THE FIRST ORDER

A hotshot X-wing pilot for the Resistance, Poe Dameron saw a lot of himself in Kazuda "Kaz" Xiono and was confident the young pilot-turned-spy would succeed on his mission on the Colossus platform.

The son of rebel heroes, Poe Dameron learned to fly as a boy on Yavin 4 and became an ace pilot in the New Republic, then joined the Resistance led by his idol, General Leia Organa. Leia sent Poe to Jakku to find the explorer Lor San Tekka, hoping the old explorer might be able to help locate Luke Skywalker.

San Tekka gave Poe a scrap of an old star chart, but the First Order attacked his village. Poe hid the chart in his astromech, BB-8, telling the droid to flee. He then battled the First Order invaders, but was captured and interrogated by the ruthless dark side warrior Kylo Ren, who discovered what Poe had done with the map to Skywalker.

Poe might have died in First Order custody, but a renegade stormtrooper designated FN-2187 broke him out of his cell because he needed a pilot to escape First Order service. Poe and Finn stole a TIE, which Poe tried to fly back to Jakku – but the fighter was shot down and crashed. 

Poe escaped Jakku and rejoined the Resistance in time for a mission to Takodana, where First Order forces drove away First Order raiders. He then led the Resistance starfighter raid on Starkiller Base, firing the shots that destroyed the superweapon.

As the Resistance hastily evacuated D’Qar, Poe disobeyed Leia’s orders and destroyed a First Order Dreadnought, an attack that cost many pilots’ lives. He was stunned when an angry Leia demoted him, and shook to his core by an attack on the Raddus. Leia was badly injured, Poe’s beloved X-wing was destroyed, and the sidelined pilot had grave suspicions about the new Resistance commander, Vice Admiral Holdo.

Convinced Holdo was leading the Resistance to ruin, Poe defied her. He helped Finn and Rose Tico craft a desperate rescue mission and staged a mutiny to scuttle Holdo’s plan to evacuate the cruiser. Poe was grateful to learn Leia had recovered – but rather than help Poe, Leia stunned him with a blaster, ending his personal rebellion.

Holdo gave her life to buy the Resistance transports time to escape, leaving Poe chastened by her sacrifice. He led a last-ditch effort to stop the First Order on the surface of Crait, but called off the attack when he realized it was suicidal. He then helped lead the surviving Resistance soldiers to safety.