– Spoiler Review –
A band of Resistance recruits needs help escaping the surface of Dantooine and the Aces are more than willing to help. But when Tam leads the expedition, emotions run high…join me as I review the latest episode of Resistance, “Rebuilding the Resistance!”
How do you react when you lead a mission that is, in most respects, a success, but is plagued with all sorts of failure? This complicated question hangs over both Tam Ryvora and Kazuda Xiono as the Resistance needs help – and the First Order needs to cause problems.
We’ll back up a little bit. Resistance pilot Venisa Doza calls the Colossus for help: a small group of pilots need safe passage off the surface of Dantooine to join the larger Resistance. (For reference, this episode takes place concurrently with the body of Black Spire and just before the Rise of the Resistance attraction at Galaxy’s Edge and the epilogue of A Crash of Fate.) In a surprising turn, having rid the fueling station of the pirates, Doza is now ready to turn his ship toward helping the Resistance stand against the First Order. He notes that he does not necessarily have the support of the crew, but it is his ship, after all, so he’ll help if he wants. I really liked seeing the show return to the larger war between the Resistance and the First Order, but this felt like it kind of came out of left field. Remember, Kaz had, in just the previous episode, decided against joining the Resistance and staying on the Colossus. This way, he’s able to have his cake and eat it, too! It almost feels like there were supposed to be a few episodes between these to make his decision mean a little bit more.
So, answering Venisa’s call, the Aces provide Kaz, Tora, and Hype to fly alongside the remnants of Jade Squadron. Venisa brings along two pilots, one of whom, Hugh, flew with Kaz back in the New Republic. Hugh and Hype bond quickly over how inept Kaz is, bringing some levity to the terrible situation we know is about to unfold. Seeing a squadron like this thrown together for a desperate mission reminded me so much of the Rogue Squadron novels, and I didn’t realize how much I missed some of the goofy camaraderie.
But the other side has none of the goofiness, and none of the friendship. The First Order knows about the incursion and plans to send Lt. Galek’s squadron, which includes Tam and Rucklin, to intercept the escaping shuttles. Tam is horrified: she notes that they are unarmed, so they are being asked to fire upon defenseless civilians. This moment struck me as very similar to the one Finn faced in the Tuanal Village on Jakku or the one Jannah described on Kef Bir. Unfortunately, unlike Finn and Jannah, Tam is not Force sensitive, so she must face this horrifying reality on her own, making her own decisions.
I really liked this aspect of the episode as we got a little more time to explore the mindset of someone commanded to do something that they are totally morally against. I am not trying to imply that the movies glossed over Jannah and Finn’s decision to stand against the First Order, but they don’t explore the interplay between the will of the Force and their personal decision making factors too much. This episode makes Tam come face to face with the reality of the regime that she now serves, and it seems like she has met her breaking point there. Tam serves as the emotional core for the second season, so I loved seeing her receive the focus she deserves (and deserved throughout the entirety of the show!) in this episode. While her coming to the Resistance seems like a foregone conclusion, I am intrigued to see how the show will wrap up her story with only one episode left.
A space fight breaks out between the two factions, and both sides suffer losses. The First Order loses Lt. Galek, and Tam’s TIE takes some seriously damaging fire. The Resistance loses one of the escape shuttles, and all of the recruits on board. Both Tam and Kaz take this as a failure. Kaz sees this as an egregious loss of life, and bemoans the fact that he can’t save everyone. Tam also sees this as an egregious loss of life, but she is promoted to Squadron Leader based on her actions in the fight. This reveals an interesting tidbit about the First Order, and even about Tam. She is not promoted because she destroyed the shuttle (she didn’t), but she is promoted because Lt. Galek died and she was just next in line. This makes me wonder if the First Order really had a long term strategy, or if they were disposable until the Final Order would rise to power. Second, we learn that Tam has an incredible moral compass, feeling guilt for the lost shuttle despite the fact that she did not destroy it! This makes this final episode so crucial for her development and for closure for her storyline.
Both now stand at the precipice of war: what are the costs of war, and are they willing to pay them? We have one week to find out!
+ Tam returns and her emotional journey takes the spotlight.
+ Kaz has to face the reality of war, which is treated with respect he doesn’t usually receive.
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!
STAR WARS RESISTANCE REVIEWS:
Season Two (by Chris) – Ep. 2.1: “Into the Unknown” | Ep. 2.2: “A Quick Salvage Run” | Ep. 2.3: “Live Fire” | Ep. 2.4: “Hunt on Celsor 3” | Ep. 2.5: “The Engineer” | Ep. 2.6: “From Beneath” | Ep. 2.7: “The Relic Raiders” | Ep. 2.8: “Rendezvous Point” | Ep. 2.9: “The Voxx Vortex 5000” | Ep. 2.10: “Kaz’s Curse” | Ep. 2.11: “Station to Station” | Ep. 2.12: “The Missing Agent”| Ep. 2.13: “Breakout” | Ep. 2.14: “The Mutiny” | Eps. 2:15/2.16: “The New World” and “No Place Safe”
Season One (by Ryan) – Ep. 1.1/1.2: “The Recruit” | Ep. 1.3: “The Triple Dark” | Ep. 1.4 “Fuel for the Fire” | Ep. 1.5: “The High Tower” | Ep. 1.6: “The Children From Tehar” | Ep. 1.7: “Signal From Sector Six” | Ep. 1.8: “Synara’s Score” | Ep. 1.9: “The Platform Classic” | Ep. 1.10: “Secrets and Holograms” | Ep. 1.11: “Station Theta-Black” | Ep. 1.12: “Bibo” | Ep. 1.13 “Dangerous Business” | Ep. 1.14: “The Doza Dilemma” | Ep. 1.15: “The First Order Occupation” | Ep. 1.16: “The New Trooper” | Ep. 1.17: “The Core Problem” | Ep. 1.18: “The Disappeared” | Ep. 1.19: “Descent” | Ep. 1.20: “No Escape” – Part One | Ep. 1.21: “No Escape” – Part Two