With Star Wars Rebels returning from tonight on Disney XD for its final six episodes, speculation about how the beloved animated series will end has reached a fevered pitch. But we may be able to make some educated guesses based in part from the knowledge that supervising producer Dave Filoni laid out the entire four seasons, from beginning to end, after his previous show, The Clone Wars, was cut short.

With that in mind, we'll take a look at a number of possibilities based on the previous three seasons, and the Season 4 midseason trailer, as well as leaks and connections to other Star Wars media.

While the first half of Season 4 gave us a Rebellion that was starting to gel, the leader of the Spectres, Hera Syndulla, had been captured by Thrawn and the Empire. However, it looks as if she will be rescued early on, and that there's a bigger battle on the horizon.

Kanan Will Die

Because of the titles of the first two episodes of the midseason return, "Jedi Night" and "DUME," it's been heavily speculated that Kanan Jarrus’ future is bleak. "Jedi Night" is obviously a spin on Jedi Knight, but also could imply his demise. On the other hand, "DUME" is Kanan’s real last name, but clearly also suggests “doom.”

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Kanan was a Padawan whose master died during the Clone Wars, so he changed his name to blend in and avoid the Jedi Purge; his given name is Caleb Dume. We know that in these first two episodes Kanan and the Ghost crew will go on a mission to rescue Hera from the clutches of the Empire. So, we suspect that once the Twi'lek pilot is free, Kanan will have to give his life to keep her that way.

A Surprise Return

The fate of a number of important characters has been left up in the air during Rebels' three and a half seasons. From the midseason trailer, we know we'll see the return of Sabine’s former bounty-hunting partner, Ketsu, as well as the lovable rogue Hondo Ohnaka. However, considering previous cameo-heavy season finales of Rebels, we expect Filoni and team have something epic for fans as the end approaches.

Ahsoka Tano's status at the end of Season 2 was left purposely unclear, so she may show up alive and ready to join the fight in this final stretch. Considering we've seen an ornate mural depicting the Father, Son and Daughter, from The Clone Wars "Mortis" trilogy, as well as Ezra on a spiritual plane, we're pretty confident that the episodes "Wolves At the Door" and "A World Between Worlds" will deal with Ezra’s unique connection to the Force. Further, we believe this will lead to him being made a Jedi Knight by a Force ghost. We think the most likely candidate is Kanan (assuming he dies), but Ahsoka and Yoda are also on the table.

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The Emperor's Plan For Ezra

We know from the midseason trailer that Emperor Palpatine will make an appearance, but the question is how much of a role he'll play. Both shots of him have a blue tint. However, in the first there's also a blue flame. So, he could appear as a hologram like he did in the beginning of Rebels Season 2, or it's possible that he's a Force projection. In the footage he utters, “Ezra Bridger, mine at last,” implying that he's had an eye on this powerful Padawan. Seeing as Ezra has struggled with the Dark Side, we imagine he will have to make some difficult decisions in these final episodes.

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Will the Emperor send Darth Vader to deal with Lothal once and for all, or will he offer Ezra a deal? Something along the lines of, join me and I will spare your friends and home, seems very possible. If you consider that Ezra’s story needs to come to a close before the events of A New Hope, this speculation becomes that much more plausible.

Ezra’s connection to the Force has been explored throughout the series, and his ability to communicate with, and call upon, animals makes him unique. He definitely has a deep link to the fauna of his home world, Lothal, as he has received help from both Loth-wolves and Loth-cats. With an episode titled "Wolves At the Door," we think we will finally learn how Loth-wolves seem to be able to teleport, and how they are tied to the Force. Ezra has also been shown to be capable of controlling a light-sensitive species called Frynocks in "Gathering Forces," and he was saved by one of the whale-like Purrgils in "The Call."

Also, the appearance of the owl-like Convor has us excited, because we think it’s the avatar of the Daughter from The Clone Wars. In the painting we glimpse her with her brother and father, and she has a Convor on her shoulder. We know from what we have seen of this Light Sider in The Clone Wars that she was able to transform into a griffin. Although she was killed in the "Mortis" trilogy, the Convor could easily be the Daughter’s avatar on the spiritual plane.

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More Connections to Rogue One

There were three awesome Rebels Easter eggs in Rogue One to show how close these two stories are in the Star Wars timeline. They showed that Hera and Chopper were still with the Rebellion, and that the Ghost was part of the attack on Scarif. Then, Rebels made the tie between the two evident when Saw Gerrera showed up in the second half of Season 3 and again at the beginning of Season 4. In those episodes there was mention of Director Krennic and Jedha, as well as actual Death Troopers guarding a giant Kyber crystal.

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In his Rebels appearances Saw has an inkling of what’s going on, but not the full picture. He’s sure the Empire is building a super-weapon but he can’t prove it. So, while we know Saw and his rebels will end up on Jedha in Rogue One, the appearance of Death Troopers in the midseason trailer suggests we may see more of his mission to uncover the Death Star.

Not Everyone's Story Will Wrap Up

Over the course of two Star Wars animated series, Dave Filoni has established himself as the successor to George Lucas. He has won favor with fans of the Expanded Universe by pulling characters, vehicles and even concepts from novels, comics and video games. And the love he has shown to legendary artist Ralph McQuarrie and his designs has made The Clone Wars and Rebels resonate with diehard fans of the Original Trilogy. However, what really makes him the heir to Lucas' storytelling throne is the beloved characters he co-created, like Ahsoka Tano and Hondo Ohnaka.

It’s been reported that Disney is working on multiple Star Wars shows, and that one of them will be animated. It's highly likely Filoni will once again be the driving force behind that show. So, seeing as he incorporated some of his favorite characters from The Clone Wars into Star Wars Rebels, we expect he will do the same with the next animated series. To do that, he will need to leave the futures of some of the Rebels characters ambiguous. For example, we obviously wouldn’t have had Ahsoka in Rebels if she died in The Clone Wars like so many fans expected. If we assume that Kanan dies, that leaves Hera, Ezra, Sabine and Zeb from the main crew. We know that Hera makes it all the way to the Battle of Endor from an episode of Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, so she would be good for at least a cameo. But of course, that's based on the belief the new series will take place after the events of Rebels.


Returning tonight at 9 ET/PT to kick off its final six episodes, Star Wars Rebels stars Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan, Vanessa Marshall as Hera, Steve Blum as Zeb, Tiya Sircar as Sabine, Taylor Gray as Ezra, Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex, David Oyelowo as Kallus, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Governor Pryce, Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Warwick Davis as Rukh.