Film Star Wars Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker [Theories]

[Yagami]

Watched it yesterday and wished i didnt. Felt like i was watching fast and furious 9 and not an actual star wars show. I think they should just scrap this entire trilogy and remove it from being canon.

Please!

Disney Wars has actually made fans appreciate Episodes 1 & 2. Who would've expected that when the news broke that they were doing a new trilogy all those years ago?

 

[Yagami]

I didn't even think the original trilogy was all that. A lot of people are just hell bent on nostalgia. This current trilogy I thought was superb. But it's just my opinion

I watched the original trilogy after having already seen 1 and 2, but before 3, and loved them. Nostalgia played no part for me. It was just a very good trilogy, imo, and I still love and enjoy watching all 3 to this day.

 

[sullydnl]

Why did they hire two different directors for a trilogy?

In fairness to Disney, that wasn't what they initially wanted to do. If all the various stories that were reported are true:

1. They initially wanted JJ to direct all three but he declined.
2. They then decided to go with three different directors instead, with JJ acting as executive producer on the subsequent films. Initial reports also suggested that Johnson would be writing both the second and third film.
3. It was then announced that the third film would actually be written by the third director Trevorrow, alongside his regular writing collaborator. However, after several rejected drafts and an attempted re-write by someone else, Trevorrow left the project.
4. They then reportedly offered the third film to RJ (who had just finished TLJ at this point) but he declined.
5. Finally they convinced JJ to direct the third film (which is sort of what they had originally wanted anyway) but at this point it was months behind in pre-production, even with the release date having been pushed back.

So going by all those reports, they really didn't intend for it to be quite so messy. Their desired continuity was just hindered by directors being reluctant to commit to more than one film, other directors falling through, script problems, Carrie Fisher's death and a rushed production on the final film.

Though it's worth noting that their other Star Wars films all had similar problems. The original Solo directors were replaced by Ron Howard (who had to re-shoot a huge chunk of the film) and Rogue One went through multiple writers before essentially being taken off the director Gareth Edwards and handed to someone else for reshoots and editing. At which point you have to think that all these production problems aren't a coincidence.

 

[ChaddyP]

Well the originals had 3, so that wasn't the problem.

This is true.

In fairness to Disney, that wasn't what they initially wanted to do. If all the various stories that were reported are true:

1. They initially wanted JJ to direct all three but he declined.
2. They then decided to go with three different directors instead, with JJ acting as executive producer on the subsequent films. Initial reports also suggested that Johnson would be writing both the second and third film.
3. It was then announced that the third film would actually be written by the third director Trevorrow, alongside his regular writing collaborator. However, after several rejected drafts and an attempted re-write by someone else, Trevorrow left the project.
4. They then reportedly offered the third film to RJ (who had just finished TLJ at this point) but he declined.
5. Finally they convinced JJ to direct the third film (which is sort of what they had originally wanted anyway) but at this point it was months behind in pre-production, even with the release date having been pushed back.

So going by all those reports, they really didn't intend for it to be quite so messy. Their desired continuity was just hindered by directors being reluctant to commit to more than one film, other directors falling through, script problems, Carrie Fisher's death and a rushed production on the final film.

Though it's worth noting that their other Star Wars films all had similar problems. The original Solo directors were replaced by Ron Howard (who had to re-shoot a huge chunk of the film) and Rogue One went through multiple writers before essentially being taken off the director Gareth Edwards and handed to someone else for reshoots and editing. At which point you have to think that all these production problems aren't a coincidence.

Wow that's for helping me understand. Even though the originals were directed by 3 different people you got the sense that Lucas was still overlord and making final decisions for some semblance of continuity which this last 3 lacked.

 

[The Cat]

Watched it last night. I went in with an open mind and enjoyed the 2 hours of escapism.

Definitely better than the last movie.

 

[balaks]

Please!

Disney Wars has actually made fans appreciate Episodes 1 & 2. Who would've expected that when the news broke that they were doing a new trilogy all those years ago?

Utter bollocks.

 

[hungrywing]

The alleged pre-JJ Abrams Ep 9 script has leaked.

 

[ctp]

Utter bollocks.

Exactly. We have always appreciated them.

 

[RedSky]

The alleged pre-JJ Abrams Ep 9 script has leaked.

Link starts when he begins to discuss it for those interested.

 

[Yagami]

Utter bollocks.

In what way?

Before the sequels came out they were hated by most. Now, people are a lot easier on them because the sequels have shown it could be worse.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

In what way?

Before the sequels came out they were hated by most. Now, people are a lot easier on them because the sequels have shown it could be worse.

The prequels are considerably worse than even the poor sequels.

 

[Yagami]

Exactly. We have always appreciated them.

3 maybe. 1 and 2, bar the Darth Maul battle, have generally been seen as rubbish.

The prequels are considerably worse than even the poor sequels.

They're bad (though I liked 3), but the sequels are that much worse that many look back on the prequels in a lighter way now.

 

[The Cat]

Preferred the latest 3 to 1-3 to be honest. Christensen and Portman make them unwatchable.

 

[RedSky]

Preferred the latest 3 to 1-3 to be honest. Christensen and Portman make them unwatchable.

Yep,

Jar Jar makes the first 1 unwatchable.
Christensen and Portman make the 2nd one unwatchable.
The 3rd one has some ok scenes mixed with some really, really bad scenes and acting.

 

[sullydnl]

3 maybe. 1 and 2, bar the Darth Maul battle, have generally been seen as rubbish.

They're bad (though I liked 3), but the sequels are that much worse that many look back on the prequels in a lighter way now.

Outside a tiny bubble of hardcore Star Wars nerds, barely anyone thinks the sequels are worse the the like of TPM and AOTC. That's the kind of opinion you get from people whose minds are addled by fandom, nostalgia and/or poor taste.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Was bored over the Christmas period and have been off work sick in the new year. Spent that time working on a fanfic of episode 9 because, honestly, I had nothing better to do. I've tried to be as detailed as possible. I've tried to keep in as many elements of The Rise of Skywalker as possible while trying to remain thematically consistent with The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens. Quite a lot of the planets are just placeholders - I know very little about the Star Wars universe so some of the planets might not be suitable. It's also cheesy as feck, so feel free to rip it to shreds.

Spoiler

With the RESISTANCE on the run and the FIRST ORDER on their tail, sad news spreads through the galaxy that GENERAL LEIA ORGANA has passed away.

Her son, Supreme Leader KYLO REN, continues to rule over the galaxy with an iron fist, tracking down Resistance bases and destroying anybody who obstructs his path.

With the Resistance running out of options and places to hide, they are forced to venture to the outer rim of the galaxy as they desperately seek safety. . .​

1: The film begins with the First Order continuing their authoritative rule of the galaxy; the Resistance are sheltering on Ajan Kloss in the days before General Leia Organa’s funeral.

A fleet of FIRST ORDER Star Destroyers chase a lone RESISTANCE X-wing. The X-wing is piloted by a young woman whose face we have never seen before. She tries to contact Resistance bases nearby but has no luck – she’s totally alone. Commanded by General Hux, the Star Destroyers use excessive force to lock their weapons onto the X-wing and blow it up after a brief chase. Once their target is eliminated, a cautious voice from the back of the control room asks Hux why the First Order are using significant resources to obliterate just one ship when small blasts will suffice. Hux responds that "rebel scum dissenters" of any number or status must be dealt with “immediately, harshly, and brutally” – they don’t want another repeat of what happened with Holdo, when “just one ship” tore through an entire fleet, which they had to rebuild at great expense. It is clear from this scene that the First Order will stop at nothing to display their dominance and wipe out the Resistance once and for all.

We now focus on the Resistance, who have fled to AJAN KLOSS – a jungle planet much like the Forest of Moon of Endor, which is situated in the outer rim of the galaxy. Leia’s dying hope was to be buried in a place of significance to the Skywalker family, but with the First Order monitoring all known Resistance locations in the aftermath of the Battle of Crait, our heroes have had to compromise. Out of respect for the deceased General, Ajan Kloss' many indigenous species have allowed the Resistance some space to set up camp and enough time to celebrate Leia’s life. Finn, Rose, and Poe, etc. repair ships after and help with the construction of a temporary headquarters for the Resistance. Rey spends her time deep in the nearby forest – she is continuing her Jedi training without Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, which was destroyed during her Force battle with Kylo Ren. She has been unable to repair it. While Rey trains, Kylo Ren constantly attempts to intrude her mind and uncover the Resistance’s new hiding place. She manages to resist him for a while, but is concerned that she won’t be able to hold him off for long.

