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    I Can’t Believe It’s Taken Star Wars Five Years To Finally Get The New Republic Right

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    I Can’t Believe It’s Taken Star Wars Five Years To Finally Get The New Republic Right


    The Star Wars: Skeleton Crew finale proves that the franchise has finally gotten the New Republic right, and it only took five years of live-action Star Wars shows. Shortly after the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, the Rebel Alliance transitioned into the New Republic government, whose authority was solidified at the Empire’s final defeat at the Battle of Jakku. The New Republic timeline has since been heavily explored in recent Star Wars movies and TV shows.

    As thrilled as I once was to see the New Republic in live-action, I’ve never felt that Disney Star Wars got it completely right, especially in the TV shows. I’m a huge fan of the original Star Wars Expanded Universe, now known as “Legends,” which had an entire era of stories dedicated to the heroes of the New Republic. Thankfully, Skeleton Crew has portrayed the New Republic correctly, highlighting how the other shows have gotten it wrong.

    Return Of The Jedi Ended With Hope For The Galaxy… But All That Changed After The Sequels

    The New Republic never got to be better than the old

    Return of the Jedi is still a perfect ending to the original trilogy because it embodies hope after the Rebellion’s long struggle against the Empire. Because the prequel trilogy was about the fall of the Old Republic, the next logical step was to focus on the rise of the New Republic, becoming what the Republic was always meant to be. Princess Leia becoming the leader of the New Republic was part of George Lucas’ original plans for the sequels.

    However, the New Republic didn’t last very long in the sequel trilogy, destroyed by Starkiller Base halfway through the first movie. The few lines of dialogue about the New Republic showed that it was a noble government, but the relative ease of its destruction showed it was weak and unprepared to defend itself. The tie-in books and comics explored how the New Republic was blind to the First Order because everyone wanted to believe the war was over.

    Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray was one of the first books to explore the politics of the New Republic and why Leia formed the Resistance.

    That’s not to say this doesn’t make sense, as a new government trying to rebuild would struggle at first. The Mandalorian and its various spinoffs showed how the New Republic struggled to maintain order after the fall of the Empire, especially in the Outer Rim. Still, I wish we could have seen more of the New Republic in a positive light, but the Mandoverse shows only made it worse.

    The Mandalorian Era Has Been In Too Much Of A Hurry To Set Up The Sequels

    The New Republic doesn’t have to fall apart right away

    Despite a 25-year gap between the Mandoverse shows and the sequel trilogy, the writers almost immediately portrayed the New Republic negatively. I don’t mind showing the New Republic struggling, as a new society will always face challenges. It’s also worth noting that the New Republic eventually fell in the Legends timeline, but this was a gradual decline, and the government only collapsed when Coruscant was attacked.

    New Republic officials ignored pleas for help from nonmembers, used highly questionable reeducation methods on prisoners like Dr. Pershing, and pretended the Imperial Remnant wasn’t a threat.

    The Mandoverse shows could have taken this approach too, but the New Republic was already in trouble after five years. New Republic officials ignored pleas for help from nonmembers, used highly questionable reeducation methods on prisoners like Dr. Pershing, and pretended the Imperial Remnant wasn’t a threat. While there were good leaders like Mon Mothma, they were often powerless to act for fear of being compared to the Empire.

    In other words, the New Republic was really no better than the Old Republic, and in many ways it was worse. Its leaders talked of how great it was that the Empire was gone but used that to deflect any accusations of acting in an Imperial manner. The New Republic was meant to represent a new hope for the galaxy, but it declined after only five years and was easily destroyed 25 years after that.

    Skeleton Crew Finally Gets The New Republic Right

    The New Republic are “the real good guys”

    Unlike many Mandoverse shows, Skeleton Crew shows the New Republic as it should be in this era: heroic. New Republic X-wing pilots appear throughout the season defending people from pirates, and rather than being bogged down by bureaucracy, they show up just in the nick of time to save At Attin in the season finale. I loved the sense of joy that came when the New Republic arrived, capturing the spirit of the old Rebel Alliance.

    Jod Na Nawood from Skeleton Crew, Cassian Andor, and Mae from The Acolyte

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    I understand that Skeleton Crew is aimed at a younger audience and told from a child’s perspective. Children see the New Republic as heroes fighting villains and, of course, the real world is more complicated than that. I can understand the writers of the other Mandoverse shows wanting to convey that governments are flawed and set up the events of the sequel trilogy.

    However, making the New Republic the opposite of the Old Republic is crucial. Instead of gradually slipping into corruption and using war as an excuse to conquer more worlds, the New Republic’s response time shows that they care more about saving lives than whatever may have been on At Attin. That’s how I see the New Republic’s role in the Star Wars saga, and I’m glad Star Wars: Skeleton Crew got it right.

    All episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are now streaming on Disney+.



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