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The power of story
Star Wars Rebels, Season 4, Episode 10, “Jedi Night”
Writers: Dave Filoni & Henry Gilroy
Director: Saul Ruiz
Kanan Jarrus had been dead for days—tragically sacrificing himself to save his friends and true love as an exploding fuel depot engulfed him—and the heads of Star Wars fans everywhere were still down, their hearts still heavy. There was never a feeling that Kanan Jarrus would survive the events of the animated television show Star Wars Rebels and the idea of sacrificing yourself in Star Wars is a time-honored tradition. When the series started in 2014 you would be hard pressed to find a fan that didn’t at least acknowledge that there was chance Kanan was going to die before the show ended. So, there wasn’t a feeling a shock going around the fandom, there was just a gaping, grieving hole where our feelings had been. Kanan Jarrus was dead and no one could stop thinking about this big moment on our small screens.
Everything to this point in the Star Wars Rebels story has been expertly weaved together, so all the right heartstrings are pulled here. Hera and Kanan, having finally kissed earlier, now share a beautiful kiss with a heartfelt proclamation of love from Hera. Ezra and Sabine arrive in a stolen Imperial ship to finish this mission of rescuing Hera, so they can all get back to fighting for freedom. It’s a rebellious family reunion broken up by dastardly Imperial Arihnda Pryce ordering the destruction of her own fuel depot. As the fuel pods explode, Kanan uses the Force to stop the explosion from killing Hera, Ezra, and Sabine. With a Force push, he sends them to safety while succumbing to the explosion. All the elements to create maximum emotional oomph are there. Check, check, check, and check. So how come none of us were ready for this?
It’s possible that the shock of our response had to do with some level of bias against animated content. Despite watching all of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels’s previous seasons, growing up with movies like The Lion King and Toy Story affecting lives, and crying at the opening sequence of Up, it’s as if we still keep turning on the television and expecting to see a simple cartoon like it was a Tuesday afternoon in 1985. That’s somewhat understandable for Star Wars fans because this is generally considered a movie franchise. Silly, but understandable. We’re trained for these moments to happen on the big screen, but how we consume content has been forever changed. Star Wars stories will always play out in big ways and reward the theater-going experience, but it will now also play out on small screens, computers, and watches. (Yes, I sound like I’m two steps away from screaming get off my lawn.) Star Wars—this mythical space opera—will always have the power to transcend formats. And perhaps that lesson was the shocking part?
For one brief moment, we underestimated the storytelling of Star Wars.
Yes, we all suspected Kanan Jarrus was going to die. Theories were formed, discussions had, and expectations created. We pulled out the Star Wars canon roadmap and had fun getting caught up in where this has to fall in the storyline. Kanan needed to die—or at least be removed—before the events of A New Hope or even Rogue One. You have to account for Luke being the only hope, and last Jedi, so they can’t interact. The same thing starts to factor into Ezra and Ahsoka’s story and, before you know it, this all starts to sound like complicated directions for making a piece of Swedish chain store furniture as opposed to a breathtakingly simple story of good versus evil.
Don’t feel bad, I’ve made an entire career out of creating those mental roadmaps. It’s fun, and certainly part of being a fan, but Star Wars doesn’t stop there.
The death of Kanan Jarrus is a sum that exceeds its parts. This is more than the sacrifice of a Jedi for the good of the many. This is more than the bittersweet ending to a love affair that never fully bloomed because of the fight against evil. As you hear the music swell as Kanan holds back the flames, as you push in on the pained horror on Hera’s face, take in the stunned confusion as Ezra watches his mentor die, and realize that clarity has returned to Kanan, not just through returned vision, but through seeing his true self and purpose, you are confronted head-on with the power of story.
We far too often get locked in on what needs to happen. Does Kanan need to die because Yoda said Leia was the last hope after Luke? Maybe. If you want to tie yourself down to every little bit of detail. Star War Rebels, a show placed directly in the middle of all those wonderful details, never once holds itself to them. The show goes to where the characters take it. It goes where the story needs it to go, not a visual encyclopedia of Star Wars information. So, while we were all getting caught up in what we expected based on timelines, bullet points and the medium in which we consumed this moment, the death of Kanan Jarrus emerged as a testament to the grandeur of the Star Wars story.
It’s still ok to cry, though.