2x07 Stealth Strike

8.5/10. A nice episode paying off all of the tension we've had between Rex and Kanan as this season has gone on. The pair make for a great buddy adventure, with their differing styles and bristling at one another. They've both taken a shine to Ezra and spark off one another as each competes for his attention and time. Of course, there's also the simmering mistrust from Kanan given Order 66, and that leads to one of those "mismatched partners leading to grudging but sincere mutual respect" that should feel cliche, but gets by on the charm of the characters.

Rex is particularly charming here, spouting off old imperial codes with a certain amusing self-satisfied codes and jousting with Kanan over how to approach their mission. Seeing the two go under cover as storm troopers led to some entertaining shenanigans and action sequences, and the Ezra and Commander Sato rescue mission provided a nice conflict to power the story.

Ezra and Chopper's escape and sabotage plan was a little less compelling, if only because as Ezra himself points out, we've seen this sort of thing many times before. Nevertheless, Ezra accidentally hitting Kanan and Rex with his blaster (and Rex's bemused approval) was a hoot; the zero-gravity fight in the core of the gravity well generator was a cool set piece (shades of one of the few good elements of the D-Squad arc in The Clone Wars), and the final sabotaging and explosion of the attacking ships was thrilling. Chopper is still so much of a jerk that I wonder why he's kept around, but even as something slighter, it was entertaining.

Of course, the weight of this episode (which was generally pretty light on its feet) came from Rex and Kanan each having the opportunity to survive without the other, and declining that choice. Rex gets captured, and is offered a position in the Imperial Academy if he turns over his friends, returning to the military service that's been the only thing he's known, and a return to respectability for him. Rex, of course, declines, pledging his loyalty to the Republic and the ideals it once stood for, and the people fighting for those ideals, rather than an easy out for him.

Similarly, Rex is in trouble when trying to fight off the storm troopers (whose lackluster armor he complains about) on his own, and Kanan has to choose whether to go back and rescue him or not. He too, of course, chooses to risk his life to save Rex's, seeing that for however much Kanan understandably mistrusts the clones who pulled the trigger and killed thousands of Jedi, this clone is on his side, and was willing to die for his mission. Their awkward exchange of thanks at the end is the icing on the cake for a new level of trust between them, even if neither's ready to let down their guard just yet, and seeing a clone and a Jedi fight side by side provides a certain amount of joy to this ol' Clone Wars fan.

Overall, a definite highlight of this young season that delivers on a character conflict that's been brewing since Kanan and Rex met.