Star Wars Rebels Season 3: 12 Best Moments

I’ll admit, this is a rather ambiguous one, but bear with me.

Towards the end of Iron Squadron as the Rebels make their escape with Mart safely anchored to the Ghost, Thrawn’s Imperial Star Destroyer, the Chimera, comes out of hyperspace, cutting off their escape. As the Rebel convoy turns tail to run, Thrawn addresses Commander Sato over the comm-channels in an exchange that hints that the two have a past.

Iron Squadron made baby steps towards giving a little more characterisation to someone who for the most part, has just been an empty vessel. In Iron Squadron he remains far from being the focus but it adds emotional beats to his story. We learn of his nephew, Mart, and that his brother, Mart’s father, was killed in action whilst fighting Imperial influence on Mykapo.

Put together it looked like they were setting up an inevitable showdown between the two tacticians, with Thrawn being responsible for the death of Sato’s brother and pegging Sato as a casualty for the end of the season.

Unfortunately, this never came to pass. Sato did become a casualty, but instead sacrificed himself in order to give Phoenix Squadron a chance to escape. This was a great moment for Sato, and in itself deserves some recognition. But for a character that had had very little development, it was still somewhat lacking.

Personally, this felt like a wasted opportunity, but it still remains one of the standout moments in my mind’s eye. It may not have delivered in the long run, but it was a moment that I applauded.