This episode doesn’t waste a lot of time. It does build and it does it well, but the point was to officially start the Rebellion. And canonically it has always begun with Mon Mothma making a speech.
This show is replete with barnburner speeches. There are three epic ones in season one, two so far in this season, and I’m pretty sure this one will rank up there with the rest. Sparked by the events on Ghorman, which is also canonical, I should have remembered it was mentioned as the catalyst for Mon leaving the Senate back in Star Wars: Rebels. Anyway, the speech vilified the Empire, she said the words "unprovoked genocide" on the Senate floor and called out the Emperor as a monster. Pretty powerful stuff.
Beyond the speech, this was essentially a long chase scene. Which was incredibly tense, especially when you consider the characters escaping are well established and we know where their stories are headed. Yet in the moment none of that matters. We have Erskin coming through for Mon even after she fired him. We have Cassian killing, without hesitation, the two ISB operatives in their way. How much do you want to bet that Dedra will have a cow when she finds that out? But most importantly we have our first real interaction between Cassian and Mon Mothma.
We can see them building a rapport throughout the episode, and you can see her learning to trust him as they run through the building. It was really neat to watch in real time as he protected her with his own body, took care of what needed to be taken care of, and acted as both her guardian while also deferring to her knowledge of the building. His actions proved he had no ego in the situation. He was there for one purpose and he executed it perfectly.
I also loved a lot of the build up to the actual speech, the tension in both the ISB offices when they discover that the bug in Mon’s office was destroyed. Then the way Cassian just strolled into the Senate building as a reporter as if he was there every day. The control officer even gave him a pass, as though he were a good guy most of the time. Who knows, maybe he is a good guy. Despite the fact he desperately tried to shut off Mon’s speech.
The whole cat and mouse game with the ISB plant in Bail’s team was an interesting distraction because we knew it would be Cassian there for her. In the end they were utterly ineffectual, and if she had gone with them she would have been in a cell by that afternoon just like Senator Oran. Bail, of course, wasn’t to blame because he couldn’t know the hired agents personally. He had to keep a level of detachment. It was likely his people set up the contractors third party discreetly so that nothing could be traced back to Bail.
Luthen’s part in all of this was to get Mon to safety. She has served her purpose but he does clearly care about her to a degree. Sending in Cassian, who is clearly at the end of his rope, was a mildly risky move, but ultimately a good one. Luthen isn’t even bothering to keep up his fop act in public. I wonder what that means moving forward. I keep wondering when his story ends, but perhaps it won’t and he helps run the Rebellion behind the scenes with Bail and Mon.
Kleya is very much the assistant who knows just as much and perhaps more than their boss. Just like Erskin she is absolutely loyal, even if she has to work using different faces with different people. Yet we get to see a bit of her softer side when she remarks on Cassian’s success and shows concern for Wilmon. It isn’t the first time she has shown she actually has a heart, but given her normal brusk demeanor, those moments feel earned.
Speaking of Wilmon, we don't know how he got hurt, but his leg is badly injured. Yet he and Dreena managed to escape Ghorman alive and together. Cassian gets them to Yavin so I bet we’ll see them both in the next arc, although a lot can happen in a year. That scene in general was a nice pause in the emotional rollercoaster, as Cassian and Mon connect and we learn that Luthen is currently safe. It is an important scene, but doesn’t feel that important as it is happening.
Which brings me to the part that I am not ashamed to admit made me cry. Bix has been an integral part of the show since the beginning. Her relationship with Cassian is almost foundational in importance. Here she sacrifices her own happiness for the cause, choosing the Rebellion over their relationship, because Cassian is too important. It hurts to watch, because she doesn’t want to go and he doesn’t want to go on without her. Yet like always, when he is needed, he simply acts. It’s his nature, it is why he is so good at what he does. Yet if you look at it in a certain way, Bix literally just saved the galaxy.
Bits:
The opening music is still Ghor singing like the last episode. More like ghosts.
Gold Squadron is delivering Mon to Yavin. We get to see this, including Mon’s second speech, in season three, episode 18, "Secret Cargo" in Star Wars: Rebels.
Cassian’s cover of the week: Ronnie Gooja, Mid-Rim Network.
I found it interesting that Bail wasn’t ready to leave the Senate yet. This is still a couple of years out from A New Hope.
The destroyed KX unit had its cortex swapped out to alter impulse control instead of software reprogramming. It was a nice little explanation for K2SO's frequent jabs at Cassian reprogramming him in Rogue One.
Quotes:
Mon: “The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest. This Chamber's hold on the truth was finally lost on the Ghorman Plaza. What took place yesterday... what happened yesterday on Ghorman... was unprovoked genocide. Yes! Genocide! And that truth has been exiled from this Chamber! And the monster screaming the loudest? The monster we've helped create? The monster who will come for us all soon enough... is Emperor Palpatine!”
Luthen: “Eventually they’ll hang us both, won’t they?”
Oran: “Ghorman is being slaughtered.”
Bail: “Tear the shit out of this place.”
Mon: “I’m not sure I can do this.”
Cassian: “Welcome to the rebellion.”
Mon: “I’m not sure how to thank you.”
Cassian: “Make it worth it.”
Cassian: “When have I not come through? I need to start making my own decisions.”
Kleya: “I thought that’s what we were fighting for.”
Kleya: “Can I guess? You're tired. It's too much. It's too hard. You were a witness to the Ghorman Massacre, one would think there'd be no stopping you. The Senator you'll be saving is about to risk everything putting a voice to the atrocity you just survived. Tell her you're done.”
This was a fantastic episode. It was tense and important and felt like it was watching a reinactment from a page in Star Wars galactic history.
4 out of 4 Political Speeches About Truth and Tyranny
Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.
Another really good episode. What touched me the most was Cassian telling Bix that he had just been lucky. Cassian doesn't know his own worth, doesn't realize that he is an incredibly skilled spy who has carried off several near impossible missions. Luthen knows, though. If Luthen hadn't sent Cassian, they would have captured Mon Mothma and they would have never stopped doing horrible things to her.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for keeping up with the series, Samantha. Three episodes a week is a lot.