Star Wars: Summary and Review
My personal understandings and musings on America’s most beloved space odyssey.
Purists complain the new movies ruined the original trilogy, newcomers say the old movies don’t hold water compared to the new movies, 30-somethings are still sorting out their complicated feelings concerning Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman. (I agree with George Lucas on this one, “Hayden did a great job, you just didn’t like the character.”) As a whole, there may not be another series with such a starkly divided fan base. Certainly not one with so much consumer popularity. The Majority of the feedback from fans across the globe, at least post release, of each of the previous six movies has been incredibly negative.
It begs the question — If you hate (or strongly dislike) 2/3 of the movie franchise, are you really a fan?
Fans of the original trilogy can’t seem to embrace the new movies — clinging to a lost hero and angry that he is no longer the central character in the story. That’s just it though — this is no longer Luke Skywalker’s story. Star Wars is the story of a generations long galactic war stirred to a boiling point by mastermind Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, known publicly as Sheev Palpatine.
The Star Wars universe begins in a galaxy far, far away, hundreds of thousands of years ago. The world created by George Lucas is an examination a universe that was created by a “big bang” and pushed forward through cross species evolution. The exact opposite of the world we live in, created by God, wherein there is no proof of cross species evolution having ever occurred.
The Star Wars canon universe spans dozens of comic book stories, books series, movies, video games, and TV shows. Let’s start with a brief (well, as much as it could be) summary of the Star Wars canon timeline as I understand and accept it.
Star Wars from the beginning:
In the beginning there was nothing, then, through spontaneous generation, enters three beings. A Father, a Son, and a Daughter. The Daughter was of the light, the Son was of the dark, and the Father was charged with keeping the balance between the two. These beings had the ability to create life, and thus the Star Wars universe began.
Over the course of thousands of years, beings evolve throughout the galaxy, and a number of those become sensitive to the force. Eventually those beings gather together on the planet Ahch-To and start the Jedi Order. The Jedi dedicate themselves to peace and justice throughout the universe.
A Jedi eventually falls away from The Order to study the dark side of the force and the Sith are formed. The Sith build a temple atop of an enormous source of dark kyber krystals (These rocks are attuned to the force, Jedi and Sith use them to power their lightsabers.) A massive battle between the Jedi and Sith ensue, a Sith super-weapon is fired, and everyone in the battle is petrified.
Another Jedi falls away from the Order and starts his own club called the Ordu Aspectu. These former Jedi seek out immortality.
Momin, another being strong with the force, is trained by a Sith Lord. He kills his master, forms his own army, and charges the Jedi at Mustafar. The Jedi are victorious, but Mustafar is transformed into a lava covered wasteland. Momin was able to imbibe his spirit into his helmet, making it a powerful dark artifact. The unwitting Jedi take the helmet back to their temple for safe keeping, not knowing that it exudes darkness and has the potential to corrupt the minds of the Jedi nearby and cloud their force power.
Next, the Jedi win an enormous battle against the Sith on Coruscant, driving them almost completely out of existence. In an attempt to put a lid on the dark Sith power, the Jedi decide to construct their temple on top of the Sith shrine on Coruscant. Over time, these decisions, in addition to Palpatine’s corruptions contribute to the Jedi becoming weak, corrupted by the dark side, and all but losing their powers. By the time we meet Mace Windu a thousand years later, he admits that the Jedi can no longer see the future and are all but cut off from the force.
“ I think it is time we inform the senate that our ability to use the force has diminished. “ -Mace Windu Ep. 3
After the battle on Coruscant, the Sith and Jedi continue to fight the Sith Wars for hundreds of years. The Mandalorian people join up with the Sith and retake Coruscant for a time before being unquestionably defeated by the Jedi. The Sith realize in their numbers, they became an obvious threat. They implement the “rule of two” (There will only/always be a master and an apprentice.) and decide to live in the shadows, believing they can achieve more through a sneaky perversion of power than through an outright war between the Sith and Jedi. The only Sith left is Darth Bane, and he takes Darth Zannah has his apprentice.
The Old Republic is dismantled and the Galactic Republic is formed. A partnership of planets and peoples determined to keep peace in the galaxy. The people of the Galactic Republic live without war for a thousand years.
Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious are the latest Sith and Sith Master. Darth Sidious learns everything he can from Plagueis and then murders him in his sleep. In his quest to create the perfect Sith apprentice and eventual army to overthrow the Jedi and rule the galaxy, Sidious creates at least two beings by force manipulation. He hides these beings in the galaxy and treies to influence and corrupt their hearts and minds from the moment of their conception.
