Lit The First Time Around: The Legends Post-Endor Journey

With the upcoming release of the first true NEU story, the post-Endor novel Aftermath, I thought it might be interesting to look back at the original Expanded Universe timeline. With the publication of the Essential Atlas and the Essential Guide to Warfare, a lot of the gaps have been filled in. My main focus would be on the core novels - namely the Thrawn Trilogy and the X-Wing novels - especially since the EA gave an enormous amount of background for them (even specific dates for events), with a few miscellaneous stories like the Courtship of Princess Leia.

To start off with, though, I wanted to look at the timeframe of the X-Wing comics as a prelude, without going into great detail with the storyline itself, in the period around 6 to 12 months after Endor.

The Death of the Emperor
Fairy tale endings aside, the Battle of Endor's immediate effect was not the victory of the Rebel Alliance; after all, from the perspective of the Core Worlds - along with the limitations of heavily-censored news - the Alliance was just another in a long line of descendants of the Separatist movement (as Palaptine himself had called them) battling in the hinterlands of the galaxy. No, the much more immediate and important news was the death of the Emperor.
With no successor and the unexpectedness of his death (why did he personally go out to the remote ends of the galaxy? is a question a lot of Core Worlders probably asked), this was the immediate concern; after all, as far as they saw the Galactic Empire was still very much intact. The various warlords were all nominally still members of the Empire (whether or not they actually responded to the authority of Coruscant was something that the general public wasn't aware of); the supposed "New Republic" controlled a tiny fraction of the galaxy and was outclassed by the Empire, even after Endor. No, the fears probably revolved around the uncertainty of the government, as the Imperial Ruling Council did nothing to replace the fallen Emperor.
At the higher levels, of course, there was the constant squabbling over the position. No doubt that the IRC wanted to choose a successor... but there would be no agreement as to who the successor would be.

The Battle Against The Warlords
On the side the Alliance, transitioning in the New Republic, they were still completely outmatched by the Empire... but the disintegration of the central authority with the death of the Emperor changed everything. As someone once remarked, Palpatine seemed to prefer to have the Empire die with him; and by having the Rim territories divided up by various warlords that wouldn't lift a finger to help their fellow Imperials (and sometimes would be in direct conflict with), The NR forces had their work cut out for them; a divide-and-conquer strategy that allowed them to slowly wear away at each of the warlords. The most dangerous and stable of the warlord-doms, the Pentastar Alignment, was fortuitously on the farthest side of the early NR territory and preferred an isolationist waiting game.
Unknown to both sides, of course, was the drift of men and resources in the Empire to two places; out in the Unknown Regions, and into the Deep Core. The NR probably counted their blessings, and considered the missing ships and men to be lost like the Dark Force fleet.

Isard's Coup
The plotline of X-Wing gradually shifts from individual missions to involvement with galactic events. Ysanne Isard was an avowed Palpatine loyalist... or to his memory, at any rate. No doubt she felt that she had no choice but to rule the Empire and deal with the threat of the New Republic.
Her first move was to bait the New Republic into finally making an incursion to the Core Worlds. Her main goal was to embarrass Sate Pestage to force him out; but I believe a secondary goal was to bring the squabbling Imperial forces together against the serious threat of the NR forces. On the NR's side, they were no doubt aware of the stretching of their forces in order to attack and hold Brentaal, but seizing the crossroads of the two largest hyperspace routes in the galaxy was too important to pass up. By arranging an incompetent admiral to take charge of the defense, Brentaal fell (as well as Ralltiir and Recopia shortly before), giving the NR the foothold in the Core Worlds that they needed, and practically in the doorstep of Coruscant. Of course, the actual distance was moot - a force of Star Destroyers was moved to Chandrila (a deliberate thumbing of the nose at Mon Mothma) and the HQ for Azure Hammer - the fortress-world of Anaxes - blocked the path. A direct assault was almost certainly out of the question, and much of the NR's resources had to be diverted in securing the paths from the NR proper into their little section of Core Worlds.
With Pestage fleeing - and eventually assassinated while trying to seek asylum with the New Republic - Isard quickly co-opted control of the government, although she let the Ruling Council remain as a notional legislature. That she only retained the title of Director of Intelligence, however, suggested that she never intended to assume the throne; no doubt, though, that anyone that she might have offered the crown to would've also been savvy enough to realize that they would be a figurehead with her in control enacting the will of the dead Emperor, as she interpreted it.
But bringing the New Republic in the Core backfired, because it became apparent that they weren't just some band of smugglers and bandits lurking about the Outer Rim; they were a force to be reckoned with, and unlike the stated goals of the Confederacy of Independent States, they were not looking to be a separate state, but instead planned on overthrowing the Empire... an Empire without an Emperor.

