Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 10 Ways It Sets Up Episode IX

5. Poe Dameron As Leader Of The Resistance

star wars kylo ren
Lucasfilm

The Resistance is not in good shape at the end of The Last Jedi.

Its main circle of fighters is reduced to the mere handful of rebels who escape on the Millennium Falcon after the fight on Crait, and with Holdo, Ackbar, and Leia (who won't be in Episode IX due to Carrie Fisher's death) no longer around, the group lacks a definitive leader.

And this leaves the door open for Poe Dameron. His arc in The Last Jedi was about overcoming his brashness and his single-minded approach to battle (blow stuff up), and by the film's end, he's done just that, realising that the Resistance's best chance of survival is to retreat back through the base, rather than fight.

He stepped up, took charge and led his friends to safety, which makes him the perfect candidate to fill the void that will be left by Leia in Episode IX.

He's already shown he possesses all the qualities a leader needs - determination, compassion, rational thinking - and after growing from a trigger-happy flyboy to a level-headed strategist in The Last Jedi, it makes sense for him to take that next big step in Episode IX.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.