Is there a map or anything that would detail which planets were a part of the new republic ?

There is a map in the visual dictionary for the Last Jedi, which I believe includes all or most of the significant NR planets, and which I unfortunately don’t own. Perhaps someone who does own it could confirm? I’ve mentioned it before, but this map of the galaxy is very helpful if you want to visualize where things are, and it’s been updated with all the new planets. Right here is the category intersection of New Republic planets and canon articles on Wookieepedia, so you could also look through that list if you like.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

Do you know of any contenders for where the NR/Resistance will regroup now? or if the FO is going to remain on a ship or have another base? (best guesses because obviously things are being written).

If I had to guess where the New Republic and Resistance will go next, I would say Chandrila, since it was the capital after the end of the Galactic Civil War. If they really wanted to give a shout out to the OT, they could probably bring back Yavin 4. As for the First Order, I would guess that, unless they decide to build another superweapon, they will continue to operate mainly out of their ships as they continue their campaign. Just the sheer size of some of their ships would make it impractical to try to land them on a planet, and at the moment there’s an advantage to be gained in being able to both conquer planets and meet the Resistance as a highly mobile fighting force. I expect they will choose a new capital, though, now that they essentially have their pick. Just my guess, of course!

~ Jacen

What do you think is next for the Resistance leadership? You mentioned going back to the New Republic, but that would have to transform, right? Leaders from the resistance would be promoted within the ranks simply because of necessity and experience at this point.

I expect that we’ll see some established characters be promoted to high-ranking positions within the Resistance. (I think it would be neat to have some OT characters make an appearance, but I have no clue if they would do that.) I also think it’s going to depend on how they deal with Leia’s arc, because obviously at the moment she is a very important Resistance leader. Since pretty much every other leader of the Resistance and the New Republic is dead now, it’ll probably end up being a rather small, close-knit sort of government, unless they decide to introduce a whole bunch of new characters, which would be a bit odd at this point. Seems to me that, first of all, Poe will get a pretty big promotion, and second, they’ll gather together the surviving leaders of both groups as they attempt to regroup.

~ Jacen

As a follow up to your General Ematt post, I’m so confused about resistance rankings. Do you know the order? A major becomes a general but what does an Admiral become? Is vice-Admiral higher than General? If not why did Holdo take over instead of Ematt?

There is nothing describing the specific ranking system that the Resistance uses, but I would assume it’s more or less the same as that of the Old Republic or the Rebel Alliance. So:

A General is a high-ranking leader of an army or a starfighter command, with Admiral being the equivalent rank within the navy. Both are graded C-1. This is sometimes flexible, as there are multiple different kinds of Admirals, and it’s not always clear whether they are exactly equal in every scenario. Some Generals preferred to keep their title even when appointed to a fleet command.

Vice Admirals may or may not be equal to Generals, depending on whether the grade of C-1 can be applied to all Admiral positions. If not, a Vice Admiral would be inferior to a general. It is not clear which would be used in the Resistance, but if the latter is true then I would assume Holdo took command because of her affiliation with Leia, as sort of an informal temporary arrangement.

Admiral seems to be the highest rank anyone has so far held in the Resistance, but if an Admiral were to be promoted I would assume that they would take the rank of Admiral of the Fleet or Fleet Admiral, in accordance with the ranking system of the Rebellion.

The ranking order below these is often unclear and can vary wildly from faction to faction, so there’s no telling for sure how it goes in the Resistance, especially because we only have so many characters to work from. I hope that helps at least!

~ Jacen

minor spoilers Per the visual dictionary for the last jedi there was another General on Crait; would he then be the last in charge of (hypothetically leia is likely removed from the story given carrie’s death) or is there a chance they remove him from the line of authority too?

