Battle of Endor

In the year 4 ABY, the Alliance to Restore the Republic uncovered that the Empire was in the process of building a second Death Star space station, with Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod overseeing the project. The Alliance's leadership soon found out that the Empire had fixed the design issues that were taken advantage of in the original Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. It was determined that the station had to be destroyed before it was finished, as it would be nearly impossible to stop once it was fully operational.

As a component of Galactic Emperor Palpatine's preparations for the imminent battle, he made arrangements for Darth Vader, his Sith apprentice and the Supreme Commander, to travel from Coruscant to Endor. This was to ensure that the main supervisor of its construction, Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, completed the Death Star II's weapon systems by the time the Emperor arrived to inspect the station. Largely due to insufficient manpower, including the deaths of several construction crews in an incident where a stormtrooper infiltrator droid self-destructed when it was nearly discovered from objects falling, as well as the news that Palpatine was arriving on the station with the implied threat of facing a severe punishment should he be delayed any further, Jerjerrod pledged to intensify their efforts to guarantee the station's systems were completed on schedule.

Meanwhile, when the Emperor was scheduled to arrive at the battle station, Vader ordered an assembly of officers and stormtroopers to greet Palpatine's shuttle upon its arrival. Many of them arrived for the rare opportunity to meet the Emperor in person, as the overlord rarely left the confines of the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. Subsequently, Palpatine arrived on the station and was welcomed with a parade of fighters and a flanking of troops and technicians. Vader, while accompanying his master when marching to the throne room, informed Palpatine that the systems would be completed on schedule. Following this notification, Palpatine, sensing Vader was still trying to search for Skywalker, told him that the latter was seeking him out, and that due to his growing power, they could only draw him to the dark side together. The Emperor cackled in triumph as he believed that everything was proceeding according to his predictions.

After rescuing Han Solo from the grasp of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, Commander Luke Skywalker, while the others regrouped with the Rebel Fleet, traveled to Dagobah to finish his Jedi training with Grandmaster Yoda. Upon his arrival, however, he discovered the ancient Jedi succumbing to the effects of illness and old age. In response to Luke's pleas, Yoda informed him that he needed no more training, but that, to truly achieve the rank of Jedi Knight, he had to confront Darth Vader one final time. Luke, who had been told by Vader during their duel a year before that the latter was his father, questioned Yoda as to the truth of Vader's revelation. Yoda reluctantly confirmed that Vader was indeed Luke's father as Luke had suspected, conflicting the young Jedi.

Through intelligence operations that cost the lives of many Bothan spies, the Alliance learned that the space station was orbiting the forest moon of Endor. Moreover, the Rebels learned that, although the station was protected by a powerful deflector shield projected from a base on the moon, the station's weapons were not yet ready for service. Furthermore, they also learned from the Emperor's datapad, stolen in the Battle of Korriban, that the Emperor was personally supervising the final construction of the station. Destroying the station while he was aboard would deliver a crushing blow to the Galactic Empire, perhaps the blow that would free the galaxy. Mon Mothma, the leader of the Rebel Alliance, gave a speech regarding the information with a heavy heart. A few moments prior to her speech, Mothma had received the letter from her then-deceased son, Jobin, who fell during the Battle of Hoth months earlier, and learned of her son's fate from General Crix Madine.

Determining the opportunity too vital to pass up, the Alliance planned a two-pronged attack. A commando squad, led by General Han Solo and coordinated by General Brenn Tantor, a former Imperial general who had set up the shield generator, would land on the moon in a stolen Imperial shuttle and disable the base's deflector shield projector. This would allow a Rebel fleet to attack and destroy the Death Star. Although the preparations to the shuttle in question, the Tydirium, including bringing in the task force, were complete, Solo did not find a command crew for the vessel in time, before Chewbacca and Leia Organa volunteered. Skywalker, who had just arrived at the Home One's briefing room after secretly training to become a Jedi at Dagobah, volunteered as well.

Meanwhile, Rebel ships launched an attack on Imperial forces near the planet of Sullust in an attempt to lure Imperial ships away from Endor. While the Rebels accomplished their objectives, it proved to be a miscalculation made by them, as Palpatine had devised a strategy to maintain the majority of the fleet close to Endor. There, the fleet would provide security and support for the second Death Star instead of engaging the Rebel Fleet, a strategy not revealed until the commencement of the battle above Endor's forest moon.

The Rebels were unwittingly falling into a trap devised by the Emperor. In an attempt to effectively eliminate the Rebellion, Palpatine planned on drawing the Alliance to Endor using simple disinformation: he hid the fact that the station's primary defense systems were already operational. Darth Vader's personal fleet, Death Squadron, was reinforced to a strength of over thirty Star Destroyers, assembled at Endor to await the Rebel attack. With Death Squadron hidden on the far side of the moon and an elite legion of Imperial troops standing by on the moon's surface near the shield generator, Palpatine was ready to crush the Alliance Fleet once and for all. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the Empire assembled massive invasion fleets on the borders of the Calamari sector and Mon Mothma's homeworld of Chandrila. Palpatine planned to smash Ackbar's fleet at Endor between the Death Star and Death Squadron while his fleets fixed the Mon Cals and Chandrila in place. Once the Death Star was completed, it would move to these worlds and destroy them to finally end the Rebellion.

As the Endor strike team arrived in the Endor system, they ran into several tense moments after they gave the de facto leader of Death Squadron, Admiral Firmus Piett, via Controller Jhoff the confirmation codes to clear the Endor shield, as they were, although technically still functional, old codes. Because of these tense moments, just before Piett gave them the go-ahead, Solo verbally expressed concern and planned to abort the operation as soon as possible. However, as the strike team approached the moon, Luke felt Vader's presence on board the Star Dreadnought Executor, which was functioning as a command ship for the Death Star's ostensibly light security screen. He quickly realized that, if he could sense Vader's presence, then Vader could likely sense his in return, and that as such he was endangering the mission by being there. As Luke had feared, Vader did feel his son's presence aboard the shuttle Tydirium and allowed it to land on Endor for that reason. Before leaving to inform the Emperor of this development, he told Piett, when asking if he should not allow them in, that he intended to deal with them personally.

Unknown to Luke at the time, the entire operation was a web of deception set up by Emperor Palpatine as a trap to destroy the Rebel Alliance. Both Vader and the Emperor were in fact expecting Luke to arrive, and each hoped to turn him into a new Sith apprentice. However, Sidious failed to sense Luke on board the Tydirium, only discovering this when Vader disobeyed prior orders to remain on the Executor and reported his presence inside the Rebel vessel in person. The Sith Master ordered Vader to go to Endor, anticipating that Luke would surrender in an attempt to bring Vader back to the light side. Knowing this, Sidious planned to turn the young Jedi to the dark side, installing the youth as his new apprentice, in much the same manner that he had Anakin supplant Count Dooku at his side 23 years before.

Before the battle, a scout trooper and his squad were sent to the far side of the moon.

The Rebels walked right into the Emperor's trap, and a squad made its way to Endor aboard the captured shuttle Tydirium, stolen by Wedge Antilles on Prefsbelt IV. After using a stolen clearance code that, while outdated, the Executor cleared, Solo piloted the shuttle to the moon's surface. At that time, Luke had second thoughts about coming on the mission after sensing that Vader was on the Executor; he feared Vader would sense his presence through the Force and endanger the entire operation. Sure enough, Vader had indeed detected his son and ordered the ship to pass before reporting back to the Emperor. At the same time, Renegade Squadron also slipped past the planetary shield. Solo's team landed, with Renegade Squadron landing some ways away.

After landing on the planet, Solo's team traversed through the forest until they encountered two Imperial scout troopers, Corporal Avarik and and Sergeant Elsek. Solo attempted to sneak up on the soldiers, but the attempt backfired when he accidentally stepped on a twig, giving away his position and forcing him to take them out openly. The commotion alerted two more nearby scout troopers, Sergeant Barich and his partner, who escaped on speeder bikes to report to the main Imperial base. Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, mounting the speeder bikes of the troopers Solo had felled, left in pursuit. During the chase, Luke Skywalker jumped onto the speeder bike of Barich's partner and knocked him off. At that moment, another two scout troopers joined the chase, Corporal Drelosyn and Corporal Misik. Skywalker ordered Leia Organa to continue her chase after the Barich while he took the other two speeders. Barich knocked Leia off her bike, crashing it, although he died shortly thereafter while looking back to observe the bike's explosion, not paying attention to the forest in front of him and causing him to crash into a fallen tree. During Luke's pursuit, the Imperial reinforcement arrived on the chase and assisted Misik to engage Skywalker before he destroyed several of their speeders.

Midway through his pursuit of the scout troopers, Skywalker stumbled upon and procured a case of homing concussion missiles.

