Ezra Bridger

Ezra Bridger
Star Wars character
Ezra as depicted in the last two seasons of Star Wars Rebels
First appearance	Star Wars Rebels – "Property of Ezra Bridger" (2014)
Created by	Dave Filoni
Voiced by	Taylor Gray (Rebels, Forces of Destiny) Adrian Petriw (Droid Tales)
In-universe information
Full name	Ezra Bridger
Alias	Jabba the Hutt Dev Morgan Lando Calrissian Brom Titus
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Jedi Padawan
Affiliation	Jedi Order Rebel Alliance
Family	Ephraim Bridger (father) Mira Bridger (mother)
Master	Kanan Jarrus
Homeworld	Lothal

Ezra Bridger is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, voiced by Taylor Gray. He is featured as one of the main characters in the animated series Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018) and related works. Ezra also appears in Star Wars Forces of Destiny (2018) with Gray reprising his role.

In the Star Wars universe, Ezra is an orphaned street urchin and con artist who joins the Ghost crew in freeing his home planet of Lothal from the tyranny of the Galactic Empire and is taken under the wing of Kanan Jarrus, who trains him in the Jedi arts. Later, Ezra and the crew join the Rebel Alliance to assist them in their fight to free the galaxy as a whole, and face enemies such as the Inquisitors, Darth Vader, and Grand Admiral Thrawn—who Ezra sacrifices himself to defeat, disappearing along with him in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy.

The character during the first two seasons of Rebels was met with mixed reactions from fans and critics, with many finding him to be too childish or annoying. For the last two seasons, where Ezra has become a skilled and more mature Jedi, critical reception of the character has improved. Overall, Ezra was received positively.

Creation and development[]

Concept[]

Executive producer Dave Filoni describes the character as a "con artist". Creative executive Rayne Roberts said: "[Ezra] doesn't really trust anyone; that [is] his motto. He has that kind of hard edge at times but knows how to turn on the charm when it comes to getting what he wants and [is] very charismatic — [one] would want to be his friend."^[1] The episode "Empire Day" reveals that Ezra was born on the same day the Galactic Empire was inaugurated, and that he has been living on his own since he was seven, after his parents, Ephraim and Mira Bridger, were arrested for speaking out against the Empire.^[2] According to Taylor Gray, Ezra lives alone in the streets of Lothal, relying on his "street smarts" – as well as subconscious Force abilities – to survive.^[1]

Voice acting[]

The character is voiced by Taylor Gray. On his character, Gray stated: "He's a pickpocket, he's a little thief. But he's doing it all because he needs to survive."^[3] Executive producer Greg Weisman said: "We see this whole series very much through Ezra's eyes. As his eyes get opened to what the Empire's capable of, his eyes are opened to the fact that there are people who care, who are trying to fight the good fight, and he becomes one of them."^[4]

Appearances[]

Television[]

Star Wars Rebels[]

Season 1[]

Ezra made his debut appearance on television in the short film "Property of Ezra Bridger", set before the two-part series premiere "Spark of Rebellion". In "Spark of Rebellion", Ezra witnesses a group of Rebels carrying a robbery in the Capital City on Lothal.^[5] He interferes in their operation, stealing one of the crate-carrying speeder bikes they were after. He ends up on the Ghost starship, home to the group of Rebels, who are also known as the "Spectres".^[6][7] Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi and leader of the group, notices Ezra's Force-sensitivity when the boy unknowingly uses the Force to leap into the hovering ship with a crate. Meeting the Rebels, Ezra develops a crush on Sabine Wren and a hostile relationship with Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios. Later on, Ezra is guided by the Force to Kanan's stash and finds his lightsaber and Holocron, which he later opens. Seeing potential in Ezra, Kanan decides to train him in the ways of the Force.^[7]

