Star Wars Rebels season 4 got a major unveiling at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, and executive producer Dave Filoni was there with voice actors Taylor Gray and Vanessa Marshall to talk about what the show's final season has in store.

As one of the first projects launched after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, many fans weren't sure what to think of Rebels initially, but it has quickly become a cornerstone of modern Star Wars canon, superseding many of the books and comics and becoming secondary to only the movies. Last season brought Grand Admiral Thrawn out of the shadows and began setting up a number of tie-ins for Rogue One, so we can expect big things from the final season as it resolves each of those arcs.

You can get a taste of the season through the new trailer, but check out the story info provided below for more details on some of the character arcs (h/t to Star Wars Underground for some insight into the panel)

Hera Syndulla

Hera has gone through a massive transition since the first season where she was just the captain-mom of The Ghost when they were just another lone rebel cell before joining a larger Rebel group where she transitioned into a more important role as Phoenix Leader. During the panel, Hera voice actor Vanessa Marshall pointed out that several Rogue One Easter egg confirmed that she survives the events of Rebels, along with Chopper and The Ghost, and they may all have an involvement in the Battle of Scarif. So while her ultimate fate may not hang in the balance for season 4, she still has some growth to get to the rank of General as we hear announced over the Yavin IV intercom while the fleet is mustering for battle.

A part of that growth includes Hera getting a new command. We've seen her and her Phoenix Squadron pilots in A-Wings and Y-Wings in the last few seasons of Rebels, but according to a clip shown during the panel, Hera leads a group of X-Wings (while flying an X-Wing herself) into battle against Thrawn and an Imperial blockade. As the sole confirmed non-droid survivor of the Ghost crew, there's a very real possibility she could be in for some tragic moments in the season to come.

Ezra Bridger

Star Wars Rebels Season 4 Ezra Blocks Lightning

Ezra has also seen a tremendous amount of growth over the past 3 seasons. When the show first started out, he drew plenty of criticism as a street rat Alladin rip-off, but as he's progressed, he's learned some valuable lessons, flirted with the dark side, struggled with a would-be master in Maul, and ultimately rejected it for the light. Even so, as a new generation separated from the old Jedi Order, Ezra has begun blazing a new trail that may very much be relevant to fans when Luke Skywalker determines it's time for the Jedi to end in Episode VIII.

According to Taylor Gray, the voice of Ezra, the young padawan faces the biggest obstacles he's seen in the whole show through season 7. While he's struck out on his own a from, time to time in the past, now more than ever he's out from under the support of "Mom & Dad" in Hera and Kanan, forced to continue to strike out on his own path and find his own way as he continues to mature. According to executive producer Dave Filoni, the first few episodes are used to resolve several dangling plot threads before the rest of the season really focuses on wrapping up Ezra's story. Whether that means his character is done after Rebels or if it's merely the end of a phase for him, enabling the character to continue on elsewhere, remains to be seen, but his ultimate fate has always been one of the biggest question marks hanging over the show.

Sabine Wren

While she's reunited with her own Mandalorian people, including her mother, Ursa Wren, Sabine is also out from under the wings of her Ghost "Mom & Dad," making a name for herself with the Darksaber, legendary weapon of Mandalore. At the end of season 3, Sabine was leading her clan in an uprising against the Empire, one that could very well cause a Mandalorian civil war amongst the many factions of the warrior people.

As a major part of Sabine's story, Bo Katan Kryze, likely voiced by Katee Sackhoff, will be making her first appearance since The Clone Wars and may provide some additional insight into the situation on Mandalore during the time of Maul's reign leading up to, and during, the eventual Seige of Mandalore.

Kallus

Star Wars Rebels Season 4 Mon Mothma Jan Dodonna Ghost Crew Planning Table Yavin

Over the course of season 3, the Rebels' apparent arch nemesis, Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau, made a surprising transformation that eventually revealed that he had become the new Rebel informant, Fulcrum. We know he'll continue to be a big part of season 4, and it looks like he'll even be paired off with Rex on the Ghost for a special mission at some point.

While he presumably will have a story arc, most of the panels' Kallus talk revolved around "Hot Kallus" from the end of season 3 when the animation for his hair changed to make him a little more rogueish with a stray lock hanging over his forehead. Dave Filoni revealed that #HotKallus was a thing inside the crew before the episode even aired, and he even showed it to Kallus voice actor David Oyelowo who thought it was awesome, if not just a little weird. Either way, expect more of Kallus, and maybe more of Hot Kallus, in season 4.

