The most decisive engagement of the Galactic Civil War, the battle marked the beginning of the end of the Empire and saw the birth of the New Republic. It saw the destruction of the second Death Star and the deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine.

The Alliance had learned of an even more powerful second Death Star being built at Endor and was determined to destroy it before it could be completed. Bothan spies also learned that the Emperor would also be on the station until it was completed. It turned out that Palpatine had planted both pieces of information as a trap for the Alliance.

As Admiral Ackbar gathered the Alliance fleet, a strike team was sent ahead to sabotage the shield generator protecting the unfinished Death Star. The team led by Han Solo and including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO and a squad of Rebel commandos, used a stolen Imperial shuttle to get through the Empire's forces and down to Endor's forest moon. The timing had to be perfect. The strike team had to disable or destroy the shield generator by the time the Rebel fleet emerged from hyperspace so that the surprise attack could begin.

But the "unfinished" Death Star had a fully operational superlaser. And a full legion of stormtroopers and other Imperial soldiers were waiting to defend the shield generator and capture the Rebel commandos. While the strike team battled on Endor's moon, the Rebel fleet arrived to find the protective shield still in place.

The Emperor's plan called for the Imperial fleet to remain in reserve on the far side of the moon while TIE fighters destroyed and outnumbered the Rebel fighters. Then, the Death Star's superlaser would destroy all of the Alliance capital ships. The Rebel fleet gained some time by heading towards the Imperial fleet and using them as shields.

On Endor the native Ewoks helped free the Rebel strike team, allowing them to complete their mission. When the shield generator was destroyed, the protective shield surrounding the Death Star disappeared. Once the shield was down, Lando Calrissian and his starfighters moved in to attack the Death Star. The Millennium Falcon and Wedge Antilles's X-Wing flew into the Death Star's superstructure and fired proton torpedoes at the battle station's power regulator. The resulting explosions destroyed the Death Star.

With the Death Star destroyed and the Emperor and Darth Vader both killed, the dark side became diffused and Imperial forces were plunged into confusion. What remained of the Imperial fleet, scattered to different parts of the galaxy.

The Empire was destroyed and freedom had been restored to the galaxy.