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What Does the Star Wars Episode 9 Title “The Rise of Skywalker” Mean?

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What Does the Star Wars Episode 9 Title “The Rise of Skywalker” Mean?

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What Does the Star Wars Episode 9 Title “The Rise of Skywalker” Mean?

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Published on April 12, 2019

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They always get us with these Star Wars titles, and Episode IX is certainly no different. But while it’s easy to say that The Rise of Skywalker sounds obvious, we’ve got a lot of options here…

You’ve seen the trailer, one assumes. So what do we think here?

Theory #1: It’s a Reference to Kylo Ren’s Redemption

Fans have been speculating since The Force Awakens about whether or not Kylo Ren can be redeemed and return to his life as Ben Solo. It’s possible that the films are going there, but still doesn’t seem super likely given his recent dark side double down—or even if it does, Ben’s redemption isn’t likely the top story priority for this trilogy as a narrative. So while Kylo may be in for a very emotional turn, the chance of him being the rising Skywalker still seems improbable. He’s got a lot of work to do before he gets any nice titles.

Theory #2: Rey IS a Skywalker After All!

After the mystery of Rey’s parentage, and then the apparent undoing of the mystery of Rey’s parentage by suggesting that her parents were nobodies, there’s always a chance that we could get that final twist, and Rey could somehow turn out to be a Skywalker. She could be a secret daughter of Han and Leia, or Luke’s secret kid, we really have no idea. If that’s the case, then the title is probably a reference to her. Still, this seems just as unlikely as Kylo, given that undermining that the reveal of Rey’s parentage in Episode VIII would be a step backwards in terms of story mechanics and momentum.

I’ve got some very personal feelings about Rey not being a Skywalker, though, so you don’t have to take my word for it.

Theory #3: The Rise of Skywalker is Not a Person, But a Philosophical Change

This might be the most satisfying option of the lot, when all is said and done. Since the beginning of the “Skywalker Saga” (that’s all the numbered Star Wars films), the Skywalker family has had rough time of it in their galaxy. People keep trying to turn them to the dark side, and ruining their Jedi schools, and saying that they’re chosen while simultaneously putting no faith in them whatsoever…

But the collective wisdom of Luke and Leia has a lot to offer their galaxy in terms of what the Force can be, and what it can become. What if the “rise of Skywalker” is the rise of a new mode of thought in how sentient beings interact with the Force? What if it’s a new era, with Rey at the head of it, trying to build a shiny new Order? What if Skywalker becomes a term, a noun rather than a name? It would fit the pattern of each trilogy’s third act beautifully:

  • The Revenge of the Sith
  • The Return of the Jedi
  • The Rise of Skywalker

What better way to honor the entirety of this nine-part saga around the Skywalker family, than to make their name into something brand new?

A lot of people are latching onto this theory in earnest, so here’s hoping:

Theory #4: Luke Was Cloned, He’s Luuke Now, and He’s Back

Anyone who read Star Wars books in the 90s is sure to remember Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire Trilogy as well as the Dark Empire comic run. There are a bunch of clones in these stories; a clone of Emperor Palpatine trying to get his hands on Leia and Han’s youngest kid, Anakin Solo; a clone of an old Jedi named Jorus C’baoth; an evil clone of Luke himself. All the clones got extra letters in their names, so Luke Skywalker became Luuke Skywalker. For space birth certificates, probably.

So it’s possible that Luke could get cloned and somehow return from the dead, and then he would rise and do something totally epic—I mean, we all heard Emperor Palpatine’s laugh, so he’s clearly around, anything is possible at this point. Get ready for so many clones. Han’s clone. Anakin’s clone. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru’s clones. We’re doing this. The next Clone Wars are coming.

 

But if we’re being perfectly serious, all my money and hopes are on option three. It would be such a gorgeous way of evolving the Star Wars universe and letting it find a different way to flourish.

But we’re over half a year away, with plenty more time to speculate! So where did your mind go?

About the Author

Emmet Asher-Perrin

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Emmet Asher-Perrin is the News & Entertainment Editor of Reactor. Their words can also be perused in tomes like Queers Dig Time Lords, Lost Transmissions: The Secret History of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Uneven Futures: Strategies for Community Survival from Speculative Fiction. They cannot ride a bike or bend their wrists. You can find them on Bluesky and other social media platforms where they are mostly quiet because they'd rather talk to you face-to-face.
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KYS
6 years ago

I wish we didn’t have to discount Leia’s part of this story. The title could have related to her. 

But I like the idea of Skywalker becoming a noun. Although, that could more accurately have been ‘the rise of the skywalkers’…

very exciting nonetheless. My 7-year-old could tell it was a Star Wars trailer (and recognized Palpatine’s laugh) just by hearing it. 

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Crœsos
6 years ago

 . . . the reveal of Rey’s parentage in Episode XIII . . .

 

We haven’t seen Episode XIII.  We’ve seen Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.  Roman numerals are confusing to modern people.

angusm
6 years ago

‘Skywalker’ could refer to Luke, or to Anakin (Vader), two characters who have actually gone by that name in the films. But Leia is also technically a Skywalker, so the movie could be about her. Arguably, Kylo Ren is also a Skywalker, and Rey might yet turn out to be a relative.

