With the New Republic in chaos and disarray, the First Order successfully spread its influence
across the galaxy, becoming the new central government.
Although many feared and distrusted this mysterious new power, only the Resistance of Leia Organa
dared oppose them.
However without the New Republic government to offer support, their rebel movement had
little chance of success.
Following their great victory in destroying Starkiller Base, the rebels retreated to their
headquarters on D’qar, but this location was soon discovered by the First Order, who
laid siege to the planet.
Needing more time to finish their evacuation, the resistance sent pilot Poe Dameron to distract
the enemy fleet, just long enough for the last shuttle to depart.
However Poe, saw an opportunity to destroy the Fulminatrix, a Mandator IV-class Siege
Dreadnought, which was capable of immense destruction, and disobeyed orders for retreat,
pressing the attack and calling in the bombers of Cobalt Squadron.
Through the sacrifice of these brave resistance fighters, a single bomber manages to make
it into position and destroyed the Fulminatrix.
Unfortunately, all the bombers of Cobalt Squadron were lost in the process.
And so the remaining escort fighters returned to the resistance fleet so they might retreat
into hyperspace.
Aboard the first order Flagship Supremacy, Commander Snoke summoned Kylo Ren and scolded
his apprentice being defeated the girl rey, and for the conflict of light and dark still
brewing inside him even after the murder of his father Han Solo.
Kylo Ren then stormed out of the meeting and destroyed his mask, before boarding a Tie
Fighter and joining the next assault against the fleeing Resistance fleet.
Now able to track them through Hyperspace, the First Order descended upon the rebels,
taking out more of their ships and fighters, destroying the brigde of the Star Cruiser
Raddus, killing admiral Ackbar and the rest of the Resistance Leadership.
Leia Organa was also blasted into space during this attack, yet she had grown so powerful
in the force she was able to remain alive, moving herself through the vacuum of space
and returning to the ship.
Unable to escape the First Order, the resistance fleet used their speed to move out of effective
range of enemy weapons.
However this was only a temporary solution, as they knew they would soon run out of fuel.
After tallying their losses, the resistance was down to 400 people aboard 3 ships, with
only a handful of fighters and pilots remaining.
One by one the remaining ships of the resistance fell back into weapon’s range and were destroyed,
and so the rebel leadership organized evacuations and began to make plans for their escape.
However with Leia injured, command fell to Vice Admiral Holdo, who refused to reveal
the details of her plan to the pilot Poe Dameron.
The brash young man had been held in special consideration by Leia, but Holdo did not share
their history, and kept him out of high level discussions.
And so when Finn and a maintaince worker named Rose, approached Poe with a plan to destroy
the First Order’s hyperspace tracker, he jumped at the chance.
Deducing that the tracker was on the lead ship, Finn and Rose believed that they could
shut it down, allowing the resistance to jump to lightspeed without fear of pursuit.
However in order to board their ship, they needed the expertise of a master code breaker,
and so contacted Maz Kanata, who directed them towards the planet of Cantonica, to locate
a man gambling at a luxury casino in the city of canto bight.
Unwilling to reveal the plan to Holdo, Poe helped Finn, Rose and BB8 stealthily take
a ship and make their way to Cantonica, where they were arrested before reaching the master
code breaker.
While incarcerated, they met another slicer, who claimed to have worked with the First
Order in the past and was familiar with their systems.
Although they were sceptical of his claims, he helped them escape and make their way off
the planet.
As Finn and his team returned to the Resistance and First Order Fleets, Poe Dameron discovered
that Vice Admiral Holdo was making plans to evacuate their last vessels, and tried to
inform her about the plan underway.
Holdo was unwilling to delay their escape, and so Poe led a mutiny, taking control of
the ship to give Finn the time necessary to complete his mission.
Unfortunately Finn, Rose and the slicer were soon captured on board the enemy ship and
taken into custody.
Back on board the resistance ship, Poe was knocked unconscious by Leia Organa, who’d
reawakened and taken back command.
When he awakened, he learned that the evacuation ships were stealthily being sent to an old
rebel base on a nearby planet, where they might hide.
