Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

SPOILERS AHEAD -  It's been a while since I blogged here. A bunch of reasons I won't go into here but after seeing the first trailer for what they are billing as the last episode of "The Skywalker Saga". I thought it might be a good time to return....

    First off, I am one of the ones who disliked The Last Jedi. I find a lack of good editing and pointless plot twists to be at fault. In defence of Disney, if you have been around long enough how could you have missed the fact that George Lucas' original plan for Luke was to become a hermit like Obi Wan in A New Hope... but I'm not here to tear into what went wrong with that movie either. The question now is can Episode 9 get it's act together and be what the fans hunger for?

    A few days before the release of the first trailer and the title reveal I saw on Instagram a poster claiming to be leaked from the new film. I was skeptical. What a lot noticed was CP3O carrying weapons… yes, this is a poster for the new Star Wars film Revenge of the Droids!

    Ok, more serous though, I did notice what Rey is wearing in this. I had never seen it before which I thought was strange coming from a fan made poster. Where did that outfit come from? Well, we get to see a lot more of this outfit in this trailer! In fact at least the photo of Rey in this poster must have been leaked. The thing I noticed about her first outfit on Jakku in The Force Awakens is it is clearly made to resemble Jedi robes. So that begs the question, why is she wearing Jedi robes unless at some point in her life she was with a Jedi. That does not add up with Kylo's, you are nobody pitch. Also while remarking on her outfit the color tells you something if they are playing the same game as with the original trilogy. In that Luke's clothing symbolizes where he was in the story. You will notice in The Return of the Jedi Luke wears black until the very end when his shirt opens to reveal white. This symbolizes Luke's decision to not turn to the dark side. In The Last Jedi you will notice Rey's clothing darkens from her original Jakku outfit and like Luke is tested, tempted to the Dark Side but she as well chooses the light. We now see Rey dressed in all white. I don't know if that can give us info on the story line of The Rise of Skywalker but I feel it's an interesting detail.

    Now lets look at the title...
    When The Last Jedi was revealed it told a lot about where the story was going. Again another strike against The Last Jedi. At this title unveiling I expected something final like "Balance of the Force".But no, we get "The Rise of Skywalker"! I had a, are you kidding moment when I saw it the first time! It was obviously not what I was expecting. After it sat in my brain a minute. I started to get excited...what on earth does that title mean?!?!

    So, I'm going to throw a few ideas out there for you. Who is Skywalker? Well, at this point the one that we know of as "Skywalker" is Luke... who died in The Last Jedi. Luke is also speaking in the trailer telling Rey that she has been given all the knowledge and the fight is now hers. Luke is a force ghost at this point and I greatly doubt he is the rising "Skywalker".

    Who is Skywalker?
    Well, there is no one living that actually can go by that name that we know of... and my mind goes to Rey. Is she somehow Luke's daughter? I can argue more against this theory then for it. I'm going to have to force myself to sit down and watch The Last Jedi again to look for more clues but I think in one scene Luke flat out asks her "Who are you?" If he had a daughter out there somewhere he sure didn't look like he knew about it. There is that one scene where Anakin's lightsaber calls to her like she had some connection with it's past owners like possibly a blood connection but who knows what they were getting at there. It's possible she has an original Star Wars character parent but going on what we know so far it's unlikely it's Luke. Quite honestly Han Solo seems like a better candidate. We know he had a girlfriend who could be force sensitive going by her connection with Darth Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Up to this date Rey is up in the air but unlikely a "Skywalker" more like a Solo.
    Lets look at Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo. Well, that speaks for it's self. Ben is a Solo not a Skywalker though he has Skywalker Blood in him. Can he come and claim the name "Skywalker" to spite his uncle? Guess it's possible but a stretch to title it, The Rise of Skywalker. One possibility that crossed my mind was if the Jedi end perhaps a new force wilding group could call themselves "Skywalker" in honor of Luke. Who knows... But it is a compelling title unlike "The Last Jedi".

    Now lets get to the meat of the story. Where are they going with this?
    Watching the trailer the first time I almost did it with the sound turned down! I did not see that coming! I'm going to give you my theories as to what is going on. Some people find this plot twist silly and I bet some fans are not aware of it (I missed it for YEARS!) Apparently some fans hate it so much they want to pretend it is not there... but it is and it is a huge plot twist.
    In the Prequels Anakin is said by his mother that he did not have a father which fit with a Jedi prophecy that such would bring "balance to the force". However in Revenge of the Sith it is made fairly clear that Anakin may indeed have a father, from a curtain point of view... Darth Sidious's master Darth Plagueis had found a way to create life. Anakin is the creation of Darth Plagueis and is why Darth Sidious is so interested in him from the very beginning. In the same conversation it is noted that only one had ever gained the ability to cheat death. But it is un clear who that was...
    But back to Anakin. He is thought by several Jedi like Obi Wan to be the one who brings balance... it is assumed by many fans that is Anakin's roll as well... but what if that is not what is going on at all? What if Anakin and his descendants are just the results of a Sith science experiment with the force and Anakin was never the one they think he is?

    What if it's really Rey?

    I do believe Rey has been around Jedi due to her clothing and the fact she seems to be hidden here on a remote planet with the Millennium Falcon. So frustrating. So many variables! We do know many of Luke's students were murdered and some went to the dark side. In Rey's vision in The Force Awakens it looks as if Rey is being hidden from The Knights of Ren. 

Who hid her?
    I'm pretty convinced again that is wasn't Luke. Leia, Kylo, and Maz seemed to be the only one who has much of a clue as who she is and Kylo seems to be the only one who knows exactly who she is. Here's my thought, what if Kylo is the one who hid her? For some reason his relationship with her is so strong he wanted to spare her life? The only other he felt that way about was his mother. This is also shown when he turns on Snoke and saves Rey. This does not fit into my theory of her being the one from the prophesy but this would show a much closer connection to Rey then a fellow student in Jedi school. I would say it is more like they are siblings. That goes back to Han and Qi'ra. We don't know what went on in Han and Leia's marriage. Is there any chance he and Qira got back together? Maybe Ben's half sister? I believe if Han and Leia had another child together they would both realize it was Rey. However had it been a short affair Qi'ra could have never let him know... Rey belongs to someone even if it is the force or Disney messed this up good. I'll leave it at that.

    Insert evil laugh here... Did the Emperor really survive? This would not be a new idea as in the Old EU the Emperor did return by creating clones to live in. I'll say one thing about the trailer to this new and so called last installment of the Skywalker Saga, it sparked my interest which is surprising considering how bad The Last Jedi was. So I'm still holding on to a little "Hope".

