How old is the Rebellion?

By Tamati Khan, in Star Wars: Age of Rebellion RPG

While researching the timeline of galactic history I came upon something which was completely shocking:

2 BBY: Corellian Treaty is signed, giving birth to the Rebel Alliance.

Battle of Yavin

4 ABY: Battle for Endor.

Even if the Battle of Yavin is considered a whole year, that means the Rebellion was only seven years. I always thought Luke and Leia were meant to be teens in New Hope and adults in their thirties or forties by Return of the Jedi.

You can check for yourselves here: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_galactic_history

Please tell me that Wookieepedia have their facts wrong and that the Rebellion was longer than that. My whole plot rests on a timeline spanning, at least, a decade. If you confirm that the Rebellion was indeed just seven years, I'm going to have to do some rethinking.

You may want to decide how much eu you want to load in the canon. Much of it is in the air. The force unleashed is considered non canon, the new Rebels show is set about 4bby, and the crew on that show seem to be more independant, than member of the rebel alliance. Episode 3 had a deleted scene with Bail, Mon mothma and Padme discussing the rebellion indirectly.

The seeds of rebellion were sown at least 18 bby, but you could go earlier if you think the seperatist movement stragglers help form the nascent rebellion.

I remember that scene with Bail, Mothma and Amidala. That's why I was surprised that the Rebellion, as in open conflict between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, lasted only 7 years.

In some of my planet's backgrounds I mention things about Rebellion and Rebels. Much of it just the planets declaring independence from the Empire, but in some cases there is open conflict. So I don't need Mon Mothma's permission to start a mini pre-rebellion rebellion. Just seems I shame I can't use existing background in my own as it would now sound silly.

Perhaps concentrate more on aggressive Empire tactics against a group of Independent systems and pirate groups. Now I really hope FFG makes some Star Vipers for X-Wing to go with Z-95. But this is more Edge of Empire than Age of Rebellion territory.

Even if the Battle of Yavin is considered a whole year, that means the Rebellion was only seven years. I always thought Luke and Leia were meant to be teens in New Hope and adults in their thirties or forties by Return of the Jedi.

Luke and Leia were 19 at 0 BBY. By The Empire Strikes Back, they were around 22. Return of the Jedi took place around a year later, making the ages of our protagonists about 23. Mind you, the Rebellion didn't actually formally end until the declaration of the New Republic, which didn't take place until several years after the Battle of Endor.

Han Solo was at least a few years older than the twins, though I can't remember offhand if there's an official date for his birth.

There are multiple optional dates that you could use for the formal beginning of the rebellion. Most people cite either The Force Unleashed (now declared non-canon) or the old WEG RPG books for background information on when and how the Alliance to Restore the Republic was formally founded. Prior to that, there certainly was a rebellion, but it was mostly composed of small, loosely organized, disparate groups.

For me the " Rebellion " was open and declared conflict between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire under Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. In other words, the movies from the end of Episode III to the end of Episode VI. I honestly thought that the Rebellion had started shortly after Episode III, somewhere around the time Organa left Polis Massa with Leia and Obi Wan with Luke.

I've only read about Force Unleashed and felt that it made an interesting twist as to the start of the Rebellion. So much so that my story was intended to be between Force Unleashed and New Hope. But I thought I had about a decade to play with until I looked at the timeline.

Fortunately, my own piece of Star Wars galaxy will have to planets that openly oppose the Empire and one is described as a base for rebels. So I'll just make it my own group of rebels and not the Rebel Alliance.

To me it started when Yoda an Obi Wan chose to hide Luke an Leia. I personally run it in a way the rebellion didn't get real traction until Alderaan.

To me it started when Yoda an Obi Wan chose to hide Luke an Leia. I personally run it in a way the rebellion didn't get real traction until Alderaan.

Now you've hit on something I wanted to use in my campaign, both X-Wing and RPG, in which I use the destruction of Alderaan to balance out the two forces if one seems to become dominant. That way I can keep things going if everyone is enjoying their games.

Naturally Yavin will boost the Rebels later if things go downhill.

Don't worry about the lack of formal warfare, the Imperials keep pretty busy in the intervening years, mopping up Separatist holdouts, hunting pirates, crushing local revolts, and maintaining blockades or tense standoffs against more isolated points of resistance.

The various resistance groups that would eventually form the Rebel Alliance are similarly preoccupied gathering weapons, supplies, and support, as well as sabotaging Imperial projects. This is part of why the Rebellion's capabilities are so underestimated by Imperials, who don't view them as a serious threat.

