One of the most controversial moments in The Last Jedi almost happened earlier in a beloved Star Wars show. The 2017 movie proved to be deeply divisive, from the way it handled the story of Luke Skywalker to the Holdo Maneuver. The latter involved the Resistance’s Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo making the ultimate sacrifice by taking a cruiser into lightspeed while flying it into the First Order’s flagship. Her sacrifice helps the surviving Resistance forces escape.
On the Star Wars Rebels rewatch podcast Pod of Rebellion, Rebels writer Henry Gilroy revealed that he pitched a similar idea for the season 3 finale of the animated series. During this episode, the Rebellion’s Commander Jun Sato rams his ship into one of the Empire’s Interdictor cruisers. Sato sacrifices his life, but the destruction of the Interdictor cruiser allows Ezra Bridger to jump to hyperspace and get the Rebellion the aid they need during the Battle of Atollon.
Gilroy explains that he pitched Sato jumping to lightspeed when ramming into the Interdictor cruiser, just as Holdo does in The Last Jedi. He continued pitching the idea until he was told that he could not do it, although he was not given a reason.
He was not allowed to read The Last Jedi‘s script ahead of time, so it wasn’t until seeing the Holdo Maneuver in the released movie that he realized this must have been the reason why his pitch was rejected. He also wonders whether his idea ended up influencing the Holdo Maneuver in the finished film. Check out his comments below:
End of season 3, I had Sato blast through the Imperial forces by jumping to lightspeed. He blasted through to clear the way for the rebels to escape. I kept pitching it, and they wouldn’t tell me no, and they wouldn’t say yes, and they finally said, “No, you can’t do that” and I’m like, “Why not?” and they wouldn’t tell me until I saw The Last Jedi. So, I’m always wondering, did I pitch that and did it get used, or… I never got an explanation because I wasn’t able to read The Last Jedi script.
The season 3 finale of the Star Wars animated show was released on March 25, 2017, months ahead of The Last Jedi‘s theatrical debut on December 15 of the same year. Due to Rebels being an animated show, Sato doing a version of the Holdo Maneuver likely wouldn’t have been as controversial as it was in a live-action movie seen by a wider audience.
With numerous Star Wars movies, shows, novels, comics, and video games in the works, the franchise has to be careful about not repeating the same creative beats across various projects. This is part of the responsibility of the Lucasfilm Story Group, who assist creators with their stories and help maintain the constantly expanding continuity of the Star Wars canon.
In the final version of the Star Wars Rebels season 3 finale, Sato couldn’t have jumped to lightspeed anyway, as Interdictor cruisers prevent ships from jumping to lightspeed or pulls them out of it. His final act serves the same purpose as Holdo’s in The Last Jedi, though, as they sacrifice themselves to help their fellow rebels fight on and ultimately save the galaxy from tyranny.
