'Star Wars Rebels' Season 4 Episode 9 'Rebel Assault' Recap: The Calm Before The Battle [MIDSEASON FINALE SPOILERS]

The “Star Wars Rebels” mid-season finale, titled “Rebel Assault,” has Hera (Vanessa Marshall) leading the X-Wings and Y-Wings of Phoenix Squadron against the Imperial blockade over Lothal. Hera is trying to save everyone but risking her own safety. But the star pilot of the rebellion isn’t going down without a fight. On its final season, the show is setting up an action-packed fight against the Empire leading up to the events of “Rogue One” and “New Hope.” The ninth episode is also building up to a lore-centered story arc explaining Kanan’s connection with the Lothal Wolves. Even though the show focuses on the rebellion, “Star Wars Rebels” will give some attention to the Jedi story-arc.

‘Star Wars Rebels’ Flight, Fight And Survive

Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) has been waiting for the rebellion to attack. He orders for a team of TIE Defenders to target Hera and the Phoenix Squadron. He wants to make sure if the rebels would land on Lothal, they’d crash. While Hera and the Pheonix Squadron try to fight off Thrawn’s fighters The Ghost Crew are trying to make it easy for her. Ezra and the others plant explosive charges on Imperial gun towers. It helped disable the towers for the Rebels to enter the planet. The Ghost Crew considers this a tiny victory and waits for Hera to land on Lothal.

Gov. Pryce (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) informs Thrawn about the destruction of the defense towers but he is unfazed. Thrawn is confident of his TIE Defender, even if the Phoenix Squadron looks as if they can easily take them—but not until Captain Vult Skerris (Mario Vernazza) arrives in his TIE Defender. He wanted to test his skills out on Hera, who is considered the rebellion’s star pilot. He chases Hera leading her to fly directly at the bridge of one of the Star Destroyers. Both of their ships were struck by the Chimaera’s turbolasers. Skerris ended up crashing into an Imperial cruiser and the disabled cruiser then drifts into a nearby Destroyer, wiping them both out.
But thanks to her pilot skills, Hera manages to blast the Defender. Breaking through the blockade, the ships of the rebellion fell out of the sky like meteorites. Most of the ships of the Phoenix Squadron crash landed and only a few survived. Thrawn sends Rukh (Warwick Davis) to capture any rebel in sight. Thrawn and Pryce only want Hera, and both gave explicit instructions to their Imperial soldiers and Rukh to capture the rebel pilot.

A Target On Hera’s Back

Hera, aside from Ahsoka Tano, is one of the most enduring characters in “Star Wars Rebels.” She has been mentioned during “Rogue One,” meaning she survives until the end of the season. Even after a crash landing, she and Chopper survived, because a hero doesn’t die until the plot asks for it. Her X-Wing crash-landed in an alleyway on Lothal. Thanks to a few Lothalites, they warned Hera about the Stormtroopers hot on the track of surviving rebels. She runs to the opposite direction of the Imperial Search Craft instructing Chopper to contact Lothal’s rebel base. Due to the crash, Chopper’s transmitter was destroyed. The two are left on their own to find a way out of the city.

Hera and Chopper were able to reach the edge of the city but their escape was interrupted when they find Mart and his R3 unit facing off against some Stormtroopers. Hera sneaks into an Imperial transport vehicle and takes out the pilot and saves Mart. She crashes into a few Stormtroopers and Mart and Chopper knock a few others out too. Unfortunately, Hera wasn’t able to save R3, but they used its transmitter to contact the Lothal Rebel base. The Empire jammed the frequencies though, so they have no choice but to find a sewer hatch for escape. With Ruhk right behind them, they engage in combat. Chopper was able to shock the assassin, giving them time to flee before he chases after them.

The Force is Strong on Lothal

Hera was able to find a sewer hatch, but it’s heavily guarded by Stormtroopers. Mart simply walks in front of them and blasts them. Seeing an opening, Chopper flies in and works on opening it. Hera and Mart end up fighting off the others as Chopper tries to open the hatch. After successfully opening it, another complication arises when they are surrounded by occupier combat assault tanks and Ruhk. As Hera gets into a hand-to-hand combat with Ruhk, she orders Mart and Chopper to escape without her. But Chopper refuses, knowing she can’t convince the android to leave. She blasts the controls, closing the hatch and forcing Chopper to fall in. In a cliffhanger, a knocked out Hera was captured by the Empire.

While Hera was captured, Kanan is determined to find her. Ezra allows him to find her and bring her back. Despite the other’s protests, Kanan drives the other direction. But on the way, he was blocked by a pack of Loth wolves. He angrily demands what they want. The wolf calls him by his true name, “Dume.” Kanan knows they have a mission for him. He removes his mask and accepts whatever it is they need him to do.
Last week’s episode showed Kanan and Hera finally facing their feelings for each other. The last thing he wanted was for their first kiss to be their last. Despite being worried about Hera, he doesn’t hesitate to accept the wolves task, whatever they may be. Because he knows full well of the force surrounding the planet of Lothal. The Empire is not only building weapons, they’ve been obstructing the force.
The second half of “Star Wars Rebels” Season 4 continues early 2018.