The Gloves Are Off
No doubt that the Central Committee of Grand Moffs - remote enough to escape Isard's grasp but with considerable resources of their own - realized this and put forth their own heir to the Emperor. Isard managed to indirectly manage their demise and their false heir, but in the process managed to eliminate a number of leaders that were even more of an immediate threat to the New Republic's territories, thereby strengthening their holdings in the Rim.
With the close of the first year after Endor, the political infighting for leadership of the Empire has ended, but enough time had passed to allow the New Republic to consolidate their holdings and capitalize on the gradual disintegration of the centralized power of the Empire. However, in the end, they knew that legitimacy would rely strongly on being able to regain Coruscant as the seat of their government.


Next time, a leap ahead to the state of the galaxy at the start of Rogue Squadron, 2.5 years after the Battle of Endor.

 

Ah, true. I figured the expert might stop by to correct any improper usage.

Actually, Isard was profoundly competent within her skillset - she managed to outmaneuver, control or murder anyone who opposed her, and she ended up being the de facto leader of the core Empire for two years - her problem seemed to be that she put everything in terms of spycraft and control, and nothing towards actual warfare. She did, in fact, cause the NR to overextend itself by having them take Brentaal and then Coruscant - but what kind of leader sacrifices key locations and capitals to strike at an opponent.
And of course, the fact that Palpatine and Thrawn both didn't give her the time of day is telling.

I got the term from the EGW: "Although she allowed the toothless Ruling Council to remain as a notional legislature..."

 

Playing Sith's advocate - who would Isard really have chosen? And of course, Palpatine and/or Thrawn would've had them assassinated anyways.

 

Even more importantly: the fact that the NR engaged in talks indicated that they thought it would work as well.

I'm not sure exactly how that would've worked, at least superficially - obviously both sides would've considered her a figurehead, but they could hardly call it the New Republic if they had gone ahead with it. But since Thrawn(?) thought it a serious enough threat, I guess it's more of a matter of us just not having the details about the circumstances (there's a lot, unfortunately, that we don't know, which is I guess why it's so alluring a subject).

But we're getting ahead of the game, here.

 

Betl Oxtroe? Also this thread is fascinating.

 

So, what exactly IS this thread, other than a space for Jello to air his views on Imperial politics?

 

Pallopides may indeed have been Palpatine's legal heir. It does not necessarily mean that it would have been legal for her to succeed her uncle as sovereign of the Empire. Primogeniture is a common law of succession, but not the only one. Indeed the sovereigns of Palpatine's homeworld of Naboo were elected, in some ways like the Holy Roman Emperors of our history and indeed for part of it's history the actual Roman Empire. Palpatine himself was originally elected to the office of Supreme Chancellor before declaring himself Emperor. Of course the Emperor himself had abolished the Imperial Senate, leaving no one to vote for a new Emperor.

 

Short version: I was a big fan of the OT as a kid, jumped ship during Ewokmania!, and came back because of X-Wing: both the game and novel series. When the Essential Atlas and Essential Guide to Warfare came out, they heavily fleshed out the New Republic days, especially the Thrawn trilogy and the X-Wing series, and I had always wanted to go back and do a reappraisal of the series (and related works) that got me back into Star Wars in the first place. I've generally been too busy with my own personal projects, and eventually just decided to go ahead and do it because I'll never run out of stupid pet projects to do. I figured the upcoming release of Aftermath was a good arbitrary point to go ahead and start (although I'd prefer to avoid comparisons, to prevent inadvertent spoilers).

While I don't think it has been stated outright, it seems clear that Palpatine never established any rules of succession; considering that he was planning to rule forever, one could understand that. It is interesting that the only other ruler to declare themselves Emperor was the 'last' ruler of the Empire, the short-lived Emperor Carvius. Both Thrawn and Isard (and later in the Imperial Remnant, Pellaeon) eschewed the title.

 

GrandAdmiralJello Sometimes I feel half blind in these discussions because I don't have the WEG sourcebooks. Thus I'll end up asking silly questions. The only reason I'm familiar with Ars Dangor is because .... well, you bring him up so often it would be impossible not to know who the guy is.

