Everything you need to know about Star Wars before you see The Force Awakens

THE STATE OF THE UNIVERSE

Up until a few months ago, the last things we knew for certain were that, during the Battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker helped defeat Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, who are now both dead. The Rebel Alliance dealt what appeared to be a crushing blow to the Empire — including the destruction of the second Death Star — and every one of our heroes celebrated their victory among the ferns and sequoias and Ewoks. But then what?

STAR WARS: AFTERMATH

Answers began arriving in Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: Aftermath, the first, full-length, canonical novel in the Journey to The Force Awakens initiative. Released in September 2015, Aftermath's express purpose was to begin filling in the 30-year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

For a variety of reasons, the novel was … less than well received, barely able to muster more than two stars out of five on Amazon. Despite its flaws, Aftermath does one very important thing: It sets up the state of the universe post-Jedi. And it does that with its very first words:

Today is a day of celebration. We have triumphed over villainy and oppression and have given our Alliance — and the galaxy beyond it — a chance to breathe and cheer for the progress in reclaiming our freedom from an Empire that robbed us of it. We have reports from Commander Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine is dead, and his enforcer, Darth Vader, with him.

But though we may celebrate, we should not consider this our time to rest. We struck a major blow against the Empire, and now will be the time to seize on the opening we have created. The Empire's weapon may be destroyed, but the Empire itself lives on. Its oppressive hand closes around the throats of good, free-thinking people across the galaxy, from the Coruscant Core to the farthest systems in the Outer Rim. We must remember that our fight continues. Our rebellion is over. But the war … the war is just beginning.

— Admiral Ackbar

In a sense, Aftermath is a treatise on a universe in transition. The Empire is crumbling, but is hasn't turned to dust. The New Republic is ascending to replace universal dictatorship.

As the Empire attempts to regroup and the New Republic attempts to form a new government, the war continues to rip families apart, like the American Civil War, brother against brother.

THE EMPIRE

Some strains of the Empire still exist, refusing to die. They move through the vacuum of space, still commanding Star Destroyers, still trying to carry on Vader and Palpatine's legacy, as they see it. Without its leader, Emperor Palpatine, and his enforcer, Darth Vader, the Empire is fractured, but not entirely defeated. Parts of the galaxy — including the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk — remain under Imperial control.

Theirs is a deflated Empire, though. Only one Super Star Destroyer remains, the Ravager, commanded ostensibly by Rae Sloane. We later learn that even Sloan has a mysterious master.

In Aftermath, disagreeable Imperials vie for power among themselves and the stars. Imperial remnants gather on the planet Akiva to determine the Empire's future. Some want to fight, others to retreat and regain their strength first.

It's clear to us as moviegoers that Palpatine and Vader were Sith Lords, bathed in the dark side of the Force. But the Imperials assembled don't generally give that much weight. In fact, they don't believe the tales that Palpatine was a Sith lord. They think it's a rumor, a way for Palpatine to bolster his power.

That's important, because it establishes an escape route for The Force Awakens, which has to come up with a reasonable answer why anyone would think back to the days of the Galactic Empire wistfully.

To us, as viewers, the original trilogy is an unambiguous story of good triumphing over evil — of redemption, ultimately. In that universe, though, the Emperor's route apparently isn't about the Dark Side. It's about tactics or mistakes (many blame both Death Stars as enormous tactical errors). And if we set the triumph of light over dark aside, then it gives others a reason and a path to rekindle the dark flame.

The Empire in Aftermath isn't all monolithic evil, though. Others, though still loyal to the Empire, are a bit more introspective.

"We are the ones who built something called a Death Star under the leadership of a decrepit old goblin who believed in the 'dark side' of some ancient, insane religion," General Jylia Shale tells an assembled group of Imperials.

It's true, for all that it matters. It's honesty about horrible things within the context of wanting to reconstitute the Empire that did horrible things. It doesn't make a ton of sense, but it at least establishes that there are those who are loyal and will work for the glory of the fallen Empire.

That line also echoes Han Solo's "ancient religion" line from A New Hope. The only way I can figure a way out of this logical pretzel is that Palpatine and Vader had reputations, but few had proof of their powers. And if that's true, then the dismissal seems plausible.

