WARNING:: The following article contains major spoilers for director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, in theaters now.


Originally intended to be killed off early in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron instead survived to become a fan-favorite character. Although he didn't receive a lot of screen time in the 2015 film, he makes up for that in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Unfortunately for Poe, however, he appears to have gotten a little big for his britches.

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Poe goes from being the loyal soldier in The Force Awakens to the leader of a small rebellion inside the Resistance in The Last Jedi. What would cause the hotshot pilot to go against the orders of his commanding officers? Keep reading to find out.

Commander to Captain

Resistance Bombers in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The sequel begins with the Resistance fleeing from its D'Qar base following its discovery by the First Order. While they journey off the planet in escape pods, Poe covers for his teammates by taking the fight to the First Order fleet. The Resistance isn't slinking quietly into the night, thought: A battalion of bombers is sent directly at the First Order.

However, with its numbers dwindling, the Resistance doesn't have enough ships to cover for the bombers, and the First Order begins to pick them off. General Leia Organa calls for a retreat, but Poe isn't in the mood to run and hide. He believes they can't pass up a chance to take out a First Order dreadnought, and need to complete their mission. Unfortunately, Poe should have listened to Leia, as all of the bombers are destroyed before making contact with the dreadnought, save for one pilot (Rose Tico's sister), who sacrifices herself to drop her payload.

Once back on the Resistance cruiser, Poe is greeted with a slap across the face from Leia, and an immediate demotion from commander to captain. As much as Leia likes Poe, she can't have her subordinates going rogue and disobeying orders, especially when lives are at stake.

Enter Vice Admiral Holdo

Poe's demotion doesn't put an end to his conflicts with superiors, however. Not long after his clash with Leia, the general gravely injured when her command deck is blown open and she's sucked into space. That leads to one of the more impressive scenes in The Last Jedi, as Leia uses the Force to pull herself back aboard the Raddus. With Leia out of commission, command of the Resistance is passed to Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo.

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Let's just say Holdo and Poe don't see eye to eye when it comes to military strategy. The First Order has come up with a new trick of tracking a ship while it makes the jump to lightspeed. The Resistance has enough fuel to make one final jump, but it would be pointless, because the First Order would be right on the fleet's tail. Instead, Admiral Holdo orders the Resistance ships to remain out of firing range of the First Order while the remaining fuel is used for escape pods.

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Unsurprisingly, Poe disagrees with that strategy. The newly demoted officer teams with his old friend Finn and new ally Rose for a side mission that sends the latter duo to the gambling city of Canto Bight in search of a master coder to disable the First Order tracking device. To buy them some time, Poe organizes his own resistance within the Resistance, and takes Holdo hostage.

It should be noted that even though Poe is in fact staging a mutiny, he is able to recruit many of his fellow Resistance fighters to his side. Inside Poe Dameron lies a leader; he just needs to recognize the most aggressive approach isn't always the best.

Poe's mutiny doesn't last long, however, as Leia recovers from her injuries enough to blast him with a stun gun. He's later briefed on Holdo's real plan, to lure the First Order to a decommissioned Rebel base on Crait. That's the first instance when Poe begins to understand what true leadership is, especially after Admiral Holdo's valiant sacrifice.

The Battle of Crait

Rebel speeders race toward First Order forces on the surface of Crait.

Things don't look any better for the Resistance once it reorganizes on Crait. The First Order has blasted through a massive shielding door -- the last line of defense -- and is on the cusp of victory. Suddenly, Luke Skywalker returns from self-imposed exile to reunite with his sister Leia and confront his nephew, Kylo Ren.

Luke fills the Resistance with a renewed sense of hope, which results in Poe giving his famous speech from the film's first trailer: "We have a spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down." In fact, it looks as if the Resistance is making way for the formation of a new Rebellion, perhaps with Poe assuming a leadership role.

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The rebellious pilot began The Last Jedi by ignoring orders and getting himself in trouble, but ended the film with a clearer head and a better understanding of what it takes to lead. Looking back, we shouldn't be too hard on him. A group of people fighting against the establishment should expect a little insubordination from time to time. Which is probably why General Organa and Vice Admiral Holdo don't take the disrespect Poe shows toward them personally.


Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters December 15 and stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Benicio Del Toro as ‘DJ’, Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, and the late Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa.