Star Wars: The Force Awakens – What Happened At The Battle of Jakku?

Curious how that Star Destroyer crashed? Now we know.

Jakku has been an interesting setting for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. A desert planet filled with relics of a war from an older time is as visually striking and clever as it is as statement about the state of the world. All at once, the idea of Jakku tells us that the original trilogy is in the past… but is also looked at with wonder and reverence.

But how did we get there? Up until now, all we’ve known is that a massive battle took place on Jakku that left various wrecks on the planet ranging from X-Wings to entire Star Destroyers. We also knew that, obviously, that battle took place as the Rebellion’s victory at Endor. Well, thanks to some rumors from Making Star Wars, it seems like we know a whole lot more. Let’s break it down.

So, why did the Battle of Jakku happen?

It seems that after more than a year after the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of Emperor Palpatine, the Rebellion turned New Republic was making a great deal of headway taking worlds from the injured Empire. One Moff, however, saw an opportunity with the once worthless world of Jakku which had a strategic placement that would allow the Empire to win back an important sector of the galaxy.

What happened at the battle?

It seems that General Rieekan, who led the Rebel forces during the siege of Hoth, was at least one of the major New Republic commanders during the engagement. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the New Republic fought the Empire in orbit of the planet, in the skies, and on land.

At one point in the battle, Rieekan sent a strike team to capture the Star Destoyer Inflictor over the planet.

Why would they want to capture a Star Destroyer?

Star Destroyers are the aircraft carriers of the Empire, allowing it to project its power in all the corners of the galaxy. To capture one with its resources and ships would be a major coup that could allow for a lot of infiltration missions into Imperial space.

What happened to the Infiltrator?

It seems that the New Republic strike team was actually starting to take the ship… which is when the Captain decided to follow Imperial protocol and scuttle the ship rather than lose it to the enemy.

So, he crashed the ship into the surface of Jakku.

How did the rest of the battle go?

Despite the Empire’s overwhelming numbers, the New Republic managed to outmaneuver their forces using superior tactics. Even so, it was the biggest engagement between the Empire and the New Republic since the Battle of Endor.

Was there any fallout from the Battle of Jakku?

Apparently, a treaty was signed between both parties that led to a Cold War-like situation, which we already thought may be the case.