I love Hera Syndulla. I genuinely, truly love her. I consider her to be one of the most tragic characters in the entire Galaxy. Sure, Star Wars is full of characters with complex and painful fates, but most of them eventually reach some form of closure or peace. Hera, on the other hand, literally suffers her entire life and yet never breaks. It feels like Hera is the very monument upon which the Galaxy stands.
1.She survived the Clone Wars as a tiny child. And she wasn't just a random civilian — she was the General's daughter. She lived in basements, starved, and fought to survive. This heavily parallels Ezra, whose childhood was also defined by extreme hardship and lack of food.
2.Her character, circumstances, and family (especially her uncle Gobi) dragged her into the nascent war against the Empire. Seriously, in The Bad Batch (the Ryloth arc), her uncle takes the daughter of the "people's leader" Cham to a weapons deal with wanted clones. Just days (or hours) prior, Hera was caught spying on an Imperial facility. My point is, she was given zero choice in the matter. But instead of becoming a victim of circumstances, she fled home to save the rest of the Galaxy. It’s such an insanely ambitious plan... Who at 18–20 years old leaves home with the mindset "I need to help everyone" and actually goes on to help everyone?
3.The death of her mother.
4.Ideological clashes with her father, which led to a young girl being alienated and essentially disowned by her family. This parallels Sabine, who was also cast out by her family.
5.Hera formed a rebellion cell practically on her own (with Chopper). From around age 15 to 20, her only companion was a droid. She literally built herself from scratch out in the Unknown. She flew out into deep space despite having lived among Ryloth's rocks her whole life.
6.She pulled Kanan back into the light.
7.She forced him to find a purpose in life and gave his existence weight.
8.She insisted that Kanan return to his Jedi roots and take Ezra as his padawan.
9.She cared for the crew for years. All the food, all the money, all the missions, all the decisions — everything was managed by Hera. And guess what? Kanan was still considered Spectre 1. I love him, but he was more of a "Jedi talisman," while the actual brains holding the entire crew together was Hera.
10.In Season 2, Episode 1, Kanan snaps at Hera, claiming she doesn't understand what she's getting them into. Kanan didn't want a "second Clone War." And Hera, instead of pointing out that she KNOWS what war is better than anyone, reassures Kanan, lets him vent, and gives him unconditional support.
11.Hera sleeps in a way that keeps her ready for combat at any second. This is more of a personal headcanon, but every time Kanan and Ezra have an important conversation, Hera is somewhere nearby. She is always watching over them.
12.Hera literally blew up her own home to save her family. Her only selfish desire in the entire series was retrieving her kalikori. (And it kills me that no one in the show told her "it's not your fault." Hera herself has to say that "family is the people around you," but no one actively tries to comfort her. The total destruction of her home connects her to Zeb, who also lost all his roots).
13.For fuck's sake, we can't forget that she survived a starfighter crash, a street brawl with Rukh, and Imperial torture while PREGNANT.
14.Kanan's death 💀. He was her everything. Here I see a connection to Jarrus himself: he lost the most important person in his life — his master — right before his eyes, and now Hera was forced to lose him the exact same way.
15.Hera is deaf to the Force. The scene where Hera wraps her arms around herself, standing on the flat ground where the Temple used to be, is the most painful thing imaginable. She asks Ezra if Kanan is gone forever. She can't even see Dume; only Ezra sees him in that scene. I don't even know how to express the agony I feel watching this. The entire "World Between Worlds" episode is sheer hell. Just imagine how unbearable it was for Hera: after Ezra loses consciousness, she doesn't even try to wake him up — she just stands there, staring at the empty space where the Temple stood. She was ALWAYS the one making decisions, but in that moment, she genuinely didn't know what to do with herself.
16.Ezra disappears just DAYS after Kanan's death. In the Imperial dome, Hera tells Ezra: "I don't want you to go. We can figure out another way." Ezra agrees, but goes anyway. And then, right before Hera's eyes, the Purrgil destroy the command bridge and vanish into hyperspace. Sure, Ezra survived because we were watching the "birth of a legend," but man... The Purrgil literally shattered the walls and glass in the room where Ezra was standing...
17.Hera likely finds out about her pregnancy by chance, and while heavily pregnant (or having literally just given birth), she flies off to fight in the Battle of Scarif.
18.She becomes a single mother and a General, while her entire family has fallen apart. Zeb is either on Lira San or with the pilots. Sabine is depressed on Lothal. Hera is all alone. Only Chopper remains.
19.Sabine turns out to be Force-sensitive and becomes the padawan of Ahsoka — whom everyone believed to be dead after Season 2. Just imagine how painful it must be for Hera to realize that some Jedi get to come back from the dead, while others don't.
20.And I can't even fathom Hera's fear when she realized that Jacen is Force-sensitive. From Kanan, she knew that Jedi aren't allowed attachments. Imagine how heavy it is for her to realize that she must either give her son away so he can grow up as a Jedi, or live with the fact that she is robbing him of his calling.
All of this goes to show that Hera remains an unbreakable titan. The stars may fall, but she will remain standing. Hera was able to understand every single member of her crew. I love her so much.
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