"Breaking Ranks" Episode Guide | Star Wars Rebels - S1 E6

One of the few to be trained as a Jedi after the fall of the Republic, Ezra Bridger grew up an orphan on the streets of Lothal during the age of the Empire. Although he had learned to be wary of strangers, his introduction to the Ghost crew, a small band of rebels fighting back against the Imperial regime, changed his outlook and his future. Training in the ways of the Force under the mentorship of Kanan Jarrus, Ezra became a Jedi Padawan and a part of the emerging rebellion. He also grew close to Hera Syndulla, Zeb, Chopper, and Sabine Wren, who was like a sister in his new found family. After several years together, Bridger vanished during the Battle of Lothal, disappearing into parts unknown in a hyperspace jump that pulled Ezra and Grand Admiral Thrawn into deep space.

Zare Leonis found a kindred spirit in Ezra Bridger, as both were undercover cadets at the Imperial Academy with no love of the Empire. Zare showed impressive skill as a cadet, but his true goal was to find out what happened to his sister, Dhara -- a star trainee at the Imperial Academy who mysteriously vanished. Zare helped Ezra uncover an Imperial decoder and escape the academy, but remained behind as a spy.

Once a standout cadet at the Imperial Academy, as a young man Jai Kell deserted the Empire and worked for the rebel faction on Lothal. In the years that followed, Kell remained loyal to Ezra Bridger, who helped him evade Imperial detection, returning the favor when Bridger and his friends were in trouble. And after the fall of the Empire, Kell serves as a senator representing his homeworld in the New Republic government.

Nazhros Oleg was a caustic cadet at Lothal’s Imperial Academy who never missed a chance to undermine his comrades, seizing every advantage in assessment tests and behaving selfishly on training missions. After Jai Kell stunned Oleg while escaping the academy with an undercover Ezra Bridger, Oleg suspected Zare Leonis had played a role in their escape. Oleg tried to push Zare into revealing his secret while relishing training missions that let him bully and interrogate Lothal citizens. One mission revealed an operation transporting black-market goods on Lothal, but the cadet didn’t know his uncles were involved in this illegal trade. This revelation led to Oleg’s dismissal from the academy.

The Imperial Academy on Lothal was a high-tech, heavily fortified training facility designed to shape cadets into ruthless stormtroopers. Inside the Imperial Academy was the Well: a difficult, programmable obstacle course that tested the intelligence and strength of the cadets. Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint served as the academy's unforgiving instructors, driving trainees to win at all costs.

Imperial combat drivers were the Empire's elite ground-vehicle pilots. Stationed on worlds such as Lothal, Imperial combat drivers manned everything from speeder bikes to AT-DP walkers. They were also imposing figures, with large helmets, masks, and armor, and proved to be formidable in their battles against rebels and insurgents.

AT-DP (All Terrain Defence Pod) walkers were among the fastest Imperial vehicles of their type, designed primarily for patrols and scouting missions. They had more nefarious purposes, however. When the Empire wanted more land on the Outer Rim planet of Lothal, AT-DPs were used to quickly clear out farmers from their property. The walking tanks were also employed to combat rebel threats, including the crew of the Ghost.

Arrogant and cruel, Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko was an uncompromising Imperial officer stationed on Lothal. He would charge citizens with treason for any kind of anti-Empire sentiment, and was quick to report the Ghost crew of rebels to the Imperial Security Bureau. Aresko supervised Lothal’s Imperial Academy, where cadets competed to become Imperial officers and stormtroopers. His repeated failures to apprehend Lothal’s rebels eventually cost him his life – the Inquisitor ignited his lightsaber and executed Aresko on orders from Grand Moff Tarkin.

Taskmaster Myles Grint was an Imperial officer serving on Lothal. Hulking and imposing, he bullyed the locals and helped establish the Empire's tyranny on the Outer Rim planet. Like his boss Commandant Aresko, the brutal Grint failed to stop Lothal’s rebels. He too paid a steep price: The Inquisitor executed Grint on orders from Grand Moff Tarkin.

Formerly an officer of the Imperial Security Bureau, Alexsandr Kallus defected from the Empire and now serves the Rebellion. A smart strategist and able warrior, he fights to free the galaxy of tyranny alongside his friends on the Ghost crew.

Not much is known about the Empire’s Grand Inquisitor. The Pau’an is the leader of an elite cadre of Force-sensitive interrogators and hunters tasked with tracking down Jedi survivors who escaped Order 66. He reports directly to Darth Vader. Like his superior, the Inquisitor is an intimidating figure, dressed in black and wielding a red, double-bladed lightsaber.

At the heart of every Jedi lightsaber is a kyber crystal found on several planets, most notably the icebound caves of Ilum. This crystal is attuned to the Force, and connected to a Jedi Knight on a deeply personal level. In this way, a lightsaber is an extension of a Jedi's Force awareness. Because Jedi let the Force guide their selection of the crystal, the vibration that the crystal creates in the lightsaber blade helps Jedi center themselves and find balance in the Force. In this way, a Jedi can center his or her attention beyond the distractions of combat. A lightsaber crystal is colorless until first attuned and connected to a Jedi -- at which times it glows either blue or green, or in some rare instances, another shade. From that point on, it retains that hue.