Star Wars Rebels’ Season 4 - Everything We Learned from Star Wars Celebration 2017

Straight from Star Wars Celebration, we have a bunch of updates on the upcoming fourth season of Star Wars Rebels, which has been confirmed to be the final season of the animated series on Disney XD.
Executive producer Dave Filoni appeared at the convention with cast members Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan), Taylor Gray (Ezra), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Vanessa Marshall (Hera) and Steven Blum (Zeb) to talk about what’s in store for the reunited Ghost crew.
Find out everything we learned from the Star Wars Rebels season 4 panel after the jump.

The panel began things by talking about each of the members of the Ghost crew and what will be happening with each of them.

Hera Feels the Impact of Season 3 Losses

Voice actress Vanessa Marshall shared that Hera Syndulla still has the same agenda as before, but her focus is much more sharp, despite being rather impacted by the losses that the group experienced in the third season. Marshall went on:

“She is more focused and committed than ever to get the job done. It’s vital. It’s essential. Not that she was kidding earlier. I think [the Ghost crew members] are pressed to the very edges of their ability of what is put before them. And I think we’ll see that in season four.”

Thrawn really stuck into the Rebels last season, and knowing that this is the final season, now is the time for them to strike back, and Hera will be ready, becoming a General in the Rebel Alliance, just as she was referred to in Rogue One.

Zeb Becomes More of an Uncle

Steven Blum jokes that Zeb is “about 20% better at not losing Chopper in bets. Not because he likes Chopper more, just because he’s better at betting.” But more seriously, Blum notes:

“Zeb has become more of an uncle than a brother. He’s becoming more of a responsible citizen rather than being a tough muscle head. I’m looking forward to him making smarter remarks and better choices.”

Zeb has always been one of those characters that’s a little more rough around the edges, but the comparison to him becoming more like a cool uncle is an apt one. He won’t come down on Ezra in the same way that Kanan does, but he’s still one of his elders.

Chopper Isn’t Just a Grump

Dave Filoni mentioned that Chopper has gotten a little cocky now that he’s a bit of a movie star after appearing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Beyond that, Filoni indicated that the droid may be grumpy because he hasn’t really had much of an arc. The droid is feisty and grumpy, but the executive producer elaborated on how that will change a bit this season”

“Chopper doesn’t have an arc. He’s more of a reveal. You’ll learn more about him. When someone is that cantankerous, you’ll find that actually means they care the most. He has a bigger heart than you realize, because when the chips are down, he likes these guys.”

It’ll be interesting to see how Chopper shows the heart that lies within his gears in this final season.

Sabine Has Mandalorian Family Woes

Sabine is probably the most interesting character in Star Wars Rebels, and this final season will allow us to explore more of her complicated family. Voice actress Tiya Sircar was cautious about revealing too much of what’s in store this season when it comes to the Mandalorian family she has, but she said this:

“It will be surprising where we end up and – I’m very scared right now [to accidentally give away secrets] – who might show up.  There might be some new people you know, there might be some people you haven’t seen before. They might all be Mandalorian.”

There was a clear hint that the Mandalorian bounty hunter known as Boba Fett might make an appearance this season, which will be a real treat for fans. As for how Sabine develops this season, especially with regards to her Mandalorian family, Sircar also offered this tidbit:

“Sabine is in a new place this season. We saw her step into her own in a way we hadn’t sen before. We knew she was super capable, the epitome of this Mandalorian warrior who happens to also be this incredible creative artist. I don’t think we’d seen that dichotomy before. a complex woman wise behind her year. But she’s still a young lady with her own insecurities and trust issues. We’ve seen her grow and mature into this really capable adult. I think she’s gotten beyond those issues with this family, but she has all these other issues with this other family, and we’ll explore those in season 4.”

Kanan Is Blind, But Sees Better Than Ever

Now let’s get to one of our Jedi characters. Freddie Prinze Jr. says Kanan is still blind, but “he sees more than he has ever seen before. He knows what path these Rebels need to be on. It takes some time to figure it out, but once he figures it out, he has the certainty that you’ve seen in other Jedi before.”
Freddie Prinze Jr. talked about how the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi impacted him as a kid, making him hate Darth Vader. He didn’t make any winks or nods during this conversation, but I wonder if this was a hint that Kanan may not make it through the end of the season alive. That’s something we’ve assumed since all the Jedi are essentially gone by the time the original trilogy begins, so this wouldn’t be all that surprising.

What Kind of Jedi Will Ezra Become?

Finally, Kanan’s apprentice Ezra has gone through plenty of changes over the three season we’ve spent with him, and now he’s going through the part of his life where he has to decide not just what kind of Jedi he wants to be, what kind of person he wants to be.
Ezra has surpassed Kanan in some ways, as far as his Jedi powers are concerned, but since he’s still a young man, he still has struggles with his anger and faith that make his coming of age rather complicated. Even so, Taylor Gray says that Ezra will make some great decisions this season, presumably away from the dark side.