The Star Wars Resistance Explained: Timeline, History, and Leaders

The Resistance was one of the most important groups in the Star Wars Sequel trilogy, because it was the only thing that stopped Kylo Ren and the First Order from taking over the entire galaxy. Over the sequel trilogy of Star Wars movies, the Resistance fought against the First Order and against their takeover of the galaxy. Although the sequel trilogy showed most of the important moments in the history of the Resistance, it did not explain everything about the organization. Since the Resistance is one of the most important groups in Star WarsLearning more about it can be beneficial.

Although it first appeared in Star Wars: The Force AwakensThe resistance has been around for much longer in these Star Wars Timeline. The group’s roots stretch all the way back to 28 Abyss (after the Battle of Yavin), and it also has a very concrete connection to the Rebel Alliance. Because of this, the Resistance was the culmination of decades of fighting, suffering and hope, and they were the galaxy’s best chance at peace in the sequel trilogy. Here is the history of this important group, from its earliest days to its last and greatest victory.

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Leia Organa started the resistance after the napkin bombing incident in 28 Abbey

Star Wars: Bloodlines

To understand the origins of the resistance, the origins of the first order must first be examined. After the Battle of Jakku in Episode 5, the remnants of the Galactic Empire fled into the Unknown Regions of the Star Wars Galaxy map. In the decades that followed, they built strength and support, until they eventually transitioned into a new group, the First Order. By 28 AB, the First Order had already become a massive threat to the peace of the galaxy, but very few people saw the danger they posed..

One of the few people who has recognized the kind of destruction that the First Order can cause is Leia Organa. In 28 AB, the First Order influenced a terrorist organization known as the Amaxine Warriors in conducting an attack known as the Napkin Bombing. After this incident, Leia – along with Greer Sonel, Joff Seastriker and Admiral Ackbar – created the Resistance. The Resistance was a paramilitary organization separate from the New Republic, though, because of the government’s internal struggles and conflicts.

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The New Republic never rose to fight the First Order

Star Wars: Bloodlines

Even with the napkin bombing, the New Republic never fully realized the true danger of the First Order. Part of their ignorance was due to the first order’s own efforts; Lady Karise Sindian worked as a First Order agent, and she orchestrated the napkin bombing as a way to distract the New Republic’s Senate, while the centrist faction had ties to the First Order.. They created a political gridlock, which prevented the Senate from taking action against the incumbent fascist regime. On top of the centrists’ gridlock, the New Republic was also plagued by corruption, which only made it less able to combat the First Order.

The other, equally important, reason why the New Republic was unable to rise up against the First Order was because the government itself was inept. After the Galactic Civil War, the New Republic demilitarized and removed its main army. In 34 AB, the New Republic only had a small fleet of X-Wings. Some senators recognized that the New Republic needed a larger military force, but these efforts were blocked by other government officials who viewed the First Order as an overblown threat and saw the Resistance as firemongers. By the time Starkiller Base was operational, the New Republic had signed its own death warrant.

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The resistance entered into a cold war with the first order until 34 Avi

Star Wars: Poe Dameron and the Star Wars Resistance

In 29 AB, the year after the Resistance was officially founded, the group entered into a Cold War with the First Order. In the same year, the planets that were part of the centrist faction separated from the New Republic and joined the First Order. While there were no major battles during this time, there were a few skirmishes. Poe Dameron joined the Resistance as a pilot during this time, and his Rapier Squadron occasionally engaged the First Order. Aside from the small dogfights, however, the Cold War was an essentially bloodless period of waiting for an all-out war to emerge.

Although there was little more for the resistance to do during the Cold War than wait, that was not all the group did. Kazudo Xiono, for example, joined the Resistance as a spy and conducted missions focused on gathering intelligence and relaying information about the First Order. At the same time, the Resistance at large began building its strength by gaining funds and allies across the galaxy. Unfortunately, the first order is also building its strength and support at the same time, and its efforts were much more effective than the resistance.

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The First Order-Resistance War began with the hunt for Lor San Tekka

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

After a five-year long Cold War, the fighting between the Resistance and the First Order finally erupted in 34 AB. in Star Wars: The Force AwakensLeia sends Poe on a mission to find Lor San Tekka, an explorer who has part of a map to where Luke Skywalker has been hiding in exile. Kylo Ren, then an enforcer of the First Order, is also looking for San Tekka as a means of finding Luke. Poe finally escaped with the map and with the help of former stormtrooper Finn. Finn then met Rey, the two encountered Han Solo and Chewbacca, and eventually found their way to Starkiller Base.

The Battle of Starkiller Base was the first official battle of the First Order-Resistance War. The First Order created Starkiller Base as essentially a superweapon to surpass the Death Star, and it used it to devastating effect. Before the Resistance can stop them, Supreme Leader Snoke orders Commander Hooks to fire, and Starkiller Base destroys the capital of the New Republic in a tragedy known as the Hosnian Cataclysm.. Although the New Republic was essentially demolished, the Resistance eventually won the battle and destroyed Starkiller Base. While it was a major victory for the Resistance, it also led directly to the group’s biggest defeat.

