In 1 BBY, the Spectres of the Alliance to Restore the Republic launched a mission to rescue General Hera Syndulla from the Imperial Complex on Lothal. Despite rescuing Hera, the Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus was killed when he sacrificed his life to protect his fellow rebels from being incinerated by the exploding Lothal City fuel depot. The death of Kanan had a tremendous impact on the Spectres and Ryder Azadi's rebel cell. While Ezra Bridger underwent an encounter with loth-wolves in the wilderness, Sabine Wren and Garazeb Orrelios fought against the Noghri Rukh, who had been sent by Grand Admiral Thrawn to hunt them down.
In 0 BBY, the Rebel Alliance sent a squadron of T-65B X-wing starfighters led by General Hera Syndulla to attack the Imperial Armory Complex in Lothal's Capital City, which was manufacturing TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighters for the Galactic Empire. However, the squadron was intercepted and wiped out by Grand Admiral Thrawn's Seventh Fleet before it could attack the factory. The rebels Chopper and Mart Mattin managed to escape but General Syndulla was captured by the Noghri tracker Rukh.
Governor Arihnda Pryce tortured Hera for information about the location of the Alliance Fleet but she held out against her Imperial captors. At the request of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Grand Admiral Thrawn departed for Coruscant to lobby the Emperor to continue funding the TIE/D Defender project; which was facing competition from Director Orson Krennic's Death Star project.
Garazeb Orrelios launched the gliders by riding on a speeder bike.
After Ezra Bridger sensed through the Force that Hera was being imprisoned in the Imperial Complex, the Spectres undertook a mission to rescue their leader. While Kanan Jarrus meditated in the Force and cut his hair, Ezra along with Sabine Wren, Garazeb Orrelios, and Chopper built three gliders which they dubbed Loth-bat gliders due to their resemblance to Loth-bats. For the mission, Ezra and Sabine disguised themselves as TIE fighter pilots. Zeb launched them with a speeder bike, with the help of C1-10P, telling them to "get her back."
Ezra's plan worked and the Spectres' gliders succeeded in gliding above the streets of Capital City undetected. Only Rukh smelled that something was afoot. The three Spectres landed at the south entrance's garbage chute, which lay six stories above Pryce's office where Hera was being interrogated. While Ezra and Sabine went to find an escape transport, Kanan used magnetic climbers to scale down to Pryce's office. Meanwhile, Governor Pryce used an IT-O Interrogator to inject a truth serum into Hera in an attempt to coerce her into revealing the location of the Alliance Fleet.
At that point, Hera witnessed Kanan scaling down the window. Thinking that Hera was delusional, Governor Pryce went to speak with Rukh and left two stormtroopers including LS-261 to guard the prisoner. Knowing that Kanan was around, Hera warned the stormtroopers that they were in danger. Kanan entered the room by using his lightsaber to cut a hole under the floor of one of the stormtroopers. Kanan then hurled LS-261 out the window before he could summon reinforcements. He then destroyed the IT-O Interrogator droid and kicked it down the hole in the floor.
Kanan fighting Rukh on top of the Imperial Complex.
While Kanan freed Hera, the two expressed their feelings for each other. As a favor, Kanan also managed to recover Hera's Kalikori, a family heirloom. The two then climbed back up to the garbage chute before Pryce, Rukh, and several death troopers stormed the office. While Rukh pursued Kanan and Hera, Governor Pryce ordered her forces to muster gunships to hunt down the rebels. At the garbage chute, Rukh attacked Kanan but was thrown off the building. Rukh managed to cling on to a balcony.
Kanan and Hera managed to escape on a glider despite being attacked by a death troopers. Despite their glider being damaged by a blaster bolt, Hera managed to steer the craft towards the Lothal City fuel depot. While fleeing, the two managed to take down two death troopers. Meanwhile, a disguised Sabine and Ezra stole a patrol transport which joined a flight of patrol transports searching for the rebel fugitives. After being contacted by Kanan who requested a pick-up, Sabine and Ezra jettisoned the stormtroopers aboard their gunship and shot down the other patrol transports.