Are you asking whether he would be in charge of the Resistance in the event of Leia’s death or departure from the Resistance? If so, he may or may not end up in charge. There are other members of Resistance High Command who have not been confirmed dead (though given the events of the evacuation of D’Qar, it seems likely that they are), some of whom outrank General Ematt, so if one of them is still alive then he would not be in charge of the Resistance. Otherwise, he would assume command. I’m not sure I understand the last part of your question, but if you are asking whether there’s a chance that he will die too, it certainly seems possible. Though, he is a very minor character so far, so they may not bother to show what happens to him.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

What sort of recruitment tactics does the resistance use?

The Resistance gets its recruits from the New Republic military, planetary defense forces, and from the Galactic Civil War veterans who were left unemployed when the New Republic started to demilitarize. It is stated that they don’t use recruitment posters, and since it is not really a military in its own right I find it unlikely that they actually put resources into other forms of recruitment and/or propaganda. More than anything, it seems like new recruits just stumble into them or join up of their own will.

~ Jacen

How do some of the more famous rebels visit home so easily? Wouldn’t it be easy to pick them off if you knew where they were going?

I suppose it would depend on the rebel. Leia, for example, was a prominent member of the Imperial Senate and wouldn’t have simply been murdered, and Mon Mothma didn’t have to flee until she publicly spoke out against the Empire, despite having helped organize the beginnings of the Rebellion long before that. As well, it’s near impossible to track a ship through hyperspace, and any rebel hoping to visit their homeworld (as long as the spaceports were not being actively monitored by the Empire) could easily avoid being followed by making a few jumps in different directions. Not only did the Empire lack the resources to establish a presence on all the famous rebels’ homeworlds, plenty weren’t exactly friendly to the Empire, and a number of the more powerful systems were essentially allowed to govern themselves. Corellia, the birthplace of many famous Alliance pilots, including Wedge Antilles, was in a situation like this.

Hope that helps! If there’s someone specific you’re wondering about, feel free to send another ask.

~ Jacen

This is going to sound dumb because I haven’t read any origins stuff (booo hissss) But was there a big bad evil empire-esque organization before the actual empire?

Well, I suppose it depends what you mean. The Bad People before the Empire came around were the Confederacy of Independent Systems (the Separatists) who fought the Clone Wars against the Galactic Republic, but before that there was also the Sith Empire, which rose and fell at various times during the Old Republic era. As well, the actual predecessor to the Empire was the Republic, which was not one of the bad guys, at least not from a narrative standpoint. I’m not sure how into the canon/Legends you have gotten, but those would be the big ones that came before the Empire.

~ Jacen

Do you think the new republic has a stronghold outside of Hosnian Prime and still exist or were they truly wiped out as Hux stated?

I don’t know whether you’ve seen The Last Jedi yet, so I won’t go into too much detail. The New Republic had a rotating capital, which was Hosnian Prime at the time of its destruction. Due to the demilitarization measures, I doubt they had so much of a “stronghold” as perhaps another world where they could move any surviving government officials and base their operations, though I don’t know what that world might be. Either way, the New Republic was a galaxy-wide government system and couldn’t really be “wiped out” by the destruction of one star system, though it was a severe blow and it was estimated that the Core Worlds would fall to the First Order within weeks of the start of open war. Were you maybe thinking of the Resistance? If so, I will simply say that the Resistance was not truly wiped out by that incident or the subsequent attack on Starkiller Base. But regardless, yes, the New Republic and the Resistance still exist at this point in the trilogy.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

Have there ever been records of a rebellion/new republic/resistance member going to the empire/first order (besides Anakin?)

Well, at least a few Jedi did join the Empire after Order 66, including the Grand Inquisitor, but they’re not really Rebellion. Naturally there are a few named minor characters who defected from the Rebel Alliance, including Nik, Var Narek, and Mar’holt Kisfrel, and logically there should be a wealth of people over the years who left to join with the Empire or First Order. I do also know of some who, in Legends, left the New Republic to join the Yuuzhan Vong (not sure if that’s helpful or not). Right now no examples of major characters are coming to mind, but the answer to your question would be yes, there are records of Rebellion, New Republic or Resistance members leaving to join the Empire or First Order.

~ Jacen