Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One

[Seltz]

RIP Kyle Katarn

[hallonsylt]

Please give me a UCS AT-AT, please give me a UCS AT-AT, please give me a UCS AT-AT

[Venkefedo]

RIP Kyle Katarn

He could always be rebooted into canon elsewhere. Stealing the DS plans was a very, very small part of his storyline (and of the game itself), and multiple others also "stole the Death Star plans" in the EU, too: Havet Storm in a "choose your own adventure" Jedi book, Bria Tharen & Red Hand Squadron in the Han Solo Trilogy, Rianna Saren in Star Wars: Lethal Alliance.

Where's my Siege of Mandalore anthology? Or if they really wanted to go OT, why not the story of the Mon Calamari/Ackbar joining the rebellion? That could be pretty cool, considering it was a pretty important moment for the movement.

...but what's the story for such an "important moment"? We already know that Ackbar is part of the Rebellion as of ANH, which means he's already part of the Rebellion at the time of Rogue One... the old EU story of the Mon Calamari joining the Alliance is gone, and stopped making sense once they ditched the idea that the Mon Calamari only recently joined the galactic community and welcomed the Empire as friends before being enslaved. The story of them joining in the new canon might be interesting, but maybe not "movie" interesting... not like a heist film about stealing the plans to the Death Star and winning the first victory against the Empire.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Venkefedo

[rollermonkey]

Since we've already had one Mon Calamari help the Rebel Alliance in Rebels, (Quarrie provides them with the B-wing prototype if you aren't watching the show) the story of how they join may happen in Rebels.

Hmm... I wonder. Could Ahsoka come in a Blade Wing / B-Wing Prototype set as the retailer exclusive?

[wesker]

Hmm... I wonder. Could Ahsoka come in a Blade Wing / B-Wing Prototype set as the retailer exclusive?

I don't think so. Compare the prices of previous retailer exclusives we get at that time of the year:

2008 - The Twilight

2009 - Home One

2010 - AT-AT

2011 - Hoth Echo Base

2012 - Palpatine's Arrest

2013 - Jedi Defender-class Cruiser

2014 - MTT

2015 - Sith Infiltrator

A B-Wing would be too small for the price range. This year's exclusive set should be the around the same size as the others.

[rollermonkey]

Would it, though? The prototype looked bigger than the final version to me, what with dual cockpits, etc.

Plus it would make no sense to put Ahsoka in it, since it was actually Hera and Sabine that went to see Quarrie about getting help.

...so that would fit LEGO's pattern of putting minifigs in sets they don't belong, perfectly!

[TheNerdyOne_]

...but what's the story for such an "important moment"? We already know that Ackbar is part of the Rebellion as of ANH, which means he's already part of the Rebellion at the time of Rogue One... the old EU story of the Mon Calamari joining the Alliance is gone, and stopped making sense once they ditched the idea that the Mon Calamari only recently joined the galactic community and welcomed the Empire as friends before being enslaved. The story of them joining in the new canon might be interesting, but maybe not "movie" interesting... not like a heist film about stealing the plans to the Death Star and winning

Ackbar may have joined the rebellion early on, but that still doesn't explain the lack of Mon Calamari ships until after the battle of Hoth. We still don't know when Mon Cala was liberated from the Empire, but I would bet that it wasn't until after Hoth. Now the liberation of Mon Cala, likely the first world to be fully liberated from the Empire (or maybe second with Ryloth), sounds like a much more interesting story than a heist film. And it would be the second really important victory against the Empire, and the one that really gets the rebellion started. I don't see how that wouldn't be "movie interesting."

the first victory against the Empire.

It was hardly the first, and the actual victory didn't really come until the Death Star was destroyed, which is something we've already seen. That's sorta my point, this film just feels like a waste. It doesn't really add anything to the overall story that isn't already in Episode IV. If they really wanted to tell the story, I think Rebels would have been a much better medium. Mostly because you can tell the whole story, rather than just the heist. With Rebels you have the build-up to the existence of the Death Star and the rebels finding out (which they're actually doing anyway regardless of Rogue One), and it also allows the Ghost crew to really contribute to the Rebellion as whole.

[JPN366]

Since we've already had one Mon Calamari help the Rebel Alliance in Rebels, (Quarrie provides them with the B-wing prototype if you aren't watching the show) the story of how they join may happen in Rebels.

