Inside “Rise of the Old Masters”

In Rebels Recon #1.04, StarWars.com delves into the Star Wars Rebels episode “Rise of the Old Masters,” with a synopsis, cast and crew interviews, and much more. “Rise of the Old Masters” finds the Ghost crew on a mission to rescue Jedi Master Luminara Unduli from an Imperial prison. But instead of Luminara, they find the Inquisitor waiting. Kanan and the Inquisitor engage in an intense lightsaber duel, and the rebels barely escape the Imperial trap. This episode features the first lightsaber duel of Star Wars Rebels, and the Jedi weapons seen in “Rise of the Old Masters” are special for many reasons. The blades were designed to closely match the look of a lightsaber from one specific scene in A New Hope, CG supervisor Joel Aron reveals to StarWars.com’s Andi Gutierrez. “The shot that I referenced a lot was inside the cantina,” Aron says, referencing the moment when Obi-Wan Kenobi stands with his lightsaber after an altercation. Aron meticulously recreated the look of the laser sword in CG, using motion blur and other techniques employed in the original effect. The Inquisitor’s lightsaber features two blades, and when in disc mode, can spin at a furious speed, making it an intimidating weapon. Executive producer Dave Filoni calls it a “cheat mode” lightsaber – it can do things to make up for the Inquisitor’s lack of ability. For this week’s Twitter question, @mrzehr asks, “How is the Inquisitor not a Sith?” Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group explains that not all dark side users are Sith, and not all light side users are Jedi. “There are multiple schools of skill out there,” he says.