‘Ahsoka’: Is Senator Xiono Evil? Explained

One of the familiar Star Wars characters who made their official live-action debut in ‘Ahsoka’ is Senator Hamato Xiono, who was seen in episode 3 of the series. Fans were quick to dislike Senator Xiono because he quickly dismissed Hera Syndulla’s claims that the Imperial remnants were actively looking for Grand Admiral Thrawn. He also tried to belittle Hera’s efforts as a personal quest to use New Republic resources to find Ezra Bridger. So, does that mean that Senator Xiono is evil?

Senator Hamato Xiono is not evil. He isn’t allied with the Imperial remnants. Instead, he is a true politician who has always been trying to navigate the political waters of the New Republic and wasn’t entirely interested in anything related to the Imperial remnants, whom he believes are not threats.

The thing about the New Republic era is that it allows us to see how and why this era was bound to fail. We know that the New Republic was all but wiped out by the First Order, and there’s a good reason why it was powerless against its enemies. Senator Xiono is one of the people who represents what went wrong with the New Republic. So, that said, let’s look at where his allegiance lies.

Senator Xiono’s loyalties explained

Episode 3 of ‘Ahsoka’ may have focused on Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren a lot while they were trying to navigate their way through the problems that they were forced to face when they had to go the Denab system on their own and without the aid of the New Republic. And there’s a good reason why the New Republic wasn’t there to help them.

Elsewhere, General Hera Syndulla tried her best to provide backup to her friends because she understood the weight of the situation. She knew that the Imperial remnants were working hard to find Thrawn and pull him back to the known galaxy so that he could unite and lead them against the New Republic. But Hera had to face the toughest enemy she has ever faced in her life—a group of politicians.

Hera was scheduled to meet with the New Republic Senate and Chancellor Mon Mothma. But before she decided to enter the room to speak to the chancellor and the senators through a transmission, one of Hera’s men warned her that Senator Xiono was among those who were selected to hear her request for aid and backup.

While speaking to the senators, Hera tried to make them understand that the Imperials were a threat and that Thrawn could still be alive. But while Mon was willing to listen to Hera, the other senators had other ideas. Senator Hamato Xiono was one of the senators quick enough to try to debunk all of Hera’s claims that Thrawn could still be out there and is still a threat.

Xiono didn’t believe that Thrawn was still alive. And even if the Grand Admiral were still there, Xiono thought that Hera was only trying to convince the New Republic to give her resources that she could use to continue her search for Ezra Bridger.

In that regard, Xiono dismissed Hera’s urgent needs as a personal matter that only involved searching for a missing friend. For him, the Republic was better off diverting its resources to those he believed needed them most. And he was talking about the people of the New Republic.

Then again, Hera was also quick to question Senator Xiono’s loyalties. She asked him whether or not he served the Rebels during the recent war, to which he replied that he didn’t. Hera accused him of simply waiting out the war to see who would come out on top before trying to take power as a senator. As such, she questioned Xiono’s loyalties.

Those who have watched ‘Star Wars: Resistance’ would understand that Xiono wasn’t allied with the Empire or even the First Order. He continued to serve the New Republic as a senator for around two decades after he made his live-action debut in ‘Ahsoka.’ But in ‘Resistance,’ he was just as stubborn as ever because he didn’t even think that the First Order was a threat.

In that regard, there is no question that his loyalties lie with the New Republic. But the problem isn’t with his loyalty. Instead, the problem can be seen in his priorities. Xiono just doesn’t think that there is an enemy just waiting in the dark to attack the New Republic.

This could mean that he was out of touch with reality because he never served in the war and was simply living a comfortable life regardless of whoever came out as the victory of the Rebellion. And that is why he didn’t think that either the Imperial remnants or the First Order were threats to the Republic, as his priorities lie elsewhere.

Xiono is a true politician

Another thing that can be said about Hamato Xiono is that he is a true politician. No one can doubt that he is loyal to the New Republic and that loyalty may only be a product of the fact that the New Republic is in power. He would have been loyal to the Empire had the Empire defeated the Rebels during the Rebellion.

In ‘Resistance,’ he was a blind old man who never really saw the threat of the First Order. On top of that, he even thought that the Resistance was just a group of extremists trying to stir up trouble with the First Order to make matters in the galaxy worse. To that end, he was truly more worried about the politics of the New Republic instead of worrying about possibly ending a war before it started.

During the events of episode 3 of ‘Ahsoka,’ it was clear that he really didn’t think anything was wrong about the movements of the Imperial remnants because he was far more concerned about something else. Whether or not he wanted to do it out of the goodness of his heart, he said that he was more willing to divert resources to the people of the Republic instead of fighting a war that may or may not happen. This is something that a true politician would say because politicians often care more about what the general public thinks of them instead of taking action against an issue that needs to be resolved.

So, in many ways, Senator Xiono represents what went wrong with the New Republic and why it failed. The Empire may have fallen, but the senators who lived during the time of the Empire simply took the place of their Imperial oppressors and are now the ones who are politicizing themselves into power. These senators may not be the tyrants the Imperial officers were. Still, they care about holding on to their power and influence just as much as their evil Imperial counterparts did.

Of course, many more people like Xiono are working for the New Republic. We saw quite a few of them during the events of ‘The Mandalorian’ season 3. Of course, because the New Republic is full of people who are merely politicking everything or are more concerned about the bureaucracy, it is understandable why or how the First Order was basically able to rise from under the noses of these senators. And it becomes interesting to wonder whether or not democracy was always meant to fail in a vast galaxy full of different people with different agendas.

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