In the episode "Fighter Flight", Ezra and Zeb are sent by Hera Syndulla to do a supply run on meiloorun fruit, and the two begin to build a friendship after working together.^[8] In "Breaking Ranks", Bridger goes undercover as a cadet at Lothal's Imperial Academy to steal a decoder containing the location of a powerful kyber crystal held by the Empire.^[9] In "Empire Day", Ezra turns 15 and Kanan tries to teach him to make a connection to living creatures with the Force. The Rebels find and harbor Tseebo, a Rodian technician wanted by the Empire, and learn that he has vital intel about the Empire and that he also knows what happened to Bridger's parents, with whom he was friends with.^[2] In the next episode, "Gathering Forces", Tseebo confesses that he failed to protect them, angering Ezra. To draw the Empire away from Tseebo, Ezra and Kanan arrive at Fort Anaxes, where creatures known as fyrnocks dwell. Bridger admits his fear of not knowing what happened to his parents and forgives Tseebo before taming the fyrnocks by connecting with them through the Force.^[10] However, he later briefly taps into the dark side of the Force to defend his master.^[11] Worried, Kanan takes his Padawan to the Jedi Temple on Lothal in "Path of the Jedi", to test if Ezra was ready to be trained as a Jedi. In the temple, Ezra confronts his fear of abandonment through a series of frightening visions. He is then guided by the disembodied voice of Master Yoda, who gifts him with a kyber crystal, which Bridger uses to build his own lightsaber.^[12] In "Vision of Hope", Bridger experiences his first vision, of him and the Rebels saving exiled Imperial senator Gall Trayvis, whom Ezra assumes knew his parents. In "Call to Action", the Ghost crew infiltrate the Imperial Communications Center and hack into the main communications tower, but Kanan is captured and orders the Rebels to retreat without him. Later, Ezra broadcasts a message of hope to the people of Lothal, encouraging resistance against the Empire. The next two episodes, "Rebel Resolve" and "Fire Across the Galaxy", focus on the Ghost crew's mission to rescue Kanan, which they take upon Ezra's persuasion in spite of their safety. Eventually, Ezra saves his master, and they engage in a lightsaber duel with the Grand Inquisitor, who scars Bridger and is defeated by Jarrus. After the mission, the Spectres learn that they are already part of a larger rebellion, and the Rebel informant Fulcrum reveals herself as the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who would become a mentor to both Ezra and Kanan.

Season 2[]

In the second-season premiere "The Siege of Lothal", Ezra survives a confrontation with Darth Vader. In the episode "Always Two There Are", Ezra joins Sabine, the astromech droid Chopper, and Zeb on a mission to salvage supplies from an old Republic medical station, where they encounter two new Inquisitors, the Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister. In "Brothers of the Broken Horn", Ezra answers a distress call from the ship of Cikatro Vizago, a criminal and occasional ally of the Spectres, and comes across Hondo Ohnaka, a pirate whom he befriends. In "Stealth Strike", Ezra and Commander Sato are captured by the Empire using a powerful new weapon that could pull ships from hyperspace. After Kanan, Captain Rex and Chopper arrive to the rescue, Chopper teams with Bridger to destroy the weapon. In "Legacy", Ezra has a vision of his parents and finally learns of their fate from former Governor of Lothal and Rebel Ryder Azadi, who tells him that they were killed in a prison break. In "Shroud of Darkness", Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka look for answers to defeat their enemies at the Lothal Jedi Temple. In separate visions, Kanan is warned by a Temple Guard that Ezra may fall to the dark side, while Yoda advises Ezra to travel to Malachor, a planet home to an ancient Sith temple. In the second-season finale, "Twilight of the Apprentice", the three arrive there in hopes of finding secret knowledge to defeat the Sith. When Bridger gets separated from Jarrus and Tano while fighting the Eighth Brother, he meets the former Sith Lord Maul, who helps him acquire a Sith holocron within the temple.^[13] They then join Ahsoka and Kanan in battling the Fifth Brother, Seventh Sister and Eighth Brother. Ezra persuades Tano and Jarrus to join forces with Maul, who sends Bridger to connect the holocron to the obelisk at the top of the temple, claiming that it would unlock the knowledge. When Ezra does so, he realizes that the temple is in fact a superweapon and Maul had tricked him into activating it. By this time, Maul, who actually intended to take Ezra as his apprentice, had already betrayed Kanan and Ahsoka, and blinded Kanan before escaping. Darth Vader then arrives and destroys Ezra's lightsaber, but Ahsoka duels him to buy time for Ezra and Kanan to escape before the temple collapses. Having taken it with him, Ezra later opens the Sith Holocron.