Yupe Tashu disagrees with Shale's assessment. A one time adviser to Emperor Palpatine, he believes what others don't.

Here's Wendig, attempting his best explanation:

Amid the Empire, the presence of the Sith was less a fact and more a myth: A few spoke of it as being possible, but most believed it to be concoction. Palpatine would not be the first ruler to invent stories of himself as if he were of cosmic import: The history 'crons say that a regent of the Old Republic, Hylemane Lightbringer, claimed he was "born in the dust of the Typhonic Nebula" and "could not be killed by mortal weapons." (A fact proven untrue when he was indeed killed by a mortal weapon—bludgeoned by a chair, apparently.) Palpatine's legend extended, too, to his enforcer, the brutish Darth Vader. Sloane believes their powers to be real, though perhaps not as omnipotent as Palpatine would have preferred everyone believe.

Admiral Ackbar from Return of the Jedi

"You chastise the dark side as if it is an evil path, laughable for its malevolence," Tashu says. "But do not confuse it with evil. And do not confuse the light as being the product of benevolence. The Jedi of old were cheats and liars. Power-hungry maniacs operating under the guise of a holy monastic order. Moral crusaders whose diplomacy was that of the lightsaber. The dark side is honest. The dark side is direct. It is the knife in the front rather than one stuck in your back. The dark side is self-interested, yes, but it is about extending that interest outward. To yourself, but then beyond yourself. Palpatine cared about the galaxy. He did not wrest control simply to have power for himself—he already had power, as chancellor. He wanted to take power from those who abused it. He wanted to extend control and safety to the people of all worlds. That came with costs. He knew them and lamented them. But paid them just the same because the dark side understands that everything has a cost, and the cost must always be paid."

Tashu's argument, in short, is to embrace the dark side, continuing the work that Palpatine started.

"Palpatine felt that the universe beyond the edges of our maps was where his power came from," Tashu says. "Over the many years he, with our aid, sent men and women beyond known space. They built labs and communication stations on distant moons, asteroids, out there in the wilds. We must follow them. Retreat from the galaxy. Go out beyond the veil of stars. We must seek the source of the dark side like a man looking for a wellspring of water."

The Emperor has been undone, but not all of his work has. Whether or not the assembled Imperials agree with Tashu or follow him is immaterial. What really matters here are two things: There are those who still embrace the dark side, and the Emperor left unfinished work for them to do.

THE NEW REPUBLIC

Many of Aftermath's most interesting moments take place outside of the story proper, in what Wendig calls interludes. In one, we learn the shape of the New Republic, the successor to the Galactic Empire.

After Return of the Jedi, Mon Mothma runs things. In the movies, she was the Rebel leader who gave the "many Bothans died" speech at the end of A New Hope. In Aftermath, her most defining characteristic is that she's scarred by the horror of war. That informs her plans for a successor government.

Her plan is simple: Demilitarize the New Republic. She wants to cut the military by 90 percent. The remaining 10 percent will exist as a peacekeeping force, which echoes the purpose of the Jedi in the Republic before it became the Empire.

In Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Palpatine created the Republic's massive clone army — using the separatist movement he secretly controlled — as an excuse. That war is over, Mon Mothma reasons, so that army isn't necessary.

Under her proposed new structure, defense will be a collaborative effort shared by Republic systems, not the centralized effort of the Republic's twilight and the Empire. Mon Mothma sees this as a way of ensuring that a conflict the likes of the battles that toppled the Empire never happens again.

Other characters, like Hostis Ij, to put it mildly, disagree.

The Senate, which we saw much of in the prequel trilogy, but which the Emperor disbanded during the events of A New Hope, reconvenes for the first time during Aftermath.

When it does, Mon Mothma will propose two things. First, that the emergency powers granted to Emperor Palpatine and de facto transferred to his successor be revoked. Second, she's going to cut the military down to next to nothing.

Hers is an … odd argument that oscillates between coherency and irresponsibility. Wendig presents her as the calm, wise center of the galaxy. Because she's the hero, he tends to present those who oppose her as huffing, puffing warmongers. But if we can see her point, we should be able to see her opposition's point, too.

It's as if she's blaming the symptom — the Republic's standing army — instead of the disease — Palpatine. Those who oppose her strategy see her as moving too quickly to demilitarize, given that the war isn't over.

