Biggest bomb clearly is the fact that Sabine has ties to Vizla and Death Watch. That adds some spice.
The show is continually enjoyable, but it's hard to take it seriously when all the main characters are covered in over the top plot armour. Why do they even need an entire rebel army when this small squad can seemingly take down infinite numbers of empire troops, ships, and walkers at any time without ever dying. Makes the empire look like the most incompetent army ever. These are the people that exterminated the jedi and are feared across the Galaxy? Yeah right. They're not intimidating at all, and they get bested at literally every turn.
Okay, I'll stop ranting now. The show is still enjoyable, I just get frustrated sometimes.
I See Her I See Her Kanan It's Bad
7.3/10. I'll admit, the diplomacy vs. violence argument came off as pretty facile, especially when we've seen the Rebels be anything but shy about killing their enemies in the past. (If I had a nickel for every storm trooper they blew up without compunction, I could buy my own death star). But even it requires a certain amount of handwaving, I liked that we got an episode centered on Kanan and Sabine, a pairing we don't get very often, and I appreciate the thematic and continuity-focused approacch of contrasting the Jedi's natural pacifism (the hypocrisy of which was explored nicely in The Clone Wars) with the Mandalorean sense of warrior's honor.
The fact that by the end of the episode, Sabine is still apt to blow stuff up and get into conflicts, but tries not to take any lives in the process, while Kanan wants to try the diplomatic approach, but is willing to adopt a rough and tumble posture to speak to the Mandaloreans in their language, works well. It's a pretty standard "see the merit in the opposing side" story, but it works. And supporting it with Hera's injuries and the desire for vengeance, as well as the stakes of a path to and from Lothal helps bolster it.
Plus, there's a pretty singificant reveal for Clone Wars fans! SPOILERS FOR CLONE WARS HERE:{The fact that Sabine is the daughter or niece or some relation of Pre Vizla, and has the legacy of Death Watch to contend with, adds an interesting dimension to her character.} Even beyond specific reveals, Clone Wars gave us a lot of details of Mandalorean culture, and seeing those reinforced here, with Concord Dawn's leader having the hardnosed, proud, but respectful bent we'd expect from the warrior community, is a nice touch.
Overall, the episode offers a nice pairing and a pretty standard lesson, but does so in a pretty exciting way with some nice additions to the series' mythology that help bolster it. Not a classic, but a nice side-story episode.
"The protectors" is a nice name - if only they'd live up to it ("Out here I act in the name of the empire"... :o). But at least their leader protected Kanan.
"There was a time when it [diplomacy] always won the day."
It seems like even a severely damaged ship can enter and survive hyperspace... I'm glad that Hera survived though! :)
It's also interesting that Sabine's mother was deathwatch (House Vizsla, Clan Wren).
omg the reveal that sabine is in clan viszla!!! crazy
Episode 11 was out last week...
Shout by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2016-02-07T11:46:49Z
I did find it funny that none of the characters seemed to care about the Rebel pilots who were killed.