Every Major Star Wars Event Between Empire Strikes Back & Return Of The Jedi

June 15, 2023, 4 p.m.

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Every Major Star Wars Event Between Empire Strikes Back & Return Of The Jedi

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Within Star Wars' original trilogy, a series of major events happen between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Taking place after the Rebel Alliance was scattered by the Empire following the Battle of Hoth, Lucasfilm has been canonically filling in the blanks as to what happened in the year-long interim. After all, the Galactic Civil War didn't just stop in between episodes.

Following the Battle of Hoth, the Empire's hunt for Princess Leia and Han Solo, and Darth Vader's duel with his son Luke Skywalker, the Galactic Civil War continued for a year before the Rebellion staged their rescue mission to save Solo from Jabba the Hutt. Featuring an entire trilogy of stories and more, the majority of the events that occurred in this era come from Marvel Comics' canon ongoing series. Here's every major event that happened between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Related 15 Major Star Wars Events That Happen In The 19 Years Between Prequels & Original Trilogy Known as the Dark Times in the Star Wars canon, several key events occurred during the 19 years between the prequel and original trilogies.

9 Luke Skywalker Wields A Yellow Lightsaber And Off-Screen Jedi Training

Star Wars (2020) #1-6, written by Charles Soule with art by Jesús Saiz

During his duel with Darth Vader on Cloud City and the reveal that the Sith Lord was his father, Luke Skywalker lost not only his hand but also his blue lightsaber, the very same weapon that once belonged to Vader when he was Anakin Skywalker. While the weapon is eventually recovered years later and given to Rey in Star Wars' sequel trilogy, Luke was left without a lightsaber to defend himself. As such, much of Luke's journey ahead of Return of the Jedi sees the young Rebel determined to continue his Jedi training despite the truth of his dark parentage.

During his travels, Luke Skywalker found a yellow-bladed lightsaber that once belonged to a Jedi Temple guard. Luke also found sacred texts of the Jedi, which helped guide him as he sought to expand and hone his abilities in the Force. Additionally, obtaining a new lightsaber helped Skywalker become a renewed symbol of hope for the beaten-down Rebellion following the brutal Battle of the Hoth and a major loss of morale.

8 Star Wars' Rebel Fleet Reforms After The Battle of Hoth

Star Wars (2020) #9-12, written by Charles Soule with art by Jan Bazaldua & Ramon Rosanas

After the Rebellion was forced to retreat and scatter its forces after Hoth, the Empire was relentless in its assault. Hoping to eliminate the Rebels once and for all, Imperial agents successfully cracked the Rebel Fleet's encrypted communication channels, guaranteeing that they'd be able to intercept any Rebels attempting to reunite. However, the Rebellion came up with Operation Starlight, a desperate mission to steal a centuries-old droid from Imperial-controlled Coruscant, containing an ancient language unknown to the Empire.

The newly commissioned Starlight Squadron had to be dispatched to get the new codes to the various Rebel cells, named after the High Republic era's Starlight Beacon.

With help from C-3PO and Lobot, new codes were created using a language that the Empire would never be able to crack. However, the newly commissioned Starlight Squadron had to be dispatched to get the new codes to the various Rebel cells, named after the High Republic era's Starlight Beacon that helped pilots navigate the Outer Rim when it was still an unexplored frontier hundreds of years before the prequel trilogy. Operation Starlight successfully reformed the Rebel Fleet, ready to continue the Galactic Civil Wars in earnest ahead of Return of the Jedi.

7 Darth Vader Faces Padmé's Legacy

Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #1-5, written by Greg Pak with art by Raffaele Ienco

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While the immediate aftermath of Empire Strikes Back saw Luke grappling with the reveal that Darth Vader was his father, Vader was facing his own crisis. Determined to know the specifics behind the death of his late wife Padmé Amidala and the birth of their son, Vader returned to Naboo and visited Padmé's grave. He also found the recording of her final moments on Polis Massa, the medical facility where she gave birth to Luke and Leia before her death. Although the recording was incomplete, the Dark Lord did witness Padmé's belief that there was still good in him.

Additionally, Padmé's surviving handmaids and followers united as a force known as the Amidalans, having the sole mission to destroy Vader. As such, the legacy of his late wife caused Vader to become severely unbalanced in the dark side of the Force. That said, later issues would see the Dark Lord of the Sith corrupting Padmé's most loyal handmaiden Sabé in the name of order (a corruption that's still ongoing).

6 Palpatine Punishes Darth Vader And Reveals Exegol Plans

Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) #6-11, written by Greg Pak with art by Raffaele Ienco

Because of Vader's imbalance combined with his failure to kill or corrupt his son to the dark side in Empire Strikes Back, Emperor Palpatine believed the time had come to punish his apprentice and recenter him within the dark side. Crushing Vader's armor and removing his cybernetic limbs, Palpatine dumped his apprentice on the very same lava bank on Mustafar where he had recovered him following his defeat against Obi-Wan Kenobi. Forcing Vader to survive on his own this time, Palpatine eagerly awaited Vader's eventual arrival to his secret Sith world of Exegol.

Just like his grandson Kylo Ren years in the future, Vader was guided to Exegol with a Sith Wayfinder. There, he discovered his master's true power, such as Palpatine's secret cloning experiments, his army of Sith Eternal cultists, and the ongoing construction of a massive fleet that would eventually become the Final Order. As such, Vader's desire for revenge and imbalance faded, resigning himself to be Palpatine's servant once more with the belief that he could never defeat the Emperor.

