What Happened to Coruscant After the Original Star Wars Trilogy

Coruscant is one of the most important planets in the Star Wars saga, but what happened to it after the events of the original Star Wars trilogy?

The metropolis of Coruscant plays a pivotal role in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and its history continues to be just as fascinating after the events of the original trilogy. Coruscant was once the capital of the Galactic Republic and became the center of the Galactic Empire after Palpatine's coup. Once the Emperor died (for the first time) at the Battle of Endor, canon and legend tell what happened to this priceless world during the remainder of the Galactic Civil War and the age of the New Republic.

In the legendary series, Coruscant was renamed Imperial Center after the fall of the Republic, and the current imperial city became the secret home of the Lusankya, the super Star Destroyer Palpatine kept as an escape boat . In the current canon, Palpatine further tarnishes the legacy of the Jedi Order by transforming the ruined Jedi Temple into an imperial palace. As shown in Return of the Jedi, after Palpatine's first death, the populace of Coruscant rioted against the Empire, and these rebellions turned into a planetary civil war in the canon and were brutally met in the Legend Repression. Coruscant eventually became the capital of the New Republic in both continuities, though how and when differed between canon and saga.

Coruscant Remained Important To The Empire After Return Of The Jedi

in Legend has it that after Palpatine's first death, the Empire split into multiple factions of warlords. One such faction, led by Ysanne Isard (former Director of Imperial Intelligence), controls the Imperial Center, and the metropolis was the main stronghold of the Empire for two years after the Battle of Endor. The costly liberation of Coruscant in 6 ABY finally brought the metropolis under the control of the New Republic, but this was far from ending Coruscant's importance to the Imperial factions. Isad, Marshal Thrawn, and even the reborn Emperor Palpatine himself would lay siege to Coruscant, who forced the New Republic to temporarily adopt Dathocha V and Nespis VIII as its capital worlds.

In canon, the post-Endor Empire on Coruscant has a shorter history than in legend. The riots in Return of the Jedi plunge Earth into civil war as citizens rebel against the Empire. While the Empire wasn't split into the same factions of warlords as it was in the saga, the now headless government struggled to maintain control of its capital, with Palpatine's friend and protégé Galius Lax methodically ensuring the Empire's demise (and sowing the seeds of rebirth a year after the Battle of Endor).

Coruscant Lost Its Place As The Galactic Capital

In the legend, Coruscant will remain the New Republic's capital until the Yuuzhan Vong terraforming the world on ABY 27, causing the New Republic to adopt Mon Calamari as its new capital. The successor state of the New Republic, the Federation of the Galactic Freedom Federation, will recapture Coruscant (renamed Yuuzhan Tal) and make it its capital. In the following era, Coruscant would be claimed by the triumvirate of Darth Krayt's Sith Empire, Sith Alliance, and Galactic Federation.

Coruscant will also not maintain the capital of the New Republic in canon continuity. Canon's New Republic will feature a rotating capital world, with Coruscant being the first and Chandrila and Nacadia being its successors. According to the events of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the capital of the New Republic was Hosnian Prime, which the First Order destroyed with its superweapon at Starkiller Base in Ilum.