Publicly, Sidious goes by Sheev Palpatine, and has a desire to throw the Empire into chaos and rise to political power in the Galactic Senate. He chooses the son of a witch to be his Sith apprentice, Darth Maul.
Meanwhile, Jedi Master Dooku takes Qui-Gon Jinn for his Jedi Learner. Dooku has a love for learning the prophecies of old Jedi mystics and instills the respect for these old Jedi ways in his young Padawan. At the same time, Jedi Master Sifo Dyas has visions of an upcoming war with the Sith. Sifo Dyas is called a war monger by the Jedi Council (who are continue to become less and less powerful) and is stripped of his Jedi status. He commissions a clone army on his own on behalf of the Galactic Republic to aid in the battle he knows will come.
Jedi Master Dooku is extremely disheartened by the Jedi’s choices in dealing wtih Sifo Dyas. He voluntarily leaves the Jedi Order and goes back to his home planet and his old title, Count Dooku.
Qui-Gon Jinn, now a Jedi Master himself, takes Obi-Wan Kenobi as his Padawan Learner. Jinn is distant emotionally from the Jedi because of the situation concerning the removal of Sifo Dyas and retirement of Dooku. Qui-Gon Jinn receives a vision from the force and knows all of the prophecies of the Jedi mystics to be true. Because he is distant physically and emotionally from the Masters on the council, Qui-Gon Jinn’s powers continue to grow, and he is able to receive force visions of the future while others such as Yoda and Mace Windu cannot. This is extremely frustrating to Qui-Gon Jinn who becomes more outspoken in his disagreements with the Jedi council.
Meanwhile, Darth Sidious’ two force-babies are starting to grow up. One of them knows what they are, fights the corruption from the dark side, and goes into hiding to escape Sidious. The other, Anakin Skywalker, is left unawares, and his young heart is exposed to Palpatine. Easily twisted and sculpted by the evil Sidious. Anakin grows up a slave on the planet Tatooine where he and his mother are treated terribly and routinely beaten mercilessly by their slave master.
Palpatine gathers allies to form a Separatist group led publicly by the Trade Federation. He convinces the leaders of the Trade Federation to set up a trade blockade outside his own home planet of Naboo. He hopes to influence Naboo’s young queen, Padme Amadala, to force the issue of war in the Galactic Senate.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are dispatched to extradite the Naboo queen and bring her to safety. They are forced off course on their way back to Coruscant and end up on Tatooine. Sidious is monitoring the planet because it’s where his most beloved force-baby, Anakin, is hidden. He sends Darth Maul to kill the two Jedi and protect, but the Jedi escape with the young boy Anakin in tow.
Although it is not how he planned to bring Anakin into the fray so quickly, Sidious understands this move will keep Anakin close and make him easier to manipulate as he grows in the force.
Qui-Gon Jinn realizes the boy has force abilities more powerful and concentrated than anyone he has ever known. He believes the boy is linked to an old Jedi prophecy about one who will bring balance to the force.
Darth Sidious uses the chaos he has orchestrated across the Galactic Empire to throw the current Galactic Chancellor out of office and assumes the position himself as “Chancellor Palpatine”.
The Jedi, who are not supposed to be involved in political matters, allow themselves to be manipulated by Palpatine and the dark force. The Jedi become the personal mercenaries of the Galactic Empire, and now by extension, the personal mercenaries of Darth Sidious himself.
The Jedi fight successfully against the Trade Federation’s blockade on Naboo, Qui-Gon Jinn dies in battle, and Anakin Skywalker becomes Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi Padawan despite the Masters on the Jedi council’s concern over the anger and fear they can sense in Anakin’s heart.
Dooku was watching all of this unfold from afar and felt like he needed to take action. Dooku knew he couldn’t go to the Jedi who were too corrupted by Sidious at that point. He looked instead for help from the Separatists. A group of allies who, despite their affiliation with the Trade Federation, were looking for freedom from the Galactic Republic that was becoming more and more corrupt and heavy-handed.
Dooku’s actions alert Darth Sidious and a choice has to be made. Dooku decides to join Sidious and destroy the dark side from within. Sidious orders Dooku to kill his friend, former Jedi Master Sifo Dyas in a show of loyalty. Dooku, knowing he must prove his allegiance to Sidious, complies.
