Homecoming

"Homecoming"
Season 2
Number 16
Production Information
Production code	216
Written by	Steven Melching
Directed by	Bosco Ng
Original air date	February 17, 2016
Episode Chronology
Previous	"The Call"
Next	"The Honorable Ones"

"Homecoming" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of Star Wars Rebels. It is the thirty-first episode of the series overall. It was released on February 17, 2016 on Disney XD.

Premise

The Ghost crew joins forces with Cham Syndulla, father of Hera and Clone Wars legend. But will his thirst for revenge -- and fractured relationship with his daughter -- cost the rebels a victory?

Synopsis

Following an escape from Imperial forces with one casualty, the Rebels had an issue. They were losing more pilots in battle faster than they could replace them, and until they could find a base, they needed somewhere to land their fighters. Commander Sato had a suggestion to solve both problems, and brought up a report from the Twi’lek Rebels in the Ryloth system. There was an Imperial carrier orbiting Ryloth. Sato believed they could steal that ship and use it to house all of their fighters. Hera was familiar with the Rebel cell in the Ryloth system and personally made contact with their leader, who was also her father, Cham Syndulla. However, she was somewhat reluctant to speak with him but understood the Rebellion's need for that carrier.

Mission briefing.

The Rebels met up with Cham Syndulla’s ship, along with two of his colleagues, Numa and Gobi Glie. Soon after an awkward welcoming, the Rebels moved on to the mission briefing. During the briefing, Hera brought up the Imperial light carrier that was orbiting Ryloth. It houses a squadron of TIE Bombers that were used to bomb the Twi’lek Rebels. Her plan was to fly in with a stolen TIE Bomber, and seize control of the ship while the squadron was away. Once they gained control of the ship, they could jump away before the Empire could act. It was an agreeable plan, but Cham insisted on destroying the carrier to symbolize the strength of his people. However, everyone was in agreement with Hera’s plan, including a reluctant Cham. Later on, Ezra had a heart to heart with Hera. All she could tell him was she had a difficult relationship with her father. In the Clone Wars, Cham fought alongside the Jedi to free Ryloth from the droid army. But after the Republic became the Empire and refused to leave, Cham started to fight them. Once Hera’s mother was killed in the resistance, Ryloth’s freedom became more important to Cham, more important than his own family. Hera’s relationship with her father became even more difficult when she left Ryloth to join the Rebellion. Cham was disgusted by the decisions Hera made, as he wanted his daughter to be by his side in liberating their world. He also failed to understand what Hera and the Rebellion were fighting for. All he cared about was Ryloth.

Deliberate crash landing.

Later on, the Rebels carried out their mission and arrived at Ryloth with the stolen TIE Bomber being carried by a Twi’lek Rebel ship. The Rebels detached from the ship and piloted the bomber towards the orbiting carrier as it dispatched a squadron of bombers down to the surface. Then in order to board the ship without raising suspicion, two A-Wings emerged from hyperspace and commenced a staged attack on the Rebel’s bomber. During the assault, the Rebels contacted the carrier for emergency landing. The Imperials gave them permission to land and gave them cover fire. The A-Wings slightly damaged the bomber, and as soon as the carrier opened fire, the Rebel fighters turned about and retreated. To make it look good, Hera deliberately crashed the burning bomber into one of the carrier’s hangers. Everyone survived the crash, but as everyone tried to get back on their feet, they were double-crossed. Cham and his colleagues had planned to carry out their mission by destroying the carrier all along.

After handcuffing Hera to the pilot’s seat and knocking out her fellow Rebels, Cham, Numa and Gobi proceeded with their plan loaded with enough explosives to destroy the ship. Hera managed to get free with Chopper’s help after waking him up from being stung. Soon the other Rebels regained consciousness and proceeded with their mission in commandeering the carrier, as well stop Cham from destroying it. While Hera, Kanan, Ezra, and Chopper headed for the bridge, Sabine and Zeb went after Numa and Godi who had just started planting explosives. They opened fire after spotting them, and soon a squadron of Stormtroopers showed up. But the attack was short lived after Sabine blasted the door shut. Meanwhile, Kanan, Ezra, Hera, and Chopper made it to the bridge and held the crew at gunpoint. They learned from the commander that reinforcements were on their way. Using The Force, and after a second try, Ezra mind controlled the commander to order the crew to abandon ship. Pretty soon, the ship was evacuated, and Sabine and Zeb had Numa and Gobi in custody after taking them out with a rigged mouse droid. The ship was now under their control. However, thanks to Cham, the hyperdrive had been disabled so they could not escape with the ship. He still intended on destroying the ship for Ryloth.

Hera tries to reason with her father.

