Star Wars Forces of Destiny Review: "Bounty of Trouble"

***This is a review of the Star Wars Forces of Destiny episode “Bounty of Trouble.” There are spoilers!***

This episode of Star Wars Forces of Destiny takes us back to the era of Star Wars Rebels as Princess Leia and Sabine Wren join forces against the bounty hunter, IG-88. (Click here to watch this episode now on Disney’s YouTube channel.)

This episode begins with Princess Leia, Senator from Alderaan, being escorted by Stormtroopers. All is not as it seems, as the scene shifts to Sabine Wren lurking just around the corner with one of her handy explosive paint bombs ready to go. She tosses the device, and the troopers attempt to protect Leia from the impact just as Sabine lassos the Princess. Leia calls on the troopers to help her, but the device goes off and the troopers are caught up in the distraction provided by the blast.

Sabine disables to doors, so the troopers are unable to follow. She then reveals her identity as a rebel to Leia and asks about the data tape that is supposed to be her possession. Leia confirms she has it, but had to hide it from the Imperials. The duo heads off the reclaim the tape from its hiding spot. Unknown to them, however, is a threat looming.

Just as Leia recovers the data tape (which contains the locations of Imperial bases) and is about to turn it over to Sabine, the bounty hunter IG-88 emerges and the two come under fire. The two rebels flee, and Sabine makes use of another of her paint bombs in the hopes of hindering IG-88’s pursuit. They come upon the scene they just left as the stormtroopers have finally managed to cut through the door. After all, the safety of the Princess is their concern. They have to keep her safe from the Rebellion.

Leia orders the troopers to go after the bounty hunter, and the data tape goes unnoticed as they head off after IG-88. With those two problems off resolving themselves, Leia is able to hand the tape off to Sabine so she can pass the valuable intel on to the Rebellion. Each acknowledges they have their role to play — Sabine on the outside, Leia on the inside. For now.

This is the third time we’ve seen Leia in these shorts, and each presentation is better than the previous. This time, we have classic A New Hope-era Princess Leia, voiced again by Shelby Young. Joining Leia is Sabine, a favorite from Star Wars Rebels marking her first appearance in Forces of Destiny. Tiya Sircar returns as the voice of Sabine. I love that so many of the original voices were on hand for their characters, whether from the films or the animated series. It always helps with the authenticity of the portrayals, where possible.

IG-88 is a welcome sight. The bounty hunter first seen in The Empire Strikes Back is a character we don’t see too often, so the choice to make him the antagonist was a good one. He’s a menacing looking droid, and he conveys a real threat to our heroes. The stormtroopers display their typical firing skills as they go up against the bounty hunter, although they do appear to drive him back just a bit. It was enough for Leia to complete her mission, so that’s what really matters.

Interesting to note, this episode takes place in the same location as the previous episode, “The Stranger,” featuring Jyn Erso. The planet is Garel, and the spot where Jyn returns the cat to the little girl is the same exact spot where Sabine and Leia say their goodbyes (as seen in the image above). This raises questions about the timeline, but that has been addressed by Leeland Chee, @HolocronKeeper on Twitter.

This was an enjoyable episode. The action was quick-paced, and the effort to fill in some of the gaps of Leia’s time prior to A New Hope is appreciated. We’ve seen bits in Star Wars Rebels, in Rogue One, and now in Forces of Destiny. More Leia is always a good thing!

That appears to be it for the first eight episode in this series. They’ve been fun, right? More are expected to air later this year. In the meantime, the current run began making its Disney Channel network debut last night (July 9) with “Sands of Jakku” and “BB-8 Bandits.” These episodes aired during regular prime time programming on the channel. Here is clarification on when the rest of Forces of Destiny can be seen on television:

Clarification on #ForcesofDestiny on Disney Channel. 2 eps will air every Sun (primetime) thru 7/30. Today were eps 1&2. Next week 3&4, etc.
— Tracy Cannobbio (@Tcann13) July 10, 2017