Hmm... I wonder. Could Ahsoka come in a Blade Wing / B-Wing Prototype set as the retailer exclusive?

I would second that, but if it was that vehicle it would need Hera, Sabine, Chopper, Zeb and the Mon Calamari guy. Especially since Zeb and Chopper have been in only one set. I do hope they make that set with those figures at some point, but I doubt it would be the Ahsoka set.

[JPN366]

I had a theory about the movie, I'll share it with spoiler tags...

What if Ahsoka is in Rogue One? There are several clues that seem to allude to that for me.

1. If Vader is in Rogue One, it would seem to me that there would have to be another force user in the movie. None of the characters in the movie could take him on, they would be no match. I'm sure most everyone assumes Ahsoka will die at Vader's hands at some point. It would have to be before Episode 4. Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka are characters whose fate is probably tragic. Ezra probably turns to the dark side, probably strikes down Kanan. Ahsoka must have a final battle with Vader, she's too important to Anakin's story not to have an epic final duel with him. Why not do it in Rogue One? If you're doing a movie that takes place when Vader is alive, then why not include him? If you include him, don't waste his presence. Maybe Ahsoka goes along with the rebels who steal the plans to protect them? Maybe she takes on Vader so that the others can get away with the plans? If it's just a heist/action movie, it may be entertaining, but it could possibly not have a wow moment or a twist or whatever. I know Ahsoka has never been in anything but the cartoons, but maybe now is the time to include her for her final moments. She could be introduced halfway through the movie and talk about her background and her history with Vader. That way the viewers who don't know her would understand her importance.

2. The season 2 finale of Rebels was epic and ambiguous. I was fully expecting and anticipating Ahsoka dying, but we weren't shown the end of her fight with Vader. Yes, she was shown walking out of or into the temple. But if Dave Filoni wants to focus on Kanan and Ezra's story, he had a perfect chance to end Ahsoka's story. But he didn't. Maybe he was asked not to by Disney? Maybe he was told to leave her fate open ended? Maybe Disney said they wanted to have her meet Vader for a final time in Rogue One? He did say in the IGN interview that her story should continue, just maybe not in Star Wars Rebels. It's his character, why else would he not have killed her off? Why not save that encounter for later on in the show?

3. The Ahsoka book. I know it's a story about her life between Clone Wars and Rebels, but it's coming out TWO months before Rogue One. It's almost like Disney is trying to get her out there and put her in front of people right when the hype for the movie will be high. There are people who like Star Wars who don't know who Ahsoka is, why not give them a background about her through Rebels and the book before she makes her live action cinematic debut? Putting her in the movie would generate renewed interest in Clone Wars and draw in more viewers for Rebels and more buyers for the eventual season 2 DVD/Blu Ray release.

4. I could easily be wrong about all of this, Ahsoka's story may continue and end in Rebels, Vader may not be in the movie at all or if he is, he doesn't have a foil to fight against. But why waste this opportunity? Why not reward the hardcore fans with a final duel between Vader and Ahsoka? It makes sense to me.

[Seltz]

I had a theory about the movie, I'll share it with spoiler tags...

What if Ahsoka is in Rogue One? There are several clues that seem to allude to that for me.

1. If Vader is in Rogue One, it would seem to me that there would have to be another force user in the movie. None of the characters in the movie could take him on, they would be no match. I'm sure most everyone assumes Ahsoka will die at Vader's hands at some point. It would have to be before Episode 4. Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka are characters whose fate is probably tragic. Ezra probably turns to the dark side, probably strikes down Kanan. Ahsoka must have a final battle with Vader, she's too important to Anakin's story not to have an epic final duel with him. Why not do it in Rogue One? If you're doing a movie that takes place when Vader is alive, then why not include him? If you include him, don't waste his presence. Maybe Ahsoka goes along with the rebels who steal the plans to protect them? Maybe she takes on Vader so that the others can get away with the plans? If it's just a heist/action movie, it may be entertaining, but it could possibly not have a wow moment or a twist or whatever. I know Ahsoka has never been in anything but the cartoons, but maybe now is the time to include her for her final moments. She could be introduced halfway through the movie and talk about her background and her history with Vader. That way the viewers who don't know her would understand her importance.

