Imperial holdouts

Imperial holdouts, also known as Imperial remnants or as Imperial hideouts, were various fractured political and military remnants of the Galactic Empire that emerged during the late stages of or in the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War.

Without a ruler to hold them together after the death of the Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine, who left behind no instructions of succession, the Empire began to disintegrate and its rule rapidly declined across the galaxy, while the Imperial Navy and its forces retreated as the Alliance to Restore the Republic reorganized into the New Republic as various factions started to form in the wake of the Empire's decline. The Battle of Jakku saw the final defeat of the Empire, forcing a surrender to the New Republic.

With strict disarmament treaties and reparations in place following the signing of the Galactic Concordance, the New Republic formally abolished the Empire. Chancellor Mon Mothma also issuing a further declaration designating members of the Imperial Military as war criminals while granting conditional pardons to non-combatant functionaries. Following this, many of its soldiers, officials, and other holdouts joined various warlords who ruled their own fortified sectors on the fringes of the galaxy.

By 9 ABY, Imperial holdouts remained active in the galaxy with one faction lead by Moff Gideon being active in the Outer Rim Territories on planets like Nevarro and Mandalore, using a secret base on the latter as its headquarters. During this time, Gideon and his remnant sought after the Force-sensitive child Grogu as part of their cloning experiments and succeeded in capturing him on Tython, but was later rescued by the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his allies that saw Moff Gideon arrested and brought into New Republic custody afterwards.

Gideon's remnant was one of ten Imperial holdouts that were part of the [Imperial Remnant/Canon|Imperial Remnant]] that coordinated the efforts of each individual remnant to undermine the New Republic while concealing their true strength while awaiting the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn from exile. Thrawn would eventually return from his exile on the planet Peridea along with his forces with open war against the New Republic sometime afterwards in which the New Republic emerged victorious and saw the fragmentation of the Imperial Remnant..

Meanwhile, elements of the Imperial Military regrouped in secret in the Unknown Regions became the First Order, dedicated to reclaiming the Imperial legacy. Hidden further still were Sith loyalists on Exegol, the Sith Eternal, who aided a resurrected Darth Sidious and plotted to restore the Sith Empire.

Text and facts from the “Imperial holdouts” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.