I wouldn’t have said risk-averse - creations like the Bendu and the World between Worlds are bold choices and have occasionally not gone down well with many people.

I get the ‘cop-out’ bit because few main characters die, and Ezra’s dark side tendencies are set up then last for two episodes, but that’s my personal preference. Rebels is at heart a fun and hopeful show so I’m perfectly fine with most characters living to get happy endings and such, and I’m glad more episodes weren’t tainted by Ezra doing shit like mind controlling Imperials into killing themselves. We got those episodes where Ezra is heading down a different path, he learns his lesson, the show gets its theme across, and it doesn’t need any more time spent on it.