Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Holdo’s Sacrifice
There are many things in Star Wars: The Last Jedi that we’ve never seen before in the Star Wars universe, and the sacrifice of Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) is one of them. Not because she gives her life for the rebellion – we’ve seen that many times – but because of the way in which she chooses to do it.
Vice Admiral Holdo has appeared on the General Leia Organa’s ship because Leia is comatose following a First Order attack. When Holdo assumes command, she clashes with Poe, who finds the fact that she thinks he’s wrong to be an indication of some kind of treachery, or betrayal. In fact, Holdo is simply commanding the Rebel fleet as best she can – taking into consideration the bigger picture – and, when Leia returns to command, she ensures that the General accompanies the rest of the fleet in their escape vessels.
The escape is vital to the survival of the Rebellion. The First Order has developed the ability to track the Rebel fleet, even through hyper space, and their troop carrier is almost out of fuel. Their only hope is to evacuate the fleet to an abandoned Rebel base on Crait, and hope that the First Order doesn’t blow them out of the sky before they get there. But, being Second-In-Command, Holdo voluntarily assumes the responsibility of staying behind with the troop carrier, to provide the fleet with some semblance of cover.
Holdo announces her intention to General Organa just as they reach the doors of the ship. Leia is awed by Holdo’s resolve, and offers no argument against her choice – only respect at the incredible leadership she shows. In a strangely prescient and relatable line of dialogue (given the fact that this unexpectedly became Carrie Fisher’s last Star Wars movie), Holdo takes Leia’s hands and tearfully says, “You taught me how.”
Leia and the troops depart, and set off for the Rebel base – but they come under fire from the First Order. Holdo – alone on the hefty troop carrier – decides to put the last of its fuel to good use and points its nose directly into the centre of the largest vessel in the First Order fleet. In position, she engages the hyper-drive, and bisects the enemy’s ship at light-speed.
There is silence. Absolute silence. We see the dazzling explosion, and we see it take a large proportion of the Fleet’s smaller vessels with it – but there is no sound. Then, slowly, we hear it approach us, and roll over us like thunder. We’ve seen things explode in Star Wars movies many times – but we’ve never seen a Rebel troop carrier ram an enemy destroyer at light-speed before. Vice-Admiral Holdo delivered a franchise-first, in more ways than one.