So who is it? My money’s on the third character who actually used the Skywalker name, poor unhappy Shmi Skywalker. Enslaved, ignored, abandoned, then ruthlessly fridged in order to give her son the necessary dose of plot-furthering angst, now Shmi’s coming back, literally rising from the grave (hence ‘rise of’). And she is PISSED .

It’s Zombie Shmi, angry Force ghost, versus everyone else. Gonna be brutal.

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StCoop
6 years ago

Is anybody really surprised that JJ’s undoing TLJ? Not because he’s trying to keep some crying manbabies happy but just because it was clearly not the direction he had in mind for the story.

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John
6 years ago

My theory is that the title refers to the rise of Anakin.  The Emperor survives to Episode IX, based on the cynical laughter at the end of the trailer. So, Anakin rises from the dead to finish him off.  He was the chosen one, and as such, he is the only one that can destroy evil.

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6 years ago

: That idea would have more substance if JJ hadn’t been, y’know, the executive producer overseeing TLJ. Presumably if that wasn’t the direction he’d had in mind for the story, he could have done something to shift it back then.

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6 years ago

I think of all these option 3 seems the most satisfying and arc-like. I like the idea – it’s actually what I really wanted to see in TFA, really – that a new form of Force using will arise and I could totally see it being called ‘Skywalking’ or some such, or inspired by what Luke and Leia learned and helping the Jedi become something new (I really, really like the symmetry of the names you pointed out with episodes 3 and 6 as well.)

The other thing I’m kind of hoping for, that may be a minority opinion, is that it will circle back to Anakin somehow (which would also have some symmetry, as it would also touch on Kylo Ren’s obsession with him and could also tie into Palpatine’s possible role), which would also include Luke (I don’t want to see him literally rise from the dead or be cloned, but I still think there’s some room for a metaphorical rise) – and Leia. I don’t think she should be forgotten as she is one of the Skywalker twins as well.  Perhaps it’s by having twins that Anakin brings balance to the Force and Luke and Leia together are a part of it.

That said – both of those options could be true.  There could be a more literal ‘Rise of Skywalker’ that involves the Skywalker characters, and a more abstract one as well that will be a satisfying ending going forward.

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6 years ago

Skywalker could also be a space station, a ship… dunno…

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StCoop
6 years ago

“I had some gut instincts about where the story would have gone. But without getting in the weeds on episode eight, that was a story that Rian wrote and was telling based on seven before we met. So he was taking the thing in another direction. So we also had to respond to Episode VIII. So our movie was not just following what we had started, it was following what we had started and then had been advanced by someone else.”

https://www.fastcompany.com/90331236/exclusive-j-j-abrams-on-star-wars-apple-and-building-bad-robot-into-a-hollywood-force

 

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InfiniteBounty
6 years ago

“What better way to honor the entirety of this nine-part saga around the Skywalker family, then to make their name into something brand new?”

 

I think you mean *than*. 

 

Otherwise nice short-form piece! Thanks for laying out some fun options.

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Tanglefoot
6 years ago

My first thought: it’s a reference to the rise of Luke’s legend inspiring the resistance after his confrontation with Kylo, as signaled in the final scenes with Broom Boy, et. al.

But we should keep in mind that the title could (and probably will) support multiple readings even after we know the plot and have watched the movie multiple times. After all, that’s still the case with the titles of pretty much every episode thus far (with the possible exception of “Attack of the Clones,” which is somehow both the weirdest and least interesting title of all of them).

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6 years ago

I also like Option Three the best, but my inner child and love of tricksters is intrigued by the idea of Luuke Skywalker making an appearance.  ;-)

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6 years ago

My theory on seeing The Force Awakens is that Rey is the reincarnation of Anakin Skywalker.  So biological her parents were nobodies, but spiritually her soul is Anakin’s, and her redemption is in saving the reincarnation of Padme from the Dark Side — Kylo Ren being Padme.  lol.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@8/MaGnUs: I had a similar thought. Maybe Skywalker is a really cool starship that will be launched in the third act and save the galaxy from the First Order. I mean, it’s a pretty good name for a ship.

krad
6 years ago

I just want to say that I’m totally on board for angusm’s Zombie Shmi Force Ghost horror movie. :nods:

—Keith R.A. DeCandido

 

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Rachel Winter
6 years ago

# 6 Rey is a Female Clone of Luke, done on Jakku by the Emperor, she was abandoned by her adoptive family. 

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6 years ago

@15 – me, too. But not Zombie Shmi the Force Ghost…

LADY SHMI STONEHEART

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Admin
6 years ago

@2, 10 – Typos fixed, thanks!

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Sergio
6 years ago

People on some webs said that Papaltine is actually Anakin father, so he is actually the first skywalker and the one rising…

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@19/Sergio: Uh, no, Anakin got his surname from his mother, Shmi Skywalker.

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Mark William Richards
6 years ago

That definitely sounded like Palpatine’s laugh at the end of the trailer. I wonder if there are Sith equivalents of the “Force ghosts” that we’ve seen throughout (Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, and Luke, no doubt, very shortly), or if there’s some other way he comes back.

I remember during an earlier flush of speculation about Rey’s parentage that it was theorized she might be related to Palpatine. One of the points made was she wielded a light saber in a stabbing, thrusting manner similar to Palpatine’s, but that could just as easily be attributed to inexperience with the weapon. Palpatine’s excuse is that he didn’t need to use the light saber much, relying more on bolts of Force lightning and raw power; it’s not like he ever played fair.

