"Shroud of Darkness" is the sixteenth episode of Star Wars Rebels Season Two. In the episode, Kanan and Ezra travel with Ahsoka to the Jedi Temple on Lothal, where they hope to find guidance from Master Yoda about how to defend themselves against the Inquisitors.
Quick summary
After a nearly-fatal duel with the Seventh Sister and the Fifth Brother, Kanan and Ezra return with Ahsoka to the Jedi Temple on Lothal where they hope to find guidance from Master Yoda about how to defeat the Inquisitors. Once there, Ahsoka is confronted with the truth about Anakin Skywalker, Kanan learns the identity of the fallen Grand Inquisitor, and Ezra is given a dire warning and guidance from Yoda himself.
Trivia
Every Star Wars Rebels episode is chock full of nods and connections to other canon stories and Star Wars Legends. Here's what we found in 'Shroud of Darkness:'
- Ahsoka shows Ezra a holographic recording of Anakin Skywalker, who recorded himself instructing Jedi how to fight in lightsaber combat, and reveals that he was her master. Anakin is once again voiced by Matt Lanter, who played the character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- Anakin's instructions are based on those given by prequel trilogy stunt director Nick Gillard to a team of video game designers.
- Anakin wears a new set of Jedi attire in this episode, one that is emblazoned with the emblem of the Jedi Order.
- The last time we saw Anakin and Ahsoka together on-screen was when Ahsoka walked away from the Jedi Order in The Clone Wars season five finale, 'The Wrong Jedi.' This episode reveals that Ahsoka saw Anakin one last time, just before he raced off to rescue Supreme Chancellor Palpatine—a reference to the opening scenes of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
- Kanan and Ezra return to the Jedi Temple on Lothal for the first time since the season one episode 'Path of the Jedi.' They discover a new entrance to the temple, one that brings them deeper into its ancient halls.
- While meditating, Kanan finds a sort of dojo in which he discovers a Jedi Temple Guard. This character, listed in the credits as Sentinel, is revealed to be a vision of the fallen Grand Inquisitor, who was a Jedi Temple Guard prior to the fall of the Jedi Order.
- On the wall of the dojo are a number of lightsabers. The designs were repurposed from previous episodes of Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars and include Inquisitor lightsabers, lightsaber pikes, and the lightsabers of prequel era Jedi including Ki-Adi-Mundi, Luminara Unduli, Kit Fisto, and Adi Gallia.
- Yoda shows Ezra a vision of the Clone Wars, including the iconic shot of the clone troopers boarding assault ships on Coruscant from Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.
- After first learning about Darth Vader in the season two premiere Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal, Ahsoka finally learns the truth: Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader.
- Though Yoda is reluctant to help Ezra fight a war, he tells Ezra to find Malachor, which Kanan and Ahsoka explain is a place somewhere in the galaxy. Malachor was canonically referenced in The Clone Wars. It was also mentioned in Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, which said that the design of Kylo Ren's lightsaber is an ancient one that dates back to the Great Scourge of Malachor.
- In Star Wars Legends, Malachor V was the site of the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars, where Revan and the Galactic Republic finally defeated the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. The world was devastated in the battle, and the results of that devastation were seen when the characters traveled to Malachor V in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
Read more
Want to read more about the latest episode? Head on over to our full episode page for 'Shroud of Darkness!'