The Inquisitor contacts the dreaded Sith Lord, Darth Vader. "The Jedi Knights are all but destroyed," Vader says, "and yet your task is not complete, Inquisitor. The Emperor has foreseen a new threat rising against him: children of the Force. They must not become Jedi." The dark side warrior accepts Vader's command, and the hunt begins.

It is 14 years after the events of Order 66, and a dark time in the galaxy. The Empire rules with an iron fist and has brought its brand of tyranny to the Outer Rim planet called Lothal. Ezra Bridger, a young orphan living on Lothal, gazes out longingly from an abandoned communications tower he calls home -- only to be interrupted by a massive Star Destroyer passing overhead.

Following the Star Destroyer into Capital City, Ezra watches as Imperial officers Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint interrogate a local vendor and demand registration with the Empire. When he dares talk back, the citizen is immediately arrested for treason.

A gifted con artist, Ezra snatches a comlink from one of the Imperials. He slyly impersonates an officer and calls in a Code Red emergency, drawing the Imperials away from the merchant. For his trouble, Ezra helps himself to several of the vendor's jogans.

Absconding to a nearby rooftop, Ezra is strangely drawn to someone, though he knows not why. He sees a man in the street, and quickly hides when this person seems to sense him, as well.

Ezra watches from above as the mysterious man signals others: a towering Lasat male and a Mandalorian female. Finally, the Mandalorian calmly walks toward an Imperial combat driver -- and tosses a timed explosive onto his speeder bike, destroying the vehicle in a deadly explosion.

In the ensuing chaos, the lead Imperial officer commands his troops to guard their crates at all costs...but the small band quickly intercepts them. Realizing that whatever is in those containers must be valuable, Ezra enters the fray, commandeering a speeder bike and a crate. Ezra speeds away, and both the Imperials and their mysterious attackers give chase.

After the thieves eliminate their Imperial followers, Ezra continues his escape. The teen shows an impressive driving ability, weaving in and out of traffic...

...but is eventually blasted by a pursuing TIE fighter and sent tumbling into the Lothal plains. The TIE circles back, ready to finish the boy off -- but is surprisingly destroyed by a starship: the Ghost.

Calling to Ezra from the craft's entry ramp is the leader of the ragtag group. With no other options, Ezra takes the crate and makes an impossible jump onto the Ghost, and they head for space. The crew is less than pleased with him, however.

While everyone is safely aboard, the escape isn't over yet. TIE fighters trail the ship, and its Twi'lek pilot, Hera -- brought up to speed on the events surround their current predicament -- is impressed with Ezra's actions.

Kanan and Sabine, the group's human male and Mandalorian, respectively, take to the ship's gun ports. They blast the two TIEs, and the Ghost makes the jump to lightspeed.

In the battle's aftermath, an exasperated Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko briefs Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau on the attack. Kallus recognizes that the theft follows a pattern -- and could be the spark of a rebellion.

The team heads back to Lothal, landing on the planet's outskirts in a slum called Tarkintown. Named for the notorious Grand Moff Tarkin, it's populated by farmers who were kicked off their own land by the Empire. There, they distribute food, leaving Ezra conflicted.

Meanwhile, Kanan and Hera meet with Cikatro Vizago, a Lothal crime lord. They deliver him the contents of the stolen cargo: Imperial blasters. He pays the duo for their work and offers new intel on Wookiees...for a price.

Left alone, Ezra heads back onto the Ghost. He's drawn to a particular room where he finds a strange cube-like artifact and a hilt of some sort.

Igniting it, the boy is amazed at what's in his hands, though he doesn't know exactly what it is. Finally, Kanan appears, and orders Ezra to hand him the lightsaber and get out.

Kanan calls the team together for a new mission: save Wookiees en route to an Imperial slave labor camp. They're interrupted, however, by Ezra, who falls from a shaft where he'd been eavesdropping. Zeb, the Lasat, wants to get rid of the teen, but cooler heads prevail.

Hera takes Ezra back to the cockpit, where she contacts a nearby Imperial Gozanti-class Cruiser. She claims to be in possession of a Wookiee and is looking to collect on a bounty.

The rebels board the Cruiser, claiming Zeb to be a rare, hairless Wookiee. The ruse doesn't quite work, and the towering Lasat opts to bash their greeting stormtroopers instead. "There's just something about the feel of their helmets on my fists," he says.

Ezra and Hera remain on the Ghost, but it soon becomes clear that communications are jammed. Somehow, Ezra senses that something's coming. Seconds later, a Star Destroyer emerges from hyperspace. It was all a setup.

