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“We lost Freddy” Rebels cast shares reaction to Kanan Jarrus’ death

By Hope Mullinax

CENTURY CITY, CA - SEPTEMBER 27: L-R) The cast Taylor Gray, Tiya Sincar, Simon Kinberg, Dave Filoni, Vanessa Marshall, and Steve Blum arrive for Disney XD's "Star Wars Rebels: Spark Of Rebellion" - Los Angeles Special Screening held at AMC Century City 15 theater on September 27, 2014 in Century City, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/WireImage)
CENTURY CITY, CA - SEPTEMBER 27: L-R) The cast Taylor Gray, Tiya Sincar, Simon Kinberg, Dave Filoni, Vanessa Marshall, and Steve Blum arrive for Disney XD's "Star Wars Rebels: Spark Of Rebellion" - Los Angeles Special Screening held at AMC Century City 15 theater on September 27, 2014 in Century City, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/WireImage) /
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The death of Kanan Jarrus in Season 4 of Star Wars Rebels is one of the most memorable and influential moments in all of Star Wars TV, whether animated or live-action. As Kanan sacrifices himself and the Ghost crew mourns, “Jedi Night” followed up by “Dume” is a powerful 45 minutes of storytelling sending off one of the series’s main characters. This episode also profoundly impacted the rest of Rebels cast, as they revealed recently.

At Fan Expo: San Francisco 2023, Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), and Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano) were on a panel together hosted by Collider‘s Arezou Amin. When asked about their reaction to Kanan’s death, who Freddie Prinze Jr. voiced, Gray shared:

"“We really were a family. When we showed up to record and Freddy wasn’t there. We didn’t record for an hour. Everyone was crying because ‘Oh, we lost Freddy,’ Wow, that sounded really sad.”"

Marshall shared a similar sentiment as she discussed her reaction from reading the moment in the script to seeing it on screen. She said:

"“The script doesn’t have much a reaction. It’s an animated thing that happens in the moment that nothing can prepare you for…”"

She then joked that Prinze Jr. often pitched his death to Dave Filoni, especially after they found out that Hera was in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. She added:

"“What kind of actor campaigns for his own death? When I heard General Syndulla in Rogue One, I thought ‘Life insurance policy.’ But then Freddy was like, ‘I want Darth Vader to kill me.’ and Dave [Filoni] was like, ‘Nah.'”"

These characters mean so much to fans, and it’s nice to know that the actors behind the scenes love them just as much. Kanan’s legacy was hinted on throughout Ahsoka. His son, Jacen Syndulla, is also Force-sensitive. Ezra made his new lightsaber from the partner parts of his master’s blade. Hera kept a picture of him in the cockpit. Kanan might be gone physically, but he lives on in the hearts of the characters and fans.

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