‘Ahsoka’: Who Is Hera Syndulla? Meet Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Character

One of the things that we saw in ‘Ahsoka’ was the live-action debuts of some of the most beloved characters that we met in ‘Star Wars: Rebels.’ Of course, we knew that Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren would be two of the most important characters in this series. But we also got to see the live-action debut of none other than Hera Syndulla, who we met back in ‘Rebels.’ So, who is Hera Syndulla in Ahsoka?

Hera Syndulla was once a general during the Rebellion period as she piloted the ship called the Ghost. She was one of the co-leaders of the Spectres, which were the crew members of the Ghost, and was the love interest of Kanan Jarrus. After the Rebellion, Hera became a general in the New Republic Defense Fleet.

The thing about Hera is that she has always been someone who was willing to fight oppression wherever she saw it. That is why she never stopped fighting the good fight, even after the fall of the Empire. This is also why Hera is one of the most important characters in ‘Ashoka,’ as she is looking to try to prevent another war from breaking out.

Resisting oppression runs deep in Hera’s family

When we first met Hera Syndulla during the events of ‘Star Wars: Rebels,’ her family name immediately rang a bell in the heads of many different fans. That’s because her father, Cham Syndulla, appeared during the events of ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars”

During the Clone Wars, Cham was a freedom fighter who fought for the rights of the people of Ryloth. He was against the current regime of the planet and was often at odds with the corrupt Ryloth senator named Orn Free Taa.

As such, when the Jedi came to ask for Cham’s help in the war against the Separatists on Ryloth, he was hesitant to assist them because he knew that the Jedi were loyal to the senators of the Republic.

However, because he had to choose between the oppressive Separatists and the corrupt Senator Orn Free Taa, Cham had to help the Jedi in their fight against the Separatists. Still, he eventually had to fight the oppression of the Empire when the Republic’s presence on the planet turned into an Imperial presence. And that’s why Cham continued to rebel against the Empire for the sake of the people of Ryloth.

After Hera lost her mother during the Empire’s occupation of Ryloth, Cham drowned himself in grief by becoming more obsessed with fighting the Empire. This affected his relationship with Hera, who left Ryloth to find her path in life. Eventually, Hera became allied with Kanan Jarrus, who used to be a Jedi Padawan named Caleb Dume. Together, they formed a small cell of Rebels operating through Hera’s ship called the Ghost.

Hera and Kanan found more allies when Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra joined the crew. Together, they were called the Spectres, as they all had codenames. Hera was Spectre-2 and was one of the co-leaders of the Spectres together with Kanan Jarrus.

As fighting oppression ran through her blood, Hera participated in different missions that allowed her and the other Spectres to cripple the efforts of the Empire. They were operating off the information that Fulcrum, who was actually Ahsoka the entire time, was feeding them.

Eventually, the entire Spectre cell joined forces with the larger Phoenix Squadron led by Commander Jun Sato before they became part of the Alliance to Restore Republic, otherwise known as the Rebel Alliance.

While fighting for Phoenix Squadron and then the Rebel Alliance, Hera Syndulla was given the rank of general and was often one of the pilots tasked to lead entire squadrons of starfighters because of the best pilots that they had.

Hera was the mother figure of the Spectres

As mentioned, Hera was one of the co-leaders of the Spectres, as she and Kanan were two of the oldest members of that group. In fact, Hera acted as a parent to the other members of the Spectres because she was seemingly the mother of the group. Of course, the Spectres were often seen as a family of misfits who truly loved and cared for one another.

In that regard, Kanan was often seen as the space dad of the group, whereas Hera was the space mom. Hera’s motherly instincts were always there because she was the most level-headed out of all of the members of the Spectres and was someone who rarely gave in to her emotional side.

In a lot of different cases, Hera mediated on behalf of the members of the group whenever there were problems. She was a stern yet very caring mother figure to everyone in the Spectres. She was often the first to try to talk to the members whenever they had their own individual problems.

As such, Hera’s leadership qualities were already evident while she was leading the Spectres. That was why she was a respected general within the Rebel Alliance during the larger Rebellion period that took place during the events of the original trilogy.

Hera and Kanan were in love

On top of the fact that Hera and Kanan were seen as the parent figures of the Spectres, they were also in love. From the very start, it was clear that they had feelings for one another. However, they often had to park their feelings because they needed to prioritize their missions.

But it was in season 4 that the relationship reached its peak. After the Empire captured Hera, Kanan went on a mission together with Ezra and Sabine to try to rescue her. Hera was under the influence of a drug that made her speak the truth, and that was why she was so vocal about her feelings for Kanan while the Jedi Knight was still busting her out of prison.

Kanan, of course, eventually admitted that he truly loved Hera. He even had to sacrifice himself for the sake of Hera and the other Spectres when Governor Pryce destroyed a fuel depot in an attempt to allow the explosion to kill the Spectres. However, Kanan used the Force to keep the explosion at bay while pushing Hera and the other Spectres away from the explosion. The blast killed Kanan, who was a true Jedi Knight in death.

Years later, it was clear that Hera and Kanan’s relationship bore fruit. That’s because Hera bore a son named Jacen Syndulla, a hybrid between Kanan’s human side and Hera’s Twi-lek side. And Jacen started accompanying his mother on her missions as a pilot for the Rebels.

Hera continued to serve as a general

Even after the Liberation of Lothal, Hera Syndulla never stopped serving the Rebel Alliance. She was a general serving the Rebellion and was even there during the Battle of Endor to deliver supplies to Han Solo and his crew. Hera also participated in the final battle against the Empire on Jakku.

After the defeat of the Empire, the New Republic was finally established. Hera continued serving as a general for the Defense Fleet as she understood that the new regime would always need her piloting skills and leadership qualities. 

That is why she is now in ‘Ahsoka,’ trying to prevent a war from breaking out by finding a way to make sure that the Imperial remnants wouldn’t be able to bring Grand Admiral Thrawn back to the known galaxy.

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