‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season Four Premiere & Preview at Fan Expo 2018
In August 2017, Fan Expo Canada was honoured to be chosen as the host for the world premiere of the season four premiere of Star Wars Rebels. The first two episodes, “Heroes of Mandalore Parts One and Two” were screened to a crowd in the John Bassett theatre at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Prior to the premiere, fans in attendance were also treated to an hour long panel featuring series co-creator and executive producer Dave Filoni and stars Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger) and Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla). The trio discussed the fallout from the season three finale, which saw the Phoenix Squadron rebels fleeing their base on Attollon following an assault led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, before switching gears to discuss drop some hints and teasers about the upcoming fourth and final season.
Filoni revealed that the younger characters, specifically Ezra and Sabine, would be taking more of the forefront this season, with them having to learn to deal without the help of “mom and dad”, aka Kanan and Hera. He also revealed that from episode five onward the season would tell one major story told over the course of several weeks.
The main villain of season three, Grand Admiral Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelson) will continue to be a major thorn in our heroes side, but also in the side of his fellow imperials. Thrawn is fighting with the Empire, Filoni explains, about how to fight the war against the Rebel Alliance. This rift in imperial ranks will be personified by Thrawn and Lothal governor Pryce, who will each be attempting to manipulate the other in pursuit of their respective goals.
The new season will also fill in some missing gaps in Star Wars lore, with Filoni promising that the season would explore some the feelings Bo-Katan Kryze (voiced by Katee Sackhoff) has about Maul’s rule of Mandalore (which began in season five of The Clone Wars, was continued in the Son of Dathomir comic).
The panel concluded with the debut of a brand new trailer for the season, which you can watch below,
The screening marked the first time the second half of the two-part premiere was screened, with the first episode being debuted back in April at Star Wars Celebration Orlando. You can read my review (written following the screening in September 2017) on StarWarsUnderworld.com