After shooting down Drelosyn with his bike's blasters, Luke eventually encountered Misik, and they attempted to ram each other away. However, it resulted in them locking their speeders together. Eventually, Luke jumped off the speeder after disengaging. Misik then attempted to kill Luke by firing at him. However, Luke deflected the blaster fire with his lightsaber before he quickly sliced Misik's speeder bike's steering vane as he rode post, dooming Misik to spin out of control and eventually collide with a tree, killing the corporal. Luke then departed to regroup with the task force.

After being separated during their pursuit of the Imperials through the forest, Skywalker returned to find Organa had not. Sending the rest of the strike team to continue on to their objective, and vowing to rendezvous with them at 0300, Skywalker, along with Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2, left to search for Organa. However, the search was sidetracked when Chewbacca, due to undergoing "olfactory delirium" from the scent of a dead animal carcass, unwittingly trapped his comrades in a net, set by the moon's indigenous population, the Ewoks. After R2-D2 brashly freed them by using his buzzsaw accessory, they were surrounded by the Ewoks, who ended up worshiping C-3PO, believing him to be a deity known as the Golden One from their pantheon mythology, resulting in the Ewoks taking the group prisoner.

Meanwhile, Organa, unconscious after crashing her speeder bike, was awoken by a native Ewok named Wicket Wystri Warrick. Unsure whether she was friend or foe, Wicket was initially cautious of Organa because she was human and the local stormtroopers had killed many Ewoks. However, after the two were ambushed by scout troopers, including corporal Oberk, and worked together to overcome them, she had gained his trust and he took her back to his village. There she was reunited with Han, Luke, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 after they had been captured by the Ewoks and taken to Bright Tree Village, where they were to be sacrificed. The Rebel heroes would have met their end had Skywalker not convinced the Ewoks to help them by levitating C-3PO on his god-throne. After explaining their story, the Rebels were anointed as official members of the Ewok's tribe. One of the Ewoks also explained that he knew the quickest way to the Endor shield generator, with Han Solo telling C-3PO, shortly after the latter stated this, to ask which way, as well as their need of their weapons back and fresh supplies.

That night, Luke Skywalker, after asking about her real mother, revealed to Leia Organa that she was his sister and that Darth Vader was their father, information that shocked the Princess. Skywalker, sensing that Vader had felt his presence and had come to the moon in search of him, left the Ewok village with a dual purpose: To protect his friends from discovery, and to surrender to Vader in an attempt to turn him from the dark side. Solo, unaware of this revelation when finding her outside shortly thereafter, tried to find out why Organa was upset, eventually asking irritably whether she wanted to talk to Skywalker when she was reluctant to divulge her discovery before consoling her. Afterwards, Skywalker surrendered to a platoon of Imperial soldiers and was boarded onto an AT-AT to be delivered to the main base, denying that any other Rebels were in the area. However, neither Vader nor the commander of the AT-AT, Igar, believed his claim, and with Vader's permission, Igar sent a search party for any Rebels in the area. Skywalker then appealed to Vader to escape the Emperor and return to the light side of the Force. Vader dismissed him, believing he was far beyond any chance at redemption.

In the meantime, Major Derlin and the rest of the team dodged Imperial patrols, then stopped to make camp as night fell. Shortly after starting their first sleeping shift, the camp sensors picked up an AT-ST moving in on their position. Derlin had Corporal Beezer jam its transmissions so it couldn't call for help, then Lieutenant Greeve took out both of the scout walker's searchlights. Finally, Corporal Delevar used the Caspel launcher to pop a smoke canister through one of the viewports in the head, forcing the crew to abandon the vehicle. Forcing the pilot to make check-in calls to explain its absence, the team kept their rendezvous with General Solo without alerting Imperial forces. One of the team members briefly stepped away to relieve himself and got lost.

The following day, the Rebel forces, having fully linked up, and joined by a group of Ewok fighters, made their way to a concealed entry point of the Imperial bunker. As they strategized about how to get inside, one of the Ewoks, Paploo, attempting to cause a distraction, stealthily boarded a speeder bike nearby and sped off into the woods, initially causing worry among the Rebels due to the heightened risk of their discovery. After the majority of the scout troopers guarding the entrance sped away to chase the Ewok, Solo and the rest of the Rebels easily gained access to the bunker, even tricking the remaining trooper into approaching the waiting strike team and forcing his surrender. After capturing the Imperials inside, they planted explosives. However, their success was short-lived, as they were soon ambushed by another group of Imperials, first led by Colonel Dyer and, after General Solo pushed him over a railing to his death, by Lieutenant Renz, who guided them out of the bunker, where they encountered hundreds of stormtroopers and AT-STs. With the Rebel strike force's hopes nearly extinguished, the hidden Ewok force surrounding the bunker clearing launched a powerful surprise attack, stunning the Imperials who had previously dismissed them as primitive inhabitants. Concurrently, Renegade Squadron received communications indicating Solo was surrounded, and they raced to his aid. First, they freed an Ewok village that had been captured by stormtroopers. Ultimately, Renegade Squadron stopped the repairs on an AT-AT that Solo's team had crippled earlier.

Despite being initially caught off guard by the ambush, Tempest Force quickly regained control, and stormtrooper squads pursued the Ewoks into the forest. Although outnumbered by the native Ewoks, the stormtroopers, equipped with their armor and advanced weaponry, pushed the Ewoks back, and Imperial AT-ST scout walkers devastated Ewok defensive positions. The Ewoks attempted various tactics, such as using gliders to drop rocks on the walkers and trying to use ropes to trip them, but they were unsuccessful.

In an effort to gain an advantage, a pair of Ewoks, led by the Wookiee Chewbacca, seized Tempest Scout 2, one of the AT-ST walkers, ejecting Lieutenant Watts from the scout walker and incapacitating Major Marquand.

Soon after commandeering Tempest Scout 2, Chewbacca, while assisting the Ewoks and destroying Scout 2's former allies, discovered a concealed case of homing cluster missiles, finding it due to its camouflage.

Renegade Squadron also deployed at least one of their members into a walker. The battle's momentum began to shift as Chewbacca used this AT-ST to eliminate isolated Imperial units and another Imperial walker. This sight inspired the remaining Ewoks, who had been retreating into the woods, and they intensified their efforts behind the stolen AT-ST. Simultaneously, at the bunker entrance, the Rebels tried to re-enter, but the Imperials had implemented a new security code during the Rebels' initial capture. Leia requested R2 to unlock the door, but a stormtrooper shot and disabled the droid while it was attempting to do so. As Solo attempted to manually unlock the door, Leia was wounded by a shot to the arm. Two stormtroopers then tried to capture Han, Leia, C-3PO, and a damaged R2, only to be shot by Leia, who had concealed a weapon.

With the Ewoks successfully deploying more traps, they, along with Chewbacca's commandeered AT-ST, defeated the remaining scout walkers before heading back to the bunker entrance to meet the Rebel strike team. The strike team was concerned by the AT-ST's arrival until Chewbacca emerged from the hatch. Solo initially instructed the Wookiee to attend to Organa's injuries, but he changed his mind when the AT-ST's presence gave him an idea for breaching the bunker: With the Imperials in disarray, Solo impersonated Marquand, informing the Imperials inside the bunker via comlink that the battle was over, the Rebels were fleeing into the woods, and reinforcements were needed to continue the pursuit. Three squads of reinforcements were dispatched to search for the Rebels. However, the Rebels were waiting at the bunker door, and the Imperial reinforcements, greatly outnumbered and under the guns of an AT-ST, surrendered to the combined Rebel and Ewok force. The Rebels infiltrated the Imperial facility, cleared out the remaining personnel, and destroyed the bunker using several proton charges. Renegade Squadron prevented any stormtroopers from entering the bunker during this process. Storm commando Captain Sarkli attempted to intercept Solo and prevent him from escaping the burning bunker, but he failed and was shot dead, with Solo also remarking that Sarkli had chosen the wrong side as the Empire was finished (referring to Sarkli's earlier defection from the Rebel Alliance). Upon exiting the doomed bunker, Solo ordered everyone to clear the area immediately due to the impending explosion. The facility's destruction brought down the deflector shield surrounding the forest moon and the Death Star. Simultaneously, X2, a former elite clone trooper who had turned against the Empire, also participated in the battle. He encountered Col Serra of Renegade Squadron on the moon's surface. There, he fought a group of Imperial troopers and freed several Ewoks before disabling the Imperial communications network. The space station was now vulnerable to attack, and the next phase of the battle commenced.

Concurrently with the commandos' capture by the Imperials, the Alliance Fleet emerged from hyperspace and advanced to attack the seemingly unshielded Death Star. General Lando Calrissian and his co-pilot, the Sullustan Nien Nunb, observed that sensors were not detecting any traces of an active or deactivated shield, suggesting that the Empire was jamming the Alliance and the shield was likely still active. They ascended to avoid colliding with the shield, but some pilots were unable to react in time and crashed into it. The Alliance Fleet noticed a group of Star Destroyers moving toward them, and Ackbar realized that the Empire had anticipated the impending attack, setting a trap to capture and crush the Rebellion by positioning the Alliance Fleet between Death Squadron and the Death Star II. Interdictor cruisers moved into position to project gravity wells, trapping the Alliance Fleet within the system.

