"Smile."
"This is what revolution looks like, Vel."
— Kleya
In the aftermath of the theft at Aldhani, the Empire increases taxes and gives the ISB additional resources and clearances to snuff out potential dissidence. Mon is aghast at the blatancy of the Aldhani heist and the widespread suffering it will result in; Luthen says that the worsening situation will help turn public opinion against the Empire. Luthen dispatches Kleya to tell Vel that Cassian is a loose end that must be dealt with. At a dinner party, Mon tries to convince her old friend Tay Kolma, now a banker on Chandrila, to let her access her family funds and support a charity she is starting, the true purpose of which she obscures from him. Meanwhile, Syril Karn begins his new job at the Bureau of Standards.
Blevin attempts to call Dedra out for her attempts at investigating Ferrix, but she turns it around on him and is granted full clearance to look into it. Cassian returns to Ferrix to pay his debts and tries to convince Maarva to escape with him. She refuses, inspired by the success on Aldhani, preferring to face the Empire on Ferrix. Cassian departs alone to a beachside resort on the planet Niamos, but is arrested for walking past a disturbance and sentenced to six years in prison on trumped-up charges.
Tropes:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: When Cassian returns to Ferrix to see Maarva, he greets an excited Bee with a little pat on the head.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Dedra is finally given control of the Ferrix investigation. But, as Major Partagaz warns her, she's pissed off a lot of her fellow ISB officers (especially Blevin) and painted a big target on her back in the process.
- Luthen likewise gives one to Mon Mothma when she is shocked at the Aldhani heist, knowing that imperial reprisal will be swift and harsh: she wanted to bankroll a rebellion, well this is it, and it isn't going to be pretty.
- Break the Cutie: Bix is understandably downtrodden and morose when Cassian visits her during his return to Ferrix, in the aftermath of the Pre-Mor disaster and Timm's death.
- Call-Forward:
- When Mon Mothma figures out Luthen pulled the Aldhani heist as part of a Batman Gambit to get the Empire riled up and start clamping down on everyone's rights to give the Rebels more reason to fight back, she's horrified at such a dubious tactic. Come Star Wars Rebels, this would be her same position on Saw Gerrera and his partisans for their more extremist methods in fighting The Empire.
- Admiral Yularen is shown as the head of the ISB, the same position he occupies during Star Wars Rebels, which takes place at roughly the same time as this show.
- Yularen states that the only question the Empire has is "How tight to close our fist." Which of course is the wrong response. As Leia states later in A New Hope, "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
- The Shoretroopernote that apprehends Cassian on Niamos summons a KX-series droid to detain him, the same model that Cassian will eventually befriend (i.e. reprogram) in the form of K-2SO.
- The Cameo:
- Admiral Yularen makes his first live-action appearance since A New Hopenote at a meeting of key ISB personnel, informing all present that the Empire is going to be imposing harsher penalties as punishment for the Aldhani heist.
- The Shoretrooper that arrests Cassian is played by Sam Witwer.
- Cant Get Away With Nothing: Cassian ends up arrested and thrown in an Imperial prison. Not for his part in the Aldhani robbery, but because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Clear My Name: Syril tells his new supervisor that he believes he was wronged by his corrupt superiors and vows to clear his name.
- Dead Guy Junior: Turns out Cassian's fake name during the Aldhani robbery was his adopted father's name, Clem.
- Dirty Business: Vel clearly isn't happy about being tasked to kill Cassian after all that happened during the heist, but it remains to be seen if she goes through with it — or attempts to, given that Cassian is Saved by Canon until the events of Rogue One.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- The Empire reacts to the Aldhani heist with Empire-wide repression and massive reductions in civil rights, while prison sentences for anti-Imperial activity are increased more than tenfold. Cassian is one such person affected, as he's arrested for simply going to the grocery store on trumped-up charges of anti-Imperial conspiracy (through his demeanor in being overly curious about what was going on while all the other tourists were studiously ignoring the shoretrooper foot chase).
- It's implied that Cassian's adopted father, Clem, was hanged by the Empire for simply being close to some rabble who threw stones at the Imperial Clone Troopers who marched through the streets of Ferrix. Made worse by the fact he was trying to stop them from making trouble.
