Minor spoilers for
Rogue One ahead!
The line that’s been a source of confusion amongst fans is an intercom message demanding that the presence of one “General Syndulla” is needed in the briefing room. The line’s been a cause for confusion given that the surname could refer to
Rebels lead Hera Syndulla or her father Cham from
The Clone Wars. Through
an article on Entertainment Weekly, Dave Filoni has explained who it is, compounded with this tweet by Hera’s voice actress, Vanessa Marshall:
Many asked if “General Syndulla” was in fact Hera in
#RogueOne:
@dave_filoni confirms! Thank you
@mattwood!
https://t.co/DhLaTerUtP via
@ew
— Vanessa Marshall (@vanmarshall)
December 20, 2016
The article itself is pretty illuminating and I would recommend that big fans of
Rebels and/or
Rogue One check it out. The most important parts of the article are included below:
The Ghost is also visible in the upper left corner of this shot [see the image at the top of this article], on a landing pad at the temple base on Yavin 4. Filoni says fans of the show may someday see Rogue One’s action retold from his characters’ perspective on a future season of Rebels. “I already have some theories about the story behind it,” Filoni says. “I can imagine doing that entire [Scarif] battle from their point of view, whoever is on the Ghost at that point.”
Hera Syndulla is the green-skinned alien Twi’lek who pilots the Ghost starship, and although she doesn’t appear on screen in Rogue One, a “General Syndulla” is summoned to the briefing room over the intercom at the Yavin 4 base. Filoni credits sound designer Matt Wood, who also voices the character General Grievous, for that reference. We don’t see Hera, but we know she’s there. Although some fans are debating about that. We have the answer…
The “General Syndulla” reference has created debate among Rebels fans, since Hera’s father, Cham Syndulla, is already a resistance general on the show – and she’s not. It turns out, this a tease of things to come on Rebels. “I can clarify that’s absolutely Hera being paged, not her dad,” Filoni says. “The movie gives that away, but I would rather have all the [references] be right. Hera will eventually become a general in the Rebel Alliance.” But how? That storyline will remain a mystery for now.
So there you have it. Hera survives the events of
Rebels and is presumably the one piloting the
Ghost over Scarif. (Granted, that’s presuming that
Rebels wraps up at 0 BBY – which, given the current pace of every season to cover about the greater part of a year, might not be the case.) The biggest hint that it was her and not her father on Yavin IV – aside from her ship being present – was that you could see and hear Chopper rolling about just before Mon Mothma is told about the unauthorized operation by the Rogue One team. But context-wise, it wouldn’t make very much sense for Cham to be there, considering his primary goal is to liberate Ryloth from the Empire – conversely, his daughter is much more concerned about the greater Rebel Alliance as a whole. In any case, it’s great to see that the link is even there and that Lucasfilm is taking every bit of canon seriously.