TIE fighters and TIE interceptors were launched from the Imperial Fleet to engage the Rebel fighters and capital ships. Some of the smaller warships were destroyed by the TIEs, and both fleets engaged from a distance. Eventually, TIE bombers joined the battle, forcing the various squadrons to engage them before they reached the fleet. They then had to protect the medical frigate, which had sustained heavy damage from earlier attacks by the TIE bombers and TIE fighters. The Star Destroyer fleet itself did not attack the Rebels, however, as they had been ordered by the Emperor to remain back, intending to unveil a surprise for the Rebels, using the fleet only to prevent the Rebels' escape. On the Executor, Commander Merrejk informed Admiral Piett and Commander Gherant that they were in attack position, but Piett instructed Merrejk to maintain their position. When Gherant questioned why they were not attacking, Piett informed him of the Emperor's orders and that he had a special plan. Meanwhile, Calrissian also noticed the Imperial fleet's relative inactivity despite having a clear tactical advantage in eliminating the Rebels and became suspicious.

Soon, the "surprise" that the Emperor had alluded to earlier was revealed to be a demonstration of the battle station's operational capability: the Death Star II fired its main superlaser on Liberty, destroying it. The Rebels, who had believed that the Death Star's weapons systems were not yet operational, were shocked. Ackbar ordered a retreat, but Calrissian dissuaded him, reminding the admiral that this was their only opportunity to destroy the Death Star II. Ackbar eventually agreed, with Calrissian suggesting to Admiral Gial Ackbar that the Rebel fleet attack the Imperial Navy at point-blank range, hoping that the Death Star would refrain from firing to avoid destroying Imperial ships, and if that failed, they would at least take out some Imperial vessels with them. Soon, the two sides were engaging each other at distances of only a few hundred meters, and the Death Star did limit its fire, although it still destroyed the Bulk Cruiser Urjani, the escort frigate Redemption, and an MC80 Home One type Star Cruiser. The resulting strategy was also chaotic for both sides, largely because the scale and application of broadside battles were unprecedented. Calrissian's strategy, along with the X-wing squadron and Mon Calamari ship's firepower, also resulted in the destruction of two Star Destroyers.

Around the time Calrissian targeted the two Star Destroyers, he also located and obtained a case of homing cluster missiles that were drifting in space.

Even with the Death Star's reduced rate of fire, the Imperial fleet still outnumbered and outgunned the Alliance, and with the fleet in their path and interdictor fields generated by Immobilizer-418s in the outer system, the Alliance had no option to retreat. Furthermore, Calrissian pointed out to Ackbar that they would not have another chance to destroy the Death Star in its incomplete and vulnerable state.

As the enemy TIE fighters were launched, they swarmed against Admiral Ackbar's flagship, Home One. Consequently, Ackbar requested assistance from X2. After destroying the enemy fighters, X2 was summoned to Home One, which had been boarded by Imperial troopers. He and Ackbar defended the ship's reactor core from a group of stormtroopers, and X2 eliminated the invading troopers. Once the cruiser was secured, X2 proceeded to Endor's surface.

During the battle, the Alliance engaged the Empire's primary communications ship, the battlecruiser Pride of Tarlandia, which was generating the jamming that was hindering Rebel communications and providing communications support to coordinate Death Squadron. The 181st Imperial Fighter Wing led by Baron Soontir Fel flew in defense of the Pride of Tarlandia and inflicted heavy casualties on Green and Blue Squadrons. However, Fel was receiving conflicting orders, and the Alliance concentrated its starfighters on the Tarlandia, outnumbering the 181st and allowing Gemmer Sojan, a Rogue Squadron veteran flying as Green Two, to destroy the ship with his A-wing. The loss of the Pride of Tarlandia eliminated the jamming and disrupted the Empire's communications. The Pride of Tarlandia was also the second-in-command for the fleet after the Executor, and with its destruction, the Star Destroyer Chimaera became the next ship in command.

After receiving confirmation that the Rebel strike team had destroyed the shield generator, Admiral Ackbar ordered the fighter squadrons to initiate their attack on the Death Star's main reactor. Capitalizing on the changed tactical situation, General Calrissian led all remaining fighters from Red and Gold Squadrons into the Death Star's superstructure, with several TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors from Scythe Squadron and the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing in pursuit. One TIE fighter crashed after colliding with some wall pipes inside the Death Star.

During this time, Calrissian identified specifications for an advanced targeting computer lodged in some support pipes and retrieved it for later use.

After Keir Santage was shot down by pursuing TIE Interceptors while navigating the reactor tunnel, General Calrissian ordered the majority of the surviving fighters to disperse and return to the surface to draw away several of the fighters. This strategy proved successful, leaving only two TIEs to pursue the Millennium Falcon and Antilles. The Millennium Falcon sustained minor damage when Lando Calrissian, while maneuvering through the battlestation, accidentally scraped the Millennium Falcon against the overhead, which sheared off the vessel's rectenna.

To discourage more Imperials from overwhelming the Rebel fighters within the Death Star's superstructure, Ackbar ordered a concentrated assault on the Imperial flagship, the Executor, to provide Calrissian with more time. As Ackbar issued this order, one of the Star Destroyers exploded in a massive fireball. Green Squadron A-wings supported the Home One by disabling the ion cannons on three Star Destroyers. One of the Star Destroyers was severely damaged by a ramming attack from a CR90 corvette. Through the combined efforts of the entire Rebel flotilla of capital ships, the bridge shields were temporarily brought down. Admiral Piett, upon being informed of this, ordered them to intensify the turbolasers' forward firepower to compensate for the new vulnerability, to prevent them from penetrating.

Several fighter squadrons targeted the Executor's main sensors. After Jake Farrell—[Green Four](/article/green_four-legends]—destroyed one of the giant sensor spheres, Green Leader Arvel Crynyd attempted to execute a trench run across the Executor's dorsal cityscape, and destroyed several turbolasers before his fighter sustained critical damage from a turbolaser hit. Crynyd steered his crippled fighter into the Executor's bridge. Gherant witnessed Crynyd's A-wing approaching the bridge and attempted to warn his superior, Piett, that it was too late to intensify the firepower, causing them both to duck into one of the crew pits as the A-wing crashed through. This caused catastrophic damage to much of the command bridge, killing all of the bridge command staff. Before the secondary command center could regain control of the ship, the Executor was caught in the second Death Star's gravity well and was pulled toward the battle station. It crashed into the Death Star's surface, exploding in a ball of fire and killing every remaining officer and crewman on board.

Moff Jerjerrod, recalling his orders from the Emperor to destroy the moon if the shield was deactivated, rotated the Death Star toward Endor. The Rebel fighters, led by the Millennium Falcon, sped to the space station's reactor at its center. Jerjerrod responded by flooding the area with interference to impede the Rebels' progress, and presumably issued an evacuation order to the battle station's non-essential crew, which included Scimitar TIE/sa bomber squadron members Captain Jonus and Major Rhymer. Following this, Ackbar ordered all ships to move away from the Death Star, sensing its imminent destruction.

Likewise, Wedge Antilles and General Calrissian reached the Death Star's main reactor chamber. Antilles targeted the reactor core's power regulator with proton torpedoes, while Calrissian targeted the core itself, then quickly exited the core tunnel and narrowly escaped as the core erupted behind them. The pursuing TIE interceptors, however, were unable to evade the resulting fireball and were destroyed as they pursued the Millennium Falcon close to the exit.

While the Imperials had lured the Rebels into a trap, they were unaware of who truly controlled the Death Star. In the years prior, the droid IG-88, a feared assassin and bounty hunter, had prepared to launch a droid revolution. The last surviving model, IG-88A, built a duplicate of the Death Star's computer core and replaced the real system with his fake one, transferring his consciousness into the computer. When the Imperials installed the core, IG-88A essentially became the Death Star, possessing complete access to and control of all systems. None of the Imperial personnel were aware of this, although Palpatine suspected a foreign presence when a series of doors in his throne room opened and closed mysteriously. When the Rebels arrived, IG-88A fired the superlaser at the Rebel fleet when the Death Star gunners sent the signal to do so, allowing the Imperials to believe they were in control, while he prepared to transmit his master control signal that would cause all droids to turn against their masters. Many times, the gunners' aiming points and firing coordinates were slightly off and would have missed their intended targets had IG-88 not been in command to guarantee accuracy.

Meanwhile, just before the Endor strike team's failed assault on the shield generator bunker, Darth Vader brought Luke Skywalker to the Emperor's observation tower within the Death Star. There, Darth Sidious planned to turn Luke to the dark side of the Force and install him as his new apprentice in Vader's place. Vader also planned on turning Luke, but intended to use his son to help him kill Sidious. Upon witnessing Luke and Vader's arrival, Sidious, after welcoming Luke, removed Luke's binders and dismissed the Royal Guardsmen from the throne room.

When Sidious taunted Luke with what he believed to be the inevitability of Luke's fall, Luke implied that everyone on the Death Star, including himself and the Emperor, would soon be dead. Chuckling, Sidious revealed that the Rebels were walking into a carefully orchestrated trap; Palpatine had provided the Rebels with all the information they had on the Death Star, including the construction site, the location of the planet-side shield generator, and (false) information on the station's operational status. He also informed Luke that he had stationed a legion of his best troops at the shield generator, and that as such, the small Rebel strike team on Endor had virtually no chance of deactivating the Death Star's shield before the Rebel fleet arrived.

Shortly thereafter, the Rebel fleet attacked and was trapped between the shielded Death Star and Death Squadron. With the Rebel fleet in dire straits, Sidious taunted the young Jedi with the inevitable destruction of the Alliance and the deaths of all his friends. Luke, helpless to aid his comrades, grew enraged and glanced down at his lightsaber, sitting on the armrest of the Emperor's throne. Noticing Luke's gaze, Palpatine goaded Luke to take the lightsaber and strike him down. Luke, despite his anger, remained defiant and refused to be baited, although Sidious indicated that Luke's fall would be inevitable.

However, the Dark Lord still had one more card to play. He revealed to Luke that the Death Star's primary weapons systems were in fact operational, and ordered Jerjerrod to pick off Rebel capital ships at his leisure. Luke, his emotions mounting, glanced down at his weapon a second time, and the Emperor repeated his challenge to Luke to strike him down. Luke turned back towards the viewport through which he had been observing the battle, but several seconds later, suddenly turned back towards Sidious and summoned his weapon with the Force. Igniting it, he struck out at Sidious, only to have his blow intercepted by Vader as the Emperor cackled in triumph.

Luke and Vader engaged in a prolonged duel on the elevated platform, with neither combatant able to gain a decisive edge. Abruptly, Luke amplified his offensive, compelling a taken-aback Vader to fall back towards the staircase leading to the platform. Seizing the opportunity afforded by Vader's vulnerable position, Luke delivered a forceful kick to Vader's chest, sending the Sith Lord tumbling down the stairs and landing in a disarrayed heap on the floor below. Observing Luke's unleashed anger, Sidious voiced his approval, urging Luke to further embrace his rage and hatred as Vader struggled to his feet. However, the Dark Lord's words resonated within Luke, disrupting his fury. He deactivated his lightsaber, regaining his composure and refusing to participate in Sidious's manipulative scheme.

Witnessing Luke's self-control, Vader solemnly acknowledged that Obi-Wan had imparted valuable lessons to Luke. He then ascended the staircase towards his son. Luke, unwilling to continue the fight, retreated slowly away from Vader. Disregarding his son's declaration, Vader swiftly closed the distance and attacked the young Jedi with his lightsaber, forcing Luke to reactivate his own weapon in defense. Following a brief exchange of blows, Luke vaulted away from Vader, landing in the center of one of the data pods within Palpatine's throne room. Vader plunged his lightsaber between two of the slots on the device, attempting to impale Luke, but the young Jedi executed a backflip, exiting the pod and landing on a catwalk behind him.

Now at a safe distance from Vader, Luke attempted to dissuade his father from the dark side, asserting that Vader was torn by inner conflict and that some good remained within him. Vader refuted the notion of any internal struggle, to which Luke countered by expressing his belief that Vader would not kill him now, having been unable to bring himself to do so on Bespin. However, Vader countered that Luke underestimated the allure of the dark side, and that if he refused to fight, he would "meet his destiny." With that, Vader hurled his lightsaber at Luke. Luke swiftly ducked to avoid the crimson blade, but the lightsaber sliced through several of the catwalk's supporting struts, destabilizing the section where Luke was standing. As the gantry collapsed, Luke slid down it and sought refuge beneath the dais as Sidious erupted in laughter. Vader descended the stairs towards Luke's fallen position, igniting his recovered weapon as he advanced.

Upon Vader's arrival at the entrance to the underside of the dais, Luke invited his father to join him, claiming that he only desired to talk. Vader, however, remained skeptical, suspecting that Luke was plotting an ambush, and refused to enter. To demonstrate his peaceful intentions, Luke tossed his lightsaber out from under the dais, where it came to rest at Vader's feet. Deriding Luke's foolishness in surrendering his weapon, Vader retrieved it and proceeded under the dais.

Vader moved cautiously through the shadows beneath the dais, but was unable to locate his son. After a brief and unproductive search, Vader attempted to coax Luke out of hiding with words, beginning by asserting that Luke could not remain hidden indefinitely. Luke, however, reiterated his earlier declaration that he would not engage in combat. Vader then began to exploit Luke's strong emotional attachments to his friends, suggesting that succumbing to the dark side was the only way to ensure their safety. As Luke's anxieties for his friends intensified, Vader probed Luke's mind, seeking additional information about them that he could exploit, and discovered that Luke had a twin sister. Scornfully commenting on his opinion of Obi-Wan's decision to conceal her lineage, he declared that, if Luke refused to embrace the dark side, perhaps his sister would.

At that moment, Luke's rage surged forth. Utilizing the Force to reclaim his lightsaber from Vader, Luke tapped into the dark side, channeling his hatred and anger to amplify his physical capabilities. He launched an attack on Vader with such ferocity that their lightsabers, both of which contained synthetic crystals, began to malfunction. Vader, caught completely off guard by Luke's sudden surge in power and aggression, was forced to retreat, quickly being driven onto a narrow bridge connecting the throne room to the elevator. Luke relentlessly assaulted Vader with powerful strikes until Vader lost his balance and crashed against a railing on the side of the bridge. After enduring several more blows, Luke deflected Vader's lightsaber with an undercut and brought his own weapon down on Vader's wrist, severing Vader's weapon hand and causing him to collapse onto the floor.

With Luke holding his defenseless father at lightsaber-point, he heard Sidious's laughter and his proclamation of satisfaction with Luke's power. As Palpatine betrayed Vader by ordering Luke to kill Vader and assume his position at the Dark Lord's side, Luke removed his prosthetic hand from his lightsaber and examined it. Glancing from it to the severed stump of Vader's own mechanical hand, Luke recognized that he was on the verge of repeating Vader's tragic path, and took a deep breath to regain his composure. Deactivating his lightsaber and casting it aside, Luke declared that he would never succumb to the dark side, reaffirming his identity as a Jedi. Enraged by his failure to corrupt Luke, as had been the case with Galen Marek six years prior, Palpatine proclaimed that, if Luke refused to join him, he would die.

Thereupon, Palpatine unleashed a barrage of relatively weak Force lightning at Luke, sending him flying backwards into several fixtures on the floor in front of a chasm above the reactor core. Intending to torment Luke for his defiance, Palpatine asserted that Luke was a fool and unleashed another weak blast at Luke. Luke attempted to employ Tutaminis to absorb the attack, but his lack of proficiency in the technique, combined with Palpatine's immense power, resulted in failure. The electricity struck Luke directly as Sidious unleashed yet another blast, nearly sending Luke over the fixtures upon which he was perched and into the chasm. The injured Darth Vader, who had by then regained his footing, approached Palpatine from behind as the Dark Lord mocked Luke, asserting that Luke's own skills were no match for the power of the dark side. As Luke struggled to pull himself off the fixtures and away from the chasm, Palpatine struck again, causing Luke to fall to the ground. Snarling that Luke would pay the price for his refusal to turn, Sidious unleashed a continuous barrage of lightning. As he writhed in agony on the floor, Luke pleaded with Vader for assistance, but the conflicted Sith Lord remained passive.

After a few more moments of torture, Palpatine ceased his barrage and informed Luke that his end had arrived. He resumed his attack, preparing to amplify the power of his lightning to lethal levels. However, unnoticed behind him, beneath the mask of Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, unable to endure the sight of his son's suffering, found himself in a situation reminiscent of that of twenty-three years earlier when he saved Sidious from Mace Windu, who was killed by the Emperor, and this brought to mind all of Anakin's painful memories. He had been unable to save his mother twenty-six years earlier, three years later he had allowed Mace Windu to die under his master's power, he had murdered hundreds of Jedi, he had killed his former master and best friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he had caused the death of his wife, Padmé Amidala, but he could save his son. Anakin Skywalker would not stand idly by and allow his son to perish. From that moment onward, Darth Vader ceased to exist, and Anakin Skywalker was reborn.

In a final, heroic act of self-sacrifice, rectifying his error of not helping Windu kill Sidious before, he seized Palpatine from behind as the Dark Lord increased the power of his lightning to its maximum intensity. The energy, however, flowed into both Anakin and the Emperor as the latter was lifted off his feet, sparing Luke from harm. Screaming in pain, rage, and disbelief, Palpatine continued to unleash his lightning with such force that Anakin's bones became visible through his armor, but it had no effect on stopping him. Anakin’s love for his son and will to atone for his past sins allowed him to experience a state of Oneness with the force, the light side giving him all the strength he needed to physically restrain the Sith Lord and power through his lightning. Anakin staggered towards the chasm above the reactor core and, with his last remaining strength, hurled Palpatine over the railing and into the abyss, the latter exploding into Force energy shortly thereafter.