With Leia dead, Rey is now the only living member of the Resistance who is Force sensitive. During a training session one afternoon, Rey tells BB-8 that she feels isolated from the others in the Resistance because they aren’t Force sensitive and therefore don't understand the responsibility on her shoulders, especially now that both Skywalker siblings have passed on. She also finds that her lack of a lightsaber is making it difficult for her to properly focus her energy and correctly channel the Force. This leaves her mind feeling scattered, and she worries that further complications with her training will leave her increasingly vulnerable to Kylo's never-ending attempts to enter her thoughts and reveal Ajan Kloss as their hiding place.

A day later, Lando Calrissian arrives in time for Leia's funeral, having received a coded Wookie transmission from Chewbacca about the ceremony. The funeral takes place, with several characters eulogising about Leia’s influence on them. Rey becomes emotional during her speech. She worries that having just one Force sensitive person in the ranks of the Resistance may be putting them at risk of being discovered, especially now Leia is not there to mentor her. She makes plans to leave, so as to ensure that Kylo Ren does not find their base. While Rey is preparing to leave, Finn attempts to stop her (just as Rose had done for him), but Kylo Ren creates a connection in the Force that interrupts their conversation. This is the first time Finn has ever experienced one of Rey and Kylo’s bonds and is visibly shocked. Kylo exposes the Resistance’s hideout and confirms Rey’s fears that her presence is a danger. The Resistance begin to evacuate.

Within an hour, the First Order arrive in TIE fighters, led from the front by Kylo Ren. They destroy the forest and Resistance headquarters, forcing Rey, Finn, Poe & co. to evacuate people en masse. During the escape, Chewbacca is captured and taken prisoner for questioning, with the First Order having intercepted his message to Lando concerning Leia’s death. In the middle of the melee, Rey attempts to stop the transporter from leaving by holding it down with the Force. Kylo initially attempts to free the transporter from her grip but he quickly relents – he is concerned about her level of power. Rey accidentally loses control and destroys the transporter, killing Chewie in the process. Rey tries to search through the burning wreckage for her friend but she is forced to flee on the Falcon with Finn, Rose, Poe, etc. They try to reassure her that there was nothing she could have done and that Chewbacca’s death was an accident, but Rey enters a depression – she is terrified that no matter what she does, or how hard she trains, she may have no control over her connection to Kylo and the dark side.

It is revealed during the attack on Ajan Kloss that the transmitter used by the First Order to track coded Resistance transmissions was broken by Ajan Kloss' natives, who joined in the fight in order to buy the Resistance enough time to escape and managed to fire a blaster at the central communication tower. The Resistance are aware of the transmitter’s malfunction but believe it will be repaired in due time. Its temporary disablement, though, means they are able to find somewhere else to hide and devise a plan.

After jumping to hyperspace, things settle, and so Lando takes this opportunity to explain where he has been over the last thirty years. After the second Death Star was destroyed, Lando joined Luke in hunting down the last splinters of the Sith. Then when Luke started his academy and exiled himself following Kylo Ren’s betrayal and the rise of the First Order, Lando went into hiding. Using his connections in the underground, he was able to evade detection for decades. After learning of Leia’s death through the grapevine, he spent weeks travelling the galaxy, waiting for more news. The Wookie transmissions from Chewbacca were the first words he’d recognised in years, so he decided to follow them - that's where he found the Resistance on Ajan Kloss. He suggests that the Resistance head to OSSUS, a mostly abandoned desert planet situated in the outer rim.

Finn is alone on the Falcon. During the attack on Ajan Kloss, it was shown that, in a moment of complete instinctive panic, Finn accidentally stopped a Stormtrooper's blaster bolt just by hoping he could do so. It froze in mid-air and eventually fired backwards into the Stormtrooper who shot the initial blast. With a couple of flashbacks to moments in the previous two films that could be interpreted as such, it is revealed to the audience that Finn is Force sensitive. He is not completely aware of what to do with this information or how to deal with it. Eager to explore the topic with Rey, however, he tries to broach the subject with her. He fails, however, struggling to get his words out before being interrupted by Poe.

Upon arrival at Ossus, the Resistance find a spot to rest. Rey is still visibly affected by her role in Chewbacca’s death and deliberately isolates herself from her friends in order to protect them. She heads out into the desert.

