Star Wars has now disproved this terrible Return of the Jedi theory

After four decades, Star Wars has finally tackled a lingering question from the end of Return of the Jedi: what happened to the Ewoks after the destruction of the second Death Star? This isn’t about the variations of force ghosts you see depending on the version of the movie; it’s about the fate of the cute little creatures on Endor.

In the ’90s, astrophysicist Curtis Saxton analyzed the fallout of the Rebel victory and concluded that the destruction would have disastrous effects on Endor’s native population. He theorized that “no animal larger than a few kilograms and incapable of long sheltered hibernation could survive the Endorian calamity,” meaning the entire ecosystem would suffer greatly due to the chaos unleashed by the movie’s events.

However, fast forward 40 years, and Star Wars has provided a different narrative. In the short story “Lost in the Woods” by S.T. Bende, featured in Star Wars Insider #221, it’s revealed that Endor’s forests and its inhabitants—both Ewoks and Rebels—were just fine after the credits rolled on Return of the Jedi.

We already had hints that Endor didn’t bear the brunt of the debris from the Death Star, thanks to The Rise of Skywalker. In that film, a significant amount of wreckage fell on Kef Bir, an ocean moon that characters Rey, Poe, and Finn visit. The stunning visuals there provided a rare highlight for The Rise of Skywalker.

Other Star Wars materials have acknowledged some of Saxton’s theories. For example, the explosion of the Death Star affected gravity in that part of the galaxy, leading to bizarre phenomena that remain unexplained. Saxton suggested there would be “intangible” impacts on the environment that would be hard to measure, and that certainly seems to hold true.

As a big fan of the Ewoks, I’m thrilled that Star Wars chose to preserve the charm of these little creatures thriving after toppling a tyrannical regime. I really didn’t want to imagine Wicket and his friends suffering through a nuclear winter just because they helped take down a weapon of mass destruction.

Now we can rest easy knowing they’re alive and well! Honestly, the next time I watch the Star Wars saga in order, I’ll enjoy it even more, reveling in the downfall of the Galactic Empire. Sometimes, all we want is a bit of escapism!