The third season of Star Wars Rebels keeps chugging along, continuing the adventures of the Ghost crew as they help the Rebellion grow and fend off the Galactic Empire. It's safe to say this year has gotten off to a strong start, with Ezra's flirtations with the Dark Side, Darth Maul's return, and Grand Admiral Thrawn's introduction all earning high marks from viewers. The show has definitely found its stride and fans are eager to see what comes next. There's no shortage of ways to take the story and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Like the other non-film canon materials, one of Rebels' greatest assets is that it can flesh out the larger Star Wars universe in ways the movies arguably can't. Viewers of the series have gotten a greater sense of the Imperial occupation and how that affected the galaxy as a whole. For an upcoming episode however, it would appear that the conflict will shift from stormtroopers to battle droids. Disney XD has release a new Rebels clip, which you can watch above.

In it, Ezra, Kanan, Zeb, and Captain Rex are being held captive by a remnant of the Clone Wars - a super tactical droid commanding a squad of old battle droids. The disillusioned robot explains to a bewildered Rex how he avoided shut down following Order 66 and that he plans to secure a victory for the Separatist Alliance. Apparently, word of the Galactic Civil War has not yet spread to the planet Agomar, where the droids seem to be in charge.

The episode this clip is previewing is titled "The Last Battle," and with the reveal of the droids, it's reasonable to assume that name refers to the Separatists' last grasp at control. It should be a fascinating episode for Rex, who became a fan-favorite during the Clone Wars animated series. Fans are well aware that he's had more than his fair share of showdowns with the "clankers" over the years, and it's a battle he's still fighting. This will also be a change-of-pace for the main cast of characters; we've seen them best Imperial infantry numerous times, but now they have a different foe. They'll have to lean on Rex's experience to get through this one.

As stated above, Rebels has done a great job at expanding upon what is shown in the movies, detailing the extended gap in the franchise timeline between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. This is another illustration of that. It's interesting to consider some battle droids still remaining after the Clone Wars, even though they looked to all be eliminated during the events of Episode III. It makes sense that some would fight back and not go down so easily, just like some Jedi survived Order 66. One of the criticisms lobbied at Revenge of the Sith was that it tried to tie up loose ends a little too conveniently, but the canon materials have remedied that by showing traces of the old era were greatly diminished, yet not fully extinct. That's arguably a more realistic scenario and has led to some great stories in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Rebels airs Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. EST on Disney XD.

Source: Disney XD