'Star Wars: Rebels' Character Makes Surprising Live-Action Debut In 'The Mandalorian' Season 3

A central character from the animated Star Wars Rebels show just made the leap to live-action in Season 3, Episode 5 of The Mandalorian, and odds are, it isn’t who you expect.

Rebels first premiered on Disney XD in 2014, created by longtime Star Wars director Dave Filoni. Picking up roughly 14 years after the end of The Clone Wars, the series follows the crew of the starship Ghost as they attempt to bring down the oppressive Empire once and for all.

Featuring a well-loved cast of characters, the show mainly explored the relationship between former Jedi Kanan Jarrus (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr.) and his pseudo-Padawan, Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray), accompanied by the brilliant star pilot Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall), Mandalorian Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar), and ex-Lasan Honor Guard Captain, Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (Steve Blum).

Filoni and his Mandalorian co-creator, Jon Favreau, have long hinted at a connection between Rebels and the extended Mandoverse. Having worked on both, it seems like more and more animated characters are slowly making their way to live-action thanks to Filoni, from Ahsoka’s memorable introduction in Season 2 of The Mandalorian to Cad Bane’s appearance in The Book of Boba Fett. But the most recent character to make the jump to live-action might just be the biggest yet—literally.

Fans were shocked to see Zeb make his live-action debut in The Mandalorian “Chapter 21: The Pirate” during a scene where New Republic pilot Captain Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) receives a message from Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) requesting help with a pirate situation on Nevarro. The two are briefly seen discussing the incident at what looks to be a cantina on a New Republic base, with Zeb donning a New Republic flight suit.

Voiced once again by Blum, Zeb’s brief 30-second cameo may have been short, but its implications are nothing short of major for the future of the Mandoverse and Star Wars as a whole. Clearly, Zeb has joined the ranks of the New Republic Defense Fleet following the end of the Galactic Civil War, something that was briefly touched upon in the finale of Rebels. 

The last time audiences saw Zeb, he took former Imperial Officer-turned-Rebel Alexsandr Kallus (David Oyelowo) to the planet Lira San to assure Kallus that he and the Empire hadn’t actually killed off the entirety of Zeb’s race, the Lasats. We haven’t seen either character appear in canon since—until now.

The show has already alluded to the events of Rebels after Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and baby Grogu passed by a pod of purrgils in their N1 Naboo starfighter during the season premiere—the hyperspace-traveling creatures that helped Ezra on numerous occasions throughout Rebels. 

There’s no denying that the rest of the Ghost crew will start to appear in more live-action Star Wars projects now that Zeb has been properly introduced to the Mandoverse. It would be unusual if Lucasfilm put their efforts towards creating a hyperrealistic CGI model of Zeb not to include him in future projects, though his presence in the remaining episodes of The Mandalorian Season 3 is still up in the air. But chances are, he’ll likely appear in the galaxy far, far away again soon.

As of now, Sabine, Hera, and Ezra are all confirmed to be appearing in the upcoming Ahsoka show on Disney+, which is rumored to follow the titular ex-Jedi Padawan as she tracks down Ezra and the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn following the events of the Rebels finale.

Rosario Dawson will be reprising her role as Ahsoka, and Natasha Liu will portray Sabine. Eman Esfandi will reportedly play Ezra, and it’s strongly rumored that Mary Elizabeth Winstead has stepped up to take the role of Hera. Casting or even the confirmation of Thrawn’s return have yet to be revealed, but many Star Wars fans have speculated that he will indeed serve as the big bad of the Ahsoka series and other future projects.

With Zeb making his live-action debut in the latest episode of The Mandalorian, it’s now clear that Star Wars has some serious intentions for the crew of the Ghost. Surprises are certainly in-store for the rest of The Mandalorian Season 3, and this latest cameo will only build hype for what’s next to come.

Were you surprised to see Zeb appear in the latest episode of The Mandalorian? Share your thoughts in the comments below.