8 Years Later, Star Wars Rebels Season 5 Is Finally Happening

After eight years, Disney and Lucasfilm are finally giving fans Star Wars Rebels season 5, albeit in a surprising way. Star Wars Rebels is one of the most beloved and best Star Wars shows, and for good reason. Everything about the series, from Kanan Jarrus and the rest of the Ghost crew to the way Ezra Bridger grew and changed over its four seasons, worked exceptionally well.

Even the ending of Rebels was well-received. However, the sheer number of loose ends in the finale, from Ezra’s disappearance to the fate of Grand Admiral Thrawn, has given fans more than enough reason to want a continuation of the story. A proper fifth season of Star Wars Rebels in the same animation style probably won’t ever happen, but Disney and Lucasfilm are far from done with the show’s characters and story.

In many ways, the Star Wars series Ahsoka acts as a spiritual successor to Rebels. The show was created by Dave Filoni, the creator of Rebels, it features characters who were previously in the animated show, like Ahsoka, Sabine Wren, and Hera Syndulla, and it even builds off the ending of Rebels. Now, Ahsoka is primed to become more than just a spiritual successor, it’s about to become the closest Star Wars ever gets to Rebels season 5.

Ahsoka Season 1 Wasn’t A Real Continuation Of Star Wars Rebels

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka crossing her arms in Ahsoka season 1

While Ahsoka season 1 did effectively continue the story of Star Wars Rebels, it wasn’t really a “season 5” of the series. The cast of Ahsoka does have quite a bit of overlap with Rebels, and it did fulfill the earlier show’s promise to find Ezra Bridger, but the live-action series is effectively a spinoff about Ahsoka and Sabine Wren. The vast majority of Ahsoka season 1 is about them and their quest to find Ezra, rather than about the Ghost crew as a whole.

For example, while she appears in the show, Hera Syndulla has an extremely small part in Ahsoka season 1. Ezra, as well, doesn’t even appear until the end of episode 6, and even then he only plays a supporting role in Sabine’s journey to become a Jedi. Zeb Orrelius and Kallus, the other surviving members of the Ghost crew, don’t appear in the season at all. Even Thrawn is a secondary antagonist to Morgan Elsbeth, Baylan Skoll, and Shin Hati.

By every metric, Ahsoka season 1 wasn’t the “Rebels season 5″ fans were hoping for. It focused only on a handful of Rebels characters, it told an almost entirely new story set in a new part of the Star Wars timeline, and it didn’t have many of the great things about Rebels, like its animation or its found family dynamics. It was much more of a spinoff than it was a continuation, but the ending of Ahsoka season 1 did leave the door open for Rebels to get a proper continuation.

Ahsoka Season 2 Can Finally Give Fans Star Wars Rebels Season 5

Huyang approves of Ezra Bridger's new blue lightsaber in Ahsoka episode 8. — Huyang approves of Ezra Bridger’s new blue lightsaber in Ahsoka episode 8.

Ahsoka season 1 felt like a spinoff series about Ahsoka and Sabine, but Ahsoka season 2 should feel much closer to Star Wars Rebels season 5. All the pieces are in place: Ezra reunited with Hera at the end of season 1, Thrawn is back in the main Star Wars galaxy and ready to enact his evil plans, and more. Ezra, Hera, and Thrawn won’t just be supporting characters in Ahsoka and Sabine’s story anymore, they should be major focuses of Ahsoka season 2.

There’s even a chance that Ahsoka season 2 could reunite the Ghost crew in full. Zeb notably just appeared in The Mandalorian and Grogu as a pilot for the New Republic. Hera and Ezra are almost certainly going to leverage the New Republic to fight back against Thrawn, which would be the perfect excuse to bring Zeb onto the show. He may even convince Kallus to join the fight against his former boss.

Why Ahsoka Season 2 Is Taking So Long

Ahsoka season 2 won’t be released until 2027, and there are a few reasons the live-action Star Wars show has had such a long production.

Even Ahsoka and Sabine, who were notably still in Peridea at the end of Ahsoka season 1, will likely reunite with their old friends. They’ll have to deal with Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati first, but a large part of their quest in Ahsoka season 2 will presumably be finding a way back to the main galaxy. Once they do, the entire cast of Rebels could be back together for the first time.

Reuniting the Ghost crew would go a long way in making Ahsoka season 2 feel like season 5 of Rebels. The show would be able to use the crew’s found-family dynamics, inject more of Rebels‘ humor than season 1 had, and even have the characters talk about events from Rebels, like Kanan’s death. Pitting them against Thrawn one last time in what will presumably end with him being properly killed would be the last piece of the puzzle to make Ahsoka season 2 feel like Rebels season 5.