It’s always a big thrill when Star Wars content ties in so well to the films, and that’s exactly what happened with the most recent episode of Star Wars Resistance. You can read my review of the episode here (it’s one of my favorite episodes yet), but I want to delve more in-depth here to one of the coolest parts of the episode: we got to see the aftermath of the Battle of D’Qar.
We were first introduced to the planet D’Qar in The Force Awakens, as the green planet surrounded by an asteroid belt was home to the secret Resistance base. But the First Order discovered their location, prompting the Resistance to evacuate shortly after destroying Starkiller Base. So at the beginning of The Last Jedi, we see the First Order arrive to obliterate the remnants of the Resistance, with General Hux ordering a dreadnaught to fire on the base. Poe Dameron’s heroics buy the Resistance enough time, but he stubbornly insists on a bombing run in an effort to take out the Dreadnaught. What ensues is a significant battle that successfully does take down the Dreadnaught, but at the cost of the entire Resistance bombing fleet.
But back up a little to last season on Resistance: General Leia Organa transmitted codes to the secret Resistance base on D’Qar to Kazuda Xiono, encouraging him to join them there. So as the Colossus flees the First Order assault on Castilon, they head toward D’Qar. The first episode of this second season didn’t really follow up on that, but the second episode certainly did. The Colossus arrives at D’Qar… only to find no hint of the Resistance, but instead the remnants of a massive battle.
Here’s what the atmosphere above D’Qar now looks like:
One of the more disconcerting aspects of this scene are the fragments of TIE Fighters and X-Wings that are just floating around in space. We know that they represent fighters that rushed out to combat, and so what’s happening with this is that we’re seeing the remains of these ships, whose pilots gave their lives for their respective causes. This is the last remnant of the Resistance/First Order conflict that took place there not too long ago.
Of course, you’ll also notice the big red glow on the planet’s surface. Here’s a better look at it:
That, of course, is the aftermath of the First Order Dreadnaught firing on the Resistance base on the surface. In TLJ, the Dreadnaught fired upon the base just as Lieutenant Connix finished the evacuation, escaping just in the nick of time. We saw the base exploding just as the last Resistance transport left. So in this shot, seen from space, we get a look at the devastating aftermath of this attack – and the danger of a First Order Dreadnaught. We’re told that they are fleet killers, but it looks like they pack quite a punch against land forces as well.
And while it’s a chilling image when you understand what it represents, the animation is absolutely beautiful.
Anyway, we’ve mentioned the Dreadnaught, and we got a look at that too!
The Dreadnaught was destroyed by Paige Tico’s heroics, as she triggered the bombs dropping onto the First Order ship even though she knew that her helpless bomber would be caught in the explosion. She sacrificed herself for the good of the Resistance, and in doing so the First Order Dreadnaught was destroyed, exploding as the remaining Resistance fleet escaped. So in addition to there being the remnants of X-Wings and TIE Fighters in the atmosphere, there’s also the remnants of this Dreadnaught. In fact, the heroes of the Colossus infiltrate these remains to scavenge the ship, looking for coaxium, so we actually get to see the interior of it too.
So anyway, I think it’s really cool that we get to see the aftermath of the Battle of D’Qar, seen in TLJ, in this episode of Resistance. We then get the second Battle of D’Qar, with the Aces fighting TIE Fighters, and the animation of this show is absolutely beautiful and brilliant. I think it’s awesome to see the show tie in this directly to the film, and I’m excited to see how it continues to tie in to this larger Star Wars universe!
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