50 Most Memorable Moments from Star Wars Rebels

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13. Vader crushes the Rebels on Lothal

Episode: Season 2 Episodes 1-2: The Siege of Lothal

The Moment: After the surprising death of the Grand Inquisitor at the hands of Kanan Jarrus, the Emperor sends his apprentice Darth Vader to deal with the rebels of the Lothal system. Darth Vader uses brutal tactics, even burning down a refugee camp, to draw the Ghost crew out from hiding.  In their attempt to escape, Vader duels the over-matched Kanan and Ezra, toying with them and allows them (with the rest of the crew) to escape in order to draw out the entire fleet of Phoenix Squadron.

Vader then displays his extraordinary pilot skills, wrecking several rebel ships in the process. He completes his mission by scattering this rebel cell, then returns back to his Master with the good news.

Why It’s Memorable: A two-part episode featuring Darth Vader? Yes, please! Like with the Clone Wars, Filoni and the writing staff does not overuse Vader. In fact, he only appears a handful of times in Rebels, but it is always when the stakes are at their highest.

Maybe one of the coolest Vader moments ever, and yes I’ve seen Rogue One, is when a blown-up Imperial Walker lands on Vader. From the flames, he effortlessly lifts it up with Force with one hand, while maintaining his grip on his lightsaber with the other. This is the epitome of being a bad ass! The only time onscreen that we get Vader in aerial combat is the final battle of  A New Hope. So seeing Vader wipe out an entire fleet of rebels again just filled my heart with pure joy!