 

Indeed, I don't know nearly enough about WEG either. Jello is absolutely the only reason I had even heard of Ars Dangor and Betl Oxtroe, though I found out about other gems like The Isis Coordinates via Wookieepedia.

 

I was actually always under the impression that Pestage did declare himself Emperor after Endor, and that he was in fact the only post-Palpatine Imperial leader (if one disregards Carivus - which I am inclined to do) to do so. Was this retconned at some point?

 

The term "shogun" seems to crop up in the context of Thrawn a bit.

 

Oh, I wish I could. I live in Eastern Europe, the only way I manage to get my hands on stuff (granted my collection of nerd stuff is actually pretty decent) is to order online. And every single time I do a search for WEG stuff, the prices are borderline silly (or I'm out of funds because reasons). It can get a bit annoying, new stuff is easy, but out of print stuff is a pain in the pants. Getting most of the BattleTech novels was a real adventure.

Wasn't Pestage considered a Regent during his rule? Or am I remembering it wrong? Also why would you disrecard Carvius? I mean, I know why you'd want to, the man was a joke but he still happened - somehow. But that's jumping a bit ahead ain't it?

 

It's the Peter Principle. Isard was a competent intelligence director, and a very adept political intriguer, but lacked the skills to succeed as chief executive of the government. She was good enough in her arena to secure the role, but not good enough at that role to succeed. She couldn't see things from outside the intelligence perspective, and thought only in terms of intrigue and plots and traps and double agents. When she proved unable to defeat the New Republic purely through intelligence-based schemes, she was totally lost. She was unable to manage the military situation or provide political leadership to the broader Empire.

 

It's interesting to see that Isard was strongly a Palpatine loyalist - while it isn't completely clear what Armand actually did and what she framed him for, it seems clear that she despised him for being amoral and jaded; even if he hadn't sold out to the Alliance, he would have if he thought it in his best interests.
You have to wonder, then, what she thought of Thrawn - who apparently had disinterest at most, and seemed to be biding his time until after she was gone - and her former Emperor after she discovered he had returned, considering that he didn't lift a finger to help her.

Eh, it seemed a fitting end to a rump Empire. If I make to the Crimson Empire era, I'll probably break my own rules to look at the final days, because the Interim Imperial Ruling Council is just too interesting to pass by.

A student of Roman history such as yourself knows that title is often just a step away from Emperor.
But he really seemed to have no interest in ruling, just with defeating the New Republic. I think in that sense, he had an accurate view of his strengths and weaknesses, unlike Isard. (No doubt he created his own work of art and then analyzed it. )

Isard, however, did decline to take the throne -- styling herself as director and stewardess. Pestage also declined to take the throne.... except maybe not, because Abel referred to him as emperor once.

DO IT.

 

I don't think Armand was mercenary -- there's no suggestion he was anything but a loyal functionary. I always thought it quite clear that Ysanne's "evidence" was entirely manufactured. It's an obviously over-the-top accusation, something out of Stalinist Russia, something so weak and silly it can function only as an official fiction, not a legitimate justification. He failed, so she took the opportunity to call it treason and make a power move.

 

Yeah, I'll discuss it in more detail when the thread gets there, but the short version is that inasmuch as I think political legitimacy is a concept that can be applied to the Empire at all (come at me jello), I consider his self-coronation to have lacked it.

 

Okay, I know that this week I was going to skip ahead to the state of the galaxy at the start of Rogue Squadron, but after reading Aftermath I wanted to take a look back at the relative territories after a year post-Endor. (No spoilers for Aftermath)

The Empire
Despite the incursion by the NR into the Core towards the end of the first year, the Empire is in surprisingly good shape... on paper. They still hold almost all the Core, all the way to Corellia; most of the important shipyards and major planets of the Colonies and Inner Rim are still under their control as well - Loronar, Byblos, Kelada, Commenor, Balmorra, Foundry, Carida... and of course the Deep Core, the northern reaches of the Outer Rim and scattered other territories are under their control.

... however, the Deep Core is completely cut off, due to the Palpatine Darksiders and other uber-loyalists hiding there. The 'holdings' in the Outer Rim are all warlords, who barely - if at all - acknowledge the leadership of Coruscant. Both the Corporate Sector and Hutt Space are essentially independent. And the Negs completely lost their main battle fleet - the Black Sword Fleet - under circumstances that have never been fully explained (leaving that area to essentially fend for itself).