With its Dark Lord dead and his apprentice redeemed, the Order of the Sith Lords was effectively extinguished. However, the immense power of Sidious's lightning had caused a short circuit in most of the sensitive electronics within Anakin's suit and cybernetics, leaving him virtually helpless and on the verge of death. Luke, unwilling to abandon his father, dragged Anakin's heavy, immobile body towards his shuttle as a general evacuation of the Death Star II was underway around them.

Upon reaching the shuttle, Luke paused on the boarding ramp to catch his breath. Supporting Anakin's torso, he looked down at his father, who requested that Luke assist him in removing his mask. Luke urgently reminded his father that he would die without the mask, but Anakin knew that the damage to his cybernetics was irreparable. His only remaining desire was to see Luke without the ocular filters of his mask. He conveyed this to Luke, who complied and slowly removed the mask that Anakin had worn for nearly half of his life. With his dying wish fulfilled, Anakin instructed Luke to leave him and escape, but Luke adamantly refused, declaring his intention to save his father. However, Anakin replied that Luke had already accomplished that and asked him to inform Leia that, in the end, Luke had been correct about him. With those words, Anakin Skywalker died in his son's arms, finally liberated from the evil that had consumed him from the conclusion of the Clone Wars throughout the Galactic Civil War, having fulfilled his role as the Chosen One who would restore balance to the Force.

While Luke and Vader were engaged in their duel, Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian were approaching the main reactor. Antilles launched two proton torpedoes into the power regulator. Calrissian then fired two concussion missiles which achieved a direct hit on the main reactor, triggering a massive explosion. This initiated a chain reaction that ultimately led to the destruction of the station. Luke escaped in Vader's shuttle just before the fireball engulfed the equatorial docking bays, while Wedge and Lando narrowly escaped the superstructure before the station disintegrated. The ground forces witnessed the explosion from the surface of Endor, with Solo expressing concern that Skywalker might not have escaped from the battle station before its destruction, although Organa assured him that he had escaped, explaining that she could feel it. Organa also confessed her love for Skywalker when Solo inquired, prompting the latter to consider allowing her to pursue a relationship with Skywalker, although Organa then revealed that Skywalker was actually her brother before kissing a dumbfounded Solo.

With the destruction of the Death Star and the cessation of fleet combat, the Rebels were left with the task of securing the area. They deployed a force of tanks and other weapons that, under the command of Brenn Tantor, eliminated the remaining Imperial presence on the moon with a direct assault on their base. X2 seized control of the ion cannon command bunker and utilized the weapon against several Star Destroyers. He and Col Serra then destroyed two AT-ATs advancing towards the Ewok village. Ultimately, soldiers from Renegade Squadron captured the final three command posts on the surface, ending the Empire's control of the world. Meanwhile, Han Solo and the strike team, inspired by an idea inadvertently suggested by Chewbacca regarding returning the Tydirium to the fleet shortly after the destruction of the Endor Shield Generator bunker, disguised themselves as stormtroopers, with Solo impersonating an Imperial General, and used the Tydirium to land in the Star Destroyer Accuser, then infiltrated the control bridge posing as Imperials who had escaped from the ambush. Solo incapacitated the commanding officer and ordered all personnel to evacuate the Star Destroyer, promptly seizing it for the Rebel Alliance. Solo and Lieutenant Page were later summoned by Ackbar and Mothma to provide a debriefing on the situation, as they had captured the Star Destroyer, by that point renamed the Emancipator, without consulting them beforehand. When Ackbar congratulated Page on the success and inquired about how they had accomplished it, Page corrected him and stated that they had not needed to fire a single shot to take it over.

Having witnessed the destruction of the Empire's two most formidable weapons, the Imperial Fleet lost its will to fight and retreated. Following the destruction of the Executor, and with the destruction of the Pride of Tarlandia, command was slated to transfer from Fleet Admiral Piett to Admiral Horst Strage, the commander of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera, which was serving as the secondary command ship. However, Strage had been killed when an ion blast overloaded his neural shunt, and it was Gilad Pellaeon, acting captain of the Chimaera, who ordered a retreat from Endor to Annaj, the capital of the Moddell sector. He took this action without the authorization of Admiral Harrsk, a higher-ranking officer than Pellaeon, who was at that time injured and unable to communicate from within a bacta tank. This decision would later contribute to the Admiral's defection. Pellaeon also abandoned Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik, who survived the destruction of the Death Star and, instead of fleeing like his colleagues Miltin Takel and Afsheen Makati, unsuccessfully attempted to rally the fleet and continued fighting alone for an additional three hours. Ultimately, his flagship, Eleemosynary, succumbed to barrages of ion cannon fire and was captured. He was subsequently executed for war crimes by Rebel authorities.

Had the Rebels failed to destroy the station, the consequences would have been more severe than anticipated, but surprisingly, it would have also been a detrimental turn of events for the Empire. IG-88A was still in the process of planning his droid rebellion against the Empire. When the Death Star core exploded, all power was lost and the destruction of the station eliminated IG-88A permanently.

The outcome of the battle was thus sealed in favor of the Rebellion. Grand Admiral Thrawn theorized that with the death of Emperor Palpatine, the subtle influence he exerted on his troops through the Force vanished, significantly diminishing the Imperial Navy's combat effectiveness. However, Grand Admiral Nial Declann also perished with Palpatine aboard the Death Star, and he had been employing the rare Force power of battle meditation to bolster the Imperial Fleet.

With the deaths of both Palpatine, the Emperor, and Darth Vader, the Supreme Commander, and the destruction of the Death Star, the Imperial leadership was effectively decapitated, and the Empire had lost its most powerful weapon. Demoralized, the remaining Imperials retreated deeper into Imperial space, assuming that the Rebels would not pursue the attack. Despite ultimately securing victory in the battle, the Alliance suffered significant losses. One-fifth of the Alliance Fleet was destroyed, including several Mon Calamari cruisers and numerous smaller vessels, and three-quarters of the surviving fleet required extensive repairs. On the Imperial side, Death Squadron had lost the Executor, one of its two battlecruisers, a Tector-class Star Destroyer, and fifteen of its thirty-three Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

The Rebels and Ewoks celebrated throughout the night, an event that unfolded on thousands of planets across the galaxy, as they had achieved their primary objectives. The Emperor was dead, and the Empire had sustained a crippling blow. Amidst this joyous celebration, Leia revealed to Han that Luke was her brother. The celebration continued into the night, with the Rebels gathering at Bright Tree Village. The Ewoks later celebrated by using helmets of stormtroopers and TIE pilots confiscated from the Imperial survivors as drums.

Shortly after his death, the remaining organic matter of Anakin's body dissipated into the Force, leaving behind only his cybernetics and armor. Despite this, Luke constructed a funeral pyre for the armor in the traditional Jedi manner, and ignited it as the Rebel celebration commenced. After the armor had been almost completely consumed by the flames, Luke returned to Bright Tree Village, where most of the Rebel commanders from the planet were celebrating. After warmly greeting both Leia and Han, Luke paused to gaze into the distance, where he observed the ghosts of his father, along with the ghosts of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, standing on the platform from which he had just descended. As all three looked on approvingly at Luke, he briefly exchanged a smile with them before Leia arrived to escort him back to the celebration.

The remnants of the Rebel Fleet established a defensive perimeter in the space directly above Bright Tree Village to prevent any debris from the Death Star explosion from endangering the area. However, some of the wreckage from the battle, including a Star Destroyer, remained on Endor for years afterward. Over the course of the year following the battle, the scout trooper and his squad dispatched to the far side of the moon remained in their positions, gradually succumbing to death one by one. After 12 months, the scout trooper abandoned his post and wandered around Endor for a month. Meanwhile, the rebel trooper who had become lost after relieving himself also remained on the moon; the two encountered each other, neither aware of who had won the battle. They engaged in a brief skirmish but then formed a truce and eventually found their way back to the shield generator, discovering that it had been destroyed and the Rebels had emerged victorious. Locating power running in the wreckage of a downed Star Destroyer, the pair were able to call for assistance, but when a passing ship arrived, only the Rebel trooper boarded, as the scout trooper decided that he did not belong in the Rebellion's new, peaceful society, choosing to remain on Endor.

