Hamato Xiono

Hamato Xiono was a human male politician from the planet Hosnian Prime. During the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, he had not served on either side; however, he eventually served as a senator in the New Republic Senate by 9 ABY. During this time, his ideals for the direction the burgeoning Republic should take directly clashed with warnings from General Hera Syndulla of the Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn's return. Despite the denial of support for Syndulla from Xiono and accompanying senators, Syndulla carried out a mission to undermine Thrawn out of her own volition. Her actions drew ire from Xiono and the Senate Oversight Committee, culminating in a failed attempt to court-martial her for disobeying direct orders.

Around 14 ABY, Xiono later became the father of Kazuda Xiono, alongside Kazuda's mother. During the latter years of the New Republic Era, Senator Xiono facilitated his son's entry into a New Republic Defense Force academy, which, in turn, led to Kazuda's service in the New Republic Defense Fleet's Starfighter Corps until he eventually joined the Resistance. When the First Order destroyed Hosnian Prime in 34 ABY, Hamato, Kazuda's mother, and the rest of their family survived, as they had been off-planet during the cataclysm. Following the loss of the New Republic Senate, Senator Xiono contacted his son, warning him of the danger his activity as a Resistance spy had placed his family in.

Biography

Thrawn's return

Hamato Xiono was an^[1] elite^[6] politician from^[1] the planet^[7] Hosnian Prime.^[1] During the Galactic Civil War^[2] between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic,^[7] Xiono did not serve on either side. After the Alliance won the war and transitioned into the New Republic,^[2] Xiono served as a senator in the Senate Defense Council within the nascent government's Galactic Senate.^[1] In 9 ABY,^[8] Xiono, New Republic Chancellor Mon Mothma, Senators Lorrin Mawood, Rodrigo, and a Gran senator attended a Senate Oversight Committee meeting via hologram to converse with General Hera Syndulla. As Syndulla made her way to the meeting, Lieutenant Vic Hawkins warned her of Xiono's attendance.^[2]

After Xiono pushed for them to begin the meeting promptly, Syndulla informed the group of Imperial loyalists that orchestrated an incident on^[2] the planet^[7] Corellia, expressing her belief that the incident was a sign of greater Imperial activity—the return of Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo. When Syndulla sought approval to lead a task force to the Denab system for investigation, Xiono protested, believing Syndulla was attempting to divert New Republic resources toward her search for the missing Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger. The pair continued arguing over the subject, with Xiono affirming^[2] his^[1] belief that they should aid the New Republic's citizens instead of allowing Syndulla to embark on a personal quest. Syndulla rebuffed Xiono's statements by having the senator clarify to those present that he had not served in the Galactic Civil War and instead not engaged in either side.^[2]

After Mawood and Rodrigo concurred with Xiono's stance, Syndulla insisted that Thrawn's capabilities were atypical of an Imperial officer and urged the committee to help her prevent a new war. When Xiono insisted that both Thrawn and Bridger were dead, Syndulla snapped at him in disagreement. Mothma then dismissed Syndulla from the meeting to speak with Xiono and the others alone, leaving the general to bid the group farewell. Syndulla later informed former Jedi Ahsoka Tano and her Padawan, Sabine Wren, of Xiono and the senators'^[2] vote against aiding them.^[9]

Syndulla's disobedience

Despite her orders, Syndulla later traveled to the Denab system alongside a squadron led by Captain Carson Teva to assist Tano and Wren.^[10] The architect droid Huyang expressed surprise at her arrival, having assumed the New Republic had authorized her mission. The droid was less surprised when she clarified she was defying orders by coming anyway but nevertheless reassured her when she surmised that Xiono and the other senators may have been right about the endeavor. As a consequence of her actions, the senators sent a small group of New Republic vessels to retrieve her for a hearing on^[11] the planet^[7] Coruscant, intending to potentially permanently strip her of her rank if she was found out of line.^[11]

During her Coruscant tribunal, Xiono sat next to the Mon Calamari Gial Ackbar and derided Syndulla for ignoring orders by acting as if the New Republic was still operating as the Rebellion instead of a government and pursuing personal goals with her rank's privileges. Syndulla expressed that her actions had been to protect the New Republic, flatly informing the assembled that she was not ignoring her general orders but instead ignoring him specifically. When prompted by Mothma, Xiono agreed that some form of incident had occurred on the planet Seatos but likened the general's report to an outlandish child's fairy tale. Syndulla once again reaffirmed that the evidence demonstrated activity of Imperial Remnants, though the senator once again shrugged the idea off, asserting that Imperial numbers were dwindling.^[9]

