Star Wars: 10 Things The Last Jedi Has To Explain
6. What's The Deal With The Resistance And The Republic?
One of the most frustrating blind spots in The Force Awakens is the relationship between the Resistance and the Republic. At the end of Return of the Jedi, the downfall of the Empire and the restoration of the Republic seemed assured. In The Force Awakens the picture is more complex but also maddeningly vague.
The Republic doesn't seem to care about the First Order, leaving the Resistance to fight them. But the name 'The Resistance' suggests fighting against a greater authority, which would be the Republic. And then the First Order launch an assault with Starkiller Base on the Republic, not the Resistance.
The way the galaxy basically works is too unclear to understand the full impact of events surrounding the Resistance and First Order. Who rules the Republic? Is the Republic the dreamed-off democratic government the Rebellion was fighting for? If not, what happened?
The audience doesn't need a prequel-level of politics and senatorial nonsense, but it does need to know what the Resistance is fighting for, and what the First Order and its leaders actually want.