Put differently, while it may be true that a tiny standing army could prevent aggressors within the New Republic from launching an offensive war, it's also true that a standing army the size that Mon Mothma proposes could leave the New Republic vulnerable to attack from an existential threat, say, three decades later.

A THIRD PARTY?

In another interstitial scene, though it's not clear who's involved or why, someone claims to have Darth Vader's lightsaber. And someone buys the a relic on a planet called Taris.

"What are you?" the seller asks. "You're no Jedi."

"We are adherents," she hisses. "Acolytes of the Beyond."

It's not clear whether she's saying that they are acolytes of what they refer to as the Beyond, or part of a group called the Acolytes of the Beyond. If we cross reference that with what Tashu, the one-time Palpatine adviser who believes the best course of action is to embrace the dark side, said in another interlude, the word beyond seems to swell with importance.

"Palpatine felt that the universe beyond the edges of our maps was where his power came from. Over the many years he, with our aid, sent men and women beyond known space. They built labs and communication stations on distant moons, asteroids, out there in the wilds. We must follow them. Retreat from the galaxy. Go out beyond the veil of stars. We must seek the source of the dark side like a man looking for a wellspring of water."

Or if she's making it all up. With the transaction complete, the seller asks a question of the buyers, not far from graffiti that reads VADER LIVES.

"What do you plan on doing with that thing?"

The woman says, simply: "We will destroy it."

He laughs. "Why would you do that?"

"So that it can be returned to its master in death."

They scurry away. Outside, the sounds of Taris: a bleating horn, someone yelling, a speeder bike backfiring, distant blaster fire.

Vermia says: "Was that really Vader's weapon?"

The Kubaz shrugs.

"Who knows. And really, who cares?"

Aftermath doesn't provide answers to the questions the brief interlude raises, but it certainly sets up the strong possibility that there are those who not only miss Darth Vader, but the Siths generally. And there's an awful lot of red lightsabers in the official footage that's been released.

In several Force Awakens trailers, too, we see Darth Vader's old helmet, mangled from the funeral pyre's flames at the end of Return of the Jedi. It may be that those who purchased the red lightsaber are part of the same organization as Kylo Ren, who makes vows to Vader's helmet in promotional materials.

IMPERIAL ORPHANS

Another interstitial scene never quite admits that it involves Luke Skywalker, but it sure implies it.

Perhaps the most important part, though, is that it sets up a program that the Empire ran, in which it would train children — including orphans — for a life of military service.

That's not a direct link to The Force Awakens, but it is an implied one. In the final trailer for the movie, Finn (John Boyega), says, "I was raised to do one thing. And I've got nothing to fight for."

We know next to nothing about Finn, including his last name, and certainly not his backstory. But it doens't seem like much of a leap to wonder if, perhaps, Finn the Stormtrooper is a product of these Imperial training grounds.

JAKKU

There's one more interstitial scene that's worth mentioning, primarily because it takes place on Jakku, the desert planet that features so heavily in The Force Awakens promotions. We know little about Jakku, except that it evokes the same kind of desolation that Tatooine, another desert planet, did. Aftermath doesn't have much more to say about Jakku, but what it says gives readers a sense of what to expect.

The interlude begins with a thought: This is a dead place. That's Corwin Ballast, a tiny character in the novel who spends most of his few pages trying to get drunk in a makeshift bar. The bartender says that few people come to Jakku on purpose, and that "Most folks … just end up here. Jettisoned like so much worthless cargo. Dropped like waste."

If you're unlucky enough to find yourself on Jakku, you might be able to survive finding work in the mines. Others just scavenge in packs. There's also a monastic group that the bartender calls "anchorites."

The one thing that might be fun to do on Jakku is attend the Wheel Races north of the bar, an obvious analogy to Tatooine's pod races.

SHATTERED EMPIRE

Marvel is publishing several Star Wars comics, but perhaps none draws a line more directly to The Force Awakens then Star Wars: Shattered Empire, written by Greg Rucka[1] and penciled by Marco Checchetto.

It begins the day after Return of the Jedi ends, on the forest moon of Endor. While several characters from the movies appear, Shattered Empire primarily follows Shara Bey, an accomplished Rebel pilot, and Kes Dameron, a skilled warrior.

