After reigning for nearly 20 years,Star Wars’Empire suffered massive blows all in one week that ultimately helped to ensure its downfall.Star Warsmovies, specifically those in the Skywalker Saga, had really only shown the establishment of the Empire inStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithand its final years in the originalStar Warstrilogy. However,Star Warsmovies and TV showshave since revealed so much more about the Empire’s almost two-decades-long run. In terms of movies,Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyprovided significantly more context for the fall of the Empire.
With the shows, various events throughout this period intheStar Warstimelinehave now been depicted on screen, from early on in the Empire’s rule in shows likeStar Wars: The Bad Batchto the ever-building Rebellion in shows likeAndorandStar Wars Rebels. The combination ofAndor,Rogue One, andA New Hopein particular shows just how quickly the Empire began to suffer major losses, though. Specifically,within just one week, the Empire was dealt these 8 major blows that ultimately led to its downfall.
Dedra Meero Lost All The Information From Axis
Luthen Rael Destroyed The Evidence, And The Rest Died With Him
Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) agent Dedra Meero had long been trying to gather information on and eventually bring down the Axis Network, a faction of rebels that included Luthen Rael and his right-hand woman, Kleya. Unfortunately for Dedra, this did not go at all according to plan. Rather,when Dedra confronted Luthen inAndorseason 2, Luthen acted quickly, not only by destroying evidence contained within his gallery but also by stabbing himself.
Particularly with Luthen’s death, so much information was lost to the Empire, which meant they weren’t able to capitalize on the Axis Network, even having trapped Luthen. This news would be bad enough for the Empire, but for Dedra this was all the worse, as this ultimately led to her being accused of being a double agent working with the rebels. In the end, this sealed Dedra’s fate, and she was left imprisoned at the end of season 2, punished by the very people she’d been working for essentially for her entire life.
The ISB Collapsed
The ISB Suffered Some Major Losses By The End Of Andor Season 2
Dedra’s imprisonment wasn’t the only blow to the ISB that happened inAndorseason 2. In addition to losing Dedra, who had essentially become a rising star in the organization,ISB major Lio Partagaz died by suicide, leaving the agency with yet another key figure now gone. Although this wasn’t the complete end of the ISB inStar Wars, it was a shell of what it had once been.
In fact, we saw the power of the ISB throughoutAndorseason 1 and 2, both in terms of the agency’s ability to obtain intelligence on the rebel efforts and simply with its influence. This was also a crucial time for the ISB to be stronger, not weakened. With the Rebel Alliance about to be formally established, the Empire needed the ISB’s work more than ever. Unfortunately, the fall of the Empire had really already begun, likely without most Imperials even suspecting it.
Tarkin Destroyed A Major Imperial Facility On Scarif
The Imperial Center of Military Research Fell Due To Tarkin’s Panic
Rogue Oneended up being one of the most importantStar Warsstories, despite it introducing nearly all-new characters. In fact,Rogue Onefilled in a massive plot hole fromA New Hopeby revealing why Luke Skywalker was able to take down the Death Star so easily. Namely, Galen Erso, who had been forced to work for the Empire on the secret Death Star project, had built a secret weakness into the superweapon.
When the Empire learned that the rebels were about to get their hands on the plans revealing this fatal flaw, it was clear that they became desperate to stop them. Governor Tarkin’s desperation was particularly evident, given he panicked and decided to destroy a key Imperial facility on Scarif, the Imperial Center of Military Research, just to stop the rebels from escaping with the plans. Ultimately,this entirely backfired, as, not only did this mean the destruction of an important Imperial center, but also, the rebels obtained the plans (and used them to destroy the Death Star) anyway.
Governor Tarkin’s desperation was particularly evident, given he panicked and decided to destroy a key Imperial facility on Scarif, the Imperial Center of Military Research.
