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The kiss of Kanan and Hera
Star Wars Rebels, Season 4, Episode 7, “Kindred”
Writers: Dave Filoni & Henry Gilroy
Director: Sergio Paez
“Will they or won’t they?” is a tried and true dynamic for a lot of storytelling. Two leads circling around love for a long period of time until their passions explode into a kiss. Add a laugh track and you’ve got at least one season of a hit sitcom. Star Wars Rebels presented us with that dynamic early on with Kanan and Hera, but what made it work so well wasn’t a case of “will they/ won’t they,” it was “can they?”
When we first meet Kanan Jarrus in Jonathan Jackson Miller’s novel A New Dawn, the former Jedi Padawan known as Caleb Dume is far from the child he was and the man he wanted to be. He’s a bottom-dwelling, bar-hopping, skirt-chasing cowboy actually. He has a ponytail for Force’s sake! His journey through the events of Star Wars Rebels isn’t just one of self-discovery and returning to the Jedi way he HAD to ditch because of the events of Order 66 and the rise of the Galactic Empire. No, it’s more like Kanan Jarrus was going through a rehabilitation. Who he was had faded away over time, due in part to circumstance first, yes, but more so because he masked his fear of losing who he was with all the trappings and vices he had been trained to turn away from. He was buried beneath them and had to go through a slow process of digging through the mire to rebuild himself. That makes any possible romantic attachment to Hera a risk. Attachment is forbidden! Just ask Anakin, he’ll tell you! Does Kanan love Hera? Of course, he does, no question, but can he?
For her part, Hera Syndulla is the daughter of a famed revolutionary, Cham Syndulla, and was born into this Rebellion. Though that situation is not always clear and easy, it does mean that she’s felt the oppressive nature of the Empire up close. She started out a fighter and soon became a leader. She had to. It was her legacy to continue and she’s great at it. When she first meets Kanan, it’s not just a matter of her not having time for him in some sort of shallow duty to her job. She’s not trying for a promotion and doesn’t need the distraction like this is a rom-com movie on Netflix. She’s helping to launch a Rebellion and either you’re helping her or you’re not on her spaceship. While Kanan does break through that barrier, the goal for both becomes freedom. Nothing else. Does Hera love Kanan? Of course, she does, but can she?
Through all the seasons of Star Wars Rebels, we watch as Kanan and Hera continue their growth. Kanan inches closer and closer to that Jedi he needs to be. Hera grows from a leader of a small rebel cell to an invaluable warrior in a greater alliance. We know they love each. They know they love each. But, through it all, that question of “can they?” floats over their heads like a tantalizing peek into a life they both deserve. And so, they finally kiss…
There are great kisses in Star Wars like Han and Leia, Padmé and Anakin, Dr. Aphra and Captain Tolvan, or Kylo and Rey (Kidding. Not yet. Or ever. Or maybe.), but there is nothing gained by applying a ranking system to them. They each represent something different and special to those situations and characters. What shines through the kiss of Kanan and Hera is how after all this time and anticipation—especially ours—it was so simple, direct, and real. It was quick and sudden. No long gazes (they came before). No big gestures. No sweeping “vistas” behind them. It was mere moments before a battle, mid-conversation, and in front of their team, which by then had become their family (bonus points to Zeb’s proud smile upon seeing it). The kiss of Kanan and Hera wasn’t a proclamation and the beginning of a romance. Their kiss was a confirmation of all the feelings that had come before this moment and the natural progression of a relationship that had already been in place, an equal partnership that, they both finally realized, had become the most important part of their respective, individual journeys. It’s the Star Wars kiss from another galaxy that was the most realistic.
The love of Kanan and Hera was tragically doomed, but nothing that transpired after this moment could erase the power of this kiss and the joy behind it. It was the answer fans had been wanting from the beginning. Can Kanan and Hera share a kiss? Yes. They had to.