The First Order was the greatest threat to the galaxy in Star Wars after the reign of the Empire, but figuring out where it fits in the larger timeline, from Ben Solo’s fall to Palpatine’s return, can be challenging. The sequel Star Wars trilogy showed the most recent stories in the timeline of the galaxy far, far away, taking place decades after the events of the original trilogy. All other Star Wars content to date predates the sequel trilogy, with The Mandalorian and its New Republic era taking place in the years between the original and sequel trilogies.
The sequel trilogy offered a wealth of new content to the Star Wars franchise, including the first live-action example of different lightsaber colors, such as Rey’s yellow blade. It also offered some of the biggest threats the galaxy ever faced, from Darth Sidious’s return to the First Order itself. The First Order affected the galaxy drastically, and the lingering damage it caused will likely be a major focus of the upcoming Rey’s New Jedi Order movie. The group didn’t start terrorizing the galaxy overnight, though; the First Order’s rise spanned years.
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19 Leia’s Fall From Political Power & The Napkin Bombing Incident
28 ABY
The Rise of the First Order began not with Kylo Ren, but with Leia Organa. In 28 ABY, she was a front runner for a seat in the Senate and political power. Those dreams faded, though, after her ancestry was revealed. Leia had been keeping the fact she was Darth Vader’s daughter a secret from both the New Republic and from her son, Ben. When another Senator unearthed her secret, Leia was forced to leave the Senate and politics as a whole. It also created a rift between her and Ben, who was angry that his mother wouldn’t tell him about his grandfather.
At the same time, the First Order was beginning its introduction to the galaxy. In what was known as the Napkin Bombing incident, First Order agents – known as the Amaxine warriors – bombed the Senate chambers. Leia was warned about the bombing in advance due to a note written on a napkin, but the event created a political rift in the Senate. In the infighting that ensued, the First Order was able to operate without New Republic interference. Leia saw through their plot, though, and used her newly free schedule to begin organizing the Resistance.
18 The Birth of Kylo Ren
28 ABY
Luke Skywalker felt darkness growing in Ben after the revelation of his grandfather’s identity, and drew his lightsaber on the sleeping Padawan. The two had their fateful fight in 28 ABY, and Ben destroyed Luke’s temple on Ossus in the process. Luke then went into hiding on Ahch-To out of shame for failing his students. Ben left the planet and met Snoke, who would become his mentor in the dark side.
Later in the same year, Ben met and joined the Knights of Ren. He also killed two of his former fellow Padawans who had tried to attack him for his destruction of the Temple. Ren, the leaders of the Knights of Ren himself, then confronted Ben, and the two battled before Ben killed him. Ben bled his kyber crystal, modified his lightsaber, took control of the Knights, and earned the name Kylo Ren.
17 The First Order Goes Public & Prepares For War
29-33 ABY
The First Order had been operating in secret until 29 ABY, when they finally became known to the public. In the following years, they would begin building up their military might by mining countless worlds and overtaking the shipyards on Corellia. Work on Starkiller Base continued throughout those years, though the planet-sized weapon may have been made before the original trilogy.
16 The Resistance Searches For Luke and Lor San Tekka
33-34 ABY
Poe Dameron joined the Resistance in 33 ABY, and Leia put him to work as leader of Black Squadron. Poe and Black Squadron began searching for Lor San Tekka, a former Jedi and explorer who could help the Resistance find Luke. During this time period, the Resistance also began covert operations to undermine the First Order, such as recording atrocities to weaken their public opinion and interrupting arms shipments.
15 The Race To San Tekka & Crash Landing On Jakku
34 ABY
The events of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens all take place in 34 ABY. The sequel trilogy began with Poe’s journey to rescue Lor San Tekka and Finn’s final days as a stormtrooper. After he defected, Finn crash landed on Jakku, where he met Rey. The two narrowly escaped TIE fighters that were after them by piloting the Millennium Falcon. After leaving the planet, they reunited the Falcon with its previous owners, Han and Chewbacca.
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14 Starkiller Base’s First Firing & Maz Kanata’s Castle
34 ABY
Those aboard the Falcon fled to Maz Kanata’s castle on Takodana. There, Anakin’s lightsaber called out to Rey. She originally rejected it, and Finn used it in the ensuing battle with the First Order. Kylo Ren came to the planet in search of BB-8 and the map to Luke’s location that he held. In his search, he found Rey and discovered that she had seen the map. Because of this, he captured her to extract Luke’s whereabouts from her mind.
