"DUME" marks the eleventh installment of the fourth season of Star Wars Rebels, the animated TV show. This episode was initially broadcast on February 19, 2018.
Following Hera Syndulla's rescue, Governor Arihnda Pryce, along with multiple Stormtroopers, observes the burning remains of the Lothal City fuel depot. An Imperial officer informs her that comm/scan processors indicate the stolen gunship survived the explosion. He assures her, however, that security footage confirmed the demise of Kanan Jarrus, the Jedi. When the officer mentions that Imperial High Command will soon learn about the loss of the Imperial fuel depot, Pryce decides the Galactic Empire will stage a parade to celebrate their triumph over the rebels.
Garazeb Orrelios and Chopper, the astromech droid, are at their rebel base at dawn as the Spectres arrive in their gunship. Sabine Wren, overwhelmed with grief, throws her TIE fighter pilot helmet to the ground in anger. Zeb attempts to inquire about what occurred, but Sabine brushes past him. Zeb sees Hera Syndulla and Ezra Bridger disembarking from the ship and asks about Kanan Jarrus's whereabouts. Ezra manages to say that he is "gone," but Zeb misunderstands, assuming Kanan was captured, until Ezra shouts the truth at him. The two embrace in a heartfelt hug, while Chopper approaches Hera, holding her hand and beeping sadly.
Later that morning, the Spectres arrive at the Lothal cliff dwelling and reunite with Ryder Azadi's cell, including Mart Mattin and Jai Kell, who are listening to a HoloNet broadcast by Alton Kastle, an Imperial broadcaster. Kastle announces that the insurgency on Lothal is finished, the rebellion there is crushed, and their leadership is crippled. Kastle instructs all Imperial citizens to attend a parade in Capital City to honor the Imperial leadership's success in defeating these extremists. Sabine instructs them to turn off the broadcast.
Ryder suggests reaching out to Rebel command for reinforcements. Ezra argues that Yavin believes the fight on Lothal is over because Mon Mothma will not allocate further resources. Ryder asks General Syndulla for her opinion, but Hera, still mourning, walks past without a word or glance. Ezra says she needs time to grieve, but Ryder insists they don't have time and need a plan. Sabine proposes sabotaging the Imperial parade in Capital City. Zeb volunteers to join Sabine, while Chopper rolls past. When Kell asks what they should do, Ezra walks away silently. Ryder sighs, stating there's nothing they can do and it's over.
As Sabine and Zeb depart on speeder bikes, a distraught Ezra sits on a rock, wondering aloud what he should do, as Kanan never prepared him for this situation. Suddenly, a large white Loth-wolf approaches, growling menacingly at him. Ezra says there was nothing he could do. Two smaller black wolves join it, chasing Ezra into the tall grass. The wolves run past him and disappear into the grass. Ezra begins to run back, but is knocked unconscious by one of the smaller wolves. The alpha white wolf looms over Ezra, who is lying face down.
At the Imperial Complex, Grand Admiral Thrawn is communicating with Governor Pryce and Rukh, the Noghri tracker, via hologram. He scolds Governor Pryce for planning a parade after losing General Syndulla. Pryce retorts that she is holding the parade to celebrate Kanan's death, presenting his lightsaber as evidence. Thrawn counters that the parade won't conceal the fact that she destroyed their entire fuel supply on Lothal. Thrawn emphasizes that, in defeating Kanan, she aided the rebels in compromising the TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter project by bringing the entire Imperial Industrial Operation on Lothal to an indefinite halt. Barely containing his fury, Thrawn snarls that he will deal with Pryce upon his return. With the Rebel leader gone, Thrawn predicts the rebels will falter, especially the boy. He instructs Rukh to eliminate the rebels, anticipating they will strike recklessly. Rukh departs, while Pryce bows her head, chastised.
Back in the Lothal cliff dwelling, Hera examines an ancient Lothalian wall art. She wonders aloud why she didn't tell Kanan she loved him sooner, lamenting that she assumed there would be more time. Tearfully, she sits against the wall next to Kanan's Jedi Temple Guard mask. Chopper approaches and attempts to comfort her, but she snaps back, saying he doesn't understand. She regrets not listening to Kanan, believing he would still be alive if she had, recalling his statement that the war was a mistake. She admits it was her fault and that she was truly blind. Chopper changes the subject, pointing out that Hera has her Kalikori back. Hera confirms this, remembering how Kanan found it for her amidst everything. Chopper tells Hera no one deserves the honor more than Kanan of being admitted to Hera's family tree. Hera agrees and embraces her droid friend.
On a ledge overlooking Capital City, Zeb and Sabine take turns observing through their macrobinoculars. Zeb asks Sabine what she sees. Sabine replies that the parade has commenced, with a larger crowd indicating the Empire's growth. Sabine laments that they are too few to defeat the Empire. Zeb points out the Imperial factories aren't emitting smoke, noting their operation disrupted Imperial military production on Lothal. The pair realize this must be Pryce's true motive for the parade. Meanwhile, Ezra finds himself alone at night in the wilderness. He calls for the loth-wolves to reveal themselves.
