A lot happened between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the Star Wars story. The Battle of Endor was a turning point in galactic history, but the sequel trilogy revealed it wasn't quite as significant as everyone had believed. True, the Empire was dealt a devastating blow, and the Emperor was apparently killed, but the dark side would ultimately regroup its forces in the Unknown Regions where the Empire was rebuilt. It would emerge as the First Order, and then again in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as the Final Order.
Until recently, Lucasfilm has carefully avoided giving any real detail on this time-period. That was most likely because they didn't want to restrict their writers and directors; rather, they wanted to give them a maximum of flexibility. It was also, of course, because Lucasfilm didn't really have everything planned out beforehand. Even such a notable element as the return of Palpatine was only added into the mix when J.J. Abrams signed up for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Still, the retreat of the Empire has been covered in a surprising degree of detail.
Now that the Star Wars sequels are over, Lucasfilm is using tie-ins to reveal just what happened between the trilogies to answer all of the pressing questions left over. So here's every major event that happened between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - at least, as far as is currently known.
Palpatine's Resurrection on Exegol
The Rebel Alliance believed it had won a decisive victory at the Battle of Endor, most notably with the Emperor's death, which created a massive power vacuum in the Empire. Unknown to the Rebellion, though, Sith cultists on the planet Exegol were able to resurrect the Emperor in a clone body. Situated in the depths of the Unknown Regions, Exegol is a unique world where the boundary between life and death is unusually thin. Thus the Sith Eternal were able to perform an arcane ceremony to summon Palpatine's soul from the Beyond, something they presumably did as soon as they learned of the Emperor's death at Endor. Unfortunately, the dark side has a corrosive effect on clones, meaning the Emperor's new body proved unsatisfying as a host for his spirit. Presumably, the resurrected Emperor was personally responsible for what happened next.
The Emperor's Contingency - Within 1 Year of Return of the Jedi
- As told in: Shattered Empire, Star Wars: Battelfront II, the "Aftermath" trilogy, and the "Alphabet Squadron" trilogy
The Emperor exacted a terrible revenge for his defeat at Endor, initiating what he called his "Contingency." According to Chuck Wendig's novel Aftermath: Empire's End, Palpatine had seeded secret bases across the galaxy, preparing for the eventuality of his demise. As soon as his death was reported, droid factories on planets like Vetine began mass-producing Sentinel droids, sinister red monsters designed to convey the Emperor's message to loyalists. Luke Skywalker unwittingly stumbled upon the facility on Vetine, shutting it down in the Shattered Empire miniseries, but other factories churned them out - potentially in their hundreds. These Sentinel droids launched Operation: Cinder, the ultimate scorched-earth policy, with the Empire launching devastating attacks across the galaxy. Operation Cinder was designed to escalate the galactic conflict to genocidal levels not even seen during the height of the Clone Wars, and it turned the Empire into a greater threat than ever before.
Operation: Cinder served two purposes. Aftermath: Empire's End suggests the Emperor should be seen as an arrogant Chess player, upsetting the board rather than lose a match, evidently so he could begin again. Meanwhile, it also served as something of a sifting mechanism, allowing the Emperor to identify which Imperials were truly ruthless enough to be part of his reformed Empire. Those he deemed unworthy would be destroyed at the Battle of Jakku.
The Battle of Jakku - Within 1 Year of Return of the Jedi
- As told in Aftermath: Empire's End
Events came to a head roughly a year after the Battle of Endor, with the Imperial Navy gathering over the skies of Jakku. This was the Emperor's greatest trap because his Observatory on Jakku had secretly rigged the entire planet to detonate. Palpatine's strategy was simple; draw the nascent New Republic and the Imperial Navy to Jakku, extricate his loyalists, and then blow the planet up, decimating all of the galaxy's fleets. Fortunately, the Emperor failed, because a group of Rebels successfully disarmed the bomb during the Battle of Jakku. The Empire was mostly defeated, but with the most loyal Imperials escaping into the Unknown Regions. There, they would regroup, taking advantage of secret factories and even superweapons the Empire had planted out there during his reign.
