Star Wars Rebels - Through Imperial Eyes - Review: "Fulcrum"

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Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Episode Guide:
3.01 Steps Into Shadow Part 1 - Review
3.02 Steps Into Shadow Part 2 - Review
3.03 The Holocrons of Fate - Review
3.04 The Antilles Extraction - Review
3.05 Hera's Heroes - Review
3.06 The Last Battle - Review
3.07 Imperial Supercommandos - Review
3.08 Iron Squadron - Review
3.09 The Wynkahthu Job - Review
3.10 An Inside Man - Review
3.11 Visions and Voices - Review
3.12 Ghosts of Geonosis - Part 1 - Review
3.13 Ghosts of Geonosis - Part 2 - Review
3.14 Warhead - Review
3.15 Trials of the Darksaber - Review
3.16 Legacy of Mandalore - Review
3.17 Through Imperial Eyes Review
3.18 Secret Cargo - Airs March 4
3.19 Double Agent Droid - Airs March 11
3.20 Twin Suns - Airs March 18
3.21 Zero Hour Part 1 - Airs March 25
3.22 Zero Hour Part 2 - Airs March 25

Star Wars Rebels 3.17: "Through Imperial Eyes - Review:
Directed by Saul Ruiz & Written by Nicole Dubuc & Henry Gilroy

Well, it's safe to say Through Imperial Eyes was another excellent episode. Rebels has been hitting high point after high point after it came back from its winter break and Through Imperial Eyes is another example of the show at its best. As predicted the episode puts us in the viewpoint of Governor Kallus aka Fulcrum, the major spy within the Imperial ranks that the Rebels have to offer. The writers managed to keep us in suspense for much of this episode as they had Kallus' fate lingering on a knife edge, and I believed almost for a second there that this would be the episode where his luck would finally run out and Thrawn would kill him. However, whilst Thrawn didn't quite go that far this week, the ending pretty much left it clear that he was on a ticking clock.

We got a great first person point of view scene this week that followed Kallus as he went about his tasks at the start of the episode. This is something we haven't seen Rebels employ before and it marked a nice switch from the normal narrative, especially leading up to the revelation that it was Ezra disguised as a Bounty Hunter inside an Imperial light cruiser, which had just intercepted a shuttle fleeing the planet. Ezra has come to rescue Kallus saying that the Rebels believe his identity as Fulcrum has been revealed to Thrawn, who has just chosen that point to arrive with the Star Destroyer Chimaera in tow, bringing Colonel Yularen of the ISB with him. Yularen doesn't believe that the spy could be Kallus as Kallus was one of Yularen's best recruits, and as a result it isn't long before Kallus is effectively able to plant the suspicion of the identity of Fulcrum onto Lieutenant Lyste, switching his code cylinders so in theory Kallus could move around undetected.

With the help of the droids Chopper and AP5 who are accompanying Ezra on this journey posing as the Bounty Hunters whose ship was stolen from them by Ezra in the process, the real location of the Rebel Base on Atollon is erased from Thrawn's database where he has a list of suspected planets near Lothal which is known to play host to several Rebel operations, and it is of course the planet that Ezra was caught earlier in the episode. Lyste's code cylinder is also used by Kallus to rescue Ezra from captivity following a brief interrogation where Ezra confessed to tell Kallus everything already, in a rather amusing sequence that really worked. However things don't go as smoothly as Ezra and Kallus have planned because not only do the rescue team in the form of Rex and Kanan need more official access codes for the more important Star Destroyer, but also Thrawn was able to almost surprise Ezra and Kallus in the middle of taking down the database.

Kallus is able to instruct Assassin Droids to target Thrawn whilst Ezra uses that as a distraction to mount an escape from Thrawn's chambers. Together, Kallus and Ezra are able to escape down to where Rex and Kanan are waiting for them disguised as Imperial Stormtroopers, but Governor Pryce is wise to the danger and attempts to stop them from leaving. Unfortunately for Pryce, Kallus has planted suspicions in Lyste's head that she was the traitor, and the over-eager lieutenant noticed Pryce was shooting at the leaving soldiers who he believed to be Imperials and took her out, in full view of everyone. Backed up with accusations from Kallus who had opted to remain behind now that he believed suspicions of his betrayal had been cleared, Lyste was dragged away as the suspect.

But of course Thrawn knew better. His strategy of playing the long game continues to play a part in his decision not to take out Kallus right away and this could lead to him using Kallus as bait in the long game and potentially learning about the real location of the Rebel base from Kallus, no matter how unwittingly. I loved how Thrawn deduced Ezra's identity from the fact that Sabine had graffitied his helmet and it matched the graffiti style that she was known for, and given how Kallus had become involved with them in the past Thrawn's conclusion was an effective one that will no doubt have interesting consequences. Kallus' odds of escaping the end of the season alive don't look particularly great now, but we'll just have to wait and see where this takes us from here.

One more thing that's worth mentioning about this episode though is the amount of references in Thrawn's office. One of the trophies in the entrance was in fact the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was a welcome surprise to see. Does this make Indiana Jones canon in the Star Wars Universe? Either way, in a season of cool references, this was potentially one of the coolest yet. Thanks to io9 for spotting this one that I only caught properly after rewatching that scene, and they also do a great job at fleshing out the history behind some other cool references in this episode in the article that I've linked to as well.

So there we have it. Through Imperial Eyes is one of the best episodes in the season so far, and hopefully this is a trend that can continue until the end. It definitely looks like we're slowly reaching towards the end-game status now so it will certainly be interesting to see what happens next, especially with where the Rebels go after this season. Surely this will be likely be the last season at their current base? Either way, next Saturday can't come quickly enough.

What did you think of Through Imperial Eyes? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to look out for the next episode of Star Wars Rebels this Saturday on Disney XD at 8:30pm!

About the Author - Milo MJ

Milo is an Arsenal FC supporter and loves TV shows like Battlestar Galactica, Justified, The 100, The Americans and Person of Interest. He reviews Black Sails, The Magicians, Narcos, Preacher, Star Trek Discovery, Star Wars Rebels, The Shannara Chronicles, Silicon Valley and Veep for Spoiler TV. He also occasionaly writes book reviews at his own site, The Fictional Hangout and ontributes to comic reviews on a weekly basis for All-Comic. He also regularly watches and reviews films on Letterboxd, and you can find his ever-changing list of 250 favourite movies here.

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