Bombing at the Empire Day parade On the fifteenth anniversary of the Proclamation of the New Order , the Spectres carried out a bombing during the Empire Day parade on Lothal . The bombing destroyed an experimental starfighter , a TIE Advanced v1 , thus disrupting the tightly - controlled Empire Day festivities . Prelude . Near the end of the Clone Wars , Emperor Palpatine dissolved the Galactic Republic and established the first Galactic Empire . In addition , Palpatine also destroyed the Jedi Order during the Jedi Purge . For the next fourteen years , Empire Day was used to commemorate the birth of the Empire . Seeking to establish a new trade route to facilitate their expansion through the Outer Rim Territories , the Empire established a presence on the planet Lothal . The Empire exploited the agrarian planet for mining precious metals and kyber crystal s , and recruiting new personnel for its burgeoning military . In addition , Sienar Fleet Systems also established a factory on Lothal to manufacture starfighter s . As Imperial rule grew more oppressive , several loosely - connected rebel cells and factions emerged across the galaxy to oppose the Empire . One of these groups was the Spectres , a small cell consisting of the Twi ' lek captain Hera Syndulla , the former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus , the astromech droid Chopper , the Lasat warrior Garazeb Orrelios , the former Mandalorian Imperial cadet Sabine Wren , and the Lothalian Jedi trainee Ezra Bridger . These rebels harried the Empire by raiding Imperial convoys , disrupting Imperial projects , assaulting Imperial personnel and eluded numerous attempts by the Imperial authorities to capture them . Prior to the fifteenth Empire Day , the Imperials were also hunting for Tseebo , a Rodian employee with the Imperial Information Office who had gone missing . Tseebo wore an AJ ^ 6 cyborg construct that contained highly sensitive information about the Empire ' s operations on Lothal . Fearing that Tseebo and his valuable information would fall into the hands of the rebels , the Imperial authorities had launched a manhunt . Unknown to the Imperials , Tseebo was an old friend of Ezra ' s parents who had stolen the information in order to make up for the wrong of having done nothing to save Ezra ' s parents . The bombing . For the fifteenth anniversary of Empire Day , Imperial Minister Maketh Tua served as the master of ceremony at the Capital City celebrations in the absence of Governor Arihnda Pryce ; who was offworld . Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint were tasked with organizing the celebrations and parade . As part of the Empire Day parade , several Imperial vehicles including AT - DP walkers and Imperial Troop Transport s drove through the streets of Lothal ' s Capital City , flanked by crowds of civilians . To emphasize Lothal ' s importance to the Empire , Minister Tua decided to showcase the new TIE Advanced v1 , which was to be flown by the famous Baron Valen Rudor . Unknown to the Imperial authorities , the Spectres had planned to disrupt the festivities by blowing up the TIE Advanced prototype . Kanan , Ezra , Sabine , and Zeb mingled among the crowd and pretended to patriotic citizens engaging in the festivities . While Sabine and Zeb threw fireworks into the sky to provide distraction , Kanan crept towards the TIE prototype and planted an explosive . When he was spotted by a stormtrooper , Kanan pretended to be drunk and Ezra backed him up by pretending to lead his father away . Before Baron Rudor could climb into the TIE prototype , the starfighter exploded ; bringing the festivities to an end . Aftermath . Amidst the chaos , the Spectres made their way to a safe house which turned out to be the former Bridger household . There , the rebels encountered Tseebo . While Ezra was still angry at Tseebo for not standing by his parents , Kanan and Sabine insisted on rescuing him . The three rebels hijacked an Imperial Troop Transport and headed towards the outskirts of Capital City to rendezvous with the other rebels aboard the " Ghost " . They managed to break through one roadblock but were pursued by the Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus . Following a struggle , the Spectres managed to rendezvous with their comrades aboard the " Ghost " and fled into space . Their troubles were not over because they were then pursued by the Grand Inquisitor ' s TIE Advanced v1 starfighter and several TIE fighters . Despite some difficulty , the rebels managed to jump into hyperspace after Tseebo transmitted the coordinates into the " Ghost " computer . However , their problems were far from over because the Grand Inquisitor had managed to attach an XX - 23 S - thread tracker to the hull of the " Ghost " auxiliary ship " Phantom " . After detecting the presence of the homing device , the rebels split up . While Kanan and Ezra took the " Phantom " to lure the Grand Inquisitor away from the " Ghost " , the other rebels brought Tseebo to the rebel leader known Fulcrum ; who arranged for him to go into hiding . This plan worked and the rebels succeeded in eluding the Grand Inquisitor and his stormtroopers . In response to the Empire Day parade bombing and other insurgent activities , Governor Pryce ordered a planetwide crackdown on all sedition and dissent on Lothal . Imperial cadet s were used to assist stormtroopers in several law enforcement operations which included reporting suspicious activity , detaining suspicious individuals , and placing the children of fugitives in protective custody . This crackdown preceded a planetary blockade imposed by Darth Vader . Behind the scenes . The Bombing at the Empire Day parade served as a plot element of the " Star Wars Rebels " episode " Empire Day " , which first premiered on November 10 , 2014 .