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- "The Resistance is finished. The Sith fire burns. All worlds surrender or die. The Final Order begins now."
- ―Darth Sidious
The Final Order, also known as the New Empire, was the proclaimed empire of the reborn Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious. Formed through the efforts of the Sith Eternal, a sect of the Sith religion that revered the dark side of the Force, the Final Order was the culmination of an agenda over a thousand years in the making. Ultimately, the Final Order's purpose was to bring the galaxy under the perpetual reign of a Sith Empire by force.
The Final Order's origins date back to the reign of the First Galactic Empire; an authoritarian regime, the Empire was ruled by Emperor Palpatine, who was in fact the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. With the Emperor's death, the Empire collapsed and gave way to the rise of the New Republic. Secreted in the depths of the Unknown Regions, however, was the planet Exegol, a Sith redoubt where dark-side cultists spent years building a force that would not emerge for a generation. A fleet of Xyston-class Star Destroyers, armed with planet-killing technology, and an army of loyal Sith troopers were the fruits of their labor.
During the First Order–Resistance war, large swathes of the galaxy fell to the forces of the First Order—a military junta determined to recapture the legacy of the Galactic Empire. Due to the demilitarization efforts of the New Republic, the First Order Navy stood as the single largest military force of its time. However, it was but a fraction of the total might of the Imperial Navy. Once bolstered by an armada consisting of thousands of Sith Star Destroyers, the First Order gained the means to project the iron rule of military might across the galaxy, which would transform the hermit state into a true Empire. Though Sidious considered Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and the Jedi Rey as potential heirs to the New Empire, he ultimately assumed the reins of power as Emperor. However, his warships were destroyed by the Resistance and their allies, while Sidious himself was defeated by Rey and a redeemed Ben Solo. With the Final Order defeated on Exegol, the First Order's remaining forces faced a series of uprisings throughout the galaxy.
History
Emerging from the shadows
- "What could you give me?"
"Everything. The might of the Final Order will soon be ready. It will be yours… if you do as I ask. Kill the girl! End the Jedi, and become what your grandfather, Vader, could not. You will rule all the galaxy as the new Emperor." - ―Kylo Ren and Darth Sidious
In 35 ABY,[2] the Sith Eternal revealed themselves from the Unknown Regions on Exegol by broadcasting a message to the wider galaxy, which declared revenge from fallen Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious. Upon learning of this, Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order, determined to destroy any potential threats to his rule, acquired a Sith Wayfinder owned by his grandfather and imbued by the Force that contained coordinates to a location in the Unknown Regions. Ren arrived at the Sith Citadel on Exegol, where he found Sith loyalists and the Emperor, who divulged that he had created Snoke, the former Supreme Leader of the First Order, and that he had been every voice Ren had heard inside his head, including that of his grandfather, Darth Vader. The Sith Lord then offered command of the Sith Eternal fleet and the envisioned Final Order to Ren, but only if he successfully eliminated Rey, the last Jedi.[1]
A new Empire
- "As I served you in the old wars, I serve you now."
- ―Enric Pryde, to Darth Sidious
After Kylo Ren abandoned the dark side and the First Order, Ben then returned to the light side as Ben Solo.[1] Allegiant General Enric Pryde, from his Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Steadfast, pledged himself to Emperor Palpatine once more, aligning the First Order with the Sith as part of their final push for galactic conquest, thus beginning the Final Order and the rise of a new Sith Empire.[1] Although the merging of these factions was the most tactical decision, the pragmatic First Order found it difficult to work alongside the fanatic Sith Eternal cultists.[3]
The Emperor ordered General Pryde to use a Sith Star Destroyer he had dispatched from Exegol to destroy a planet close to the Resistance with its axial superlaser as a show of force. General Pryde had the Star Destroyer sent to Kijimi, and the capital ship's superlaser sent down a red laser beam to strike the surface, using red bolts of energy to hit the planet, which caused massive shockwaves to erupt across Kijimi, and eventually, the laser beam broke through the core of the world and ripped it apart. The destruction of Kijimi was broadcast across the galaxy by the Sith Eternal, who proclaimed that the Resistance was finished and demanded for every world to surrender.[1]
Downfall
- "You are nothing! A scavenger girl is no match for the power in me! I am all the Sith!"
"And I...am all the Jedi." - ―Darth Sidious and Rey, during the Battle of Exegol
However, the Final Order was defeated at a battle on Exegol by the Resistance and their allied fleet, preventing the Final Order from deploying off of Exegol and establishing the New Empire. With the Sith fleet smashed, the First Order began to face revolts as people rose up against them across the galaxy.[1]
Military
Main article: - "Do not fear their feeble attack, my faithful. Nothing will stop the return of the Sith!"
- ―Darth Sidious, to his Sith devotees
The Sith Eternal fleet was composed of hundreds of Xyston-class Star Destroyers, which were based on the design of the older Imperial I-class Star Destroyers used by the Imperial Navy of the Galactic Empire. However, Xyston-class Star Destroyers were larger, had red accents along the hull of their vessels, and were equipped with a large axial superlaser capable of destroying planets, which took the place of a standard Imperial-class Star Destroyer's main hangar space. These Star Destroyers housed TIE/dg starfighters, with triangular wings and red accents, which were capable of ship-to-ship combat, and Sith troopers, including their variant Sith jet troopers, which were deployed on AAL-1971/9.1 Troop Transports[1] and divided into traditional Sith legions, each of which were named after deceased Sith Lords, of 5,000 soldiers.[3]
Behind the scenes
The Final Order first appeared in the 2019 film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, the third and final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy.[1]
The Final Order bears similarities to the Star Wars Legends organization Dark Empire in the titular comic series of the same name as both are headed by a resurrected Palpatine, seek to dominate the galaxy just like its predecessors the Galactic Empire, includes a cult amongst its ranks (Dark Side Elite/Sith Eternal and Knights of Ren) and attempt to get a Light side user to join the Dark Side (Luke Skywalker/Rey).[source?]
Appearances
- Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: A Junior Novel
Sources
TIE dagger in the Databank (backup link) (Indirect mention only)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary dates the events of Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker to one year after the events of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. As Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the events of The Force Awakens to 34 ABY, the events of The Rise of Skywalker must occur in 35 ABY.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary