ST What is the 'First Order' and the 'Resistance'?

I wouldn't be surprised if Wiliams does write some new and powerful theme for the First Order as well as the Resistance.

I can imagine a more March like rhythmic pattern for the First Order too. For some reason I think a lot of the characters will have very subdued or tranquil themes, still cannot beat Luke's theme though. That's one of the prettiest classical / score compositions I've ever heard. And it really fits the character beautifully.

 

I still like the idea of "The Seven" being Descendants of members of "The Lost Twenty". It would make sense that some relatives of the infamous group of Jedi who left the Order(which later on included Dooku) would be Force Adepts, who followed the Dark Side; and trained as Sith out of a grudge against the Jedi.

 

I just heard about the whole "Resistance vs. First Order" conflict in the movie. Does anyone know who they are?

But wasn't Palpatine's rise to power somewhat similar to Hitler's? Only the latter didn't call himself "emperor"?

 

'The Resistance' is probably just the New Republic forces that are battling the 'First Order'.

 

The Empire already basically were Space Nazis, with both elements of the Galactic Civil War and Palpatine's rise owing a lot to World War II history. I'm sure WW2 will still influence Episode 7 in some way, especially since we'll have the power vacuum of the Emperor's demise shaking things up for this.

 

Posted my theory a lot, so I'll keep it simple and short here. I imagine the New Republic was eventually able to consolidate itself throughout the galaxy, and pushed the Imperials back to the Outer Rim and Wild Space - though not able to defeat them, which would still emphasize how powerful the Empire is/was. Resistance is probably the combined cells on these systems where the First Order rules, which I assume could be funded by the New Republic, and the First Order is simply the fanatics who want to bring back the Empire (and/or the Sith?) back into power.

 

I really wish they could have moved passed the old "Rebel Alliance vs. Galactic Empire" conflict and tried something new. Oh well. Hopefully the personal story arcs will be more original.

 

It seems clear to me that the Resistance is not the Rebellion renamed.

They are similar but different. A Rebellion involves formation of a new government and is always in response to the government that controlled them.

A Resistance is more of a movement. (Think French Resistance). Usually does not involve creation of a new government. A resistance can be by force (military involvement) or philosophical (Occupy Wall street for example).

I think the old rebellion ended with the victory on Endor. I believe at that point the Rebel star systems were independent. The Resistance is a new movement within 1st order Space. They don't have a government and their goal may not even be independence. It may be seeking policy change.

Lets call the systems liberated by the Rebellion "The New Republic". The new republic has an uneasy peace with the 1st Order (Reformed Empire under new leadership). Creating a cold war scenario. The Resistance is not openly aided by the "New Republic" to avoid an all out war. The here is a wikipedia article about the Polish Underground State, I dont think this is exactly how The TFA Resistance will look but I think it could be close.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Underground_State

 

It really depends, to me. If the First Order is the mutated baby of the Empire, I'm okay with it. If the First Order is merely the Empire renamed, then yeah, I'm a bit disappointed. I think everything is pointing more to the former, though, and that the First Order is a new faction that is using resources from the former Empire. The new logo seems to point at it representing at least something different.

As far as the Rebellion goes, as long as they successfully took down the Empire and found restoring order to the galaxy was difficult (thus the need to maintain arms and fight the First Order), then I'm okay with that, too. I think Lucasfilm/Disney wanted to go as far away from Senatorial debates and politics as possible and jump right into the new galactic war, so the New Republic being some sort of utopia just wasn't going to happen.

So, I don't really see this as the same conflict as Rebellion vs Empire, but instead an evolution of that concept with the former Rebellion finding out that defeating the Empire only inspired new enemies.

It's very possible that I'm wrong, though, and that this is one of the things the ST takes a lot of crap for when it's all said and done. I think it would be a mistake to just continue the same conflict.

 

Agreed. One of the most compelling things we've seen repeated in several movies is that things are going hunky dory for our heroes and then CRASH someone steps in and threatens everything. This is usually someone new, incredibly powerful who shakes things up so much that the heroes have no idea what to do. They've never dealt with anything to this degree before. Avengers, Batman, X-Men, etc...they've all had that. Even though it's somewhat repetitive, it presents the audience with a sense of urgency and doom. I'd like the new SW movies to have this element of doom. The same old Empire wouldn't really offer that unless there's something else/someone else behind that who is SO much more powerful than the First Order or Empire itself that they're just distractions. Gleeson's character is not that enemy. He's just a disposable pawn. Kylo could be but if the spoilers are right, he's just working for someone else. I suppose it's Snoke we're talking about. And I am guessing that is why so many really wanted to see Plagueis. He represented, to them, someone going further back, is familiar to us but not to the heroes, and seems rather unstoppable since he's already cheated death and is willing to wait a long time to see a well developed plan work out.

