As one of the founding members of the Rebel Alliance and its leader in the original Star Wars trilogy, Mon Mothma is one of the saga’s most important characters, but what happened to her after Return of the Jedi? Mothma was played by Caroline Blakiston for a brief but vital scene in Return of the Jedi, with further live-action appearances in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, played by Genevieve O'Reilly. Mon Mothma’s history before and after the decisive Battle of Endor is detailed in both the canon and Legends continuities.

Hailing from the Core World of Chandrila, Mon Mothma witnessed the Galactic Republic’s gradual march toward authoritarianism during the Separatist Crisis and subsequent Clone Wars. Before Palpatine enacted his coup, Mon Mothma, along with numerous other senators, such as Bail Organa and Padme Amidala, planted the seeds of Rebellion with the Delegation of 2000. This group hoped to return the Republic to its democratic ideals, but proved vital to the eventual founding of the Rebel Alliance, following Palpatine’s establishment of the Galactic Empire. As shown in Star Wars Rebels, Rogue One, and other canon and Legends material, Mothma became the leader of the fully formed Rebel Alliance.

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Mon Mothma briefed the Rebels aboard the Home One on their strategy for destroying the Second Death Star, as shown in Return of the Jedi. At the end of the climactic battle, the Empire’s superweapon was destroyed and Emperor Palpatine was presumed dead. In both continuities, however, this was not the end of the Galactic Civil War. In canon, the Empire fought on for another year, enacting Operation Cinder before surrendering at the Battle of Jakku. In Legends, the Empire continued to fight for another fifteen years, before the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty officially ended the war. Throughout all of this, Mon Mothma helped to establish the New Republic.

Mon Mothma briefs Rebellion strike forces in Return of the Jedi

As shown in the canon Aftermath novels, Mothma worked quickly to convert the Rebel Alliance into the New Republic, establishing democratic legislative bodies like the New Republic Senate. Mothma became the New Republic’s first Chancellor, and after the Empire’s formal surrender following their defeat at the Battle of Jakku, Mothma largely demilitarized the New Republic, hoping to prevent it from ever becoming corrupted into a fascist state, like the old Republic. Mothma ensured that the New Republic acted more like a confederation than its original iteration, with a rotating capital and encouraging its worlds to defend themselves with local militias, rather than a centralized military.

While well-intentioned, Mothma’s foundation for the canon timeline’s New Republic left it weak and impotent, eventually becoming divided into two warring political parties, with one being sympathetic to the former Empire and secretly supportive of the burgeoning First Order. The New Republic was decapitated by the First Order’s Starkiller Base superweapon, as shown in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, leaving the Resistance as the galaxy’s last hope against autocracy.

In Legends, Mothma’s legacy was far greater. Due to their ongoing war with Imperial warlord factions, the Dark Empire, and eventually, the Imperial Remnant, the New Republic Chief of State Mon Mothma couldn’t demilitarize her government, opting for a more balanced system that avoided the pitfalls of the old Republic. Moreover, Mothma worked closely with Luke Skywalker to establish a New Jedi Order that never became too entangled with Republic politics or lost sight of the common people it was meant to protect. The Legends-era Mon Mothma eventually passed away during a time of relative peace in the Star Wars galaxy, leaving behind a successful legacy after Return of the Jedi.

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