The X-Wings are coming. Star Wars Rebels will launch its fourth and final season this fall, and the most famous starfighters in the galaxy will finally make an appearance on Disney XD's popular animated series.

For three seasons, Rebels has followed the trials and triumphs of a small, tight knit group of freedom fighters - the crew of the starship Ghost - during the dark times of the Galactic Empire's reign. Set in the years immediately preceding the original Star Wars movie, it shows the Empire at its full strength as well as a burgeoning Rebel Alliance that seems hopelessly outmatched and outgunned. But the Rebellion is growing, with more oppressed citizens rallying to its cause every day, and with them come money, resources, technology, and weapons. Rebels has showcased a number of iconic Star Wars starships to date, including the Y-wing and the B-wing, but there have been no X-wing sightings - that will change this fall.

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Rebels co-executive producer Henry Gilroy made a surprise appearance at Friday's Star Wars Rebels Fan Panel at DragonCon and, as reported by Star Wars Insider's Bryan Young, told fans they can expect to see the iconic X-wings in action during the show's final season. Gilroy additionally addressed why the starfighters hadn't appeared on Rebels before season 4.

We're getting X-Wings in season 4. Why did it take so long? "The Rebellion didn't have them yet."— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) September 1, 2017

Gilroy: "When we see X-Wings on Rebels, we want it to be special."— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) September 1, 2017

As Rebels nears its end (and the story inches ever closer to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Episode IV: A New Hope, it will be intriguing to see how many ties to those films they can fit in. X-wings are one such reference, and one that is sure to be appreciated by Star Wars fans. The starfighters are instantly recognizable, even to those not intimately familiar with the franchise, and they'll forever be known as the ship Luke Skywalker was piloting when he destroyed the Death Star.

It remains to be seen exactly how X-wings will be introduced to the Star Wars canon on Rebels. In the episode "Wings of the Master," B-wings were revealed to be the brainchild of a brilliant Mon Calamari engineer, so perhaps the Rebel Alliance will make a deal with another talented ship designer. Wherever the X-wings come from, it will be exciting to see them fly into battle against the Empire when Rebels launches its final season.

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The final season of Star Wars Rebels will premiere on Disney XD this fall.

Source: Bryan Young (1, 2)