Inside "Breaking Ranks"

Overview

In Rebels Recon #1.05, StarWars.com looks at the making of the Star Wars Rebels episode "Breaking Ranks," with an in-depth breakdown of the creation of an episode, interviews with the cast and creators, and more! "Breaking Ranks" finds Ezra on an undercover mission at the Imperial Academy on Lothal, seeking to uncover an Imperial decoder. While there, he befriends two fellow cadets who help him on his mission; in turn, the decoder is essential for Hera and Kanan, who need it to disrupt an Imperial shipment. At the Art and Science of Lucasfilm panel in partnership with the San Francisco Film Society Education, the Star Wars Rebels team spoke with local students about creating an episode from start to finish. Line producer Athena Portillo detailed the process, showing the evolution of "Breaking Ranks" from rough animatics to layout to post production. In discussing "Breaking Ranks," Lucasfilm's Andi Gutierrez asks Taylor Gray, voice of Ezra, if adult stormtroopers could complete the training in the Imperial Academy. "No...I'm going to say they can't do half the things that they think they can," he jokes. Executive producer Dave Filoni adds that clone troopers are more effective soldiers than stormtroopers; clones are bred for combat, while stormtroopers have to serve. He also reveals that the training grounds were based on the Kamino facilities seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as the bounty-hunter gauntlet from the episode "The Box." Regarding the design of Star Wars Rebels' stormtroopers, Filoni says that the goal was to make them look familiar to what we've seen in the films. While there was talk of having them appear closer to Ralph McQuarrie's stormtrooper designs, it was decided that McQuarrie's conceptual versions were too different from the troopers' classic look. For this week's Twitter question, @mike_audette asks a question regarding the Inquisitor's use of Luminara's remains to draw Kanan into a trap in "Rise of the Old Masters": "How the heck can the Inquisitor do that with Luminara?! Are there more dead Jedi like that?!?" Pablo Hidalgo of the Story Group fills in some of the backstory regarding Luminara, as well as what made Kanan think she was really still alive...