This episode aired October 20, 2019.
In the Aces Lounge, Torra, Freya, Griff and Bo are all sitting around, drinking. Hype comes in and wonders why some of the best pilots in the galaxy are so downcast, and the others point out that they didn't do so well in their last fight and are clearly out of their depth when opposing trained military pilots instead of pirates. Captain Doza comes in and notes that the Aces have the same concerns he does, which means there will be changes coming. He announces that Yeager will be joining the Aces as their new squadron leader, and Kaz as another pilot. Hype's rather taken aback by that announcement.
Hype is upset by the changes because he doesn't like the idea of doing drills and, well, he's already the best pilot on the platform, so he doesn't need to improve his skills any further. He also finds the idea of Kaz, who is The Klutz anywhere but in the cockpit, being as good or better than the Aces ludicrous, even after Kaz points out he was top of his class at the New Republic academy.
Gathered in the repair shop, Yeager informs the Aces that they'll be conducting training exercises on a nearby ice moon, and that the first one will just be him and Kaz against the others, with weapons tuned down to the starfighter equivalent of stun settings. Hype, still upset and blaming Kaz for Tam's departure, thinks this will be easy.
On the Star Destroyer, Tam, Rucklin and Gaava are running behind for their first training exercise, because Rucklin couldn't find his helmet. They are scolded for their tardiness and not wearing their helmets by Lieutenant Galek, who informs the cadets that whoever performs the best in today's exercise will get to be squadron leader. The cadets are sent out in their TIE fighters to face down a number of drones modelled after X-wing fighters, in a live fire exercise.
The five original Aces end up losing their first exercise very quickly, as factors including Hype's insistence on going Leeroy Jenkins and refusing to change tactics because things have changed result in over half of them quickly being knocked out. Hype is so upset that he decides to quit, storming out of the hangar. Locating him in Aunt Z's, Kaz tries to talk to him but fails. Torra has greater success, reminding Hype that he's always liked helping to protect the platform, and the Aces need him.
In her TIE pilot training, Tam shoots down the most drones, but also decides to save Rucklin's life when his TIE fighter is knocked out of control. Seeing this from the bridge, Commander Pyre tells Galek Tam is a "hero", in a tone that's obviously not complimentary. Back in the hangar, Rucklin is grateful for the save, but he and Tam get chewed out by Galek, who informs Tam that she will not be squadron leader and outlines the First Order's Social Darwinist outlook: it's good for less skilled pilots to be weeded out by dying for the First Order, and saving others is a waste. Tam silently takes it, but doesn't look happy.
The Aces' second training exercise will involve everyone competing in two-person teams against each other. Kaz and Hype are surprised when Yeager decides to pair them up because they've been fighting. The exercise goes better than the last one until the flight exercises awaken a giant, flying manta ray creature that soon seizes Yeager's fighter when he tries to fight it off. It's Hype who comes up with a strategy to save the Rebel veteran, by shooting one of the ice pillars so it collapses onto the creature. Back on the Colossus, the Aces all celebrate their newfound teamwork.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: The episode guide reveals the big flying ray-creature is called a jakoosk.
- Big "WHAT?!": Kaz and Hype when Yeager decides to pair them together for the second exercise since they've been arguing.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The Aces learn, to their surprise, that klutzy, goofy Kaz Xiono is an excellent combat pilot, thanks to his prior career as a New Republic X-Wing jock.
- Call-Back: Due to the Aces' lacklustre performance in the skirmish in "A Quick Salvage Run", Yeager and Captain Doza decide it's time to reorganize the squadron and get them into fighting shape since they're the Colossus' first line of defence.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Downplayed. After seeing Tam save Rucklin, a disapproving Pyre amusingly remarks to Galek that her squad leader is "quite the hero", as the villainous First Order doesn't believe in camaraderie and believes more in getting results.
- Connected All Along: After much speculation, Griff confirms he is an ex-Imperial.
- Continuity Nod:
- Much like Ciena Ree in Lost Stars, Tam chooses to save others and gets told off for it, because the Empire/First Order doesn't work that way.
- Rucklin's friend Lin Gaava is confirmed to have joined the First Order alongside him, and is part of his training squadron with Tam.