At the same time, Starkiller base began its first attack. Using a star as an energy source, the blast destroyed several planets, including Hosnian Prime, the capital of the New Republic. In one fell swoop, the First Order destroyed the New Republic and its defensive fleet, leaving the Resistance as the galaxy’s only hope to stop their onslaught. The Resistance’s only chance was to destroy the base before it could recharge and fire again.
13 Kylo Ren and Rey Meet & The Force Dyad Begins
34 ABY
Kylo Ren took Rey to Starkiller Base, where he used the Force to try to find Luke’s wherabouts from her mind. She was able to tap into the Force and resist his efforts, though. Kylo Ren reported back to his master, Supreme Leader Snoke, who took an interest in Rey and her connection to the Force. Rey later escaped from the base and met back up with Han, Chewie and Finn, but her connection to Kylo Ren would endure.
The Force Awakens set up the Force dyad, a powerful connection between Rey and Kylo Ren that would be explored more in following movies. Rey’s connection to the light side and Kylo Ren’s connection to the dark side meant that they were linked for the rest of the sequel trilogy.
12 The Battle of Starkiller Base & Finding Luke
34 ABY
The final sequence of The Force Awakens focused on the Battle of Starkiller Base. Han, Chewie, Rey, and Finn went into the base to try to sabotage it, and while they planted the explosives successfully, Kylo Ren met them before they could escape. Han attempted to convert him back to the light side unsuccessfully, and Kylo Ren killed his father. He then followed the remaining Resistance members into the forest, defeating Finn in a lightsaber battle before Rey took up the weapon and injured him. Poe then destroyed the base’s oscillator, causing a chain reaction and destroying the weapon.
After the battle, the crew of the Falcon used BB-8’s information and took Rey to Ahch-To to find Luke. Rey landed on the planet, hoping to be trained by the Jedi Master, and offered him his father’s old lightsaber, marking the end of The Force Awakens. Instead, he urged her to leave the planet.
11 The Resistance On The Run
34 ABY
The events of Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi came shortly after the destruction of Starkiller Base, also in 34 ABY. Following Poe’s space battle victory against a First Order dreadnought that came with a devastating loss of life and ships, the Resistance was being pursued by the First Order. No matter how many jumps to lightspeed the Resistance made, the First Order was able to follow thanks to a new technology capable of tracking ships through hyperspace.
After following the Resistance through hyperspace, Snoke’s flagship attacked the fleet. Many officers were thrown into the vacuum of space when the bridge exploded, including Leia. She was able to use the Force to survive and return to the ship, but she fell into a coma shortly after. Vice Admiral Holdo took control of the fleet and refused to share the details of her plan to survive with Poe.
10 Rey Trains With Luke & The Force Dyad Deepens
34 ABY
Luke explains that he wouldn’t train Rey because he believed it was time for the Jedi Order to end. Rey was eventually able to convince Luke to begin training her, thanks to her persistence and help from R2-D2, who played the message Leia sent to Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. During her training, Rey spoke to Kylo Ren through Force visions. She then learned that Luke was the cause of Ben Solo’s fall to the dark side, vowed to turn him back to the light side, and left Ahch-To.
After Rey departed Ahch-To, Luke decided to burn the ancient Jedi texts, destroying the Order for good. He was visited by Yoda’s Force ghost before he could bring himself to do it, though, only for Yoda to call down lightning, destroying the library. Yoda then gives Luke a final lesson about letting go and allowing the future generation to move forward. Unknown to Luke, Rey had taken the Jedi texts before leaving the planet.
9 The Casino Heist & The Death of Snoke
34 ABY
Finn and his new friend Rose Tico decided to find a codebreaker capable of disabling the hyperspace tracker on Snoke’s flagship, the Supremacy. To do this, they traveled to the world of Canto Bight, where they find a casino filled with war profiteers. The pair were arrested, but in prison they met their codebreaker: DJ. In their escape, they saved a group of racing fathiers before leaving the planet. When they arrived on the Supremacy, they were quickly captured. DJ then betrayed the other two and sold out the Resistance’s evacuation plan.
