ST The state of the galaxy in Episode VIII

So, what do we know/think about the political situation post-TFA?

Is the Republic still a force at all? We know that most of their government and the bulk of their fleet was destroyed at Hosnian Prime. Further, the impression I got was that the New Republic never regained the influence of its predecessors and that at the start of TFA there were still swathes of unaligned and even Imperial loyalist space (better informed people can shed more light on this).

The First Order, it seems, has a small but significant amount of territory in known space, as well as its dominion in parts of Unknown Space, which is of course still largely a mystery. Although Starkiller has been destroyed, will they now take the opportunity to launch their bid at galactic domination, now that the Republic will offer little resistance?

Is the Resistance a serious enough force to challenge the First Order? Their portrayal in TFA made them seem more like a small guerrilla paramilitary force than a formidable army.

Will the film begin with open conflict between the First Order and what's left of the Republic, or will it be the calm before the storm? Perhaps the First Order will already be largely in control?

Discuss.

 

The First Order are promising to repeal and replace the Jedi with "something terrific" and a whole lot of people are scared about it.

 

If the guy was a SW villain, he'd be criticized as OTT and cartoonish. Completely one-dimensional. Vader's got more emotional range.

 

"I have a great relationship with the Republic's people," the First Order's orange-haired leader declared on Friday, dismissing suggestions that the annihilation of the Hosnian System had hurt his standing among ordinary galactic citizens.

 

Seems me that most of the galaxy is in complete anarchy. The New Republic was largely destroyed; even if there are other leaders on another planet, they must have next to zero control over the galaxy since they haven't had the time yet to build a full government up.

And the First Order to me seems like a total military organization...in TFA, it did not have any type of political or governmental structure at all.

So it appears that the galaxy is in anarchy with no leading body. I think Episode VIII will therefore focus more personally on the battles between the new Jedi and Kylo Ren/Snoke, as well as the military conflict between the Resistance and the First Order, as it seems both are trying to torch the other prior to actually building a firm government.

 

I'm sure the New Republic got billed for SKB.

 

An other scenario could be the republic being a third faction, blaming the resistence for the starkiller attack.

In my head canon the republic and the first order were not in an official war. However, feeling the threat of this empire wannabes, the Republic might had allowed the resistence to work as a paramilitar force.

 

That's exactly what happened.

 

Hux pretty much declares this:

"At this very moment in a system far from here, the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the rogues of the Resistance."

The "secretly supporting" line suggests a whole swathe of Alliance supporters never downed arms and fight on agsinst Imperial/FO systems that have done likewise.

I hope they expand on this.

 

I would hope the Republic, if not destroyed or whatever states it's in, would officially declare war on the First Order at the start of Episode 8, or the other way around. Whichever it is, it'd be nice to see two powerhouses face off rather than underdogs-up-against-big-guy like in the last two trilogies.

 

I would argue the state of the galaxy would be open Anarchy with no central power able to seize control The First Order is probably heavily weakened with the loss of Starkiller Base, but the Resistance isn't strong enough being a small yet strong paramilitary group. The Central Government is in chaos but however many of the planetary systems have to choose which side to choose.

 

Galaxy up for grabs with the Resistance and First Order battling it out, with the First Order being more aggressive.

 

I think the galaxy is in chaos (some parts may maintain relative stability but everyone is certainly affected). blowing up hosnian prime is completely stupid. it's like destroying washington dc and then having five smaller nukes take out nyc, baltimore, philadelphia, and norfolk/virginia beach while you're at it. it would be globally catastrophic.

from here i think the first order moves in and sets up a proto-state of sorts. I dont want the republic to just be done with, i hope they are back with a vengeance and add depth to the resistance plotline.

 

I guess the New Republic is weakened, the First Order is getting stronger, the Resistance tries to fight back and we could see the rise of other factions.

 

It was "the loathsome Resistance".

And I don't see why you would make the inference. We saw more from the Rebellion through V and VI, and there may well be more to the Resistance than we've seen, but Hux's speech doesn't imply that.

 

the techno union once again will rise!

 

Supreme Leader Snoke: We will build a new Starkiller Base and make the New Republic pay for it!

 

The Rebellion in V and VI were fighting the Empire and supposedly won. TFA is set decades later. The Rebellion is irrelevant - even though this Resistance is clearly made up from its ranks.

Who are the Resistance still fighting if the New Republic has been reconstituted at Hosnian Prime?

In the movie it's never explained. Hux offers one of the few insights into what is going on politically. That is why.

 

This is why the New Republic needs to play a prominent role going forward.

 

Yep, we''ve already seen the underdog fighting Goliath in the OT. My only fear for the ST is to repeat this dynamic too much. The better scenario IMO would be two super powers at war with eachother (rising FO vs weakened NR) with Leia & her Resistance in the middle of the conflict. Still hoping Laura Dern is NR affiliated and we see a bit of tension between the two factions (the New Republic could declare the Resistance terrorists and the cause of the war)

 

Since Episode VIII will imminently build on Episode VII, I know what I'd like to see. In terms of relationships, the TFA featured a lot of interaction between Finn and Poe, as well as between Finn and Rey, so I'm hoping we'll see Poe and Rey together. That could hint to Leia's desperation. If she sends Poe on a mission, what will be the political reason? And will more be revealed about Finn's assignment? I can only speculate who the biggest and baddest factions of the galaxy will be, but yes I too would like to see something different than in the previous two trilogies (we did get to see two big warring armies in AOTC and ROTS). Going forward, however, I'm not opposed to some Episode 8/TESB parallels. For example, will Rey leave (or perhaps take with her) Luke roughly half-way through the film? They could rendezvous with Finn and/or Poe and hopefully we'll get to see Leia and Luke reunite at the end (I hope they don't edit out any of Leia's scenes/I'm confident they'll find an appropriate transition to her passing when Episode IX begins filming). Anyway, to get back to topic (this is my first post in a while), these potential plot lines are helping me explore the state of the galaxy. Leia and Luke are whom the galaxy most needs. Thus I think Leia will be feared by the First Order and sought by the Republic. Either power or any other faction certainly will not underestimate the siblings' importance in the next film.

 

What I'm expecting to see is that the Republic will be in tatters (TFA made it clear that their fleet was basically destroyed). I'd love to see what's left of them acting as a distinct faction, but I'm expecting that their remaining forces will come under Leia's command and join the Resistance considering that the entire Senate has probably been killed and there are no significant Republic leaders left (unless Lando comes back, which would be amazing).

I believe I heard that Benicio del Toro's character is going to be part of a new evil faction? Perhaps a Black Sun style criminal organisation? This could potentially change the situation in any number of ways.