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SWR 2.04 'Brothers of the Broken Horn' Review

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NOTE: This review is written under the expectation that the reader has watched the episode under review. Spoilers will be discussed freely and unlabelled, so if you’ve not watched the episode read at your own risk.

Okay, I really do need to sit down and watch all of The Clone Wars.

Where the first season introduced a lot of OT characters the second season is laying it on thick with popular characters from TCW. It makes sense; the OT characters will be familiar to a larger audience and the introduction of TCW characters later will appeal to fans of that series. It’s also thankful that the show so far hasn’t been too hard on those of us who have never watched that series from beginning to end. Ahsoka and Rex have a lot of history alluded to but I don’t think not knowing it has gotten in the way too much. Still, I should really get around to watching it all within my busy schedule.

Hondo Ohnaka is not a character I’ve come across and I only know tidbits about him, but I never felt lose watching this episode and got a fairly good grasps of his character. While something of a popular character from what I’ve seen he’s not quite on the popularity or recognition of Rex or Ahsoka, and certainly nowhere near as well known as the OT characters……so I’m a bit puzzled as to why this guy deserved an entire episode all about him.

Yes I’m aware that later on he’ll probably become important, but it still feels weird that an entire episode was dedicated to introducing him. Lando I can understand because he’s from the films and Rex I can understand because he’s more popular and is playing a very big role in the season thus far, but Hondo? I’m sorry but am I missing something big with this guy? What makes this guy so special?

This really was an episode all about him. Yes they technically made it partly about Ezra but it feels incredibly tacked on. The idea of Ezra starting to doubt his desire to be with the Ghost crew could’ve worked in early season 1, but after everything he’s gone through now it feels very contrived for him to suddenly start considering a new life. Worse it seems to just resolve itself as by the end he’s just like ‘eh, I’m over it.’ The only interesting thing about Ezra’s story was really at the beginning, when Rex and Kanan butt heads again on how best to train Ezra. It’s a returning bit from last week and I like the possibility of this coming to a head eventually.

But really this episode was just a silly one off episode, and for as much as I’m grumbling it wasn’t un-enjoyable. I like Hondo who had some great lines and I thought he and Ezra had good banter. Chopper sorta made this episode for me, especially the bit where he dual wields those guns. That WAS badass. As silly episodes go – and as much I didn’t care much for that one either – I definitely preferred the Lando episode from last season. Sure they shamlessly wanked over him but at least the whole crew was in it. As good as Chopper and Ezra was there was something missing by having the rest of the crew excluded during the episode.

Some Minor Points…

. Again, Chopper dual wielding those rifles. Damn if that wasn’t awesome.

. Cool to see Ezra actually use some decent moves. Can’t wait for his first actual Lightsaber duel.

. I honestly expected Ezra’s owed favour to Vizago to be a bit meatier than what it was ultimately used for.

. For as silly as this episode was, seeing that one guy get thrown into space and dying was a bit…yikes.

. I do know that Hondo in TCW had a crew, so I’ll admit that him being alone – and the way he said that his crew had left him – was a little bit sad.

Overall

Let’s be blunt; I didn’t care much for this episode. It wasn’t awful by any means but I do feel like it was a waste of time on a character that – at the moment – doesn’t feel worth it. I’m sure Hondo will play a bigger part later on but I don’t feel this 20 minute introduction was necessary. I should also stress that I’m not against the show having silly, non-plot moving episodes once in a while but the show has proven that those tend to be the weakest episodes.

So this is probably my least favourite episode since the first two normal length season one episodes, but I should make it clear that this doesn’t ruin anything about the series for me. Rebels is still great and the previous three episodes ranged from pretty good to great as well. I can appreciate after last week the attempt at levity and silliness but the fact is this episode didn’t quite do it for me. Still looking forward to next week, so till then!
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Wilahelm2's avatar
Hondo is a character that got more popular the more he was used. A large part of that was Cummings voice work but also how they used him. Hondo along with a few others like Cad Bane gave us a look at how the bounty hunters, pirates, and other criminals operated during the Clone Wars. Hondo is charming and you never knew if he was going to be a friend or foe when he showed up. When you see the episodes he was in during the Clone Wars it actually comes across much better. As fun as it was to see him again it was a little jarring to see him without his crew or that great coat he had. Life under the Empire seems to have hit him hard since he is not at the level he was during the Clone Wars.

As for Ezra I think the answer is simple. He was felling burnt out from all the stuff he has to deal with and decided to say screw it and took the day off. It should be mentioned that he did the same thing the last episode. Rex and Kanan start to argue about the best way to train him and rather then stay and watch he tags along with Sabin and Zeb. In this episode Rex and Kanan start to get into it again and he has Hera give him some major chores. He does what a lot of teenagers do when they feel a little overwhelmed, says screw it and looks for something fun to do.