“The New World” & “No Place Safe” Star Wars Resistance S02 E15/16

2.5K

The Colossus finds a new ocean home, and Kaz commits to joining the resistance, but with the help of a probe droid, the First Order is on the attack.

This is the homestretch of Star Wars Resistance. The New World and No Place Safe are the third to the last episodes, and it’s really becoming evident how close to the end it is. There definitely are some similarities between Star Wars Resistance and how stories were told in The Clone Wars and Rebels. The journeys and character arcs have very similar themes.

It’ll be very curious where the story goes from here and how the storylines wind up. But the show should end now than overstay its welcome. Before that, there are so many different threads that need to be wrapped up, including the Force, Mika Grey, the kids (Kel and Eila), Tam, the resistance, Flix and Orka, and giving Kaz a full character arc (what happened to his parents?). So many of these have primarily been left to the side. If there was a third season, it would allow the creatives more time to wrap up most if not all of these loose threads. Was having two seasons always the plan because, with the aforementioned loose threads, it feels like a three-part story got cut down to two parts.

Typically television series’ go on their mid-season break around the Christmas holiday. Star Wars Resistance didn’t do that this season. Now, a few of the episodes came out during the release of The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian. If Disney or whoever really wanted to promote Resistance, why let it get overlooked by other media? With a major film release and the first live-action television series, most people aren’t going to be turning their attention towards a show like Resistance.

The End of the Resistance

Fortunately, Resistance doesn’t feel like a show like Firefly, which got canceled after its first season and left a slew of plotlines unexplored. Resistance feels like it’s ending with the best possible scenario (just not what was initially planned). However, more can be done with the Ace squadron, Torra’s family (her mother is still fighting in the resistance), and Nena, the Nikto engineer. Much of the focus towards the end has been on Kaz, Yeager, and Tam, which makes total sense. But there is still so much out there that needs exploring. Alas, it feels very much like Resistance is ending sooner than planned initially with truncated stories.

There are some inconsistencies between the first half of season two and the second half. The season began with episodes whose purpose was to set up character arcs. The second half feels much more like a series that’s ending without a conclusion to those character arcs. Somewhere along the way, there was a course change. Regardless, The Clone Wars is returning in February for its 7th season, and Rebels lasted four seasons. Resistance lasting only two seasons is certainly not the norm.

Getting down to these two episodes both are very good, and hammer home the idea that not only is it coming close to the end of the series but also of Kaz’s personal journey. Kaz arrived on the Colossus in the first episode, and now he’s feeling left out without much responsibility. Kaz says in The New World that he’s going to meet the resistance at a rendezvous point near Batuu. The Battle at Batuu that Rise of the Resistance tells the story of is the halfway point between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. The New World is nearing that halfway point.

Water World

More Star Wars lore is added with the additions of the planet Aeos and the native Aeosians, a dilapidated rebel base was discovered inside a cave on Aeos. And Griff finally got a share of the spotlight. Griff reveals that it was Doza who convinced him to leave the Empire because it wasn’t worth fighting for. Seeing Tam flying a TIE fighter is always special, and there was an exciting battle between the Colossus, the First Order, and the Aeosians. There was plenty to enjoy in these two episodes. Kaz was the right amount of funny in these episodes, not obnoxiously goofy like he has been in the past. The New World and No Place Safe had underlying messages of what exactly makes a planet safe again.

The New World opens with the Colossus locating a new (ocean) home to settle down. Doza and the people aboard the Colossus are happy just to settle back down somewhere instead of heading into another war by joining the resistance fleet. Doza was so encouraged when they found Aeos because of the resources, but when they found out the First Order had been there, Doza was devastated. Great acting on Jason Hightower’s part. It makes sense from the perspective of the crew of the Colossus to want to settle down because it is a space station, but at some point, resources are going to run out.

Imperial Probe Droid

The folks on the Colossus don’t feel like they have to join the fight yet. Much like how the rest of the galaxy doesn’t respond to Leia’s call for help. At this point, they’re still afraid. Memories of Starkiller base are still fresh in their minds. As Kaz leaves Aeos, he comes across a First Order probe droid. He shoots it down but not before the droid can to send a signal to the First Order. This is very reminiscent of Han and Chewbacca getting in a shootout with a probe droid on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. A new TIE bomber design made its first appearance on screen as well, although its first appearance overall was in the Star Wars Allegiance comic book.

In many ways, Aeos is a more idyllic water planet than Castilon with its landmasses that Castilon lacked. In finding another ocean planet, Doza and the Colossus as a whole really want to go back to how things were, trying to forget what has happened over the past several months. But he can’t. The First Order won’t allow it. Remembering what Poe told Zorii in The Rise of Skywalker, about hyperspace lanes are blocked, children are being taken away from their families. It’s not a safe situation for the galaxy, and it’s not about to get any safer. There’s no hiding from it. There is no racing to escape what’s happening. Not until the threat is dealt with.

