My understanding is that the Imperial Remnant is fully consolidated into the First Order.

Following the events in the film, its anyone's guess as to whether or not the Republic remains. General Hux seemed confidant that the Starkiller would "Bring and end to their senate and their cherished fleet".

C3P0 later mentions that "without the Republic fleet, we're doomed". It *seems* the Republic has been decapitated.

The Senate is gone. But wonderful part of a Democracy is that you can elect a new leadership ASAP and begin war preparations immediately.

By destroying the Senate, the First Order murdered citizens of _Every_ world in the Republic. And by blowing up several planets, they committed an atrocity that made the Empire's treatment of Aldaraan look restrained.

So. The Starkiller base was a strategic blunder on par with what the Japanese made at Perl Harbor. And like at Perl Harbor, we can expect the Fleet to be rebuilt in 2 weeks.

Well. Unless the Republic is so fractured and fragile that it is not able to withstand a leadership transition.

From various sources, the movie and visual dictionary: Starkiller was meant to make those 2 shots count. 1 for Luke when the map was found and 1 for the republic.

When Snoke learns them map has eluded them he says "our strategy must now change". The Republic always stayed the target, but now the resistance would be destroyed. Leaving nobody but them to find Luke. Or at least nobody finds Luke and the First Order can rule unopposed.

I wish all of this was explained in the film.

Yes, because as the prequels proved, if there's one thing that makes for a great Star Wars movie, it's political discussion...

I wish all of this was explained in the film.

Yes, because as the prequels proved, if there's one thing that makes for a great Star Wars movie, it's political discussion...

If done poorly, yes. If done well...

No one complains about Tyrion in Gamebof Thrones.

No one complains about Tyrion in Gamebof Thrones.

Tyrion also has 10 hours every season to make his political intrigues interesting.

I wish all of this was explained in the film.

Yes, because as the prequels proved, if there's one thing that makes for a great Star Wars movie, it's political discussion...

If done poorly, yes. If done well...

No one complains about Tyrion in Gamebof Thrones.

Wouldn't matter how well they did it, the notion of political discussion in a Star Wars film is tainted.

My understanding is that the Imperial Remnant is fully consolidated into the First Order.

Following the events in the film, its anyone's guess as to whether or not the Republic remains. General Hux seemed confidant that the Starkiller would "Bring and end to their senate and their cherished fleet".

C3P0 later mentions that "without the Republic fleet, we're doomed". It *seems* the Republic has been decapitated.

The Senate is gone. But wonderful part of a Democracy is that you can elect a new leadership ASAP and begin war preparations immediately.

By destroying the Senate, the First Order murdered citizens of _Every_ world in the Republic. And by blowing up several planets, they committed an atrocity that made the Empire's treatment of Aldaraan look restrained.

So. The Starkiller base was a strategic blunder on par with what the Japanese made at Perl Harbor. And like at Perl Harbor, we can expect the Fleet to be rebuilt in 2 weeks.

Well. Unless the Republic is so fractured and fragile that it is not able to withstand a leadership transition.

Except, unlike Pearl Harbor, the First Order actually got the fleet. Pearl Harbor was only a failure because the air craft carriers weren't there. If those had been taken out, the war would've played differently. Here, the vast majority of the NR Fleet was eliminated. Add in, their unifying leadership was eliminated, you have some major chaos going on.

All those planets are going to have to rebuild political leadership and a fleet. Which sort of brings up the point that they really didn't need to go too deep into the NR's politics, since they were going to be destroyed in this movie. Why spend so much time going into stuff that is just going to be almost immediately wiped out, since it really has no big role in the story they were telling.

And let's make no mistake. The Starkiller base is NOT the story of this movie.

Now the First Order fleet, which I imagine is substantial, can begin offering planets the choice of orbital bombardment or capitulation. I foresee vast swathes of the Republic falling in short order. In the visual dictionary it's mentioned that General Hux has simulated and wargamed this war many times to perfect his plans.

indeed. The 'point' of Starkiler Base was to do exactly what it did - decapitate the republic in one go before it even realised the war had restarted. Take out the 'standing' fleet and the commanders, and whilst, yes, there are vast numbers of ships and worlds still ranged against you, all those fleets are the 'home defence' forces of those worlds, and - democracies being democracies - those worlds will always put their own protection first. No-one will be in a rush to give up their defensive forces just at the point they discover a first order fleet could drop out of lightspeed in orbit at any moment.

