What Dave Filoni Says To Expect In Star Wars Rebels Season 3

Dave Filoni, the executive producer of Star Wars Rebels, spoke to various media outlets about what to expect from the series’ season 3, premiering Saturday.

The two-part premiere of Star Wars Rebels season 3 premieres tomorrow on Disney XD.

Leading up to this event io9 and Blastr landed interviews with Dave Filoni, the series’ creator and executive producer. In the interviews, Filoni hinted at what we can expect from the next chapter in the rebels’ fight against the darkness in the galaxy.

1. Season three has more of an overarching story

While seasons 1 and 2 of Rebels had a lot of one-off episodes and not much of an obvious overarching thread to tie them all together, Filoni says season 3 will be different.

Image Credit: Screenshot (photo library Elaine Tveit)

"“…as we get to season three, there’s definitely becoming more and more of a throughline as the characters really become who they’re meant to be. There’s more of a sense of this is starting to be one bigger story.”"

2. The “fire of the Jedi” is going out of the galaxy

Additionally, Filoni  described how season 3 is less about the Jedi against the Empire and more about the Rebellion.

Image Credit: Screenshot (photo library Elaine Tveit)

"“A lot of [season three] is centered on one line [in A New Hope],” Filoni told io9. “Tarkin tells Vader the fire of the Jedi has gone out of the universe. So you have to start to enter this period where it seems like the rule of the day isn’t people who wield the Force but it’s more people that are controlling military might and starfleets. They seem to be the ones in control by the time of A New Hope.”"

3. A new antagonist representative of the larger fight

It is the military season 3 is focusing on with regard to villains. The main villain, in fact, is Thrawn, a grand admiral in the Imperial fleet.

"“We didn’t just insert another Force-wielder here,” explained Filoni. “We didn’t just create another kind of lightsaber. You can only go to that well so many times. Now it was time for the Imperial Military.”"

4. An old antagonist whose presence will not be overplayed

As for the other main villain of the season, Darth Maul, he won’t figure as the primary antagonist in every episode, Filoni says.

Image Credit: Screenshot (photo library Elaine Tveit)

"“The Maul storyline is not a main storyline [of season three],” said Filoni. “He’s in episodes but he’s not in an overwhelming number of episodes. I didn’t want to overplay him. You don’t want him to be in that weekly guest role. So when he shows up you know it’s important and it’s a key moment for him.”"

5. Old friends to tie it all together

In addition to Darth Maul returning to Star Wars Rebels, Filoni says other classic Star Wars characters who have cameoed in past seasons of the series will return in season 3.

Image Credit: Lucasfilm

"“There are absolutely characters that will come back,” Filoni said. “A lot of the characters we’ve seen are now woven into the tale and we have a responsibility to explain more about them.”"

6. The Bendu

In Blastr’s interview with Filoni, the producer talked a lot of about the themes of the new season. One thing that stood out to us was what Filoni had to say about The Bendu. The Bendu is an important figure in the Force mythos, much like The Father, The Son, and The Daughter in The Clone Wars episode “Mortis” arc. In a clip from the season 3 premiere, he describes himself as “the middle” between the dark side and the light side of the Force.

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Filoni expanded on what we already know about The Bendu, as well as implied we will see him more than once throughout the new season.

"“Bendu is another branch of the tree we got into in Clone Wars, where these Mortis beings that represent the dark side and the light side and the balance, and then the force priestesses who seem to go even beyond that type of division and be more like one person split into many different representations. Bendu is a little more in that realm, which I think is always an interesting character because they’re unpredictable. He’s not good and he’s not bad. We’ll have to see how he reacts to the rebels throughout the course of the year.”"

How The Bendu will play into the rebels’ fight against the Empire, or if he will at all, I have no idea. It will be fascinating to see how much of an influence he becomes throughout the season.

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What are you looking forward to most from the season 3 premiere of Star Wars Rebels? Don’t miss it on Disney XD September 30th. Keep an eye out for everything Filoni teased at.