Recap / The Force Awakens

Thirty years after the fall of the Galactic Empire, war returns when the First Order, an army born of Imperial loyalists, rises to claim dominion. The newly reformed Galactic Republic leaves the matter of fending off the First Order to the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa. It is now a race against time to find Luke Skywalker, Leia's brother and the Jedi knight who helped defeat the Empire, before the First Order can track him down and kill him.

Enter Poe Dameron, a Resistance soldier, who has come to the desert world of Jakku to retrieve a map that can lead the Resistance to Luke. Hot on his heels is Kylo Ren, one of the First Order's most feared warriors. Ren manages to capture Poe, but thankfully, the map is left in the care of his faithful droid BB-8, who meets a scavenger named Rey. At the same time, a Stormtrooper, having developed doubts about the righteousness of First Order's cause, defects and saves Poe. Together, Poe and the Stormtrooper, FN-2187, escape from the Star Destroyer as Poe gives his savior a new name: "Finn".

The First Order shoots down the TIE Fighter Poe and Finn hijack, causing them to crash on Jakku. Poe is presumed to have died in the crash. Thankfully, Rey and BB-8 manage to meet with Finn. Together, the three unlikely allies take flight as the First Order pursues them. Eventually, they manage to make their escape using an old ship found in Jakku's scrapyards: the Millennium Falcon.

Their escape seems cut short when the Falcon is captured by a large ship. Thankfully, the occupants of this ship are friends to the Resistance and the original owners of the Falcon: former smuggler Han Solo and his Wookie brother-in-arms Chewbacca. Together, they all escape in the Falcon from those seeking to collect on Han's debts. Once they reach safety, Han discovers that the map data BB-8 had stored was incomplete.

Han explains to Finn and Rey that, after the Empire was defeated, Luke sought to rebuild the old Jedi Order. Unfortunately, one of his pupils turned against him and embraced the Dark Side of the force, driving Luke into a self-imposed exile.

The heroes land on the planet of Takodana, and seek aid from Maz Kanata, the resident cantina propreitor and Resistance sympathizer, in getting BB-8 to the Resistance. Rey, meanwhile, is drawn by the Force to a hidden vault in the cantina. Contained within is an elegant weapon from a bygone era, a lightsaber, that belong to Luke and his father before him, Anakin. The Force also shows Rey disturbing visions that causes her to flee into the woods. Maz leaves the lightsaber in Finn's hands for safekeeping in the meantime.

Unfortunately, things are beginning to look bleak for the Resistance as the First Order unveils its newest weapon: Starkiller Base, a planet that had been converted into a star-powered superweapon, which they use to wipe out the solar system housing the Republic's capitol and a large portion of the Resistance fleet. Not long after, First Order soldiers make landfall on Takodana in search of BB-8 and the map data they carried. Thankfully, Han and Poe, who survived the crash on Jakka, lead an X-Wing squadron in defense of Takodana. They are joined by General Leia, to whom Han promises to save their son...

Rey encounters and is captured by Kylo Ren, who brings her onto a Star Destroyer for interrogation. The Jedi mind trick, however, has no effect on Rey, who begins to realize her connection to the Force and, once Ren leaves, uses the mind trick to convince a Stormtrooper to free her, allowing her to escape and reunite with the Resistance on D'Qar.

The Resistance comes up with a plan to destroy Starkiller Base: Han, Chewie, and Finn would arrive at the base using the Millennium Falcon and infiltrate the main facility, planting explosive charges to set off a chain reaction that would destroy it. Inside the facility, however, Han and Kylo Ren have a fateful encounter...

"BEN!" Han calls out to Kylo, recognizing him as his son, Ben Solo. Ben had been conflicted with his affiliation to the Light Side of the Force and his loyalty to Supreme Leader Snoke and the Dark Side. Han, knowing that goodness still lay in his son, implores him to leave the First Order and return home.

Ben considers the offer intently. Ultimately, however, Kylo Ren answers Han's pleas by running him through with his lightsaber, killing him and casting himself more firmly into the Dark Side. An anguished Chewie fires on Ren, detonating the explosive charges.

As the planet begins to undergo a deadly chain reaction that would destroy it, Rey and Ren encounter each other once more. Finn, using Luke's lightsaber, engages Ren, but is ultimately outmatched and beaten within an inch of his life. Rey, however, harnesses the Force to take the lightsaber and fight Ren, scarring his face and driving him away before Chewie comes on the Falcon to rescue her and Finn.

As Finn lay comatose, Rey, Chewie, and Leia mourn for Han. His sacrifice, however, paved the way for a major victory with Starkiller Base's destruction. Better still, an old ally from the past reawakens: R2-D2, Luke's old repair droid, who contains the rest of the map data needed to find him!

With Leia's blessing, Rey departs for the planet of Ahch-To aboard the Falcon with Chewie. There, on a small mountainous island, she finds the legendary Jedi Knight himself, Luke Skywalker, to whom she offers the lightsaber...