What do you think is next for the Resistance leadership? You mentioned going back to the New Republic, but that would have to transform, right? Leaders from the resistance would be promoted within the ranks simply because of necessity and experience at this point.

I expect that we’ll see some established characters be promoted to high-ranking positions within the Resistance. (I think it would be neat to have some OT characters make an appearance, but I have no clue if they would do that.) I also think it’s going to depend on how they deal with Leia’s arc, because obviously at the moment she is a very important Resistance leader. Since pretty much every other leader of the Resistance and the New Republic is dead now, it’ll probably end up being a rather small, close-knit sort of government, unless they decide to introduce a whole bunch of new characters, which would be a bit odd at this point. Seems to me that, first of all, Poe will get a pretty big promotion, and second, they’ll gather together the surviving leaders of both groups as they attempt to regroup. 

~ Jacen

Coruscant hasn’t been mentioned yet in the new films, and perhaps sparingly in the supplemental material. Do you think it will again play a role? What is the temperament there now?

At the moment, I don’t really see them giving Coruscant any significant role in the new trilogy. It seems like they’re going to stay away from it for the most part, unless the Resistance makes some major military advances into the Core. At the moment, it isn’t really clear what’s happening on Coruscant, but we do know it joined the New Republic, so I would guess it has either already been conquered by the First Order or is a target. (Likely, the First Order already has some support on Coruscant, because around the end of the Galactic Civil War there was definitely still Imperial support on the world.) But I definitely could see them adding it into more of the extended material, if only to talk about what exactly is going on at the moment. 

~ Jacen

What would you say is a reasonable planetary army size (in terms of number of soldiers) for a planet with 1 billion inhabitants (plus a couple hundred million more citizens living off-world)?

I really couldn’t say, I’m afraid. I haven’t been able to find any information on the actual number of soldiers in various planetary defence forces. As well, most information is focused on the defence fleet rather than the army. Most planets with such a small population have more of a police force than an army (some don’t even have a real fleet either). It would also really depend on the planet’s resources or political significance, especially if this is taking place during wartime. Sorry I couldn’t be more specific!

~ Jacen

Do you happen to know if Kardue’sai’Malloc and Vien’sai’Malloc are related? I mean, their names would suggest so, but nothing on their wiki pages say so. Think the name similarities are just coincidence?

Since Devaronian naming conventions do seem to follow that pattern, and since the writers are generally pretty careful to give everyone distinct surnames so they aren’t mixed up, I would guess they are probably related. No way to tell for sure, of course, not that I can find. 

~ Jacen

I thought that the Hosnian Cataclysm wiped out the vast majority of the New Republic Fleet and its military command? That and the fact that they’d seriously downpowered on ships etc after the end of the War with the Empire makes me think that the New Republic is going to be no help at all when it comes to ships.

Though the disarmament did reduce the New Republic Military significantly, by around 90%, the remaining military resources went towards strengthening local defense fleets. In the beginning, their fleet was still the largest in the galaxy, as the Imperial remnant was also forced to disarm. Of course, then most of those remaining ships were wiped out at Hosnian Prime, but those planetary defense forces would likely still be in place, and would still be affiliated with the New Republic. Their starfighters were also known to be spread pretty thin through the galaxy, implying that many of them probably survived. Regardless, they doubtlessly have more ships, and higher-quality ships, than the Resistance, and I can’t see anyone else stepping in to help. That doesn’t solve the issue of both the Resistance and the New Republic losing the vast majority of their high command, but it seems to me like The Last Jedi has set up the opportunity for others to take over in their place. 

~ Jacen

Did the Empire implement tactics like a modern-day terrorist would, with roadside bombs and the like? Or were they more of a find everyone and blast them kinda gang?

The Empire certainly did use tactics like that. They actually had something called the Palpatine Mine Network, a vast array of space mines, and were also known to use atmospheric and anti-personnel mines. But beyond that, they didn’t often use such small-scale/make-due techniques as a real-world terrorist, because they were the ones in charge. That was more the Rebellion’s style of fighting, especially among the smaller groups. When the Empire employed mines and the like, it was more a preemptive move. When they really meant business, they didn’t usually hesitate to bring in a Star Destroyer or two. 

~ Jacen

As a follow up to your General Ematt post, I’m so confused about resistance rankings. Do you know the order? A major becomes a general but what does an Admiral become? Is vice-Admiral higher than General? If not why did Holdo take over instead of Ematt?

There is nothing describing the specific ranking system that the Resistance uses, but I would assume it’s more or less the same as that of the Old Republic or the Rebel Alliance. So:

A General is a high-ranking leader of an army or a starfighter command, with Admiral being the equivalent rank within the navy. Both are graded C-1. This is sometimes flexible, as there are multiple different kinds of Admirals, and it’s not always clear whether they are exactly equal in every scenario. Some Generals preferred to keep their title even when appointed to a fleet command.

Vice Admirals may or may not be equal to Generals, depending on whether the grade of C-1 can be applied to all Admiral positions. If not, a Vice Admiral would be inferior to a general. It is not clear which would be used in the Resistance, but if the latter is true then I would assume Holdo took command because of her affiliation with Leia, as sort of an informal temporary arrangement. 

Admiral seems to be the highest rank anyone has so far held in the Resistance, but if an Admiral were to be promoted I would assume that they would take the rank of Admiral of the Fleet or Fleet Admiral, in accordance with the ranking system of the Rebellion. 

The ranking order below these is often unclear and can vary wildly from faction to faction, so there’s no telling for sure how it goes in the Resistance, especially because we only have so many characters to work from. I hope that helps at least!

~ Jacen