There’s a lot to love about Rogue One, but one part that really doesn’t work for me is Bodhi Rook’s far-too-rapid recovery from being ‘interrogated’ by Bor Gullet. “The unfortunate side effect is that one tends to lose one’s mind!” Saw declaims ominously. That seems to be the case for entirely as long as it works for the plot. But after a quick exchange with Cassian and repeating “I’m the pilot!” a few times Bodhi seems pretty much as good as new.

I don’t think we’re going to get a repeat of that with Bix, whose Doctor Gorst “dying alien children mixtape” torture rapidly reduces to a physical and mental wreck. “It’s the repeat exposure that does the most damage,” Dedra coolly informs her before they get started in a line that recalls Saw’s. Fortunately, there are small signs of recovery in Bix before the end of the finale and the new micro-trailer shows her looking pretty much physically recovered in S2. Adria Arjona explains in a recent article that Bix was “incredibly fucked-up by Doctor Gorst” but that when Season 2 opens she’s “not perfect but not quite as fucked-up as she was at the end of Season 1”. Hmm. It still sounds like she has, realistically, some way to go… especially if or when the longer term effects kick in.

In other words, perhaps this is something you can never truly recover from. Because another thing the series does so well is to unflinchingly show the effects of severe trauma. As in, not just that there IS trauma (as pretty much every character under the boot of the Empire has that) but that there are different manifestations of and responses to it. Cassian is the central and obvious character to be suffering from trauma from pretty much the start, where even as a nine year old in the Kenari flashbacks we see a glimpse of the terrible buried anger (when he attacks the crashed ship) that flashes from him at various points in the story, from his attack on the Troopers who killed Clem to the furious outburst at the PreMor guards “Tell me what to do!! Let’s hear it, boss!!!” that all helps to show just how damaged this young man is. That anger probably originally comes from whatever happened to his parents at age 6, reawakened by the murder of his leader. Years later, his reaction to being given orders and physically touched by Taramyn in the Aldhani arc is to furiously snap “DON’T touch me. If you want something, you ask.” I have a feeling this might indicate that ‘following orders’ is something Luthen is really going to have to work on in the Season 2 training. This particular part of Cassian’s trauma probably originated in his time in youth prison and Mimban, and it mixes with that from his guilt about his sister and the other obvious cause to create someone who is not just an ‘everyman’ but another character who can definitely be described as “fucked up” in Arjona’s sense.

That other obvious cause is losing those you care about or knowing that they are suffering because of the Empire - and this is by far the most common cause of trauma in the characters. You see it everywhere: Cinta, her whole family slaughtered by Stormtroopers. Now so firmly radicalised as to be ‘ice-cold and fearless’, according to Skeen. Gorn, the Aldhani Lieutentant who “lost the promotion and then lost the woman” he loved. Sometimes that trauma makes people hide from the fight for as long as they think they can - as seen with Cassian and Maarva, and the general population of Ferrix up until the finale. At other times, it prompts an instant dedication to the cause. Melshi comes out of Narkina 5 determined to spread the word, and accepts the blaster Cassian gives him as if answering a call to arms.

Coming full circle, trauma - the emotional effect of Imperial oppression - can create a radicalised rebel far more effectively than any recruitment drive. With Cassian it took a while but it’s made somebody who is now 100% dedicated to the cause (it’s interesting that Gilroy says that they are absolutely not going to have him question this dedication in any way in Season 2). And then we have Wilmon Paak, who - just like Cassian - witnessed his father being hanged on Rix Road. His response - his revenge - was well-planned and deadly. As noted here recently, his action accelarates the riot with the Empire using deadly force only once the IED has been thrown. There are interesting implications here.

I think that both Bix and Wilmon will be driven to fight in Season 2. The longer term effects of their personal trauma will likely come back to haunt them too. This could even translate to doing something desperate, reckless (Wilmon didn’t seem too concerned about collateral damage with that IED, and I’m not sure but I don’t think anyone else in Ferrix knew about it) … or even dangerous. Cassian has been down this road before; I think a lot of his development as a rebel operative will be about controlling his emotions, channeling that anger and weighing up the cost of every action he chooses to take. Maarva’s words for him were interesting: “He knows everything he needs to know and feels everything he needs to feel, and when the day comes when those two pull together he will be an unstoppable force for good”. It will be a question eventually, I think, of getting this balance between reason and emotion right. But I think a lot of characters just won’t be able to achieve that particular fine balance - as a result of their trauma. And for that reason, I really fear for them.

Either way, it’s proof yet again that Luthen is right: “Oppression breeds rebellion”.

Any thoughts (including about that question of whether anyone else knew about Wilmon’s bomb) ?