I don’t like the clone theories. In the movies the only place we’ve seen clones are as the Republic/Empire’s Stormtrooper cannon fodder and shock troops and not associated with any major characters (other than Jango Fett taking one of the clones made from him for the Stormtroopers and raising him as his son Boba); I don’t want to see that change (Luuke … really?).

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Mark William Richards
6 years ago

#16 Rey is just as easily the child of nobody and nobody. I like to think that possibility was underscored at the end of Episode 8, when the stable boy on Canto Bight moves a broom with the Force. Which hearkens back to Anakin’s origin in obscurity, literally as a slave boy.

The Rise of Skywalker? Maybe it means that talent with the Force can manifest itself anywhere, in anyone, no matter how humble, and that fact should not be discounted in favor of dynasties, bloodlines, and lineages.

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Krrrk
6 years ago

Kylo and rey are goIng to hook up. Rey thinks he turned to the Light side. But kylo betrays her. Unknown to him, rey is pregnant and the baby is “THE SKYWALKER” Who is stronger in the force than anyone else before and will save the universe by finally bringing a Balance to the force. (Whatever that means…)

Jonathan Crowe
6 years ago

I suspect “The Rise of Skywalker” is a title that will only make sense once we’ve seen the movie. Sort of like “The Last Jedi”: we weren’t sure what it meant—hell, we weren’t even sure whether Jedi was singular or plural. And in the end it was a phrase from the Kylo/Luke duel.

In a similar vein, it would not surprise me at all if “the rise of Skywalker” was a phrase used in a line of dialogue somewhere in Episode IX, and that it referred to the emergence of Anakin, his transformation into Vader, the legacy of his offspring and the impact of the whole family on the galaxy. (It would also not surprise me if the phrase were uttered by, say, a Force-ghost Palpatine.)

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Dr. Thanatos
6 years ago

Here’s the true explanation. 

Kylo and Rey, after a climactic battle, are attacked by the Force Ghost of Palpatine. He laughs and suddenly they are on a strange desert planet. One thing leads to another and Rey finds herself with child, who they decide to name Anakin after Kylo’s beloved grandfather. 

They then learn that Palpatine transported them through time and space and they are on Tattoine about a hundred years earlier. 

Kylo freaks out and decides to leave. Rey says she’ll change, whatever it takes to get him to stay. 

Kylo says “It’s not you. It’s Shmee.”

 

Roll credits. 

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catastroph3
6 years ago

Rise of the Skywalker; Force users who use both the light and the dark. Not Jedi nor Sith – something new, but it took Anakin, Luke, Leia, Kylo to bring it about. Rey and potentially Kylo are the first two.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@21/Mark: Rey’s lightsaber technique is based on her staff-fighting technique. Fighting styles are a matter of training and experience, not genes.

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Colin R
6 years ago

I mean, it’s Kylo Ren.  Just like Return of the Jedi sounded like it was supposed to mean Luke’s ascendance as a Jedi, but thematically meant the return of Anakin Skywalker to the light.  If J.J. Abrams picks up the ball from where Rian Johnson left things, I expect this could be a very mystical Star Wars though; if the tagline is ‘no one is ever really gone,’ we could be seeing a lot of people who are supposed to be dead.

I’m sure down for the return of Shmi Skywalker!

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Barry Stuart Fisher
6 years ago

Rey needs help in making the Galaxy great again. Skywalker’s are gray and can come from anywhere in the Galaxy. It’s not about a choosen ONE but a army of good. They walk the sky!

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Barry Stuart Fisher
6 years ago

It’s about the rise of a new era, a new philosophy after the Jedi be no more. It’s the passing of the torch! Luke was the last Jedi. Rey is the next generation with renewed Jedi sight!

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Daniel
6 years ago

Or Luke recreates himself in the force.  He’s become so integrated and skilled, that he not only projects an astral form, but recreates himself physically as the next progression of post death force wielders extending the mythos we saw when Yoda went on his solo trip near the end of the animated clone wars series.

denise_l
6 years ago

@21 — Well, there are definitely Sith Force ghosts in Star Wars: The Old Republic (you meet several during the Sith Inquisitor storyline), but I’m pretty sure that game is considered non-canon at this point.

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Ragnarredbeard
6 years ago

“After the mystery of Rey’s parentage, and then the apparent undoing of the mystery of Rey’s parentage by suggesting that her parents were nobodies, there’s always a chance that we could get that final twist, and Rey could somehow turn out to be a Skywalker.”

 

I have noted before and will say it again:

Rey’s parents were not “nobodies”.  That revelation was entirely given by Kylo Ren, who had every reason to lie to her to take advantage of her lack of knowledge and try to turn her to his side.  It completely baffles me why people aren’t asking how Ren knows who Rey’s parents were when no one else seems to.  

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6 years ago

I for one am totally in favor of Dr. Thanatos’ prediction!

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@33/Ragnar: Here’s the dialogue:

KYLO REN: Do you wanna know the truth about your parents? Or have you always known? And you’ve just hidden it away. You know the truth. Say it. Say it.

REY: They were nobody.

KYLO REN: They were filthy junk traders who sold you off for drinking money. They’re dead in a paupers’ grave in the Jakku desert.

So it sounds to me that he knew because Rey knew, that she’d always known who they really were but had just spun this fairy-tale fantasy that they’d had to leave her behind for some noble reason. Kylo and Rey were mind-linked, so they shared the same knowledge of her origins.

