle Droids, and it would be cool full-circle kind of moment to see former Separatist forces helping the Rebellion. Hell, as I type this I think maybe I should move it to the ‘even money’ category. Ha.
  • A Doctor Aphra appearance? – again, this is exactly why this is called wishful thinking for a reason, but who knows. Selfishly, I think I’d just like to know what the Rebels animation team would do with her, hahaha. Yeah, this one ain’t gonna happen.

Again, these are wild theories – some of them at least – but I could see all of these happening in some form or another. With SW Celebration coming up this week, we are sure to get a Rebels season four teaser, so check back for my revisions, as I’m sure there will be some surprises!