5 War Of The Bounty Hunters (Boba Fett Loses Han Solo)

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters, written by Charles Soule with art by Luke Ross

Having found Princess Leia and Han Solo on Cloud City, Boba Fett was rewarded by Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back with Solo frozen in carbonite. However, the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter lost his prize en route to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine. This was all thanks to Lady Qi'ra, Solo's first love, who had become the new leader of Darth Maul's crime syndicate Crimson Dawn as seen in the War of the Bounty Hunters event.

Qi'ra was first introduced in Solo: A Star Wars Story, where she was last seen communicating directly with Darth Maul.

Following Maul's demise in the years before A New Hope, Qi'ra expanded Crimson Dawn with spies and assassins embedded all over the galaxy. Furthermore, she stole Han Solo to auction the smuggler off in a master scheme to pit the Hutts and Empire against each other. That said, Fett was able to retrieve Solo despite all the interested parties who wanted the smuggler, including the Empire as well as the Rebellion who tried to rescue their friend. Regardless, Fett turns Solo over to Jabba, who puts the smuggler on his wall as seen in Return of the Jedi.

4 Crimson Dawn Goes To War With The Empire

Star Wars: Crimson Reign, written by Charles Soule with art by Steven Cummings

Creating conflict between the Hutts and Empire was only the first step in Qi'ra overarching plans. In Crimson Reign, Qi'ra dispatched her vast network of agents to create mass chaos across the galaxy. Not only were there assassination attempts on the Emperor's royal guard, but Qi'ra also deceived rival crime syndicates into warring with each to gain Palpatine's favor. Essentially, Qi'ra upended the entire criminal underworld while also showing the galaxy that the Empire wasn't invincible. As such, the unintended benefit was that it kept the Empire distracted long enough for the Rebellion to reform its fleet with Operation Starlight.

Qi'ra effectively destabilized the order and control long maintained by the Empire. This included sending the Knights of Ren to rob the fortress of Darth Vader himself, an act that definitively made herself and Crimson Dawn priority targets to be eliminated in the eyes of the Sith Lords. However, this was exactly what Qi'ra wanted ahead of the final chapter of Star Wars' Crimson Dawn trilogy.

3 The Knights of Ren Enter Palpatine's Service

Star Wars: Hidden Empire, written by Charles Soule with art by Steven Cummings

Marvel Comics' Hidden Empire was the culmination of Qi'ra's grand plan. Having obtained the ancient artifact known as the Fermata Cage, Palpatine and Vader were led to believe that Qi'ra wanted to release a Sith Lord against them, one who'd been suspended within the artifact for centuries. However, the Fermata Cage was empty, a trap set by Qi'ra to suspend the current Sith themselves in a time-lock, freeing the galaxy from their dark influence once and for all.

This helps explain their role in Rise of Skywalker, having always been in Palpatine's service despite Kylo Ren later becoming their leader.

While Qi'ra successfully trapped Palpatine and Vader in stasis, the Knights of Ren ultimately feared Palpatine more than they did Qi'ra. As such, they saved Palpatine and Vader in hopes that they would be rewarded. Instead, they were all blasted by Force lightning with the Emperor's dark promise that he would find a use for them. As such, this helps explain their role in Rise of Skywalker, having always been in Palpatine's service despite Kylo Ren later becoming their leader. Meanwhile, Qi'ra faded into obscurity due to her failure, going into hiding but surviving to see the New Republic era.

2 The Force Becomes Unstable Before Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Hidden Empire, written by Charles Soule with art by Steven Cummings

Although the Fermata Cage was empty, it did cause significant damage to the Force itself. Seemingly felt by all living Force-sensitives during this era between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the collapse of the ancient artifact caused a massive ripple in the Force. As such, it has since caused Force abilities to become unpredictable, as seen in the ongoing Star Wars comics by Marvel.

Currently, Marvel's recent issues of the Darth Vader series have seen the titular Dark Lord's power in the Force becoming massively destructive and unpredictable. Likewise, Luke Skywalker's power and connection to the Force in Marvel's flagship Star Wars series will be fine one minute and virtually nonexistent the next. As such, it will be interesting to see if something will be done to stabilize the Force in the near future, or if the Force will simply settle on its own ahead of Return of the Jedi.

1 Luke Skywalker Obtains Kyber For His Green Lightsaber

Star Wars (2020) #34-35, written by Charles Soule with art by Madibek Musabekov

Most recently in the comics set between Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker has ventured to the planet Christophsis, a world the Jedi Order of the fallen Republic would traditionally visit to collect kyber crystals for their lightsabers. With his yellow lightsaber having been recently damaged, Luke was hoping for a means of repairing his weapon. Instead, Luke met an eccentric kyber specialist who encouraged him to connect with a younger, clear piece of kyber crystal.

Having bonded with the crystal, resulting in a conversation with Master Yoda through the Force, Luke's kyber turned green, the same blade color as the lightsaber the young Jedi eventually constructs and wields in Return of the Jedi. However, said construction has yet to be seen in the official Star Wars canon beyond a deleted scene. It's also worth noting that Luke also took a red kyber crystal to be studied, having been bled using the dark side of the Force.

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