Caution: Potential spoilers might be found in this post.
Being a Star Wars fan is tough these days. Especially if you are one of the old timers. I think our perspective is wildly different that those that got started with the prequels. I started out when I was seven and have been a huge fan ever since. While I eye roll and scroll past all the criticisms of the films on social media, I am now guilty of being a critical fan. I did not like the story line for The Rise of Skywalker.
I really feel like us old timers understand the Skywalker saga better than newer and younger fans. Some of the critique flying around is that The Rise of Skywalker is fanservice and not true to the spirit of the story. If it is fanservice, then what fans are they catering to? If I were writing the last chapter in the Skywalker story it would look very different that what we were given.
It sounds like we will never know what the original script looked like so I may be in line with the what might have been, but I doubt it. I am offering up a more radical approach to what the Rise of Skywalker should have been. To me, the creators of this film were way off base.
The first six movies did well to show that the story of Anakin Skywalker is a story of redemption. As we follow the character, we are taken on the journey that Obiwan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker had to take to be his catalyst for change. A change from the dark side back to the light. We are convinced that this is how we bring balance to the force and save everyone. From Episode IV we are made very aware that Obiwan brings Luke to Vader to help facilitate this change.
Our hero in the new trilogy is Rey. Her past is a mystery at first and it seemed that the episodes competed with each other to tell her origin story. The new trilogy is focused around her being the heir apparent to Luke Skywalker. You can see lots of parallel characters from old to new to keep the same dynamic. My question is, why do we have to keep the same dynamic? How many times now have we hidden vital information in a droid? How many planet destroying space stations do we have to have? I thought it was time to let old things die, to quote Kylo Ren. To end the Skywalker story, you need to do the unexpected to give it a proper ending.
In my mind, the Rise of Skywalker would have ended like this. Ben Solo would have become Ben Skywalker by taking the name, not Rey. When Anakin found redemption, he did not live to see it out or use his life to make amends. He died in Luke's arms shifting the burden to resurrect the Jedi to his unprepared son. Rey would serve a legendary purpose in returning the last of the Skywalker bloodline to the light side and could have died an honorable death in pursuit of this. How symbolic and fulfilling would it be for Ben Solo to defeat the emperor who had imprisoned his grandfather for so long? That is a fight I want to see. Why do I want to see a predictable movie ending when I could see the actual fulfillment of a legacy? I guess I have to ask JJ Abrams that question.
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