Summary

• The First Order's rise to power spanned years and had a significant impact on the galaxy, leading to the destruction of the New Republic and the Resistance becoming the galaxy's last hope.
• The sequel trilogy introduced new elements to the Star Wars franchise, such as different lightsaber colors and the Force dyad between Rey and Kylo Ren.
• The events of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi saw major battles, including the Battle of Starkiller Base and the Resistance's fight for survival against the First Order's relentless pursuit.

The First Order was the greatest threat to the galaxy in The Mandalorian and its New Republic era taking place in the years between the original and sequel trilogies.

The sequel trilogy offered a wealth of new content to the Star Wars franchise, including the first live-action example of Rey's New Jedi Order movie. The group didn't start terrorizing the galaxy overnight, though; the First Order's rise spanned years.

19 Leia's Fall From Political Power & The Napkin Bombing Incident

28 ABY

The Rise of the First Order began not with Kylo Ren, but with Leia Organa. In 28 ABY, she was a front runner for a seat in the Senate and political power. Those dreams faded, though, after her ancestry was revealed. Leia had been keeping the fact she was Darth Vader's daughter a secret from both the New Republic and from her son, Ben. When another Senator unearthed her secret, Leia was forced to leave the Senate and politics as a whole. It also created a rift between her and Ben, who was angry that his mother wouldn't tell him about his grandfather.

At the same time, the First Order was beginning its introduction to the galaxy. In what was known as the Napkin Bombing incident, First Order agents - known as the Amaxine warriors - bombed the Senate chambers. Leia was warned about the bombing in advance due to a note written on a napkin, but the event created a political rift in the Senate. In the infighting that ensued, the First Order was able to operate without New Republic interference. Leia saw through their plot, though, and used her newly free schedule to begin organizing the Resistance.

Leia's story during this time was featured in the canon novel Star Wars: Bloodline.

18 The Birth of Kylo Ren

28 ABY

Luke Skywalker felt darkness growing in Ben after the revelation of his grandfather's identity, and drew his lightsaber on the sleeping Padawan. The two had their fateful fight in 28 ABY, and Ben destroyed Luke's temple on Ossus in the process. Luke then went into hiding on Ahch-To out of shame for failing his students. Ben left the planet and met Snoke, who would become his mentor in the dark side.

Later in the same year, Ben met and ed the Knights of Ren. He also killed two of his former fellow Padawans who had tried to attack him for his destruction of the Temple. Ren, the leaders of the Knights of Ren himself, then confronted Ben, and the two battled before Ben killed him. Ben bled his kyber crystal, modified his lightsaber, took control of the Knights, and earned the name Kylo Ren.

17 The First Order Goes Public & Prepares For War

29-33 ABY

The First Order had been operating in secret until 29 ABY, when they finally became known to the public. In the following years, they would begin building up their military might by mining countless worlds and overtaking the shipyards on Corellia. Work on Starkiller Base continued throughout those years, though the planet-sized weapon may have been made before the original trilogy.

16 The Resistance Searches For Luke and Lor San Tekka

33-34 ABY

Poe Dameron ed the Resistance in 33 ABY, and Leia put him to work as leader of Black Squadron. Poe and Black Squadron began searching for Lor San Tekka, a former Jedi and explorer who could help the Resistance find Luke. During this time period, the Resistance also began covert operations to undermine the First Order, such as recording atrocities to weaken their public opinion and interrupting arms shipments.

15 The Race To San Tekka & Crash Landing On Jakku

34 ABY

The events of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens all take place in 34 ABY. The sequel trilogy began with Poe's journey to rescue Lor San Tekka and Finn's final days as a stormtrooper. After he defected, Finn crash landed on Jakku, where he met Rey. The two narrowly escaped TIE fighters that were after them by piloting the Millennium Falcon. After leaving the planet, they reunited the Falcon with its previous owners, Han and Chewbacca.