- Divide and Conquer: Dedra realizes the Rebels are purposefully conducting operations over multiple Imperial sectors, seeming to understand that the people the ISB has running them are very jealous over their territories, with great reluctance for sharing information — so they aren't connecting the dots, which weakens or even prevents an effective response. She works to counteract this upon spotting their strategy, despite it infuriating Blevin.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Maarva tries to encourage Cassian to join the burgeoning resistance, citing the raid on Aldhani as proof that people around the Galaxy are starting to stand up to the Empire's tyranny, not realizing Cassian was a key part of the raid, but was Only in It for the Money. She even calls the people in the Aldhani heist heroes, and Cassian has to duck his head and hide his smile at her unknowing praise.
- The simple fact that Cassian's sentence is six years — anyone who's watched Rogue One knows that Cassian doesn't even live that long.
- Chandrilan banker Tay Colma tells Mon Mothma that his politics have probably gotten a bit extreme for her taste, to which she struggles not to laugh, and turns back on him later in the conversation.
- The Imperial crackdown is so eager for warm bodies in their forced labor camps that they don't even realize they've successfully caught one of the perpetrators of the Aldani heist.
- Easter Egg: A fan translated the Aurebesh on the sentencing cards
seen in Cassian's Kangaroo Court hearing, and found that Cassian's card actually has a name of "Keith Seymour", a concept artist who works on the show, charges for "suspected Force-sensitivity" and "assaulting an imperial officer", and a sentence of 25 years. - Exact Words: The K2 droid interprets the shoretrooper's order to "hang on to this one" literally, and grabs Cassian by the neck, lifting and pinning him to a wall.
- Felony Misdemeanor: The guy sentenced before Cassian is a guy who let his dog shit on the sidewalk; six months hard labor.
- Fling a Light into the Future: Maarva is sick and getting weaker by the day. She is avoiding medical attention because she recognizes a feeling in the air and anticipates whatever happens she can't participate in it herself, but possibly inspire more people.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: In keeping with the fact that Maarva can't remember the names of all his girlfriends, the first thing Cassian does with his wealth is go to a beach planet and pick up a girl to drink and do drugs with.
- He Knows Too Much: Luthen orders Vel to track down and kill Cassian, since they cannot afford for him to be arrested and interrogated by the ISB, with his loyalties uncertain and his knowing about Luthen.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- Cassian's survival habits unfortunately backfire when his hyperawareness draws the suspicion of a shore trooper, who promptly has him detained and shuffled off to a Kangaroo Court.
- Blevin publicly calls out Dedra for her behavior, claiming that she's effectively gone rogue. Dedra fires back, saying that she legally obtained information proving her earlier theory that rebels are staging heists as part of a larger coordinated effort. Instead of Dedra being reprimanded, Major Partagaz applauds her initiative and gives her command over one of Blevin's sectors to help her investigation.
- Hope Spot: With what he was paid for the Aldhani heist, Cassian is able to begin a new life, starting off with a stay at a beachside resort town. Still, he keeps a bug-out box prepared just in case things go bad again. Then he gets arrested for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, sent directly to court with no chance to slip away, and slapped with a six-year prison sentence on trumped-up charges, his hidden bug-out box of absolutely no use.
- Hypocrite: Yularen claims that the PORD will ensure that the ISB are granted better access to Army or Navy resources. However, it's quite clear that the Death Star is the only exception.
- I Choose to Stay: Maarva passes up a chance to run away with her adoptive son Cassian, saying she's too old and tired to keep running from the Empire, and would rather face the music on Ferrix.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Tay admits he's a bit stronger in his political beliefs than Mon's political reputation could withstand, then says he maybe had too much to drink. She laughs and tells him to keep drinking.
- Insult Backfire: Blevin trying to frame Dedra as a rogue agent doesn't go well for him.Blevin: What's more urgent than a renegade intelligence officer? Imagine if everyone in this room played as loose with the rules as you?
Partagaz: An excellent suggestion, Blevin. I'm wondering where we'd be right now if everyone here showed the same endeavor as Supervisor Meera? - Internal Reveal: Cassian finds out that it was Timm who turned him in, and that Timm then died attempting to protect Bix on Ferrix.
- Ironic Echo: When Mon Mothma first tries to confide in Tay, Tay believes that she's too close to the Empire and tells her, "You'll find my politics a bit strong for your tastes." She lets him know he's fallen for the same "benevolent and useless" façade she's put up for everyone and asks that he become the head of a Chandrila charity organization, and when Tay shows reservations, Mon says, "Or perhaps you find my politics a bit strong for your tastes?" back to him.
- Irony: Cassian did, in fact, commit a crime against the Empire. Only, it's not the one he is arrested for and is in fact innocent of what he ends up being jailed for.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Blevin decides to openly accuse Dedra of undermining protocol and fellow officers in hunting down Cassians' theft of the stardrive module. Dedra defends herself as insulating different sectors has allowed rebel activity to operate without reproach, which Partagaz agrees with since her results speak for themselves. And, of course, Partagaz warns her after the meeting to watch her back.
