Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge visitors need to meet the land’s main character, Vi Moradi

Chatting with General Leia Organa’s master spy made my day at Galaxy’s Edge

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is full of rides, restaurants, shops, and unlike most pockets of Disneyland, unique character experiences. To spend time with the Star Wars characters inhabiting the planet Batuu, a visitor needs to track them down on the streets of the Black Spire Outpost … or wait for them to get into a firefight with the First Order.

Having an encounter is easier than it sounds. In fact, I managed to bump into the star of the whole show, a woman named Vi Moradi, while I was standing around sipping my first glass of blue milk.

If the name Vi Moradi doesn’t sound familiar to you, that’s because she’s relatively new to the Star Wars universe. She made her first appearance in the 2017 novel Phasma, which unpacks part of Captain Phasma’s mysterious backstory. The book, by Delilah S. Dawson, is an action-packed tale of deception and conspiracy, in which solving a murder mystery could be the key to bringing down one of the First Order’s most powerful leaders.

Art: Darren Tan

Vi Moradi on the cover of Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire

Dawson, who penned Phasma and the upcoming theme park tie-in, Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire, describes Moradi as a “female Poe Dameron; humor, ego, and talent, but with an added dash of James Bond.” In person, I found her every bit as dashing as the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy.

When I stumbled across Moradi, she was keeping her distance from a squad of First Order stormtroopers just up the street. We locked eyes near an alley next to the Millenium Falcon. Calling out to her by name, she seemed genuinely shocked that I had any idea who she was. She looked back over one shoulder, and then the other, before motioning for me to follow her deeper into the shadows. There, next to a crate filled with surplus military equipment dating back to the time of the Rebellion, we talked one-on-one for a few minutes.

In person, Moradi admits that she’s a spy for the Resistance sent to Batuu by General Organa. She says that she came here because the planet is off the grid, and might just be the best place in the galaxy for the Resistance to gather the support it needs to beat back the First Order. But she’s afraid that the enemy is on to her, that the stormtroopers harassing civilians on the street are there trying to hunt her down.

Her story fits in with the current Star Wars trilogy. After Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Resistance has been whittled down to just the handful of souls on board the Millennium Falcon. The reason she’s here, Moradi says, is to find reinforcements, and that mission puts her very much in harm’s way. Fans will have to wait until August, when Dawson’s Black Spire is on store shelves, to find out more.

It has been such an honor to join the Star Wars universe originating the role of Vi Moradi for the world premiere of Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge.
As long as there is air to breathe, The Resistance shall fight on.
Ignight the Spark & Light the Fire! https://t.co/EvXbwlKyTp pic.twitter.com/4WWLy5sszu

— Alex Marshall-Brown (@amarshallbrown) May 30, 2019

In the meanwhile, Moradi is doing more than just chatting up strangers inside Black Spire Outpost. Fans who visit the park in the evening are likely to see her involved in a stunt-filled skirmish with the First Order.

At one point Moradi makes a mad dash through the streets of Black Spire Outpost and on to a raised platform on the south side of the land. Chased by a detachment of First Order troopers, she appeals to the crowd for help. That’s when a pair of stormtroopers leap from behind the scenery, pinning her down with a volley of blaster fire. There are authentic-looking special effects, including sparks from ricochets and wisps of smoke.

In the final moments, Chewbacca shows up to let loose with an explosive round from his bowcaster, giving the citizens of Batuu a chance to intervene and disarm the stormtroopers.

The events that take place inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will repeat themselves every day that the park is open. Hang out there long enough, and you’ll probably bump into Moradi, too. She’ll be there, alongside Chewie and all the citizens of Batuu and the soldiers of the First Order, living out the same day over and over again indefinitely. But her storyline — which includes her interactions with Disneyland guests and her upcoming novel — is considered canon. So, by visiting the park and chatting with her, park-goers who experience the adventure also set the stage for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Source: Polygon