In this week’s episode of Star Wars Resistance, Kaz finds an old holographic image of Yeager in the Battle of Jakku. He also learns Yeager had a family at one point in his life, but what happened to them?
Yeager is a private individual. All he wants to do is live a peaceful and quiet life, but unfortunately for him, Kaz is stirring things up. With the help of Kaz, “Fuel for the Fire” gave us a brief look at Yeager’s life before the Colossus.
For some in the audience, Yeager’s family portrait looked familiar. Going back a few years to the early seasons of Star Wars Rebels, we discovered Ezra Bridger’s parents had been imprisoned by the Empire. He lived his young life not knowing whether they were dead or alive. The sad part is they were alive during the first season of the show, but they later perished in prison after they helped others to their freedom.
Losing a family or loved one is a common occurrence in Star Wars. Luke lost his aunt and uncle on Tatooine. Leia lost her parents and her entire home planet. Jacen Syndulla lost his dad before he was even born. As a result, most fans watching Star Wars Resistance naturally think Yeager’s family is dead.
While that is most likely the case, it’d be far more interesting if his wife and child are alive and well. Not every family or loved one has to end up dead in order to put another character in a dark and lonely place.
For example, a high percentage of marriages end up in divorce. That’s a different kind of loss. What if we find out Yeager and his wife separated because of his desire to be in the Rebellion?
It’s a theory that throws expectations out the window. Not all relationships have a happy ending with a beautiful bow wrapped on top. People can easily fall out of love and still remain in each other’s circles, like Leia and Han in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. They cared about each other, but they ended up going on their separate ways.
That said, the creators behind Star Wars are known for torturing our emotions (looking at you, Dave Filoni), so a storyline where Yeager’s family is dead could be where the show is headed.
Dead or alive, however, Yeager looked at the photo with a warm expression. It was a happier time in his life. And according to StarWars.com, the photo was taken on Batuu, a location that was created for the upcoming Disney Parks Star Wars themed land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
We get the feeling he and his family were just passing through, since Batuu seems more of a come-and-go kind of place and not an area to raise a family. While there’s no evidence to support it, we also get the impression this photo came after the Galactic Civil War ended.
Going back to Ezra’s family portrait, it was taken inside their home and away from the Imperial presence that occupied their planet. Yeager’s photo, on the other hand, is outside in a beautiful temperate environment with forests and mountains, as if peace has been restored to the galaxy now that the Empire is gone.
Ultimately, we don’t know what happened to Yeager’s family and we might not find out anytime soon. After all, we didn’t discover the truth about Ezra’s parents until the second season. If there’s more to the story behind Yeager’s photo, we’re going to have to wait and find out when the time is right.
The next episode of Star Wars Resistance airs on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on the Disney Channel.