Following the battle, the Emperor's Hand operative Mara Jade oversaw an alternate-history simulation of the battle. The simulation concluded with the capture of Solo and Organa and the destruction of the Rebel Starfleet. The Empire attempted to disseminate a fabricated account of their devastating defeat at Endor. However, they were unable to do so, as the Rebel Alliance transmitted the complete details of the battle. Consequently, upon hearing of the Emperor's death, citizens on numerous worlds, including Naboo and Tatooine, staged various uprisings celebrating the death of Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader and the defeat of the Imperial Fleet at Endor. At least the Naboo and the Tatooine uprisings galvanized anti-Imperial sentiment, even though some of them were crushed. Bespin was liberated by Lando Calrissian several days after the battle; its inhabitants also celebrated the major Rebel victory. The celebrations, and the violence that accompanied them, spread to Coruscant, then known as Imperial Center, where citizens staged an uprising upon hearing of the Emperor's death. They set off fireworks, attacked Imperial forces in the streets, toppled statues of Palpatine, and desecrated other symbols of the Empire. However, the Empire suppressed the celebrations, killing citizens and covert Rebels before order was restored. The New Republic ultimately invaded Coruscant and liberated its people from Imperial rule a little over two years later.

Death Squadron regrouped and underwent repairs near Annaj following the battle, and its surviving commanders engaged in a debate regarding their next course of action. Gilad Pellaeon advocated for a return to Endor, believing that despite their losses, Death Squadron retained sufficient power to overcome them. Pellaeon was overruled by Admiral Blitzer Harrsk, speaking from within his bacta tank, who deemed Pellaeon's tactical command invalid after the conclusion of the battle. Command now resided with Admiral Adye Prittick, who informed the rest of the Empire of the devastating defeat. However, Prittick hesitated for so long in making a decision that Harrsk broke away from the fleet, taking the battlecruiser Ilthmar's Fist and five Star Destroyers into the Deep Core until a clear chain of command could be established. This action prompted two captains from the Elrood sector to return there to await orders. This left Death Squadron with only twelve Star Destroyers, a force that Prittick considered too small to guarantee victory. He ordered a withdrawal to Yag'Dhul to defend against a potential strike into the Core Worlds.

The Alliance of Free Planets, and subsequently the New Republic, was soon formed from the Rebel Alliance, and in the years immediately following the Battle of Endor, heroes of the Rebellion such as Wedge Antilles traveled throughout the galaxy to garner support for the burgeoning Republic. Luke Skywalker would fulfill his destiny by establishing the New Jedi Order, eventually becoming its Grand Master and instructing numerous students in the Jedi ways, including many heroes of Endor and their descendants. Endor would once again become a battlefield when the Nagai invaded the world, although the Alliance of Free Planets defeated the invaders and established its base on Endor.

What had begun as a trap to permanently eliminate the Rebellion became the catalyst for the Empire's decline and demise. While the Empire persisted for many years after the Battle of Endor, it entered a state of decline and never recovered to its former strength. The disintegration and collapse of the Galactic Empire commenced shortly after the Battle of Endor as news of the Emperor's death spread widely. Palpatine had intended to rule the galaxy indefinitely and had therefore not established any plans for a successor. Adding to this confusion was the fact that Vader, the Emperor's right hand and de-facto successor as Supreme Commander, had perished alongside Palpatine. With both Sith Lords dead, numerous Imperial potentates carved out personal fiefdoms. This decay and collapse accelerated in 11 ABY after the resurrected Emperor's final death. Years later, the small and largely insignificant Imperial Remnant signed a peace treaty.

Though the Rebel Alliance and subsequent governments loudly proclaimed their triumph at the Battle of Endor, they weren't the only ones who used it for propaganda purposes. Despite the battle's devastating impact on the Empire, there were attempts to frame it in a positive light for them. Imperial agents, for instance, claimed the Ewoks were completely wiped out after the battle. Moreover, a Galactic Museum exhibit depicted the second Death Star as a weapon of the Rebel Alliance, not the Empire, and presented Palpatine and Vader as heroes who gave their lives to destroy it after peaceful negotiations failed. Even Wedge Antilles, while undercover on Coruscant, found this distorted version of events as convincing as the actual history, despite its deviation from reality. Similarly, the duel between Vader and Luke was later turned into a holothriller called Luke Skywalker and the Jedi's Revenge by order of Lord Cronal, the former Director of Imperial Intelligence, to manipulate free speech and promote Imperial values. Skywalker, upon viewing the film, expressed his disgust at the ending, which showed him killing Darth Vader to avenge Emperor Palpatine, and pointed out the numerous historical inaccuracies.

As late as 41 ABY, Luke Skywalker, now aging, and his allies were engaged in combat with a new Sith Order under the leadership of Darth Caedus, Darth Vader's grandson. After escaping Coruscant, the Jedi took refuge in a former Imperial outpost from the Battle of Endor. Caedus made a critical error by not searching for Luke Skywalker in places like Hoth or Endor, which held Rebel memories for the Jedi Master. However, Caedus ultimately met the same fate as his Sith predecessors, being killed and later redeemed, restoring peace to the galaxy. During this period, a reporter named Cindel Towani interviewed a surviving stormtrooper from the battle, who recounted the atrocities committed by the Ewoks during the conflict.

The deaths of Vader and Palpatine, along with the destruction of Death Star II, created such a powerful disturbance in the Force that Leia collapsed upon returning to Endor five years later.

The victory at Endor was commemorated annually with a holiday known as Endor Day.

As the Galactic Emperor and supreme commander of the Galactic Empire, Palpatine was also the Dark Lord of the Sith known as Darth Sidious. He devised a trap for the Rebels at Endor, feeding them false information that the Death Star's weapon systems were not yet operational, with the goal of eliminating the Rebellion once and for all. His plan was to convert Luke Skywalker to the dark side, and he instructed Darth Vader to capture him. He orchestrated a deadly lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader, tempting the young Jedi to kill his weakened father. When Skywalker refused, Palpatine used Force lightning to almost kill him. Darth Vader, in a moment of redemption, threw Palpatine down the Death Star's reactor shaft, ending his life and his reign of terror. Palpatine's demise plunged the Empire into chaos, and even his return as a clone six years later could not restore the Empire to its former glory.

Darth Vader, the Supreme Commander and Dark Lord of the Sith, was once Anakin Skywalker, a valiant Jedi Knight. Leading up to the Battle of Endor, he collaborated with Palpatine to turn his son, Luke Skywalker, to the dark side. Vader brought his son from Endor to the Emperor's throne room on the Death Star, presenting him to Palpatine. There, he engaged in a duel with his son, and despite using the power of the dark side and tempting his opponent, he was defeated and left at his son's mercy. When Palpatine tortured Luke for refusing to kill Vader, Vader was conflicted and ultimately killed his Sith Master by throwing him into the Death Star's reactor. Anakin Skywalker was redeemed but succumbed to his injuries due to his damaged life-support system. He had finally fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One, restoring balance to the Force.

Piett began as an Imperial captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer Accuser and later became the admiral of Darth Vader's flagship, the Executor, and his Death Squadron during the Galactic Civil War. Piett met his end when Arvel Crynyd's A-wing crashed into the bridge of the Executor.

Hailing from Tinnel IV, Tiaan Jerjerrod served as the Moff of the Quanta sector during the Galactic Civil War. Shortly before the Battle of Endor, he was tasked with overseeing the construction of the Death Star II and serving as its commander. Darth Vader expressed his displeasure at the delayed completion of the Death Star, a sentiment shared by Palpatine. As a result, Jerjerrod instructed his subordinates to expedite their work. During the battle, the Moff ordered the firing of the battle station's superlaser at the Rebel fleet, destroying several capital ships. Jerjerrod later positioned the Death Star to destroy Endor's forest moon, remembering Palpatine's instructions to destroy it if the Rebels disabled the shield. However, before he could carry out this order, he was killed when the Death Star was destroyed by the Alliance.

IG-88A, the first of the IG-88 assassin droids, developed a high degree of sentience and planned to initiate a droid uprising against the Human-dominated Galactic Empire. After the destruction of the other IG-88 units, IG-88A gained control of the computer core within the Death Star II, managing the battle station's weapon systems. During the Battle of Endor, IG-88A controlled the superlaser when it targeted the Rebel Alliance's capital ships. While the Empire was unaware of his control, Palpatine grew suspicious when doors in his throne room inexplicably opened and closed. When the Rebels destroyed the Death Star, IG-88A was obliterated, destroying both his physical form and consciousness, preventing his planned revolution from ever occurring.

Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Knight and hero of the Rebel Alliance, was shocked to learn that Darth Vader was his father. During the Battle of Endor, he participated in the Rebel strike force that landed on the forest moon of Endor. There, he revealed to Leia Organa that they were siblings. He then surrendered to Vader, who had been searching for him, to protect his friends. Aboard the Death Star, Palpatine tried to turn Luke to the dark side of the Force, forcing him to duel his father. Luke succumbed to his anger and emerged victorious, but when he refused to kill his father and join the Emperor, Palpatine attempted to kill him with Force lightning. Ultimately, Vader saved his son by killing the Emperor, redeeming himself and confirming Luke's beliefs. Skywalker escaped the exploding battle station with his father's body, and while saddened by his father's death, he joined the Rebel celebration on Endor that night. He would later serve the New Republic and establish the New Jedi Order, fulfilling his destiny.