The Force Awakens

The Force Awakens

   I did not know what to expect with this movie. Disney was making a gamble on this. The prequels were hated by so many. (not by me) It's not like Star Wars fans will love anything labeled Star Wars.
   To me I have read 40+ EU novels so now the future of those become uncertain. Jaina, Jacen, Mara Jade... what will happen to these beloved Old EU characters? (I'll call it OEU for short)
    I know this review comes late. I saw TFA when it was still in theaters but now I have watched it a number of times and have noticed a number of details I missed at first. Looking at it through the eyes of an OEU fan...
    In TFA the New Republic apparently didn't rise like it did in the OEU. In the OEU Coruscant once again becomes the Capital of the Republic. Mon Mothma it's leader and eventually Leia takes her place. The fall of the New Republic comes with the Yuuzhan Vong. This would take place before TFA so I guess you could use that to explain why Coruscant is no where to be seen in TFA but what I got from the movie was the New Republic never took hold and this First Order is what rises from the fall of the Empire.
    As in the OEU Luke Skywalker starts a Jedi school where he does teach his niece and two nephews. Jacen and Jaina (twins) and Anakin. In TFA so far we know he has a nephew named Ben not Jacen but clearly the actor was cast to look a bit like Jacen who also ends up falling to the Dark Side. There is a Ben in the OEU but it's Luke's son whom he has with Mara Jade who is one of the most beloved character's in the OEU.
    That brings us to Rey. A girl left on a planet that is quite reminiscent of Tatooine but it is not. So what happened to Tatooine? Anyway... I love when they show she lives in an AT- AT walker and made a doll that looks like a rebel solder! So who is Rey? We know she is force sensitive and is waiting for someone to come for her. Later Leia tells her they won't come but she should seek out Luke... well, that crosses Luke off the list of who was coming back for her. Also at one point she states "Thought Luke Skywalker was a myth" this is puzzling if she had been in his Jedi school and doesn't know he is even real. So I cross Luke off the list. Is she Han and Leia's daughter? Ben's sister like with Jacen and Jaina? This is puzzling too cause wouldn't Leia and Han have known this was their daughter and told her? Leia just simply says that Rey knows who was coming back for her wasn't coming back... which makes me wonder... who can not come back? Yeah, Han. So is this their daughter? Leia nor Han seem as emotionally connected with her then with Ben. I really believe she is either a Skywalker or a Solo but not sure which.
    Just a personal tidbit: Rey looks so much like my mother at that age it is CREEPY! Since I look a bit like my mom I guess I found my Star Wars look a like :-) Rey costume in the works!
    Sticking with Luke Skywalker it seems in TFA his school failed and he split. This is very typical for Luke in the OEU as well. He constantly battled the idea of what if one of his students fell. He also ran off for this reason in the OEU. He does so in one of my favorite trilogy The Dark Fleet Crisis. He also has students fall, one being his nephew Jacen Solo. But is Luke running here or more looking for something? Could he be searching for information about the Jedi? In the OEU he had little to go on but his short time with Yoda and Obwan. In one series there was a holocron with the secrets of the Jedi. Could he be searching for something like that?
    OK, here's the thing... I've been into Star Wars for years and have read many books (I've even played KOTOR)... who on earth are The Knights of Ryn!?! I missed this somewhere... I see people talk about them like they are old news and I've never heard of them nor heard of any knights in Star Wars other then Jedi Knights, so you got me on that one....
    Snoke. I've heard this and that on who Snoke could be. First I cross Darth Vader off the list. "Why?" Well, think about it. In Return of the Jedi we she Anakin as a force ghost showing he was indeed saved. As may times as the first trilogy was messed with I don't think they are going to mess with that. I will admit I've heard some interesting theory but I just don't think they are going to go in that direction. Let's look at the OEU. Who does come back? Emperor Palpatine. In the comic series Dark Empire Emperor Palpatine returns using cloned bodies to live in. His gole is to take over the body of Leia's unborn child Anakin. Also Luke gets pulled under by the dark side and is really never the same in the future because of it. But my point is, I would lean to this being Emperor Palpatine. In the Rogue One movie coming in Dec. Someone pointed out the Emperor kneeling at a bakta tank in one of the clips... interesting... could this be his old master... or maybe a body he has cloned to move into like with the OEU Dark Empire. Mara Jade later on doubts the Emperor ever returned being she would have felt him if was alive but that may have been just to cover up and inconsistency.
    Speaking of inconsistencies. In the OEU Jedi could not read your thoughts. Only feel your emotions. Vader was able to discover Leia was Luke's sister not by reading his mind but reading how he felt about her. So Kylo Ryn seeing the map in Rey's head would not be possible.
    Another thing is with the release of TFA they started using the term "the light side" in fact that was not a real term before. There was only the "Dark side"
    Random notes. Starkiller sound a lot like Star Crusher which destroyed stars. In the OEU a student of Luke's, Kyp Durron turns to the Darkside and runs off with this weapon.
    Anyone ever wonder if Finn was related to Lando? And come on, Fin likes Rey. Fin is not gay. I think they threw that out there just to get people talking knowing people would.
    Who is Poe anyway? I don't know what part he really plays in all this...
    Captian Phazma... no. Why? Just trying to get another female in the cast? Yeah, everyone was just dieing to see a female storm trouper finally, weren't you? They can lose her if you ask me. I don't see the point. She's just annoying.
    One thing had me puzzled, why did Kylo Ryn keep hitting his blaster woud? Was there a meaning to that? Coolist effect in the movie... the frozen blaster bolt! I'm not kidding, I though that was really cool!

    OK. Now the BIGGIE! Before they decided to do this last trilogy it was common knowledge that Harrison Ford would not be in another Star Wars film unless they killed him off. They were going to kill him in The Empire Strikes Back but didnt. So yeah, I even told my friends this when they asked me about what did I think might happen in the new movie. I don't know what was wrong with me. I sort of forgot that fact when I started watching it. He was so good in the part! When it happened I was kind of shocked! They really killed him! They REALLY killed him! Wow... that was a little hard and I was never even that big of a Han Solo fan though he was winning me over a little.

    Last but not least. The whole silent Luke deal is Epic! Top billing, no lines, and a couple of minutes of film time... how much did he get paid for this? You know it's funny after Star Wars Mark Hammel became a voice actor... back to Star Wars, no lines....

( I came across this on Wookiepedia. I wondered why they only gave Luke a minute of screen time in TFA. I liked the fact it made Han more of the Star and Luke gets the next film but here is what they say...
'"Luke's minimal screentime in The Force Awakens was decided by screenwriter Michael Arndt, who felt whenever the character entered his draft of the script, he would upstage Rey and the audience would cease caring about her. Ultimately, he, J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan agreed Luke would have to withdraw from the story and become a plot device instead.[42] Hamill still attended the cast's script reading, thereby concealing Luke's role, and was assigned to read the stage directions. "It was a way of having [him] be part of every scene, every moment, not just spiritually or thematically or narratively, but actually," Abrams said. "Having his voice in it made the read through a better experience for everyone.")