They're married. They barely see each other. They have a son. They see him even less than they see each other.

In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is set about 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, Oscar Isaac plays Poe Dameron.

In four issues that cover a few post-Jedi months, sergeant Dameron teams up with Han Solo and Chewbacca to take down some Empire strongholds. Bey shows her skill as a pilot, then gets some rest transporting Leia on a diplomatic mission to Naboo.

Aboard a Star Destroyer, a mysterious figure dressed in red robes appears with orders from the Emperor, playing what looks to be a video of the emperor through the red helmet the messenger wears. When someone suggests that he's dead, the Star Destroyer captain says talk like that is tantamount to treason.

So, yeah, it's still the same old, lovable Empire. And it's a place where people are afraid to even question the idea that the Emperor is dead. Palpatine has plenty of power after death.

Princess Leia and Bey travel to Naboo in to convince the queen to back the nascent New Republic. Just as soon as the queen agrees, there's a communication disruption, which as we learned in The Phantom Menace, can mean only one thing: invasion.

Dameron, Chewbacca and Solo infiltrate an Imperial base and discover that Operation: Cinder is in full effect. Enacted at the Emperor's death, it targets several planets. Among them, Naboo.

In short, just as in Aftermath, the universe following the victory at Endor is full of diplomacy and war.

The final episode is where it gets really interesting, if not understandable. Luke Skywalker shows up and needs a pilot — and another person to impersonate an Imperial officer. Bey's a pilot. Off they go.

He says that Palpatine stole something a long time ago from the Jedi temple on Coruscant. They recover it — in fact, two its. They are small trees from the temple, and they appear to be imbued with the Force.

Through her conversation with Luke, Bey makes peace with leaving the New Republic. She's done her duty, and she and her husband find a home on a lush green world that also includes temples. We won't see much of it, but it evokes a few shots from a certain trailer.

Oh, and she arrives there with the second tree. Luke gave it to her.

HIGH NOON ON JAKKU

This young adult oriented story is set on Jakku, the desert planet that isn't Tatooine. The author, Landry Quinn Walker, describes it as "a planet filled with scavengers and pirates and thieves."

It stars Constable Zuvio, who it appears we'll meet in The Force Awakens. The short story involves a bank heist, a rogue droid and the constable who hunts him. It takes place around a city called Niima, and it's basically an Old West story told within the Star Wars universe. Nothing that transpires seems of the utmost importance, but it gives Jakku a little color beyond beige sand.

It's proof of what I've always argued: The Star Wars universe is interesting in and of itself. You can tell good stories in it. High Noon on Jakku is part of a larger series of young adult novels that tells the backstories of characters from The Force Awakens.

Star Wars Battlefront

Star Wars Battlefront includes free downloadable content set on Jakku. Its loading screen offers a clear picture of the desolate planet's importance:

Following the destruction of the second Death Star, the still mighty Imperial Fleet has gathered at full strength over their weapons facility on Jakku.

Rebel intelligence, however, has revealed the location of this base and is preparing an assault that may turn the ides of war once and for all.

A New Hope

There is good reason for hope, rationale for optimism for the future of the Star Wars universe.

The real world drama that transpired over the last three years seems to have been resolved in a series of ever increasing good fortune. George Lucas, the creator of the universe, is in some sense marginalized. That's weird. But it could also mean that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will jettison the childishness of the prequels like an escape pod. Those behind the movie lost their preferred writer. But in his place stands Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote The Empire Strikes Back, which is widely regarded as the space opera's pinnacle.

Even the fiction that preceded The Force Awakens is logical. It resets and expands the universe with deliberateness, with  rules and order designed to keep Star Wars coherent.

And this is only the beginning. One day (but hopefully not Thursday) there will be a bad Star Wars movie. Hey, even the first new novel wasn't so great. But that's not cause for too much concern. There's bad everything. It's the natural state of things to ebb and flow, for the pendulum to swing from good to bad and back again.

More than anything else, Star Wars: The Force Awakens signifies A New Hope for a franchise beloved to millions. We won't have to wait long to find out, but there's every reason to believe that we are on the verge of A New Hope.