Star Wars Rebels: Sneak Peek at S2E1 ‘The Lost Commanders’

WARNING: Potential spoilers for the first episode of Star Wars Rebels Season 2

Star Wars Rebels‘ newest episode, “The Siege of Lothal,” kicked off Season 2 of the show in glorious fashion in a two-hour premiere on Saturday night. It reunited us with the show’s main cast, thrust them immediately into some intergalactic intrigue with the Empire, and, most of all, reintroduced us to the Dark Lord of the Sith himself.

The best part of the episode may have been the show’s take on Darth Vader, which finally returns him to the scary, intimidating presence from the original trilogy. But the worst part? The fact that we have to wait until the fall for new episodes.

Luckily, the social media team for StarWars.com has put together a video to hold fans over until the second season begins in truth, and included in the segment is a short clip from the next episode, “The Lost Commanders.”

In the clip, which you can watch at the end of the video above, the crew of the Ghost has apparently already run into Commander Rex and an unknown number of his clone compatriots from The Clone Wars. The groups seem to have joined forces on an unnamed desert planet that they’re navigating on an old Clone Wars Republic tank. They’ve attached Zeb to some kind of electric leash, with a Clone trooper saying this will help him hunt the “joopers.”

But Ezra and crew become worried when the trooper lets slip that Zeb is actually more the bait than the hunter, and before the Lasat can return to the ship, some kind of creature shakes the ground and pulls Zeb underneath with a slimy tentacle.

The brief scene is surprising, not just because of what happens to Zeb, but because it confirms that Ezra, Kanan and the other crewmembers run into Rex so early in the season. Many were surprised that Darth Vader appeared as early as “The Siege of Lothal,” when it was assumed that Dave Filoni and the other showrunners would hold back on his appearance until later in the season.

More from Star Wars Rebels

• “We lost Freddy” Rebels cast shares reaction to Kanan Jarrus’ death
• 5 most underrated episodes of ‘Star Wars Rebels’
• 5 Underrated Characters From Star Wars Rebels
• Star Wars Rebels actors heading to FAN EXPO San Francisco
• Ahsoka: Sabine Wren doesn’t need the Force

The other thing that stands out about the scene is the deception by the clone trooper, who willingly puts Zeb in harm’s way. It seems that Rex is on board with the trickery, which implies that these clone troopers are not as trustworthy as they may appear, and they may have different goals than our heroes.

The video is also worth watching for the collection of interviews featuring Filoni, Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo, Co-Executive Producer Henry Gilroy and Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano. Some cool snippets from the interviews:

• Hidalgo confirms that Ezra was not born on the same day as Luke and Leia. He says the twins were born about two days after Ezra, who was born on the day that Palpatine created the Empire, known as “Empire Day.”
• Filoni says that Ahsoka would be “no pushover” if she ever had to fight Vader in a lightsaber battle. Which, c’mon, means that Ahsoka and Vader will fight in a lightsaber battle this season.

Be sure to check out our review of “The Siege of Lothal” here, as well as some things we should expect from this new season of Star Wars Rebels. The show returns in an unspecified date in the fall.

Next: Ewan McGregor on Kylo Ren's Lightsaber and His Possible Return