After Rey left Ahch-To, she headed for the Supremacy to surrender herself, hoping to gain access to Kylo Ren and turn him back towards the light side. Snoke ordered Kylo Ren to kill Rey, but instead he turned Anakin’s lightsaber on Snoke, killing him. The two then fought side by side against the Supreme Leader’s Praetorian guards. After the fight, the two struggled for Anakin’s lightsaber, breaking it in the process. Kylo Ren then took the title of Supreme Leader for himself.
8 The Holdo Manuever & The Battle Of Crait
34 ABY
As the Resistance’s hopes of survival dwindled to nothing, everyone but Holdo fled the ship. Holdo still had a plan to cover the evacuation, though, and she jumped her ship to hyperspace after aiming it at the Supremacy. Her plan worked, and it shattered the First Order flagship along with many smaller ships behind it. The Holdo maneuver created enough of a distraction for Rey, Finn, and Rose to escape. On the way out, Finn battled and defeated his former commanding officer, Captain Phasma.
The Resistance regrouped on an old base on the planet of Crait, but the First Order quickly followed. They laid siege to the base, and with no way out, the Resistance seemed to be defeated. Then, Luke appeared to Leia to join the fight. He went out and dueled Kylo Ren only to reveal himself as a Force projection. The technique was extremely taxing, and Luke became one with the Force back on Ahch-To. His efforts bought enough time for Rey to use the Force and create an exit for the few remaining members of the Resistance to escape.
7 Rebuilding The Resistance & Rey’s Kylo Ren Rematch
34-35 ABY
After the devastating losses during the Battle of Crait, the Resistance needed new recruits to build enough strength to face the First Order. They had many challenges with finding new members during this time, failing to recruit from places such as Grail City and Mon Cala for various reasons. The First Order’s hunt for the last vestiges of the Resistance was unrelenting during this time period, and the pressure only increased. At one point, the Resistance established a base at Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, though the arrival of the First Order soon drove them away.
While the Resistance was still operating out of Batuu, Rey responded to a call for help from the Halcyon, a luxury starcruiser whose 275th anniversary voyage had been boarded by the First Order. She broke through the blockade and ended up dueling Kylo Ren on the starcruiser for possession of a holocron, embedded with a message from Master Yoda himself. Rey lured Kylo Ren away and rescued the Halcyon, and once it was safe and secure, she left to help the Resistance finally establish a base on Ajan Kloss in the Outer Rim.
6 Palpatine’s Return & The Rise Of The Final Order
35 ABY
In 35 ABY, Emperor Palpatine announced his return to the galaxy. He was reborn in a cloned body, though his power was diminished. Kylo Ren used the wayfinder to plot a course to his planet, Exegol. When the two met, it was revealed that Palpatine had been manipulating Kylo Ren for years, as Snoke was a strand cast of the Emperor. Palpatine then revealed that his followers, the Sith Eternal, had built a fleet of Star Destroyers for his Final Order. Kylo Ren agreed to kill Rey for Palpatine in order to control the Final Order.
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5 Rey Trains With Leia & The Search For Exegol Begins
35 ABY
Between The Last Jedi and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, Rey trained with Leia, honing her connection to the Force and her skill with Luke’s lightsaber. At that time, she was plagued with visions of the Sith throne, which compelled her to seek out Exegol. She learned that the wayfinder was the only path there, and set out with Poe, Finn, Chewbacca, C-3PO and BB-8 to Pasaana in an effort to find it.
While there, Lando Calrissian directed them to the dagger of Ochi of Bestoon, which had directions to the wayfinder written in Sith runes. C-3PO could translate them, but his programming forbid him from doing so. The First Order then caught up to the group and captured Chewbacca. Rey and Kylo Ren battled over the transport he was on, and in her struggle, Rey accidentally shot Force lightning at it, destroying it.
4 C-3PO’s Memory & Rey’s Family Lineage
35 ABY
The group then went to Kijimi to find the droidsmith Babu Frik so that he could undo C-3PO’s programming regarding Sith runes. C-3PO’s memory was wiped in the process, but R2-D2 later restored it with a backup he had saved. C-3PO then revealed that the wayfinder was on a moon of Endor. Rey sensed that Chewie was still alive aboard Kylo Ren’s ship that had just arrived.
In a confrontation during their Force connection, Kylo Ren revealed to Rey that her parents had been killed by the assassin Ochi at Palpatine’s request. He also revealed that Palpatine was Rey’s grandfather and tried to recruit her to his side. At the same time, the other members of the Resistance rescued Chewie with Admiral Hux’s help. Later, Hux was executed for treason.
