"Call to Action" is the eleventh episode of the first season of Star Wars Rebels. It premiered on February 9, 2015. It was written by Greg Weisman & Simon Kinberg and directed by Steward Lee.
Plot
Grand Moff Tarkin, governor of the Outer Rim, arrived on Lothal. Despite the warm welcomes by Minister Tua, Agent Kallus and The Inquisitor, Tarkin immediately reprimanded them for their ongoing failure to put an end to the rising Rebellion, which was the main reason why he had arrived. Kallus and Tua both admitted they had exhausted every resource to capture them but had come to find the Rebels quite elusive. When Minister Tua claimed that the leader of the Rebels was a Jedi, Tarkin chastised her for this belief, as from his point of view the Jedi were all dead, and he intended to seek out the "criminal" and show that he was not what he appeared to be.
Tarkin has Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint executed for their failure.
Meanwhile, Ezra, Kanan and Sabine were being pursued by Imperial speeder bikes with Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint leading the pursuit. The chase led them to a small town where the Rebels raced through the streets while the Imperials split up in an attempt to box them in. However, another attempt to capture them failed after the Rebels took them out one at a time and returned safely to the Ghost. Upon arriving, they found Hera and Zeb watching a HoloNet News report on Gall Trayvis recommitting with the Imperial Senate. They were disgusted by the fact that Trayvis was working for the Empire the whole time and that lies were being spread about them, which gave Kanan an idea that could even the score. He planned to use an Imperial communications tower to send out a message that would speak the truth to all people in the outer rim. Meanwhile, back at Capital City, Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint were called to Governor Tarkin’s office where they reported on their recent and past encounters with the Rebels, admitting their failed attempts to capture them. Tarkin, concerned about their ongoing failures, felt that it could possibly threaten the security of the Empire if citizens began to see what the Rebels were representing, unacceptable by his standards. Without warning, he had the Inquisitor execute Aresko and Grint right in front of Minister Tua and Agent Kallus as a reminder that future failure would have consequences. Tarkin then instructed Kallus to dispatch Probe Droids to every known location of insurgent activity on Lothal where they could seek out and discover the location of the Rebels.
Ezra is unsure about going ahead with the plan.
The next day, Kanan, Ezra and Sabine were observing an Imperial communications tower. While discussing a rough idea of their plan to take control of it, they spotted an Imperial Transport deploy a Probe Droid. Luckily, it didn’t spot them, but they could see it heading straight for where they had hid their speeder bikes, which would no doubt reveal their presence. Through the force, Ezra connected with a Loth-cat and commanded it to attack the Probe Droid, knocking it down onto its side. With the droid down, Kanan, Ezra and Sabine got to their bikes and headed back to the Ghost. Despite having fallen over, the Probe Droid still managed to catch a glimpse of the Rebels, which Agent Kallus reported to Tarkin. Upon returning to the Ghost, the Rebels were preparing everything they would need to transmit their message. They were good to go, but Ezra all of a sudden felt unsure about going ahead with the plan. His parents were taken away from him because they had spoken out against the Empire. He was afraid that he might lose Kanan and everyone else around him. Kanan reminded him that he wasn't the only one who had had many losses in his past, and that he couldn't let the fear of new ones stop him from taking necessary risks. He told Ezra they needed to move forward, and that when the time came, they would have to be ready to sacrifice something bigger. Ezra still didn't find making sacrifices easy, to which Kanan agreed. His own master had tried to teach him that, but he had never understood it until now, when he had to teach Ezra.
After the evening turned to night, the Rebels proceeded with their plan. The tower was guarded by four foot soldiers and three cannons. Sabine blew-up one Anti-ship battery while Zeb removed the pilot from the second, which he then used to blow up the third and the remaining foot soldiers. With security down, Sabine and Chopper entered the tower and began hacking into the tower's systems. However, Ezra and Zeb spotted transports and informed Kanan that they were heading in their direction. With very little time, Kanan changed the escape plan. Ezra took the bike and rescued Zeb from the last Anti-ship battery just before the Imperial troops blew it up. Once Ezra and Zeb were back at the tower, Kanan had them head for the top with Chopper and Sabine. He remained behind to hold off the Imperials. Agent Kallus, the Inquisitor, and the Imperials cornered Kanan, with the rest of the Rebels trapped at the top of the tower. Kanan engaged the Inquisitor in a Lightsaber duel just as Hera arrived up with the Phantom and picked up Ezra, Chopper, Sabine, and Zeb. Kanan put up a strong fight but was beaten. Knowing that he wasn't going to make it with the others, he ordered Hera to retreat without him, despite her objections.
Ezra speaking out to the citizens of Lothal.
As the sun began to rise, Governor Tarkin arrived at the communications tower to take Kanan into custody. As they departed, the Imperials realized that the Rebels had hacked the transmission. Ezra told everyone in the outer rim the truth about their Rebellion, and helped them see what the Empire was really doing to their lives. As he continued to encourage everyone to make a stand, the Imperials destroyed the tower ending their transmission. Despite losing the transmission, Hera strongly believed every citizen in the outer rim heard them and Ezra declared this fight wasn't over...
Credits
Cast
- Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger
- Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Kanan Jarrus
- Steven Blum as Garazeb Orrelios / Stormtrooper #1
- Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren
- Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla
- Stephen Stanton as Wilhuff Tarkin
- Jason Isaacs as The Inquisitor
- David Shaughnessy as Cumberlayne Aresko / Myles Grint
- Kath Soucie as Maketh Tua
Appearances
Gallery
Trivia
- Stephen Stanton reprises his role as Tarkin, now holding the role of Grand Moff. He was last heard in the role in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, when Tarkin was an admiral.
- This is the first time Tarkin is seen in action on the field as an Imperial. He wears armor similar to General Veers from The Empire Strikes Back.
- The opening sequence shares similarities to the opening scene of Return of the Jedi where Darth Vader arrives at the second Death Star.
- The Viper Probe Droid from The Empire Strikes Back makes an appearance in this episode.
- Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint are killed off in this episode.
- This episode marks the first on-screen appearance of Alton Kastle. Kastle wears a grey-blue Imperial uniform and wears an Imperial media badge rather a military rank badge.
- Computer spikes have long been part of Star Wars lore. They were first introduced as a computer countermeasure device in 1990 role-playing game supplement Cracken's Rebel Field Guide, and were heavily featured as a consumable device in Knights of the Old Republic game.
- The gunnery stations outside the Imperial communications center use the same seat and control array as the TIE Fighters seen in the series.
- The Imperial Patrol Transport is a monochromatic makeover of the Republic police helicopter seen in The Clone Wars.