Yesterday, a picture from "Star Wars Rebels" writer Steven Melching, sent fans on Twitter into an uproar. It depicted one of their favorite characters, Clone Captain Rex, wearing similar fatigues as those who fought in the Battle of Endor. Due to this, and the caption "It's happening," fans went crazy.
After years of speculation, they finally thought that they had an answer to the theory of who the old guy fighting with the Rebels in The Battle of Endor at the end of "Return of the Jedi" was. According to the picture, that person was thought to be none other than Clone Captain Rex, first seen in the "Star Wars The Clone Wars" animated series, which was aired on Cartoon Network from 2008-2013.
Shortly thereafter it was canceled and released its final season episodes on the streaming service Netflix.
A short history of clone captain Rex (spoilers ahead)
First seen in the season one episode "Rookies" with his colleague Cody, they were defending a backwater outpost with the help of their untested unit. While most of their unit died and they lost the base, they survived to fight many more battles.
Over the course of his prestigious service in The Grand Army of the Republic, he fought in many battles alongside not just Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but also the former's Padawan (student/apprentice) Ahsoka Tano. Over the years she too has become a fan favorite and one often associated with Clone Captain Rex.
Just a few of the situations he has been in include: investigating a traitor in the clones' midst on the planet Christophsis, inhaling a deadly virus and managing to live long enough to receive the cure, and a political conflict debating the intelligence of a previously known species called Talz. All of that was only in the first season.
The controversy
While the white bearded guy in the final installment of the original trilogy "Nik Sant" and Captain Rex had different names, fans still often speculated that they were one in the same. After all, in this universe where rebels were fighting back against a tyrannical empire, it would not be unusual for someone to change their name.
As such, when Steven Melching, one of the writers of "Star Wars Rebels"-aka an official source-appeared to confirm this long held theory, fans all over Twitter rejoiced. After all, if true, then it would have made Clone Captain Rex the second character to make the transition from animation to film as opposed the other way around. Sadly, it was not to be as roughly twenty-four hours later, he deleted the tweet and instead posted a new one with the following:
What began as an attempt to be amusing spun out of control. I cannot and will not confirm anything. Thanks, and MTFBWY!
— Steven Melching (@stevenmelching) August 6, 2017
While the long held theory appears to be busted, fans cannot help but be disappointed. Considering how closely the animated and live action characters look to each other, it would not have been too much of a stretch.