Chancellor Palpatine takes a public interest in the training of Anakin Skywalker, becoming a mentor or grandfather figure to the boy. Palpatine plants seeds of mistrust between Anakin and the Jedi, and continues to twist Anakin’s heart and mind to the dark side.
Dooku leads dozens of more star systems into alliance with the Trade Federation, officially starting the war Sifo Dyas foresaw years prior.
Despite being in a very real war, Naboo Senator Padme Amadala is extremely anti-military. She continues to rally against the creation of a galactic defense to fight The Separatist alliance. Anakin Skywalker is assigned to her for protection and they fall in love. Anakin is constantly concerned over the life of his mother and for years tells Obi-Wan Kenobi and the other members of the Jedi council that he fears for her life and believes her to be in danger. Obi-Wan tells Anakin that he shouldn’t care and ignores his worries, sewing more division between Anakin and the Jedi.
Anakin has a particularly harsh vision of his mother’s suffering and he and Padme decide to travel to Tatooine to check on her. He finds her on her death bed, raped, beaten, and tortured by Tusken Raiders. Anakin unleashes the full weight of his power, his emotions automatically grabbing at the dark side of the force, and he becomes more powerful than he’s ever been. Anakin murders the entire Raider population including their women and children.
Obi-Wan discovers the clone army commissioned by Sifo Dyas and the Galactic Republic gives permission to Palpatine to put the clone army into action against the Trade Federation and Separatists under the direction of the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan is captured and Dooku tells him the truth — Palpatine is a Sith Lord, and the Jedi have been corrupted into doing his bidding. The Sith are leading the Galactic Republic and a Sith is in charge of the entire Jedi Order. Dooku begs Obi-Wan to join him and overthrow the Sith. Obi-Wan doesn’t believe him and escapes. The first battle of the Clone Wars begins and Darth Sidious implements “order 66” which turns the clones against their Jedi Masters, and the Jedi Order is suddenly all but extinct.
Anakin and Padme get married in secret at the first opportunity following the opening battle of the Clone Wars. This is an action outlawed by the Jedi and further alienates Anakin from the group.
Anakin is now a Jedi Knight and is given his own Padawan Learner, Ahsoka. After some years, under the corruption of Chancellor Palpatine, who wants Anakin back under his thumb at Jedi headquarters, Ahsoka is accused of murder and thrown out of the Jedi Order. Anakin knows Ahsoka is innocent and risks his life to prove such. But Ahsoka is disillusioned with the Jedi and knows the depth of their corruption, so she leaves The Order upon the clearing of her name.
Meanwhile, Darth Sidious orders the construction of a new super weapon, built by scientists who he has placed under the influence of the dark force.
Padme becomes pregnant with Anakin’s child and Anakin starts to have force visions of her death. However, he is back at the Jedi Temple and under the influence of Sheev Palpatine, and doesn’t realize these visions can’t be trusted. Anakin knows he can’t go to the Jedi with this issue because of how corrupt the organization has become, and because of how heartless they were concerning the death of his mother. So, he starts to look elsewhere for the power to save her.
Palpatine, knowing all of this, seeks out Anakin, admits he is a Sith Lord, and tells Anakin he will teach him how to save Padme. Anakin, now fully aware that Dooku was right — the Sith is leading the Jedi and the Galactic Republic, decides to join Palpatine in a bid to save Padme and destroy all of the corruption in the galaxy once and for all. Sidious crowns Anakin, Darth Vader.
Anakin’s turn to the dark side, like Dooku’s, comes with the need to prove complete and total loyalty to Palpatine. Anakin really doesn’t care because he understands how amoral and unscrupulous the Jedi have become. He kills Dooku, Mace Windu, all of the next generation of Jedi (called younglings), and the entire Separatist leadership group.
Padme follows Anakin and they meet on Mustafar. Anakin tries to explain the situation he is in, and begs her to join him, to start a new Republic free of evil and political corruption. Padme doesn’t believe him and decides to stay allied with the Galactic Republic. Obi-Wan Kenobi, who stowed away on Padme’s ship, interrupts the conversation between her and Anakin, and for a second, Anakin thinks Padme could be under the influence of the Jedi or Paplatine and starts to choke her. She passes out and a fight ensues between the Jedi Master and his former Padawan. Obi-Wan Kenobi defeats Anakin in a lightsaber battle that leaves Anakin without arms or legs and his entire body mutilated and burned.
Palpatine is furious. He worked to create Anakin and raise him for decades in total mind control to create the perfect Sith, and now, there is almost nothing to show for it.
Palpatine picks up the pieces of his failed plan by killing Padme with the force, and giving her force life to Anakin to keep him alive. He builds Anakin a suit to help him breath, but the suit is designed to also keep him in constant pain. Palpatine needs to cut off Anakin’s ability to use the light side of the force and snuff out his abiltiy to love and empathize. Anakin, now restricted in his movements because of his injuries and his suit, has to rely more on force power and grows stronger in the force than anyone before him.
Sidious declares himself Emperor of a new galactic government he calls, the Galactic Empire. Yoda, Obi-Wan, and the remaining Jedi go into hiding, now fully aware and ashamed of the corruption that caused the fall of the Jedi Order, they commit to remain in hiding. Before dying, Padme gives birth to two children, Luke and Leia.
Leia is sent to live with Bale Organa, Viceroy of Alderaan. Republic sympathizers, known now as the Resistance, believe she will be safe there, as Alderaan is a peaceful and neutral planet that doesn’t have direct involvement in the war. Luke is sent to live with his Uncle on Tatooine. They believe the planet’s force energy is so muddled because of how much time Anakin and Palpatine spent there, that Luke’s presence will go undetected. Also, Vader would never have the desire to visit Tatooine because of all that transpired there in his past.
Luke grows up with dreams of becoming and fighter pilot and hearing stories of the heroic Jedi, he is able to explore and experiment with the force growing up. Leia however, is protected in a different way, the force in her is buried so deep, its almost undetectable.
Construction on Darth Sidious’ super-weapon continues. The scientist in charge of the project, Galen Erso is not as susceptible to the dark force manipulation as Sidious think. Erso realizes that Sidious can build the weapon with or without his help. He decides to slow play the building of the newly christened, Death Star, and place a secret weakness in the weapon’s design.
Darth Vader raises his own band of rebels called The Inquisitors to work within Darth Sidious’ new empire. Their main job is to hunt down and kill any surviving Jedi.
A young man named Han Solo escapes slavery and destitute conditions on his home planet by joining the Empire’s military. After serving three years in the Imperial Navy, he meets a Wookie named Chewbacca being held captive and they escape, become robbers for awhile, but eventually join a band of Republic sympathizers called Infys Nest.
Galen Erso is able to get word of his plot to thwart Sidious to his daugther, Jyn Erso. Jyn forms her own band of Resistance fighters to try and save her father. Mon Mothma (the leader of the Resistance) calls out Palpatine, naming him enemy of the Resistance and starts a unified force against Palpatine and the Galactic Empire called the Rebel Alliance. The battle over the Death Star plans becomes the first major battle with a fully united Rebel Alliance. Jyn’s band is able to transmit the plans of the Death Star, including how to destroy it, to Leia Organa, who works closely with the Rebels— but Jyn and her entire team are killed in the process.
Vader feels a vergence in the force on Tatooine. Something he has felt recently but something else he hasn’t felt in a long time, and becomes suspicious about the demise of his wife, Padme and child.
Leia’s ship is captured by the Death Star, but she is able to entrust the plans and a message to two droids and sends them in an escape pod to the nearby planet Tatooine, where she knows an old Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi lives.
On Tatooine, Luke Skywalker (Vader’s son, and Palpatine’s virtual grandson) is incredibly strong with the force. More so naturally than Anakin or Palpatine as he is a generation further down in force creation, and with each new birth brings greater power. Luke, being raised in hiding away from the grasp of Palpatine, has a pure and un-corrupted mind. Luke intercepts the droids. Obi-Wan Kenobi intercepts Luke, and together they plan to flee to a Rebel base to deliver the Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance.
They secure passage on a space craft with Han Solo and Chewbacca, who are now working as smugglers, aboard their ship — The Millennium Falcon. On their way, their ship is captured by Vader and they too are forced onto the Death Star.
Vader interrogates Leia and realizes immediately she is strong with the force, albeit untrained. Leia’s use of the force is mental and strategic, and she is able to shield Vader from probing her mind and contorting her thoughts. (Leia doesn’t understand she is force-capable yet.) Darth Vader is angry at his besting by a young nobody, and when Leia refuses to give him any information about where she has hidden the plans for the Death Star — Vader lashes out. He destroys the entire planet of Alderaan with the Death Star and keeps Leia prisoner. Leia so stymies Vader, he doesn’t feel Obi-Wan or Luke’s presence on the battle station.