You may also want to keep in mind, the 19 yrs leading up to the battle of Yavin lays the ground work for full rebellion. At EPIII only the higher political elite are aware of what is going on. The normal populace just knows that the war is over and they have a new stronger government. Also take into account most of the fighting of the clone wars took place in the outer rim and mid rim worlds, further removing hardship from the more populated core worlds, nationalization of the Seperatists assets, much like how Germany was punished after WWI and this brings a semblence of prosperity to the masses. Basically it takes time for Imperial abuses to trickle down to the masses over the intervening 19yrs. Only after the DeathStar is created and the Senate is dissolved do we see the heavy boot of the Empire come down on a majority of the population in the galaxy. Many worlds would still have their personal defense forces, thus providing a ready source of expertise and material once the Rebellion is in full swing after the battle of Yavin.

Many worlds would still have their personal defense forces, thus providing a ready source of expertise and material once the Rebellion is in full swing after the battle of Yavin.

Most planetary defense forces were absorbed into the Imperial Army. What remained behind were fairly well neutered, but some personnel and material went missing and came under Rebel control.

Well you've made up my mind!

The official Rebel Alliance of the movies may have only gained official recognition via that timeline but if I ever get a game up and running I'm planning on having it start from the tail end of the Clone Wars and for some the Separatist conflict didn't end they just had to recognise the true enemy.

I always assumed Bail Organa began the Rebel movement following what he witnessed at the Jedi Temple, the information Yoda would have revealed about who Darth Sidious really was as well as the true ramification once Obi-Wan joined them made it very unlikely he would have just toed the line and not done anything about it.

I never got very far with the Dawn of Defiance game they released and now wished I'd kept a copy to review since I assumed that was how the Rebel Alliance got up and running with Bail organising things with Mon Mothma and the other guy until those two quarrelled over trying to separate military and political matters since one was better at one and lousy at the other.

I never thought much about Force Unleashed save for the cloning side which I thought showed an interesting idea, I can't see the Empire allowing any planetary defence forces to remain outside of their control unless they're more ceremonial like Naboo's fighter unit was considered.

One thing I hope Rebels show is how the Empire deals with establishing new bases, only problem I can think of is how do they secure things so that even 15 years later the general public are still in the dark about the Empire's activities?

I keep wondering if Compnor helps by organising events to promote the Empire and also establishing the very rebels to act as the scapegoat for their activities that they don't want linked to them...

"You know about the rebellion against the Empire?"

It's been around long enough for a farmboy on a distant planet to have heard of it, though not long enough for him to assume that everyone knows about it.

While Force Unleashed had set the date to be about two years prior to A New Hope, it looks like SW:Rebels is going to set that date a few years back, possibly somewhere between 4 to 5 years prior to A New Hope.

Of course, that's only the formation of the Rebel Alliance as a (generally) unified military organization as opposed to being a group of smaller, more independent guerrilla forces. Going by the pre-existing EU, Bail Organa had his own resistance movement going, as did Garm Bel Ibis and several other figures, each opposing the Empire in their own way. It could very well be the crew of the Ghost are in a similar situation at the start of SW:Rebels, in that they are generally independent freedom-fighters doing what they can to strike a blow against the Empire when and where they can.

One thing I hope Rebels show is how the Empire deals with establishing new bases, only problem I can think of is how do they secure things so that even 15 years later the general public are still in the dark about the Empire's activities?

I keep wondering if Compnor helps by organising events to promote the Empire and also establishing the very rebels to act as the scapegoat for their activities that they don't want linked to them...

The Empire is big, and the galaxy is VERY VERY BIG. According to the Edge Core Rulebook, only 69 million out of 3.2 billion habitable systems are members of the Empire, and only a small number of those are fully integrated. That leaves a lot of space to hide things and with information control (via HoloNet restriction and the activities of COMPNOR), it's hard to tell what's truth and what's rampant speculation (or even legend).

Edited by HappyDaze

The early rebellions formed pretty quickly after Episode III. The old WEG material refers to Planetary Defense force fighter pilots taking their ships and going underground en masse within days of the Empire being declared

The Rebel Alliance though came much later. The only solid date we have is from The Force Unleashed but long before that the Han Solo Trilogy set its founding somewhere in that same period I believe and that was done in the late 90s. Its confusing because it seems there have been some changes to the trilogy's timeline and That of the older Han Solo Adventures trilogy

I think the key is that what we see in ANH is the "Alliance" to Restore the Republic. The key word is Alliance. Prior to its founding, there were plenty of other groups of various size and influence. Just prior to ANH they unified under a common flag.

