In the sixth episode of _Star Wars Rebels's fourth season, titled "Flight of the Defender," the story unfolds. This episode was initially broadcast on Disney XD on October 30, 2017, marking it as the sixty-fifth episode in the complete series.
In the untamed areas of Lothal, three Loth-cats make their way toward the Rebel group consisting of Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Garazeb Orrelios, and Ryder Azadi. They are observing a secluded Imperial testing facility. Sabine, while analyzing the base, mentions that while TIE Interceptors are abundant, they aren't anything new. Ryder clarifies that his spies have informed him that the Empire intends to evaluate their new TIE Defender at this location. Zeb voices his doubts about the starfighter's existence, complaining that the only things they've encountered are Loth-cats, which are now swarming him. Ezra replies that the cats seem to like him. Sabine jokes that while it's good something likes Ezra, their focus should remain on the mission. Ezra's commlink rings, and Hera Syndulla inquires about the mission's progress. He replies that the fighter hasn't appeared yet. Hera, stationed at Ezra's old tower alongside Kanan Jarrus and Chopper, reports that the Empire is reinforcing its anti-aircraft defenses and that new fuel tanks have been installed at the Imperial factories. Kanan infers that the Empire plans to initiate full-scale production. Hera instructs Ezra to continue observing until nightfall, then return to base.
Ryder elaborates that the new Defender is even more formidable than the standard model. Suddenly, the cats growl, and the Defender Elite zooms overhead, snatching Ryder's hat and Sabine's helmet. After retrieving her helmet, Sabine scrutinizes the new prototype, which convinces Zeb of its existence. Sabine identifies the pilot exiting the prototype as Vult Skerris. Ryder suggests they depart with the images they've captured, but Sabine proposes a different plan: extracting the fighter's flight data recorder to provide the Rebellion with insights into the fighter's capabilities. Zeb objects, and Ryder emphasizes the difficulty of transmitting the data back to the Rebellion without starships. Sabine counters that transmissions can be intercepted, and that lacking a means to transport the data recorder to the Alliance is, in her view, a positive problem. Ezra and Sabine slip away on their mission, while Zeb and Ryder remain behind.
The two Spectres stealthily enter the base, accompanied by two Loth-cats. They observe the prototype Elite, noting that it is guarded by two stormtroopers. Ezra suggests Sabine create a diversion so she can sneak aboard. However, the Loth-cats emerge from their hiding spot behind the crates and approach the guards. Ezra tells Sabine that the cats are handling the situation. The stormtroopers, annoyed by the animals' presence, question whether they can fly. One of the troopers fires at a cat, which evades the shot. As the troopers agree that Loth-cats can't fly, the angered animals attack them. The cats then run off, with the troopers chasing after them. Sabine expresses her growing fondness for the cats, before asking Ezra to keep watch while she sneaks aboard the Defender. As Sabine starts extracting the flight recorder, Zeb alerts her and Ezra to an approaching ship from the south. Skerris greets the Sentinel-class landing craft as it lands at the airfield. Ezra, from his hiding spot, is shocked to see Grand Admiral Thrawn and Governor Arihnda Pryce disembarking from the shuttle. Sabine asks Ezra, over the comms, what's happening, and he tells her "something terrible." Ryder, horrified, realizes that Sabine is still inside the Elite, and Zeb remarks that things are about to become complicated.
Skerris informs Thrawn and Pryce that he has scheduled a simulation flight to demonstrate the Elite's capabilities. Sabine, noticing the Imperials approaching, asks Ezra to distract them as she is nearly finished. Ezra asks how he's supposed to do that, and she responds that he'll think of something. Ezra prepares to create a diversion, but is distracted by the sight of a white Loth-wolf on top of a rock across the valley. A TIE pilot catches him off guard, and in defending himself, Ezra is spotted by Thrawn, Pryce, and Skerris. The surprised commander notes the presence of a Jedi, and Thrawn identifies Ezra. Pryce orders the stormtroopers to apprehend him, and Thrawn orders their squad of death troopers to secure the prototype. Sabine, working, is surprised to discover that the fighter has a navicomputer. She looks up to see Ezra fighting the stormtroopers, and tells him he definitely got their attention. He snaps that he's glad things are working out for her. Zeb contacts Ezra, telling him and Sabine to make their way to the south end of the airfield, and that he and Ryder are going to go over there to help them escape. Ezra tells Ryder and Zeb to get the information they already had back to the others, and that he and Sabine will find their own way out. After she removes the flight recorder, Sabine looks up to see the approaching death troopers, and remarks that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Looking at the Elite's controls, she decides she has a better one.
As Ezra dodges stormtroopers amidst crates on the landing field, he contacts Sabine, who tells him to take cover. She fires on the Imperial troops with the Elite's guns, and picks up Ezra. Sabine makes several passes to destroy most of the base's TIE fighters and Interceptors. On her final pass, Thrawn, despite being in the line of fire, calmly shoots at the prototype several times, making no attempt to take cover. Sabine destroys Thrawn's shuttle before buzzing the control tower, causing the officers inside to duck. After the prototype escapes, Thrawn asks Skerris if this was part of the demonstration, and he responds that they won't get very far as the fighter's hyperdrive is offline. Pryce offers to activate its kill switch, but Thrawn tells her not to, as he sees this as a good opportunity to perform a combat test. He orders Skerris to get his pilots in the air, and three TIE Interceptors are launched. Zeb tells Ryder that he'd said it was going to get interesting, and the two depart. The two stormtroopers from earlier, still chasing the Loth-cats, are knocked down by the Elite's speed as it passes overhead.