As Imperial reinforcements moved in, Hera tried to reason with her father, but Cham did not listen. He told her the Empire had plundered the wealth of their people and sold them into slavery. He wanted the ship to burn for all of Ryloth. Hera understood his determination to free Ryloth from the Empire but told him this battle could not be won alone. She then told her father how he was an inspiration to herself and the people of Ryloth. In the clone wars, he did not just fight for a village, he rallied everyone to liberate their planet. His influence was what made Hera become the woman she was now, and she was not just fighting for her people but for everyone. But because Cham did not believe in her or the Rebellion, it was why she chose to leave so she could follow her own path. Touched by Hera’s words, Cham decided to follow Hera’s lead, and everyone was back on the original plan. With reinforcements closing in and the Hyperdrive under repairs, the Rebels held off their attackers by manning the ship’s turrets. The TIEs moved fast as the Rebels tried to shoot them down, but they were victorious in taking out the shuttle carrying reinforcements. But then the bombers returned and attacked. They took evasive maneuvers as the bombers opened fire and caused minor damage to the carrier. They nearly lost control, but both Hera and Cham managed to stabilize the carrier. Nearby, the Imperial light cruiser was coming after them, but Ezra had a plan to stop them. Planting explosives in one of the TIE Bomber’s still aboard the carrier, Ezra force pushed it overboard and let it drift towards the pursuing cruiser. Then just as it made close contact with the cruiser, Cham used the carrier’s turrets to blow up the bomber and with it the pursuing cruiser. Cham had completed his mission for Ryloth, and the Rebels escaped with the hyperdrive now operational.

Upon returning to the Rebel fleet, Cham had news that his people were rallying against the Empire. Before leaving he took his daughter aside and admitted how proud he was of Hera and who she had turned out to be. This brought new loyalty and respect between the two of them, forming a better relationship between father and daughter.

Credits

Cast

• Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger
• Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Kanan Jarrus
• Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla
• Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren
• Steven Blum as Garazeb Orrelios / Imperial Officer / Stormtrooper Commander
• Corey Burton as Carrier Captain / Imperial Officer #3 / Gobi Glie
• Robin Atkin Downes as Cham Syndulla / Rebel Captain / Imperial Officer #2
• Keone Young as Jun Sato
• Catherine Taber as Numa / Phoenix Two
• Dave Filoni as Stormtrooper Deck Officer

Appearances

Characters Ezra Bridger Kanan Jarrus Hera Syndulla Sabine Wren Garazeb Orrelios C1-10P Jun Sato (Appears in hologram) Cham Syndulla (First appearance) Numa (First appearance) Gobi Glie (First appearance) Mace Windu (Mentioned only) Groups Rebel Pilots TIE Pilots Rebel Crewman Imperial Officers Stormtroopers Stormtrooper Commander Imperial Combat Drivers Droid Models Astromech Droid B1 Battle Droids (Mentioned only) Mouse Droid (First appearance)

Locations Mandalore Imperial Academy (Mentioned only) Ryloth System (First appearance) Ryloth (First appearance) Events Clone Wars (Mentioned only) Mission to Ryloth (First appearance) Vehicles VCX-100 Light Freighter Ghost Phantom Alderaan Cruisers Liberator Hammerhead Corvettes A-Wing Starfighters TIE Fighters Imperial Star Destroyer Nu-class Transport (First appearance) TIE Bombers Imperial Light Carrier (First appearance) Phoenix Nest (First appearance) Imperial Light Cruiser Escape Pods (Mentioned only) Sentinel-class Shuttle Taylander Shuttle

Trivia

• This episode marks the series debut Cham Syndulla, Numa, and Gobi Glie who appeared in the earlier show, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It also includes several callbacks to Ryloth's last appearance in Season 1 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
  • Cham directly recalls fighting alongside Mace Windu in the Battle of Lessu, the climactic battle to retake Ryloth's capital city.
  • The original script referenced "The Ballad of Cham Syndulla". A song composed by Gobi and written for an online web comic that accompanied the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
  • Cham's shoulder armor, Gobie's gauntlets, vambraces and holster, and Numa's arm armor and belt are all salvaged pieces of Ghost Company Clone Trooper kit.
  • On Numa's upper left arm, the word "BOIL" is written in aurebesh as well as a particular crest in reference to one of the Clone Trooper that rescued her in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She also has a faded Tooka illustration on her tunic - she had a stuffed tooka toy as a child.
• When Hera Syndulla gets frustrated, her natural Twi'lek accent comes through, answering a long standing fan question as to why she did not sound like other Twi'leks seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (when they speak Galactic Basic). Alternatively, it seems that she learned to drop her Twi'lek accent (which sounds vaguely French), but intentionally switches back to it when talking with her father because it makes her sound less like an off-worlder, and he was accusing her of being more concerned with outsiders.
• The TIE Bombers make their debut appearance in this episode.
• The Imperial Light Carrier ship design was first introduced (as the Quasar Fire-class carrier used by the Rebellion) in the original Expanded Universe novel The Truce at Bakura, in 1994. The visual design of the Quasar Fire-class carrier first appeared in artwork by Doug Chiang and Troy Vigil created for the first edition of The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels.
• This episode establishes that before the Ghost crew formed, Chopper belonged to Hera, who acquired him on Ryloth back during the Clone Wars (it isn't clear if she's the one that built him from spare parts).
• As Kanan notes in the episode, this officially marks the first time that Ezra has successfully used the Jedi mind trick - continuing the running thread for the past two seasons in which Ezra went from asking Kanan to teach him it, to Ezra trying but failing to perform it on Imperials.