Off Topic: Resistance Reborn fills in the gap between Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker

Resistance Reborn is an upcoming canon novel set in the Star Wars universe. Written by Rebecca Roanhorse, it covers the events between Episode VIII The Last Jedi and Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker. You can preorder the novel now and it will be released on November 5, 2019, about six weeks before Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters. Much like how Before the Storm bridged the gap between Legion and Battle for Azeroth, Resistance Reborn will bridge the gap between The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker.

Where were we

Throughout The Last Jedi, the Resistance is reduced from a military fighting force to more of an RPG-style band of adventurers. Finn, Poe, Rey, Rose, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa escape from the planet Crait with a few other survivors. They can’t even take on the First Order, much less defeat them.

Like our stranded characters in Nazjatar, they’re going to need help. The back cover copy states:

Leia’s last desperate call for aid has gone unanswered. If hope is to survive, the Resistance must journey throughout the galaxy, seeking out more leaders—including those who, in days gone by, helped a nascent rebellion topple an empire.

The story of Resistance Reborn will show this ragtag crew rebuilding the Resistance, allowing the movie to concentrate on the eventual, and hopefully, final overthrow of the The First Order. I’m intrigued by the hero’s quest to seek out leaders “who, in days gone by, helped a nascent rebellion topple an empire.”

Just who are these leaders?

The obvious choice

Spoiler alert, but we already know from the Rise of Skywalker trailer that none other than Billy Dee Williams will be reprising his role as Lando Calrissian. Lando, the card player, gambler, scoundrel, and friend of Han Solo joined the Rebellion after events of The Empire Strikes Back. He was the one who piloted the Millennium Falcon at the Battle of Endor. Its obvious he’s one of the leaders alluded to here.

But could there be others? Clues in the trailer hint we’ll be visiting Endor so the lovable ewoks could make a return, but there’s another possibility I find even more intriguing.

The Spectres

In the wake of the Clone Wars TV show, Disney XD created Rebels which followed a group of heroes in those nascent days of the rebellion. The Spectres performed many dangerous missions including escorting none other than Mon Mothma to one of the first meetings of the Alliance.

The Spectres were led by the skilled Twilek pilot, Hera Syndulla.  She knows what it takes to get a rebellion off the ground. Hera stayed with the rebellion and fought in the Battle of Endor, as did Commander Rex, a Clone trooper who joined the group.

Connections

During their many missions, the team had numerous run ins with Lando. He knows Hera and might call her back into service. She was also known to Leia Organa through a message discovered by the Resistance from the Jedi Asoka Tano.

The movies have already established precedence for the Spectres. During Rogue One, if you can listen closely, you can hear a page for Captain Syndulla during the scenes on Yavin IV.  Later, as the rebellion assaults Scarif, you can briefly see The Ghost, a modified transport in the spirit of the Falcon, and the real home for the Spectres in the formation of battle.

But where are they now?

Spoilers for the Rebels TV show to follow:

The epilogue to Rebels shows the group splitting up after the defeat of the Empire at Endor. With the galaxy relatively safe, Hera sets herself on the task on raising her young child Jacen Syndulla. He’d be in his 30s by the time of Rise of Skywalker, and given his parentage, is likely Force sensitive. Commander Rex was already an old man during the show’s timeline and has probably become one with the Force. Sabine Wren, the Mandalorian of the group, was last seen headed to the Unknown Regions with Asoka Tano to hunt for their friend and fellow Spectre, Ezra Bridger, a Jedi in his own right. Garazeb Orrelios, commonly known as Zeb, the muscle of the group, relocated to his homeworld.

Hera could conceivably bring the group back together during the events of Resistance Reborn.

A small world after all?

Another of Hera’s contacts was one Hondo Ohnaka. Hondo, another smuggler, went “clean” after the Galatic Civil War. These days, he’s running Blade Spire Outpost. Disney just happened to chose Blade Spire as the setting for Galaxy’s Edge, the new Star Wars land in Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Thus far in the canon, Blade Spire has only had a brief mention in the novel Thrawn: Alliances. Wouldn’t it be interesting if Blade Spire had a much bigger role, say one in lead up to Rise of Skywalker, with Hondo helping Hera reunite with the surviving Specters.