Set five years before Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the first season follows the crew of the starship Ghost in the early days of the fight against the Galactic Empire. The crew attracts the attention of Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau, who wants to eliminate them as a threat before they can spark a wider rebellion, and the Grand Inquisitor, a dark sider who is tasked with killing any Jedi who survived Order 66—including Kanan Jarrus and his new apprentice, Ezra Bridger. The crew of the Ghost will eventually help form the Rebel Alliance.
The first episode of the series was scripted and had begun the animation process by December 2013. By January 2014, Season One's scripts had been halfway completed, with voice recording finished for five episodes and other episodes in various stages of production. On January 17, animation supervisor Keith Kellogg announced that the first episode had been fully animated.
On May 9, 2014, Simon Kinberg confirmed that season one would contain 16 episodes (released as four shorts, a movie, and 13 episodes), and that he had personally written the first two episodes (which were later rebranded as a movie) as well as the season finale.
- "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 146
- "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 147
- "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 152
- "Cowboy Jedi" — Star Wars Insider 152
- "Rebel Friends!" — Star Wars Insider 152
- "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 153
- "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 154
- "Blaster" — Star Wars Insider 154
- "Launch Pad" — Star Wars Insider 155
- "Star Wars Rebels Recounted" — Star Wars Insider 156
- "Marvel Comics 2015: A Marvel Galaxy" — Star Wars Insider 158
- Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection