"The point is that you're not alone. You're connected to every living thing in the universe. But to discover that, you have to let your guard down. You have to be willing to attach to others."

No but for real, can we talk about this line for a second? ++

This is one of my favorite lines in Rebels. It tells us everything about how Kanan sees the galaxy, & the force, in one bite sized piece. & it’s a way that’s fundamentally different than any other jedi.

The jedi saw attachment as something to be avoided at all costs-that will cripple you, your ability to do the right thing & your connection to the force. Attachments lead to the dark side. But for kanan... EVERYTHING he does, EVERYTHING that drives him to be a better person....

cw // alcohol

...& a better jedi, is precisely BECAUSE of those attachments. Kanan sunk LOW after order 66. real low. He was an alcoholic & he tried to do everything he could to lose himself and who he was. He was basically just waiting to die.

But Hera pushed him HARD, and things changed. He didn’t really care about the cause, but he cared about HER, so he let her push him to be better. & he grew SO MUCH, to the point that when we meet him in rebels, he’s willing to face his past for a kid he barely knows.

That’s a HUGE shift in his outlook. & his connection to the force grew stronger because of his attachments, so it makes sense that he sees attachment & love as sources of strength rather than weaknesses.

Then, in rebels, every time he has to push himself, or do something that requires a lot of strength, it’s ALWAYS for his family. He came back from the brink after a traumatic injury for family. He learned to adapt, learned to get stronger even, because they needed him.

& every time, kanan uses his emotions to fuel his abilities. He’s able to hold back literal explosions, and use the force to see CONSTANTLY, which has got to be EXHAUSTING, & very hard to do. & it’s all because he doesn’t view attachments as a weakness.

Rather than something holding him back, the people he loves are what gives him peace, hope, & what brings him back to who he was meant to be. Even at the end, he’s able to hold back a MASSIVE explosion, something even ANAKIN couldn’t do, because he loved his family so much.

TL;DR, Kanan Jarrus best Star Wars character, Kanan Jarrus best Jedi, and this line is real special to me.