Endor Holocaust



The Endor Holocaust is the likely theory about the devastation of the forest moon of Endor after the destruction of the Death Star II (in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) by the impact of falling debris. It has not explicitly been established to have occurred in any canon sources, but rather has been proposed by individuals in fandom as a logically and scientifically inevitable consequence of the events portrayed.

The second Death Star was a sphere of machinery on the order of nine hundred kilometers in diameter, and it was located very close to Endor's forest moon when it exploded. Furthermore, given its close proximity and the moon's relatively Earthlike gravity, it was likely that its geostationary orbit was being artificially maintained. Much of the debris from the explosion would have subsequently rained down on the moon, producing a meteor storm of titanic proportions. The relative tranquility of the region immediately around the former shield generator in the brief celebratory scenes set there after the Death Star's destruction has been attributed to active deflection of debris from this area by Rebel forces, but the Holocaust's ecological effects are predicted to be drastic enough that this would provide only temporary respite even there.

If the Endor Holocaust occurred, it would certainly lead to the extinction of Ewoks on the forest moon of Endor. However, it has been established in Expanded Universe sources that some Ewoks had been removed from the Endor system in the past for use as pets or slaves, so it is possible that the species itself survived even if the holocaust occurred as predicted. It should also be noted that the Return of the Jedi novelization stated that Emperor Palpatine had issued orders that if the Rebel strike force on Endor's moon successfully disabled the shield generator, the Death Star should immediately destroy the moon itself. Therefore, once the shield generator was disabled (with significant Ewok assistance), the fate of the forest moon was likely sealed.

Some of the arguments hinge on whether the planetary shield protecting the Forest moon (and more specifically, the shield protecting the shield-generator/projector for the Death Star II) was independent of the shield-projector/generator for the Death Star II itself. If the two shield systems were independent, the moon would be protected from the explosion. On the other hand, if the two systems were dependent upon each other, the moon would be irradiated and buried under debris. Whether the planetary shield was active at the time of the destruction of the Death Star II, it was apparently inactive during the celebration because the Rebels could travel to and from the moon unimpeded, although the rebels may have taken control of the shield and deactivated it to let the fleet land, but not the debris.

Some fans argue that the destruction of the death star was so violent that all the debris produced was so small that it burnt up in the atmosphere of the forest moon rather than actually land on it, preventing such a massive catastrophe as the holocaust. When the death star explodes, no large debris is seen. Others believe that rebel forces may have either destroyed all the debris from the explosion or set up some sort of shield generator after the battle, stopping it from hitting the moon. There is also the possibility of other bodies interfering with gravitational attraction between the moon and the debris, perhaps attracting it to larger moons, or even Endor itself, rather than the forest moon.

The Forest Moon's Expanded Universe appearances
Most Expanded Universe sources maintain that the forest moon was not significantly affected by the destruction of the Death Star and life continued there as normal. One novel, X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble, includes a reference to the extinction of the Ewoks. However, author Michael A. Stackpole presents this as Imperial propaganda, and thus supposedly unreliable. Fans who believe a disaster must have occurred speculate that the well-established pro-New Republic bias in most of the literature was responsible for the apparent cover-up. Another rationalization involves a rapid and strenuous effort allowing the moon to regain a semblance of normalcy for its later appearances, though it is not clear where the supposedly resource-strapped Rebel Alliance would find the tools to do so while continuing to fight the Empire.

During The Truce at Bakura and several of the later Marvel Star Wars comics, the forest moon is used as the temporary headquarters of the newly formed Alliance of Free Planets, with no mention of an extensive recovery effort or environmental disaster.

Planetary salvation actions are seen shortly after the battle in the opening scene of the comic X-wing: Rogue Leader 1, along with debris impacting the moon.

The forest moon appears in two issues of the Star Wars Tales comics. In Apocalypse Endor, a story appearing in Star Wars Tales 14, an Imperial veteran of Endor makes an apparent reference to the holocaust theory, after telling the story of his unit's trouble with the Ewoks in a bar. Another character dismisses it as a myth, saying that most of the Death Star's mass was obliterated in the explosion, and that the Rebels "took care of the rest." Since the moon's surface after the battle is never directly shown, and the early issues of that anthology series are considered only semi-canonical, this evidence is often dismissed. Further, some fans point out that if the Rebel fleet had tractor beams powerful enough to shift masses comparable to that of the second Death Star, they could have used them during the Battle of Endor.