"You know about the rebellion against the Empire?" It's been around long enough for a farmboy on a distant planet to have heard of it, though not long enough for him to assume that everyone knows about it.

That's only because of a deleted scene where Biggs tells Luke about the Rebellion, telling him that he was joining up with them.

"You know about the rebellion against the Empire?" It's been around long enough for a farmboy on a distant planet to have heard of it, though not long enough for him to assume that everyone knows about it.

That's only because of a deleted scene where Biggs tells Luke about the Rebellion, telling him that he was joining up with them.

Watch that scene.* Biggs doesn't tell Luke they exist. Luke knows.

* Deleted scenes are canon in the same way previous script drafts are.

If I remember right, Luke seems kind of shocked that Biggs is planning to defect. Out on Tatooine, the Imperial propaganda machine must still be working. Luke wants to join the Imperial military right up until Ben tells him of its evils and, of course, his family is murdered.

I think the key is that what we see in ANH is the "Alliance" to Restore the Republic. The key word is Alliance. Prior to its founding, there were plenty of other groups of various size and influence. Just prior to ANH they unified under a common flag.

I think up to and including the Battle of Endor, there were still groups working at common purpose to the Alliance but not part of it. I think what we see is a core of traditional military hierarchy and civilian leadership. I think many like minded groups were both keeping themselves separate by choice and by operational security minded necessity.

"Many Bothans died to bring us this information" To bring us, not we lost many Bothans getting this information.

If I remember right, Luke seems kind of shocked that Biggs is planning to defect. Out on Tatooine, the Imperial propaganda machine must still be working. Luke wants to join the Imperial military right up until Ben tells him of its evils and, of course, his family is murdered.

In Ep I - III, Tatooine's a Hutt-space world, not a republic one - the Republic isn't quite galaxy wide, it seems.

In the EU materials, Tatooine becomes Imperial shortly prior to or during the events of Ep IV.

As for the duration, Even if we go with the ages of the Actors rather than the EU assertions of 5 years from start of Ep IV to end of Ep VI, we still only wint up with 10 years, plus however long the Rebel Alliance was around prior to Ep IV.

Edited by aramis

There were several non-Alliance resistance forces, and much of Mon Mothma's time especially in the early days of the Alliance was spent trying to convince non-Alliance resistance groups to join the Alliance.

* Garm bel Iblis left the Alliance, or more accurately was kicked out, due to disagreeing with Mon Mothma on many issues, and his coming to distrust her motives, than formed his own resistance group.

*Separatist holdouts who wished to join the Alliance had to disavow the CIS, and while some did other groups did not, though some of those that didn't later became Alliance Privateers

*Also one of the Wraiths from the novel Iron Fist was part of an independent anti-Imperial Resistance movement.

*Finally there were at least a few cases where the Alliance kicked people out for not being willing to restrict themselves to Alliance approved targets and they carried on their attacks despite this..

I think I can go one of two ways:

(1) Stuff canon! If I want the Rebel Alliance to span a few decades whose going to stop me? Muahahahahahahaha ( gotta imagine an evil maniacal grin with megalomaniac laugh )

or

(2) Make up my own band of Rebels who are not part of the Alliance. This I've already kinda done with the backgrounds to some of the planets I've created. Just a bit of a tweak to make them Rebel not Rebel Alliance is all that's needed.

I do appreciate all your input on this. Seems I probably shouldn't spend so much time reading Wookieepedia. It messes with your head man

Don't forget, just because DS II got scrapped and the Emperor died the Empire itself did not. In the EU it lasts for another few years before the Alliance gets Coruscount, and even after that there was fighting for more than decade.

Or if you want to make the original Triology last longer ... don't let the Rebells have that much success, the DSII needs longer to be built etc ... you can easily stretch that conflict out.

Edited by segara82

Please tell me that Wookieepedia have their facts wrong and that the Rebellion was longer than that. My whole plot rests on a timeline spanning, at least, a decade. If you confirm that the Rebellion was indeed just seven years, I'm going to have to do some rethinking.

Ah, that's an easy answer! It's whenever you want! Your story best served by small pockets of rebellion slowly coalescing into one unified fighting force halfway between EIII and EIV? Then it is so. You like the Force Unleashed? Then it was never junked. No rebellion at all? Fine! Canon at your table is whatever you say it is, Lucasfilm and Disney and Wookieepedia be dammned.