WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for the two-part midseason return of Star Wars Rebels, "Jedi Night" and "DUME," which debuted Monday on Disney XD.

Deep down, Star Wars Rebels fans knew this moment was coming, but that didn't make its ultimate arrival on Monday easier to accept. In the midseason return -- the beginning of its final six episodes -- one of the main characters heroically dies while rescuing Hera from the clutches of the Galactic Empire.

Even if we were to ignore online speculation about the meaning behind the titles of Monday's episodes, and the problems his survival beyond Star War Rebels might pose to franchise continuity, the signs of Kanan Jarrus' imminent death were evident from the opening moments of "Jedi Night." Kanan himself seemed to know he wouldn't return from this mission, as he tasked Ezra with devising the plan for Hera's rescue -- no doubt to ensure they had a means of escape once he'd fallen. And as Ezra and Sabbine made their preparations, Kanan underwent his own, cutting his hair and shaving his beard in ritual fashion. He was a warrior getting ready for his final battle.

Of course, the emotional gut-punch wasn't in Kanan's final, cryptic final words to Ezra -- "You're a good listener, Ezra; it has served you here, and it will serve you again, in the future" -- but with his freeing of Hera, still groggy from the truth serum injected during her interrogation/torture. Lighthearted moments of loopiness intermingled with danger, sentimentality and, finally, a realization that Hera indeed loves Kanan.

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Unfortunately for the two of them, and for Rebels fans, that admission comes too late. Pursued by Imperial forces on Lothal, they make their way to the top of an enormous fuel storage tank, where Sabbine and Ezra arrive in their own stolen ship. But a desperate Governor Pryce isn't about to allow her prize, a captured Rebel general, to escape, and orders an Imperial walker to open fire, with the expected results. Using the Force, Kanan holds back the explosion just long enough to buy his friends the seconds they need, and sacrifices himself in the process.

It's a dramatic, emotional end for a beloved character that has immediate consequences, not only for the surviving Ghost crew, but also their larger mission. With the loss of Kanan, the others are left adrift, with a grieving Hera withdrawing from the rest of the Rebels on Lothal, Sabine and Zeb turning their minds toward revenge, and Ezra struggling to find the path that lies ahead of him.

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Lost within his own vision, Ezra is confronted by an enormous Loth-wolf that identifies itself as "DUME," which just happens to be the real last name of Kanan. "I feel lost without my Master," he confesses. "He was wise, and brave, and he cared. He was there for me when no one else was. There was so much more I needed to learn from him."

But in their planned sabotage of the Imperial parade to commemorate the defeat of the Rebel cell, Sabine and Zeb come to the realization that Kanan didn't only sacrifice himself to save them, but to complete their mission. Governor Pryce's parade isn't a celebration, but rather camouflage her own destruction of the fuel refinery, which brings to an end the production of Grand Admiral Thrawn's TIE Defenders (thus, closing another potential franchise plot hole).

Hera comes to her own realization about Kanan's legacy -- his steadfast belief that the Rebellion could change things for the better -- dovetails nicely into Sabine and Zeb's findings, and Ezra's vision of the endangered Jedi temple. It's a collective ray of hope that shows not all is lost, even as Star Wars Rebels heads into its final four episodes, and what promises to be darker times still.

Returning Monday, Feb. 26, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Disney XD, 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.