I have a very spicy and galaxy-brained take that none of you are prepared for but I’m gonna say it anyway.
To clarify: In Star Wars: the Clone Wars season 1 episodes 11 and 12 “Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General” (2009), Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi meet Hondo Ohnaka for the first time when they, along with Count Dooku, are captured and held for ransom by him. This establishes the dynamic between Anakin, Obi-Wan and Hondo. Later, in season 5 episode 5 “Tipping Points” (2012), the conclusion to the Onderon story arc, since the Jedi and the Republic cannot directly interfere with the Onderon Rebellion, Anakin pays Hondo to deliver heavy weapons to the Onderon rebels so that the rebels will get the reinforcements they need but Republic will have plausible deniability, so overall Hondo has a small but very impactful role in the Onderon arc. The Onderon arc is crucial to the backstory and overall character arc of Saw Gerrera, who eventually becomes a huge pain in the Empire’s ass, but most notably raises and trains Jyn Erso, who then goes on to lead the mission to steal the plans for the first Death Star. In addition, Dooku later sends Grievous to destroy Hondo’s stronghold to get payback which is the beginning of how Hondo eventually loses his crew, which results in him eventually meeting Ezra Bridger, thus getting involved with the Rebellion, and in Star Wars: Rebels season 3 episodes 1 and 2 “Steps Into Shadow Parts 1 and 2″ (2017), Hondo informs the growing Rebellion of some old Republic Y-Wings in the possession of the Empire and helps them steal the Y-Wings before the Empire dismantles them. Those Y-Wings later become a key part of the Rebel Alliance fleet, and are the SAME Y-Wings used during the battle against the first Death Star. In conclusion, if Hondo Ohnaka had not decided to hold two Jedi and a Sith Lord hostage to make a quick million that one time, then the Death Star would never have been destroyed.