- Crippling Overspecialization: All the time spent racing on Castilon has made the Aces very skilled at flying their fighters, but incapable of working as a combat squadron against trained military pilots.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Aces' first training match pits the five original members against Kaz and Yeager. Partly thanks to Hype refusing to admit he actually needs combat training, the Aces lose pretty fast.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: First Order TIE trainer Lt. Galek. In contrast, Yeager's approach when training the Aces is much friendlier, and he puts a lot of emphasis on teamwork, and nonetheless wants to ensure they do it until they get it right.
- Drowning Their Sorrows: The episode opens with four of the five Aces doing this because they recognize that they're out of their depth fighting real combat pilots as opposed to pirates.
- Faceless Mooks: Actually justified by Lt. Galek when she chides Tam, Rucklin, and Lin for not wearing their TIE helmets on the flight line. According to her, in the First Order, one has to prove themselves as a soldier before being allowed to show their face on duty.
- Flying Seafood Special: The ice moon the Aces do training exercises on has a giant, flying manta ray creature called a jakoosk which ends up attacking them during the second exercise.
- Foil: The First Order's training exercise is a deliberate contrast to the Aces' exercises. The Aces have their blasters set to stun for safety reasons, and initially struggle to work as a team due to their competitive backgrounds, but eventually come together in a good display of outside-the-box thinking. The First Order, meanwhile, use live-fire exercises to simulate the harsh realities of war, and any teamwork shown by the cadets is beaten out of them as per the First Order's Social Darwinist, "follow-orders-at-all-costs" mentality.
- Foreshadowing: The jakoosk's tail is shown briefly emerging from the fog during the Aces' initial training exercise, setting up its appearance during their second exercise.
- He's Back!: After having a conversation with Torra that gets through to him about why he can't afford to just act as usual, Hype makes a grandiose re-entrance to the training.
- Headbutting Heroes: Hype is at odds with Yeager due to the former getting demoted. He's also upset that Kaz has gotten added to the Aces and that his combat experience and training in the New Republic Navy give him a leg up on the other Aces.
- Hollywood Tactics: Combined with a eugenicist philosophy, the First Order's military philosophy is "sacrifice people because we're better off without the weak".
- Immune to Bullets: The giant manta ray can shrug off the Aces' turbolasers, so Hype comes up with the idea of using the environment against it to save Yeager by collapsing an ice pillar atop it.
- Incoming Ham: Hype makes his return to the hangar before the second training exercise on a rolling ladder being driven by his astromech, loudly announcing that whoever gets to be his wingman will be lucky.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She may not be a nice person and her social Darwinist philosophies may be harsh, but Lt. Galek's criticizing Tam and the other recruits for not wearing their helmets, reporting late to the flight line, not following orders fast enough, and deviating from their training mission objectives isn't unreasonable for a military flight instructor teaching a batch of raw recruits.
- Leeroy Jenkins:
- Hype has to learn through the training that he can't afford to think just for himself, which is fine in racing but a bad idea on the battlefield.
- Rucklin behaving like this during the First Order training leads to his TIE getting shot out-of-control and Tam going to rescue him, which gets both of them in trouble.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Tam is reprimanded and loses her spot as training squad leader for saving Rucklin during their live fire exercise.
- Punny Name: Hype derisively calls Kaz a "Kaztastrophe".
- Rank Up: Yeager is now the Aces' Squad leader, leading to Hype getting demoted.
- The Social Darwinist: Lieutenant Galek explains outright that the First Order believes in "survival of the fittest" while reprimanding Tam for helping Rucklin when his TIE went out-of-control during a training exercise. Ex-Imperial pilot Griff mentioned this as one of the reasons why the Empire lost, and clearly they have not learned from that mistake.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- While the Aces have been called upon to defend the platform before, racing is not combat, and they need to be retrained by Yeager to be fighter pilots. Even Griff, the only one of them with a military background and an awareness as to why the Empire he served lost, has gotten rusty from a lack of action over the years.
- Freya notes that Imperial TIE fighter pilots weren't taught to watch each other's backs, and Griff responds that it's why they lost. In the present, the First Order overlooks Tam's obvious skill because she saved a fellow pilot.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Hype and Kaz, though it's mostly on Hype's side, especially after Yeager gives Kaz command of their wing pair during exercises. He gets better by the end.
- Villain Ball: Galek's training shows that the First Order has picked up the ball dropped when the Empire died, creating a military that emphasizes competition within the ranks and abandoning soldiers to die if they make mistakes or find themselves outmatched.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Hype's reaction when Kaz is revealed as joining the Ace Squadron, since Kaz… well... doesn't come off like a military-trained pilot at all.