And again, as I said before, the whole message of the film is that nobody is “nobody.” You don’t have to be a princess or a Chosen One to count as a person. A junk trader’s daughter or a stable boy has just as much worth and potential as a queen’s son. So yes, Ren was wrong in the moral perspective he put forth, but that doesn’t mean he was wrong about the objective facts.

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6 years ago

@27 – Chris: Ugh, yeah, I hate it when people say it’s ridiculous for Rey to know how to fight with the lightsaber, when it’s obvious her moves are staff moves.

@32 – Denise: The games were never considered canon.

@33 – Ragnar: Indeed.

@35 – Chris: Did Rey actually “know”, or was that her worst nightmare, her worst case scenario?

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Porphyrogenitus
6 years ago

Here are two potential meanings:

1 – The Skywalker who is rising is Luke as a Force Ghost. Considering that the film is likely to have a number of Force Ghosts (based on the presence of certain actors), and considering how weak the payoff for “becoming more powerful than you can possibly imagine” has been up to now, having an active Force Ghost Luke would be fun and interesting.

2 – Skywalker was originally Starkiller. Starkiller was turned into a superweapon. The OT had a Death Star in episodes IV and VI, and the new trilogy has been paralleling the OT pretty hard. Therefore, we can expect a Skywalker Base. There is possibly a twist here in that it is a Good Guy superweapon of some kind, though given Kylo Ren being the only extant Skywalker (that we know of) it may well be a First Order Starkiller Base follow-up named in his honor.

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Austin
6 years ago

@36 – Well, that’s like handing a knife fighter a gun and they instantly best a seasoned gun fighter because they used knife moves with their gun.  A one-bladed lightsaber is completely different than a staff. Not to mention that it’s a completely alien technology she had never seen before.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@36/MaGnUs: I think it’s the other way around, as I said — that Rey invented the best-case fantasy scenario that her parents had left her behind in order to do something noble and important and would come back for her someday. TLJ is largely about Star Wars growing up — moving beyond the simple fairy-tale narratives of chosen ones and hotshot heroes in favor of a more complex, nuanced reality. I think that’s what some fans hate about it, that growth beyond their simple, cozy comfort zone, but it’s what I love about it. It grows up without losing its ideals — it just takes a more thoughtful and sophisticated view of what they’re fighting for, the rights and freedom of the oppressed and the defense of the people we love, rather than personal heroism or self-aggrandizing chosen-one fantasies.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with being “nobody.” It’s offensive to me to suggest that Rey only “counts” if she’s descended from someone important. So revealing that Rey has no legendary dynastic origin is not an insult to her character, it’s a celebration of her true worth as an individual. She’s valuable because of who she is, not who her parents were.

 

@37/Porphyrogenitus: Isn’t “Good Guy superweapon” a contradiction in terms? If both sides use the same genocidal methods, there are no good guys.

 

@38/Austin: No, it’s quite literally like giving a staff fighter a sword. There are at least some broad commonalities there, in that they’re both close-range melee weapons, which is not true of a gun.

For that matter, I’m not an expert, but I’d say that lightsaber combat has always been a bit like staff fighting in that one uses the weapon to block as well as attack, something that wasn’t really done in real swordfights despite the Hollywood cliches. At least, I gather it owes a lot to kendo techniques.

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Austin
6 years ago

@39 – True, a sword would be a better analogy. So it would be more like—and going with a Wheel of Time example here—giving Mat a sword and expecting him to beat, if not a swordmaster, at least a proficient swordsman. Mat is an awesome staff/spear fighter and can go toe-to-toe with the best swordsman. He wouldn’t know the first thing to do with a sword, though. Stab them with the pointy end?

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@40/Austin: I don’t see you talking about how unlikely it was for Luke Skywalker to successfully fire those proton torpedoes into the Death Star exhaust port. It’s understood that he was able to do so because of the Force. And Rey has a raw Force sensitivity far beyond what Luke showed in the first movie. So I don’t understand why this is even an issue.

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Porphyrogenitus
6 years ago

@39: Not really, no. Imagine, if you will, a planet-sized directed EMP cannon (or in SW terms an Ion cannon) capable of disabling the entire First Order fleet in a single blast without killing anyone (at least directly; there would almost certainly be casualties, but they’d be from secondary effects). Or perhaps they design a Mass Shadow Generator capable of stranding the First Order fleet in real space (preventing them from going into hyperspace; essentially a superweapon-scale Interdictor). Either device would qualify as a super weapon, either device would be tide-turning if its use could be optimized, and either device could be triggered without violating any “good guy” rules.

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Austin
6 years ago

@41 – Wow, I don’t even know where to start with that. Luke was an experienced pilot, who used to shoot womp rats back home. The Force seems like a thing that would help with guiding a proton torpedo into an exhaust port. I mean, telekinesis is pretty much what the Force is know for. But the idea that the Force would magically give Rey abilities she didn’t know? That’s way beyond a suspension of disbelief. Knowing how to fight with a sword is not telekinesis or increased physical ability. It’s knowledge and muscle memory.

But you’ll probably respond with something like, “Oh, the Force downloaded a type of collective consciousness into Rey, distilling eons of lightsaber knowledge and abilities into her.” So it’s pointless to continue this line of discussion.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@42/Porphyrogenitus: I just think that if the heroes win purely because of more powerful hardware, that’s a really shallow way of telling a story. Also, it’s always been the nature of Star Wars stories that the villains have vastly superior force but the heroes prevail because of their superior heart and courage and ingenuity.

