'Star Wars Resistance' Season 2 could be essential viewing for 'Episode 9'

Of all the Star Wars shows, novels, and comic books out there, Star Wars Resistance might begin to feel like the most essential thing to watch going into The Rise of Skywalker’s release this December. The new season, which starts on October 6, takes place during The Last Jedi and leads directly into Episode IX. Later episodes in Season 2 could impact the new film in subtle ways — and they might even include huge spoilers.

Gamespot reported confirmation of Season 2’s scope based on a roundtable interview with the show’s producers, who revealed that the Lucasfilm story group ensures continuity remains consistent across all Star Wars stories.

“We were using the movies as a guideline,” executive producer Brandon Auman said. “Season 1 … all takes place on a planet. Then Season 2 … takes place in space — and now it’s going to lead, boom, right into the last movie.” That means that as the story for The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker were being developed, Star Wars Resistance was also considered. And if Resistance leads “right into” The Rise of Skywalker, then portions of Season 2 should take place after The Last Jedi.

In a StarWars.com blog post, supervising director Justin Ridge confirmed as much, saying, “Season 1 and Season 2 go right into each other. But where The Last Jedi ends, we keep going. So at first there is overlap, but then we continue.” He didn’t offer any concrete details, but we do know that Lucasfilm story group thinks about how shows like Resistance might overlap with or even influence the major motion pictures.

“The Lucasfilm story group is always involved in our writers’ conferences from the very beginning, so when we’re listing out the roadmap is what these stories would be and the character development,” executive producer Athena Portillo said in the roundtable reported by Gamespot.

Potillo also made the point that the show’s vision has to sync up with that of Star Wars games and live-action series. She must be referring to games like Jedi: Fallen Order and shows like The Mandalorian or the Cassian Andor series, which all explore different time periods.

How might Star Wars Resistance lead directly into The Rise of Skywalker?

During Season 1, Kaz witnessed the destruction Starkiller Based caused in the Hosnian system (prominently featured in The Force Awakens). At the end of the season, we learned that Colossus was a giant ship and not just a refueling station, and everyone fled the planet in a jump through hyperspace to avoid further conflict with the First Order. Much like the rest of the Resistance during The Last Jedi, Kaz and the gang will spend Season 2 on the run from the First Order. The biggest surprise twist at the end of Season 1 was that Tam, their friend, joined the First Order to become a TIE Fighter pilot.

There’s no telling just how much time passes between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, but despite rumors of a lengthy time jump, Star Wars Resistance’s overlap makes it seem like that might not be the case. Even if Season 2’s final episodes overlap with the new movie, however, they probably won’t air until long after Rise of Skywalker is in theaters.

Lucasfilm publicist Tracy Cannobbio confirmed in a September 30 tweet that Resistance Season 2 will have 19 episodes total. With the exception of a two-part series premiere in October 2018, all 21 episodes of Season 1 ran weekly with a month-long gap over the holidays in December/January. If Season 2 runs a similar course after premiering Sunday, October 6 then Episode 10 will air on December 8. If the show takes another month-long break, it’ll probably resume on January 5. In this scenario Episode 19 therefore won’t air until March 1.

Which is to say that almost half of all Resistance Season 2 episodes will air after The Rise of Skywalker is out but will take place before, while the final few episodes should overlap with Episode IX. Whatever happens in those final Resistance episodes could include an emotional send-off to the franchise, and they’ll probably include some huge Rise of Skywalker spoilers.

It’s just a shame that we’ll all have already seen the movie.

Star Wars Resistance Season 2 premieres Sunday, October 6 on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker debuts in theaters December 20, 2019.

Did you skip out on Star Wars Resistance Season 2? Or are you in need of a refresher? An official Star Wars YouTube channel has the perfect 5-minute recap: