The Jedi served the Republic for over a thousand generations, acting as peacekeepers. But with the reemergence of the Sith, ancient dark side practitioners, the fate of the Jedi would take a sad turn.

Orchestrating the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious pulled the galaxy apart with the Jedi caught in the middle. With the the issue of Order 66, Emperor Palpatine -- in reality, Darth Sidious himself -- named every Jedi an enemy of the Republic and eradicated the Order. Anakin Skywalker, once believed to be the Chosen One, turned to the dark side and helped the Empire destroy the Jedi.

While the Sith had gained control of the galaxy, Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi survived the purge – as did a few other Jedi. Some fell to darkness, becoming the Emperor’s feared Inquisitors. Others lived in secrets, becoming hermits or hiding their powers. And a few – such as Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka Tano – worked to nurture the seeds of rebellion.

And there was a new hope. On Tatooine, Obi-Wan watched over Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin, until he was ready to be trained in the ways of the Force. Luke would destroy the Death Star, further his training on Dagobah with Yoda, and ultimately bring Anakin back to the light, defeating Sidious. The Empire created by Sidious and Vader soon crumbled.

Luke’s dreams of rebuilding the Jedi Order ended in disaster, with his temple destroyed and his nephew Ben Solo fallen into darkness. Convinced the Jedi had to end to break an ancient and destructive cycle, Luke retreated to Ahch-To, site of the first Jedi Temple, to live as a hermit and cut himself off from the Force. But Rey – a powerful, untrained Force user with mysterious origins – found him there. Reluctantly, Luke trained her and then sacrificed himself to save the Resistance.

Luke’s setbacks had been partially engineered by Sidious, who had returned to life and worked in secret to foil the restoration of the Jedi and the Republic. On Exegol, Sidious and his Sith cultists sought to create a new Sith empire that would rule forever. He was opposed by Rey, who had saved the founding Jedi texts from Ahch-To. In a climactic showdown with Palpatine, Rey opened herself to the Force and was lifted by the spirits of the Jedi who had come before her. The Jedi Order might be gone, but its strength was far from spent.