From the audience, Teva reminded Xiono of Moff Gideon and the incident on^[9] the planet^[7] Mandalore. Xiono rebutted that Gideon acted alone, stating that the threat of Thrawn's return remained unlikely and that Syndulla should be court-martialed for acting in her personal interests. His motion was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the protocol droid C-3PO, whom Senator Leia Organa had sent on her behalf. Despite Xiono's objections, C-3PO recounted to those present that Organa had personally approved Syndulla's mission to Seatos without awareness of Xiono and the Defense Council's prior denial. Though Xiono was against admitting evidence from a "mere droid," offending the astromech droid C1-10P, Mothma declared that C-3PO's evidence had settled the matter and ended the session without further objection.^[9]

Father to a pilot

Around 14 ABY,^[13] Hamato became the father of Kazuda Xiono,^[1] alongside Kazuda's mother. The parents raised their son on Hosnian Prime^[14]—which became the capital of the New Republic by 28 ABY^[15]—their family living with a wealthy status in its aristocracy.^[14]

When Kazuda attempted to compete in his first race, his father was against it, telling his son he was not ready. Nonetheless, Kazuda won, proving his father wrong and winning an aurodium trophy.^[12] Hamato facilitated his son's service to the New Republic^[5] by using his influence to ensure Kazuda's enrollment^[7] in a New Republic Defense Force academy, further ensuring that Kazuda's training was put to use by helping him join the New Republic Defense Fleet. That allowed Kazuda to pursue his aspirations of becoming a highly skilled pilot in the New Republic Starfighter Corps,^[5] though Hamato expected his son to follow in his footsteps as a senator.^[16]

Son in the Resistance

In 34 ABY,^[17] shortly after his rendezvous with the Resistance during the Cold War^[5] between the New Republic and the First Order,^[18] Kazuda decided to join the Resistance, believing the First Order—a successor state to the Galactic Empire—threatened the Republic's place in the galaxy. After making his choice, the younger Xiono felt compelled to inform Hamato. Contacting his father via a scrambled hologram transmission on a CR90 corvette, Kazuda intended to ask him for assistance. However, Hamato—who regarded the Resistance as extremists—chastised his son for getting "mixed up" with them and berated him for asking for assistance, prompting Kazuda to change his mind about asking for his father's help.^[5]

After Kazuda had begun his service as a Resistance spy, being deployed to the supertanker fuel depot Colossus on^[5] the planet^[7] Castilon, he encountered the Aleena Grevel, who harassed him over an allegedly owed 1,500 credits after Kazuda had thrown a holodart into the gorgmonger Bolza Grool. The young Xiono professed that he did not have enough credits on him but could contact his parents to help pay what he owed. Later that same day, Kazuda lamented how much of his life had progressed with his father's intervention and resolved that he would succeed in his mission—as well as his race against racer Torra Doza—without his father's help.^[5] During his mission, Hamato's son told the Resistance astromech droid BB-8 about his father's pushback in his childhood and how his trophy stood as a charm of luck due to his victory in spite of his father.^[12]

During the First Order occupation of the Colossus, Kazuda was arrested by stormtroopers and later escaped. Following his escape, First Order Security Bureau agent Tierny showed^[19] the mechanic^[5] Tamara Ryvora Kazuda's New Republic service record on a datapad, which identified Hamato as his father.^[19]

The Hosnian Cataclysm

Later the same year,^[20] Kazuda believed that he had the necessary evidence of the First Order's occupation of the Colossus to give to his father for a case in the New Republic Senate. However, the First Order soon rose and proclaimed the end of the New Republic, firing the planet-destroying^[21] superweapon^[7] Starkiller Base's superlaser and destroying the Hosnian system—including Xiono's homeworld, Hosnian Prime. Upon witnessing the cataclysm, Kazuda became horrified, fearing that his father, along with his friends and the Senate, was gone.^[21]

Following the Battle of Castilon^[22] and the Resistance's evacuation from the planet D'Qar,^[18] Senator Xiono and Kazuda's mother tried to contact Kazuda for several days. Eventually, the senator reached his son via a specially coded message and assured Kazuda of their survival, having been off-planet during the cataclysm. Hamato refused his son's request to meet the Resistance at D'Qar, as the First Order had identified Kazuda as a spy. Senator Xiono then warned his son that bounty hunters would be after him before the transmission cut.^[4] Despite his father's warning, Kazuda resolved to continue his service to the Resistance.^[14]

