Star Wars Resistance Season 2 Episode 7 Review: The Relic Raiders

This Star Wars Resistance review contains spoilers.

Star Wars Resistance Season 2 Episode 7

Star Wars Resistance has avoided any and all real, specific references to the Force, the Jedi, or the Sith up until this point, instead focusing on a specific character and the encroaching influence, control, and violence of The First Order. (A tighter show could have really explored how an antagonistic and militant ideology insidiously implants itself into an otherwise free and independent society, but we’re too late for that). “The Relic Raiders” is the show’s first foray into bringing the franchise’s most iconic, representative concept into the series itself, and it is an absolute misstep. Resistance is in no way suddenly going to utilize The Force in any significant this deep into its endgame (at least I would hope not), but even bringing it into the peripheral is fool-hearty, sloppy attempt.

It has nothing to do with the Force/Jedi/Sith concept themselves, but how it’s executed that’s the problem. Kazuda, Kel, and Elia act so clumsy, so silly, so stupid that it absolutely makes “The Relic Raiders” a frustrating watch. And look: part of Kazuda’s appeal, so to speak, is how the character balances his goofy side with his overall determined optimism. Star Wars Resistance lives and dies on how it utilizes Kazuda between outside-the-box, dumb luck heroics and straight-up comic relief, mostly staying on the right side of things, but here, they completely blow it.

Kaz triggers so many traps because he’s so idiotic here, and it’s pull-your-hair-out frustrating. And Elia and Kel ought to know better, what with being orphans, sole survivors to a massacre on their home world. That either of them would be so reckless – blindly running off after butterflies and just walking willy-nilly onto traps while completely lost in Sith mazes, only to shrug it all off with mugging faces… it’s all so unbearable.

I suppose that the episode sought to make Kazuda (and Kel and Elia) act particularly foolish in order to make Mika Grey look more competent and in control. Mika is a fine character on her own, a smart, no-nonsense archeologist who indirectly caused all the people of the planet to flee when she raised the Sith temple from within the Jedi temple (the explanation for this reasoning makes little sense and has no future plotting repercussion so there’s no reason to go into it here). But she mostly tells Kazuda to shut up and not move and then she almost gets killed because, of course, Kaz can’t shut up and not move (within a Sith trap that logistically and visually makes no sense).

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She is there because she was hunting for a Sith idol, but has to use it as a weird bomb to save everyone (including Torra and Freya, who are totally wasted here) from the First Order Raiders. In theory, I like the idea of the First Order having a sect dedicated to finding and utilizing old Jedi and/or Sith objects as potential weapons, which in some ways reference the Nazis’ own bizarre obsession and exploration of the occult. Here, the Raiders are barely explored. They’re just typical First Order baddies with a slightly more specific, failed mission.

If there’s any redeeming factor to this episode, it’s the visuals. The outpost is gorgeously well-rendered, with the lighting effects a particular standout. The trees and foliage looks great, which only makes me wish that there were more scenes during this show’s run that took place in outdoor, wooded areas. Some of the shadow effects are reminiscent of the current PS4/Xbox One era games, and if the series was more popular, I could totally see a game being produced based on this series.

But other than that, “The Relic Raider” is a low bar for not only this season, but for the series as well. It doesn’t have the overt level of offensiveness of season one’s “The Platform Classic,” but it has its own level of idiotic forced plotting and insulting tedium.

The episode’s main narrative misdirect, that Mika may be a Jedi, is ultimately rendered moot when she denies it, but she does mention the Force can be utilized in different ways. Sure, but will that matter within the remaining seven episodes? Broad plotting side, more concerning is how poorly the episode itself is. Bad choices, weak comedy, useless villains, wasted side characters, lame plotting – it can only go up from here. Right?

Keep up with Star Wars Resistance season 2 news and reviews here.