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KYS
6 years ago

Not a student of staff or sword fighting, but I understood that Rey was able to fight well with the lightsaber because a) of the Force, b)she actually used her brain and controlled herself better than Kylo REN ever could (evidenced by his shaky lightsaber), and c) she knew how to fight previously. Maybe not the same skills, but certainly similar thought patterns empowered by her grasp on the Force. 

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Charles
6 years ago

I think everyone has forgotten about the one remaining Skywalker aside from Leia, and that is Luke’s severed hand.

It’s just been hanging around building up its own force powers since it got cut off and is going to come back and force-choke everyone in the next movie.

And just think about it getting a hold of a light saber. No big body to lug around presenting a giant target. Just basically a guided missile of a light saber that can also shoot force lightning and scuttle around on the furniture like Thing from The Addams Family.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@46/Charles: The Meta-Crisis Skywalker?

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MB
6 years ago

From the early days it was always said that Luke was the first to truly be able to use both the dark and light and not get swayed to the dark side.  Luke has always been the focus of the story, even with Anakin being the “chosen one”.  

As for Rise of Skywalker, for Rey to be Skywalker would be cliche.

Maybe Luke has transcended the normal Jedi death and he rises to lead a new, morally directed, grey Jedi.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@48/MB: “From the early days it was always said that Luke was the first to truly be able to use both the dark and light and not get swayed to the dark side.”

Huh? Where was that said? I don’t recall ever hearing it in any of the movies. Was it in the books?

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LW
6 years ago

Ok Kylo believes he was influenced to do evil by Grandpa. But we saw the redemption of Grandpa. That means Kylo was influenced by someone else or is a lunatic. 

Let’s assume he was influenced. But instead, by the ghost of Palpatine. A cackle as we start to see this plot to infect the Skywalkers. It provides a pathway for Kylo redemption and a new order of righteous Jedi led by Rey and Kylo. 

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ucity88
6 years ago

The Force Awakens The Last Jedi: The Rise of Skywalker

The last Jedi is Rey, not Luke.

My theory is that while Anakin was off padawanning, Shmi Skywalker had another immaculate conception. Rey could be her great-granddaughter? Which would make Rey a Skywalker, but not through Luke or Leia.

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6 years ago

@49 – I’ve heard it in the fandom, but I there are aspects of it I can’t stand (it depends on how the theory is described as there are many variations of it. Some people just want an excuse for Jedi to do ‘cool stuff’ like use Force lightning).

What I DO think Luke represents is the ability to healthily use emotion/attachment but still be part of the ‘light side’ (but not a Jedi, or at least, not the type of Jedi in the PT).

I guess the question is if you think that what is called ‘the Dark Side’ is itself inherently evil (so can’t be used without like a 99% chance of going nuts/corrupted and having all your worst qualities amplified), or if the Dark Side is morally neutral, or if it even exists at all or is just in your head/heart.  I feel like there are various places in the movies where the ‘Dark Side’ does seem to be something that is distinctly detectable and recognized as corruption.  My general feel is that the Dark Side is a thing that shouldn’t be touched, and itself represents unchecked aggression, hatred, etc.  However, the light side still has room for actual emotion (even negative emotions) in a balanced way and that’s where the PT Jedi went wrong.  To me ‘balance’ isn’t an equal amount of light or dark (or Jedi vs Sith, which I find ridiculous and overly literal, because the Force is bigger than just two orders) but that the dark side (whatever that is to you) it itself what represents ‘imbalance’.

However, this is just 100% my own opinion and how I like to think about it, and for all I know there’s something somewhere that contradicts this.  (TBH I never cared for the Mortis arc in the Clone Wars because it just muddled this further).  As much as I love Star Wars, I do think that it at times blends Eastern/Western thought in ways that don’t always mesh well when it comes to duality and good vs evil.  But, that also means there are lots of ways to look at it and ways to view what the characters say about it :)

@50 – i actually really like that idea…it never occurred to me that Kylo was literally being influenced (or thought he was) by some outside factor (Snoke aside) but that could actually tie in fairly nicely.  Plus it plays into my fantasy of Ghost Anakin setting him straight ;)

Robin
Robin
6 years ago

I’ll go all game of thrones here and say of course Rey is a true skywalker the incestuous offspring of Luke and Leia possibly born after the loss of Ben solo drove a grieving mentor and uncle and a grieving mother together letting them forget the galaxy for a time in each other’s arms. Of course one with genes of the two last most powerful Jedi in the galaxy would rise to be a powerful Jedi in her own right, but her presence would be a source of shame for her powerful and politically connected mother . Would not uncle luke be the right person to take her away to a desert planet so similar to his homeworld until shame drove him to seek answers at the Jedi temple

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@52/Lisamarie: “What I DO think Luke represents is the ability to healthily use emotion/attachment but still be part of the ‘light side’ (but not a Jedi, or at least, not the type of Jedi in the PT).”

A lot of people completely misunderstand the PT’s talk about attachment because they don’t understand the Buddhist ideas it’s based on. Letting go of attachment doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel emotional attachments to other people; it means you let go of your attachment to the illusion that you’re separate from the rest of the universe, the illusion that leads to greed and envy and selfishness and suffering. It’s not about abandoning love, it’s about embracing selfless love for all things and all people, recognizing that you’re one with them, so that you let go of covetousness and self-centered desires. Anakin actually said as much to Padme in AOTC.

