This contains spoilers
for The Last Jedi. It’s been out for
over a year now, but it still bears repeating. So, you have been warned!
Early on in The Last Jedi, the remainder of the Resistance fleet is attacked by the First Order and the bridge of their command ship is destroyed by a TIE fighter. This launches and kills the entire Resistance leadership aboard the Raddus: among them Admiral Ackbar and General Leia Organa (though she was the sole survivor due to her connection to the Force). So they appoint the most senior officer remaining: Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern). "Not what I expected," comments Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) after Holdo is introduced and makes a small speech about the importance of the remaining Resistance fighters.
Then the trouble starts.
Poe introduces himself to Holdo and when he asks her what her plan is, she essentially tells him to "sit down and shut up" after reminding him that one of Leia's (Carrie Fisher) last actions was to demote him. And that's pretty much the end of the discussion. One thing leads to another and Poe sends Finn (John Boyega), Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), and BB-8 (himself) to Canto Bight and then leads a mutiny against her.
The common question (and criticism) that his brings up is: why didn't Holdo just tell Poe what her plan was?
The only real justification that is really needed is the fact that she's in charge and is under no obligation whatsoever to reveal to anyone what she's planning on doing. Simply put, it was a "need to know" operation and at the time he asked, Poe didn't need to know.
That's not the main reason she held the plan close to the vest though.
Holdo assumes command after a First Order missile destroys the bridge of the Raddus and takes out the entire Resistance command. And that attack took place shortly after they had completed a hyperspace jump. There's a couple things we don't know: how long they were in hyperspace for and how long they had been in normal space before the First Order arrived, though it's implied it isn't long. Finn and Rose figure out fairly quickly (with no evidence) that they were tracked through hyperspace, something thought to be impossible (though when Jyn Erso was perusing the Imperial database on Scarif in Rogue One she does see plans for hyperspace tracking).
With the (false) assumption that hyperspace tracking is impossible, it leaves one other conclusion: that there's a traitor with the remaining Resistance fighters. We the audience know that Poe is not a mole or a spy, but she doesn't. It's clear that they know of each other by reputation and that Holdo knew about him disobeying Leia to destroy the First Order's dreadnought in the opening scene. Put yourself in her shoes: someone who was just demoted for causing their fighters to get all but wiped out, including their bombers, runs up and asks what the plan is. No spy could possibly be that inept, but the best and brightest don't always get sent on missions either.
There's a saying that originated during World War II: loose lips sink ships. It's simple enough: carelessly talking about war plans and strategies could potentially cause information to get back to enemy forces. Which is exactly what happens. When Finn and Rose are on their way back to the Raddus with DJ, Poe tells them what he's learned about Holdo's plan, and then when the trio are captured aboard the Supremacy, DJ gives the First Order Holdo's plan in exchange for his freedom. The end result? The majority of the Resistance's transport don't make it to Crait and after the battle there are so few survivors that they can all fit (snugly) aboard the Millennium Falcon.
Since her plan leaked, there's no way to know for certain if things would have gone off without a hitch, though there's a chance that they would have gone undiscovered longer and more could have made it to the surface. And if you recall that when Poe did find out the plan, his reaction was to stage a mutiny. It's possible that Finn and/or Rose could have talked him out of it. Or maybe they would have gone along with it.
That's not the main reason she held the plan close to the vest though.
Holdo assumes command after a First Order missile destroys the bridge of the Raddus and takes out the entire Resistance command. And that attack took place shortly after they had completed a hyperspace jump. There's a couple things we don't know: how long they were in hyperspace for and how long they had been in normal space before the First Order arrived, though it's implied it isn't long. Finn and Rose figure out fairly quickly (with no evidence) that they were tracked through hyperspace, something thought to be impossible (though when Jyn Erso was perusing the Imperial database on Scarif in Rogue One she does see plans for hyperspace tracking).
With the (false) assumption that hyperspace tracking is impossible, it leaves one other conclusion: that there's a traitor with the remaining Resistance fighters. We the audience know that Poe is not a mole or a spy, but she doesn't. It's clear that they know of each other by reputation and that Holdo knew about him disobeying Leia to destroy the First Order's dreadnought in the opening scene. Put yourself in her shoes: someone who was just demoted for causing their fighters to get all but wiped out, including their bombers, runs up and asks what the plan is. No spy could possibly be that inept, but the best and brightest don't always get sent on missions either.
There's a saying that originated during World War II: loose lips sink ships. It's simple enough: carelessly talking about war plans and strategies could potentially cause information to get back to enemy forces. Which is exactly what happens. When Finn and Rose are on their way back to the Raddus with DJ, Poe tells them what he's learned about Holdo's plan, and then when the trio are captured aboard the Supremacy, DJ gives the First Order Holdo's plan in exchange for his freedom. The end result? The majority of the Resistance's transport don't make it to Crait and after the battle there are so few survivors that they can all fit (snugly) aboard the Millennium Falcon.
Since her plan leaked, there's no way to know for certain if things would have gone off without a hitch, though there's a chance that they would have gone undiscovered longer and more could have made it to the surface. And if you recall that when Poe did find out the plan, his reaction was to stage a mutiny. It's possible that Finn and/or Rose could have talked him out of it. Or maybe they would have gone along with it.
One of the themes in The Last Jedi is failure. Everybody fails during the film: Rey fails to convince Kylo to return to the light, Kylo fails to get Rey to follow him, Finn and Rose fail their mission, Snoke fails at realizing that his apprentice means to betray him, and Hux fails at...well, life. He was more than a bit goofy in The Force Awakens, but here he's just a punching bag/butt monkey. Holdo fails at saving the entire Resistance, and Poe shares in some of the responsibility for that.
As a viewer and not an active participant in the situation, we can look at what happened and say "yes, of course Poe should have listened to Holdo and let her handle the situation." Of course he should have, of course. This, however, recalls a scene from Rogue One: after Jyn and company leave Eadu, she confronts Cassian Andor as to whether or not he was going to shoot her father. When Cassian says that he was just "following orders," Jyn retorts that that makes him "no better than a stormtrooper."
Star Wars has a history of being about points of view. Obi-Wan first brings it up in Return of the Jedi. It's brought up by Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. It's also a major point in The Last Jedi. There's even a book that was published on the 40th anniversary of the original Star Wars that gives the points of view of minor side characters. It's easy to side with Poe as one of the "designated heroes" of the story and dismiss Holdo's (spoken and unspoken) concerns as needless. Yet once we remove ourselves from that mindset and either put ourselves in Holdo's shoes or apply a little real world thinking and logic, her actions begin to make a lot more sense and are very rational.
In the end, Poe cost the Resistance more lives than he saved. You can make all the arguments you would like about which character symbolizes what or what the the film was trying to comment on. But if there are issues to have with the that particular part of the story, they shouldn't be with Holdo.
In the end, Poe cost the Resistance more lives than he saved. You can make all the arguments you would like about which character symbolizes what or what the the film was trying to comment on. But if there are issues to have with the that particular part of the story, they shouldn't be with Holdo.
