Well, you can’t say Rebels didn’t go big in its season finale! A ton had changed by the end, pointing to a what could be a very different series in Season 2. And wow was getting there exciting!

So yeah, where to start, really?Oh, yeah…AHSOKA!!!Look, was she the most obvious possibility to be Fulcrum? Yes. But do I mind that what was most fans’ first guess was what turned out to be the case? Not at all. Because most of us wanted and needed Ahsoka to return. Her popping up on this show felt 100% inevitable, given Dave Filoni’s involvement, but they could have held off a lot longer. But no, she’s here now and she’s a part of the show after just 13 episodes. And that’s really cool, because this is a character we’d invested so much time in through The Clone Wars that you couldn’t help but want to know “And then what…?” after she left the Jedi order. We have plenty more to learn, but “Helped start the Rebel Alliance” is a great start.But let’s backtrack, because so much happened here. The opening had a lot of fun beats, as we found out what Sabine had done to that TIE Fighter and one of the funniest moments this show was delivered so far with that one stormtrooper replying, “I kind of like it!” when it was noted that TIE wasn’t regulation.But then things got intense and didn’t slow down, once the power was shut off in Tarkin’s Star Destroyer and the crew raced to free Kanan.Wow on that lightsaber fight! There was a blatant callback to the famous Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon/Darth Maul fight initially, as Kanan and Ezra faced the Inquisitor and his double-sided blade on a catwalk, but it certainly worked. Ezra being taken out of the fight after a little while the right move, because he may be strong with the Force, but he’s still a novice.

Star Wars Rebels: "Fire Across the Galaxy" Photo Gallery: Star Wars Rebels: "Fire Across the Galaxy" Images 10 IMAGES

What happened next was just through the roof awesome. Let’s break this down: We had an evil, Force-wielding guy with a double-sided lightsaber fighting a Jedi using two lightsabers… one of which was a freaking blaster as well! It’s over the top and kind of ridiculous to say it like that, but how could any of us who grew up loving Star Wars not be absolutely delighted watching it happen? This is the kind of thing you’d imagine as a kid but never think you’d get to see actually play out in an official Star Wars story. (I loved the Inquisitor’s surprised reaction the first time the blaster-saber fired at him too)The Inquisitor’s death was a big surprise, as he’d been built up to be the main villain on this show. “There are some things far more frightening than death,” was a great line to go on, indicating he knew the punishment he’d receive from Sidious and Vader. If that was truly the last we saw of him (as my coworker Joshua Yehl notes, there technically was no body), I do regret that we never got to know more about him and his background, but he certainly fulfilled his role as an ominous and scary presence this season…But not as ominous and scary as Darth Vader!! I really wish they hadn’t released imagery and footage containing Vader for this episode. Not so much because he was only in it for a few seconds (though there’s that), but mainly because it would have been such a great surprise to see him. But still, his arrival carries with it a ton of impact and was an excellent final, final, final note to end the season on. The end of the episode had a great parallel, with the cheer-worthy arrival of the burgeoning Rebel Alliance (Blockade Runners!) happening back-to-back with the visual of two of the scariest guys you could imagine, Tarkin and Vader, now fully brought into the mix. (Oh, and it was amusing to see that yes, Tarkin can take the advice to evacuate, even if it’s reluctantly).Star Wars Rebels had been a really enjoyable show, but it had also felt pretty small scale (especially compared to The Clone Wars) by its very nature, following this small band of isolated characters. Now things are changed in dramatic ways. Our heroes have put themselves on the bad guys radar, but they’ve also gained a lot of allies in the process.Obviously, bringing both Ahsoka (Welcome back to Star Wars, Ashley Eckstein!) and Darth Vader into the mix is huge. We now have two of the lead characters from The Clone Wars playing what I’m guessing will be significant roles on this show, which makes this feel like much more of a follow-up to that series.And wow, just imagine when Ahsoka and Vader meet and what that means and all the history there… and the fear of how that might have to end. This is an incredibly compelling direction for the show to go in, and it’s going to be a hard wait for Season 2.