Battle of D’Qar

The Last Jedi

We’re on the brink of the top 10, folks. You’ll know by now that my top 50 Skywalker Saga moments fail to conform to the typical pecking order. Perhaps that’s because the most divisive Star Wars movie of all time is my personal pick of the bunch.

In truth, The Last Jedi had me hooked straight off the bat as it exploded into life with the Battle of D’Qar.

If someone asked me what Star Wars is, I’d be inclined to show them the Battle of D’Qar over almost anything else. It’s a real showcase of the combined force of excitement, emotion and character that pulls you into this wild space adventure.

It has a hotshot pilot in the form of Poe Dameron, flying his distinctive orange X-Wing straight at the mighty First Order Dreadnought to the consternation of the naive Imperial First Order chiefs. “He’s insane” according to Hux – insanely talented, maybe.

Aboard his Dreadnought, Captain Canady is wise to the Resistance plan as Dameron continues to clear out the ship’s surface cannons. Unfortunately for him, his realisation was five “bloody” minutes too late.

Tie’s finally scrambled, it’s dogfight time as the First Order fighters attempt to halt the advances of the Resistance’s bomber squadron, which Dameron had called into the battle against General Leia’s orders. Not exactly his finest decision, as all but one of the bomber fleet was destroyed in an explosive fluke domino effect.

But that one remaining bomber would ultimately drop it’s payload into the heart of Canady’s Dreadnought, destroying the ship. Paige Tico’s heroics in that final MG-100 StarFortress SF-17 – (hardly rolls off the tongue, but it’s a cool ship design so I’ll allow it) – is something we have never seen in Star Wars before.

This is a character whom we have never previously met, finding themselves at the centre of the battle. She is the last hope for our heroes. It’s not Poe Dameron, Luke Skywalker or General Leia saving the day here – it’s Cobalt Hammer’s ventral gunner Paige Tico who makes the ultimate sacrifice to keep the spark of the Resistance alive.