The Right Choice

Griff has been there from the beginning, all decked out in Imperial pilot gear intriguing as ever. His message to Kaz about leaving it all behind was good in a way that the Empire was corrupt, and sticking with it would’ve been the wrong thing to do morally. However, Kaz’s situation does not mirror Griff’s. Kaz wants to fight, he wants to get back into it. Decisions are based on personal experiences. What may work for one person may not make sense to another. Age may have played a role in each of their decisions too. Griff is much older, much more experienced. He wants to retire from the action. He’s had enough.

Meanwhile, Kaz is just reaching adulthood and is eager to join the action. When they first arrived on Aeos, Kaz gets caught in the excitement of finding a new home and the possibility of living a peaceful life. But in the end, his moral compass can’t allow him to sit out while others need help. By the end of the episode, Kaz says his goodbyes and leaves the Colossus behind.

The Aeosians

The Aeosian are some of the coolest looking aliens in Star Wars Resistance, they looked a lot like the aliens in Avatar: tall and thin, somewhat aquatic. Philosophically, their outlook on war and invading forces are very much reminiscent of the Lurmen from The Clone Wars. Like the Lurmen, the Aeosians are approached by an army which claims to have good intentions. In The Clone Wars, one of the running themes was that liberators would eventually become colonizers, and that is how the Aeosians looked at Kaz and Griff. Especially Griff, who is still donning his imperial armor. It’s happened in the real world between several European countries and their colonies. In this case, the two sides mutually benefit from their relationship. The Aeosians recently lost their healer, and Kaz offered the facilities on the Colossus in exchange to let the Colossus stay.

Kaz’s goodbye felt a little anticlimactic. Neeku was a flood of emotions as expected, Torra was angry that he was leaving her behind, Yeager was supportive, and Synara was pretty indifferent (surprisingly). Because of this, it wasn’t convincing he was going for real. Tam and Rucklin are two First Order pilots, each absorbing the First Order doctrine at different rates. Rucklin is all in. He no longer refers to Tam by her name; to him, she is now DT-533. Tam, however, still calls Rucklin by his name. At one point during the battle between a First Order Star Destroyer and the Colossus, Tam has Kaz in her sights but fails to pull the trigger, precisely how Kylo, couldn’t pull the trigger on Leia. Since her decision to join the First Order, her anger towards Kaz and Yeager has faded. She no longer wants to harm them (maybe she never did, but the chances of that happening now compared to then have lessened considerably).

A Dark Turn

There was a curious exchange between Kaz and Yeager, where Kaz tells Yeager that he had a feeling (a term recently associated with having Force abilities) that if given a chance, Tam would kill Kaz. Yeager responds by saying if the opportunity comes where they have to take her out, they should do it. Star Wars Resistance is getting dark. For so long, Kaz and Yeager had faith in Tam in that she was being misled by the First Order. She was a misguided soul who lost her way. But they would help her. It looks as if that hope has faded. One of the reasons Tam left the Colossus was because she felt she wasn’t getting the recognition she deserved. The recognition the First Orders gives her in No Place Safe to Squadron 2 Commander.

Is Star Wars Resistance implying Kaz may be Force-sensitive? No, it’s highly unlikely the creators knew anything specific about The Rise of Skywalker. It would be a vast stretch to say otherwise. It’s one thing to suggest anyone can feel the Force, but it’s another to say anyone can become a Jedi. Mika Grey says, “the Force doesn’t belong to any one person. It’s inside all of us. We just find it in different ways.”

Tam, the Squadron Commander

What about Tam’s promotion? The reasons Tierney decided to give Tam the promotion are multiple. First, it creates a more significant divide between her and the Colossus. Giving her what they didn’t. It also offers Tam a responsibility that forces her to focus on her squadron and taking away thoughts of returning to the Colossus.

In another scene, Tierney taunts Commander Pyre by saying that General Hux won’t be pleased. To which Pyre responds by saying that “it’s not Hux I’m afraid of.” Thinking back to the season two trailer that shows Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, who is due to make an appearance before the end of the series. As far as other mainstream film characters, Poe, BB-8, or Leia could make an appearance in the finale.

Conclusion

The New World and No Place Safe are two excellent episodes, and that’s likely to continue through the end of the series. Only two episodes remain, and one of the most anticipated stories to conclude will be what happens to Tam. Perhaps that grin wasn’t a reaction to being promoted, but an a-ha! I have you now, Tierney!