The Death Star Plans Were Stolen
This Put The Empire’s Greatest Weapon At Risk
As mentioned, the central plot ofRogue Onewas the mission to obtain the Death Star plans and get them to the Rebel Alliance so that the superweapon could be destroyed. Although there was tremendous effort on the part of the Empire to stop this from happening,in the end, Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, and the rest of their crew inRogue Onemanaged to get the Death Star plans to Princess Leia herself. Although that didn’t automatically mean the rebels would be successful in blowing it up, it put this massive weapon at risk.
This was especially troubling for the Empire, because there was little they could do about it. They themselves didn’t know exactly what Galen had done, so there was no defense against it. From the moment the plans were successfully delivered to the rebels, it was only a matter of time before they attacked.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Became A Force Ghost
Obi-Wan Really Did Become More Powerful Than Vader Could Imagine
Although the Empire made every effort to track down and destroy anyJedi survivors of Order 66, they weren’t entirely successful. In fact, one ofStar Wars’most powerful Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, survived and even managed to find his way onto the Death Star to face Darth Vader. At first, it seemed as though Darth Vader had ‘won’ in that confrontation because it ended in Obi-Wan’s death.
Just as Obi-Wan had warned Darth Vader, though, Obi-Wan actually became so much more powerful following his death, as he became a Force Ghost. Now one with the Force, Obi-Wan was no longer mortal, yet he could still communicate with the living. This ended up being particularly bad news for the Empire because it enabled Obi-Wan to go on and continue to guide Luke as he worked to become a full-fledged Jedi. Without Obi-Wan, Luke would likely never have done so, especially given he learned where to find Yoda from Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost.
A New Jedi Emerged From The Shadows
Luke Skywalker Was Instrumental In Bringing The Empire Down
With Obi-Wan’s guidance,Luke was able to find Yoda on Dagobah and complete his Jedi training. As a full-fledged Jedi, Luke was a significantly greater threat to the Empire, and he ultimately proved that not only with his overall victory inReturn of the Jedibut also in his confrontation with Darth Vader at the end ofThe Empire Strikes Back. That is, without Yoda’s training, Luke would no doubt have been much more susceptible to the dark side of the Force.
With Vader’s revelation that he was Luke’s father, it would have been all too easy for Luke to give into the darkness. Of course, the war wasn’t won by any singular person, but, had Luke switched sides, it’s doubtful the Rebel Alliance would have come out on top. Instead, Luke became a true Jedi, and it made him capable of turning his father back to the light side of the Force, ultimately shoring up the destruction of Emperor Palpatine and the end of the Empire.
The Death Star Was Destroyed, Ruining Palpatine’s Long-Term Plans
Perhaps the single greatest blow to the Empire, at least until Palpatine’s death, was the destruction of the Death Star, which actually happened very soon after the plans for the superweapon had been obtained by the rebels inRogue One. Even with Palpatine declaring that he had unlimited power inRevenge of the Sith, he had come to rely on this weapon as the next stage of his Empire. This was clear enough in his decision to dissolve the Imperial Senate once the weapon’s construction was complete.
This was a poorly planned gamble, though, as it took relatively little to bring the superweapon down, and it left Palpatine weaker than ever. He had been able to maintain the charade of the Senate to keep outright war at bay, but he had suddenly done away with that and lost the Empire’s most valuable weapon.In the end, this spelled the Empire’s doom.
This was a poorly planned gamble, though, as it took relatively little to bring the superweapon down, and it left Palpatine weaker than ever.
The Rebel Alliance Was Emboldened, Not Destroyed
These Events Only Made The Rebel Alliance Even Stronger
While it was a horrible week for the Empire in and of itself, the culmination of these events meant one key thing:the Rebel Alliance had become stronger during this time, not weaker. If anything, the rebel cells were more unified than ever, and the victory of taking down the Death Star gave the rebels true hope. AsStar Warshas long proven, hope is incredibly dangerous to a regime like the Empire.
While this one week inStar Warsisn’t the sole cause of the Empire’s inevitable destruction, these events each had a major impact on the Empire’s fate. The fact that these events all occurred so close together also made it particularly daunting for the Empire to ever recover. Although it’s shocking to realize this was indeed the timeline, this one week inStar Warsessentially sealed the fate of the Empire.
