Thirteen Ways Star Wars Rebels Outdid the Sequels

This is a blog post I'm working on, so I thought I'd post it here to see what people thought of it. 

While I did enjoy watching the two sequel Star Wars movies, I've felt they're lacking compared to the originals, and in some ways, even lacking in comparison to Star Wars Rebels. While Rebels has some of its own problems, I decided to list thirteen ways it outdid the films.

Helmet slice. I'm half-suspicious that the deal with Captain Phasma was just a Rebels Easter egg. In TLJ, the helmet breaking had no significance and made little sense. However, when Ahsoka sliced Vader's helmet, it was a moment of awesome because it was when she realized Darth Vader was Anakin, giving emotional impact similar to when Luke realized Darth Vader was his father. 

Ramming always works. Sato was a more likable character than Holdo. Granted, hers did more damage, so it kind of outdid the visual display, but Sato gets credit for doing it first, and being a better leader who didn't cause his crew to mutiny needlessly.

Jedi training. Rey never even got real training, and she's suddenly a competent Jedi? Luke could barely use the Force when he had Rey's level of training, let alone dual an evil guy with more training and experience. In Rebels, both Sabine and Ezra needed episodes of training before they did anything right. Ezra was so bad when he started that he got attacked by a Lothcat. Even Kanan, who had more training than Rey was beaten by the Inquisitor the first few times he dueled him, and Kanan had backup.

Purple hair. Sabine rocks the colorful hair. Holdo's looks more like cotton candy. 

Villains that are actually frightening. The Inquisitor, Maul, or Thrawn could mop the floor with Kylo Ren.

Leaders who do their job right and keep the right secrets. In the first season of Rebels, Hera is the only one who knows the group is a rebel cell. Sabine confronts her about keeping secrets and Hera gives a good explanation for why she has kept stuff secret from Sabine. Later in the season, this is shown to be a wise move because, when Kanan is tortured, he has no information. Holdo, on the other hand, kept secrets that led to her crew mutinying because she appeared to be an inept leader.

Characters from other storylines are treated with respect. Captain Rex, Darth Maul, Gregor, and Ahsoka are all treated well by the series. This series knows that people are watching to see characters from other shows, so they treat them decently, unlike the Sequels who leave fans of the other Star Wars films disappointed. 

Anti-climactic deaths. Even though Maul's death was a bit anticlimactic, it was a lot better than Snoke's, and Maul did something besides sit in a chair. Kanan and even Sato sacrificed themselves for his their, which was much better than how Akbar, Luke, and Han went out. Even Gregor, who had very little screen time, got a good death scene. 

The value of sacrifice. Instead trying to save Kanan during a weird time-travel episode, Ezra realizes that he can't save Kanan when he had chosen to sacrifice himself. He has to let go, unlike Rose, who crashed into Finn rather than let him sacrifice himself to save what was left of the Resistance.

Masters who stop hiding. Kanan realized quite quickly that, even if he'd run in the past, he had to train Ezra and become a Jedi himself. He couldn't turn his back on it like Luke did, even when he's blinded at the end of Season 2.

Depth to war. In Rebels, we get to see that there are some people who fight the empire but have few morals. as Saw Gerrera. Even a droid from The Clone Wars, who, when asked what he was fighting for, answered with "freedom." While the Empire is pure evil, we at least get a few shades of gray on the good side, something lacking from the Sequels.

People switch sides a bit more realistically. In Rebels, Kallus switches sides, and Minister Tua tries and is promptly killed by the Empire. Both of these characters have more depth than Finn, who seems to grow a moral compass without cause.

The heroes get to pass on a legacy. While the villainous Kylo is the only offspring of any of the heroes from the Original Trilogy, Kanan was able to get a kid, passing on his legacy, not just through his student, but through his blood.