10 Things About Star Wars You Should Know Before Seeing the New Movie

The Jedi Order is the light side of the Force, or the good guys, and they dedicate their lives to the attainment of peace while rocking robes in calming desert tones. The Sith Order is the dark side of the Force (the bad guys), and they choose to use their powers for evil, personal use, since they believe the dark side is much stronger and usually dress like futuristic Dementors. As the Jedi strive for calm tranquility to maintain inner and societal peace, the Sith power comes from a self-destructive passion, which leads to very different goals than what the Jedi Order would find acceptable. This is why Yoda famously warns, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."

There are also two warring factions: the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The Empire is the evil government whose leaders favor the dark side, and the Rebels are an uprising dedicated to getting rid of the Empire so the democratic Galactic Republic can be reinstated. In episodes four, five, and six, Luke is the only Jedi fighting with the Rebels since Darth Vader exterminated the rest of them (except for Obi-Wan Kenobi) way back in episode three.

This much-feared, deadly bounty hunter appears in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and is one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe. He works with Jabba the Hut and Darth Vader to capture Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon in an effort to lure Luke Skywalker into a trap, and their plot is a success. Boba captures Han, freezes him in carbonite, and brings him to Luke's home planet of Tatooine to collect the bounty Jabba has on him. Shortly afterward, the Rebel Alliance arrives to save the day and rescue Han, and a battle breaks out over a giant pit housing a nasty creature called a Sarlacc, which slowly digests you over 1,000 years (*screams internally*). In the midst of the fighting, Han inadvertently knocks Boba into the pit, where the infamous character meets a grisly demise.

If you decide you want to go all in and watch each movie before the new one hits theaters, there are a few things you should know. The proper order to watch the Star Wars saga is a heavily debated topic among fans, since the movies were released out of chronological order. The films in original trilogy, which came to theaters between 1977 and 1983, are referred to as episodes four (Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope), five (Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back), and six (Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi). Between 1999 and 2005, three prequels were made, known as episodes one (Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace), two (Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones), and three (Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith). The new movie is episode seven, picking up three decades after the end of episode six. When it comes to watching them, there are few options you can choose:

1. Chronological order (episode 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) — As far as the timeline of the overarching story is concerned, this makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, the prequels are boring and terribly made — like, really boring, and really terribly made — and a lot of people suggest not watching them at all, so going this route might end up being a tremendous waste of your time.

2. The order the films were first released (episode 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, and 3) — The original trilogy is the best by far, so by starting out with all of the action and characters from those films, first-time viewers won't necessarily be turned off right away by the prequels (again: hot, flaming, boring garbage).

3) Machete Order (episode 4, 5, 2, 3, and 6) — This alternative, the brain child of computer software blogger Rod Hilton in 2011, eliminates the need to watch globally hated episode one (*insert praise hands emoji here*), and after Darth Vader's big reveal in episode 5 ("Luke, I am your father"), flashbacks to the prequels to show how he became one of the biggest villains in cinematic history. As Hilton puts it, the Machete Order "gets to start with the film that does the best job of establishing the Star Wars universe, Episode IV, and it ends with the most satisfying ending, Episode VI."