Why Did The Empire Collapse So Quickly After Endor?

Star Wars

Feb 28

Considered to be one of the greatest victories achieved by the Rebels if not the most important, the Battle of Endor was the catalyst for turning the Rebels into a legitimate force to be reckoned with. While the destruction of the first Death Star put the Rebels on the map, rewatching the original Star Wars trilogy puts into focus how Endor was the equivalent of Gettysburg for the Galactic Civil War. This battle had to be perfect. The Rebels barely had one hundred troops fighting for them, the second Death Star was halfway completed, Luke’s training in the ways of the Force was rushed at best, and not much time was given to the Rebels to prepare for what could have easily been their final stand.

After Palpatine’s death, the Imperial Army was in a state of panic and disarray without a commander at the helm. By the time the second Death Star was destroyed, a majority of their admirals had been killed during the Space Battle portion of the Battle of Endor.

RELATED:

Featured

Though Rumours Suggest That Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy Will Retire, Other Sources Feel Differently

After the emperor was dead, what few lower-ranking admirals were left ordered a retreat. They had hoped to reconvene and come up with future battle plans, but these future battle plans further added fuel to the fire that was their crumbling leadership and control over the galaxy.

When Palpatine noticed his death was inevitable, he set forth Operation Cinder. In short, Palpatine’s belief in Cinder was that any planets not under the Emperor’s control did not deserve to live. Operation Cinder was set to destroy any and all planets regardless of whether or not they aligned themselves with the emperor.

This was referenced in The Mandalorian’s season two episode 7 when Bill Burr’s character Migs Mayfeld recounts witnessing his fellow soldiers reduced to ash during the apex of Operation Cinder. More than just a “bad day”, an entire division—5,000 to 10,000 people—was killed. Though Imperial Officer Valin Hess refers to them as heroes “to the Empire”, this “sacrifice” was not for the greater good as the Empire continued to scramble for the control they once had.

When planets that had submitted themselves learned of Operation Cinder, this was the equivalent of Palpatine shooting himself in the foot. Many of these planets provided the Imperial Army with crucial infrastructure and logistics needed for war and whatever else the Army needed during times of war. The planets that were spared from Operation Cinder allied themselves with the Rebels, providing them with weaponry and contact with critical military connections. It was this newfound power that forced the Imperial Army to retreat further into space in hopes of trying to scramble a stronger fighting force against the rapidly growing Rebel Alliance. One planet serving as a sort of haven for the Imperial Army was Jakku.

As depicted in the Star Wars Battlefront 2 game, one of the main characters Ideon Versio is a member of the Imperial Special Forces. Her character history explains her witnessing the destruction of the second Death Star on Endor and her inadvertently complicit actions in what became Operation Cinder.

It was her squad that provided the satellites used in the Operation. When this knowledge came to light, Versio left the mission and joined the Rebels at the end of the game. Before her departure, Versio’s squad questions the legitimacy of their presence. This small discourse was all for naught as the Imperial satellites set a course for destroying whatever planets were in orbit, with Versio witnessing the consequences of her actions with her Admiral father beside her.

What few planets were left the Rebels took under their wing. Favor of the Rebels was also garnered when they were able to destroy what Imperial satellites they could. The wool was further removed from their eyes as it became clear to neighboring planets how little the Empire cared for them. Worlds that could have had protection from the Empire and still provide support pooled what resources the Empire desperately needed at that moment and funneled them into supporting their greatest enemy. Suddenly, it was the Imperial Army’s turn to send distress signals to whatever outer planets remained.

A help signal to Jakku later, the Imperials were able to create a small army. A majority of the Imperial Army consisted of whatever and whoever they could find for their cause. Yet in the back of their minds, it was known that the Rebels were the superior fighting force. Their remaining Loyalists sent them what limited weapons and soldiers they could, but they were losing the equivalent of ten soldiers for every one soldier the Rebels lost.

Their firepower and strength were a mere fraction of what it was back during Palpatine’s era. A short time later, the Empire regained some of its control back with the Treaty of Coruscant. Meant to throw them a bone, this act inadvertently allowed Imperials to have control of planets in wild space, which still had Imperial Loyalists. Sadly, it was a shadow of what their regime was before Endor.

The Battle of Endor was a domino effect of what would become the Imperial Army having to lick their wounds and try to rebuild their military without a leader. Thinking critically of where the Empire was from a military standpoint, they were an army of tens of thousands of Star Destroyer ships, hundreds of millions of troops, and a kingdom of thousands of planets. All of this was before Endor.

Without a true leader, the Imperials had a sub-sect of leaders giving orders in circles about what to do next. Discourse ran rampant and those few Imperials who did believe in the original cause were left to pick up the pieces of a lost dynasty.

READ NEXT:

Featured