ST What side "won" in TFA?

Depends how you stack their points

The first Order achieved -

The death of Han Solo, a HUGE player for the resistance

The death of the new republic's leader, core planet, 4 others and possibly the end of the new republic itself. That's not 100% sure but they said it ends them, maybe they can bounce back from it. Certainly those worlds don't just go from NR to FO after the leader dies.

The resistance-

destroyed their top weapon

more soldiers of the FO side died

the resistance got their best man back, which was the ultimate goal of the FO to prevent.


Overall I say the resistance won more for the eventual victory, as Luke is needed, the leader of the NR was not. In fact if you read about him, he's part of the reason the first order rose up into power.

NR Leader-Oh hey! The first order broke the treaty made after the battle of jakku! They're making a super weapon, building troops, gaining weapons and taking over worlds!.....I'll brand Leia a War monger and sit back and do nothing!

I'm glad he's dead. He's responsible for countless genocides that happened when several worlds were destroyed. Let's hope the new chancellor is better. They said the capitol of the new republic switches from leader to leader so maybe the end of him and his world is a minor inconvenience.

 

Neither side won. Both suffered great loses and damage. Just like in every war nobody wins.

Finding Luke could be a plus to the resistance and the future, but it depends on what he'll do. Will he join them, or do things on his own that has nothing to do with the resistance.

 

The Republic (very clearly) lost and seem to be out for the count.
The FIrst Order took a blow but are presumably still around since "Star WARS"
The previously discredited and shadowy Resistance are now vindicated and legitimised though the existence of Starkiller Base, so arguably, they "won".

What, exactly, they "won" is of course a different matter ...

 

I haven't read the book yet. Was the Republic aware that the FO was building a super weapon prior to its use?

 

Yeah they knew about it... Which really is dumb for them to not listen to Leia...seriously I think the new republic is more worse than the Empire... They just let their people die....

 

Given what happened to both sides in the movie I think I'll just go ahead and say Disney.

 

I think we're actually looking at 3 fronts (possibly 4 if the whole FO thing is a ploy from Snoke to get something else going).

You have the Republic which was established after the Empire collapsed. They didn't manage their victory well and didn't create a strong presence in the galaxy. The FO rose from generational remnants of the Empire and strengthened, using the faciities of the Empire as their military resources, unnoticed or largely ignored by the Republic. Leia, seeing the threat, created the underground Resistance after having been ignored by the new Republic. The Republic, therefore, suffered the loss by being destroyed, leaving (as far as we know) only the Resistance to fight.

The FO won against the Republic. The Resistance gained support and credibility by having their fears and warnings witnessed by the galaxy. By destroying the SKB, the Resistance also won.

So the FO and Resistance both won. The Republic lost. Now, if anyone is left from the Republic, they have no choice but to listen to the Resistance, namely Leia.

So it wasn't so much about who won but rather what was established as a result of the battle. The FO, having been ignored, is now a threat to the entire galaxy. The Resistance, having also been ignored with the exception of some pacifist support of the Republic, has now become the leading front of good.

 

First Order was practically kicking the Resistance's arse for 11 rounds. The Resistance threw a haymaker which stunned the First Order by blowing up Starkiller Base and forcing them to retreat, and allowing things to get evened up for round 12.

 

say what ? they knew ?!

.

 

I think that the First Order made the largest blow by taking out the Hosnian system and then very badly damaging the Resistance force that came to destroy Starkiller Base. However, the Resistance did manage to set them back by destroying their best superweapon, meaning that FO can't retaliate against another system on the same level for at least a time.

It is implied that Hux and Kylo Ren escape Starkiller Base, so the leadership was not destroyed. I think we can assume Phasma also survives. It isn't clear how many Stormtroopers escaped alive. If most were killed, then that would be a significant loss of military force, too. But I think First Order had a lot more fighters to spare than the Resistance.

So, I think Resistance has suffered worse losses, but First Order will be temporarily hindered, perhaps long enough for the Resistance to rebuild and regroup.

 

The Resistance won the battle, but the First Order did more damage to their opponent. So I have to give the overall win to the First Order, but the Resistance did locate Luke and took out SKB so things should get very interesting for episode 8.

 

The Resistance won because they found a OP Mary Sue.

 

Whoa whoa whoa, who says the NR is down for the count? The Capital is said to be temporary and movable by election, and the deceased Chancellor was named after Neville Chamberlain, the infamous British Prime Minister who appeased the Nazis. My guess? His replacement will be a Winston Churchill type - really a raring to fight the First Order, to the point of almost going TOO far.

 

The Resistance won simply because the First Order just pulled a Pearl Harbor type attack on the Republic which will infuriate the whole of the galaxy. They lost their only large weapon and will more than likely be invaded and destroyed by a newly formed and massive Republic army. It won't last long.

 

Eh, I'd say the Resistance won but honestly the First Order annihilated the New Republic. They won overall.

 

It really depends what you class as a win. Does the obliteration of the Senate mean that no matter how much damage the Resistance did they could never tip the scales in their favor? Or finding Luke was a quest both sides shared, does the good guys locating him fist mean they won? And is the destruction of SKB a fatal blow to the FO?

I see it as the FO winning. Their power and influence will increase with the Senate gone.

 

Disney's pockets were the real winner!

 

both lost but the republic lost even worse. their central government was taken out and the loss of life is just deprrssing.

sidenote: if you were to take this seriously at all the first orders plan is really very stupid lol. imagine any world capital (and the five surrounding major cities) being destroyed by a wmd. washington dc, london, moscow, beijing, tokyo, etc. the results from any one of these being destroyed would be catastrophic for everyone, including the attackers. itd be a post apocalyptic world where its like sure we've weakened them and can invade but whats the point now that we've ruined everything? lol.