After Kazuda went on the run from the First Order alongside the Colossus's inhabitants, the group eventually found what they believed to be refuge on the planet Aeos Prime. Kazuda resolved to continue his service to the Resistance despite his father's warning and later recounted his resolve to the endeavor to the Colossus' Captain Imanuel Doza, noting that he would not leave the fight even though his father wished him to.^[23]

After Exegol

In 35 ABY,^[25] following the Battle of Exegol, historian Beaumont Kin mentioned Xiono in^[24] his^[26] history book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire. In the book, Kin included a public relations image of Xiono and mentioned his neutrality in the Galactic Civil War as an example of a factor toward the New Republic's inner turmoil. Kin also partly attributed the New Republic's internal conflict to the attitude of senators such as Xiono that, with the war over, politicians needed to focus on maintaining peace rather than prepare for war. A memo from Xiono to Mothma was cited regarding claims that concerns about ex-Imperial sabotage were simply paranoia, as well as a belief that lingering ex-rebel factions were warmongers reluctant to accept that the Galactic Civil War had ended. Kin also claimed that the refusal by Xiono and others to accept that Imperial sympathies still lingered in the galaxy contributed to the threat Imperial loyalists posed to the New Republic.^[24]

Personality and traits

Hamato Xiono was a human male.^[5] He had tan skin, pronounced cheekbones, and brown eyes.^[3] In 9 ABY,^[8] he had some stubbled facial hair and the hair—which was black—on his head extended to the base of his neck.^[2] In 34 ABY,^[27] he was clean-shaven and his hair—now a light shade of brown with graying stripes—was short-cut.^[4]

Despite his allegiance to the New Republic, General Syndulla accused Senator Xiono of waiting out the Galactic Civil War to see which side of it came out on top. Additionally, he opposed the idea that any lingering Imperial remnants posed a threat to the New Republic and believed the New Republic's focus should be on helping its own citizens rather than waging war.^[2] He was against using New Republic resources to serve the personal agendas of individuals, though his own actions to support his son's career would prove hypocritical.^[1] The senator regarded the Resistance as a band of extremists and was disturbed by his son mentioning their organization.^[5] Xiono had a degree of anti-droid sentiment, believing that evidence provided by droids during legal proceedings was illegitimate.^[9]

Coming from a position of wealth and influence, the senator supported his son Kazuda Xiono's aspirations to become a New Republic pilot. Although Hamato was willing to aid Kazuda in his endeavors, he felt that his son relied on him for everything—from entering the academy to joining the New Republic Navy.^[5] Adversely, Kazuda felt that his father's support was not for him but for his father himself.^[12] Ultimately, Kazuda kept his relationship with the Resistance a secret from his father, hoping to achieve something on his own without the senator's help for once.^[5] Likewise, Kazuda believed that his father—and other senators like him—would not recognize the First Order as a threat even with intel revealing their operations, such as weapons manufacturing.^[28] However, upon learning of his family's survival of the Hosnian Cataclysm, Kazuda urged his father to find the Resistance, a request Hamato refused, believing it would place their family in too much danger.^[4]

Equipment

During his meeting with Mothma and Syndulla^[2] and Syndulla's later court-martial hearing^[9] in 9 ABY,^[8] Hamato Xiono was wearing a green, wrapped tunic.^[2] During his transmission to Kazuda^[4] in 34 ABY,^[27] he wore a red, sleeveless tunic gilded with gold trimmings and shoulder pads and a black undershirt with gray and gold cufflinks at the end of each sleeve. He also wore a black belt with a gold trim and gray pants with a gold stripe on the outer side of each leg. His boots were black with three straps on each, and he wore black gloves. He bore a gold insignia on his chest.^[3]

Behind the scenes

Depiction

Hamato Xiono first appeared via a hologram in "The Recruit,"^[5] the first episode of Season One of the animated television series Star Wars Resistance, which first premiered on October 7, 2018.^[30] Though his name is not said in the episode, it is provided in the credits.^[5] He was first fully pictured in the first trailer for Resistance's second season, which was uploaded to the official Star Wars YouTube channel on August 14, 2019.^[31] Actor Tzi Ma provided his voice in Resistance.^[5] Xiono had a very specific costume design for Resistance in order to better establish the character as a relatively wealthy senator with military ties at a moment's notice.^[32] His concept art was designed by^[3] Star Wars Resistance art director^[33] Amy Beth Christenson on December 1, 2017.^[3]

