Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Rebuilds the Resistance Through New Disney Ride

This week, Disney debuted Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, a brand new attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The ride experience itself is one-of-a-kind, but Star Wars fans have also been looking forward to the story it will tell, and how it will end up connecting with the upcoming movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There are no major, in-your-face connections to Rise of Skywalker in the ride, aside from the characters, but paying close attention to the Resistance narrative will help explain a key detail heading into the new movie.

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, nearly the entire Resistance is destroyed by Kylo Ren and the First Order. Only a few remain at the end of the film, but they spark a hope in the rest of the galaxy that will one day help them build the Resistance back up again. It looks like it didn't take too long for that to happen, as Rise of the Resistance confirms that General Leia Organa has gotten things moving again, and is operating out of a secret base on a planet named Picaara (the name of the planet is only spoken in the ride, not written, so the spelling is still unknown).

The entire Rise of the Resistance ride experience begins with Rey telling all of the passengers that they aren't safe on Batuu because a First Order destroyer is nearby. She says she's leading everyone to the secret base that Leia has established on Picaara, and that no one can let Kylo Ren know where they are. Things don't go according to plan as the ride progresses, but that doesn't really matter in terms of the story of the Resistance itself.

Leia, Rey, Finn, and Poe are actively operating as the Resistance during the ride, which takes place just ahead of The Rise of Skywalker. Just how big the Resistance is at this point, no one knows, but the operation is big enough to infiltrate a First Order destroyer, so it's not just a couple of people hanging out on a planet. Significant progress has been made in the time since The Last Jedi concluded, that's for sure.

Batuu has already been confirmed to be included in The Rise of Skywalker, so it's likely that Leia's base on Picaara will be there as well. Whether or not Kylo Ren finds out the location of the base remains to be seen.

Are you looking forward to The Rise of Skywalker? Let us know in the comments!

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters on December 20th.