The best part about Star Wars is how vast it is. Even with several decades of the Expanded Universe cast into the realm of Legends, the best-known galaxy far, far away has a lot left to explore. Fans can pick how deep they want to go down the rabbit hole. You don”t have to read the Darth Vader comics to enjoy the original trilogy. You don”t have to watch The Clone Wars cartoon to grasp how Anakin changed between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. You don”t have to read Bloodlines to know General Leia is a force to be reckoned with in The Force Awakens. But you can if you want to.
One of the best parts about the new Star Wars canon? Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD. I”ll be honest. At first, the animation style of Rebels turned me off to the show. I was used to The Clone Wars and in my old age balked at the concept of something new. But I quickly got over it. The show began five years prior to A New Hope and helps fill in the gap about what everyone – both the Empire and the Rebellion – were up to in the years before Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star. After all, a guerrilla resistance doesn”t form overnight. Focusing on a single cell of the Rebellion, Rebels shows the galaxy through the eyes of fighters, pilots, mercenaries, and former Jedi.
It also (shockingly) begins to humanize the faces of the Empire. They”re still in the wrong, but giving the minions of evil understandable motivations and values adds yet another level of nuance to an already great addition to the Star Wars universe.
Yet while the main cast – Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray), Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall), Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum), and Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar) – shepherd audiences through their world week to week, two other characters are the backbone of the rebellion: Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Leia Organa (Julie Dolan).
While Ahsoka was technically re-introduced to viewers at the end of Season One (she previously featured in Clone Wars), both she and Leia had large roles in Season Two. Ahsoka is one of the de facto leaders of the Rebels. Meanwhile Leia, who is just barely a teenager, is already acting as an agent for the Republic to help assist the rebellion covertly. Despite only appearing in one episode so far, Leia proved her mettle and no one would be surprised to see her again in Season Three.
But no character springs fully-formed onto your television screen. Both Ahsoka and Leia went through many iterations before assuming their final look. In an exclusive look below, HitFix Harpy invites you to take a peek behind the curtain at the character creation process. Plus a few extra looks at the Empire”s least secret weapons of mass destruction!
Star Wars Rebels Season 2 is on sale now.