Agent Kallus and a squadron of stormtroopers board the Cruiser, and Hera encourages Ezra to go help their friends. The boy reaches them, and Sabine and Chopper shut down the gravity generator. It buys them time, and all make it back to the Ghost...

...except for Ezra. Grabbed by Kallus, Zeb has no choice but to leave him behind.

Back on their starship, Zeb admits that Ezra didn't make it back. The crew is shocked and disheartened, unsure of what to do next.

On the Star Destroyer, Kallus visits Ezra in his cell and informs the boy that he is being held solely as bait for his friends. Ezra believes it's pointless, as they have no reason to come back for him. When left alone, he tosses the mysterious object taken from Kanan onto the floor. Calming himself, the artifact -- a holocron -- opens, playing a message from Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Inspired by the message, Ezra plots an escape and tricks the stormtroopers guarding him to enter his cell. "By guys," he says, before emerging from behind the entry stairs and locking them inside.

Making his way to an equipment room, Ezra nabs an Imperial combat driver helmet. He picks up a frequency and learns that the Wookiees are really being transported to the spice mines of Kessel. He also overhears that the Ghost crew has come back to save him.

As Kanan, Sabine, and Zeb enter the Star Destroyer's hangar, Ezra drops in from the ventilation shaft above. Instinctively, Zeb hits Ezra, claiming he thought it was an Imperial. But there's no time to argue -- Kallus has arrived, stormtroopers in tow.

As Kallus barks instructions, he notices something on the ground: spray paint, the calling card of Sabine, an explosives expert. "Take cover!" he shouts, but it's too late.

A massive opening is blown in the ship, and debris and stormtroopers are pulled into the vacuum of space. Kallus hangs on long enough for the emergency shield to be activated.

In the cockpit of the Ghost, Ezra informs the others that the Wookiees are headed for the spice mines of Kessel. This draws worried looks from the team. Sabine explains that it's a slave labor camp, and is essentially a death sentence.

On Kessel, Wookiees are being transferred by stormtroopers into camps. Kitwarr, a young male, and his father, Wullffwarro, are among them. They seem hopeless.

The Ghost arrives, however, raining blaster bolts down upon the Imperials. Hera lands the ship, and Kanan, Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb disembark, ready for battle.

Covertly, Ezra makes his way to the Wookiees. He tells them he's here to help, and one by one, removes their binders.

Now unleashed, the Wookiees are prepared to fight. Wullffwarro angrily throws a nearby stormtrooper.

While the Wookiees are now free, more trouble has arrived: TIE fighters. They blast the Ghost, forcing Hera to take off, and Kallus arrives moments later.

Blaster bolts flying in every direction, Kitwarr, still in binders, is cut off from his fellow Wookiees. He runs away, trailed by stormtroopers.

Wullffwarro, attempting to reach his son, is blasted by a stormtrooper. The wound is not critical, and Zeb takes the Wookiee to safety.

With the team trapped under heavy fire from Kallus and his men, Kanan emerges. From his belt, he assembles his lightsaber and ignites it, revealing himself to be a Jedi. Kallus is shocked, and it gives the heroes the opening they need.

Ezra takes off for Kitwarr, but he's spotted by Kallus. Still, the battle continues.

Following the young Wookiee and a stormtrooper to a nearby bridge, Ezra makes a daring leap. He fires bolts from his energy slingshot, knocking the Imperial over the rail, and unlocks Kitwarr's binders.

Kallus tracks Ezra to the bridge, and is ready to deliver a point blank shot upon the young rebel. At the last moment, the Ghost rises, Kanan standing on its exterior. Kallus fires at the Jedi, who expertly deflects the shot back at the agent. The Imperial is sent careening over the bridge, but manages to hold on to a support beam.

Back on the Ghost, Wullffwarro and Kitwarr are joyfully reunited. The elder Wookiee promises that if the Ghost crew ever needs help, the Wookiees will be there.

The team returns Ezra to his home, and he returns the Jedi holocron, opened, to Kanan. The Jedi tells Ezra that he's strong with the Force, which is why he could open the mystical artifact. Kanan offers to train the boy in the ways of the Force.

Taking a moment in his quarters, Kanan sinks into meditation and plays Obi-Wan's message. At its conclusion, Ezra appears, accepting the invitation to begin his Jedi training.

Now, however, the Empire is fully aware of the Ghost crew and the fact that a Force-wielder is in their ranks. Kallus, once again on his Star Destroyer, reports the Jedi to a mysterious figure: the Inquisitor.