On Capital City's highway, Zeb knocks out a scout trooper with a single punch, while Sabine plants a device on his 614-AvA speeder bike, enabling her to connect to the Imperial network on Lothal. Sabine discovers that the TIE Defenders factory sustained significant damage from the fuel depot explosion. Sabine realizes that Kanan not only saved their lives but also accomplished their original mission. When Zeb questions the Empire's celebration, Sabine deduces that Governor Pryce aims to conceal the rebels' impact. Sabine vows to retaliate against the Empire.
Meanwhile, a lost Ezra sits beneath a Lothalian mound. He repeats the riddle "Loth-rat, Loth-cat, Loth-wolf run, pick a path and all is done," to decide which direction to take. Eventually, he falls asleep there. Elsewhere, Sabine and Zeb witness the explosion from afar, only to discover Rukh's presence, whom Sabine identifies as the "thing" Ezra encountered after the theft of the TIE/D Defender Elite. Zeb panics, realizing Rukh can see them from a distance. However, Zeb regains his composure and pledges to avenge Kanan's death. Sabine concurs, adding they cannot allow the "thing" to track them back to their base. The two ride off to confront Rukh.
Later, Ezra is awakened by a Loth-wolf. He then finds himself surrounded by a pack of Loth-wolves. The lead Loth-wolf tells Ezra that he is Dume, which was Kanan's birth name. Back on the highway, Rukh sniffs the scout trooper Zeb assaulted, much to the trooper's discomfort. A stormtrooper discovers that the speeder bike's comm has been rigged to explode.
Rukh approaches Zeb on his speeder bike. Zeb stands his ground, and Rukh charges. The two engage in combat with a bo-rifle and an electrostaff. Sabine flanks Rukh and tells him they aren't in the mood for a fair fight. Rukh retorts that neither is he, activating his Sinrich optical dephaser. A cloaked Rukh attacks Zeb. Sabine uses the Rangefinder inside her helmet to locate Rukh and fires at him with her blaster. Rukh dodges Sabine with superhuman reflexes and climbs a rock pillar. He leaps at her, knocking off her helmet. Zeb battles Rukh, who nearly chokes him. Sabine rejoins the fight, and Rukh retreats for a second round.
Ezra recalls that Dume was his master Kanan's name at birth and asks the Loth-wolf what he wants. In a deep guttural voice, the Loth-wolf confronts Ezra for running, but Ezra responds that the wolves were chasing him. Ezra admits he feels lost without his master, who was there for him when no one else was. Ezra confesses to the wolf that he is afraid. The wolf tells him to fight together and shows him a carved stone from the Lothal Jedi Temple.
Sabine and Zeb engage Rukh in a second round of combat. Sabine plants and detonates a paint bomb on Rukh, disabling his cloaking device. With the advantage gained, Zeb throws Rukh to the ground and begins to pummel him, shouting "this is for Kanan." Sabine manages to stop Zeb from beating the Noghri to death, arguing that Kanan never advocated revenge, and proposes an alternative. Namely, sending the unconscious and heavily graffiti-ed Rukh back to the Empire on his own speeder, a message that the rebels aren't beaten as well as a significant humiliation.
Ezra admits that he, Kanan, and Ahsoka Tano inadvertently led the Empire to the Lothal Jedi Temple. The alpha Loth-wolf says that the secrets within the temple are in danger. When Ezra asks what is inside the temple, the Loth-wolf replies that the knowledge to destruction lies inside. Ezra counters that Ahsoka said they would find the secrets to destroying the Sith inside the Malachor Sith Temple but that they were wrong. He realizes that's when everything changed. The Loth-wolf tells him to restore the past and redeem the future. Dume then seemingly devours Ezra. Ezra wakes up and yells for Kanan. Then, he realized he'd been dreaming, and that the Jedi key stone was laying at his feet.
Zeb places an unconscious and painted Rukh on a speeder bike, which is sent back to the Empire. Sabine asks if Zeb set the homing beacon and he says he did. Sabine senses that Zeb is lying and grumbles about all the effort that she put into painting Rukh.
Hera fits a piece from Kanan's holocron onto the Kalikori in honor of her lover. She tells Chopper that despite his misgivings about the Rebellion, he believed they could change things. She misses Kanan for his ability to find answers in the most unexpected ways. Sabine and Zeb return to the rebel base. While admitting that their mission to disrupt the Imperial parade failed, Sabine tells Hera that her mission to shut down the TIE/D Defender factory succeeded. She tells him that Kanan helped bring about that victory.
Zeb adds that the Empire has no fuel and that their entire production line has stopped. In the Empire's efforts to destroy them, they destroyed their own fuel refinery. Hera is emboldened by the news and says that they can still beat the Empire. Ezra then arrives and announces that their next mission is to save the Lothal Jedi temple.
The original working title for this episode was "Ascension: Part Two."
During the scene where Zeb is assaulting Rukh, the original intention was for Zeb to utter the phrase, "I... have... had... enough... of... you!" This would have served as a direct homage to the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, specifically referencing the moment when James T. Kirk defeats his Klingon adversary, Kruge.
The Rebels logo in this particular episode was rendered in a white and grey color scheme, mirroring its appearance in the preceding episode. This stylistic choice likely symbolizes mourning for the loss of Kanan. The standard color scheme makes a return towards the episode's conclusion, probably signifying the Spectres' newfound sense of optimism.