2: The film continues with the Resistance seeking shelter on Ossus following the attack on Leia’s funeral.

Finn is approached by Lando, who asks if they can head out to find Rey. Sensing his chance to finally tell Rey that he might be Force sensitive too, Finn doesn’t hesitate, telling Lando that he “knows where to find her”. The pair venture out into the deserted wilderness and discover her hiding place very quickly. Once they find her, the three of them spend together. Lando tries to reassure her that, from his experiences with Luke and Leia, he can tell when a person is defined by honour, virtue, and all that makes a Jedi whole. When Rey apologises profusely for killing Chewie and argues back that Kylo Ren can sense the true darkness in her, Lando responds that “If Luke saw good in you, and if Leia saw good in you, I’d trust them over the boy who betrayed them.” He forgives her for Chewie’s death and assures her that she was trying to do the right thing by saving him. Lando then reveals that, before his exile to Ahch-To, Luke handed both Skywalker lightsabers to him. Lando gave Luke’s to Maz Kanata because Luke wished for his saber to remain hidden, but Lando kept onto Leia’s for himself. He then unveils Leia’s lightsaber and passes it to Rey. He assures her that she is not slipping into darkness, and that having a lightsaber will help focus her mind and resist Kylo's call to the dark side. She will complete her Jedi training, as long as it takes.

Finn tries to pluck up the courage to mention his powers to Rey, but he receives communication from the Resistance that they are to head back to base. He is interrupted once again.

Upon their return to the new Resistance camp, they find Poe and Rose halfway through a presentation of the plan they now have: the Resistance have felt ever since Crait that they are alone in the fight against the First Order, but know that isolation is how the First Order win. The Resistance’s plan is to bring the galaxy together to fight back. Crucially, the broken First Order transmitter has bought them enough time to return to some of those earlier mentioned "significant locations" and recruit fighters. Poe, Finn & co. head to as many notable points of the galaxy (read: saga) as they can, visiting Naboo, Coruscant, Tatooine, Karshyyyk, Canto Bight, the Forest Moon of Endor, Jakku, etc. in secret. The plan is to amass their army, wait for the First Order transmitter to come back online, and face the First Order head on after following the transmitter's signal. Over the course of two weeks, they manage to evade capture and slowly begin put a formidable army together.

Meanwhile, throughout all of this, the First Order continue to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. They have decided not to repair the communications tower, believing that wiping out as many planets and star systems as possible will simply see them end the Resistance by default. Having no communications tower makes them harder to detect. With Hux in command of the fleet, they destroy any rebellious organisations they can find, often indiscriminately wiping out separatist and apolitical planets and civilisations in the process. Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader in all but name, having retreated to his chambers. The darkness within him has significantly weakened since Leia's death. He has become obsessed with locating Rey, often trying several times a minute to contact her with the Force, but with little success. He is also gathering himself after experiencing the reality of becoming an orphan. He begins to understand Rey’s feelings of isolation and loneliness after she was abandoned by her parents, and aims to seek her out for a one-to-one.

3: The Resistance begin to put their plan into action, while Rey attempts to distract the First Order.

To lead the First Order off the scent of the Resistance’s recruitment programme, and after sensing the fading darkness in Kylo’s soul, Rey "accidentally" allows Kylo to enter her mind again and lead him on a wild goose chase. She hopes to draw him out to speak to him. He sees that she is heading to AHCH-TO once more, and follows her, reluctantly leaving Hux in complete control of the First Order fleet. Before Kylo arrives at Ahch-To, Rey meets with Luke's force ghost and they discuss his decision to project himself to Crait. He admits that while it was foolish of the Resistance to expect him to take on the "whole First Order with a laser sword", exiling himself made him useless to everybody anyway. Rey admits that she killed Chewie and expresses her fear that her connection dark side is growing too strong for her to control – she has been getting better at resisting Kylo’s attempts to find her, and she’s thankful for Leia’s lightsaber, but isn’t sure if she can find complete clarity with it. Luke tells her that “confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi”, and reassures her that he trusts her with his sister’s lightsaber. During their conversation, Luke mentions that he has “detected a change in the Force” that he cannot understand, implying that he has felt Finn's presence but can't work out the specifics.

