Star Wars: How Rise of the Resistance Connects to the Current Trilogy

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the latest (and possibly greatest) Star Wars attraction, opened at Walt Disney World on Thursday in Galaxy’s Edge. The new ride is incredibly immersive, putting you directly in the middle of the fight against the First Order. It’s based on the universe created by the movies, just like all of the other attractions in Galaxy’s Edge, but the connections are much more intentional here in Rise of the Resistance. Not only are the characters from the new movies present in the ride, but the story fits right in with what we’ve been seeing unfold on the big screen over the last few years.

Here’s the basic gist of Rise of the Resistance: BB-8 and Rey show up to inform you that the First Order is coming to Batuu (the location of Galaxy’s Edge), and that you are going to be transported to one of Leia’s secret Resistance bases. Poe and his team escort you to the base, until many of them are taken out by the First Order and your transport ship is taken. Now that you’re on the First Order cruiser, it’s up to the resistance to help you escape.

There’s definitely more to the story than that, but it includes spoilers from the ride itself. So if you don’t want to know anything about Rise of the Resistance, it’s best to turn back now.

Once in the custody of the First Order, you’re shuffled into various holding cells where a stormtrooper stands above you (on a video screen, but the design and placement make it look real). Domhnall Gleeson’s General Hux joins the trooper and informs you that they are looking for the Resistance base. He’s then joined by Kylo Ren, who quickly tries to interrogate you for the information, before being called off to the bridge. You’re then broken out of the cell thanks to a lightsaber that cuts a doorway into the side of the cell.

This is essentially the main story of the ride. Finn and the Resistance are helping you break out while Kylo, Hux and the troopers chase you down. It mirrors the actual narrative of Kylo and the First Order trying to stop Leia and the Resistance in the films.

Certain details to the characters and story match the Star Wars movies as well. Most notably, an animatronic of Finn helps you out during one of the biggest stages of the ride, and he’s once again wearing Stormtrooper armor, infiltrating the ship as someone who used to work for the First Order. There are also subtle moments between Kylo Ren and General Hux that hint at the contentious relationship they’ve had since Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Nothing about Rise of the Resistance directly effects the story of the current trilogy, at least that we know of, but it does do a great job of seamlessly fitting itself into the narrative.