To me SW had its Thanos/Apocolypse/Voldemort/Sauron and his name was Palpatine.

 

I think I'll see how they handle the personal story arcs.

 

I think that the scenario that we are going to get is that the New Republic fell to the Imperial Remnant not long at after it's inception. The Imperial Remanent or at least a significant part of rallied under the baron of The First Order and what was left of the New Republic becomes The Resistance.

 

I'd switch out Voldemort for Dolores Umbridge. That pink nightmare made Tom look like a schoolyard bully.

You pretty much nailed my reasoning for why Plagueis would be the best candidate to take over Big Bad status. I'd like a villain who doesn't have to prove he can outthink Palpatine, has a history behind him, and isn't a rehash of something we've already seen in the EU (which is my main problem with the Kylo Ren Solo theory).

The Thule sounding First Order is a cool idea, but I'd like to get more of a reading on the Resistance. Is there no government whatsoever? Did they not form one in the last 30 years? That sounds odd.

 

Umbridge was the most evil character in the HP series imo. Voldemort had nothing on her.

 

Err, she's so evil the thread refuses to allow her evil visage to be seen!

 

I hope you are right, that sounds cool. Reminds of some stuff I saw in SWTOR.

 

I like this idea and see it as the most likely scenario. Some people also suggest the Empire is still around, and the First Order is a splinter group of the Empire. So the cold war is between the New Republic and the Galactic Empire, and the Resistance and First Order is like a proxy war, with the Republic "supporting", possibly arming, the Resistance, and the Empire supporting and/or possibly arming the First Order (even though it's a splinter group).

 

My Take:

Resistance = An active movement within liberated worlds that strives to prevent Imperial rebuilding or rearmament.

First Order = A mysterious new kid on the block that is quite organized and is believed a threat to the status quo.

 

"What is the 'First Order' and the 'Resistance'?"


It's the answer one would give if Alex Trebek asked about who were the two major forces in TFA during an episode of Jeopardy!.

 

Huh. When i hear "The Seven" i cannot help being reminded of the group Jerec formed after Palpatines death (old EU/Jedi Knight series). It's very likely they aren't even comparable, but just a thought.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Seven_Dark_Jedi

 

To the above: That's what I have been thinking this whole time. It was the right timeframe for it too, with their rumored appearance just a short while after ROTJ.

 

They seem like Nazis to me. The shot from the korean tv spot looks like something straight out of a Nuremberg rally.

 

1. Separatists leave the Galactic Republic to try and form the Confederacy of Independent Systems starting the Clone Wars.
2. The Clone Wars and attempted Jedi cou cause the formation of the Empire.
3. Empire rebuilds the galaxy in its own image and becomes tyrannical and oppressive.
4. The Rebel Alliance forms to attempt to restore the Republic and eventually kills the Emperor.
5. The death of the Emperor causes the Empire to fragment into decades of civil war and rival warlord factions. The Rebellion forms into the New Republic.
6. The New Order emerges as the strongest faction left in Imperial space. A Republic backed group called the Resistance fights to end Imperial occupation of its systems.

 

I agree with you. First Order implies that they admire Palpatine bringing order to the galaxy and thus they are the ones to succeed his first order or edict the creation of the empire. Its pretty similar how Hitler saw himself as the continuation of previous states in Germany. That's why it was known as the Third Reich the previous two Reich's being Bismarck's Germany and the HRE. Supreme Leader Snoke could have that mentality taking a former battered destroyed coalition of imperial planets and shaping them into a formable machine similar to Hitler and probably like Hitler sees himself as the successor to Palpatine. As Hitler saw himself succeeding Bismarck and Charlemagne.

Still the term Resistance could mean a plethora of things. Maybe the new Republican government is supporting indirectly resistances on planets under the First Order's rule and are not in open war. It could also mean that maybe the Alliance lost in the 3 decades between the times and the First Order now rules. Looking at history its not uncommon for new governments to fold and go back to the old ways(French Revolution). Its also plausible that maybe the new government still exists and the term resistance is applied to those that are still fighting the First Order even though the other troops left former New Republic planets.

 

It could be that the Rebel fleet was ambushed and completely destroyed over Jakku shortly after the Battle of Endor, it's leadership killed off or scattered to the winds. Queen Leia was one of the few surviving leaders to remain after the attack. The Rebellion soon collapsed and the Empire was able to reclaim much of its lost territory under a new Emperor with the new name of the First Order. Only the small Resistance remains fighting guerrilla insurgents in vulnerable areas under Imperial occupation. The New Republic was never able to form and become a sizable threat to the Empire. The only hope lies in the new Jedi order which is starting to return in number under Luke Skywalker.