Han Solo, a former smuggler, joined the Rebel Alliance and fought for it on numerous missions. After being frozen in carbonite, he was rescued by his friends and went on to lead a Rebel force at the Battle of Endor. Solo commanded the strike team sent to the forest moon, and he lent his starship, the Millennium Falcon, to his friend Lando Calrissian for the space battle. Upon arriving on Endor, Han, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO encountered the native Ewoks and enlisted their aid. Solo and his team infiltrated the shield generator bunker, and after a skirmish in which the Ewoks assisted the Rebels, the Death Star's shield was deactivated, allowing Calrissian and the others to attack the superweapon. Following its destruction, Han Solo celebrated with the other Rebels in Bright Tree Village. He learned from Leia Organa that Luke Skywalker was her brother, allowing him to pursue his relationship with her. Later, he served the New Republic, continuing the work he began at Endor.

Leia Organa, an Alderaanian princess, became a key figure in the Rebel Alliance. During the Battle of Endor, she traveled to the surface of Endor with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and other Rebels. In the moon's forests, she and Luke rode captured speeder bikes against Imperial scout troopers. However, her speeder bike crashed, and she was knocked unconscious, becoming separated from the others. Wicket W. Warrick, an Ewok, found her and befriended her after she regained consciousness. Wicket took her to Bright Tree Village, where the Ewoks provided her with new clothing. Later, the others were brought to the village and were to be sacrificed, despite her protests. However, Luke prevented the Ewoks from sacrificing the Rebels, and Leia was reunited with them. That evening, Luke revealed a shocking truth to Leia: he was her brother, and Darth Vader was their father. She fought alongside the other Rebels in the assault on the shield bunker and remained on Endor until the end of the battle. Following the Alliance's victory, Leia told Han the truth about Luke and celebrated with the other Rebel heroes. She continued to serve the New Republic, which was formed shortly after the Battle of Endor, for many years.

Wicket, a scout from the Bright Tree Village Ewok tribe on Endor's forest moon, encountered members of the Rebel Alliance during the early stages of the Battle of Endor. While patrolling the forest, Wicket found Leia Organa, who had been injured during a speeder bike chase, and befriended her. When the other Ewoks captured Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2, Wicket opposed the religious ritual that the others wanted to perform. During the ensuing battle on Endor's surface, Wicket rallied his fellow Ewoks from Bright Tree Village to fight alongside the Rebels. When Solo, Organa, and the rest of the group were in danger, Wicket brought an army of Ewok warriors, surprising the Imperial troopers. With the Ewoks' help, the Rebels destroyed the shield generator and, later, the Death Star. Wicket participated in the Rebel celebration after the battle.

Lando Calrissian, a smuggler, gambler, and friend of Han Solo, followed in his friend's footsteps and joined the Rebel Alliance. During the Battle of Endor, he was promoted to the rank of general by the Alliance. He was assigned to pilot Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, which he had owned in the past. Lando participated in the space battle while Solo led the ground assault. He fought with the Alliance Fleet in orbit around Endor but realized that the battle was a trap, as the Death Star's weapon systems were already operational. Calrissian fought valiantly, but when Solo's team on the ground brought down the Death Star's shield, the tide turned in favor of the Alliance. Lando, along with Wedge Antilles, flew deep into the Death Star to destroy its reactor core, destroying the station. Following the battle, he celebrated with his friends on Endor and continued to fight for the Alliance, and later the New Republic, for many years.

Gial Ackbar, a renowned Mon Calamari admiral, was a former Imperial slave who joined the Rebel Alliance. He was involved in the preparations for the Battle of Endor aboard his flagship, the Home One, and led the Alliance Fleet in the battle over Endor's forest moon. However, he quickly realized that the battle was an Imperial trap, as the Death Star's weapon systems were already operational, contrary to the Rebels' belief. The Alliance suffered heavy losses, and the battle became a struggle for survival as Ackbar's cruiser came under attack. However, Ackbar ordered the fleet to fire on the Executor to give Calrissian and Antilles enough time to destroy the Death Star's core, turning the tide of the battle in favor of the Alliance. Soon after, Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles destroyed the Death Star from within, leading the Alliance to an unlikely victory. Hailed as one of the battle's heroes, Ackbar continued to serve the New Republic for over two decades.

The Battle of Endor served as the climax of the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, the final installment of the original trilogy.

Originally, George Lucas, the creator of the series, intended for Wookiees to be the primitive race that aided the Rebellion in the ground-based portion of the battle. However, when the time came to write the screenplay for the third installment, he realized that the previous movies had already established Chewbacca as technologically proficient, leading him to change his plans.

Because he specifically wanted a primitive race with no prior ties to technology to be the ultimate victor of the battle, and partially to make the film more marketable for kids, he created the Ewok race and had them effectively win the ground portion of the battle. This decision was controversial to both the actors and some fans. Lucas was inspired to have a primitive race win against an advanced army from the actions of the Vietcong, and also used the battle as a way of commenting on United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The inspiration, when it came to light, led to further controversy, as it implied that the Galactic Empire represented the American forces.

Richard Marquand, the director of Return of the Jedi, said that Lucas initially wanted the throne room duel to be even grander than the Duel on Cloud City, but changed his mind during shooting, stating, "George is very blunt. He said, 'It's just a couple of guys banging sticks against each other. Don't worry about that. It is bigger because of what is going on in their heads.'"

A deleted scene expanded on the actions inside the bunker during the second attempt, specifically, where Han Solo and his unit encountered a stormtrooper squad inside the control room. This event was later featured in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike.

The junior novelization of Return of the Jedi, written after the completion of the prequel trilogy, delves into Vader's thoughts as he watches Palpatine torture Luke, suggesting that the thought of Padmé and her love broke through to him, and that knowing it was her son being tortured restored Anakin and compelled him to turn on the Emperor. The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi describes Obi-Wan watching the duel from the netherworld of the Force. When Luke refuses to kill Vader and the lightning attack begins, Kenobi watches in horror as Luke, and with him the hope of the Jedi, is seemingly destroyed by the Dark Lord of the Sith. He can hardly believe his eyes when the friend he had given up on as hopelessly enthralled by the dark side reasserts himself and saves his son.

Lawrence Kasdan stated, "My sense of the relationship between Vader and the Emperor is that the Emperor is much more powerful than Vader and that Vader is very much intimidated by him. Vader has dignity, but the Emperor in Jedi really has all the power."

The fate of the Ewoks has been debated in the Endor Holocaust theory, which posits that Endor, along with its Ewok inhabitants, was inevitably destroyed by falling debris from the Death Star. This theory was put forth by Curtis Saxton's Star Wars Technical Commentaries website but has been refuted by subsequent source materials, such as Pablo Hidalgo's explanation in a question-and-answer column of Star Wars Insider 76. Hidalgo argued that a hyperspace wormhole transported debris from the Endor system to the other side of the galaxy, as with Darth Vader's glove in The Glove of Darth Vader. Hidalgo also argues that the laws of physics can be put aside in this case because George Lucas wanted the story to end well for the protagonists. Two of the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novels are set on Endor, depicting the moon and its inhabitants as unharmed, with only minor damage to their habitats.

The battle was first presented in the Return of the Jedi novelization, which contained minor discrepancies from the film, as did some other spin-off materials. Additionally, re-releases of the original trilogy included minor alterations to certain scenes, including those from the Battle of Endor. While most changes were trivial adjustments to color, sound effects, or music, short scenes of celebrations were added to the end, and Anakin Skywalker's Force ghost was changed from Sebastian Shaw's face to that of Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin in the prequels. Lucasfilm has stated that the 2004 DVD versions are the canonical depiction of the events in the trilogy, including the Battle of Endor.

The battle presented in Return of the Jedi inspired numerous spin-off materials, including television series and video games. Many characters with only brief appearances in the movie were given names and backstories. The Ewoks received significant attention, leading to a television series and two TV movies, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

The Battle of Endor was also featured in various toys, such as a large LEGO playset, and numerous video games, such as X-Wing Alliance and Force Commander. Star Wars: Battlefront and Battlefront II allowed gamers to replay the battle as they wished, making its portrayal non-canon. Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, released in 2007, and its 2009 sequel, Elite Squadron, both included Endor missions in their campaigns. These showed the battle from different perspectives, the first from Col Serra's Renegade Squadron and the second from X2, with the objectives in both paralleling the events in Return of the Jedi. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and its remake, The Complete Saga, both featured four missions related to the Battle of Endor, although the portrayal of the events differed from that of the film. Because the events in the game are treated with a humorous approach and do not strictly follow the story, this article assumes that they are non-canon.

