The Empire Strikes Back
The Empire wants to send a strong message to the galaxy following the heist on Aldhani. During a meeting at the Imperial Security Bureau, Colonel Wullf Yularen (Malcolm Sinclair) announces new Empire-wide measures:
- A tribute tax equal to five times the amount stolen from Aldhani on any sector harboring partisan activity.
- The use of local customs, festivals, or traditions as a cover for rebel activity will result in permanent revocation of Imperial tolerance.
- The Public Order Resentencing Directive (PORD) will be invoked — criminal acts will be a Class One Offense, even the ones that have an indirect effect on the Empire.
- Prison sentences are being re-evaluated.
- All outstanding fines and levies are to be paid in full.
“The only question we need to answer is how tight do we close our first,” Yularen says.
Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) doesn’t like these plans. She feels this is the response the rebels’ were looking for, and that the Imperial Security Bureau are playing right into the enemy’s hands. To her, the heist wasn’t a robbery — it was an announcement.
Dedra requests a Multi-Sector Data Blend going back two years for Imperial Navy bases and repair facilities. The report should include all missing avionics, comm, navigation and targeting equipment for all star systems. The report is to be given to her directly and kept confidential.
To highlight how bad things are now, we see a Star Destroyer soar across the sky in Aldhani as Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu) tries to find a way to escape.
The Dark Side Of The Rebellion
On Coruscant, Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) is listening to the news regarding the heist when Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) arrives at the antique shop, looking for answers. She was unaware the heist was going to take place, and is displeased to learn Luthen was behind it. She warns people will get hurt, but Luthen responds that was the plan. He wants the Empire to double down on their oppressive ways to encourage more people to rebel against them. “We need the fear. We need them to overreact. The Empire has been choking us so slowly, we’re starting not to notice”, Luthen says. He gives her an ultimatum: surrender her conscience or get out, as there are no rules going forward.
Meanwhile, Luthen’s assistant Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau) meets with Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay), who’s disappointed Luthen didn’t come with her. The money is safe, the freighter buried. Kleya is nonchalant about the deaths that occurred during the heist, and warns Vel not to contact Cinta. Now there’s one loose end to take care of: Cassian. Vel is to find him, and kill him to prevent him from turning Luthen over to the Empire. “This is what revolution looks like”, Kleya says.
Later on, Mon chats with her banker friend Tay Kolma (Ben Miles) at a party. She wants to tell him something that only three people in the galaxy knows about. When he makes a comment implying he’s anti-Imperial, Mon takes it as a sign he can be trusted. She admits that her Mon Mothma persona is a lie crafted to misled people, without revealing her ties to the Rebellion.
She reveals to Tay that the Grand Vizier has infiltrated her Separatist Coalition meetings, and her driver is an ISB plant who reports on her secret humanitarian programs. In other words, she’s being watched. Mon needs to get her hands on her family’s money, but has lost access to the accounts. She wants to set up “a Chandrilan charitable outreach program”, with Tay as chairman, to funnel the money to the rebellion. Before he can respond, Mon warns that her husband Perrin is oblivious to her true agenda, and he can’t be trusted. As if on cue, Perrin interrupts, requiring her to schmooze with guests.
You Can’t Go Home Again
Cassian returns to Ferrix and visits Maarva (Fiona Shaw) and B2EMO (Dave Chapman). Maarva tells him it’s not safe for him to be there, and that Ferrix is under Imperial authority. He learns it was Timm Karlo who turned him in, and was killed by the Corpos. Cassian tells Maarva the three of them are leaving. He has enough credits to take them anywhere they want to go.
Cassian checks up on Bix (Adria Arjona) and they discuss their past relationship — which could explain Timm’s actions. She tells him the town blames him for what happened. “You killed two Corpos and came home to hide,” Bix points out. “Put the entire town at risk. Now there are Imperials on the street”. She tells Cassian he needs to get out of Ferrix. It’s her way of saying goodbye, permanently. He asks who Luthen is. She doesn’t know, but said he knew about him killing the Corpos, but not from her. Cassian wants Bix to tell Luthen he held up his side of the deal, and gives her 12,000 credits to repay his debts.
Seeing Imperial activity in Ferrix triggers flashbacks of Cassian’s adoptive father Clem. Stormtroopers hung Clem in the town’s square on Rix Road after he tried to calm a rebellious situation. Cassian attacked the troopers afterwards, and that’s why he was sent to prison all those years ago. When Cassian returns to Maarva’s, she refuses to leave. Inspired by the garrison heist, she wants to fight for the rebellion. Maarva explains why she takes the long way, so she doesn’t have to see the spot where Clem hung. Cassian doesn’t admit he was part of the heist, but he does say he doesn’t understand why she’d stay. Maarva explains they’re on different paths, and while she loves him he can’t stay, and she won’t leave. Maarva also tells Cassian to stop searching for his sister because there were no survivors on Kenari.
Moving On Up
Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) is preparing for an interview his Uncle Harlo arranged with the Bureau of Standards. Syril’s mother Eedy (Kathryn Hunter) criticizes his brown suit and reminds her son he’s not just representing himself. He’s distracted by news of the heist.
During his interview, Syril is asked about what happened on Morgana One. He explains there’s a rebel killer on the loose due to corruption in corporate authority, who killed two co-workers. He was fired for trying to uphold the law. Syril intends to get justice and clear his name. The interviewer decides to expunge his record before hiring him, giving Syril a clean start with a job in Fuel Purity.
During an ISB meeting, Blevin (Ben Bailey Smith) smugly exposes Dedra for trying to get sector data behind his back. Dedra explains to Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) she used the Imperial Emergency Act to gather data across multiple sectors, due to the events that happened on Aldhani. She says the sectors Partagaz created are no longer relevant, and she can prove there’s an organized rebel effort to acquire highly restricted Imperial military components. Dedra has a file ready for presentation, and she believes Blevin staged this as an act of self-preservation. Blevin’s plan backfires spectacularly — Partagaz praises Dedra for her due diligence and reassigns the Morlana sector to her. “Well played,” Partagaz tells Dedra privately and warns her to watch her back.
Trouble in Paradise
Cassian — who’s going by the name Keef Girgo — is in the beautiful beach planet Niamos with a new lover named Windi (Katrina Nare). On the way to the store, he’s arrested for being part of a crime he did had nothing to do with. He tried to explain he’s a tourist, but no one believed him. The sentence he was given, which used to be six months, is now six years.
The episode ends with Syril working in his cubicle. He knows he’s being watched. The camera pans out, and you see he is one of many.
