Prologue

Some time after the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Grand Inquisitor, a Jedi hunter, is on the bridge of a Star Destroyer. He speaks via hologram to Darth Vader, the Sith Lord and fallen Jedi Knight. Vader informs the Inquisitor that although the Jedi Knights are almost extinct, Emperor Sheev Palpatine has foreseen a new threat rising against the Empire. This new threat is the “children of the Force.” Vader orders the Inquisitor to ensure they do not become Jedi and that they should be destroyed if they do not join the Empire. This is the Emperor’s command, according to Vader. The Inquisitor assures his master that he will carry out the order.

Heist in Capital City

Fourteen years have passed since the rise of the Empire on the remote planet of Lothal, located in the Outer Rim. Ezra Bridger, a fourteen-year-old orphan, lives in an abandoned communication tower. When he spots a Star Destroyer flying over his tower towards the distant Capital City, he races off to the city on his speeder bike.

In the city, Ezra encounters Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint, who, accompanied by a group of stormtroopers, harass a local merchant named Yoffar. The merchant expresses his disagreements with the Empire, saying that the Imperials ruined Lothal and the whole galaxy, for which Aresko charges him treason.

Ezra arrives and steals Aresko’s communicator, which he uses to impersonate an Imperial officer, and sends Aresko and Grint to a false emergency in the city’s main square. With the Imperials gone, the merchant thanks Ezra for his aid, and Ezra helps himself to a few of the merchant’s jogan fruits for his trouble.

Ezra climbs onto a nearby roof overlooking the city square, where Aresko and Grint have arrived, to find no emergency. Instead, they find Yogar Lyste, an Imperial officer overseeing the transportation of valuable cargo crates via speeder bike. Embarrassed by the ruse, Aresko berates Yogar for not working fast enough. While observing the results of his handiwork, Ezra suddenly senses the presence of Kanan Jarrus, a former Jedi Padawan who survived the destruction of the Jedi Order. Jarrus also senses Ezra’s presence and turns towards him just as the boy ducks out of sight. Ezra watches the former Jedi, and his team of rebels engage in an attempt to steal the Imperial supply crates.

One of the rebels, a Mandalorian warrior named Sabine Wren, destroys an Imperial speeder bike with a detonator and forces the Imperials to evacuate with the crates. Jarrus intercepts the Imperials and, along with the Lasat warrior Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios, subdues them. Bridger steals one of the speeders and two crates and speeds away before Jarrus and Orrelios can stop him.

From a rooftop, Wren spots Bridger, jumps onto his crates as he passes, and manages to take possession of one. Jarrus and Orrelios pursue Bridger on speeder bikes. Eventually, the chase leads to a roadway outside the city, where Imperial troops spotted and chased Bridger and the two rebels. The rebels fight off the troops, and Jarrus intercepts Bridger, who says he stole the crate from Jarrus squarely. Bridger flees again as a TIE fighter fires on their position, destroying Jarrus’s speeder.

The boy speeds back towards his tower while the TIE fighter pursues him. The fighter fires on him and destroys his speeder, leaving Bridger defenseless until the Ghost shoots down the fighter, the rebels’ ship. Jarrus offers Bridger a chance to escape as additional TIE fighters approach. Bridger unknowingly uses the Force to leap into the hovering ship with his crate, much to the surprise of the former Jedi.

With Bridger safely on board, the Ghost flies towards space with the TIE fighters in pursuit, while Bridger learns what was inside the case he stole: blasters. Jarrus goes to the Ghost’s cockpit, where the Twi’lek Hera Syndulla is piloting the ship.

While Jarrus explains to her what happened to Lothal, Bridger, and Orrelios, argue about who has the rightful claim to the blasters, with Bridger believing that the rebels want to use them to survive as he does. Orrelios eventually throws Bridger into a small, closet-sized room, but the boy enters an air vent and makes his way through the ship’s bowels.

Meanwhile, Syndulla is impressed by what she’s heard of the boy and thinks he would be useful as part of the crew—which Jarrus initially disagrees with. Bridger falls through the ventilation shafts and into one of the ship’s gun turrets, where he realizes that he is in space for the first time in his life and a battle he thinks will kill him.

Jarrus and Wren man the two gun turrets, with Wren taking the one Bridger is in and holding off the TIE fighters, giving Syndulla a chance to jump the Ghost into hyperspace.

On Lothal, Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau inspects the scene where the rebels stole the crates. He informs Commandant Aresko that the rebels have attacked Imperials before on Lothal. Kallus explains that the rebels’ activities have now become a pattern, which could signal the start of a full-scale rebellion against the Empire. As a result, it is Kallus’ job to ensure that the spark of rebellion is not ignited, and he plans to stop the Ghost crew the next time they attempt to attack the Empire.

The Ghost drops out of hyperspace, and Orrelios takes Bridger to the cockpit, where he meets Syndulla. Bridger wants to return to Lothal but is concerned that going back too soon will cause the Empire to pursue them. Syndulla explains that the Ghost can scramble its signal, making it difficult for the Empire to track them. Upon returning to Lothal, the Ghost lands near Lothal re-settlement camp 43, which the locals call “Tarkintown.” The camp was named after Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who forced the settlers off their farms and into refugee status. The rebels bring the stolen crates into Tarkintown, where, for the first time, Bridger sees the suffering of the people there. Later, Jarrus and Syndulla speak to local Lothal crime lord Cikatro Vizago, who hired them to steal the blasters. In exchange for the blasters, Vizago reveals the location of Wookiees, whom the Empire enslaved.

In Tarkintown, Orrelios and Wren open their crates to reveal food, which they distribute to the locals for free. Bridger is surprised when one of the refugees thanks him, as the boy knows he did nothing. He returns to the Ghost, and while sitting outside the ship, he senses something through the Force, leading him to Jarrus’ quarters on the ship. After breaking into Jarrus’ quarters, he steals a holocron and a lightsaber, which he activates to reveal the blue blade. Jarrus and Syndulla spot him with the weapon, having been alerted to the break-in by the astromech droid Chopper. Jarrus demands that Bridger hand over the lightsaber, but he lets him keep the holocron, knowing that if Bridger can open it, the boy can use the Force and be trained as a Jedi.

Wookiee rescue

Bridger leaves Jarrus’ quarters and finds Wren. She tells him about the rebels and how they became a family after losing their real families to the Empire. Orrelios interrupts and says Jarrus wants to speak to him and Wren, leaving Chopper to watch Bridger. In the ship’s common room, Jarrus explains that Vizago gave them the location of an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser carrying Wookiee prisoners, most of whom fought as soldiers for the Galactic Republic before its fall. As Jarrus explains his plan, Bridger falls into the common room again, having snuck through the ventilation shaft. Orrelios wants to dump him back on Lothal, but Wren says it would be too dangerous as the boy already knows too much about their plan. Syndulla takes Bridger to the cockpit while the others prepare for the mission.

Bridger is surprised in the cockpit that anyone would fight so hard against the Empire. A few moments later, the Ghost drops out of hyperspace near the Imperial transport. When questioned by the transport about their purpose, Syndulla lies and says that Grand Moff Tarkin ordered them to deliver an additional Wookiee prisoner. The transport allows the Ghost to dock, and Jarrus and Wren enter with Orrelios, who pretends to be a “rare hairless Wookiee.” The Imperials do not believe them, so Orrelios knocks them out. The trio and Chopper enter the ship to rescue the Wookiees. Unexpectedly, Agent Kallus’ Star Destroyer drops out of hyperspace and brings the transport and the Ghost into its docking bay, springing a trap.