Kylo Ren then arrives on Ahch-To – but instead of duelling with Rey, he simply says he wants to talk. The three of them sit outside the Jedi temples. Kylo says that, since becoming an orphan like Rey, he understands how she is feeling – the isolation, the need for a greater purpose, and the need for control over her destiny. They now have more in common than they did before. When Rey says she understands how he is feeling, Kylo says he has found a way to cure his isolation, provide his need for a greater purpose, and control his own destiny once more. Rey follows his thread and tries to convince him that the light side of the Force is where he will find what he needs, even after everything he has done wrong. When it seems that Kylo is finally listening to her, Luke agrees with Rey and refers to Kylo as “Ben”, pleading with him that there is still a chance for him to become the man his parents wished for him to be. However, Kylo reacts angrily to Luke calling him Ben, and ignites his lightsaber. Rey has greatly misunderstood Kylo’s intentions on Ahch-To: he hasn’t come to the island to give himself up to the light, he has come to kidnap Rey and convince her to join the First Order. Rey joining the dark side and ruling with him is Kylo Ren’s “cure”.

With Luke watching on, physically spent after his efforts on Crait, Kylo begins duelling Rey in an attempt to subdue her. In a rage, Kylo defeats Rey in a moment of surprise and takes her as his hostage. She might have more power in the Force, but when it comes down to lightsabers they are evenly matched - Kylo wins this time. As Kylo leaves, Luke attempts to get through to him by once again saying that it's never too late to embrace who he really is, and who his parents wanted him to be. In other words, it's never too late to be “Ben”. The words seem to affect Kylo, but only temporarily. He takes Leia's lightsaber from Rey, and leaves the planet in his ship.

While Kylo holds Rey hostage aboard a First Order Star Destroyer, he attempts to bring her to the dark side. She resists these attempts and makes him acutely aware that she knows of his weakening darkness, but it takes a lot out of her. She is frequently tired. In order to prove that he isn't weakening at all, Kylo dons the mask once more and tortures Rey for days on end. He continues with the First Order's plan of reckless genocide. During an argument on the command deck, he slaughters General Hux with his lightsaber and assumes full command of the fleet again. Entire planets are destroyed, several star systems are wiped out, and millions – if not billions – of lives are lost in the firestorms. Rey waits in desperation for the Resistance to show up and fight his evil regime.

The weeks drag on but the Resistance are nowhere to be found. With no sign of Finn, Poe, Lando, etc. Rey presumes their plan to recruit soldiers has failed. Feeling hopeless and alone in the universe, weeks of abuse from Kylo have also left her incapable of accessing the Force at all. The Resistance have managed to amass their army, but without the transmitter signal they are missing the final piece to their plan – they are unable to track the First Order fleet. Rey is alone in the universe, unable to access the Force, and convinced that she will never again see her friends. All hope is lost.

4: The final act.

One morning, after waking from another bruising night of torture from Kylo, Leia's force ghost appears in a vision to Rey in her cell. Rey still can’t access the Force by choice, but the Force has still found her. She realises she has access to the Force once again but sees too much darkness, and is too despondent to listen to her mentor. At that moment, two more force ghosts enter the room: Anakin and Luke. The three Skywalkers make Rey aware that they've been working to find the source of the "change" in the Force, and that they have discovered something unbelievable: Finn, a former Stormtrooper and Rey’s otherwise unremarkable best friend, is Force sensitive. With this knowledge, Rey immediately attempts to contact Finn. After a couple of failed attempts, they manage make a successful connection and find eac other. Somehow, their vision is stronger and more vivid than anything Rey had experienced during her visions with Kylo. The Resistance aren't alone after all, and neither is Rey. The two make contact long enough for Finn to sense where Rey is. With the Resistance now able to follow the Force rather than waiting for a broken transmitter signal, a mad dash begins to rescue Rey. The connection between Rey and Finn is then cut off by Kylo, who has uncovered their new plan.

