''Seems harmless enough...''
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
This was a fun little episode that managed to focus both as this season’s droid-focused installment (albeit, with Zeb along for the ride), gave Chopper and AP-5 a droid antagonist to take on, and also weaved back into this season’s Thrawn storyline at the very end.
Once more Rebels managed to reach deep into Star Wars history here, basing the look of the Imperial Infiltrator Droid, EXD-9, after Ralph McQuarrie’s early concept art for C-3PO, much in the way Zeb is modeled after McQuarrie’s Chewbacca concept art – always a cool way to use and pay tribute to the work of one of the most influential people in Star Wars’ history in a big, onscreen manner.
EXD-9 was voiced by Skywalker Sound editor David Acord, who previously voiced Attack of the Clones’ GH-7 medical droid ("For reasons we can't explain, we are losing her.") and The Force Awakens FN-2199 (“Traitor!”). Accord brought an appropriately calm yet foreboding tone here that made me wish we got a bit more time with the droid before his big reveal/turn.
There were some creepy little touches here as far as using Droids in a more visceral manner. From EXD-9’s chopped off hand spilling fluid that evoked blood to the torn apart Astromech droid he’d cannibalized, “Warhead” managed to get in some effective horror imagery in a clever manner.
Also, how great were those reflections in AP-5’s eyes? I think they’ve done it before with him, but here it really stood out as an especially impressive bit of animation as we saw everything he was looking at distorted on his face.
The Thrawn inclusion was surprising but was a well done way to undercut what had been a notable victory moment for both the Rebels and their newfound ally, Kallus, as that Star Destroyer was destroyed (though did anyone else wonder about if Kallus had been on the ship that EXD-9 blew up?). I still think it’s taken too long for Thrawn to really push back on the Rebels, but all signs are his next appearance or two are likely to really hone in on this.
The Verdict
Based on the huge events in the recent Season 3 midseason trailer, this episode functioned as a bit of a calm before the storm installment – which only felt underlined by Thrawn’s “almost there” proclamation at the end. This show has done well with Droids-centric episodes before and that continued here, and AP-5 continues to be a fun source of a ton of snark. “I just was rather stunned that you had a good idea,” indeed.
Editors' Choice
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