Luke, Han, Chewy, and the droids rescue Leia from her cell and head back to the Millennium Falcon. On the way to the ship, the group encounters Darth Vader. Obi-Wan is afraid Darth Vader will sense Luke and try to kill him, so he stalls Vader and the two fight, allowing Luke and Leia time to escape. Obi-Wan senses the light still in Vader and knows he’s vying his time until he can overthrow Sheev Palpatine once and for all. Obi-Wan voluntarily gives up his life force to become a ghost so Anakin doesn’t have to murder his old friend and do further damage to his soul. This sacrifice cloaks Vader, Leia, Luke, Han, and Chewbacca with force protection.
Leia delivers the Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance and Luke leads them in a final stand against the Imperial Forces where the Rebels successfully destroy Palpatine’s Death Star.
Luke continues his Jedi training by himself but remains in contact with Han, Chewy, and Leia. The four continue to fight for the Rebel Alliance. Leia gathers the surviving citizens of Alderaan, and Han and Chewy smuggle Rebel sympathizers to safety. Eventually, their exploits lead them face to face with Vader once again. The meeting causes Vader to start exploring his own creation and lineage, and the results lead him to decide he’s waited long enough and he creates a personal army to try and overthrow the Chancellor. Palpatine, of course, knows of Vader’s plans but believes Vader’s willingness to kill his own Master means he has fully embraced the evils of the dark side of the force. Palpatine places Vader in control of Imperial Forces, and Vader starts anew on his plan for revenge by picking off Palpatine’s greatest and most evil leaders one at a time; greatly weakening the Empire from the inside.
Luke becomes even more powerful in the force after studying Obi-Wan Kenobi’s journals. He, Han, Chewy, and Leia continue their work for the Rebel Alliance. They steal a Star Destroyer and smuggle food onto a planet being cut off from trade routes by Imperial blockade. They stir up coups and force regime change across the galaxy in support of Alliance initiatives.
The Empire begins construction on a new planet killing battle station called the Second Death Star. They discover the Rebels hidden at a base on an ice planet on the outer rim of the galaxy and attack. The Rebels are forced to flee. Luke turns to Degobah under the direction of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s force ghost in search of Jedi Master Yoda to further his training and knowledge of the force. Leigh, Han, and Chewy continue Rebel business on a mission to Cloud City where they once again encounter Darth Vader.
Vader is again mystified by Leia’s ability to block his force mind-probing. She escapes, but her capture draws Luke to Vader and he leaves Degobah despite his training under Yoda being incomplete. The two talk and fight. Vader tells Luke he’s Anakin Skywalker, his father. Luke refuses to join the Vader. Vader, now desperate to play both sides, cuts Luke’s hand off, but allows him to escape.
Luke is fitted with a robot hand.
The Rebel Alliance finds out about the Second Death Star and starts planning their attack on the new battle station to coordinate with an upcoming visit to the station by Palpatine himself. Leia and Han lead a ground mission on the planet Endor to disable the Second Death Star’s shield systems. Luke, knowing he felt the light in his father at their last meeting, turns himself in to Vader. Luke hopes to turn Vader to the light side, or at the very least, distract him long enough to allow Han and Leia to disable the shield systems.
Yoda tells Luke that Leia is his sister, then becomes a force ghost.
The Chancellor, Vader, and Luke meet. The Chancellor sees Luke as the perfect replacement for an expendable Vader. Palpatine’s discontentment in his created soldier’s obvious imperfections. He is so distracted by the situation with Luke that he is unable to foresee momentarily. Vader senses this and takes advantage of the long-awaited moment, kills Palpatine, and fully becomes Anakin Skywalker again before he leaves the world and becomes a force ghost.
Han and Leia are successful on Endor and the Rebel Alliancei s able to destroy the Second Death Star.
In the wake of the fall of the Empire, Mon Mothma becomes leader of the New Republic and immediately demilitarizes the Alliance. Imperial leaders retreat to a secret rendezvous point to start planning their next move. Palpatine had enacted a fail-safe years before in case he was defeated, he used the dark side to transfer some of his life force into different, powerful, inanimate objects. While Palpatine was not fully alive, he also was not fully dead. He was in search of a host body.
Han and Leia get married and become pregnant. Luke starts to hunt down old Jedi artifacts, study the ways of the force, and rebuild the Jedi Order. Leia and Han’s son, Ben Solo was born. As Leia’s son, Vader’s grandson, and Palpatine’s virtual great-grandson, the force was stronger with Ben Solo that it had ever been with anyone. Palpatine immediately begins manipulating and twisting his mind with the dark side of the force.
Luke begins his own school of Jedi apprentices, drafting Ben Solo into his first class of students. Eventually, Luke starts to have strong force visions of a dark and disturbing future for his nephew. In a moment of desperation, Luke considers killing Ben, but the moment passes, leaving Luke aghast at the propensity for evil inside of him.
Ben sees this and an altercation between him and Luke ensue, resulting in the the destruction of the school and the death of most of the other Jedi students. Ben seeks out the only place he knows he will be accepted and flees to the enemy of the Jedi, Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke has consolidated the leftover and bedraggled Empire with new allies to form a new coalition to fight the corrupt Republic called the First Order.
This fracture causes Luke, Han, and Leia to have a massive falling out, each blaming themselves or one another for what has happened to Ben Solo. Han leaves with Chewy to resume his smuggling work. Luke goes into hiding on Ahch-To, the original home of the Jedi, believing the Jedi are not to be trusted and desiring for the Order to die completely with him.
Mon Mothma steps down due to health issues and the Republic descends into corruption again. With no army, the Republic is especially vulnerable to attack. Leia Organa creates a secret group of rebels to protect the fledgling Republic called, the Resistance.
After another 15 years passes, and matters in the galaxy have gone from bad to worse. Poe Dameron, Leia Organa’s new right-hand man, and leader of a Resistance band called Black Squadron is on a mission to find Luke Skywalker and bring him back to the Resistance to help. Leia knows they can’t defeat the First Order without Luke.
Poe, being tracked heavily by the First Order and in danger of being captured, loads the only clue he has to Skywalker’s whereabouts onto the mainframe of a small droid. The droid escapes to a junk trading planet called, Jakku.
The New Order doesn’t rely on clones like the Imperial Military did, because clones are too expensive and take too long to manufacture, and they can’t rely on droids because they’re too unpredictable. Instead, they decide to form an army of kidnapped children that they’ve raised, groomed, and manipulated with the dark side of the force.
One particular storm trooper, FN-2187 sees Poe Dameron and defects, helping Poe escape with his life.
On Jakku, the droid is drawn to a vergence in the force. A girl, named Rey. Rey was abandoned by her parents as a young girl and waits in vain on Jakku for their return. In reality, Rey is a descendant of someone created by Sheev Palpatine, just as Anakin Skywalker was. Rey’s ancestors knew what they were and spent their lives hiding from the evil Darth Sidious. They sold Rey to junk traders on Jakku to hide her from Palpatine. Soon after, they were killed and Sidious, unaware of Rey’s existence, didn’t find her because he wasn’t looking for her.
FN-2187 (now nicknamed “Finn”) and Poe Dameron meet up with Rey and the droid and steal a ship to escape Jakku. The ship happens to the Millennium Falcon. It’s transponder alerts Han Solo and Chewbacca who are nearby. They decide to team up, and escape to Takodana where they elicit help from an old friend of Han and Chewy’s, Maz Kanata.
Maz is a keeper and collector of powerful artifacts. She can sense the depth and power of the force inside of Rey and she gives entrusts her with Luke’s lightsaber.
Snoke can sense the Rebels are getting close to locating Luke Skywalker and he orders the use of his newest weapon, Starkiller Base. Within seconds, the entire Rebel fleet is wiped out.
Ben, now christened, Kylo Ren, can feel Rey’s power in the force. He attacks Takodana with his own band of mercenaries called, the Knights of Ren, and kidnaps Rey in an effort to gain her knowledge of Luke Skywalker’s whereabouts.
The rest of the Rebels launch an attack on Starkiller Base, and Finn and Poe lead a successful mission to lower the weapon’s defensive shields.
Kilo Ren interrogates Rey and it leaves her much more in-tuned to the force than she has ever been before. She is able to manipulate minds and escapes with her comrades. Han Solo stays behind on a promise to Leia. He comes face to face with Ben, who is remorseful and wishes the path could have been different. Han knows the light is still in his son, but Ben may be the only hope to end this war and bring down Snoke, and maintaining Snoke’s trust is crucial. He also knows Snoke would kill Ben if he were to let Han go. He falls on Kilo Ren’s sword, killing himself. The crew is able to escape, and Ben is able to stay close to Snoke, but he is now secretly plotting revenge against the Supreme Leader.
