1x08 Path of the Jedi

9.3/10. As became clear to me while watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I am a sucker for the occasions when the animated wing of Star Wars gets a little more spiritual and impressionistic (see also: the Mortis arc and Yoda's S6 arc in The Clone Wars). There's something about Star Wars embracing its mystical side, about dramatizing the internal journey its characters are embarking on with external, dream-like representations of those challenges that always grabs me.

"Path of the Jedi" is just that kind of episode. It features Ezra going on a spirit quest in an old Jedi temple (conveniently on Lothal) akin to the one Luke takes on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back. As part of that journey, Ezra has to face his worst fears: that Kanan will be killed by him, that Zeb and Chopper don't think he's useful and wouldn't mind if he didn't make it back, that Hera doesn't care for him but only wants to use him for his abilities, and that Sabine doesn't see him as a peer or an equal, let alone a romantic interest, but as a little kid whom she pities. I've mentioned before that Rebels feels influenced by Firefly, and as much as this episode is clearly taking its cues from Luke's visit to the cave in ESB, it also feels like it's borrowing from Firefly's objects in space and the way that River Tam imagines or perceives her erstwhile companions as viewing her as a liability and an albatross around their necks. For Ezra, that fear is rooted in feelings of abandonment, of loss, that he's struggling to overcome.

Kanan has fears as well. He worries about whether he will be a good enough teacher to Ezra, whether he can prevent him from veering to the dark side. We get hints at Kanan's past for the first time, and indication that he himself may have succumbed to the darker elements of the force, or simply lost in faith in the aftermath of the great Jedi purge. We don't know what Kanan's path was, but it makes his fear unique and full of perspective. We know it makes him worried about training another young man in the ways of the force who may hit the same speedbumps, go down the same dark roads, that he himself once did.

Any Star Wars fan (or mere watcher of trailers) knows that fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, suffering leads to overpriced appetizers, etc. etc. etc. What's interesting about Ezra's journey here is that it feels like it's also taking a page out of Anakin's path. As I talked about a little bit in my write up of the prior episode, the two of them have a lot in common, and much of "Path of the Jedi" is about asking the same questions that were once asked of the boy who would become Darth Vader. Is he too full of fear? Is he too old to begin this journey? Will his desire to avenge the people he loves lead him to the dark side?

Of course, the voice asking these questions is a familiar and invigorating one. Nothing against the incredible Tom Kane, who did a great job as Yoda in The Clone Wars, but hearing Frank Oz return to the character, bringing his impish charms, his Socratic playfulness, his almost mischievous wisdom, gave me chills. Invoking Yoda to guide Ezra (and Kanan for that matter) gives this vision quest more weight. We see the twinkling lights that first appeared in Yoda's own journey in The Clone Wars. We hear him interrogate Ezra in his own unassuming way, and try to suss out if he has another Anakin on his hands.

But while Ezra speaks with the same angry tones Anakin once did, vows to avenge and protect the people he cares for, there's something different that Yoda recognizes. He is with a found family who have (admittedly quickly) taught him to protect everyone, to give away what he has, to make the galaxy better for all, not just for those he cares for. We knew where Anakin's journey was headed, which made his path haunting at times, but also short on intrigue. With Ezra, we don't know where the path will take him, and that makes these moments both exciting and scary. Yoda, for his part, is mollified enough to give Ezra a kyber crystal, the basis for a lightsaber, and as we learned in The Clone Wars, a rite of passage for young Jedi.

The import of that journey is bolstered by the quality design and animation work. While The Inquisitor still spouts some hacky bad guy dialogue here, the different hues that Rebels bathe its characters in, the different angles it uses to frame them, help convey the mystic atmosphere and pretzel logic of Ezra's journey. The design of the temple itself, with the skeletons of old masters and geometric designs on domes that fade into a view of the stars themselves, make the location of this rite feel appropriately sacred and distinct.

The temple on Lothal is the place where Ezra passes a test greater than one that Kanan can provide, a test not from Yoda, but from the power of the force itself. Ezra must find peace, must find concentration, must find the devotion to all life and the responsibility that comes with wielding that power before he may be allowed to progress, to be taught. We don't know whether he may one day stray from the path, like Anakin did, like Kanan did. Ezra's struggling with a great deal at this point in his life, with powerful attachments that still burn within him and seem contrary to the Jedi way. But this much is clear -- the young man who walks out of that cave, out of that temple, having faced down the things that worry him, that keep him up at night, that lurk in the corners of his mind threatening to lead him to the dark side, is a young man ready to take the next step.