‘Ahsoka’: Here Is Why Senate Doesn’t Want To Help Hera

The storyline of ‘Ahsoka’ may focus a lot on Ahsoka Tano’s quest to stop the Imperial remnants from bringing Grand Admiral Thrawn back. Still, there is also a larger political game at play here. Hera Syndulla is looking to find a way to make sure that she has the support of the New Republic in her efforts to try to prevent a war from breaking out. But the problem is that the Senate doesn’t support her. So, why doesn’t the Senate want to help Hera?

The Senate doesn’t want to help Hera in her mission to prevent the Imperial remnants from finding Thrawn because the senators think this is just a wild goose chase involving a man they believe is already dead. Senator Hamato Xiono also believes that Hera only tries to use Republic resources to find Ezra Bridger.

It is the fact that the New Republic doesn’t think that Thrawn or even the Imperial remnants can be a threat, which is why this form of government collapsed and was ineffective in handling the problems of the galaxy after the Reign of the Empire. So, with that said, let’s look at the reasons why the Senate doesn’t want to send help to Ahsoka and Sabine.

The Imperials are believed to be scattered

Ever since the New Republic era started, it became clear that Imperial remnants were still operating throughout the galaxy. After all, these remnants were the reasons why the First Order rose to power during the events of the sequel trilogy. But before the First Order came to power, the Imperials were scattered all over the galaxy and operated under individual warlords’ orders.

In that regard, the New Republic didn’t concern itself with the many different operations of the Imperial warlords who operated in different sectors of the galaxy. The New Republic Defense Fleet was there to deter any Imperials that wanted to stir up some trouble in the territories closer to the core of the New Republic.

But the Senate mostly ignored the smaller skirmishes happening in different parts of the galaxy, especially if they didn’t believe that this was something that was a cause for concern.

But what the New Republic doesn’t understand is that the Imperial remnants were operating systematically in secret. That was why the Shadow Council existed as a way for them to operate in secret to enact the contingency plans set by the emperor in case the Empire were to fall. Even the Shadow Council has been waiting for Grand Admiral Thrawn to return because he is believed to be the one who could unite all of them.

Nevertheless, the New Republic thinks that no central commander could unite all of the Imperial remnants. That is why the Senate doesn’t think that fighting the Imperial remnants should be the main concern of the New Republic, especially when other systems still suffer from the damage caused by the Empire during the Imperial era.

They think that Thrawn is dead

When Hera Syndulla brought up Grand Admiral Thrawn’s name during the meeting with the Senate, Chancellor Mon Mothma was visibly shocked. That’s because she knows what Thrawn is capable of and how dangerous of a man he is. But at the same time, she believes that Thrawn is dead.

It has been around ten years since Thrawn disappeared at the end of ‘Star Wars: Rebels,’ which means that the standing belief is that he should have already returned if he wanted to return. As such, the Senate believes Thrawn should already be dead because he would have decided to return to lead the Imperial remnants if he were still alive.

But the Senate didn’t stop to consider the possibility that Thrawn could be in another galaxy. They simply concluded that he had died when Ezra Bridger committed a selfless act to banish himself and Thrawn from the galaxy. As such, the Senate believes that Hera was only chasing after a ghost by trying to go after the Imperial remnants working to bring Thrawn back.

Xiono believes it is a personal quest

Before Hera met up with the Senate, one of her people told her that Senator Hamato Xiono was one of the senators with Chancellor Mon Mothma. And there was a good reason why Xiono was specifically singled out.

After Hera told the Senate that she wanted to send out a task force to go after the Imperial remnants looking to bring back Thrawn, Xiono quickly showed his disapproval. He believes Hera was simply diverting New Republic resources to a personal mission to find Ezra Bridger instead of Thrawn. While the New Republic is grateful for what Ezra did years ago, they don’t think he is a priority.

Of course, Hera’s goal here is to find Thrawn to prevent a war. Ezra is a bonus because Hera knows he could still be alive if Thrawn is still alive. But Xiono thinks that Hera is only looking to find a way to rescue Ezra, who may or may not be alive. As such, he believes that the New Republic is better off using its resources to help out other people throughout the galaxy instead of supporting what Xiono believes is a personal mission.

The New Republic never felt threatened

At the end of the day, the New Republic never felt threatened by the presence of the Imperial remnants. When the sequel trilogy was released, people wondered how the First Order was able to rise during the era of the New Republic. But the different series set during the New Republic era allows us to see that the New Republic didn’t feel threatened.

In ‘The Mandalorian,’ the faction of Moff Gideon was allowed to operate in different sectors throughout the galaxy, particularly on Mandalore. When Carson Teva, a member of the Defense Fleet, brought this matter up to the New Republic, he was simply ignored because there was a long procedure that needed to be followed if he wanted to get the resources he needed to try to investigate the matter involving Gideon and the Imperial remnants operating independently.

Set decades later, ‘Star Wars: Resistance’ allows us to see how Hamato Xiono believes that the First Order isn’t even a threat and that they wouldn’t be able to find a way to destroy the New Republic. Xiono didn’t even believe in the cause of the Resistance.

Then, in ‘Ahsoka,’ we saw how the senators, including Xiono, were nonchalantly dismissing the need to address the fact that the Imperial remnants were now active once more. And this all leads to the conclusion that the Senate was more interested in politics than the greater threat.

Hera even asked whether or not Xiono participated in the Rebellion, to which he replied in the negative. It was clear that Hera was implying that Xiono was simply more interested in politics because he only waited for whoever won during the Rebellion era before taking his place as a senator.

This means that, like the Old Republic, the New Republic senators have been more focused on politics instead of actually addressing the real issue at hand. The New Republic may not have the corrupt senators we saw in the prequel trilogy. But the fact of the matter is that the New Republic Senate still relies heavily on the decisions of rich and powerful people who weren’t even on the frontlines when it mattered the most. And this all allows us to understand why and how the New Republic simply allowed the First Order to rise up and become powerful.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!