Rey, Chewy, Finn, Poe and the rest of the Resistance pilots are able to destroy Starkiller Base in a huge win for the Rebels. They deliver the droid with the clue to the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker to the Rebel Base and soon after, Rey sets off in search of the last Jedi.
Rey finds Luke, but he refuses to train her because he knows how destructive the Jedi can be. He also sees Rey’s natural draw to the dark side of the force and it scares him. Afraid and alone, Rey pulls herself further into the mental side of the force and a line of communication opens between her and Ben Solo.
When Luke finds out Rey’s been in friendly contact with Kylo Ren, he banishes her from his island. She leaves and seeks out Ben, thinking that she can turn him to the light side. Ren and Rey do team up to kill Snoke, but Kilo Ren is still untrusting of Luke and the Jedi, the corruption in the Republic, and Snoke’s allies. He wants to shape the galaxy into his own vision and rule with Rey. She turns him down, afraid of how close he still is to the dark side, and leaves him.
The Resistance are fleeing Ren’s Star Destroyer, but running low on fuel, so they bunker down on the planet Crete inside an old defense system. Luke can sense the death and destruction and is following the flow of the force closely despite being worlds away. As Kylo Ren bears down on the last of the Resistance, Luke force projects himself across the galaxy to fight Kylo Ren and give the Resistance time to escape Crete. Luke knew that force projecting himself that far would cause his death. His sacrifice cloaks the Resistance fighters in force protection, and inspires the entire galaxy to join the Resistance in their uprising against the First Order.
Rey spends the next year hidden away with Resistance fighters, continuing her Jedi training under General Leia Organa.
The link between Rey and Ben Solo is getting bigger. Ben doesn’t want to destroy Rey, and desperately wants her to join him. They continue in a game of cat and mouse across the galaxy. Kylo Ren is the defacto leader of the First Order, and while he knows Snoke’s route of evil wasn’t the road he wanted to take, he’s still very conflicted. He knows the Jedi and Republic are corrupt and continues to fight against both his mother’s Republic army and Rey’s force capabilities. He is drawn to Exegol, and there discovers Palpatine is still alive, trying to manufacture a body for himself. His first attempts were clones that resulted in the creation of Snoke, but the clones weren’t strong enough to house the dark force of Sidious, and their bodies deteriorated rapidly. Palpatine’s new plan is to inhabit the body of Rey herself. Kylo Ren is too conflicted, and Rey, being new to the ways of the force, he believes will be much easier to manipulate.
The Resistance forces hear the rumor of Palpatine’s survival. Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewy, and two droids are dispatched to find a map to Exegal called a Sith Wayfinder. They find the map, but their team is intercepted by the First Order. Chewy is captured, and in a moment of fury, Rey reaches to the dark side of the force and shoots force lightning from her hands. (An action only performed by those with knowledge of the dark side.)
The rest of the Resistance calls out for help across the galaxy, begging for new alliances in an air battle against a fleet of Star Destroyers stationed at Exegal. These Star Destroyers each have a mini Death Star mounted to their underbellies, and must all be destroyed if the Resistance hopes to live on.
Rey is more confused than ever about who she is and what her purpose may be. The physical map is taken by the First Order, but one of the droids has downloaded the information. In order to retrieve it, they must wipe his memory. The droid does so voluntarily, sacrificing his mind for the Resistance.
Ben continues to chase Rey through the galaxy. They come face to face once more and Ben tells her who she really is and how she was created. They are both descendants of Palpatine himself. Not related by blood, but bonded nonetheless. They are diads in the force. Rey lashes out and fights against Kylo Ren, the fury of the truth behind her.
Leia, following from afar, force projects enough of her mind into Kylo Ren’s to distract him for a split second, allowing Rey to defeat him in battle. Rey, knowing Kylo Ren has the light inside of him, transfers a bit of her life force into him, saving his life. The action saves Rey and Kylo Ren, but weakens Leia so much, she drops into a coma.
In his heightened emotional state, Kylo Ren is able to draw upon the memory of his father and the sacrifice Han Solo made to keep him safe. Ren fully embraces himself as Ben Solo again and leaves to find Rey.
Rey makes her way to Exegal, and confronts Palpatine who has thrown out the rule of two and is raising an army of thousands of Sith. Ben Solo follows Rey to Exegal and the two of them fight against Palpatine. Palpatine realizes neither Rey nor Ben will join him now and sucks the life force out of them both.
