Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 10 Things You Need To Know
4. What Happened After Return Of The Jedi
There's a thirty year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, and Disney have so far opted to address that through novels and comics. The Expanded Universe being no more has obviously given them free reign to change history as they please, and that will begin with Marvel's Shattered Empire, a series which takes place after Return of the Jedi and may give us an idea as to what we should expect from Episode VII. The official synopsis reveals that, " with the loss of its leadership, the Empires Moffs and regional governors retained their hold on important systems from the Core to the Outer Rim, thanks to the might of the Imperial Starfleet. Now, with a power vacuum atop the Empire, those Moffs will jockey for position and control, and the heroes of the Rebel Alliance will soon discover that a wounded and fractious Empire may be more dangerous than any threat they faced before." That definitely lends some weight to the earlier theory that The First Order is a separate faction in the Galaxy and may also explain why the war between what we're assuming is the Empire and Rebellion is still raging on decades later with no clear sign of slowing down. For years, those of us who never bothered delving into the EU just happily accepted that the deaths of Vader and his master meant the Rebellion were victorious, but why would all those commanders just throw in the towel? It makes sense that they'd battle to take over the leadership position, and it's this which no doubt sets the stage for what's to come in The Force Awakens.
