Over the last 10 years, Star Wars animated series have been the source of some of the franchise's best storytelling. The Clone Wars redeemed the much maligned prequel films, providing needed context for the story and the characters. Rebels then popped up, filling in some of the gap between the end of the Clone Wars and the events of A New Hope.
But there was another recent animated series call Star Wars: Resistance that fleshed out the world of the sequel trilogy. It definitely got overshadowed by series like The Clone Wars and Rebels. The first season got off to a really slow start, but once it got rolling it was actually a pretty good show that more Star Wars fans should look into.
10 "The Recruit Parts 1 & 2" — Meet The Main Protagonist, Kazuda Xiono
For Resistance, these are the episodes that start the story off. Poe Dameron recruited the series' main protagonist, a young pilot named Kazuda Xiono. He was given the mission of going undercover at a fueling station called the Colossus. Kaz's purpose there was to spy on the First Order.
This two-part episode sets the stage for everything to come in the series. Once Kaz is in place on the Colossus, he starts forming bonds that will eventually lead to his new friends and allies facing off against the First Order together.
9 "The Engineer" — The Crew Of The Colossus Strengthen Their Bond
At this point in the series, the Colossus is involved in a full blown war against the First Order. As powerful as the station is, it wasn't necessarily designed for this purpose so it was taking a lot of damage and needed repairs. At the same time, a survivor of a separate First Order attack was found who might be able to help.
Naturally, the new crew member turned out to be a First Order plant who was there to disable the Colossus. She failed and was reputedly executed by the First Order. The episode was an important bonding moment for everyone onboard the Colossus.
8 "Secrets And Holograms" — Learning More About The First Order's Plans
Keeping in mind that the best episodes of the series generally happened in the second season, the first season did have a few good episodes. In this one, the First Order showed up on the station as part of an ongoing attempt to push the Colossus away from its neutrality and take control of this critical place.
The episode gave viewers a good look into the machinations of the First Order as well as Captain Doza's place in them as the commander of the Colossus. This story also deepened the connections between Captain Doza and his daughter Torra.
7 "Descent" — The Colossus Is Drowned By Its Crew
By this point in the series, the neutrality of the Colossus was all but gone. Kaz and his allies did their best to protect the station and their friends but it was too late. The Colossus was fully in the sights of the First Order.
As a means of protecting the station and fending the First Order off, the crew decided to sink the Colossus. It was an extreme measure but an effective one. This also set up the Season 1 finale and helped build to big things in Season 2.
6 "The Relic Raiders" — A Flashback Episode That Focused On Sith History
Star Wars is often at its absolute best when it looks into its own past. That was certainly the case in this season 2 episode when a group from the Colossus landed on a planet, only to stumble across what they eventually realized was a Sith Temple.
The Force doesn't come up often in this series as it usually does in other Star Wars properties, so it was always interesting on the occasions when it did. The First Order was also there and on the hunt for Sith relics. This unearthed more secret history of the overall canon.
5 "Rendezvous Point" — More Is Revealed About The Doza Family
Torra's birthday was a hard time for both her and her father as her mother wasn't around. Unfortunately, the First Order didn't care about that, and continued their attacks. Ace Squadron was certainly kept hopping.
This episode brought Torra's mother into the mix. As a fighter pilot for the Resistance, she was was constantly away and committed to the larger cause. It expanded the viewer's knowledge of the Doza family.
4 "No Escape Parts 1 & 2" — The Show Finally Lives Up To Its Title
The Colossus had fallen into the water on the planet it was on and was fully submerged. The First Order took the opportunity to take control of the station under the guise of helping it. As one would expect, the residents of the Colossus weren't too happy with this situation.
The two-part season 1 finale established the Colossus and its crew as members of the Resistance, and set them on a path fighting the First Order. It also set up a season 2 that was much different than the first one in some pretty great ways.
3 "Live Fire" — The Aces Are Established As A Full-Fledged Fighter Squadron
As season 2 got rolling, big things had changed on the Colossus. The station was becoming a key player in the war against the First Order. Additionally, a former pilot from the Colossus named Tam was starting her training with the First Order.
The key aspect of this episode was that it established the Aces as a full on fighter squadron, and not a group of racers who also flew fighters. Beyond that, it started building the foundations of Tam leaving the First Order and returning to the Colossus.
2 "Station Theta Black" — Captain Phasma Appears & The Show's Connections To The Sequel Trilogy Become Apparent
When Kaz takes a leave of absence to meet with Poe Dameron, things go awry on his trip. Their meeting was interrupted by the appearance of Captain Phasma and the First Order who accidentally ended up at the same place at the same time.
This was one of the better episodes in season 1. It connected the series to the sequel trilogy in a much more tangible fashion as well as setting up things to come in the rest of season 1 as well as what would come the crew's way in season 2.
1 "The Escape Parts 1 & 2" — Kylo Ren & Other Sequel Trilogy Characters Are Introduced
This two-part series finale wrapped up the series, and was easily the best it had to offer. It featured appearances by a variety of sequel trilogy characters, including both General Hux and Kylo Ren. The Star Destroyer that has plagued the Colossus was destroyed, leaving the station free to exist and fight the First Order.
While season 1 had its ups and downs, season 2 was solid all the way through. It's too bad the series didn't catch on as the finale highlighted the true potential it had. The Escape made a solid case for why Resistance should be in line for a Disney+ reboot.
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