In the latest episode of Ahsoka, Hera Syndulla attempted to persuade New Republic Chancellor Mon Mothma and several New Republic Senators to take seriously the threat of Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return – to no avail.
The biggest obstacle to more aid was Senator Hamato Xiono, whose icy exchange with Hera derailed her efforts. It was obvious to anyone watching that he was the one standing in the way, but it might surprise viewers to learn that we’ve actually seen him before, as he’s actually related to a notable Star Wars character.
In the animated series Star Wars Resistance, set just prior to and during the sequel trilogy, a young New Republic pilot named Kazuda Xiono is recruited by the Resistance, becoming a spy and pilot fighting against the First Order. And he is the son of New Republic Senator Hamato Xiono.
Hamato is a Senator representing Hosnian Prime, which would be the location of the New Republic Senate by the time of The Force Awakens, when the planet and its surrounding system was destroyed by Starkiller Base. This means he served as a Senator for over two decades, getting involved in New Republic politics after the Rebellion won the war against the Empire. Five years after the events of the Ahsoka series, Kazuda was born, and his father eventually helped him get into the academy and the New Republic Defense Fleet. But when Kaz was 20, with a cold war brewing between the Resistance and the lurking First Order, Kaz was recruited to the Resistance by Poe Dameron.
He informed his father about this, but Hamato was upset about it and expressed his dislike for the Resistance, dismissing them as a band of extremists. A year later, when Starkiller Base destroyed the Hosnian System, Kaz feared his family was killed – but his father contacted him saying that they were safe, as they had been off-world at the moment. He still looked down upon Kaz’s involvement in the Resistance, however, declining an offer from Kaz to join them.
Though Hamata only appeared a couple of times in Resistance (and only ever via hologram), it was clear that he didn’t like Leia’s group of rebels. In fact, given his disgust with the group and the fact that he was curiously off-world from his home planet when it was destroyed, there has been a significant amount of fan speculation that he could actually have been supporting the First Order. We don’t know whether that’s the case or not, but his characterization here in Ahsoka feels perfectly in line with what we already knew of him. He doesn’t want to personally get involved, and he’s very dismissive of threats to the New Republic he serves.
Because many other Senators shared the same shortsightedness as Xiono, the New Republic would eventually fall, a few decades after the events of Ahsoka.
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