Star Wars Rebels: "An Inside Man" Review

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''I must have recruited him… accidentally.''

By Eric Goldman

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

First off, I should note I have now written short reviews of the episodes that aired while I was on vacation, so click on the titles to see my reviews of "Iron Squadron" and "The Wynkahthu Job."

In that aforementioned "Iron Squadron" review, I noted that the time was upon us for Thrawn to stop observing and gathering information and to truly make an impact on Star Wars Rebels. And while “An Inside Man” didn’t fully deliver on that end (yet), it did commendably build up Thrawn’s threat while also adding more nuances to the increasingly interesting Kallus.

Yes, Kallus is the new Fulcrum, which many fans had already suspected – which makes me glad this reveal wasn’t held until the end of the season. Instead, we (and the Ghost crew) learn the truth while Kallus still remains firmly inside the Empire, now in a very precarious position. Because Thrawn, as this episode underlined, is very smart and perceptive, making Kallus' double agent status one that feels impossible to maintain for too long.

Also notable is that Kallus is hardly a trusted new informant for our heroes, who are incredibly wary of him. I’m fascinated by Kallus’ journey here and confirming he’s now directly working with the Rebellion is a huge new step.

There was a great back and forth in this episode, which put the heroes and villains on equal footing to a commendable degree, with both portrayed as making clever moves. Kanan and Ezra (and Kallus) played things smart, yet were still countered by Thrawn at every turn, as he figured out they had help and was able to spot them escaping in a Scout Walker immediately. In general, the Empire were presented as a notably strong threat here (as it should be!), with Kanan and Ezra fooling no one with their “we went to the wrong section” would-be ruse. I also loved those Imperials inside the larger walker actually disabling Kanan and Ezra’s vehicle by sitting on it! (too bad they didn’t account for lightsabers)

Meanwhile, Thrawn also got a brutal scene here where he showed both his ability to notice when something was off and how far he was willing to go to when he had Ezra’s old family friend, Sumar, test out the Speeder Bike he suspected was tampered with. The moment where Sumar tried to stop it -- only for Thrawn to reveal he could control it remotely -- was chilling, as Thrawn increased the speed, causing it to explode and killing Sumar. His order that all staff now test vehicles they worked themselves on was certainly one way to scare any would-be saboteurs.

I'm guessing I wasn't the only one who thought the "secret project" we kept hearing about would be something relating to the Death Star, to tie into Rogue One's opening. It wasn't, as it turned out to be TIE Interceptors (with shields that would make them far more dangerous), though I still wonder if we might see a more direct connection between Rebels and Rogue One, beyond the early hunt for the Empire's mysterious super weapon that occurred in Season 2's "The Honorable Ones."

Lastly, even as I’ve said the time has come to see Thrawn do more than just collect data, his collection of artifacts relating to the Ghost crew was impressive and Easter egg-y, complete with the Jedi Temple Guard mask the Grand Inquisitor once wore.

The Verdict

“An Inside Man” didn’t quite go all-in as far as Thrawn causing irrevocable damage to the Ghost crew, but it increased his direct threat in a notable manner in more ways than one. His method of stopping sabotage from within (and how it took out someone close to Ezra) showed his ruthlessness, while Kallus' confirmed double agent role is one that is both exciting and scary – given Thrawn’s abilities to divulge the truth and use it to his advantage.

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