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Review: Star Wars: Rebels - Episode 11: Vision of Hope

Posted by Chuck | February 11, 2015 at 05:14 PM ET

We are playing catch-up with our Star Wars Rebels reviews. Click through to check out our full review for last week's episode: Star Wars Rebels: Vision of Hope.

Rebels Review: Vision of Hope
By: Mike Taber

The crew of the Ghost try to stop an Imperial plot to capture senator Gall Trayvis in this episode of Star Wars Rebels. SPOILERS.

While “Vision of Hope” wasn’t a groundbreaking episode of Star Wars Rebels it did demonstrate some of the ways in which the series has progressed over the course of its first season. Perhaps the most notable change has been in the animation. When Rebels premiered many noticed that the animation style was, and frankly still is, a huge downgrade from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. However, in recent weeks I have noticed some improvement in the quality of the animation and “Vision of Hope” is a good example of this trend. The introduction of the old Senate building and the wide shots of Lothal’s capital helped make Lothal seem far more expansive than previously thought.

When the episode opens up, Ezra has a vision of Senator-in-exile Gall Trayvis saying, “You’re parents were very brave.” Kanan is quick to warn Ezra that visions aren’t always what they seem to be, despite this warning Ezra steadfastly believes what he saw in his vision is going to come to fruition. The fact that Ezra is even having a Force vision speaks to his growing ability in the Force. Hera intercepts a hidden message from Gall Trayvis saying he is coming to Lothal and wants to meet them at the Old Republic Senate Building. Concerned that the Empire could know about the meeting, Ezra contacted Imperial cadet Zare Leonis to find out more information. The inclusion of both Zare Leonis and Gall Trayvis was a great way call back to and build upon previous episodes. While the adventure of the week style of Rebels can at times make the show feel like a procedural, including elements from previous episodes like the stories of Leonis and Trayvis helps the show embrace a more serialized form of storytelling. Zare warns Ezra that Agent Kallus is preparing for a massive operation at the Senate building. We also got an interesting look at the politics of the Empire this week when Kallus stated that the Empire should be focusing on capturing the rebels as a group as opposed to the Inquisitor’s goal of only apprehending the Jedi. The clash of the ideals of Kallus and the Inquisitor is an interesting dynamic that I hope the series explores more in the future. Speaking of Agent Kallus, he needs some kind of victory against the rebels because right now he is too ineffective to be taken seriously.

When Hera, Kanan, and Ezra arrive at the meeting with Trayvis they are quickly surrounded by Kallus and his soldiers. But before they can be captured, Sabine and Zeb provide cover while the rest of the rebels and Trayvis can escape through the sewers. Hera gives Trayvis a blaster which he quickly turns on the rebels. Trayvis is an Imperial agent and has been used by the Empire to identify and evaluate rebel cells across the galaxy. The groups that posed a threat to the Empire all had “accidents” after they met with Trayvis. It turns out that Trayvis did know Ezra’s parents and called them “brave but foolish.” Ezra is of course devastated but when Trayvis tries to shoot Hera he realizes that the blaster wasn’t loaded. Hera knocks him out and reveals she had grown suspicious of him after he slowed down and allowed the Empire to catch up. I’m glad Hera realized Trayvis was a traitor but it was a fairly predictable plot twist. Many fans, myself included, had been suspicious of Trayvis ever since he gave the crew of the Ghost the information on Luminara that led them into a trap in the episode "Rise of the Old Masters." Hera and Ezra met up with the rest of the crew and managed to evade the remaining Imperial forces. There was a nice moment at the end of the episode between Ezra and Hera, the two who believed in Trayvis the most, where she told him to have hope that things will get better.