Star Wars Battlefront 2 connection to The Last Jedi feels small but significant

Last week, EA launched The Last Jedi season of free content for Star Wars Battlefront 2 which adds a host of multiplayer content related to the film, including an expansion to the game’s campaign mode. The update, Resurrection, continues the story of Battlefront 2’s campaign and leads directly into the timeline of The Last Jedi.

As I approached the end of the new missions, I was hoping for some grand reveal that would tie the latest story missions together with the new film. What I got instead was an elaborate explanation for a minor detail in The Last Jedi.

Using supplemental media to flesh out smaller elements of the main Star Wars stories is nothing new to this franchise. The film Rogue One is an excellent example of how an entire series of characters and detailed histories can be created in the service of background context for a larger Star Wars story. Both the main story of Battlefront 2 and its DLC story missions do just that and both answer some lingering questions you might have from the recent films.

[spoilers for The Last Jedi and Star Wars Battlefront 2’s campaign ahead]

In the opening moments of The Last Jedi, the Resistance takes part in a bombing run to destroy a First Order dreadnought. The Resistance manages to take down the ship, but suffers massive casualties. While the scene itself shouldn’t cause much confusion, you might have wondered how the Resistance planned this attack in the first place. It’s because someone from the Battlefront 2 universe gave them the dreadnought’s schematics.

DICE/Electronic Arts

Near the end of Battlefront 2’s DLC campaign, the game’s main character, Iden Versio, manages to steal the plans for the dreadnought on a First Order Star Destroyer. While she doesn’t end up escaping the ship, her daughter Zay and her partner Shriv make their getaway on a stolen TIE Fighter. As the duo make their way back to the Resistance, they speak with Leia and send her these plans. At this point, it’s easy to assume the plans then make it into the hands of Poe Dameron, and he uses this information to form his plan of attack at the beginning of The Last Jedi.

Following the handoff, Zay is tasked with meeting up with other Resistance members in the Outer Rim, conveniently placing her far away from the plot of The Last Jedi and likely giving her a mission to take care of in possible future Battlefront 2 DLC.

While this DLC campaign doesn’t fill in any major gaps present in The Last Jedi, it does help add some background for fans who are eager to get more out of the Star Wars universe. And just like Rogue One, the campaign for Battlefront 2 allows the franchise to create new stories in the margins of its main stories. By telling these stories, the Star Wars universe can develop new heroes and villains for its fans to help expand its already massive universe.

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