Thoughts on the fall of the Empire
So one of the main things I don't like about the sequels -- and how Disney filled in the gaps -- is how the Empire is supposed to have fallen so easily. (Sorry about the rant, I just finished Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire)
Point the First: Leadership.
According to the Aftermath trilogy, after Palpatine died, Admiral Rae Sloane took control of the fleet and leads it from Endor up until around Jakku, when Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax assumed command, lost the battle of Jakku, and died. Then Mas Amedda signed the Galactic Concordance in 5 ABY.
Ready for (a VERY condensed version of) how Imperial leadership goes in Legends?
Palpatine dies. Captain Gilad Pellaeon takes temporary command, but Grand Vizier Sate Pestage gets the Empire. He gets deposed of ISB Director Ysanne Isard, but then the NR gets Coruscant, and she flees. Enter Warlord Zsinj, who commands most of the Imperial Navy until Dathomir, when he dies. Next comes Thrawn, who retakes half the galaxy before he dies at Bilbringi. Ars Dangor's Ruling Council takes back Coruscant, before the Empire tears itself apart in the Civil War. Ysanne Isard comes back. Then Palpatine gets reborn, and then dies at Empatojayos Brand's hands. Then Ruling Council people fight for the throne. Then Warlords Blitzer Harrsk and Treuten Taradoc battle for supremacy. Then Admiral Natasi Daala kills both of them and takes command. She's defeated at Yavin and turns over control to Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, who signs the Bastion Accords in 19 ABY.
With the size of the Empire, which makes more sense?
Battle of Endor happened 4 ABY. Canon has the Empire surrendering 5 ABY. Disney sucks so they bring back Thrawn and use Gideon a lonnnng time after that. How many Star Destroyers were lost at Endor? At the most, maybe four. The remaining three dozen or however many there were could have fought on for many more years than just one. Most of Imperial High Command didn't know Rax existed, and none of the various warlords would certainly take orders from an unremarkable fleet admiral. Additionally, there is absolutely no way that the Rebellion, even as wily as they were, could 1) build as many Starhawks as they did in a year, and 2) hunt all of the non-Raxian warlords so much as to neglect their telling. We never hear what happened to Grand General Loring's Malastare remnant, for instance.
Legends has the Empire surrendering 19 ABY. Makes more sense, when you consider how much material the Empire had, and how small, in comparison, the Rebellion fleet was. In those fifteen years, the following conflicts occurred (in no particular order): Bacta War, Kuat (Zsinj), Sluis Van, Bilbringi, Imperial Civil War, Ssi-ruuk conflict, second Palpatine war, Imperial infighting, Harrsk/Teradoc conflicts, Battle of the Maw, and many others. After the Bastion Accords, the once Galactic-Empire became the Imperial remnant in charge of only a few sectors of the galaxy headquartered in Bastion.
Point the Third: Strength
Canon depicts massive desertions due to Endor and Operation: Cinder (in the Alphabet Squadron series), increasingly desperate and sometimes suicidal attacks by Imperial remnant leaders, turns to pirate and mercenary lifestyles, or allegiance with Sloane/Rax as the only options for Imperials after Endor. In the Aftermath trilogy, apparently eight SSDs were destroyed outright, four had been captured, and only one had been kept operational. Of these, one had even been captured by pirates. It is implausible to think that these operated alone. It is more plausible to think that each was the capital ship of a fleet, like the Executor. It is especially unbelievable that the loss of those twelve (eleven, minus the Ravager) could have happened in the span of one year.
Feeling sleepy so I'm going to end here. I was thinking about writing a series of events for any fanfic writers who are interested in making stuff for the ludicrously-short year that it took for the Empire to fall.
If you read all of that, have a cookie.