There were people who might have been able to put together a coalition that would jointly provide a meaningful force, but most of them were probably on the senate building balcony, looking up at a steadily brightening red light....

...By the time anyone can put together a meaningful alliance, the First Order might well have knocked out the strongest system fleets.

The (possible) second shot at the resistance base was just a bonus - Hux can't have planned on knowing where it was, anymore than anyone knew where Starkiller Base was until it fired.

Also, one thing to note is their order of priorities from Hux's rant and the opening crawl.

• The Republic is a target, but largely because they support the Resistance.
• The Resistance is fighting the First Order, but their main goal is to find Luke.

Snoke's comments also seem to suggest that the First Order is far more fixated on 'stopping there being any more Jedi' than actually conquering the galaxy.

Something no ones mentioned so far...

The Death Star was powered by Kaiber crystals (or used them for focusing the beam like a lightsaber) and Starkiller base came from an area where Illum was. Illum was a planet where Kaiber crystals formed (was in TCW). Illum is no longer on the map for the TFA era. Perhaps Starkiller base was once Illum and most of the stuff they needed to create such a weapon was part of the planet itself?

It's also mentioned in the books that Mon Mothma began de-militarising the New Republic so maybe that's why there's no real fleet? Probably just a small defence force that got obliterated with the rest of the New Republics government. C3PO could have been referencing bad decision Leia fought against rather than eluding to an actual fleet that got blown up.

Just conjecture right now...

If the FO had a cease fire with the Republic, funding the Resistance is a real jerk move. Probably destabilizing as well. Apparently the NR leadership didn't know about Starkiller Base.

I like to think of the resistance as sort of like the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) or the Eagle Squadron from WW2. Basically the republic is saying "The first order are a bunch of d-bags we'd really like to crush but we can't because senate, but we can't control the actions of our private citizens who feel moved to fight tyranny." To what extent the funding is actual republic credits and what is Leia's personal funds is debatable and probably quite a grey area. Do you really think a fanatic like Hux would get hung up on exactly where the money is coming from? Leia and republic are probably the same thing in his eyes.

Certainly, but the Japanese didn't have atomic weapons and long range bombers. If they did, the US probably would have put an end to the Flying Tigers before they got started.

The FO might as well have missed the Tepublic's aircraft carriers. Their Starfighters can launch from almost anywhere and have hyperdrive to get anywhere and have proven to be an effective weapon against traditional Imperial tactics.

From Lost Stars, the Imperial warlords united at Jakku, where most of their ships and leaders were lost. The splintering after that battle (along with assorted cease-fire agreements) confined the formal Imperial Remnant to the Core and Inner Rim while Sith/Dark Side acolytes like Yupe Tashu traveled toward the fringes of the galaxy (Unknown Regions? Outer Rim? etc.?) to seek the Dark Side strength Palpatine also sought. Could these Dark Side mystics be the precursors of the First Order?

From Lost Stars, the Imperial warlords united at Jakku, where most of their ships and leaders were lost. The splintering after that battle (along with assorted cease-fire agreements) confined the formal Imperial Remnant to the Core and Inner Rim while Sith/Dark Side acolytes like Yupe Tashu traveled toward the fringes of the galaxy (Unknown Regions? Outer Rim? etc.?) to seek the Dark Side strength Palpatine also sought. Could these Dark Side mystics be the precursors of the First Order?

Possibly. We might learn more in the future Aftermath books. Just like I think the cult that was collecting Vader artifacts was a precursor to the Knights of Ren.

Nope. Just the First Order. That is who the cease fire is with. It is essentially a galactic cold war.

It is a cold war where one side did not properly understand the concepts of first strike capability, deterrence, and mutually assured destruction.

Nope. Just the First Order. That is who the cease fire is with. It is essentially a galactic cold war.

It is a cold war where one side did not properly understand the concepts of first strike capability, deterrence, and mutually assured destruction.

Wow... four pages into this and no one has mentioned it so far!

With the Rebels / Rebellion / Resistance and the Empire / First Order in decline... it looks like it should be time for Scum and Villainy to Rise!

Not that they'll ever get it all together... just too much profit in serving both sides and preventing someone else from doing the same... oh well... nevermind, back to business as usual...

Nope. Just the First Order. That is who the cease fire is with. It is essentially a galactic cold war.

It is a cold war where one side did not properly understand the concepts of first strike capability, deterrence, and mutually assured destruction.

Which side? The First Order wasnt looking to deter anyone. Unlike the Death Star, which was a rule-by-fear weapon (a deterrence) the Starkiller was intended to be used and in order to effectively do so, its existence had to be kept secret.

The Republic didnt know about the Starkiller, nor the massive military buildup the First Order has secretly been doing for decades. We know from the Visual Dictionary that the Resistance had a military emissary dispatched to the Republic senate. She was attempting to expose the true nature of the First Order. It seems she was only successful in swaying the senate enough to provide covert support. The Republic was paralyzed by its own bureaucracy. Its mentioned that the Republic was more interested in galactic trade and the status quo. I might even imagine the First Order was trading with the Republic, perhaps offering them a good deal too as to dampen their desire for conflict with them....whilst secretly building the tools for their destruction.

As for mutually assured destruction, such a concept only exists for those of us bound to a single planet. Besides, surely the Republic has no equivalent of the Starkiller.

The Republic thought the First Order were just getting by out on the outskirts. Clearly they were wrong.

As for mutually assured destruction, such a concept only exists for those of us bound to a single planet. Besides, surely the Republic has no equivalent of the Starkiller.

If it wanted to maintain an uneasy peace with a tyrannical dictatorship that has proven more than willing to build and use planet destroying superweapons it sure should have. Mutually Assured Destruction doesn't require the weapon to kill the user; its more of the standoff where, if you fire, I fire and we both die. Intelligence is the most important weapon in a cold war, and the Republic's failing to track the development of such a weapon to either sabotage its completion or develop a parallel threat to provide proper retribution of its use is exactly why it was able to be fired freely. Had they been playing the game properly, when Han looked up and saw the red comet, there should have been a second one traveling the other direction to ensure such a thing could never be fired again.

I blame Mon Mothma. She is such an idealistic pacifist. It comes off as very unrealistic in the Aftermath interludes. It's a great dream, but it is a dream. After seeing the rise of the Empire you would think she would have known better.

To my understanding there is no explicit mention as to whether an Imperial Remnant exists outside of the First Order during TFA's timeline but I think there's possibility that they're still around, it's just that they've become irrelevant to the story that is being told.

Most of the loyalists and hardliners from the Empire who opposed the peace treaty signed between the Imp Remnant and the New Republic after the Battle of Jakku fled into the Unknown Regions and consolidated themselves into the First Order. They are the ones who carry on the legacy of Palpatine's Empire and they intend to take back from the NR what they believe was rightfully theirs.

To my understanding there is no explicit mention as to whether an Imperial Remnant exists outside of the First Order during TFA's timeline but I think there's possibility that they're still around, it's just that they've become irrelevant to the story that is being told.

True it is not mentioned. When Poe looks at the map in Before the Awakening it is split between Republic, Borderlands and First Order. So most likely there is no Imperial Remnant any longer and any that did exist post Jakku was taken over by First Order or merged with them in some fashion.

To my understanding there is no explicit mention as to whether an Imperial Remnant exists outside of the First Order during TFA's timeline but I think there's possibility that they're still around, it's just that they've become irrelevant to the story that is being told.

True it is not mentioned. When Poe looks at the map in Before the Awakening it is split between Republic, Borderlands and First Order. So most likely there is no Imperial Remnant any longer and any that did exist post Jakku was taken over by First Order or merged with them in some fashion.

To my understanding there is no explicit mention as to whether an Imperial Remnant exists outside of the First Order during TFA's timeline but I think there's possibility that they're still around, it's just that they've become irrelevant to the story that is being told.

True it is not mentioned. When Poe looks at the map in Before the Awakening it is split between Republic, Borderlands and First Order. So most likely there is no Imperial Remnant any longer and any that did exist post Jakku was taken over by First Order or merged with them in some fashion.

Perhaps in the years between the signing of the treaty and TFA the remaining territories of the Imp Remnant were annexed by the NR while the First Order almost entirely relegated itself to the Unkown Regions.

Perhaps. We just don't have the information to know what happened in the intervening years yet. All we do know is by the time of TFA it is a split between FO and Republic.