Piloting the Elite, Sabine informs Ezra that the prototype is equipped with a navicomputer, implying it has a hyperdrive, making it the ideal option for delivering the flight data recorder to the Rebellion. Ezra agrees, and Sabine hands him the controls, instructing him to fly east. She starts disabling the prototype's homing beacon to prevent the Empire from tracking them. Multiple blips appear on the fighter's scope, and Ezra reports that enemy fighters are approaching. As the prototype is pursued through a landscape of rock spires, Ezra shoots down one of the pursuing Interceptors. Sabine urges him to maintain control, as she is still working, and Ezra retorts that he is trying to avoid being shot down. He destroys a second pursuer.
At the Imperial base, Thrawn speculates about who else is on board besides Ezra. Skerris, impressed by the pilot's skills, suggests that Hera Syndulla is piloting the prototype. Thrawn dismisses this, stating that if Hera were piloting, all three Interceptors would have been destroyed by now. Ezra destroys the last of the pursuers with the Elite's missiles. Sabine completes disabling the homing beacon, but then panics as she discovers something else. Upon this discovery, Thrawn, noting the rapid deactivation of the homing beacon, deduces that Sabine is the other rebel in the Elite. Aboard the prototype, Sabine, realizing that the prototype has a kill switch, tells Ezra to land, reminding him of the ones on the TIE fighters from her mission to Skystrike Academy. Back at the base, Thrawn notes that if a modest pilot Ezra can defeat three trained Interceptor pilots so quickly, it more than proves the prototype's combat capabilities. He orders Pryce to activate the kill switch, and after she does, she orders gunships sent to the crash site.
The Elite is heading for a landing in the wilderness when the switch is activated, and two of its wings are ripped off before Sabine manages to cut off the signal. The fighter crash-lands on its one remaining wing, and Ezra and Sabine exit with the data recorder. Sabine insists that they have to remove the fighter's hyperdrive, as they might be able to install it on Ryder's U-wing, which no longer has a functioning one. Ezra asks how they're going to carry it, and Sabine responds, "Any way we can." He tells her to make it quick.
Zeb and Ryder arrive back at Ryder's U-wing, and Zeb grumbles that he knew the kids would pull something crazy like this. Kanan tells him not to worry, and climbs up into the copilot's seat. Hera reports that Imperial chatter is saying that they crashed, and Ryder points out that they can't contact Ezra and Sabine without leaving a signal trace. The U-wing takes off, as Hera resolves to find them before the Empire does.
After extracting it, Ezra and Sabine slowly drag the heavy hyperdrive away from the wreckage. Ezra sees a white Loth-cat, which directs him to an alcove. He suggests that they hide the hyperdrive there so they can come back for it later, as they'll make better time without it. Sabine asks Ezra how he knew about the place, and he tells her that he "followed the white Loth-cat." As she didn't see it, she doesn't know what he's talking about. The two rebels push the hyperdrive inside, and Ezra pushes a stone in front for concealment. As they leave, Ezra hears howling in the distance. Imperial gunships arrive at the crash site after nightfall as Pryce begins her search, and Thrawn promises ground troops to secure the area. Elsewhere, Hera flies Ryder's U-wing through the rocks, staying close to the ground. She hears that the Empire has secured the crash site, and Kanan reassures her that Ezra and Sabine will be safe.
Ezra and Sabine, with the flight recorder in hand, are forced to evade the searchlights of Imperial gunships. Sabine insists that they have to keep moving. Ezra spots the Loth-wolf again, but Sabine doesn't see it. She recognizes it as a creature depicted in cave paintings, and Ezra explains that it was native to Lothal, but that no one's seen one in a hundred years. At this moment, the Loth-wolf appears behind Sabine, and Ezra, nervous, gets her to turn around. The wolf puts her to sleep before looking at Ezra, who asks what he did to Sabine and reaches for his lightsaber. The white Loth-cat appears on the wolf's head, reassuring and surprising Ezra. When Imperial gunships appear in the distance, the wolf and cat growl, and Ezra notes that they don't like the Empire either. Ezra tells the wolf that the gunships are searching for them, and he offers him and the sleeping Sabine a ride. Placing Sabine on the wolf's back, Ezra then picks up her helmet and the data recorder and climbs on as well. The wolf runs, avoiding searchlights, and Ezra looks back as they flee before thanking the creature.
The Loth-wolf drops Ezra and Sabine off near where Ryder's U-wing is landed, after daybreak. Ezra asks the wolf why it helped him, and it gives him a cryptic message, "Dume," before vanishing. Sabine wakes up as the other rebels approach, and Hera is very glad to see the two safe. Zeb asks how they got back to the camp so quickly, and Ezra asks the others if they saw the wolf, only to discover him gone. Sabine says she remembers nothing of the journey except Ezra saying "wolf." Ezra and Sabine show the others the flight recorder, and reveal that they hid the Elite's hyperdrive near the crash site. Zeb congratulates them on a job well done. As they walk back to Ryder's U-wing, Ezra asks Kanan about the wolf. Kanan believes Ezra, but is unsure of what is happening. He says that all paths are coming together, and that they'll know what that means when they get there. Behind them, the Loth-wolf watches the Rebels walk away.
Ezra Bridger incorrectly identifies himself as "Phoenix Six," when he should have used the designation "Spectre-6."