In Marooned, a story appearing in Star Wars Tales 22, two lost survivors of the Battle of Endor are shown on the forest moon some months after the battle. The environment appears to be healthy in this story, although a large piece of debris (what appears to be an abandoned Imperial-class Star Destroyer) is shown on the surface. The area immediately surrounding the crashed Star Destroyer is a meadow which appears to have recently recovered from a forest fire. Although the impact of such a large piece of debris would itself be expected to cause a large crater and raise a good deal of ash and dust into the atmosphere, even without any debris from the Death Star II, no evidence of such effects appear in the story. This story is unambiguously canon, since stories in the later issues of Star Wars Tales were meant to be canonical unless explicitly marked.

In Dark Apprentice, by Kevin J. Anderson, the character of Kyp Durron visits the site of Darth Vader's funeral pyre on the forest moon. There is no indication given in the text that the moon has suffered any cataclysm. However, Kyp has recently fallen to the dark side of the Force during this passage, and his perceptions may be clouded.

Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy describes how the Rebels managed to use shields and tractor beams to protect their strike team on Endor, but by implication (supported by the title of "The Aftermath of Victory") dooming the rest of the forest moon to the ecological disaster.

According to the Galactic Phrase Book and Travel Guide, something called the Endor Moon Hoax was uncovered by journalist Ebenn Q3 Baobab. It is unclear what sort of hoax this was, however.

The Unseen Queen has Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker slated for a camping trip to Endor. When they return, Ben tells Jaina Solo about the sights and scenes of the moon. In The Swarm War, Jacen tells Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker about an attack on an Ewok village by a Gorax. The encounter did not actually happen, but Luke and Mara would have to have some idea about the moon's status for the lie to be believable. However, by this time, over thirty years have elapsed since the Battle of Endor, so it is possible for the moon to have been reclaimed by this point.

The two Ewok telefilms (Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor) and the Star Wars: Ewoks animated series are set on a non-devastated forest moon, but the events depicted are currently set to occur some time before Return of the Jedi. On the other hand, they also show enough "magical" activity to make completely supernatural explanations for the moon's recovery plausible if all of the events depicted are taken at face value. (For example, the seasons on the moon are said to be under the control of a magical season scepter, rather than simple consequences of axial tilt and orbital eccentricity.)

In Star Wars Insider 76, a question and answer column written by Pablo Hidalgo states that the Ewoks were not all killed after the Battle of Endor. He refers to events described in the juvenile novel The Glove of Darth Vader, where debris from the second Death Star's destruction, including Darth Vader's glove, is sucked through a wormhole and taken through hyperspace to the other end of the Galaxy (and, therefore, avoids landing on the forest moon.) Hidalgo also acknowledges the environmental consequences expected from the destruction of a planetoid-sized battle station so close to a habitable planet, but claims that the laws of physics can be "thrown out the window" for the sake of a story which George Lucas intended to have a "happy ending".

Both West End Games and Wizards of the Coast published supplements for their roleplaying games which described Endor in the post-Return of the Jedi period. The article Endor and the Moddell Sector in Star Wars Gamer 9, a Wizards of the Coast supplement, is the only one to mention the aftereffects of the battle. This article claims that some debris did fall on the moon, but that the environmental damage was limited.

Arguments pro- and con-
The core of this argument is one between the inevitable consequences of G-canon versus C-canon. Fans who believe that Endor's ecosystem must have been destroyed state that G-canon (the films) establishes that the Death Star II was destroyed over the forest moon, and without a mechanism, C-canon cannot override G-canon in direct contradiction to the laws of physics. Those fans who hold the opposing viewpoint insist that C-canon can override G-canon, because the film did not show the debris actually hitting Endor, and that it would be uncharacteristic for the Rebel characters to callously celebrate amid a friendly population doomed by their actions.

Some fans also argue "author's intent", asserting that George Lucas intended the conclusion of Return of the Jedi to be a happy ending, and did not intend this happy ending to be spoiled by the inevitable death of almost all the Ewoks. They therefore reject the idea that the adverse consequences of the explosion would have to be part of G-canon, even if they understand and agree with the physical analysis of the explosion seen on screen. The counter-argument holds that under suspension of disbelief, author's intent did not count, under the assumption that even a non-scientist like Lucas can hardly have thought blowing up a metallic sphere 800 km across right next to Endor in a manner that clearly produced a fragmentation pattern could possibly be good for it. On the other hand, other fans bring up the possibility that the laws of physics may be entirely different in the Star Wars universe, which would make the discussion a moot point.

The debate continues among die-hard Star Wars fans on the Internet, sporadically.