The Resistance arrive through hyperspace and show that they have successfully amassed a large army capable of taking on the First Order. The battle begins. Both sides lose high numbers of soldiers, but the Resistance take out key command decks and start to gain the upper hand. Rey gets through to Kylo now, whose situation has become desperate. Unable to fight his way out and seeing that the Resistance have started to win the fight, Kylo hands Leia's lightsaber back to Rey and asks her to take his life - not in anger so that the First Order can “rise even stronger with Rey at the helm”, but so Kylo can become Ben in death and reunite with his parents, hopefully becoming one with the Force. It’s his last chance at a peaceful existence. He admits to Rey that her power in the Force has always frightened him, that her nature has always interested him, and that for so long she seemed like his last hope to find focus within the Force. Rey points to the battle outside and says that, as worried she is about her own power, the Resistance were the only focus she needed – Kylo’s attempts to turn her to the dark side will always be futile because of who her friends are. Kylo says he has taken Luke's advice from Ahch-To - the only way for him to find any kind of inner peace is to sacrifice himself and join his parents in the afterlife as “Ben”. Rey stands over him with the lightsaber as he closes his eyes, accepting his fate. But Rey stops and lowers the lightsaber. When Kylo opens his eyes, Rey says she won’t do it. Not because she can’t bring herself to kill him, but because he doesn’t deserve a peaceful afterlife. He's a villain, undeserving of redemption. Rey says that her response to her increasing darkness was to seek solace and work on those fears; Kylo’s response to his weakening darkness was to performatively slaughter millions of people. The lives he’s taken didn’t get to go out on their own terms, so neither should he. She walks out of her cell and leaves him there, kneeling.

In the meantime, Finn, Rose and Poe have reached Rey's holding cell, having followed Finn’s connection to her during the battle. The three of them escape the ship and join the battle once again. Kylo Ren walks to the one remaining command deck that hasn't been destroyed collapses in front of the window as he watches the Resistance army gradually take out his fleet. His ship is the last to be destroyed, and he perishes as it burns and explodes. In other areas of the galaxy, First Order ships are blown out of the sky by the people they have enslaved and oppressed over the years. The Resistance have won.

In the aftermath of the battle, our friends reunite and celebrate the victory. A ceremony of thanks is given, and the galaxy's population lives through a period of celebration. Finn and Poe’s relationship has grown stronger over the course of the film, and Disney commit to having a proper on-screen same-sex couple. Luke’s force ghost appears to Rey one night and asks why she didn’t give Kylo a peaceful ending, citing the fact that his darkness was fading as an example of him deserving a second chance. Rey argues back that force ghosts are granted the chance to interact with the real world because their time in life was cut short, and despite that difficulty, they confront their mortality and embrace death – Kylo had already had too many chances and wasted them all on murder and greed. He didn’t deserve peace.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that there were several Force sensitive people out there in the universe all along, and many of them joined the Resistance movement - Broom Boy gets a cameo. As such, the title of "Skywalker" is now given to slaves and the oppressed who are without family names but havethe gift of the Force. Finn finally has a surname: Finn Skywalker. Poe and Rose are declared peacekeepers (essentially, anti-Sith police) and form a team tasked with maintaining peace in the galaxy to ensure another “First Order” doesn’t appear again. With the galaxy now safe to travel through, Rey heads with BB-8 to the Lars homestead. She has reformed Luke's lightsaber at last, she she buries it alongside Leia's lightsaber, having also learnt how to build her own. She stares out to the twin sunset on the horizon. When a traveller approaches her and asks for her name, Rey says that she's "Rey, just Rey”. She doesn't need a surname to feel like part of a family. She already has one: the entire galaxy who came to save her.

 

[balaks]

In what way?

Before the sequels came out they were hated by most. Now, people are a lot easier on them because the sequels have shown it could be worse.

I'd be shocked if anybody in their right mind felt the new movies were worse than the prequels.

 

[2 man midfield]

I'd be shocked if anybody in their right mind felt the new movies were worse than the prequels.

I think the prequels are more watchable, I don’t know if they’re better. Revenge of the Sith is the best of all of them, but that isn’t saying much.

For me it’s like arguing over which of your two kids shitty nappies smell worse.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

Was bored over the Christmas period and have been off work sick in the new year. Spent that time working on a fanfic of episode 9 because, honestly, I had nothing better to do. I've tried to be as detailed as possible. I've tried to keep in as many elements of The Rise of Skywalker as possible while trying to remain thematically consistent with The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens. Quite a lot of the planets are just placeholders - I know very little about the Star Wars universe so some of the planets might not be suitable. It's also cheesy as feck, so feel free to rip it to shreds.

Spoiler

With the RESISTANCE on the run and the FIRST ORDER on their tail, sad news spreads through the galaxy that GENERAL LEIA ORGANA has passed away.

