For decades, the Galactic Empire has been at the forefront of Star Wars villainy – but based on a new book, the galaxy might finally be moving on from the Galactic Empire and Palpatine. From its origins being gradually introduced in the prequel trilogy to its full might in the original trilogy, the Empire was arguably the biggest and most important entity in George Lucas’s Star Wars movies. For years, audiences have been begging for new stories that don’t involve the Empire.

This explains the popularity of Star Wars Legends (Expanded Universe) stories like the New Jedi Order book series and the canon High Republic series. These stories and others don’t contain the Empire as the central villainous faction, which many see as a breath of fresh air. After the Star Wars sequel trilogy once again brought back the Empire in the First Order, however, it seems the saga might chronologically be moving on from the Empire as a whole.

Star Wars’ Newest Book Seems To Be The Final Word On The Empire

The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

The book Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Dr. Chris Kempshall has finally been released, and seems to offer quite an interesting take on the future of the Empire. The book, written by an actual historian, takes a beautifully analytical look at the canon history of the Star Wars galaxy’s 24-year-long Imperialist state. The book doesn’t just end there, as it’s actually written in-universe from the perspective of a minor character from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Purchase Dr. Chris Kempshall’s The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire On Amazon

The Empire’s History “Written” By Historian Beaumont Kin

The book reads as if it is an in-universe data transmission made by Beaumont Kin (Dominic Monaghan) following the events of the final Skywalker saga movie. Kin is the Resistance character in The Rise of Skywalker who claims that Palpatine returned through dark sciences and cloning, and he wants to have the final word on the Empire in this book. The goal of the book is to help citizens of the galaxy understand how the Empire and First Order rose, so they can guarantee it never happens again.

Hopefully, both in-universe and out-of-universe, this becomes certain, and the evil of the Empire never returns again. People like Beaumont Kin are trying their best to make sure of that. This provides an interesting perspective for the Star Wars galaxy moving forward after the sequel trilogy, too. This book confirms that people are aware of how the Empire came back through the First Order and are keen to stop that from happening again, especially after the fleet that gathered at Exegol to defeat Palpatine consisted of the literal populace of the galaxy.

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If The Empire Or First Order Aren’t The Villains – Who Is?

This establishment of awareness of how the Empire returned means that it’s very unlikely that Imperial ideology will widely return again. This means big things for the upcoming New Jedi Order movie starring Rey Skywalker and her new take on the Jedi tradition. Will this movie introduce the technophobic Yuuzhan Vong of its namesake? Or will a new dark side threat arise unrelated the Empire? Only time will tell just how Star Wars moves on from the Empire, but they already seem to be laying the foundation in this book.