Last week, the title of Star Wars Episode IX was revealed as “The Rise of Skywalker“. For some that makes sense, as the films have been about the Skywalker family. Some fans of Episode VII The Force Awakens will say that Rey can’t be a Skywalker – and that’s the way it should be, because haven’t we seen enough of the magical “Skywalker” family? I’m not so worried about this argument because to me the films have always been about families. Yet let’s not forget that the Skywalkers are not the only Jedi – and of course that The Force Awakens is full of Skywalkers anyway!
For many, The Last Jedi finally put paid to theories of Rey being a Skywalker in that post sabre-fight scene in Snoke’s throne room where Kylo and Rey had this exchange:
Many point to this as proof that she isn’t a Skywalker. Because he doesn’t tell her about her parents, but encourages her to say it. Proof indeed.
But wait. Isn’t this what the villains in the Star Wars films have always done? Tempted the heroes to the dark side by getting in their heads? The Last Jedi spends a lot of time connecting Rey and Kylo, indeed they have some dialogue scenes through the “force bridge” where Rey is deeply emotionally affected. Sure, we later learn that this communication was created by Snoke, but then, wouldn’t that be the point? To seduce her to the dark side?
And as for Kylo Ren asking her to state what she feels about her parents, he’s leading her to say that. The film places him and Snoke in her head. They are influencing her thoughts. Folks, Kylo is gaslighting her, continually wrong-footing her and exploiting her vulnerabilities. For what better way to remove a powerful Force user who could be a threat than to get them to voluntarily come over to your side?
You’re nothing. But not to me.
(and the Reylo fan fiction started – eww guys, I mean like they’re totally cousins or something, right?).
When I first saw The Last Jedi, I found it frustrating and a little disappointing. No, it didn’t ruin my childhood, nor did it kill off the saga like some say, but I was frustrated. Frustrated by the continual wrong-footing that Rian Johnson constructed with his screenplay. The film continually undercuts expectations, you don’t seem to get what you thought you would. It builds to let you assume one thing will happen, then pulls that rug from under you. I was frustrated and confused, and off-balance.
Just like Rey.
The Last Jedi is structurally designed to challenge your perceptions, your expectations, and what you think you know. That’s precisely what Kylo Ren is doing to Rey. The film puts us in Rey’s shoes, helps us see from her perspective, see her dilemma. Her ignorance of her parents is her vulnerability. As a viewer it is hard to figure out why director/co-writer of The Force Awakens JJ Abrams included the “mystery box” of Rey’s parentage unless it would have some significance later.
And that brings us to the subject of the middle film of a trilogy. You can draw comparisons to the classic three-act structure. Film one introduces the characters, the setting and the problem that needs to be overcome. Film two adds the complications and leads to a moment when all seems lost. Film three brings this all to a resolution.
The original trilogy had The Empire Strikes Back as the middle film. The heroes are split up, Han is in carbonite and in the hands of bounty hunters, Vadar has sliced off Luke’s hand and revealed his identity to try and seduce Luke to the Dark Side. I’ll never forget the nine-year-old me sitting in the cinema being stunned that a film could end this way.
The prequel trilogy did something similar. The Attack of the Clones set up the mystery of the secret clone army being developed and ended with the beginning of all out war – which we know will devastate the galaxy. Anakin is allowing his anger seep into his feelings and is being drawn towards Palpatine.
The final trilogy is surely doing something similar. The Last Jedi ends with the very few members of the resistance being hunted down, trapped in a seemingly inescapable cavern base, learning that Luke (the last Jedi?) has gone. Rey has questioned her place in the galaxy and in this story – but seems to have made her decision by the close of the film. To be honest, I wish the film had finished with Luke walking out onto those salt plains to face Kylo’s First Order army – that would have been a great cliffhanger moment (same should have happened at the end of How to Train My Dragon 2 – just saying).
Which brings us to The Rise of Skywalker. The gang are back together on an epic journey which somehow involves the wreck of the Death Star and Palpatine’s evil laugh.
Will “Rise” be about Rey adopting her full Jedi powers? Or will it be Kylo’s redemption? Will “Skywalker” be a new title for the legendary warriors, the collective noun for Force users across the galaxy – the new myth, the new legend? Will Palpatine reappear, adding a certain circularity to the whole saga?
Perhaps. Let the speculation continue.
And remember, when the film comes out this December most of what I’ve written above might be proved wrong. Fair enough.
I’d be happy if Rey is a Skywalker. I’d be happy if she isn’t. Either way I’m looking forward to the conclusion of this trilogy.
The teaser gave me the tingles I remember getting watching Empire in the cinema in Scotland in 1980 – and that can only be a good thing, right?
TGEMM blog 