3x04 Hera's Heroes

7.5/10. Two great bits elevate this one. The first is the real introduction of Thrawn. I know him far more by reputation that I do by having actually read any of the EU/Legends material that made him famous among the diehards, so it's nice to see a bit more of his personality in action here. Much of the time, the rank-and-file members of the Empire feels like stooges, whether it's stormtroopers or uniformed guys in charge. They're footsoldiers and cannon fodder who seem easily duped and not very complicated or interesting, let alone clever.

But Thrawn is different. There is a genteel quality to him, one where he seems less interested in the moral certitude of his side of this war than he is merely interested in playing the game. War, for him, has rules, and there is a courtly sort of gallantry in the way he seems to admire his opponents and relish the strategic decisions and beauty of the fight that immediately distinguishes him from even the best and most fleshed out antagonists in the Star Wars animated canon. The way he treats Hera, not with cruelty or disdain, but with respect, marks him as unique among the baddies our heroes have faced.

There's also other distinguishing personality traits. One of the few things I knew about Thrawn prior to seeing him in Rebels is that he liked art, and seeing his appreciation for Twi'lek society and its cultural artifacts makes him seem more cultured as well. There's also the distinct sense that he's playing the long game, smarter than pretty much anyone else working for the Empire. The fact that he's willing to let Hera and The Ghost escape because they "earned their victory" and he's learned more about them is a nice beat.

The fact that he's the only one who was able to sniff out Hera's deception, because he's immersed himself in Twi'lek culture shows how he has a commitment and intelligence to how he wages war that's often eluded The Empire. What's more, there's a barely restrained anger that he almost unleashed in one moment that show's there's a burning fire beneath his calm exterior. Lots of interesting details for the season's apparent antagonist.

The other bit in the episode that impressed me is fairly trite -- Hera's willingness to blow up her family home and lose her family's sacred artifact, because her real family is all around her (both the crew of The Ghost, and her dad and his compatriots) and that means she keeps her mother's memory alive wherever she goes. Sure, it's a little corny, and the found family is well-trodden territory, but it's a nice arc for Hera in the episode, reiterates the connections between the characters, and reaffirms her rehabilitated relationship with her father in a pleasant way.

The only thing that keeps the episode from scoring higher in my book is that there was a lot of generic fighting and snooping around that started to feel like static. Occasionally, the firefights on this show run together, and while putting the gang on two-legged lizards is kind of amusing, the battles with the Empire mostly left me yawning. The same goes for Hera and Ezra's espionage mission to retrieve the Sendula family artifact. Hera feigned being a servant well, showing her resourcefulness and improvisational skills. And Chopper being emotionally affected by the site of the Y-wing crash where Hera rescued him was a nice beat. But overall it just felt like vaguely action-y preamble to the more interesting Thrawn stuff.

Overall, a solid episode of the show that showed us a lot of interesting things about Thrawn and told a nice little story about Hera to boot.