Kanan gave up his life to ensure Hera and his family were safe.
Sabine and Ezra then rendezvoused at the Lothal City fuel depot. Before boarding, Hera expressed her feelings for Kanan and the two kissed passionately. However, they were interrupted by the arrival of Governor Pryce and a phalanx of AT-AT walkers. Determined to destroy the Spectres once and for all, Pryce ordered her AT-ATs to open fire on the central fuel pod of the depot. This triggered a massive explosion. However, Kanan used the Force to hold back the explosive wave long enough for his rebel comrades to escape. Kanan was subsequently consumed in the resulting inferno and became one with the Force.
The damage done to Thrawn's TIE defender project during the rescue of Hera resulted in a major loss for the Empire.
The Spectres' mission to rescue Hera Syndulla was a success but came at the cost of Kanan, who laid down his life to help his rebel comrades escape. Pryce's decision to destroy the Lothal city fuel depot in an attempt to eradicate the rebels would have serious ramifications for the Empire. Besides the loss of two AT-AT walkers, the destruction of the fuel depot destroyed the Empire's fuel reserves on Lothal and also inflicted serious damage on the Imperial TIE Defender factories. As a result, Thrawn's TIE Defender initiative was dealt a major blow.
In an attempt at "damage control," Pryce convened a parade to celebrate the death of Kanan, the purported leader of the Spectres. By her authority, all of Capital City's citizens including factory workers were compelled to attend. Thrawn soon learned about the destruction of the fuel depot and chastised Governor Pryce for her incompetence. Realizing that Kanan's rebel comrades would be out for revenge, Thrawn tasked Rukh with hunting them down.
Meanwhile, Kanan's rebel comrades particularly Hera mourned his death. Without Kanan, the rebels were directionless with Ryder Azadi believing that the war on Lothal was over. Seeking vengeance, Sabine and Zeb attempted to sabotage the Imperial parade. Upon scanning Capital City, they discovered that Kanan's actions had not only saved their lives but had accomplished Hera's original mission by knocking out Imperial war production on Lothal. The two Spectres then fought with Rukh, who had been tracking down. Following a vicious fight involving Rukh's Sinrich optical dephaser, Zeb gained the upper hand and tried to kill Rukh to avenge Kanan's death. However, Sabine appealed for restraint and the two instead sent Rukh back to his masters after spray-painting him.
While mourning the death of his master, Ezra encountered a pack of loth-wolves that guided him to the Lothal Jedi Temple.
Elsewhere, a distraught Ezra encountered a pack of loth-wolves in Lothal's wilderness. Despite an initially hostile encounter, Ezra managed to communicate with the pack's leader Dume, who told him that the Lothal Jedi Temple was in danger. Meanwhile, Hera at the advice of Chopper honored Kanan's memory by attaching a piece of his holocron to her family's Kalikori. Later, Zeb and Sabine returned and informed Hera that their mission to take out Lothal's TIE Defender factories had succeeded. Together with Ezra, the Spectres then embarked on a mission to save the Lothal Jedi Temple.
During the mission to the Jedi Temple, Ezra discovered a portal into a mystical realm known as the World Between Worlds, which connected all space and time. There, he encountered his old ally Ahsoka Tano, whom he saved from falling into a chasm during the Mission to Malachor. Believing that he could save his late master as well, Ezra toyed with pulling Kanan into the portal at the moment before the explosive wave consumed him. However, Tano pointed out that doing so would have harmed Ezra and the other Spectres. She then convinced Ezra to honor his master's sacrifice by letting him die for his comrades. Ezra obliged and made peace with Kanan's death.
The rescue of Hera Syndulla formed the main conflict of the Star Wars Rebels Season Four episode "Jedi Night," which premiered on Disney XD on February 19, 2018. The name "rescue from Imperial headquarters" was used in the summary for "Jedi Night" on the Disney+ streaming service.
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