"That's what Steela taught me. One fighter with a sharp stick and nothing left to lose can take the day. You just have to make sure that fighter believes."
— Saw Gerrera
Rebel Rising is a Star Wars Expanded Universe novel by Beth Revis, centered around Jyn Erso from the Anthology film, Rogue One, during the Time Skip that took place between the prologue and present era of the movie.
When Jyn Erso was five years old, her mother was murdered and her father taken from her to serve the Empire. But despite the loss of her parents she is not completely alone—-Saw Gerrera, a man willing to go to any extremes necessary in order to resist Imperial tyranny, takes her in as his own, and gives her not only a home but all the abilities and resources she needs to become a rebel herself.
Jyn dedicates herself to the cause—and the man. But fighting alongside Saw and his people brings with it danger and the question of just how far Jyn is willing to go as one of Saw’s soldiers. When she faces an unthinkable betrayal that shatters her world, Jyn will have to pull the pieces of herself back together and figure out what she truly believes in…and who she can really trust.
It was released on May 2, 2017, alongside fellow Rogue One prequel novel, Guardians of the Whills.
Tropes in this novel include:
- Arc Symbol: On Inusagi, Jyn is told the story of the starbird. After it dies, it disperses into stardust and only the heart remains, the latter being a possible reference to "a heart of kyber" from Rogue One.
- Call-Back:
- The events of the Onderon arc from The Clone Wars are alluded to numerous times.
- Saw stated during the Onderon arc that "he's no terrorist, he's a patriot. And resistance is not terrorism." Here, Idryssa gives him a What the Hell, Hero? for condoning the Partisans' questionable actions and thus making them "terrorists" in the eyes of the people. Saw simply tells her to accept it.
- Xosad first appeared in Catalyst.
- This page’s introduction quote is also in Rogue One when Jyn preps the Rogue One fighters for the Battle of Scarif, quoting it as something Saw said.
- Call-Forward:
- In the Rogue One novelization, when Jyn goes to the Partisan base on Jedha, she asks if Maia and Staven are still alive, but then remembers she witnessed the former's death herself and learns that the latter had died sometime after Jyn was abandoned. Maia's death happens during the events of this book.
- Continuity Nod:
- It is mentioned one of the members of Reece's team that joins the Partisans is a Lasat, presumably the same one that killed Agent Kallus's first unit.
- Jelucan is mentioned as being used by the Empire for its ores. And once again, Ilum is also mentioned as being valued by the Empire for its mines.
- It is mentioned that after being left to fend for herself, Jyn was on Coyerti at one point. This planet was the stage of one of the battles covered in Battlefront: Twilight Company.
- Jyn is assigned a mission to Horuz to investigate Imperial operations there. This world was previously mentioned in the Rogue One novelization as being considered suspicious by Alliance Intelligence due to it somehow being important to the Empire's operations.note
- Xosad tries to hint to Jyn something about fulcrums, though as she doesn't know what the Fulcrum information network is, so she doesn't catch on. It's implied that he's become a Fulcrum recruitment agent.
- At one point, Xosad asks Saw if he's heard about the T-7 ion disrupters, to which the latter replies that it's nasty business, but wishes they had some. Xosad then says that the Empire is stocking up on them. It's vague as to whether or not Xosad and Saw heard of the disrupters because the Siege of Lasan has already happened, or the Empire is stocking up because the Siege of Lasan is about to happen. This is followed up by Xosad and Saw saying that the Empire has been focusing a lot on kyber crystals, doonium, and dolovite lately, the latter two having been mentioned as being important in recent years prior to Rebels Season 3 according to Thrawn.
- Culture Chop Suey: Some of the book-original worlds have Japanese-esque names (ex. Inusagi, a possible combination of "dog" and "rabbit"; Hirara, Rumitaka, Satotai, etc.). Inusagi even has a legend about a mythical firebird and holds sakoola blossom festivals that follow the vein of Japan's mythological phoenix and real life cherry blossom festivals.
- Daddy Issues: Jyn starts to develop these about Galen, then later Saw. She harbors resentment towards them for abandoning her for their causes while claiming it was to protect her.
- Despair Event Horizon: The Wobani Labor Camp is shown as such.
- Flechette Storm: At the sakoola blossom festival, the Partisans are equipped with rifles that fire flechettes. A bloodbath ensues.
- Foregone Conclusion: Since Jyn and Saw are main characters in Rogue One, they have to survive the events of this book since it is a prequel to the movie.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: They Plotted a Perfectly Good Waste. After Maia dies, during an argument with Saw, someone brings up Bilder and the Gamorrean brothers, who have been gone for the past few chapters. Why? Because they were Killed Offscreen, which Jyn didn't realize until it was brought up, causing her to wonder who else has died and why Saw never gave them time to mourn the deaths of their colleagues.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Saw and the Partisans are so brutal in their methods that they're becoming very nearly as bad as the Empire.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Late in the book, since most of Reece's men have left him to join Saw's Partisans by then, Reece himself decides to join Saw as well. Turns out it was a trick so he could backstab Saw.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Idryssa gives these to Saw for committing questionable acts and not caring about how the Rebellion looks to the public. It eventually causes their friendship to be severed.
- Jyn gives one to Saw after the massacre on Inusagi.
- You Remind Me of X: Saw tells Jyn that she reminds him of his late sister Steela. He also tells Idryssa that she reminds him of Steela as well, but adds that it's "not entirely a compliment".
