Battle of Exegol

"We’re not alone. Good people will fight if we lead them."

- Poe Dameron

The Battle of Exegol was the final and decisive battle in the First Order-Resistance War, in which the Resistance and the Free Worlds defeated the Sith Eternal Final Order, as well as the Knights of Ren and First Order. The legacy of the battle ushered in a long awaited peace across the galaxy.

The origin of the Battle of Exegol emerged from the discovery that Darth Sidious, long presumed dead after the Battle of Endor, had been building a Sith army to establish the Final Order. The Force scavenger Rey was able to use a wayfinder to locate the stronghold at Exegol, then lead the Resistance there.

The battle began when the Resistance, commanded by Poe Dameron and Finn, traveled to Exegol with their fleet to face the Final Order. The Resistance first launched a ground assault on the Final Order fleet in an attempt to disable the signal tower controlling the Final Order fleet of Star Destroyers while at the same time, evade Final Order radar and tracking. Although they were initially successful, the Final Order switched control from one Star Destroyer to another, forcing the Resistance to attack with their fleet. The fleet was nearly finished off when Lando Calrissian arrived with reinforcements consisting of a fleet of Resistance fighters from across the galaxy. Meanwhile, Sidious, who was revealed to be Rey's grandfather, attempted to turn Rey to the darkside by having her strike him down in front of his loyalists to continue the Sith tradition. Rey refused and engaged Sidious in a duel, with the newly redeemed Ben Solo joining in, only for Sidious to use their powers combined to send force lightning and knock out all Resistance fighters, until Rey intervened. Ben was nearly blasted off a cliff, and Rey, harnessing the powers of the Force and the spirits of the Jedi before her, turned a force lightning attack by Sidious against her using the lightsabers of Anakin Skywalker and Leia Organa, finally killing the Sith Lord. Rey then died from the battle, but Ben sacrified himself, using the Force to resurrect her before he himself became one with the Force. Shortly thereafter, the Resistance fleet destroyed the Final Order fleet.

Both sides deployed numerous ships, with the Sith deploying a massive armada of star destroyers with planet destroying cannons and the Resistance deploying a large mixed fleet of X-Wings, spacecraft from other areas of the galaxy, and the Millennium Falcon.

The aftermath of the battle saw the end to the First Order-Resistance War, with the Resistance ultimately destroying the entire Final Order fleet of Star Destroyers. It also saw the death of Darth Sidious, the Knights of Ren, and powerful figures in the Final Order and the Sith, finally ending the ancient conflict between the Sith and the Jedi.

Prelude
At some point following the Battle of Endor, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious managed to return to life after his death and arrive on the planet Exegol in the unknown regions, albeit requiring to be moved and sustained by machinery due to him being physically impaired. He began to gather a massive armada of Star Destroyers and create what he called the Final Order, with the goal of restoring Sith rule to the galaxy. He then sent a message across the galaxy vowing revenge on the Resistance.

A year after the Battle of Crait, Kylo Ren, who had become Supreme Leader of the First Order following his killing of Snoke, heard this message from across the galaxy. He obtained a Sith wayfinder device and travelled to the planet Exegol where he found Sidious, who he confronted. The Sith Lord revealed to Ren that he created Snoke to rule over the first order and turn Kylo Ren to the dark side. He then shows Ren the armada of Star Destroyers and explains how the first order was just a small piece of the Final Order, then sends Ren to kill Rey.

The Resistance, in the meantime, had established a new base, with Rey training under Leia Organa, and the rest of them mapping out fighting the First Order. They soon receive news from a First Order spy (later revealed to be Armitage Hux, who wants Kylo Ren to lose) that Palpatine had indeed returned. Rey discovers notes on a wayfinder device and travels to meet an old contact of Luke Skywalker.

Behind the scenes
This battle appeared in the film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker that was released on December 20, 2019.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker