As fantastic and rewarding as the new live-action Star Wars films have been for fans of the iconic franchise, the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and its follow-up series Star Wars Rebels are every bit as entertaining. They serve to fill in the gaps in time between films but also feature truly interesting and complex characters who go on life-changing adventures throughout the many worlds of the Star Wars universe. If you've only watched the movies, you're missing out on a wealth of quality storytelling from the Star Wars canon.

Luckily, the Season 3 Blu-ray of the excellent Disney XD series is now available. With over 8 hours of footage, fans can relive all of the Season 3 adventures that saw Ezra Bridger attempting to balance his role as a leader against a brush with the Dark Side of the Force, while Sabine Wren and Hera Syndulla struggle with their own personal family drama, to say the least. That's just the tip of the Star Destroyer since the imposing and impressive villain Grand Admiral Thrawn continues to hunt the crew of the Ghost throughout the season. There's a lot to explore in the episodes alone, but the Blu-ray's bonus features make this a must-own for Star Wars fans who need to discover everything there is to know in Star Wars canon.

Season 3 of Star Wars Rebels takes place between the events of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Season 4 is looking likely to run smack into the events that set up that latter anthology film, all of which lead toward the original film trilogy. One of the many great things about Star Wars Rebels is that it exists in this interstitial space where there is a lot of story to mine and lots of colorful, charismatic characters who populate it. Sure, the connections that tie the animated series to the live-action films are great for fan-service, but they're the cherry on top of a solid foundation of story. All of that is offered up to new and old fans alike in the excellent Season 3 Blu-ray.

Now's the perfect time to get caught up on Season 3 before the fourth and final season of the series airs this fall. But if you need another reason to pick it up, here are just a few bits of trivia I gleaned from the Blu-ray's bonus content; spoilers follow:

In the episode "Iron Squadron":

• Dash Rendar's Outrider ship is referenced, but it's actually just another ship of the YT-2400 freighter model.
• The character Gooti is inspired by "Rebels Recon" show host and "The Star Wars Show" co-host Andi Gutierrez. Characters Mart Mattin and Jooner Jin were also inspired by Matt Martin, Lucasfilm's manager of digital content and community relations, and John Harper, "The Star Wars Show" cameraman, editor, and producer.
• The idea of having a squad of kids joining the rebels was inspired by A New Hope script idea that never quite made it to the screen

Episode "Inside Man"

• A TIE Defender makes an appearance

Episode "Ghosts on Geonosis"

• Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) provides a direct link between animated series and Rogue One
• A failed freedom fighter in the Clone Wars, he's now obsessed with getting a win; his search causes the Empire to move the Death Star away from Geonosis while it's under construction

Episode "Warhead"

• The Infiltrator droid design was inspired by original C3PO design by Ralph McQuarrie

Thrawn's belongings include the Holy Grail, Clone Commander Gree's helmet (trooper decapitated by Yoda in Revenge of the Sith), a bust of an Abednedo, the same species as Ello Asty, Ralph McQuarrie's drawing of what became Lothal, which is the first direct use of his art in the series.

That final confrontation between Maul and Kenobi went through a lot of different iterations, including Kanan accompanying Ezra to Tatooine. Some of those deleted scenes made their way to the bonus features.

Definitely check out the Bonus Features in order to get glimpses at the upcoming Season 4!

Blu-ray:

• Return to Mandalore - Explore where Mandalore fits within the Empire’s regime – and whether Sabine can unite her people against the Imperial forces.
• Thrawn: A Legend Reborn - Learn Thrawn’s significance in Star Wars lore, and what the future may hold for this memorable villain.
• Apprentices to Outcasts: Kenobi And Maul - Track two adversaries who’ve clashed throughout Star Wars history, and find out why the time was right to conclude their story.
• The Original Rebel: Saw Gerrera Returns – Extended - Meet the Original Rebel. This exclusive extended version features Forest Whitaker discussing the character he brings to life in both Rebels and Rogue One.
• Five Audio Commentaries - Featuring Dave Filoni (Executive Producer), Justin Ridge (Supervising Director), Kilian Plunkett (Art Director), Keith Kellogg (Animation Supervisor) and Joel Aron (CG Supervisor: Lighting & FX)
• All DVD Bonus (see below)

DVD:

• A Rebel Alliance - Discover how the formation of the Rebel Alliance in Rebels ties into the Rogue One timeline – and the exciting story possibilities that lie ahead for season 4.
• Rebels Recon - Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew in 19 entertaining and information-packed episode recaps!