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The resistance was devastated at the Battle of Krait in 34 ABY

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

in Star Wars: The Last JediThe resistance was on the run from the first order. A retreat that would normally entail a simple jump to hyperspace, however, was complicated by the First Order’s new technology: hyperspace tracking. The First Order was able to find the Resistance flagship, the RadusNo matter where it emerges from hyperspace. In one shocking moment, Leia was thrown out of the Radus and seriously injured. It was only through the efforts of Vice Admiral Amylin Holdo – who used the Radus To cut through Snoke’s ship, the Superiority – That the Resistance is able to escape to the surface of Krait.

In their retreat from Starkiller Base and the subsequent Battle of Krait, the Resistance suffered huge losses. The First Order destroyed countless Resistance ships in the Cirimics that followed their jumps to hyperspace, the Radus was deleted, and Leia was in a coma. On the surface of Krait, the First Order handily outnumbered the Resistance in troops and technology. The Resistance was almost completely destroyed on Krait, and it was only because of Luke Skywalker, who distracted Kylo Ren, and Rey, who helped the Resistance escape, that the group was able to live to fight another day..

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By 35 ABY, the Resistance leadership had grown significantly

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

In the year after the Battle of Krait, 35 AB, the leadership structure of the Resistance was significantly enlarged. Previously, the resistance was most prominently led by General Leia Organa and Vice Admiral Holdo. Some of the leaders were killed in the retreat from Starkiller Base, however. At the time of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Three more notable leaders emerged: General Poe Dameron, General Finn, and Ruiz Tico, the commander of the Corps of Engineers.. Throughout the existence of the Resistance, it was also led by the Resistance High Command, a group of military and political leaders such as Admiral Jial Akbar.

In addition to the leaders and troops the Resistance lost in The Last JediThey also lost a base of operations. Originally, the Resistance was based on D’Kar, a planet in the Outer Rim. After the Battle of Starkiller Base, however, the Resistance was forced to evacuate the planet and move its headquarters to Ajan Kloss, a moon of the Outer Rim planet Ajara.. It was from Ajan Kloss that the Resistance made its preparations for the final battle of the First Order-Resistance War: the Battle of Exegol.

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The Resistance defeated the First Order on Exegol in 35 ABY with the help of galactic citizens

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The Battle of Exegol was the defining moment of the First Order Resistance War, and it was a long prelude to it. Emperor Palpatine, the once dead leader of the Galactic Empire, has returned, and he brought with him a powerful navy and army in The Last Order.. Palpatine and his forces were based on Exegol, a planet in the Unknown Regions that was steeped in the dark side of the Force. With Rey’s help in locating the Sith Wayfinder, the Resistance moved its entire fleet to Exegall and began an attack on both the First and Last Orders.

Unfortunately, the resistance is again devastatingly outmatched, mainly due to the final order XistonClass Star Destroyers. The resistance was easily defeated when Poe and Finn sent Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca to find reinforcements from the regular citizens of the galaxy. After a particularly tense wait, Lando and Chewie return with the Citizens Fleet, a group of thousands of privately-owned starships piloted by civilians. With the help of the Citizen Fleet, and both Rey Skywalker and Ben Solo’s efforts to destroy Palpatine, the Resistance demolished the final order. The First Order then fell after a mass uprising that spread across the galaxy.

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The resistance will likely be replaced by a new galactic government

Star Wars: New Jedi Order

The Resistance found complete victory over the First Order and the Final Order, and the story of the group probably ends there. Meanwhile, Star Wars Kanon did not explain what happened to the Resistance after the Battle of Exegol. The fate of the group will likely be fully revealed in the upcoming movie Star Wars: New Jedi OrderWhich will follow Rey Skywalker 15 years after the Battle of Exegol. In the meantime, however, some pieces of the resistance’s fate can be deduced by looking to the past of Star Wars.

After the Alliance to Restore the Republic defeated the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor, the group was quickly disbanded and replaced by the New Republic. The main reason for the shift in leadership was because the Rebel Alliance is, by nature, a military organization, not a political one. Similarly, the Resistance was established to destroy the First Order, and has completed its mission, will likely be dissolved.. After the Battle of Exegol, the galaxy needed a governing body, and the Resistance could not fulfill that need.

While it’s likely that the Resistance will be replaced by a new galactic government, there’s no telling what that organization might look like. It is possible that the people of the galaxy will simply recreate the Republic again, although they may be more hesitant now that the system has failed twice. Alternatively, the government could be ruled by a sort of confederation of independent systems, one where there is no central power apart from the relationships planets and nations have with one another. No matter what government rises up in Star WarsHowever, it owes its existence to the work of the resistance.