The Siege of Lothal

Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal is a feature-length television movie that serves as the premiere to the second season of Star Wars Rebels. It was first screened at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim on April 18, 2015 and made its official television premiere on June 20, 2015.

Plot
The Ghost crew help their fellow Rebels win a major battle, even after reinforcements arrive for the Imperials. Back on Lothal, Minister Tua is complaining to Agent Kallus that she's exhausted all resources to find the Rebels, even establishing a planetary curfew, and doesn't know what else to do. Darth Vader comes in and states that's the problem: She lacks imagination when it comes to producing results. Tua politely tells Vader that he and Grand Moff Tarkin are asking for miracles because she suspects that the Rebels have left Lothal but the Dark Lord of the Sith cuts her off stating "If the rebels have left, then we must draw them back. And if they are here, we must draw them out. We will squeeze Lothal until someone reveals the whereabouts of these traitors." Tua replies she has no experience with such brutal tactics but again the Sith Lord cuts her off and tells her she can explain that to Tarkin when she visits him. Knowing what "visit him" means, she tries to come up with an excuse but she is dismissed by both Kallus and Lord Vader.

Back with the Rebel fleet, the Ghost crew is being praised by Commander Sato when Chopper comes in with a message from Tua asking them for help. She offers to defect to the rebellion and offers Imperial information to them as proof, including the Empire's real mission on Lothal which was ordered by Emperor Palpatine himself. The rest of Ghost are reluctant to help her out of distrust but Ezra tells them he could sense real fear for her life in her voice and therefore knows she was being sincere the whole time. Meanwhile, unbeknowst to Tua, Agent Kallus has become suspicous of her.

The Ghost crew takes a different ship to Lothal because the Ghost can now be identified and tracked. As Ezra laid out his plan, Sabine and Zeb ask Ezra why he wants to help Tua after all the grief she's given them. Ezra gives them two reasons: A, they help people who can't help themselves and B, her info will help them out. Upon arriving on Lothal, Kanan takes out a stormtrooper and swipes him of his uniform. They spot Tua who is being escorted by Agent Kallus. After a fight, Kallus blows up the shuttle with Tua on board and reveals he used her as bait to lead them into a trap. They escape and Kallus informs Vader. Vader commands him to order the fleet to blow any ships heading off world out of the sky. On the Holonet, The Rebels see a report blaming them for Tua's assassination and Hera realizes they did this to turn Lothal against the Rebellion and states they must leave Lothal for good. Kanan decides to escape using the spaceport at the Imperial Complex. As they head for a ship, Ezra senses the same cold feeling he felt as they were coming in. Kanan senses it too and, unlike Ezra, he recognizes the power: The Dark Side of the Force. Seconds later, Darth Vader appears. Kanan and Ezra try to fight him off but the Dark Lord is too powerful and the Rebels are forced to retreat.

After they get away, Kanan reveals to Ezra that their opponent is a Sith Lord. Ezra recognizes the need to defeat him but Kanan tells him they can't as he's too powerful both in physical strength and in the Force. To get off world, the Rebels make a deal with Lando Calrissian. Meanwhile, Vader orders Kallus to destroy Tarkintown hoping to draw out the Rebels.

The next day, Ezra discovers Tarkintown in flames and wants to go free the captives but Kanan tells his apprentice that it's definitely a trap. Using a decoy manoeuvre, The Rebels make it past the Imperial blockade. When Admiral Konstantine informs Vader and Kallus of their escape, Vader orders Kallus to prepare his ship for launch and, after he leaves, Kallus reveals to the Admiral that the shuttle the Rebels stole is planted with a homing device which will lead them to the other Rebels, which has been Vader's plan all along.

The Rebels arrive back with the rest of the rebel fleet and, to their horror, learn from Chopper that they led the Empire right to the fleet. Vader causes serious damage to the fleet all by himself and even succedes in disabling the Rebel command ship which forces the Rebels to retreat while the Ghost crew holds him and the Imperial fleet off. During the battle Kanan and Ahsoka both recognize Vader's presence as one they both haven't felt since the Clone Wars. Ahsoka is horrified when she discovers how powerful the Sith Lord is and Vader recognizes Ahsoka's presence just before the Rebels escape. Ezra asks Ashoka if she knows who Vader is. She says she does not but does know he'll be coming for them. Kanan agrees with her and tells Ezra they need to regroup and find the strength to fight back because the Empire has struck back and is more powerful than they thought, an assesment the rest of Ghost agrees with.

On a Star Destroyer, Vader contacts his master and tells him the Seige of Lothal was a success and the Rebels are now on the run. He also tells Palpatine that he recognized one of the Jedi as his old apprentice Ahsoka Tano. Palpatine is pleased because she can lead them to the other Jedi who survived the Execution of Order 66 and then orders his apprentice to dispatch another Inquisitor to hunt the Rebels down and Vader complies.

Cast

 * Taylor Gray as Ezra Bridger
 * Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Kanan Jarrus
 * Steven Blum as Garazeb Orrelios
 * Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren
 * Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * David Oyelowo as Agent Kallus
 * Kath Soucie as Maketh Tua
 * James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
 * Sam Witwer as Palpatine

Trivia

 * Kanan is seen wearing Stormtrooper armor in this episode, a reference to when Luke Skywalker and Han Solo disguised themselves as Stormtroopers in A New Hope.
 * This is the second Television Movie in the series, the first was Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion.
 * Maketh Tua is killed off in this episode.
 * Kanan's plan to 'rob from the Empire, and give to the needy' likely references the stories of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.