2. The season 2 finale of Rebels was epic and ambiguous. I was fully expecting and anticipating Ahsoka dying, but we weren't shown the end of her fight with Vader. Yes, she was shown walking out of or into the temple. But if Dave Filoni wants to focus on Kanan and Ezra's story, he had a perfect chance to end Ahsoka's story. But he didn't. Maybe he was asked not to by Disney? Maybe he was told to leave her fate open ended? Maybe Disney said they wanted to have her meet Vader for a final time in Rogue One? He did say in the IGN interview that her story should continue, just maybe not in Star Wars Rebels. It's his character, why else would he not have killed her off? Why not save that encounter for later on in the show?

3. The Ahsoka book. I know it's a story about her life between Clone Wars and Rebels, but it's coming out TWO months before Rogue One. It's almost like Disney is trying to get her out there and put her in front of people right when the hype for the movie will be high. There are people who like Star Wars who don't know who Ahsoka is, why not give them a background about her through Rebels and the book before she makes her live action cinematic debut? Putting her in the movie would generate renewed interest in Clone Wars and draw in more viewers for Rebels and more buyers for the eventual season 2 DVD/Blu Ray release.

4. I could easily be wrong about all of this, Ahsoka's story may continue and end in Rebels, Vader may not be in the movie at all or if he is, he doesn't have a foil to fight against. But why waste this opportunity? Why not reward the hardcore fans with a final duel between Vader and Ahsoka? It makes sense to me.

Vader is kinda-sorta in the movie, and iirc it's already been confirmed by the mouse that there will be no force/lightsaber users as major characters.

[JPN366]

Vader is kinda-sorta in the movie, and iirc it's already been confirmed by the mouse that there will be no force/lightsaber users as major characters.

Then that's a waste. Hopefully it's not true.

[Forresto]

Heres my question and maybe they'll alleviate it in the movie, but how is this the first victory of the Rebellion when all we ever see is the Empire losing in new canon stuff like Rebels? Unless this means things are going to go badly for the rebels in future seasons?

I just want to see the Empire win like in ESB for once

[Jayoheazy]

I'm hoping there'll be a T-65 but chances aren't likely :/

[ChiefPie]

Rebels I think show small victories. But I think stealing the Death Star plans would be a more important victory.

[Venkefedo]

Ackbar may have joined the rebellion early on, but that still doesn't explain the lack of Mon Calamari ships until after the battle of Hoth. We still don't know when Mon Cala was liberated from the Empire, but I would bet that it wasn't until after Hoth. Now the liberation of Mon Cala, likely the first world to be fully liberated from the Empire (or maybe second with Ryloth), sounds like a much more interesting story than a heist film. And it would be the second really important victory against the Empire, and the one that really gets the rebellion started. I don't see how that wouldn't be "movie interesting."

You're assuming that the Mon Calamari didn't join the Rebellion until after Hoth. The new canon has made it abundantly clear that we never see the entirety of the Rebellion in ANH or ESB. There could be several Mon Calamari ships among the fleets that only show up to Yavin after the battle, to aid in the evacuation... all we saw in ESB were some transports to clear Hoth, and a scattering of ships at the very end that don't represent the fully assembled fleet.

It was hardly the first, and the actual victory didn't really come until the Death Star was destroyed, which is something we've already seen. That's sorta my point, this film just feels like a waste. It doesn't really add anything to the overall story that isn't already in Episode IV. If they really wanted to tell the story, I think Rebels would have been a much better medium. Mostly because you can tell the whole story, rather than just the heist. With Rebels you have the build-up to the existence of the Death Star and the rebels finding out (which they're actually doing anyway regardless of Rogue One), and it also allows the Ghost crew to really contribute to the Rebellion as whole.

No, the actual victory came in the battle, as the title crawl states. It's the first victory for the Rebel Alliance in a major battle... prior events, like the victories in "Rebels", are smaller scale... the Alliance doesn't exist yet in the show, it's a loose network of rebel cells, many who still think they're independent. Victories in the years between the show & Rogue One will likely be those where they successfully escape, smaller engagements like stealing supplies and destroying shipments, etc. What's described in the opening crawl is thought to be the first major battle, a fleet of Rebel ships vs a fleet of Imperial ships, and the Rebels win, alongside the mission to steal the plans. Then they destroy the Death Star which is an even bigger victory...but at the time of the crawl, there's only been one major victory.

[Junior Shark]

The new canon has made it abundantly clear that we never see the entirety of the Rebellion in ANH or ESB.

Yep. In the canon Leia comic, Ackbar is shown organizing the evacuation of the Rebel base on Yavin IV.