Despite his concerns, Vice Admiral Holdo had a plan all along, and even chose to remain
behind, piloting their last cruiser as it fled the first order, so the other ships could
escape.
However, Finn and Rose were soon betrayed by the code breaker, who cut a deal with the
first order, revealing the existence of the escaping rebels.
As a result, the first order fleet began firing upon the shuttles.
Vice Admiral Holdo, seeing their forces being destroyed, pointed her own vessel in the direction
of the Supremacy, and jumped into hyperdrive, sacrificing herself as the ships crashed.
This then allowed the resistance to successfully land on the planet of Crait, making their
way into the rebel base and preparing their defenses.
With the Supremacy breaking apart, Finn battled his old instructor Phasma, defeating her before
making his escape.
Meanwhile, on the planet of Ahch-to, Luke Skywalker, the man many consider the last
hope for the galaxy, at last met with the young force sensitive girl Rey, who sought
to become his apprentice and learn the ways of the Jedi.
But Luke tossed aside the lightsaber she presented, refusing to involve himself in the war and
retreating to his home.
Rey unsure what to do, went to Chewbacca for help, and so he burst through the door and
demanded an explanation.
Although Luke was happy to see his old friend, he could not be convinced to train her, refusing
to speak further on the subject.
For days Rey simply followed him around silently, watching his daily routine, hoping that he
will change his mind, until at Last Luke revealed that he came to this island to die, and that
the Jedi Order must die as well.
He failed in his first attempt to create a new Jedi Order, and will not attempt it again.
Later Luke visited the Milenium Falcon and found R2D2, who greeted him excitedly and
tried to convince him to help the resistance, at last getting through to him by playing
the old message Leia Organa originally sent to Obi Wan Kenobi, asking for aid in bring
down the Empire.
Luke then agreed to train Rey however on the morning of their first lesson, she discovered
a new force sensation she’d never before felt, somehow having her mind temporarily
linked to Kylo Ren.
Hiding this experience from Luke, they began her training with meditation.
Master Skywalker explained the nature of the force, and it’s connection to all things.
He states that the force and the lightside will always exist, regardless of whether the
Jedi do, and to believe otherwise is simply arrogance.
However, as Rey connected to the energy of the island, she discovered a pocket of darkside
power, which Luke explained was meant to balance the light.
But Rey quickly embraced the dark side, starting to lose control of her immense powers before
awakening from her trance.
Through this experience she came to realize Luke had cut himself off from the force, while
her master simply looked on with horror, terrified of her raw strength and lack of self control,
as it reminded him of his nephew Ben Solo.
Luke grew uneasy about continuing her training, and so Rey practiced melee and lightsaber
combat on her own, until they once again spoke, and Master Skywalker revealed more about his
past failures.
He explained that after the war with the Empire, he’d taken on a number of students including
his nephew Ben Solo.
But Ben fell to the darkside, destroying their temple and killing his fellow students, save
for a few who fled the planet by his side.
Luke believed he should have seen the darkness inside him sooner, and done something to stop
it, but instead failed his nephew and the galaxy.
Later on as Luke reflected on all that has occurred, he decided to reconnect himself
to the force, sensing his sister Leia, who lay wounded in a resistance ship.
Having restored his force powers, Luke went to go speak to Rey, but was shocked to find
her sitting with Kylo Ren.
When she was alone, Rey had continued to experience a mental connection with Snoke’s apprentice,
speaking to him on a number of occasions.
Kylo then explained that on the night he destroyed the temple, he’d awoken to find his uncle
Luke standing over him with a lightsaber ready to kill.
As Rey learned more, she ventured on her own to the area of dark side power, where she
had a vision of her parents, which ultimately ended in seeing her own reflection.
Connecting once again to Kylo Ren, they physically touched hands, and were each granted a vision
of the other ones future.
However it is just at this moment, when Luke finds them, using his powers to destroy the
home and ending their connection.
Luke then demanded she leave the island and turned his back to her, only for her to attack
him, asking why he betrayed his nephew.
Although they briefly duelled with a staff and stick, Rey soon summons a lightsaber which
knocked Luke to the ground.
Luke explained that he sensed evil in kylo Ren, and that snoke had already turned him
to the darkside.
