Senator Xiono - Tumblr Posts
Changing our perspective on a character is important.
Yeah, it’s easy to see Xiono as an Imperial Sympathizer until you stop and say ‘wait, he doesn’t see/know what we know and it’s not a Rebellion anymore and rules have to be followed’.
It’s heartbreaking to see the level of distrust that are going on in the New Republic between different Senators and members of the Military.
They’re not use to the Imperial Moffs/Governors working together and we see in ANH that they’re prone to bickering and it’s implied that Vader does what he wants, when he wants, where he wants and to who he wants unless ordered otherwise.
They’re used to Imperial generals and admirals disobeying orders for glory/revenge/out of spite/etc so to think that they’re actually working together for a bigger goal is borderline unbelievable.
And it’s very believable that Xiono heard the excuses from Imperial Officers as to why mass slaughter was committed that sounded disturbingly similar to what Hera gave for disobeying orders to not go.
Imagine being basically told that because you didn’t pick up a weapon and fight or join the Rebellion that your opinion on something doesn’t matter.
All Xiono sees is a woman getting off scot-free all because she’s a hero and because a high ranking senator forged documents.
How many times did that happen in the Empire in the Senate? That they had an officer dead to rights for war crimes only for them to get off on a technicality or due to fabricated evidence and you know that you can’t pursue them because of what will happen to you if you do.
Xiono can’t call Leia out for fabricating the transcripts because she’s considered a hero and using her position of Head of the Defense Committee to make it look official without him looking like a jerk or having a vendetta with either Leia or Hera.
I believe that, sadly, the New Republic was destined for failure because of distrust and fear.
Leia
You know having seen all of Ahsoka so far, Leia is being shown as the only person in the NR government who seems to have a functioning brain cell. She has no tolerance for political bs and gets shit done. The series has made me love Leia even more. She has Anakin’s intolerance for political bs but has the brain cells of Padme aka she was why the First Order had to wait to invade the Galaxy.
Well, I would argue Mon also has a brain cell.
But here is the thing. Senator Xiono isn’t an idiot. The only reason we think he’s an idiot is because we know that the Imperial remnants are going to become the First Order. He’s a bit dismissive of that threat, yes. But I cut him a lot of slack because there is a much more familiar threat he sees right in front of him and that is what he is reacting to.
And that threat is Hera.
A high ranking general of the New Republic pretty much told her civilian oversight to go fuck themselves, and disobeyed direct orders. We know Hera was right to do so. But here is the thing, Xiona has no way to know that with the information he has. (Yes, yes, he could stand to go out to the Outer Rim more. But really? He isn’t the only one guilty of that flaw. And even if he did, what proof would he find there was a coordinated effort between the Imperial factions? They went out of their way to make sure it didn’t look like they were working together.)
What Xiona does know? Is that Imperial Generals had no oversight except the Emperor. Who never reigned them in. So you have the New Republic, who acknowledges the need for a military force of some kind, but are wary of military power. Justifiably so, given galactic history of the last 40 years. So they needed accountability for their army, and make the Senate their oversight.
Then Hera comes along and tell them, essentially, “No, I know better,” and doing whatever the hell she wanted. And when she is brought back to the New Republic senate to justify herself, she tells them she did what she did for ‘the security of the New Republic’.
And this is where Xiono is goddamn right to be riding Hera’s ass. Because that line of justification? Is exactly what Imperial Generals used to say when committing war crimes. Granted Hera didn’t do that. But she did get several X-Wing pilots killed, so her actions had some pretty permanent consequences. Hera feels those consequences, I have no doubt. But that doesn’t take away from the fact those pilots are dead because she chose to disobey direct orders. And gave a rousing speech in her defense that was very Imperial in tone.
Hindsight is 20/20, that is the only reason so many people have taken a great big dislike to Xiono. He isn’t an Imperial sympathizer. From what I’ve gleaned from his wookiepedia page, he isn’t even corrupt. No, he didn’t fight in the Rebellion, but there are a lot of people in SW that is true for. And just because he didn’t fight directly, doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything to help the Rebellion. He was just a guy, who was doing his best. And if it wasn’t for the fact that we know how this particular chapter of SW history ended, we probably wouldn’t be so hard on him. Cause in this case? He had a really good point.