14 Starkiller Base's First Firing & Maz Kanata's Castle

34 ABY

Those aboard the Falcon fled to Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana. There, Anakin's lightsaber called out to Rey. She originally rejected it, and Finn used it in the ensuing battle with the First Order. Kylo Ren came to the planet in search of BB-8 and the map to Luke's location that he held. In his search, he found Rey and discovered that she had seen the map. Because of this, he captured her to extract Luke's whereabouts from her mind.

At the same time, Starkiller base began its first attack. Using a star as an energy source, the blast destroyed several planets, including Hosnian Prime, the capital of the New Republic. In one fell swoop, the First Order destroyed the New Republic and its defensive fleet, leaving the Resistance as the galaxy's only hope to stop their onslaught. The Resistance's only chance was to destroy the base before it could recharge and fire again.

13 Kylo Ren and Rey Meet & The Force Dyad Begins

34 ABY

Kylo Ren took Rey to Starkiller Base, where he used the Force to try to find Luke's wherabouts from her mind. She was able to tap into the Force and resist his efforts, though. Kylo Ren reported back to his master, Supreme Leader Snoke, who took an interest in Rey and her connection to the Force. Rey later escaped from the base and met back up with Han, Chewie and Finn, but her connection to Kylo Ren would endure.

The Force Awakens set up the Force dyad, a powerful connection between Rey and Kylo Ren that would be explored more in following movies. Rey's connection to the light side and Kylo Ren's connection to the dark side meant that they were linked for the rest of the sequel trilogy.

12 The Battle of Starkiller Base & Finding Luke

34 ABY

The final sequence of The Force Awakens focused on the Battle of Starkiller Base. Han, Chewie, Rey, and Finn went into the base to try to sabotage it, and while they planted the explosives successfully, Kylo Ren met them before they could escape. Han attempted to convert him back to the light side unsuccessfully, and Kylo Ren killed his father. He then followed the remaining Resistance into the forest, defeating Finn in a lightsaber battle before Rey took up the weapon and injured him. Poe then destroyed the base's oscillator, causing a chain reaction and destroying the weapon.

After the battle, the crew of the Falcon used BB-8's information and took Rey to Ahch-To to find Luke. Rey landed on the planet, hoping to be trained by the Jedi Master, and offered him his father's old lightsaber, marking the end of The Force Awakens. Instead, he urged her to leave the planet.

11 The Resistance On The Run

34 ABY

The events of Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi came shortly after the destruction of Starkiller Base, also in 34 ABY. Following Poe's space battle victory against a First Order dreadnought that came with a devastating loss of life and ships, the Resistance was being pursued by the First Order. No matter how many jumps to lightspeed the Resistance made, the First Order was able to follow thanks to a new technology capable of tracking ships through hyperspace.

After following the Resistance through hyperspace, Snoke's flagship attacked the fleet. Many officers were thrown into the vacuum of space when the bridge exploded, including Leia. She was able to use the Force to survive and return to the ship, but she fell into a coma shortly after. Vice iral Holdo took control of the fleet and refused to share the details of her plan to survive with Poe.

10 Rey Trains With Luke & The Force Dyad Deepens

34 ABY

Luke explains that he wouldn't train Rey because he believed it was time for the Jedi Order to end. Rey was eventually able to convince Luke to begin training her, thanks to her persistence and help from R2-D2, who played the message Leia sent to Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. During her training, Rey spoke to Kylo Ren through Force visions. She then learned that Luke was the cause of Ben Solo's fall to the dark side, vowed to turn him back to the light side, and left Ahch-To.

After Rey departed Ahch-To, Luke decided to burn the ancient Jedi texts, destroying the Order for good. He was visited by Yoda's Force ghost before he could bring himself to do it, though, only for Yoda to call down lightning, destroying the library. Yoda then gives Luke a final lesson about letting go and allowing the future generation to move forward. Unknown to Luke, Rey had taken the Jedi texts before leaving the planet.