This is a review of the trailer for Star Wars Rebels: Season 3. A brief summary of the part I am analyzing, regarding the Sith and Jedi holocrons: We see Ezra (a young Force-wielder) holding a Sith holocron, we see Maul, Ezra, and Kanan watching Sith and Jedi holocrons unlocking, and we see the Sith and Jedi holocrons somehow combining(?).
Now for the analysis: Just watching what was happening onscreen, I admit I was confused as to what was actually occurring. Sure the trailer would probably be giving too much away if they showed what exactly is in the holocron (aka the holo message or data within), but it seemed at least two of these moments happened at different times. So, Ezra holding the holocron and the three Force-Weilders (Maul, Kanan, and Ezra) watching the holocrons happened at different times. This implies that Ezra somehow unlocked the Sith holocron by himself. These are the three 'facts'/inferences from the trailer.
So why does this bother me? Firstly let me relate what I believe about holocrons. Holocrons are basically very, very intricate databases. Not quite computers, not quite simplistic datachips. They're old, especially the Sith holocrons, and I imagine they're hard to make. Also, if my memory serves me correctly, they're hard to unlock. Hence why they're Sith or Jedi holocrons and not computers or chips locked by physical means. You have to know how to open it--special training and exact understanding of its components--or else none of the information is revealed. I am 90% sure the entire thing can even decode itself, erasing it. Not any old Force-User can open it on a whim. Why would a Jedi make a holocron that a Sith could unlock? My understanding of holocrons is that the unlocking process could take hours, maybe even days, total concentration throughout.
With that said, I feel that Season 3's display of holocron usage is totally confusing. What would combining--if that's actually what happened--Jedi and Sith holocrons amount to? Sure they seem to contain certain polarized Force receptors, but what good would combining them do? You'd be combining, in essence, just two databases. The data would still be there (or maybe it'd be destroyed by the process and conflicting parts). And then, most confusing to me, was Ezra somehow unlocking it and, more so, even in contact with a Sith holocron. Because if unlocking it is difficult to impossible (simply through the loss of knowledge), then even finding holocrons can be very tough. The Sith seem to have pieced holocrons throughout worlds they used to control, locking them away in elaborate crypts and traps. Since The Rule of Two began, these traps have literally been abandonned by the Sith simply because they practically protect themselves via few Darkside Users holding the knowledge and adeptness to traverse the traps and unlock them. The Jedi, as far as I know, kept their holocrons at temples--mainly, the Coruscant Temple--due to the protections of having a government system that protects them and sheer numbers of Lightside users. All this makes sense to me.
What doesn't make sense is how some very inexperienced Force-Wielders could unlock a Sith holocron. I mean, I'm sure Siddious exposed Maul to holocrons but to unlock one is something I see Siddious holding the knowledge to do. After all Maul was only a puppet to him, barely a full-fledged Sith as his defeat by Padawan Kenobi should have showed. Likewise, where to find Sith holocrons is very kept very hush hush. I can think of a few times where Sith holocrons surfaced during Maul's lifetime and the Clone Wars. One in which Dooku sends an acolyte and dark-Jedi, Quinlan Vos, to retake a holocron (I think it might have even been on Korriban). Ok, so two medium-trained Force-Users get through the decayed crypt's traps (Dooku didn't participate), this isn't totally unexpected/difficult yet. It becomes difficult when a single Sith-hound is involved. Many people who haven't read this Clone Wars novel may not know what a Sith-hound is.
This is a Sith-hound (from that very book):
And this is all in regards to a single, extremely old, decayed, probably less-wealthy Sith's tomb. The Sith-hound scares both acolytes away (I'm pretty sure they can't even kill the thing) and they barely escape to the safety of Dooku's flying ship with the holocron. This is not just an obstacle course, it's a test. If you can survive the traps (perhaps using followers at diversions), then you probably deserve the information the holocron contains.
So I find it highly unlikely a Sith holocron fell into the young hands of Kanan, Ezra, and Maul. Siddious didn't even have the things lying around and he was the most powerful Sith living at this time! You do not mess with these things. Not because the information somehow corrupts normal people into Sith-dom. No, because the information in them details meditations leading to new powers and uses for the Force. Light or Dark, holocrons are literally teachers long dead to new, worthy students. A group of apprentices not even fledged from their orders would not have a clue to operate these things, even if they did happen to get their hands on them. And what Jedi, in their right mind, would allow a Sith holocron anywhere near a child or less disciplined individuals??!! It's like handing a gun to a child and expecting them not to play with it. Again, you do not mess with these things!
In other words, Ezra should not be holding a Sith holocron. Maul and Kanan shouldn't be able to obtain a Sith holocron. The 'combining' of holocrons should create nothing of use. And even if they got their hands on a Jedi holocron, it should be unreadable to them because none of them have ever been taught how to open it. :p
All of this makes me really disgusted at Disney for denouncing the EU yet stealing away this very complex, historical element away for their own, incorrect usage. It's like someone taking a multi-tool and only using the screwdriver on it to open cans. Not only is it being used incorrectly but it's being used nonsensically. Who knows, maybe they'll have Maul and Kanan somehow traversing a Sith crypt or an old Jedi temple to reclaim the holocrons. Maybe Ezra (being unreasonably insatiable like Ahsoka and Anakin) will smuggle the Sith holocron away in some foolish attempt at a reproduction of Pandora's Box. It all shrieks lazy writing and lack of research. I will never know what becomes of it. All I know is that Youtube forced me to watch that muddle (in which the last remnants of pity I had for Rebels' Rex went out the window into a blackhole) and this is what happened. :p
I hope you leave not too offended or befuddled.
