Resistance recruits need an escort getting off of Dantooine. Unfortunately, Tam is assigned to destroy the recruits.
Tropes:
- Alleged Car: Downplayed. Yeager and Doza lightly jab at Venisa for using her old cobbled-up X-Wing. Kaz, on the other hand, thinks it's fine and compliments her for using a classic, just as one of the panels falls off.
- Asshole Victim: Venisa guns down Lt. Galek as she was about to kill Kaz. She was never a nice person, vehemently denounced teamwork and camaraderie, so she had it coming.
- Big "YES!" / Big "NO!": The reactions of Rucklin and Kaz, respectively, to Rucklin shooting down one of the transport shuttles.
- Bittersweet Ending: One of the three shuttles carrying Resistance recruits is shot down by Rucklin, cementing to Kaz, Torra, Hype, and Tam that loss is a part of war. On the bright side, though, everyone else survived, Galek is dead, Doza officially sides with the Resistance, and Venisa and various members of the Resistance will be staying on the Colossus.
- The Bus Came Back: Hugh Sion, one of Kaz's wingmates from the first episode, returns as a member of Venisa's squadron.
- Butt-Monkey: Hugh tells Norath and Hype about how Kaz nearly got kicked out of the Naval Academy twice, in spite of Kaz's protests.
- Call-Back:
- Venisa finally manages to reach the Colossus, although she's on a mission and can't stay for long. She tells Yeager about her encounter with Tam aboard Tierney's Star Destroyer.
- Hugh mentions his and Kaz's run in the Major Vonreg's red TIE Interceptor in the Pilot. Kaz takes credit for taking him down, though Norath points out he had help from Poe Dameron.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Tierny reveals to Tam that she wasn't born into the First Order, but rather she grew up poor under the New Republic until she was recruited by the First Order.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Rucklin is pissed that Tam is the one being promoted after their attack on the transports, even though he scored the kill.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Hype initially puts Hugh off with his bombastic personality, but they later bond over embarrassing stories about Kaz.
- The Glomp: Torra jumps into the arms of her mom when they reunite.
- Heroic BSoD: Kaz sinks into one after seeing one of the shuttles get shot down, and lags behind the rescue party by one minute.
- Irony: When Tam gets promoted to squadron leader in place of Galek for her squadron's elimination of one of the Resistance shuttles, Rucklin — who was the one who shot it down while Tam did nothing — complains that everything seems to just work out for Tam, the same complaint Tam made about Kaz.
- Karmic Death: In Galek's first appearance, she strongly chewed out Tam for helping a fellow pilot who was hit and could not support himself. She finds out the hard way how powerful teamwork is when Kaz was badly hit, is about to finish him off, and then gets shot down by Venisa to save him.
- Killed Offscreen: The transport shuttle Rucklin shoots down is last seen plummeting helplessly into the clouds. We never see its actual destruction, though nobody is left in any doubt as to the fates of those on board.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Having spent most of the season torn between her hatred of Kaz and Yeager for lying to her, and her increasing unease with the First Order's methods, this is cemented for Tam when she's sent on a mission to shoot down unarmed transport shuttles filled with Resistance recruits. She is visibly horrified when Rucklin actually shoots one down, and her reaction at the end of the episode makes it clear that this feeling extends to having joined the First Order in the first place.Tam: What am I doing?
- Mythology Gag: Venisa's squadron is named Jade Squadron, possibly named for Legends character Mara Jade.
- Though brief, the shot of the surface of Dantooine resembles its appearance in Knights of the Old Republic. In fact, the evac shuttles launch from a building that looks just like the Jedi enclave in the game.
- Neutral No Longer: At the end of the episode, Captain Doza decides to formally ally the Colossus with the Resistance, noting that their strategy of running and hiding from the First Order isn't working, and it's time to fight back.
- Parents as People: Apparently, Doza and Venisa have had arguments in the past about the former not wanting to help the Resistance. At the end, Doza officially aligns with the Resistance and the couple reconciles.
- Rousing Speech:
- During the briefing, Venisa says that protecting the recruits will be vital because they represent hope for a better future and that it's their job as their protectors to be their spark. Afterwards, Yeager comments that she hasn't lost her touch for rousing speeches.
- Venisa has another one at the end when she explains to Kaz, Torra, and Hype that loss is a part of war but they have to appreciate what they have accomplished. Likewise, Doza notes that she's always had a way with words.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: One of the Resistance transports gets their hyperdrive shot, forcing everyone to spend more time in the open waiting for them to recover. Rucklin then shoots it down a few minutes later.
- You Are in Command Now: Now that Galek is dead, this makes Tam the leader of her squadron.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Tam's reaction when she realizes that her opponents are Kaz and the Aces.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Tam is clearly troubled by being involved in killing innocent people (which Tierny mistakes as being upset at Lt. Galek's loss), not helped when Tierny promotes her to squadron leader for supposedly having led that strike.
