Breaking Ranks

"Breaking Ranks" is the fourth episode of the first season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels. The episode was written by Greg Weisman and directed by Steven G. Lee. It was released on WatchDisneyXD.com on October 27, 2014 and made its television debut on Disney XD on November 3.

The episode begins with Ezra Bridger having spent weeks training in the Imperial Academy on Lothal, where he was sent in order to steal an Imperial decoder that contains the location of a powerful kyber crystal that the rebels hope to destroy. He successfully steals the decoder and the rebels destroy the crystal, but Bridger briefly stays in the Academy, having learned that the Inquisitor wants to capture his friend and fellow cadet, Jai Kell. With the help of cadet Zare Leonis, Bridger and Kell escape the Academy, but Leonis remains behind in order to uncover clues about the disappearance of his sister, Dhara&mdash;who he suspects was kidnapped by the Inquisitor.

Official description
Looking to uncover an Imperial decoder, Ezra goes undercover as a cadet at the Lothal Imperial Academy.

Plot summary
Ezra Bridger has infiltrated the Imperial Academy on Lothal, posing as a stormtrooper cadet in order to gain access to Agent Kallus' office&mdash;which contains an Imperial decoder with the location of a powerful kyber crystal. Knowing that the Empire could use the crystal for sinister means, Kanan Jarrus sent Bridger into the Academy on this mission, where he has been for weeks. While inside, Bridger passes messages through C1-10P to Sabine Wren and Garazeb Orrelios, who stake themselves on the outskirts of the academy.

While trying to steal the decoder, Bridger is spotted by fellow cadet Zare Leonis, with whom he has shared numerous training sessions, who warns him against exiting Kallus' office with the decoder, as it would set off the sensor and send the whole academy into lockdown. Leonis volunteers to help Bridger, as the cadet has no love for the Empire; Leonis' sister, Dhara Leonis, disappeared from the Academy and though the Empire claimed that Dhara had run away, Leonis did not believe their story. The two are able to steal the decoder and pass it to the rebels, but Bridger stays behind after he and Leonis learn that their fellow cadet, Jai Kell, has shown an affinity for the Force and that the Inquisitor will be arriving at the Academy in order to test him. The two are able to convince Kell of what is happening, and he agrees to escape with them.

The next day, they commandeer an AT-DP walker and make their escape from the Academy. Lenois, however, remains behind, knowing that it is his only chance to learn what happened to his sister. Jarrus and Hera Syndulla, meanwhile, fly the Ghost to the location of a convoy carrying the kyber crystal, where they are able to successfully destroy the crystal. Once Bridger and Kell return to the Ghost, the rebels agree to help Kell and his mother hide from the Empire. Back in the Academy, the Inquisitor learns about the escape, reveals he knew Bridger from the rebels' previous encounter with him, and tells Leonis that he wants to know everything Leonis knows about the rebels.

Continuity
Part 3: Infiltration of the novel Servants of the Empire: Rebel in the Ranks was adapted largely from the events of this episode.