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A relativley simple question: The death of the Emperor and Darth Vader at Endor, combined with the de-centralized nature of Imperial Command beneath them caused the New Republic to come to power in a state of near-anarchy with far-ranging consequences to come. So, my question is simply: Could the Rebellion have overthrown the Empire without disrupting the Galaxy as it did?

Only by embracing the mechanisms of the Empire, and attempting to affect a long-term change from within. Which means they need a figurehead to apparantly take the reigns of power, preferably one with force abilities.

A prerequisite is a quiet assassination of the Emperor, followed by a carefully planned operation to take control. Actually, Darth Vader turning Luke would be the best plausible opening for this chain of events to occur.

I would say that it was inevitable. The Empire did something in two decades that had not happened in 30,000 years, it threw almost the entire galaxy (excluding the Unknown Regions) under the direct authority of one governement (the Republic allowed for much more sectorial autonomy and didn't cover as much area.) When such a commanding and dominating force collapsed, it was inveitable that petty war lords with Imperial hardware and newly free systems disgruntled and suspicious from years of totalitarian domination would prevent a stable galactic government, at least for several decades. There was no way that the galaxy at large could maintain stability without putting it under another military regime, or giving it time to heal.

A prerequisite is a quiet assassination of the Emperor, followed by a carefully planned operation to take control. Actually, Darth Vader turning Luke would be the best plausible opening for this chain of events to occur.

Wouldn't that just kinda leave things the way they were? I know Luke came back form the path of the Dark Side in the Dark Empire comics, but even if I accepted that, he wouldn't have had the help of Leia or the unborn Anakin.
Vader would have just taken up the mantle as Emperor and Luke would have started hunting down the rebels just like Anakin had hunted down the Jedi. Of course that is all just conjecture on my part... would make a cool Infinities comic though.[/quote]

Personally, I wouldn't have any objections to the Empire of just prior to the Vong invasion taking things over. Maintaining a strong military and an effective dictatorship but giving their citizens a very genertous amount of liberty (You can't say they were authoritarian Han Solo himself can sit in the biggest library on their capitol world and just start trying to get into the most classified and secretive files they have).

It would have to be somesort of armistice arrangement with the Imperial State whereby there would be extensive electoral and constitutional reform.

One admiral proposed that the New Republic Provisional Council - with modification would replace the Emperor's Ruling Council, and call for new elections for a reconvened Imperial Senate, with a figurehead constitutional monarch in Palpatine's niece. She was assassinated by Noghri, unsurprisingly.

The Admiral, not the niece.