Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 8 Major Plot Theories You Need To Know

5. Why Holdo Didn't Tell Poe Her Plan

Star Wars The Last Jedi Vice Admiral Holdo
Lucasfilm

At face value, Admiral Holdo's decision to withhold details of her plan - which was to flee down to Crait on smaller, harder-to-detect ships - was needless, and only worsened an already-stressful situation.

But if you consider this decision from her point of view, it starts to make more sense.

Imagine you're Admiral Holdo - the First Order just inexplicably tracked your ship through hyperspace. How did they do that? Your first thought would probably be that there's a spy onboard, claiming to be one of your own. With that in mind, wouldn't you want to keep your new escape plan a secret, lest it leak out and doom the rebellion?

Something else to consider is that Holdo doesn't owe Poe anything. He isn't in a position of authority (would you walk up to your boss and ask to see the company bank records?), and his only job is to do what he's told by his superiors.

Poe was also recently demoted, and information about Holdo's plan is on a need-to-know basis - Poe doesn't really need to know.

All Holdo knew about Poe was that he was reckless and frequently disobeyed direct orders, and on that basis, divulging sensitive information wouldn't have been a wise movie on her part.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!