[TheNerdyOne_]

You're assuming that the Mon Calamari didn't join the Rebellion until after Hoth. The new canon has made it abundantly clear that we never see the entirety of the Rebellion in ANH or ESB. There could be several Mon Calamari ships among the fleets that only show up to Yavin after the battle, to aid in the evacuation... all we saw in ESB were some transports to clear Hoth, and a scattering of ships at the very end that don't represent the fully assembled fleet.

I'm not assuming anything other than the fact that Disney is in charge of the franchise now and can bend the canon to their will. There's nothing stopping them from making a story about Mon Cala being liberated, the story of their joining the rebellion has yet to be told in canon so they can make it whatever they want. It really doesn't matter when Ackbar joined, or when Mon Cala is actually liberated, but there's no way they're providing massive fleets of retrofitted ships to the Rebellion without the Empire noticing. Alderaan was even especially careful about providing a handful of ships to the Rebellion, and even then the Empire was pretty suspicious.

No, the actual victory came in the battle, as the title crawl states. It's the first victory for the Rebel Alliance in a major battle... prior events, like the victories in "Rebels", are smaller scale... the Alliance doesn't exist yet in the show, it's a loose network of rebel cells, many who still think they're independent. Victories in the years between the show & Rogue One will likely be those where they successfully escape, smaller engagements like stealing supplies and destroying shipments, etc. What's described in the opening crawl is thought to be the first major battle, a fleet of Rebel ships vs a fleet of Imperial ships, and the Rebels win, alongside the mission to steal the plans. Then they destroy the Death Star which is an even bigger victory...but at the time of the crawl, there's only been one major victory.

It's been pretty clear for a while that the title crawl has largely been ignored. Rebels has shown numerous victories that could be considered pretty major, and the title card didn't say anything about how important the victory was, just that it was the first victory at all. Nor did it specify that it was the first victory under the official Rebel Alliance, it just said "rebels." And you call me out for assuming things about Mon Cala, and then go on to assume that Rogue One will depict a major naval engagement between the Empire and the Rebellion? And not only that, but the Rebels will actually win said engagement? The victory is that the plans were stolen and transmitted to Tantive IV, I don't see any indication that the rebels actually won any battles. In fact, the Empire knowing about the transmission would indicate otherwise.

And really, it doesn't matter if the rebels win or not, that's irrelevant to my point. My point is that everything that happens in Rogue One is immediately overshadowed by the events of ANH. The title card of ANH and the opening minutes of the film are all that we really need. There are a ton of other, much more interesting, stories to be told than one that we've already gotten the TL;DR version of. The Liberation of Mon Cala is just one example, there are many more. I just don't see the point of making a whole movie about this, when we were just fine not knowing the specifics, and there are other mediums to tell it (such as Rebels, which is already dealing with the discovery of the Death Star anyway). It's pretty boring if you ask me.

[Venkefedo]

I'm not assuming anything other than the fact that Disney is in charge of the franchise now and can bend the canon to their will. There's nothing stopping them from making a story about Mon Cala being liberated, the story of their joining the rebellion has yet to be told in canon so they can make it whatever they want. It really doesn't matter when Ackbar joined, or when Mon Cala is actually liberated, but there's no way they're providing massive fleets of retrofitted ships to the Rebellion without the Empire noticing. Alderaan was even especially careful about providing a handful of ships to the Rebellion, and even then the Empire was pretty suspicious.

Who says there are massive fleets of Mon Calamari ships aiding the rebels? There were only a handful at Endor, where most of the Rebel fleet was located. Who says Mon Cala was liberated before the war's conclusion? It may well be an Imperial world until after Endor... if they liberated it beforehand, what's to stop the Empire from sending another Star Destroyer fleet to take it back?

[Forresto]

I just want to see the Empire maintain it's badassery. For me it's not enough to hear about them winning, I want to see it. With Clone Wars, If the separatists lost I could care less even though I acted like I did, but the Empire is iconic.

I guess I look at it this way. The Imperials are basically the nazis and the Alliance is the allies. Well what makes WW2 so horrible in reality but compelling to study is that even when Nazi Germany was at a fraction of its strength and losing the war badly they were still holding out and fighting hard. Just look at the Soviet siege of Berlin. Obviously I don't find the nazis badass, they're evil people, but my point is that even when they lost battles it wasn't any great victory for the Allies considering how many causalities they inflicted in the closing battles of the war. We talk about Normandy being a success in tandem with the large cost and loss of human life.