The Galactic Concordance & the End of the Empire - Within 1 Year of Return of the Jedi
- As told in Aftermath: Empire's End
In the aftermath of the Battle of Jakku, Imperial Grand Vizier Mas Amedda escaped house arrest on Coruscant and sued for peace with New Republic Chancellor Mon Mothma. They signed what was called the Galactic Concordance, essentially dissolving the Empire as a political entity, ending all Stormtrooper recruitment programs and shutting down Imperial plants across the galaxy. The Galactic Civil War was finally over. On the same day, seemingly a symbol of the galaxy's new beginning, Leia Organa went into labor and gave birth to her son, Ben. Unfortunately, although the galaxy did not know it, everything they did was being watched by Emperor Palpatine. The Emperor had already chosen the child as a potential future vessel, initiating a Force Bond with Ben Solo while he was still in his mother's womb.
Leia's Failed Bid To Become Supreme Chancellor - 24 Years After Return of the Jedi
- As told in Bloodline
The years passed, with the galaxy enjoying a period of prosperity. The Emperor was at work in the shadows, however, and within the next two decades, he had secretly united the political leaders of former Imperial worlds with the military leadership of the First Order, still hidden out in the Unknown Regions. Leia Organa became suspicious, believing the New Republic - which no longer possessed a military force at all - was vulnerable. Worse still, she saw evidence criminal activities across the galaxy were secretly being coordinated, and she decided she had to act. She stood to be elected as the next Chancellor of the New Republic. Leia's campaign was doomed to failure when political opponents discovered evidence she was the daughter of Darth Vader. This was revealed to a shocked Senate, and Leia's career was essentially over. She resigned from the Senate and immediately began forming a Resistance movement to oppose the threat she believed was coming.
This incident no doubt had a catastrophic effect on Leia's family. Han and Leia's son, Ben, had been brought up in ignorance of his heritage. Suddenly Ben learned he was not descended from a line of heroes, but rather was linked to Darth Vader himself. The Emperor had been working on Ben all these years, and now the young adult believed he had seen evidence his bloodline would forever be dominated by darkness.
Ben Solo's Fall to the Dark Side - Approx. 28 Years After Return of the Jedi
- As told in The Rise of Kylo Ren
Luke Skywalker was becoming suspicious, and indeed he was actively searching for the Sith redoubt of Exegol. Thus the Emperor knew it was now time to destroy the Jedi Order, and he did so with his customary cunning. One evening, Luke Skywalker entered his nephew's room and looked at him through the Force, likely concerned because he had noticed the shadow of the dark side over Ben. Charles Soule's The Rise of Kylo Ren implies Palpatine then revealed his own Force presence to Luke, causing the Jedi Master to recoil in horror and instinctively trigger his lightsaber. Ben awoke to see his uncle standing there, lightsaber aloft, and he defended himself, defeating Luke. With Luke unconscious, the Emperor unleashed a Force Storm that destroyed the Jedi Temple. Ben Solo fled, taking the blame for what had happened.
The Emperor had already established a connection with Ben through a proxy, Snoke, and he directed the runaway to the Knights of Ren. There, Ben Solo accepted he was trapped by the dark side, and he became Kylo Ren. He never knew how completely he had been manipulated, even when Snoke introduced him to the First Order. Meanwhile, when Luke Skywalker awoke and saw what had happened, he exiled himself because he held himself responsible for it all.
The Emergence of the First Order
Finally, the First Order emerged from the Unknown Regions, immediately establishing themselves as a powerful military force. The New Resistance was left reeling, desperately attempting to rearm in the face of the new threat. The galaxy's only defense was Leia Organa's Resistance, which became a thorn in the First Order's hide. It would only be a matter of time before the First Order was ready to strike - time needed to complete the construction of Starkiller Base, which had begun shortly after Palpatine took the throne of the Empire decades ago.