Star Wars Resistance review: The truth about Tehar

Kaz wants to find two children who have a hefty bounty on their heads as a way to get money for himself and return the children to safety. Instead, he learns about Kylo Ren and the truth about Tehar.

At first glance, “The Children of Tehar” seems like it’ll be kind of a slow episode, especially given how the previous episode, “The High Tower,” had so much action and intrigue. Instead, this episode serves as a reminder to not judge a book by its cover.

Not only were we shown a new part of the Colossus and introduced to a new species, but this episode also features its first mention of Kylo Ren and our first look at Commander Pyre. A lot of interesting things happened in this episode, so let’s dive in.

Breaking Tam’s part

Kaz wants to help Tam repair the Fireball. When she finally gives in and lets him help, he ends up damaging a vital part. Tam is furious and runs him out of the garage. Kaz later finds himself in Aunt Z’s bar, where he and Neeku overhear a conversation about a 20,000-credit bounty on two missing children.

Kaz’s eagerness to assist is both sweet and a great way to start off the story. We know Kaz is still leagues away from becoming a decent mechanic, so accidentally damaging an important part of the Fireball gives Kaz the incentive to do something as crazy as going after a bounty to pay back Tam for his mistake.

Additionally, while Kaz is the main focus of the series, it’s always exciting to see more of the surrounding characters. We appreciate how Kaz is paired up with Neeku for this episode and not left to tackle this task on his own.

Engineering level

Lucky for Kaz and Neeku, the children bump right into them, but they end up escaping out of fear of being caught. Neeku takes Kaz to the engineering level, where he introduces him to the working crew and backbone of the Colossus, the Chelidae. Neeku’s friends agree to keep an eye out for the children.

We love how this episode gives us a different side of Neeku. He isn’t just someone who takes things literally and makes the audience laugh. He’s also a great resource given his knowledge of the Colossus and a genuinely good and caring friend.

The Chelidae are a new and intriguing addition to the Star Wars galaxy. No doubt they’re inspired by the side-necked turtles from South America and Australia also know as Chelidae. We also like how Neeku calls them the “true heroes” of the Colossus, since they maintain and keep the station operational. It serves as a reminder that our own maintenance workers and those who work in the background deserve more recognition for what they do.

The music is also especially charming in this scene with the Chelidae and sounds similar to something straight out of the Harry Potter movies.

Meeting with Doza

Upon leaving the engineering level, Kaz is requested to meet with Captain Doza. Doza says he was spotted with the missing children on the platform. Kaz admits he only wants to help them. After their meeting is done, Doza contacts Captain Phasma as a way to improve their relations with the First Order.

Captain Doza comes across as a character willing to do certain things that benefit him. So far, he’s been presented as a businessman not looking to get on the First Order’s bad side, but he also doesn’t want them to walk all over him.

He tells Kaz, “Mercenaries don’t usually ask questions. They just want to be paid.” While he does make the call to Captain Phasma about the children, he asks why a large bounty was placed on them. This gives us the impression he’s not someone completely without morals. Still, he’s someone to watch out for as the series progresses.

First Order hunts them down

The children are found by Neeku’s Chelidae friends. They explain why they ran away and Kaz discovers Kylo Ren destroyed their village on Tehar. Kaz, Neeku, and the oldest sibling go into the market to find something that could help treat his younger sister. The First Order, however, spots them and chases after them.

Earlier in the episode, when the young girl said, “No place is safe from him,” we thought they were running away from an abusive father or something within that realm. The Kylo Ren name drop completely caught us by surprise.

It’s not shocking, however, that Kylo Ren is out there in the Unknown Regions destroying villages and instilling fear in the name of the First Order. After all, we see a snippet of him attacking people in Rey’s Force vision in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

In our opinion, we don’t see a Kylo Ren appearance happening in the show, especially if it’s in relation to Kaz and the others. The good guys would be seriously outmatched and outgunned. Mentioning him by name, however, is a fantastic way of connecting it back to the movies and reminding fans yet again that the rest of the galaxy is in for a rude awakening.

It’s also great to know there are several bad guys in the mix. There’s Captain Phasma, Major Vonreg, and now, the gold-armored Commander Pyre. The variety helps keeps things interesting. We just hope they’re fleshed out more in future episodes.

Intel for the Resistance

The two children pretend to take a plunge to the waters below the Colossus, making the First Order believe they’re dead. Afterward, Kaz contacts the Resistance to tell them about the planet Tehar and Kylo Ren’s attack.

Being that Kaz and Neeku have no way of fighting back against the First Order, we had genuine concerns about the children’s safety. The idea to pass the children off as dead is a genius move on Kaz’s part and demonstrates once more how Kaz quickly thinks on his feet.

It’s depressing to know, however, how the First Order essentially committed genocide on a planet in the Unknown Regions in order to keep their movements and plans secret from the Resistance. Who knows how many other planets have fallen because of the First Order.

Lastly, it‘s great to see Ello Asty as Kaz’s contact in the Resistance and finding out there are more Resistance spies scattered throughout the galaxy. When we hear something like that, we automatically think of the unlimited storytelling opportunities.

We’re only 6 episodes into the season, but Star Wars Resistance is doing such a remarkable job at expanding what we know from the live-action movies. Each episode just keeps getting better and better, so we can only imagine what’s in store for us the deeper we dive into the series.

What do you think about this episode? What was your reaction upon hearing Kylo Ren’s name? Do you think we’ll learn more about Tehar in the future?

Star Wars Resistance airs Sundays on the Disney Channel at 10 p.m. EST and DisneyNOW.