Fearing all the death and destruction another Darth Vader might cause, Luke raised his lightsaber
in a moment of instinct, ready to kill his nephew as he slept.
Yet as looked upon the boy he hesitated, and in that moment Ben Solo awoke.
Believing Luke was about to kill him, he summoned his own lightsaber and destroyed the temple
with his force powers.
Rey then tried to convince Luke there was still conflict in Kylo and that he could be
turned to the light.
However Luke did not agree and refused to involve himself further.
She then declared that Kylo was the last hope of the galaxy, and boarded the millennium
falcon to seek him out.
Luke, distraught by all that had occurred went to burn the sacred jedi texts and put
an end to the order once and for all, but when as he wavered in his decision, the force
ghost of master yoda destroyed it for him, explaining that the ancient texts contained
nothing the girl rey did not already possess.
The old Jedi Master told him failure was the greatest teacher, and encouraged him not to
give up hope.
Rey meanwhile, made her way aboard the First Order flagship, where she was immediately
arrested and brought before Supreme Leader snoke.
Though she tried to convince Kylo to return to the lightside, he was equally convinced
she would turn to the darkness.
When the girl was presented to Snoke, he revealed that she fell right into his trap.
It was he who bridged her mind with Kylo Ren knowing that the conflict within him would
bait her into coming.
Although Rey resisted as much as possible, Snoke proved far more powerful, able throw
her around the room and extract all the information necessary from her mind.
Snoke then ordered kylo to kill her, sensing that the conflict within him gone and he was
now committed to the dark side and ready to kill his enemy.
Yet the Supreme Leader failed to realize the identity of Kylo’s true enemy, as he activated
the lightsaber by Snoke’s side, killing his darkside master.
Ren and Rey then fought side by side as they defeated the Elite Praetorian Guard who sought
to avenge their leader’s death.
But when the battle was over, Rey wanted to save the last remnants of the resistance fleet
that were being shot down on their way to Crait, while Kylo Ren wanted to let the Resistance
die, so that he and Rey could rule the first order together.
Kylo then revealed that Rey’s parents had traded her away for drinking money, and that
while she was nobody important to the galaxy, she was important to him.
Though tempted to join him, she ultimately refused, and tried to steal away his lightsaber,
resulting in a stalemate between them until the lightsaber exploded.
This then coincided with Vice Admiral Holdo’s suicide run, which destroyed the Supremacy,
separating the force users and allowing for Rey to escape aboard the millennium falcon.
When General Huxx found Snoke dead, Kylo explained that Rey was responsible.
He then declared himself as the new supreme Leader, force choking Huxx into submission.
With Kylo Ren as their new ruler, the First Order continued to chase the last remaining
resistance fighters to the planet of Crait, and sent an army to breach their defenses.
Sending out a distress signal for aid, the last of the rebels prepared a final effort,
sending out their pilots to attempt destroying the first order canon that was readying to
breach their defensive wall.
However the attempt failed, and the resistance soon realized no reinforcements were coming.
Yet just as all hope seems lost, Luke Skywalker suddenly walked into the room and said a final
goodbye to his sister, before going out to face the first order and his nephew.
At first Kylo ordered that the entire army open fire, but when it failed to kill his
old master, he went to meet him, engaging in a lightsaber duel.
Kylo Ren then declared that he had defeated the rebellion, ended the war and would soon
kill the last jedi only for Luke to reply that he was entirely incorrect, as this day
the rebellion was reborn, the war had just begun and he would not be the last Jedi.
As Kylo swung to finish him off, the blow did no damage, and he soon realized Luke was
using a force projection and was not really there.
This illusion then gave the resistance enough time to escape their base with the help of
Rey, in order to make their way off planet aboard the millennium falcon.
Back on Ahch To, Luke had over exerted himself, but was now at peace in the knowledge that
Rey would continue the legacy of the Jedi.
And so he sat up to watch the suns rise in the sky above as he died, becoming one with
the force.
As Rey left Crait, she and Kylo sensed each other one last time, before she closed the
door to her ship and took off.
With the last of the resistance now safely making their escape, Rey shared her concern
with General Leia, that they were too few to start a new rebellion, only for Leia to
reply that they had everything they needed.