Palpatine believes them both dead, but doesn’t understand the strength of the force protection they’ve been afforded in the past by the sacrifices of Luke and Han. Their protection was from the light side, and Palpatine, thinking that the light side of the force wasn’t as strong or powerful as the dark, naively underestimated the power of love.
Rey rises and gives up her entire life force to defeat Palpatine and the Sith army. Ben sees Rey’s lifeless body and gives his life force to her. Ben becomes a force ghost, and Leia, sensing his decision, gives up her life force as well to be with her son and brother, also becoming a force ghost.
The Resistance fighters are able to rally enough allies to defeat the fleet of Star Destroyers, ending the war with Darth Sidious once and for all.
After the war, Rey retreats to Tatooine. She forges her own yellow-bladed lightsaber, takes up the name Skywalker, and becomes a Sentinal Guardian of the galaxy. The war instigated by Sheev Palpatine that lasted over 30 years is finally over, and there is peace in the galaxy.
Thoughts on the final trilogy:
I haven’t met a Star Wars movie I didn’t love. I loved the entire final trilogy more than either of the two that came before it. Rey Skywalker and Ben Solo are the most well developed characters in the entire franchise. It’s the first time the audience gets a peek of what the Jedi and Sith were capable of when they all had their full powers, and the dynamic between the two pulls the viewer into the story and doesn’t release them until the credits roll.
While I do wish Ben Solo hadn’t died and he and Rey instituted the rule of two and started the Order of Skywalker, becoming partners, lovers, and Sentinel Guardians of the galaxy — I still love the story.
Why do so many people have issue with the series?
Some people believe Luke’s legacy wasn’t handled properly. The issue is, Luke was probably the worst and weakest Jedi that ever lived. He came at a time when he was the strongest with the force, but the most untrained. When he was born, the Jedi had all but lost their power. Luke wasn’t trained as a youngling, and only had Ben Kenobi and Yoda’s mentor-ships for a few months before they died. Most Jedi trained for decades before becoming Masters of the force. Luke was terribly conflicted his entire life, and because of the conditions surrounding him, wasn’t ever able to measure up to his full potential as a Jedi.
People hate what was done with Leia in the final movie. Look guys, she died in real life and they created a major role for her with CGI, stand-ins, and old film. What they were able to do with her character was incredible. No one was expecting her to play such a huge role in this film. They easily could have explained her away in the opening crawl, but they did her character justice and gave her a story-line that holds up to Leia’s legacy.
There are so many plot holes. Granted, there are some plot holes. But if you really love the series, a little retconning to explain away human error isn’t that big of a deal. Who cares if George Lucas and JJ Abrams say it wasn’t intended for Han Solo’s death scene to insinuate Han himself could have fallen on Kylo Ren’s sword. These stories were given to us, and we can interpret them how we please. You don’t get to write something and then dictate to the fan base how we interpret something that isn’t actually in writing.
People really wish Hayden Christiansen didn’t play Anakin Skywalker. I don’t believe most folks understand the mental anguish that was constantly happening inside of Anakin Skywalker. The young boy was a slave, his mind twisted and manipulated since before he was born. Beaten mercilessly, and finally escaping only to be taken in by a group whose goal was to squash his emotions. That same group ignored his concerns over his mother and he was forced to watch her die in his arms after having been kidnapped, raped, and beaten. He finds out this group is incredibly corrupt and being led by the very enemy they say they’re trying to destroy. His wife’s life is in danger, he has no friends, no one to turn to, no one he can trust. Hayden Christiansen’s whiny, unsure, conflicted Anakin is the perfect character portrayal.
People are angry with Palpatine’s return. Like it or not, Palpatine’s arc and involvement gives the series continuity, and his ability to stay “alive”and continue his quest shows how far he’s willing to retreat into the dark side to accomplish his goals. Dabbling in the dark side of the force carries physical as well as mental consequences. Palpatine’s body becomes deformed by the dark side, and Snoke’s bodies break down completely under the influence of the dark force. It gives us a look into the dark side of the force that we don’t get to see anywhere else. His character’s return in the final chapter of the saga allows the series to come full circle and truly end.
Disagree? Share your thoughts on Star Wars below and maybe you’ll turn me to the dark side.
Secret Coran-Stacy is an author, entrepreneur, and artist living the dream as a middle class suburbanite in Central Arkansas. Find out more by visiting www.secretstacy.com