Her son, Supreme Leader KYLO REN, continues to rule over the galaxy with an iron fist, tracking down Resistance bases and destroying anybody who obstructs his path.

With the Resistance running out of options and places to hide, they are forced to venture to the outer rim of the galaxy as they desperately seek safety. . .​

1: The film begins with the First Order continuing their authoritative rule of the galaxy; the Resistance are sheltering on Ajan Kloss in the days before General Leia Organa’s funeral.

A fleet of FIRST ORDER Star Destroyers chase a lone RESISTANCE X-wing. The X-wing is piloted by a young woman whose face we have never seen before. She tries to contact Resistance bases nearby but has no luck – she’s totally alone. Commanded by General Hux, the Star Destroyers use excessive force to lock their weapons onto the X-wing and blow it up after a brief chase. Once their target is eliminated, a cautious voice from the back of the control room asks Hux why the First Order are using significant resources to obliterate just one ship when small blasts will suffice. Hux responds that "rebel scum dissenters" of any number or status must be dealt with “immediately, harshly, and brutally” – they don’t want another repeat of what happened with Holdo, when “just one ship” tore through an entire fleet, which they had to rebuild at great expense. It is clear from this scene that the First Order will stop at nothing to display their dominance and wipe out the Resistance once and for all.

We now focus on the Resistance, who have fled to AJAN KLOSS – a jungle planet much like the Forest of Moon of Endor, which is situated in the outer rim of the galaxy. Leia’s dying hope was to be buried in a place of significance to the Skywalker family, but with the First Order monitoring all known Resistance locations in the aftermath of the Battle of Crait, our heroes have had to compromise. Out of respect for the deceased General, Ajan Kloss' many indigenous species have allowed the Resistance some space to set up camp and enough time to celebrate Leia’s life. Finn, Rose, and Poe, etc. repair ships after and help with the construction of a temporary headquarters for the Resistance. Rey spends her time deep in the nearby forest – she is continuing her Jedi training without Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, which was destroyed during her Force battle with Kylo Ren. She has been unable to repair it. While Rey trains, Kylo Ren constantly attempts to intrude her mind and uncover the Resistance’s new hiding place. She manages to resist him for a while, but is concerned that she won’t be able to hold him off for long.

With Leia dead, Rey is now the only living member of the Resistance who is Force sensitive. During a training session one afternoon, Rey tells BB-8 that she feels isolated from the others in the Resistance because they aren’t Force sensitive and therefore don't understand the responsibility on her shoulders, especially now that both Skywalker siblings have passed on. She also finds that her lack of a lightsaber is making it difficult for her to properly focus her energy and correctly channel the Force. This leaves her mind feeling scattered, and she worries that further complications with her training will leave her increasingly vulnerable to Kylo's never-ending attempts to enter her thoughts and reveal Ajan Kloss as their hiding place.

A day later, Lando Calrissian arrives in time for Leia's funeral, having received a coded Wookie transmission from Chewbacca about the ceremony. The funeral takes place, with several characters eulogising about Leia’s influence on them. Rey becomes emotional during her speech. She worries that having just one Force sensitive person in the ranks of the Resistance may be putting them at risk of being discovered, especially now Leia is not there to mentor her. She makes plans to leave, so as to ensure that Kylo Ren does not find their base. While Rey is preparing to leave, Finn attempts to stop her (just as Rose had done for him), but Kylo Ren creates a connection in the Force that interrupts their conversation. This is the first time Finn has ever experienced one of Rey and Kylo’s bonds and is visibly shocked. Kylo exposes the Resistance’s hideout and confirms Rey’s fears that her presence is a danger. The Resistance begin to evacuate.

Within an hour, the First Order arrive in TIE fighters, led from the front by Kylo Ren. They destroy the forest and Resistance headquarters, forcing Rey, Finn, Poe & co. to evacuate people en masse. During the escape, Chewbacca is captured and taken prisoner for questioning, with the First Order having intercepted his message to Lando concerning Leia’s death. In the middle of the melee, Rey attempts to stop the transporter from leaving by holding it down with the Force. Kylo initially attempts to free the transporter from her grip but he quickly relents – he is concerned about her level of power. Rey accidentally loses control and destroys the transporter, killing Chewie in the process. Rey tries to search through the burning wreckage for her friend but she is forced to flee on the Falcon with Finn, Rose, Poe, etc. They try to reassure her that there was nothing she could have done and that Chewbacca’s death was an accident, but Rey enters a depression – she is terrified that no matter what she does, or how hard she trains, she may have no control over her connection to Kylo and the dark side.

