The Force Unleashed And The Birth Of The Rebel Alliance

This video game is probably the best Star Wars action game to date, however in this article I will not focus on the game but rather on the complete story of the game. The story surrounding The Force Unleashed focuses on the events between the films Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope.

Introduction

Basically here the focus is again on the aftermath of Order 66, a few years after slaughtering the Jedi Knights with his Clone Troopers, Darth Vader is still hunting the remaining Jedi Knights with his now reformed Storm Troopers. The story begins with Vader travelling to the Wookie planet Kashyyyk, having heard news of a Jedi survivor. Darth Vader finds the survivor and kills him, in the process however Vader discovers the Jedi’s son, who is also strong with the force.

Vader then secretly takes the child and raises him to be his apprentice, keeping Emperor Palpatine in the dark about the child and his abilities. When the child reaches manhood, Darth Vader send him on a mission to hunt down and kill the remaining Jedi in the universe, with this as his final test to prepare him for his ultimate mission, to assassinate the Emperor. The child who is known as Starkiller follows his master’s orders and travels to Nar Shaddaa where he needs to destroy an outpost and a former Jedi General of the Clone Wars.

Battle with General Rahm Kota on Nar Shaddaa

Before the mission Starkiller meets Juno Eclipse who is to be his pilot on his missions that Darth Vader send him on. On Nar Shaddaa, Starkiller will encounter General Rahm Kota, who is leading small resistance force against the Empire. Kota is aware that Vader has found him and prepare to face Vader, however he gets surprised when he meets Starkiller. During the battle General Kota, senses that there is some good inside this boy, Kota tries to tell Starkiller but is thrown to his death by the Apprentice.

Starkiller fights Kazdan Paratus

Starkiller then returns to Darth Vader, handing him the lightsaber of General Kota as proof that Kota is dead. Vader proceeds to send Starkiller to Raxus Prime where he is to kill Kazdan Paratus, another powerful Jedi. However when Starkiller finds Kazdan, he is surprised to learn that Kazdan had reconstructed himself to be half machine as he went mad living on Raxus Prime. When Starkiller finally destroys Kazdan, Darth Vader appears and tells Starkiller to go after the Jedi Master Shaak Ti, a former Jedi Council member who is hiding on the planet Felucia.

The boy versus the Former Council Member

Starkiller obeys and travels off to Felucia where he finds Shaak Ti, meditating in an ancient abyss. Shaak Ti welcomes Starkiller, before the pair start their battle. Towards the end of the fight, Shaak Ti who also sensed the good in Starkiller, also offers him a different path to the one that Vader has given him, but Starkiller instead remains loyal to the Dark Lord until he returns to the main ship as per Vader’s orders. On the main ship, Vader stabs Starkiller in the back as the Emperor who has discovered Starkiller’s existence looks on.

Starkiller the Double Agent and return to Kashyyyk

However this proves to only be a show to fool the Emperor as Vader would later revive Starkiller informing him that he is to fight as a double-agent for the Resistance against the Empire. Starkiller however decides to follow his own path, he searches for finds his former pilot Juno, whom he has fallen in love with and the pair travel to Nar Shaddaa, to find out if the rumour that General Kota had survived is true.

On Nar Shaddaa,Juno and Starkiller indeed find a blind and drunk General Kota. Kota tells Starkiller of a Galactic Senate member, Princess Leia of Alderaan, who has been captured by the Empire and is in danger. The trio then decide to travel to Kashyyyk to rescue Leia. On Kashyyyk, Starkiller’s feelings to break his loyalty to Darth Vader becomes stronger when he walks into his old home where his father’s spirit apologizes to him for not protecting Starkiller as a child.

The Rescue of Bail Organa

After rescuing Princess Leia and the Wookies, Starkiller sets off on a mission to rescue Leia’s father Bail Organa, who is being held on an Imperial controlled Felucia. However on Felucia, Starkiller has to battle Maris Brood who has turned to the Dark-Side after discovering that her master Shaak Ti was killed. The boy manages to defeat Brood and rescues Bail Organa.

Organa then meets with General Kota, informing the General that the resistance forces need to be organised into a single united group, so that they overthrow the Galactic Empire and restore the Republic. Starkiller in the meantime meets with Darth Vader, who senses that the boy has an inner conflict within himself. Vader warns Starkiller about the light side, however Juno Eclipse tells Starkiller that the fate of the Resistance is in his hands.

The return to Raxus Prime

The pair travel to Raxus Prime once more to destroy an Imperial outpost since Starkiller is still acting as a double agent. The boy then rips an Imperial Star Destroyer from the sky with the sheer power of the force after he discovers that Vader sent a droid to assassinate him. Starkiller then heads to a snowy planet and meets with Bail Organa and a few other Senators who declare war on the Empire, however the meeting gets interrupted when Vader walks in to arrest the Senators for treason.

The birth of the Rebel Alliance

However Starkiller, who survives Vader’s betrayal once more heads to the incomplete Death Star to free the Senators. As Juno kisses Starkiller goodbye, the boy leaps into the Death Star. As the Emperor is about to issue the command to execute the leaders of the Resistance, the alarms go off, and Vader leaves to deal with Starkiller. However Starkiller beats Vader and bursts into the Emperor's chamber to finish off the Emperor, as he battles the Emperor, the boy urges the Resistance leaders to make a run for it. The resistance leaders escape however Starkiller is killed by the Emperor.

As the resistance leaders resume their meeting they remember Starkiller and his efforts in the birth of the Rebel Alliance. As a sign to honour their hero, the Alliance adopt Starkiller’s family crest as the symbol of the newly formed Rebel Alliance.

Conclusion

Apart from being one of the best Star Wars games, the Force Unleashed also manages to fill some of the gaps between the 3rd and 4th Star Wars films by showing how the Rebel Alliance came into existence and who the founders of the Rebel Alliance were. Indeed the Force Unleashed has its part to play in the Star Wars universe.