 

“To me ‘balance’ isn’t an equal amount of light or dark (or Jedi vs Sith, which I find ridiculous and overly literal, because the Force is bigger than just two orders) but that the dark side (whatever that is to you) it itself what represents ‘imbalance’.”

Yes, exactly. The Dark Side is giving into selfish desire and temptation, and that creates imbalance because you hurt others to benefit yourself. The Light Side is rejecting selfishness and understanding your oneness with all other beings, so that you care for everyone equally and thus maintain balance.

So the prophecy that Anakin would restore balance to the Force meant that he would one day destroy Palpatine, the primary source of the imbalance in the Force and the galaxy through his ascension as Sith Lord and Emperor.

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6 years ago

@55 – oh, that line of Anakin’s is actually one of my favorite things he says and one of those moments of unintentional genius on his part.  My own experience with the concept is via study of Catholicism (and yes, there are certainly differences in the philosophies so I’m not trying to equate the two) and one of my favorite spiritual books talks about the concept of ‘detatchment’ (especially in regard to monastic life, but I am able to apply it to my own life) as meaning, NOT that you don’t feel emotion (the chapter includes a meditation on Jesus weeping at the death of His friend) or even love, but rather that you are free to love and serve all above yourself – and also that you are free to love and enjoy all things that come into your life with an attitude that recognizes that they are not really ‘yours’ and that their time/place in your life may be limited, and thus are able to let go of them if needed. (Obviously something Anakin is clearly unable to do…)

But yes, I think the way it is portrayed in the prequels is missing the point.  I am not sure if that is Lucas’s oversight specifically, or if it was intentional (but not made obvious enough).  That said, I remember he said something about the Jedi being celibate that made me roll my eyes – something about how no, technically they aren’t celibate, they just don’t get attached. Which to me is like…the worst possible combination. That’s basically…using people.  I’ve known many voluntarily celibate people in various walks of life (in other words, not just priests) who have the ability to exist in the world with people, who have healthy attachments and loves, etc. (Of course, I’ve known the converse as well, which is voluntarily – or involuntarily – celibate people who are clearly stunted in their ability to interact with people.)  So, again not sure if he was just talking off the cuff there, or if he really thinks that’s some ideal way to exist.

I think there are a ton of problematic things about the Jedi as portrayed in the prequel trilogy (their extremly rigid stance on emotion/attachment, the fact that they take children at birth (but then refuse to at older ages for the most part), the fact that they were completely unable to deal with Anakin’s emotional growth, and the fact that they allow themselves to be manipulated into using and creating sentient beings as meat shields in a completely blatant disregard for their personhood, which in my opinion represents the moral failure/no-win scenario Palpatine has manipulated them into.  Obviously there are some invidiual Jedi who resist that – Anakin cinldued – but…ugh!) that in fact do justify their need to be reformed (not necessarily murdered and destroyed!) and reorganized.  Celibacy (in and of itself) wasn’t really one of those things to me though, but I don’t have a particularly negative view of celibacy.  Although I think it would be perfectly fine for there to be non-celibate Jedi, or even Jedi with families, etc.   

 

 

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6 years ago

@46 If I am not mistaken, that severed hand was last seen clutching the lightsaber that Maz Kanata gave to Rey, who in turn returned it to Luke. I remember all the plot twists that a severed Time Lord hand caused at the end of the 10th Doctor era, and wonder if something similar could happen here. Come to think of it, wasn’t the hand the source of the material that allowed the building of the cloned Luuke Skywalker in the Thrawn Trilogy? You’d have to hand it to the writers if they pulled off a stunt like that in the next movie.

@52,54 I like that Dark Side=Imbalance and Light Side=Balance construct a lot better than the idea that the force is constantly a tool in a dualistic Manichaean struggle between good and evil.

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6 years ago

“You’d have to hand it to the writers if they pulled off a stunt like that in the next movie.” – I see what you did there :D

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6 years ago

If they pulled that in the next movie, they’d be stealing from Timothy Zahn.

krad
6 years ago

MaGnUs: it’s not “stealing” from Zahn. They own everything Zahn did, and can use it (or not) as they see fit. It’s like saying The Force Awakens “stole” the characters of Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and Luke from the first trilogy. 

—Keith R.A. DeCandido

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Jane Linkswiler
6 years ago

It cannot be ALLOWED! Kylo Ren cannot be redeemed (?) and saunter off to live his live as Ben Solo. This jerk of a petulant boy started his career by murdering the students of the Academy and went on from there to be responsible for thousands of deaths, doing murder himself like he was slicing bread. Redeem his soul if you like but his body must face ….. justice, retribution … whatever you want to call it.

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Devyn
6 years ago

I hope it’s a combination of theories 1 and 3! Then the Skywalker Saga would end with the actual last Skywalker redeemed as well as their family legacy continuing on in another form!! :) Still saying Rey is a Skywalker though is just….ugh. Move on, people! 

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6 years ago

@59 – krad: Of course it’s not really “stealing”, what I meant is that it would not be original thinking by the film writers, something to commend them for coming up with on their own.

Frankly, I’m a bit surprised you think you have to tell me that Lucasfilm/Disney owns what Zahn wrote for the EU.

