The hit animated show Star Wars Rebels not only features the occasional cameo by fan loved classic Star Wars characters but also features famous planets and moons from the saga which are almost characters themselves. Here are four planets I want to see appear in future episodes of Star Wars Rebels and why:
Alderaan
One of my issues with the prequels is that we didn’t see very much Alderaan. As far as common issues with the prequels go this is a pretty small one I’ll admit but hey, I’m a prequel fan. My point is that if we had spent time on Alderaan during the prequels, soaking in its culture and exploring the populace then its destruction in Episode 4 would be much more meaningful; we would have retroactively become more invested in the planet. As it currently stands the destruction of Alderaan in A New Hope speaks much more of the power of the Death Star than the loss of the planet itself and showing us more of the planet before its destruction will make that scene in A New Hope all the more meaningful and emotional. While they didn’t explore much of Alderaan in the prequels – we saw it very briefly at the end of Revenge of the Sith – Rebels could be the perfect place to show off more of the planet and its culture. We have seen the planet already during the second season episode ‘Blood Sisters’ but it was incredibly brief and from what we saw in Revenge of the Sith the geography of the planet is beautiful and the Lucasfilm animation team could create some incredible effects for the landscapes of the world. There is a story reason to feature Alderaan as well with it being the home to both Bail and Leia Organa who have both appeared on the show before and are incredibly important to the creation of the Rebel Alliance.
Jedha
With Rogue One rapidly approaching it would be cool if Rebels tied into the upcoming movie in some way and Jedha might be the perfect way to do it. Jedha is featured heavily in the Rogue One trailers and is actually a desert moon rather than a planet. The world is linked to the Jedi and has a huge spiritual significance to believers in the force who take pilgrimages to the moon, the trailer shows us giant fallen statues of Jedi holding lightsabers and it is implied the moon is home to Kyber crystals. It would be interesting if Bendu or even Yoda sends both Kanan and Ezra to Jedha for a spiritual mission and while this occurs the rest of the Rebels crew could meet up with Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera who is played by Forest Whitaker in Rogue One and who also appeared in The Clone Wars. We know that he has his base on the moon and a meeting between him and Sabine has been set up since the beginning of the show because the Rebellion symbol we see in the original trilogy is actually a mixture of Sabine’s artwork and Saw Gerrera’s symbol from The Clone Wars.
Ilum
Ilum was first seen in the fifth season of The Clone Wars as a planet of spiritual significance to the Jedi who built a Jedi temple on the planet in which younglings travelled to get their lightsaber Kyber crystals of which the planet is uncommonly rich in. Recently the planet has appeared in the Ahsoka novel which describes the planet under Imperial occupation with the Empire mining the planet, most likely for Kyber crystals to power the Death Star’s weapon. I would love to see a flashback episode set between the second and third season of Rebels that features Ezra travelling to Ilum to retrieve his green Kyber crystal that powers his current lightsaber. Ezra acquiring his first Kyber crystal was an important moment in the show but we have yet to have any explanation as to how he got his second. I also subscribe to the fan theory that Ilum is actually the planet that the First Order turns into Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens. Both are snow planets which have been drastically mined leaving huge craters and according to a canon map of the galaxy they are incredibly close to each other, either being twin planets or even the same planet. I also like the idea of The First Order turning a spiritual site of the Jedi into a evil super weapon just like the desecration of Jedha. Featuring Ilum in Rebels may give more information to confirm or dispel this theory.
Tatooine
Tatooine, the most famous fictional planet ever, has to appear in Rebels at some point. I’m fine with it just appearing because the gang have to go to Jabba’s palace for a job but Rebels seems to be heading to the planet for a different reason. During the third season episode ‘Holocrons of Fate’ Ezra and Maul merge Holocrons and are both granted a vision. Ezra asks to see a way to destroy the Sith and sees a planet with twin suns probably a reference to Luke Skywalker whereas Maul’s intention is left unknown but after seeing his vision he remarks “He lives”. Maul could very well have seen Tatooine just like Ezra and saw Obi-Wan alive. My guess is that season 3 will end with Maul arriving at Tatooine to have an epic rematch with his arch enemy Kenobi only for Obi-Wan to kill him. The Rebels gang will arrive and Obi-Wan will share a brief moment with Kanan implying how he is watching over Luke but never outright stating anything. Kanan will take what Obi-Wan says to heart as watches over Ezra with better insight and focus than before.
Which planets do you want to see appear in Star Wars Rebels? Let me know in the comments and geek out with me about Star Wars on Twitter @kylebrrtt.
