The Emperor revealed in new trailer for final episodes of Star Wars: Rebels

So be it.

The cloaked form of ultimate evil in the galaxy is joining the cast of Star Wars: Rebels for its final episodes, with Ian McDiarmid reprising his role as the voice of The Emperor.

He appears in the new trailer for the Disney XD series, which returns Feb. 19 for a three-week run before ending March 5.

Executive producer Dave Filoni and the Rebels team will be packing a lot into that shortened timeframe; there will be two back-to-back episodes every Monday, concluding with a 90-minute grand finale — essentially, a Rebels movie.

The trailer opens with a lot of flashbacks to the previous seasons, as street-kid-turned-Jedi-hopeful Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray) teamed up with some galactic outlaws that would evolve into the Rebellion we know from the original Star Wars trilogy.

“I felt like it was important to give this last trailer an overall perspective of what this kid had come from and what he had been learning,” Filoni tells EW. “I like that line that line that says, ‘You’ve never been like anyone else…'”

As Ezra continues a mystical journey into the secrets of the Force, his blinded instructor, Kanan Jarrus (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr.) is determined to rescue their dauntless pilot Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall), while Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar), alien muscle Zeb (Steve Blum), Clone Wars vet Rex (Dee Bradley Baker), and disgruntled droid Chopper continue fighting the good fight against the Empire.

Entertainment Weekly has more from Filoni in an upcoming deep-dive gallery, walking us frame-by-frame through all the revelations of this trailer — from Emperor Palpatine to those three strange Force figures in the mural. (Check back momentarily.)

Godspeed, Rebels.