In my opinion if Rogue One is going to be the gritty Star Wars war movie, even though we know at least one of them escapes with the plans, the rebels need to be shown paying a large or significant cost for their victory. Considering ANH Yavin seems like that's all the Rebels have at their direct disposal they're not in a great state.

Who says there are massive fleets of Mon Calamari ships aiding the rebels? There were only a handful at Endor, where most of the Rebel fleet was located. Who says Mon Cala was liberated before the war's conclusion? It may well be an Imperial world until after Endor... if they liberated it beforehand, what's to stop the Empire from sending another Star Destroyer fleet to take it back?

In the new canon comic 'Leia', Akbar leads the evacuation of Yavin IV after the destruction of the first Death Star. It's a weird change I would never have heard about if a friend hadn't mentioned it to me.

Edit: Juniorshark beat me to it hehe

Edited April 11, 2016 by Forresto

[TheNerdyOne_]

Who says there are massive fleets of Mon Calamari ships aiding the rebels? There were only a handful at Endor, where most of the Rebel fleet was located. Who says Mon Cala was liberated before the war's conclusion? It may well be an Imperial world until after Endor... if they liberated it beforehand, what's to stop the Empire from sending another Star Destroyer fleet to take it back?

Massive in comparison to what the Rebels usually have. The contributions by the Mon Cala were huge for the rebellion, and were the first actual capital ships that we know of that the Rebellion were able to add to their fleet. It finally gave the rebels a way to fight the Empire in space rather than just running away.

Nobody says Mon Cala was liberated before the war's conclusion, we have no idea when it was liberated. I'm saying that there's nothing stopping Disney from having it liberated shortly after the battle of Hoth, just like they've done with Sullust. And that doing so has potential to be a really cool story.

The same thing that stopped the Empire from retaking Sullust after it was liberated by the Rebellion in the new canon, it's simply not worth it. When the entire population is rebelling, combined with the forces of the Rebel Alliance, it's just not feasible to keep trying to maintain control, and resources can be better spent elsewhere. The Empire is trying to maintain control of an entire galaxy, it doesn't make sense to waste resources on a lost world when they could be using said resources to protect their other planets from suffering from the same fate. Neither Sullust nor Mon Cala have any resources of particular importance, so there's no reason for the Empire to try to hold on to them. World like Lothal on the other hand, which are providing crucial resources for the Death Star, are very important and do indeed warrant fleets for protection (especially when there aren't any other worlds at particular risk due to the insignificance of the rebellion at that point).

[Venkefedo]

I just want to see the Empire maintain it's badassery. For me it's not enough to hear about them winning, I want to see it. With Clone Wars, If the separatists lost I could care less even though I acted like I did, but the Empire is iconic.

I guess I look at it this way. The Imperials are basically the nazis and the Alliance is the allies. Well what makes WW2 so horrible in reality but compelling to study is that even when Nazi Germany was at a fraction of its strength and losing the war badly they were still holding out and fighting hard. Just look at the Soviet siege of Berlin. Obviously I don't find the nazis badass, they're evil people, but my point is that even when they lost battles it wasn't any great victory for the Allies considering how many causalities they inflicted in the closing battles of the war. We talk about Normandy being a success in tandem with the large cost and loss of human life.

In my opinion if Rogue One is going to be the gritty Star Wars war movie, even though we know at least one of them escapes with the plans, the rebels need to be shown paying a large or significant cost for their victory. Considering ANH Yavin seems like that's all the Rebels have at their direct disposal they're not in a great state.

In the new canon comic 'Leia', Akbar leads the evacuation of Yavin IV after the destruction of the first Death Star. It's a weird change I would never have heard about if a friend hadn't mentioned it to me.

Edit: Juniorshark beat me to it hehe

Yes, Ackbar participates in the evacuation efforts, but nothing in the comic suggested there were massive fleets of Mon Calamari ships. And the reason they could only throw what we saw in ANH at the Death Star is because that was all that they had available or could get there in time; the rest arrived to help in the aftermath, like the comic showed.

Massive in comparison to what the Rebels usually have. The contributions by the Mon Cala were huge for the rebellion, and were the first actual capital ships that we know of that the Rebellion were able to add to their fleet. It finally gave the rebels a way to fight the Empire in space rather than just running away.