The Warlords
The warlord with effectively the largest territory is Zsinj, who is already creating a new identity for his "Empire" (i.e. such as the Raptor Guards) and manages to use financial chicanery, subterfuge (such as pretending to be an alliance of 'neutral worlds' to the early NR) and effective military tactics to become the biggest independent threat to the NR. Of course, the irony is that by doing so, he brought the entire ire of the NR against him... but then again, he probably didn't expect the Empire to abandon Coruscant, nor work out an agreement with the NR to attack Zsinj.
The second-most powerful warlord region was Kaine's Oversector Outer, which pulled back from a vast region originally claimed (and overlapped with Zsinj), to a more manageable region. By keeping a tight focus and pursuing an isolationist policy, they managed to keep their territory together; and of course, later become the nucleus of the New Empire.
The Great Maldrood region was the next largest, but Teradoc mostly seemed to waste himself in disputes with Zsinj... and his realm did not long outlast him, either.
There were a few minor Warlords, especially in the southern portions of the Outer Rim; however, the NR spent much of the first year isolating and containing them, which was a wise move to secure their own territories.

The New Republic
The New Republic's territories are less-defined than the Empire and the warlords. Their chief territories appear to have been around Mon Calamari space and Bothan space, as well as temporary staging points at Endor and Saijo. There were probably a number of other smaller holdings - the Airam Sector is one of the most likely to have thrown in immediately for instance. They managed to liberate and control a number of significant worlds in the Rim by the end of the year - notably Moorja, Druckenwell, and Kashyyyk. However, the Core holdings are fairly small - worlds such as Ralltiir, Brentaal and Recopia - with Imperial forces breathing down their necks, forcing them to tie up significant forces to defend their meager holdings there.
A question that I do have is where the effective 'capital' of the New Republic existed at the time. I can't imagine that (from a diplomatic standpoint) that they would have persisted in having a traveling capital staying with the fleet. Mon Calamari seems too remote; Bothauwui, while I'm sure the Bothans would push for it the other factions - especially the Mon Calamari - would have never tolerated it. (I may have to review the later X-Wing comics for any possible clues). My outside guess? Terminus, lying at the meeting point of the Corellian Trade Route and the Hydian Way; the idea would be that it would be always temporary, and the idea to (probably) relocate to a better position, if not Coruscant - I imagine that they may have relocated to Denon briefly after that world fell to the NR, shortly before Coruscant itself fell.

The Independents
While states that went their own way during the early days are nothing new - such as the Hapes Consortium - I would've liked to see third parties that didn't care for either the NR or the Empire, similar to the Corporate Sector or Hutt Space; I've proffered the example of ex-Confederacy holdings that might, for instance, try to bring back the old days (although for the most part, their strongest regions are within the warlord territories).

Next week, the state of the galaxy at two and a half years after Endor....

 

Would there have been a "capital" of the New Republic? At this stage in its development, the U.S. didn't have a permanent capital - it was wherever the Continental Congress decided to meet (subject to certain restrictions like British troops marching in). Mostly Philadelphia, with an interlude in Baltimore, during the War of Independence; Philadelphia, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton and New York in the Articles of Confederation era; New York and Philly before finally settling on Washington after that. (Yes, I had to wikipedia that, which makes my point - that's just how flexible the status of "capital of the United States" was in its early years).

I think the New Republic Council would similarly meet wherever was most convenient, which kept changing as the conquest advanced. I mean, what was the Separatist "capital" during the Clone Wars? We saw three in just two movies - Geonosis, Utapau, and Mustafar - neither of which held them for long enough to really justify calling it a capital.

 

Re the warlords, Zsinj was in a category all of his own. I asked this in the X-wing thread last year - what do you think his endgame was? Was it simply to carve out a big piece of the galaxy for himself and force the New Republic and Imperial Remnant to recognize it, or did he actually have wider ambitions of taking over the galaxy itself? (The response I got in the X-wing thread was "definitely carve out his own fiefdom; beyond that, hard to say.")

The impression we get from Darksaber is that pretty much all the warlords view themselves as Emperors-in-the-making in their own heads, being too deluded to realize that they don't have enough actual skills to support their ambitions. Those were the crappy, second-tier warlords, though. Zsinj seemed smarter than these guys; I can see him having a more realistic assessment of his strengths.