"One of Abrams and Kasdan’s masterstrokes"—tantalizing spoiler on the state of the galaxy

Is this referring to the Republic? Masterstroke because we learn so little about them, leaving lots of room for mythology?
I guess that makes sense.
Who is the new emperor?

 

Well i guess he refers to the scene before the attack on Takodana where General Hux after Snokes approval and a passionate madman Adolf Hitler like speech to the First order troops fires the Starkiller weapon for the first time and obliterates an entire system of planets including what to me looked like Coruscant and the republic.
Im not 100% it was Coruscant but they state for a fact that the Republic is now gone. Whatever was built since ROTJ is now gone and we are back to square one for the next episode. The Resistance managed to destroy the Starkiller weapon but the First Order managed to destroy any hope of peace and order in the galaxy.

 

Isn't Coruscant in the Coruscant system? I thought the Hosnian system was destroyed in this movie? Didn't Leia say that name out loud?

 

Yeah you are probably right (star wars geography is not my thing) . I didn't catch all the details cause i was in awe of the amazing visuals but to me it just looked like Coruscant with the same industrial city "Blade Runner" type skyline.

 

Maybe referring to the Knights of Ren?

 

This is clearly referring to the Republic.
Not really a surprise by any means, as Journey to TFA books have all established that it was rebuilt after Endor.
The movie does elaborate a bit on the relationship between them and the Resistance. The Republic provide support for the Resistance... which is why they use Starkiller to destroy the Hosnian system

I'm under the impression that the First Order and Republic have a cease-fire agreement, but the Republic funds the Resistance in First Order space.

It will be interesting to what impact the First Order's actions in TFA have on the galactic situation. I imagine we can expect retaliation from the Republic.

 

My brother suggested the exact same thing...

 

I can't wait until we hear from the Republic in episodes VIII and IX. What will be interesting is to find out why Leia felt the need to establish a separate entity - the Resistance - to battle the First Order. Is the Republic corrupt? Or perhaps they feel they are too fragile to take on a large-scale war. I have no doubt whatsoever that we will find out more in future episodes. Perhaps we will even visit Coruscant once more. There are plenty of mysteries on this front!

 

I love this idea! If done correctly, it would help bring the whole saga full circle: those who have fought with the Rebellion and Resistance would face head-on the corruption and internal weaknesses that brought down the Republic in the prequels in the first place. I don't like the PT very much, but I'm also not a 'prequel hater': I'm weary of endless complaining about them, and the reflexive need to take jabs at them. It's boring, at the end of the day, to complain about what went wrong with a fictional world we all want to see thrive. Instead, I'd rather see a story that takes the themes of the PT and develops them interestingly. I think that even those who despise the PT will admit that the idea of a vast interstellar Republic that falls, despite the nobility of the spiritual guides charged with preserving it (the Jedi), is a remarkably rich one.

And if I want to see any major development from the ST, I want to see them show the re-establishment of a better Republic with a wiser Jedi order capable of taking up its original mandate and learning from the mistakes of the past. We've already seen that this goal - which we might have thought these last 32 years was accomplished at the end of ROTJ - is much more difficult than it seemed. Done correctly, this story would allow the films to really reflect on what the Jedi order really means. They're warriors, monks, wizards , and statesmen all at the same time, but the imbalance between these elements is what led to their downfall to begin with.

 

I just started reading the novelisation and there's a bit

Spoiler

At the beginning, before the action of the film starts, where Leia is musing on the difficulties of building the republic. That even though the economy and infrastructure are up and running, there are many people who prefered a life of following orders to liberty and public participation in the political process.

On the Republic in the movie, I'm guessing that the destruction of Hosnian Prime (It wasn't Coruscant, I think Hosnian was made the new capital because Lucasfilm didn't want Coruscant or Chandrilla to be destroyed), and the senate there would be a catastrophic blow to the Republic but it will swell the ranks of the resistance and what is left of the republic will join them in the fight against the FO. I would also love to see another Imperial faction join the fray, maybe initially on the side of the first order and then switch sides because they think the FO is too extreme. Something like Thrawn's Empire of the hand, that is aesthetically like the FO/Empire but has different values.

 

I don't understand this post..

 

The Republic, The Knights of Ren, and Supreme Leader Snoke are all things we have only just touched on. How large is the Republic? Who is in charge? Where are the Knights of Ren? Where is Supreme Leader Snoke projecting holograms from? Is Luke Skywalker alone?

 

Neat idea! Sadly, the Republic doesn't have anything left to 'strike' with. Unless of course, Hux was wrong about the fleet being destroyed by star-killer. Speaking of which, that was an incredible scene when those massive capital ships in orbit are basically atomized by the weapon. Almost like burning up during a re-entry.