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Thrawn and Governor Pryce in Star Wars Rebels

Fans were thrilled to see Grand Admiral Thrawn finally realized on the screen in season 3 of Rebels. After the old Expanded Universe was deemed "Legends" and not treated as canon, seeing such a popular character make his way into mainstream Star Wars was a triumph. His backstory was established even more in the book, Thrawn, by his original creator Timothy Zahn, showing that his motives might not always be exactly in line with The Empire's, especially when it comes to initiatives like the Death Star. Sure, they are cooperating right now, but Thrawn may only see The Empire as a means to an end, and it appears that gap is starting to widen as Dave Filoni says Thrawn will beginning to disagree with the way the Empire is conducting the war.

This fight is likely to play out mainly between Thrawn and Governor Pryce, whose rise to power was also chronicled in Thrawn. Both are master schemers and manipulators who know how to get people to do what they want, so any sort of conflict between them could prove to be one enticing chess match. As we see in the trailers, Grand Moff Tarkin also appears to be turning against Thrawn in favor of Orsen Krennic's "Stardust" initiative, which we know ultimately becomes the Death Star. Whether season 4 marks an end for Thrawn, or his arc simply evolves in a way that takes him away from the action, possibly into the unknown regions like in the EU, isn't clear, but it'll definitely be a story to watch for when Rebels returns.

Kanan Jarrus

Kanan is the original last Jedi. Sure, Obi-Wan and Yoda are in exile, and he has Ezra as a padawan, but like Luke after Return of the Jedi, he's on his own without a master and never completed his own training. He saw a major step forward last season as he learned to deal with his blindness and the Bendu taught him how to better harmonize with the Force, but now the looming question is what happens to Kanan?

The character was originally introduced with Hera in the book A New Dawn, where there was a hint of some potential romance, something that has definitely been present, but on the back burner, for all 3 seasons of the show so far without any over acknowledgement one way or the other, but a clip shown during the panel almost settled this once and for all. In the clip, Kanan and Hera begin talking about their relationship and plans for life once The Empire is defeated and actually lean in for a kiss before suddenly being interrupted by Ryder Azadi in the perfect tease. Unfortunately, the writing of Kanan's fate seems to have been on the wall for some time now, and this just feels like more set up for that tragic loss by Hera and the rest of the Ghost crew. Even so, some sort of closure on the most subtle romance in Star Wars history might be on the horizon.

Wolves, Convorees, and Ahsoka Lives?

These three things may have nothing in common, but the amount of Dave Filoni art involving some combination of Ahsoka, wolves, and convorees suggests some strong thematic ties at the least. Ahsoka and the convor has been a major holdover from The Clone Wars, stretching all the way back to the Mortis arc when the Force being known as The Daughter sacrificed herself so that Ahsoka could live. Since then, the birds have seemed to follow Ahsoka, looking over her, and one even appeared shortly after her apparent death on Malachor at the end of season 2.

The wolves are a very mysterious addition that haven't yet made their way to the screen. Dave Filoni had plans for them in Ahsoka's story in the cancelled seasons of The Clone Wars, so the fact that they're now showing up in Rebels and teased alongside images of Ahsoka and Convorees by Filoni understandably only fuels that speculation by saying the appearance of the birds "probably means something" and that "most of the time [his teases] are going somewhere." While he didn't add any thing very over to this long running big of speculation, he did explain the purposes of the wolves, explaining that they have a long history in myth and popular culture both as positive and negative creatures, depending on how you approach them. Filoni says that they're very much like the Force in that way, even comparing them to the Bendu, saying the wolves of Lothal may be a

While he didn't add any thing very over to this long running big of speculation, he did explain the purposes of the wolves, saying that they have a long history in myth and popular culture both as positive and negative creatures, depending on how you approach them. Filoni says that they're very much like the Force in that way, even comparing them to the Bendu, saying the wolves of Lothal may be a part of the nature of the Force itself.

Ezra has always had a strong connection with animals since his early training as shown in various arcs, such as when he communicated with the Purrgil, and Talor Gray says that one of the coolest parts about the Force is how it enables those that wield it to connect with other living things, so the wolves, the convorees, Kanan, Ezra, and the looming question of Ahsoka may all come swirling to more definitive answers by the time this season is over.

Ending the Series

Star Wars Rebels Season 4 X-Wing and TIE Defenders

Since season 4 is meant to be a definitive end to the Rebels show, there's a lot of threads to be concluded and a few more to be tied forward to future franchise installments. Dave Filoni says this season will be the most connected the show has seen, and with the connections we've already seen to Rogue One, the original trilogy, and The Clone Wars, that's already evident.

According to Filoni, the ending has already been shot, and the show will spend the last eleven or so episodes on a single arc that mostly focuses on Ezra. With other animated projects in the works, it's possible those episodes will also be used to set up future storytelling for some of these characters as well, but obviously, nothing on that front has been announced by Lucasfilm yet.

Either way, Rebels and the saga of the Ghost crew is coming to an end, and it all starts on October 16th.

Source: Star Wars Underground