- Kafka Komedy: After an episode chock full of terrible news and sad departures and political machinations, the cut to Niamos comes out of left field with an over-the-top idyllic scene at a beach resort, the bouncy synth track "Niamos!", and a gratuitously shirtless Cassian in a hotel room with a new girlfriend whom he's clearly just bedded and whose biggest concern is getting more drugs. Just as suddenly, mere minutes later, Cassian gets hassled by the cops, subjected to Police Brutality from a Literal-Minded KX security droid, and then sentenced to prison in a Kangaroo Court just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It all happens so quickly that it seems almost Played for Laughs. After a brief check in with Karn at his Soul-Crushing Desk Job, "Niamos!" blasts over the credits, as though it's sarcastically asking the viewer if they had fun watching Cassian's life go to hell again.
- Kangaroo Court: Cassian is arrested simply for being near some sort of anti-Imperial disturbance, and in short order he is charged with vague crimes, given a token show trial where no evidence is presented for or against him, gets no lawyer or real opportunity to defend himself, and is promptly sentenced to six years in prison.
- Literal-Minded: When the shore trooper hassling Cassian gets pulled away to deal with some actual malcontents, he instructs a nearby KX security droid to hang onto him. The droid fixates on the word "hang", and proceeds to lift Cassian by his neck. Fortunately there's a wall behind Cassian that he's able to hold onto to keep pressure off his neck, so as to not cause any lasting damage.
- Modesty Bedsheet: The woman who Cassian's with on Niamos sits up in bed with the covers around her up to her chest, implying she's nude and that the most recent thing they did was have sex.
- Mood Whiplash: The episode cuts from Dedra receiving a warning about inter-office backstabbing (literal or otherwise) from her boss to a beach resort and a gratuitously shirtless Cassian in a hotel room with his latest girlfriend, whom he clearly bedded the previous night, then goes right back the other way as Cassian gets himself arrested and sentenced to 6 years in jail.
- Neck Lift: Cassian is on the receiving end of one of these courtesy of the KX droid that helps arrest him.
- New Era Speech: Colonel Yularen gives one to the ISB command staff, informing them that Emperor Palpatine is giving the organization increased latitude and military resources to snuff out rebellion in the Galaxy after the raid on Aldhani.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Cassian's adoptive father attempts to stop some rabble-rousers from provoking a squad of clone troopers, and he gets summarily shot by the Empire for it, his body hanged as a warning afterward.
- Oh, Crap!: Cinta's reaction when an Imperial Star Destroyer and a swarm of TIE Fighters fly over the rebel camp on Aldhani.
- Out-Gambitted: Lt. Blevin learns that Meero is still poking around the incident on Ferrix, and brings it up at a staff meeting of the ISB brass, hoping to discredit her and possibly get her fired. Instead, Dedra uses the opportunity to give a We Have Become Complacent Motive Rant to the assembled officers, backing it up with hard evidence of coordinated Rebel technology thefts across the Empire. This impresses Major Partagaz enough that he assigns her to the investigation, while not-so-subtly admonishing Blevin for being more interested in defending his territory than getting the job done.
- Pet the Dog: Cassian makes sure to leave Bix enough money from the Aldhani heist to pay back everyone he owes before leaving for Niamos.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Major Partagaz continues his streak of this trope when he hears out Meero's evidence and logic, booting Blevin from the Morlana sector and assigning Meero to it as a reward for her initiative. He does warn her to watch her back, but it seems less a direct than a notice that other ISB officers might start trying to bring her down.Dedra: Do you believe Rebels care about lines we draw on maps?!
Partagaz: Do you believe my work has been supplanted?
Dedra: Systems either change or die! ... Sir.
Partagaz: [long look] Thesis, please. - Refuge in Audacity: Meero's response to Blevin's accusations is made of this trope, with her even stating that systems must "change or die" in earshot of other Imperial bigwigs. Especially in front of Partagaz, the man who created the system in question. Luckily for her, Partagaz's appreciation for outside-the-box thinking means she gets away with it, at least for now.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: The shoretrooper who arrests Cassian does so for no other reason than him being in the vicinity of a disturbance and not liking his skittish behavior and how Cassian answered him. Cassian legitimately has no idea what is going on...but is actually guilty of crimes against the Empire whole orders of magnitude worse than whatever the people being chased were doing, though the shoretrooper has no way of knowing that.