The video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, released in 2001, featured two distinct renditions of the Battle of Endor. One was integrated into the Leia Organa (Rebel/New Republic) campaign, while the other was part of the Darth Vader (Imperial) campaign. The latter presented an alternate timeline, with Mara Jade as the narrator. Players were provided with a substantial army and tasked with protecting the shield generator from Rebel and Ewok assaults. After a 15-minute gameplay period, the scenario concluded, with the "commander" promised a statue on Coruscant. Conversely, the Rebel mission adhered more closely to the events depicted in the film. Players commanded a force of 18 troopers, 2 medics, and key characters like Organa, Solo, and C-3PO. This group advanced, encountered Wicket, and subsequently battled through a stormtrooper encampment. At the subsequent base, the force successfully demolished a command center. Following that base, they reached the Ewok village, where they gained reinforcements, including Chewbacca piloting an AT-ST. The force then proceeded towards the shield generator bunker, breached its defenses, and destroyed it. The game's strategy guide advised Imperial players to aggressively counter the incoming waves of attackers. For the Rebel mission, the guide suggested utilizing the Ewok gliders, upon their acquisition, for reconnaissance and turret destruction. These missions were also incorporated into the game's 2002 expansion, titled Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns.

The Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series of video games also frequently showcased the Battle of Endor, often as the concluding missions of their campaigns. In Rogue Leader, in addition to four different missions that served as a prelude to the Battle of Endor, the battle itself was the central focus of two unique missions. The first, simply named "Battle of Endor," centered on the initial phases of the space engagement. The second, "Strike at the Core," concentrated on the primary objective of penetrating the reactor core and achieving its destruction. Similarly, in Rebel Strike, the final missions revolved around the Battle of Endor. However, in this instance, the missions, collectively designated as the Endor campaign within the mission selection menu, emphasized the ground-based aspects of the conflict. The opening mission, "Speeder Bike Pursuit," depicted Luke and Leia's efforts to prevent scout troopers from reporting their presence on Endor, culminating in Luke's lightsaber elimination of the last scout, mirroring the film's events. The subsequent mission, "Triumph of the Rebellion," highlighted the ground battle itself, focusing on Chewbacca's journey to assist the Rebels at the bunker after commandeering an AT-ST, followed by Han Solo's placement of detonation charges and his ultimate confrontation with Sarkli. Complementing the two primary missions, the Endor campaign in the same game featured a bonus mission titled "Attack on the Executor." As the title implies, it depicted the events occurring between Admiral Ackbar's directive to assault the Executor to afford Calrissian additional time and the Executor's subsequent destruction. "Attack on the Executor" held the distinction of being the sole bonus mission in Rebel Strike's single-player mode that did not incorporate footage directly extracted from the film, instead relying on its own cinematic sequences. Furthermore, both the Luke and Wedge campaigns culminated in a direct transition to the Endor campaign, with the former achieved through the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon and the latter via the Fondor shipyard assault. The latter contained an indirect reference to the Battle of Endor through the debriefing between Vader and Palpatine, where Palpatine implied that he intentionally permitted the Rebels to destroy the prototype cloaking device-equipped Executor star dreadnought to instill overconfidence and lure them into his trap.

The [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi also presented the Death Star duel, albeit with some deviations from the source material: Vader initiates an ambush on Luke through a doorway, employing Force Flight to a certain extent. Luke engages Emperor Palpatine in a duel, rather than simply enduring torture as depicted in the movie. Moreover, Palpatine utilizes Force Flight extensively during the latter part of the battle, ultimately falling into the reactor after Luke's victory. Despite these alterations, Vader's redemption was partially retained through the inclusion of his final moments and the appearance of his Force ghost.

According to author Timothy Zahn, had Grand Admiral Thrawn been in command during the Battle of Endor, the Rebels would almost certainly have suffered a defeat.

A non-canonical interpretation of the battle was presented in the comic Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi, which reimagined the film's events within an alternate narrative. While the storyline retains the same characters, settings, and conflicts as the original movie, the plot undergoes significant alterations.

In this version, Luke is captured by the Empire after departing Dagobah, but not before sending two messages: one revealing to Leia their sibling relationship and Vader's paternity, and another instructing the Rebel fleet to refrain from rescuing him. Leia proceeds to the Death Star to attempt a rescue but is captured herself and brought before the Emperor.

A Rebel contingent lands on Endor and successfully destroys the shield generator. Han Solo, having been thawed from carbonite aboard the Home One, operates the turrets on the Millennium Falcon despite his temporary blindness.

Aboard the Death Star, Palpatine commands Vader to execute Leia, but Luke intervenes, engaging Vader in a duel. Luke attempts to strike Vader's legs, but Vader evades the attack with a jump and retaliates with a kick to Luke's face. Palpatine offers Luke a final opportunity to join him or face death. Leia attempts to intervene, but Palpatine subdues her with Force lightning. Luke declares his unwillingness to continue fighting and inquires whether Vader intends to kill both of his children, leaving Vader and Palpatine momentarily stunned by the revelation. Unmoved by Luke's plea for redemption, Vader persists in the fight.

As Wedge Antilles and his squadron of X-wings destroy the Death Star's reactor core, Palpatine manages to escape, and Luke severs Vader's right arm. However, the Dark Lord retains sufficient Force power to summon his lightsaber to his left hand and force Luke to his knees. Luke reiterates his refusal to fight and challenges Vader to strike him and Leia down if he so desires, expressing his belief that Vader will not. In response, Vader collapses to his knees and begs for forgiveness, renouncing the dark side of the Force and reverting to his identity as Anakin, accompanied by a transformation of his armor into an all-white version.

The Rebels, accompanied by the redeemed Anakin, embark on a mission to apprehend the escaped Palpatine.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II features a downloadable bonus level that presents a non-canonical depiction of the Battle of Endor. Darth Vader's Dark Apprentice, identified as the sole stable clone of Galen Marek, undertakes a clandestine journey to Endor with instructions to disrupt the Rebel assault on the Imperial shield generator bunker. After landing the Rogue Shadow on the forest moon, the apprentice proceeds towards the bunker's secret entrance, eliminating numerous Rebels and Ewoks along his path. Han Solo and Chewbacca meet their demise at the hands of the Dark Apprentice just before he infiltrates the base.

The remaining Rebels find themselves engaged in a firefight with the bunker's Imperial guards. The apprentice eliminates all opposition in his path before ultimately confronting Princess Leia Organa, who reveals herself to be a trained Jedi as a consequence of her twin brother's death during the Battle of Hoth. Wielding a yellow-bladed lightsaber, the Jedi Princess engages her Sith adversary. Despite Organa's impressive combat skills and Force potential, she is ultimately outmatched by the more experienced Sith apprentice. Organa makes her final stand atop the SLD-26 planetary shield generator, where she perishes after the apprentice fatally stabs her through the abdomen with one of his dual lightsabers, thereby concluding the duel and extinguishing the Alliance's sole opportunity to destroy the second Death Star.

Within the battle station's incomplete mooring tower throne room, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader observe the space battle through the circular viewport. As the Galactic Empire gains the upper hand over its adversaries, Palpatine proclaims the Rebellion's destruction, paving the way for the Empire's return to a state of peace. However, he also seizes this moment to disclose his knowledge of the clandestine cloning project on Kamino, specifically Vader's scheme to overthrow the Emperor by exploiting the dark clone of the original apprentice as an asset. Consequently, the Emperor threatens to execute Vader for treason, derisively addressing him as "Skywalker." Vader ignites his lightsaber but proves incapable of defending himself against his Master's Force lightning assault. Defeated and kneeling, Vader is powerless to prevent Palpatine from dispatching Captain Sarkli and his troops to eliminate the clone.

Meanwhile, the Dark Apprentice meditates with Leia Organa's corpse in close proximity. As a group of Imperial Star Destroyers approaches his location, the clone opens his eyes, both of which reflect his profound immersion in the dark side of the Force.

While the Battle of Endor serves as the concluding event of both the original Star Wars trilogy and the Star Wars movie saga within the Legends continuity, it did not mark the end of the overall Star Wars narrative. George Lucas, who consistently dismissed the possibility of future movies, maintained his conviction that the saga concludes with the death of Anakin Skywalker, whom he viewed as the tragic hero. Nevertheless, numerous Expanded Universe stories chronicled the fates of the Rebels and Imperials in the years following Endor. The Truce at Bakura, released in 1994, detailed the events unfolding in the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, as did the Marvel Star Wars comics. The Thrawn Trilogy, which commenced in 1991 and concluded in 1993, depicted the continuation of the war five years after the Battle of Endor, with the New Republic confronting the resurgent forces of the Empire. Subsequent works introduced additional post-Endor narratives, including Palpatine's resurrection as a clone and Luke Skywalker's establishment of the New Jedi Order, along with the conflicts and challenges it faced. For both the Battle of Endor and all other events within the Star Wars movies, the film continuity and the Expanded Universe material were integrated to form a cohesive part of the larger Star Wars epic.

However, this state of affairs was not destined to endure. The canon reboot in April 2014 (two years after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars rights) rendered the Expanded Universe non-canonical. The Star Wars sequel trilogy, released between 2015 and 2019, presented the new canonical account of the narrative beyond the Battle of Endor.