Season 3[]

In the third-season premiere "Steps Into Shadow", set six months later, Ezra is shown to have grown stronger with the Force. While on a mission to break Hondo Ohnaka out of an Imperial prison, he wields a new lightsaber and displays new Force skills he has learned from the Sith Holocron, which Kanan confiscates when he discovers that Ezra has been using it. Bridger is promoted to Lieutenant Commander of the Phoenix Squadron and chosen to lead a reconnaissance mission to an Imperial station, but is suspended after his reckless leadership almost got him killed. Ezra eventually apologizes to Kanan for using the Sith Holocron and reconciles with him. In "The Holocrons of Fate", Maul kidnaps the Ghost crew and threatens to kill them if the Jedi do not bring the Sith Holocron and Kanan's Jedi Holocron to him. After retrieving the hidden Sith Holocron, Ezra is warned of the hazards of combining the two Holocrons by the Bendu, a mysterious Force user that taught Kanan to see through the Force. Ezra and Maul combine the holocrons with the Force, allowing them to see visions of their desires. Ezra sees images of a way to destroy the Sith, images including "twin suns". However, Kanan warns him to heed Bendu's warning, and Ezra resists his temptation and listens to him. In "Visions and Voices", Ezra encounters Maul again, after having illusions of him. Maul threatens to reveal the location of Chopper Base, the Rebel base on Atollon, unless Ezra finishes the ritual with him. Ezra and Maul use dark magic to find the information they desire; Ezra learns that his means to defeat the Sith is Obi-Wan Kenobi. In "Through Imperial Eyes", Ezra takes part in a mission to extract Rebel spy Agent Kallus from the Empire before he could be exposed. In "Twin Suns", Ezra goes to Tatooine to find Obi-Wan before Maul could, despite Hera and Kanan's orders not to. While lost in the desert, he is found by the Jedi Master, who reveals to him that Maul had been manipulating him into finding his location.^[14]

Season 4[]

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Forces of Destiny[]

Ezra appears in the Star Wars Forces of Destiny episode "A Disarming Lesson", in which Ahsoka Tano provides Ezra a lesson in finding his inner strength and trusting in the Force.

Novels[]

On August 5, 2014, Del Rey Books published Star Wars: Ezra's Gamble, a prequel novel to the Rebels short film "Property of Ezra Bridger".^[15]

Lego[]

Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales[]

Ezra appears in the Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales episode "Mission to Mos Eisley", which adapts his role in the Rebels first-season episode "Droids in Distress". He is voiced by Adrian Petriw.

Relationships[]

Mentorship tree[]

Jedi Order master-apprentice relationship
Yoda Younglings Count Dooku Mace Windu Qui-Gon Jinn Depa Billaba Obi-Wan Kenobi Kanan Jarrus Anakin Skywalker Luke Skywalker Ezra Bridger Ahsoka Tano Grogu Leia Organa Ben Solo Rey

Merchandise[]

A Funko Pop figurine of Ezra Bridger was announced on September 27, 2016.^[16] The Black Series produced an 8-inch figure of Ezra Bridger as a part of a Star Wars and The Mandalorian line.^[17]

Cultural impact[]

Critical reception[]

Ezra Bridger has received generally positive feedback from fans and reviewers. Screen Rant ranked him seventh on a list of the best characters from Star Wars Rebels, describing "his arc across the four seasons as fantastic, and he truly grows and matures into a great character."^[18] as well as praising his "beautifully completed [series] personal arc" following the conclusion of the fourth season.^[19] Comic Book Resources writer Ian Goodwillie praised the character for their second season depiction as "a character [who] had pointed out the inherent reality of the Clone Wars", comparatively comparing them to Darth Maul^[20] and praising his mentorship with Hondo Ohnaka,^[21] while Kelsey Yoor complimated the characters' utilization of "the archetypal teachings of Joseph Campbell, particularly regarding The Hero's Journey.^[22] Collider praised Ezra's relationship with Grand Admiral Thrawn and "fitting" conclusion to their character arc,^[23] while Dork Side of the Force praised him as "one of the best characters in the entire story universe" of Star Wars canon.^[24]

References[]

• O'Neil, Shana (July 26, 2018). "Star Wars Echoes: Rey and Ezra Bridger, Alone and Searching for Belonging". www.starwars.com. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
• O'Neil, Shana (January 23, 2018). "Rebels Revisited: 5 Essential Ezra Bridger Episodes". www.starwars.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.

External links[]

• Ezra Bridger in the StarWars.com Databank
• Ezra Bridger on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki