STAR WARS: AFTERMATH Details What Happened Right After RETURN OF THE JEDI Ends
Art by AndrewSS7
For those of you who are curious to know exactly what happened in the Star Wars universe immediately after the Rebel Alliance blew up the Death Star in Return of the Jedi, we have some details you’ll want to read!
There’s a new book coming out called Star Wars: Aftermath. The book was previously announced, but an excerpt from it has recently been released that tells us what happened right after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and The Emperor were killed. But first, here’s the official description from Penguin Random House:
The second Death Star has been destroyed, the Emperor killed, and Darth Vader struck down. Devastating blows against the Empire, and major victories for the Rebel Alliance. But the battle for freedom is far from over.
As the Empire reels from its critical defeats at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance—now a fledgling New Republic—presses its advantage by hunting down the enemy’s scattered forces before they can regroup and retaliate. But above the remote planet Akiva, an ominous show of the enemy’s strength is unfolding. Out on a lone reconnaissance mission, pilot Wedge Antilles watches Imperial Star Destroyers gather like birds of prey circling for a kill, but he’s taken captive before he can report back to the New Republic leaders.
Meanwhile, on the planet’s surface, former rebel fighter Norra Wexley has returned to her native world—war weary, ready to reunite with her estranged son, and eager to build a new life in some distant place. But when Norra intercepts Wedge Antilles’s urgent distress call, she realizes her time as a freedom fighter is not yet over. What she doesn’t know is just how close the enemy is—or how decisive and dangerous her new mission will be.
Determined to preserve the Empire’s power, the surviving Imperial elite are converging on Akiva for a top-secret emergency summit—to consolidate their forces and rally for a counterstrike. But they haven’t reckoned on Norra and her newfound allies—her technical-genius son, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and a reprobate Imperial defector—who are prepared to do whatever they must to end the Empire’s oppressive reign once and for all.
The sneak peak begins right where the original trilogy ends, and that's with the scene from the Star Wars Special Edition that shows a crowd of people tearing down a statue of Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant. It starts out with the following:
“Today is a day of celebration. We have triumphed over villainy and oppression and have given our Alliance—and the galaxy beyond it—a chance to breathe and cheer for the progress in reclaiming our freedom from an Empire that robbed us of it. We have reports from Commander Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine is dead, and his enforcer, Darth Vader, with him.
“But though we may celebrate, we should not consider this our time to rest. We struck a major blow against the Empire, and now will be the time to seize on the opening we have created. The Empire’s weapon may be destroyed, but the Empire itself lives on. Its oppressive hand closes around the throats of good, free-thinking people across the galaxy, from the Coruscant Core to the farthest systems in the Outer Rim. We must remember that our fight continues. Our rebellion is over. But the war … the war is just beginning.” —Admiral Ackbar
Things then take a turn for the worse on Corusant, and the celebration is brought to an end:
“And then: The whooping of klaxons. Red lights strobe. Three airspeeders swoop down from the traffic lanes above—Imperial police. Red-and- black helmets. The glow of their lights reflected back in their helmets. There comes no warning. No demand to stand down. The laser cannons at the fore of each airspeeder open fire. Red bolts sear the air. The crowd is cut apart. Bodies dropped and stitched with fire.”
The book also includes Luke Skywalker’s friend and Rebel pilot, Wedge Antilles, who plays a pivotal part in the story. He believes that the Empire could be regrouping somewhere on the Outer Rim territories of the galaxy.
“Wedge told Ackbar, Mon Mothma: ‘Could be that’s where they are again. Hiding out there.’ Ackbar said that it made some sense. After all, didn’t Mustafar hold some importance to the Imperial leadership? Rumors said that’s where Vader took some of the Jedi long ago. Torturing them for information before their execution.”
Wedge goes out on a lone reconnaissance mission to explore a planet called Akiva, and it turns out that he’s right about the Empire reassembling on the planet.
Everything feels on the edge, the entire Empire standing on the lip of the pit, the ledge crumbling away to scree and stone.”
This preview also introduces us to a female resistance fighter named Norra Wexley, and it even teases planets that were first introduced in The Clone Wars animated series. The preview ends on a cliffhanger that involves the fate of Wedge. I suggest you read the entire thing, which you can check out here.
The book was written by Chuck Wendig, and it will be released on September 4th.