@60 – Jane: I agree, he should go to jail even if he “Force redeems” himself.

krad
6 years ago

MaGnUs: Because I was surprised you called it “stealing,” which implies something criminal or at least unethical, when it isn’t remotely that at all.

—Keith R.A. DeCandido

 

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Mel
6 years ago

@60: I thought he started his career by going to school and almost being killed by the dean. Through in some manipulation by a pseudo-emperor and he starts thinking the whole light/dark thing is hooey. In truth, I don’t think he’s that much different from Anakin and Luke — they both let their emotions guide their actions to their detriment, even after they knew better.

But, be that as it may, here’s my take on the Rise of the Skywalker… finally, after so long, there’s enough Force Ghosts to form their own organism that can travel, or walk, the skies. The Force itself is starting to be seen more prolifically, even if at much lower power levels. It’s the birth of an entire new life-form (or after-death-form?), but there’s one problem — the old Sith Emperor, who would love to control a galaxy-spanning awesomely-powerful life-form.

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6 years ago

Even after they swept aside the old canon, Lucasfilms has been mining the Zahn stories for ideas, and has introduced Thrawn to their new universe. Zahn just did too good a job to throw it all away.

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Greg gauvreau
6 years ago

I just hope the movie is nowhere near as disappointing as the title. The Rise of Skywalker is about the weakest title I’ve seen in the series yet. Sure it could be any one of the reasons offered by this article’s author as well as any ideas put forth in the comments, but I’m not sure it matters. If this is the so-called “end of the Skywalker saga,” as has been stated by Disney and Abrams both, seems like an odd time to “rise.” 

As for going back on the so-called “reveal” of Rey’s parentage by Kylo Ren, I for one have NEVER believed that Ren was telling Rey the truth about her parents, nor do I believe Kylo gleaned any info regarding her lineage via the force or indeed any other source. Here is why.

Snoke even tells Kylo how to do what he does to Rey in The Last Jedi when he explains just why he continually puts up with Hux. I don’t remember exact words, but what Snoke said to Kylo was something along the lines of, ‘…a cur’s weakness, properly utilized, makes for a powerful servant indeed…’ . Kylo even practically explains this to Rey in the aftermath of the epic Throne Room Battle as I describe it (I thought it epic and awesome enough to capitalize it 8 ()) when he tells her looking for her parents everywhere is “her greatest weakness.” 

So what does Ren do to exploit Rey’s weakness? He lets her open up with her own worst fear about her parents: that being that they never wanted her or loved her. He then offers a solution for Rey–‘stop looking back for those who don’t want you, join me because you matter to me.’ 

Kylo Ren was just following Snoke’s advice on how to leash a cur to his side. 

Rey’s true parentage, imo as well as many others, will turn out to be Palpatine. Her mother, fearful that Darth Sidious  will kill her and mould her daughter into a carbon copy of himself, does the only thing she can think of and hides his daughter on a planet he would be unlikely to diligently search for her. More likely, Darth Vader wanted him b4 he could even go looking. I think that is one area Sidious will pop back up as, but I have another theory about the former Emperor’s involvement as well.

I think it was a disguised Darth Sidious and not Vader or Snoke who appeared as Vader to Kylo Ren, the one who truly put the young Ben Solo into the dark path that led to him becoming Kylo Ren. It could culminate on a force ghost duel or some such, with Anakin’s ghost finally intervening and fighting Palpatine’s force ghost. Maybe not fighting per se, but I think only Anakin’s ghost can bring Ren back to the light side. 

I’m probably wrong about all that, but one thing I’m not wrong about is this: the movie will need to be incredible just to overcome its dorky title.

krad
6 years ago

I dunno, all the SW subtitles are either one extreme or the other. I mean, yeah, The Rise of Skywalker is weak, but so are The Phantom Menace, A New Hope, Attack of the Clones, and The Force Awakens.

—Keith R.A. DeCandido

 

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6 years ago

@63 – krad: You should know me better, man. :)

@65 – Alan: True, though the Luuke clone isn’t his best idea. :)

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

Star Wars subtitles aren’t meant to be great art, they’re meant to be homages to the melodramatically descriptive episode titles of 1930s-40s movie serials. So they’re kitschy by design.

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Ian
6 years ago

Star Wars subtitles films aren’t meant to be great art, they’re meant to be homages to the melodramatic ally descriptive episode titles of 1930s-40s movie serials. So they’re kitschy by design.

There, fixed it for you. ;-)

Despite the efforts of TFA and TLJ to add a bit more cinematic seriousness, the series remains essentially a B-movie adventure serial with a massive SFX budget. The main point was and is to see the white hats go defeat the black hats while cool-looking stuff makes other stuff go boom; all other story elements are just there to provide a bit of narrative structure and the illusion of depth. Sometimes it seems a bit silly to think so deeply about story elements that are  mostly peripheral to the overall experience the filmmakers are trying to achieve. On the other hand, I suppose that overwrought speculation over what will happen to whom in the next installment, based on the thinnest shreds of evidence, has been part and parcel of mass-market serialized fiction going back at least as far as Dickens, so we’re just maintaining a hoary old cultural tradition here!