Except that's more Legends stuff. Nothing in the new canon suggests that the Mon Cala ships (which, again, number in the single or perhaps arguably very low double-digits at Endor) were the first capital-class ships at the Alliance's disposal. It could easily be argued that we just never saw their major capital ships outside of the odd frigate and the cruisers at Endor, but that more were 'just offscreen' at Endor or elsewhere. It's a new canon now; the Mon Cala contribution may not be anywhere near as significant as before, and those ships could've been 'lost' the same way Alderaanian convoys kept losing ships, providing a handful of cruisers to the Rebellion.

[TheNerdyOne_]

Except that's more Legends stuff. Nothing in the new canon suggests that the Mon Cala ships (which, again, number in the single or perhaps arguably very low double-digits at Endor) were the first capital-class ships at the Alliance's disposal. It could easily be argued that we just never saw their major capital ships outside of the odd frigate and the cruisers at Endor, but that more were 'just offscreen' at Endor or elsewhere. It's a new canon now; the Mon Cala contribution may not be anywhere near as significant as before, and those ships could've been 'lost' the same way Alderaanian convoys kept losing ships, providing a handful of cruisers to the Rebellion.

Well, except for the fact that the Mon Calamari ships are the only capital ships ever shown. You could argue that we just never saw any others, but doing so would be baseless conjecture. Like I said, as far as we know they were the first.

And the Alderranian ships were much smaller cargo ships usually, which have tiny crews and are therefor easily stolen. Not so easy to steal an entire luxury liner full of passengers and security, and then retrofit it as a warship while lacking in any major shipyards, especially doing so multiple times. That would require either very unethical tactics (something the Empire knows the Rebellion isn't likely to do), or a very sizable infiltration crew (which again, the Empire knows is unlikely). And not only that, but the Empire kinda figured out what Bail and his crew were up to pretty quickly and blew up their planet, and then hunted down the remaining population to near extinction.

Edited April 12, 2016 by TheNerdyOne_

[Forresto]

Well, except for the fact that the Mon Calamari ships are the only capital ships ever shown. You could argue that we just never saw any others, but doing so would be baseless conjecture. Like I said, as far as we know they were the first.

And the Alderranian ships were much smaller cargo ships usually, which have tiny crews and are therefor easily stolen. Not so easy to steal an entire luxury liner full of passengers and security, and then retrofit it as a warship while lacking in any major shipyards, especially doing so multiple times. That would require either very unethical tactics (something the Empire knows the Rebellion isn't likely to do), or a very sizable infiltration crew (which again, the Empire knows is unlikely). And not only that, but the Empire kinda figured out what Bail and his crew were up to pretty quickly and blew up their planet, and then hunted down the remaining population to near extinction.

Wouldn't that be an awesome idea for a storyline though? The Mon Calamari are passively supporting the Rebellion by "Losing" ships in raids or attacks. Maybe the Destruction of the first Death Star is sort of like the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolution which convinced our foreign benefactors such as the French to form an official Alliance. The difference here since Mon Cala is under Imperial control, Imperial military presence increases to protect the Mon Cala shipyards, so they as a people inadvertently put themselves under greater scrutiny.

It's possible that Mon Cala is always under Imperial rule until a certain point like the death of the Emperor but the Mon Calamari were able to sneak a bunch of their ships over to the rebellion.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Forresto

[Jbricks]

It's possible that Mon Cala is always under Imperial rule until a certain point like the death of the Emperor but the Mon Calamari were able to sneak a bunch of their ships over to the rebellion.

Maybe the majority of Mon Calamari support the empire and only a small faction sides with the rebels? There's a lot of different ways it could go.

[TheNerdyOne_]

Wouldn't that be an awesome idea for a storyline though? The Mon Calamari are passively supporting the Rebellion by "Losing" ships in raids or attacks. Maybe the Destruction of the first Death Star is sort of like the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolution which convinced our foreign benefactors such as the French to form an official Alliance. The difference here since Mon Cala is under Imperial control, Imperial military presence increases to protect the Mon Cala shipyards, so they as a people inadvertently put themselves under greater scrutiny.

It's possible that Mon Cala is always under Imperial rule until a certain point like the death of the Emperor but the Mon Calamari were able to sneak a bunch of their ships over to the rebellion.

That would indeed be pretty cool, I would be very okay with that.