Dave Filoni Was OK With One Star Wars Rebels Spoiler Getting Out Before The Series Finale

Dave Filoni Was OK With One Star Wars Rebels Spoiler Getting Out Before The Series Finale

With Star Wars Rebels soon coming to an end, fans are wondering who will survive and who won’t. However, we know for a fact that one character in particular is going to survive.

Image: Lucasfilm, YouTube

That character is Hera Syndulla. We know she will survive because, in the canon animated series short Forces of Destiny, Hera is seen after the Rebel victory at the Battle of Endor interacting with Han Solo and Chewbacca. She not only survives Rebels, she, along with the Ghost and trusty droid Chopper, survives the original trilogy too. Here’s the short in case you missed it.

That seems like a pretty massive piece of information to let slip before Rebels even finished, and the timing was not lost on executive producer Dave Filoni. We spoke with him recently and asked how he felt about the revelation.

“It’s one of the side effects of this ongoing continuity,” Filoni said. “It seems like a fun, great idea and it is a fun, great idea to see a character like Hera in these situations. But then you’re like, ‘Oh, wait a minute. That really blows that opportunity.’ Like I can’t really troll the fans into whether she’s going to survive or not, right?”

So yes, Hera will be surviving Star Wars Rebels. However, Filoni now fully admits that was actually revealed in Rogue One, which takes place just before A New Hope. Not only did the film mention Hera’s last name, Syndulla, but it also showed Chopper and Hera’s ship, the Ghost.

“You’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we said her name in Rogue One,’ so I was trying to mess with people and said maybe it was her dad they were talking about,” he said. “But I guess Forces of Destiny gave that up.”

Still, Filoni thinks spoiling something small for a few months pales in comparison to the fact that all of these shows and movies will be around long after spoilers aren’t spoilers any more.

“Working on Rogue One, we had different opportunities to shape things here or there, and you had to make a choice and say, ‘Well it will be great to hear her name,’” Filoni said. “And I just can’t see passing that opportunity up for it to exist forever. Then, once Rebels is done, you won’t think twice about it.”

Filoni had to think about the bigger picture, basically.

“You have to make a decision in the moment between ‘What are the really big things that you might spoil?’ versus the lasting impression that’s left on the franchise,” Filoni continued. “The interconnectivity of different characters and different stories has tremendous value for people that are that invested in these characters. They can follow them in different mediums and different styles. Be it books, comics, movies, TV. But, it’s a little bit surprising because, honestly, you’re making them all at the same time and then you’re surprised when one of them gets out first even though you knew it was going to happen.”

So maybe Filoni didn’t realise Forces of Destiny would be out before Rebels was over, but it will all work out in the end.

Star Wars Rebels returns next month.


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