Thinking about the other films’ subtitles…might it be the case that The Rise of Skywalker is like The Phantom Menace, i.e. not so much a reference to anything or anyone in the film itself but rather to something that happened prior that nonetheless hangs over all the significant characters and plot lines? If this last film is about Rey, Finn, Poe, et al. bringing the impact of all that past history to a conclusion (that allows them, and future filmmakers, to move forward), it would provide a nice bookend to the Skywalker Saga.

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6 years ago

The Phantom Menace refers to Palpatine so it does refer to something in the film.

Also – I’m certainly not saying he’s a master of subtle nuance, but it’s a bit of disservice to George Lucas (and the other writers/directors on the films) to say that the point was simply for the SFX.  George Lucas WAS trying to tell a mythical story, in addition to pulling from things like Westerns, space serials, etc. 

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@70/Ian: Aside from the fact that that whole “fixed it for you” thing is invasive, condescending, and obnoxious, your “correction” does not in any way contradict what I said, since of course they’re part and parcel of the same thing — the titles are a serial homage because the movies are a serial homage, obviously. So congratulations, you were rude for absolutely no reason.

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Spike
6 years ago

Rise of Skywalker isn’t just a weak Star Wars title, it’s a disappointingly average movie title. Really, guys? Rise of? Are you sure you don’t want to take more than a minute to come up with something?

On the bright side, at least they didn’t put a “Re- -tion” word in there: Redemption, Retaliation, Resurrection, etc. Seen a lot of those in recent years too.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@73/Spike: On the other hand, the previous two trilogy enders were Return of and Revenge of, so they’re keeping the initial-R pattern, aside from the repositioning of the definite article.

And I don’t think we can really say how strong or weak the title is until we understand its meaning. The people who chose it have far more information than we do, and that makes them far more qualified than we are to judge whether the title is well-chosen. They presumably spent months, even years, deliberating over what title would best serve the story, while we’ve only had a matter of days to react to it with essentially no context.

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Ian
6 years ago

@72/CLB: Yeesh, I thought my non-correction was a rather obvious joke. Apologies. Harsh crowd tonight.

@70/Lisamarie: Hmm, I’ve never found Palpatine as the menace quite that clear-cut, but YMMV. And I am not disparaging Lucas as nothing but an FX jockey—why would I, his sense of look-and-feel helped ensure that the films are glorious fun to watch! Rather, I’m claiming that he was a storyteller focused on the movie-going experience, favoring in-the-moment impact over consistent or coherent story development. Given that Abrams seems to have similar sensibilities, I’m suggesting that speculation based that type  of thinking—“what will wow ‘em in the theater?”—will likely end up closer to the mark than those based on close reading of the elements of previous Star Wars stories.

ChristopherLBennett
6 years ago

@75/Ian: Palpatine’s menace in Episode I was not supposed to be clear-cut within that film itself, which is why it was a “phantom” menace. As we’ve both said, the story structure is meant to emulate classic movie serials, in which a mysterious evil mastermind would be hinted or established at the start (often wearing a mask or only heard as a disembodied voice) and only have their identity revealed in the final episode. If you watch Episode I with no prior knowledge of the franchise, you might be fooled into thinking that Palpatine was as benevolent as he appeared and had no connection to the mysterious Darth Sidious, and it wouldn’t be until the next film that you could look back and see the sinister motives behind his actions in the first. I suppose a viewer of the first film would see Sidious as the Phantom Menace, i.e. the villain whose identity and motives were unknown.

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Scotty
6 years ago

I will say that while I don’t buy Rey as being a Skywalker or Anakin reincarnated, she does look alot like Anakin when he was a slave boy. I’m buying option #3. The spirit of Skywalker (Luke) stokes the Jedi movement and since Lukes’ telling and use of the dark and light side (grey Jedi), maybe Jedi in general will be called Skywalkers. Not only in honor of Luke but to get the Jedi mindset away from the light side only thinking and to ease in the use of the dark side as well. Skywalkers, A new breed of Jedi but no longer Jedi as they have been known. Cool.

I don’t see Kylo ever joining the good guys. No one really likes him anyway so fans won’t buy him turning. He’s like Anakin was a cranky *itchin little malcontent when things didn’t go his way.Lacks the dicipline to train for his anger mismanagement. Kill his character off like Jar Jar should have been.

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Brandon skywalker
5 years ago

Looks coming back ! After Disney  to over the only way to recover the saga and their picket book is to bring the most poweful jedi  back …… Luke sky walker….     I saw the origianal Star Wars waiting in a line around the building with my two brothers and mother and father ….. Disney  has brought shame to the Lucas name and the Star Wars Saga?..! …….One can only have a New Hope Star Wars will rise along with SkyWalker name ?……… George no one could make StarWars as Great as you godbless you for the memories ……….       thank you…….

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Jori
5 years ago

I would like to see if somehow anikin’s dream of freeing the slaves that he mentions took quite gone in episode one comes true either through his reincarnation is force ghost his lineage or some other method. For I would very much like to see his dream come full circle in this final film since that would be considered the beginning and this is now the end. Perhaps either rate is history and coronet or he has been man crenated and someone else or as himself by now or who knows how this could work out for hours like to see this in some way and I think that these last couple of movies have purposely made an emphasis on slavery and injustice as well. I think that when  There is  Balance in  the force there will be no more slavery.

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Jori
5 years ago

*mentions to qui gon 

*his force ghost 

*either rey is his reincarnation or he has been reincarnated in someone else or even as himself by now

*how this could work out I would like to see this in some way

My apologies for my other typos as well