3 Rey And Kylo Ren’s Last Fight & The Return Of Ben Solo
35 ABY
Rey found the wayfinder in the ruins of the second Death Star’s throne room. Kylo Ren followed her there, and the two dueled again. During the fight, Leia contacted Kylo Ren through the Force and whispered his birth name, Ben. Using the opportunity of his astonishment, Rey stabbed Kylo Ren with his own lightsaber. After, Rey used her Force healing ability to save his life.
Leia’s message to Kylo Ren cost her her life. With both of his parents now dead, Kylo Ren remembered Han’s words to him on Starkiller Base. Because of this and Rey’s kindness at saving his life, Kylo Ren threw his lightsaber into the sea and returned to the light side, becoming Ben Solo once more.
2 The Battle Of Exegol
35 ABY
The final confrontation between the Resistance and the First Order happened on the Sith planet of Exegol. Rey went there first and led the rest of the Resistance there to destroy Palpatine’s Final Order. When the Resistance arrived, however, they were immediately outnumbered. They began an air battle with the Star Destroyers and TIE fighters, though without reinforcements, the battle was unwinnable. Luckily, at the last possible moment, Lando and Chewie arrived with the Falcon and a host of reinforcements from across the galaxy that had answered the call for help.
Simultaneously, Rey began to confront Palpatine. He revealed his plan to her: he was going to rule the galaxy again through her body. To do so, Rey needed to kill Palpatine in a rage, so he began to taunt her in an effort to make her succumb to the dark side. Ben then arrived on Exegol and began fighting his way to Rey. The two met up for one final battle against Palpatine’s guards and the Knights of Ren. Wielding Luke’s and Leia’s lightsabers, they defeated the Emperor’s forces.
Strengthened by the Force dyad, Palpatine threw Ben off a cliff, leaving Rey to face him alone. They began their Force battle, but Rey was not strong enough alone. She began to hear words of encouragement from several Jedi who came before her, and with their combined might, she redirected Palpatine’s Force lightning, ending his reign of terror. Even with the other Jedi’s help, Rey died from the effort. Ben then used his Force healing to revive Rey, and the two kissed before his death.
1 Aftermath & Rey Skywalker
35 ABY
After the destruction of both the First Order and the Sith, Rey returned to Tatooine. There, she buried Luke’s and Leia’s lightsabers and ignited her own yellow-bladed lightsaber. This final moment of the sequel trilogy served as the ending to Rey’s journey to becoming a Jedi. With her heritage revealed and every hardship she had faced, she earned the right to claim the name of Rey Skywalker, and she bore it proudly as the trilogy ended.
The First Order was a massive threat to the galaxy during the sequel trilogy. With the most devastating weapon ever shown in Star Wars, huge political and military might, and Kylo Ren and Darth Sidious on their side, they were a blight on the galaxy for years. The franchise’s timeline was hugely affected by the First Order. They weren’t the last threat the Star Wars galaxy would face, though, as Rey still has a new Jedi Order to build and new threats to face.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
- Created by
- George Lucas
- First Film
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Cast
- Mark Hamill , James Earl Jones , David Prowse , Carrie Fisher , Harrison Ford , Daisy Ridley , Adam Driver , Ian McDiarmid , Ewan McGregor , Rosario Dawson , Lars Mikkelsen , Rupert Friend , Moses Ingram , Frank Oz , Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
- The Mandalorian , Andor , Obi-Wan Kenobi , The Book of Boba Fett , Ahsoka , The Acolyte , Star Wars: Skeleton Crew , Lando , Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Star Wars Rebels , Star Wars: The Bad Batch , Star Wars: Resistance , Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures , Star Wars: Visions
- Character(s)
- Luke Skywalker , Darth Vader , Princess Leia Organa , Han Solo , Rey Skywalker , Kylo Ren , Emperor Palpatine , Obi-Wan Kenobi , Ahsoka Tano , Grand Admiral Thrawn , Grand Inquisitor , Reva (The Third Sister) , The Fifth Brother , The Seventh Sister , The Eighth Brother , Yoda , Din Djarin , Grogu
- Video Game(s)
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic , Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords , Star Wars: Battlefront , Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017) , Star Wars: The Force Unleashed , Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 , Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order , Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
