Agency in The Rise of Skywalker
Or: how to write an unsatisfying story.
There’s been a lot of talk on the internet about the latest Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker. Plot holes, upsetting the superfans, off-screen information, pacing, and so on.
Let’s use this opportunity to look at a fundamental mistake the writers of the movie made in storytelling. This mistake is found all over the work of new and inexperienced writers, but most writers learn to identify and fix it.
That’s why it’s so surprising that a high-budget film would have these problems. Agency is important in storytelling. When things happen to your characters instead of your characters making things happen, the story loses the drama, sense of importance, and even ability to have a satisfying ending.
I’ve seen a lot of people have all of those reactions to the movie, but I haven’t seen anyone clearly identify that this is the fundamental problem.
(Obviously, there will be spoilers for the movie past this point).
The Dagger
One of the first things that the characters must do in the film is to find a dagger that will lead them to the Sith Wayfinder.
MacGuffins (or fetch quests) are common in sci-fi and fantasy. When done well, they can be okay…