Xiono made his first live-action appearance—portrayed by actor Nelson Lee—in "Part Three: Time to Fly," the third episode of the Disney+ live-action television series Star Wars: Ahsoka,^[2] which premiered on August 29, 2023.^[34] Throughout Ahsoka, he is referred to solely as "Senator Xiono" in the episodes themselves, the captions, and the credits.^[2] He was confirmed outright to be Hamato following an update to his Databank entry on StarWars.com.^[6]

In a 2024 interview on the Hall of Justice podcast, Lee stated that he had missed his cue during the first take of the scene depicting Hera Syndulla's court martial trial, as he had been too excited by the presence of actor Anthony Daniels portraying C-3PO. He also mentioned that he did not initially know what he was auditioning for beyond the role being Disney-related. Lee further described his being selected for the role of Hamato Xiono as an honor and stated that he found online discourse surrounding hatred and dislike for the character amusing. He also said that he had watched Resistance in preparation for the role and "geeked out" knowing he would play Xiono. Lee described the experience of playing an antagonistic character as cool.^[29]

After Resistance

Resistance director Justin Ridge stated in an interview during the charity livestream Podathon 2024 that Xiono was always meant to act as a narrative foil to the Resistance and that seeing him fulfill such a role in Ahsoka was surreal.^[36] Resistance showrunner Brandon Auman stated in an interview with Wookieepedia that seeing Xiono appear in Ahsoka was exciting, listing him as an example of characters originating in Resistance that got to "live on" in later Star Wars media. Auman also stated that, had Resistance received a third season, Xiono's relationship with the First Order would potentially have been further explored, and he would have possibly worked with the First Order—not out of camaraderie, but out of self-perceived necessity—after initially playing both sides. Xiono would have also been explained to have been building starships for the First Order.^[35]

Additionally, Auman revealed that early pitches for the third season featured Xiono being involved in a plot to bring Kazuda into the First Order in an attempt to save him from what he perceived as the impending destruction of the Resistance following the eventual return of Darth Sidious—which he would have been aware of—putting them at odds with one another. The executive producer further elaborated Kazuda would have refused to join the First Order despite his father's request, putting him at odds with the rest of his family, who were all affiliated with the First Order by that point. However, ultimately, the production ceased after its second season. As part of this plotline, Hamato, Kazuda's mother, and Kazuda's older sister would have been featured. However, ultimately, the production ceased after its second season.^[35]

When asked on the official Wookieepedia Discord server if an excerpt from^[37] the 2024 reference book Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire^[24] implies Xiono had served within the Galactic Republic,^[37] author Chris Kempshall^[24] replied that it was not his decision. Kempshall additionally stated that it could be read either that way or that he was simply mentioned alongside others who had served the Republic. As Kempshall was unable to fully clarify whether or not Xiono served the Republic, this article presently assumes he did not.^[37]

Appearances

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Audio · Images

• Star Wars: Ahsoka — "Part Three: Time to Fly" (Appears in hologram)
• Ahsoka 3 (Appears in hologram)
• Star Wars: Ahsoka — "Part Five: Shadow Warrior" (Indirect mention only)
• Ahsoka 5 (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: Ahsoka — "Part Seven: Dreams and Madness"
• Ahsoka 7
• Star Wars Resistance — "The Recruit" (First appearance) (Appears in hologram)
• Star Wars Resistance: Le Nouvel Espion (Appears in hologram)
• "The Recruit - Part 2" — Star Wars Resistance Animation 2 (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars Resistance — "The Triple Dark" (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars Resistance — "Station Theta Black" (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars Resistance — "Descent" (Mentioned on datapad only)
• Star Wars Resistance — "No Escape: Part 1" (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars Resistance — "No Escape: Part 2" (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars Resistance — "Into the Unknown" (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars Resistance — "A Quick Salvage Run" (Appears in hologram)
• Star Wars Resistance — "No Place Safe" (Mentioned only)

Sources

Notes and references

External links

• Ahsoka online trailer uhd r709f stills 230329.087658 by The Walt Disney Studios on Getty Images (April 7, 2023) (backup link)