CT What happened to that huge Imperial fleet after Death Star 2 blows up?

Newcanon works have mentioned "deuce" in the context of an ISD - suggesting that the Imperial II class still exists - and Rebels Visual Guide has designated Kallus's vessel an Imperial I class.

But the Rebels ship looks more like the Avenger, in weaponry, than the Devastator.

 

The Rebel ships had names. This I did not know. Too busy paying more attention to the scenery and the characters. Are the names mentioned in the movies or are they in the novelisation's?

 

Well, now we do know in canon thanks to TFA. But what Ackbar says does not mean that there are two of them at Endor.

Precisely. Same with interior sets.

Usually in the novelizations, or reference books. The ROTJ novelization mentions the Liberty and Home One, if I recall right.

 

It is pretty clear there was only one SSD at Endor, but the lines in the film suggest more than one SSD exist but they were not present at that battle.

 

• Princess Leia's consular ship Tantive IV - first mentioned in the ANH radio drama by Brian Daley
• Star Destroyer Devastator - first mentioned in the ANH radio drama (and a possible hint that some Star Destroyer names definitely follow WW II US plane nicknames that participated in the Battle of Midway...)
• Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Executor - first mentioned in The Art of The Empire Strikes Back
• Captain Needa's Star Destroyer Avenger - only capital ship mentioned in an actual film (ESB)
• Imperial Shuttle Tydirium - Lambda Class shuttle mentioned in ROJ
• Emperor's Super Star Destroyer - no name provided in either film, screenplay, novelization or reference books from 1983 (George Lucas Canon sources)
• Rebel Cruiser Liberty - name provided in screenplay and/or novelization but not in the actual film (if one were to re-edit the space battle chase scene according to the original chronology of the scene featured in the earlier screenplay / novelization, we'd see that the "Medical Frigate" the TIE fighters were heading for was actually one of the capital and alien Rebel ships with wings, but that's a different story).

 

Command ship does not necessarily mean Super Star Destroyer.

 

In the film they used SSD and command ship interchageably, which implies SSDs are command ships. Han does say there are lots of command ships so theis implies there is more than one SSD in the GFFA, but only one was present at Endor. Mon Mothra said that the imperial starfleet was spread out searching for the rebel fleet, the other SSDs were where probably searching other parts of the galaxy. This added in tricking the Rebels to believing there wasn't an imperal fleet in the Endor system to ambush them.

 

The "ROTJ Super Star Destroyer is double the size of TESB Super Star Destroyer" idea doesn't seem all that necessary to me. Didn't Inside The Worlds of the Star Wars Trilogy demonstrate, with a cross-section of the tower - that the bridge was compatible with a 285m wide tower, rather than one double that width?

This was the pic in question:

though it might be a bit small to tell - anyone got the original book or its updated Complete Locations version?

 

I'd say that every SSD qualifies as command ship, but not every command ship has to be a SSD. The protruding balcony bridge seemed to be the trademark of an SSD while a regular Star Destroyer (e.g. ""Tyrant"" in ESB) seemed to usually have a flat one (as a matter of fact, the flat one was an original concept as evidenced by ready-to-shoot set constructions that nevertheless did not make it into the final film!).

Of course, the balcony bridge of the Avenger suggested differently (and is probably the reason why we are now stuck with balcony bridges only...sigh), but then again, the Avenger was apparently the lead ship among the five Star Destroyers in ESB, suggested by Captain Needa's holographic report that seemed to include the damage of the other Star Destroyers ("Considering the amount of damage we have sustained...") which could just as well be another "command ship", IMHO.

 

I have the Complete Locations with that SSD conning tower cutaway. Since the Falcon's main body is supposed to be the same diameter as the power tree spheres on top (judging by the ESB screenshots) we'd then be looking at an oversized Falcon (which will suit some people rationalizing the interiors but which will not be compliant with the cockpit and the lifesize Falcon Studio sets).

I remember back in 1983 a friend telling me how sad he was that so many optical composite shots were destroyed rather than preserved. He told me about one that had a TIE Interceptor chase an A-Wing through the supporting framework of the power tree spheres (might have been in the Cinefex ROJ issue but I'm not 100% sure). With the sphere and framework support size of the Avenger (or Executor) that would have been impossible, with a larger Emperor's SSD in ROJ that would have been somewhat different.

 

The first Falcon was 80 ft long.

The EU Falcon ended up being on the order of 115 ft long

A new Falcon was created for TFA- I recall reading that it's closer to the EU version in size than the old version.

 

That's what I mean. The Avenger was apparently the lead ship, thus making it a command ship. Not the command ship like the Executor would be.

 

I'm thinking that even though the Death Star and Super Star Destroyer were blown up, there still were enough Star Destroyers to obliterate the rebels...

Yub Nub was probably the Ewoks' death song/ritual before the Star Destroyers blew them away.

 

In the newcanon short story The Levers of Power, the Star Destroyer fleet immediately gears up for retreat the moment they detect the Rebels fleeing from the about-to-explode Death Star - and jump into hyperspace right afterward.

 

And this is...why nuCanon fails (to attract any interest from me). Rebels propagates that Imperials do anything by the book. Now, who gave the retreat order?

• main communications ship - gone (probably taken out by the B-Wing squadron)
• Emperor's Super Star Destroyer with Admiral Piett and the fleet captain - gone
• Emperor Palpatine - gone
• Moff Jerjerrod - preoccupied either trying to save the Death Star or issuing evacuation orders to enable survival of some of his personnel

IIRC, EU suggested that Grand Admiral Thrawn seized the initiative and that some Star Destroyers followed his lead. If nuCanon cannot identify an individual who assumed control and responsibility, then it doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Admiral Sloane (the highest ranking officer remaining) gives that order - the story is from her point of view.

 

Which was pretty consistent with the old EU, except for who was in charge.

 

Grand Admiral Jello loves to remind us that unlike Sloane, Pellaeon had lots of superior officers, but didn't get authorisation from any when "ordering the retreat" after the admiral aboard his ship was killed - making him a "mutineer".

 

I was under the impression that Jello is RPGing as an Imperial, not seriously defending the Empire.

 

His portrayal of Pellaeon as a cowardly incompetent comes across as being a serious opinion - though the portrayal of Mon Mothma as a villainous tyrant might be a bit more tongue-in-cheek.

 

Indeed. It seems they fled the scene and saved themselves for another day. After Jakku, The Empire signs a treaty with the New Republic and effectively dissolves. But hardliners break away and form the First Order.

 

They became the First Order under Snoke.

 

This is what happened.

 

I'm going with the old EU. Pellaeon ordered the fleet to retreat.

 

Am just wondering, where can I read the events that took place directly after RotJ ended in the new canon? What's the book(s) called?