'Star Wars Rebels' season 4 episode 9: Saving Lothal

The heroes will launch a major offensive against the Empire in “Star Wars Rebels” season 4 episode 9. This is the mid-season finale, which means the villain Grand Admiral Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelsen) will be back. Two preview videos of the next episode have been released online, showing the Alliance attempting to help the planet Lothal.

A preview scene released at the end of “Rebels Recon” (see below) teases the start of the assault. Hera Syndulla (voiced by Vanessa Marshall) will lead the attack against the blockade of Lothal.

There are several Star Destroyers around the planet, making it difficult for any ship to get past such strong defences. The Rebel team consists of a small group of X-Wing fighters, after all.

Another preview video of the same action sequence (see below) shows Hera and her team breaking through the outer defences and entering the planet’s atmosphere. Instead of being angry at the heroes breaking through his defences, Thrawn is actually impressed with the skills of Hera. He has a second wave of TIE fighters waiting to intercept the Rebel fighters, and this appears to be test of Hera’s skills as a leader and a pilot. The Empire's second wave of TIE squadron vastly outnumber the heroes.

If Hera and the others manage to land safely somewhere on Lothal, this will just be the first step in their plan to take on the Empire. Their main objective is to destroy the factories manufacturing the new TIE Defenders, which are vastly superior to the existing fighters.

If the Empire manages to mass-produce the new TIE Defenders, the Rebel pilots will not stand a chance in a fight. It might bring a swift end to the Alliance and its plans to free the galaxy from the tyranny of the Emperor.