- Right in Front of Me: A positive version. Maarva speaks admiringly of the rebels who robbed the Aldhani garrison as proof people are willing to resist the Empire by force, unaware that Cassian himself played an instrumental role in the heist, and only for the money. Cassian decides not to tell her, but he does allude to the number of people who died carrying it out, and say it was just "a robbery."
- Shave And A Haircut: When Cassian visits Bix during the night, he uses the shave-and-a-haircut knock on her door and appears to wait for the "two-bits" response.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Vel cleans up very nicely when she meets with Kleya on Coruscant, contrasting her scruffy Aldhani shepherd's disguise with trendy and clean clothes, well-styled hair and fashionable jewelry, to the point that some viewers initially had trouble recognizing her. (The opposite was true with Kleya; in street clothes and with her hair down, she was equally hard to identify for some.)
- Shoot the Dog: Luthen arranges the Aldhani heist so the Empire would crack down on civil rights across the Galaxy, which will then give the nascent Rebel Alliance more cause to fight back. Mon Mothma is appalled, saying countless people will suffer for it, but Luthen believes that it's justified if it means people will see there is no other way but rebellion.
- Shout-Out: The introduction of Niamos imitates the introduction of Miami in Miami Vice, as an image of a sunny resort paradise which conceals a cesspool of corruption.
- Spark of the Rebellion: Maarva confesses to Cassian that the Aldhani heist was this for her (not even knowing that he was part of it). After years of walking the long way around the public square where the Empire hanged her husband and Cassian's adoptive father, Maarva was galvanized by the heist team to walk through the square with her head high, unafraid of the occupation for the first time. She explains it's why she's choosing to stay in Ferrix to fight on.
- Soul-Crushing Desk Job: The position Syril Karn is given when he applies for a job. The last shot of the episode is him looking out across the massive room he's in, filled with seemingly endless cubicles just like his.
- Stepford Smiler: During her dinner party, Mon propositions Tay Kolma to help her set up a her fake charity and bluntly talks about her double-life and her perceived image as an irritating but useless bleeding-heart senator. She tells him to pretend that they're talking about childhood memories and flawlessly fakes a smile throughout the conversation. Tay, on the other hand, has to be reminded to keep smiling every so often.Mon Mothma: It's a lie. The Mon Mothma people think they know, it's a lie, it's a projection. A front. Smile.
- Title Drop: Dedra gives the episode's title while discussing the Aldhani incident with her aide:Dedra: We're treating what happened at Aldhani like a robbery.
Heert: What would you call it?
Dedra: An announcement. - Vast Bureaucracy: Syril ends up working in the Bureau of Standards as simply another office drone among what looks like thousands in a massive room, last seen looking unhappily around in his cubicle.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Dedra cottons on to the fact that the Rebels are exploiting both how the ISB's supervisors divvy up the sectors in the Empire and how they're very uncooperative with each other, refusing to pass on information unless compelled. They cleverly steal Imperial equipment across different sectors so most ISB personnel won't connect it. Only by going outside normal channels is Dedra made aware of this, and still must do it going against supervisor Blevin, her rival (he promptly attempts to stop her). A vast bureaucracy in the Empire coupled with personnel caring more to one-up each other than fight the Rebels likely aids the Rebellion as much as any of their radical actions.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Luthen reveals this side of himself as he admits that the true purpose of the Aldhani heist, even beyond the immediate benefit of tens of millions of credits, was to prod the Empire into cracking down even harder on the Galaxy in order to further foment rebellion. He also sees no issue with ordering a hit on Cassian as he realizes that he's a loose end.
- Wham Line: "What is there to keep you here?" "The Rebellion."
- Xanatos Gambit: It turns out, the entire Aldhani heist was one Luthen himself came up with. Just attempting the heist, he knew the Empire would react so poorly to this minor crime and start clamping down on all civil rights galaxy-wide, giving much more ammunition to the Rebellion's cause and painting Palpatine in a much worse light. He manages to imply he wouldn't even care if it had been unsuccessful or if the whole team had died; the reaction was what he really wanted. Mon Mothma is stunned he would stoop to such an apparent low, but he points out that he did warn her. And, in the end, they also got the money.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Not that he was planning to stick around anyway, but when he returns to Ferrix, Cassian learns that not only are the Imperial authorities still searching for him, but most of his former friends and neighbors blame him for bringing Pre-Mor Security and the Empire down on them, and will sell him out if given the chance.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The ISB refers to the Rebel raid on Aldhani as a "terror attack", and the Rebels generally as "terrorists".