It is revealed during the attack on Ajan Kloss that the transmitter used by the First Order to track coded Resistance transmissions was broken by Ajan Kloss' natives, who joined in the fight in order to buy the Resistance enough time to escape and managed to fire a blaster at the central communication tower. The Resistance are aware of the transmitter’s malfunction but believe it will be repaired in due time. Its temporary disablement, though, means they are able to find somewhere else to hide and devise a plan.

After jumping to hyperspace, things settle, and so Lando takes this opportunity to explain where he has been over the last thirty years. After the second Death Star was destroyed, Lando joined Luke in hunting down the last splinters of the Sith. Then when Luke started his academy and exiled himself following Kylo Ren’s betrayal and the rise of the First Order, Lando went into hiding. Using his connections in the underground, he was able to evade detection for decades. After learning of Leia’s death through the grapevine, he spent weeks travelling the galaxy, waiting for more news. The Wookie transmissions from Chewbacca were the first words he’d recognised in years, so he decided to follow them - that's where he found the Resistance on Ajan Kloss. He suggests that the Resistance head to OSSUS, a mostly abandoned desert planet situated in the outer rim.

Finn is alone on the Falcon. During the attack on Ajan Kloss, it was shown that, in a moment of complete instinctive panic, Finn accidentally stopped a Stormtrooper's blaster bolt just by hoping he could do so. It froze in mid-air and eventually fired backwards into the Stormtrooper who shot the initial blast. With a couple of flashbacks to moments in the previous two films that could be interpreted as such, it is revealed to the audience that Finn is Force sensitive. He is not completely aware of what to do with this information or how to deal with it. Eager to explore the topic with Rey, however, he tries to broach the subject with her. He fails, however, struggling to get his words out before being interrupted by Poe.

Upon arrival at Ossus, the Resistance find a spot to rest. Rey is still visibly affected by her role in Chewbacca’s death and deliberately isolates herself from her friends in order to protect them. She heads out into the desert.

2: The film continues with the Resistance seeking shelter on Ossus following the attack on Leia’s funeral.

Finn is approached by Lando, who asks if they can head out to find Rey. Sensing his chance to finally tell Rey that he might be Force sensitive too, Finn doesn’t hesitate, telling Lando that he “knows where to find her”. The pair venture out into the deserted wilderness and discover her hiding place very quickly. Once they find her, the three of them spend together. Lando tries to reassure her that, from his experiences with Luke and Leia, he can tell when a person is defined by honour, virtue, and all that makes a Jedi whole. When Rey apologises profusely for killing Chewie and argues back that Kylo Ren can sense the true darkness in her, Lando responds that “If Luke saw good in you, and if Leia saw good in you, I’d trust them over the boy who betrayed them.” He forgives her for Chewie’s death and assures her that she was trying to do the right thing by saving him. Lando then reveals that, before his exile to Ahch-To, Luke handed both Skywalker lightsabers to him. Lando gave Luke’s to Maz Kanata because Luke wished for his saber to remain hidden, but Lando kept onto Leia’s for himself. He then unveils Leia’s lightsaber and passes it to Rey. He assures her that she is not slipping into darkness, and that having a lightsaber will help focus her mind and resist Kylo's call to the dark side. She will complete her Jedi training, as long as it takes.

Finn tries to pluck up the courage to mention his powers to Rey, but he receives communication from the Resistance that they are to head back to base. He is interrupted once again.

Upon their return to the new Resistance camp, they find Poe and Rose halfway through a presentation of the plan they now have: the Resistance have felt ever since Crait that they are alone in the fight against the First Order, but know that isolation is how the First Order win. The Resistance’s plan is to bring the galaxy together to fight back. Crucially, the broken First Order transmitter has bought them enough time to return to some of those earlier mentioned "significant locations" and recruit fighters. Poe, Finn & co. head to as many notable points of the galaxy (read: saga) as they can, visiting Naboo, Coruscant, Tatooine, Karshyyyk, Canto Bight, the Forest Moon of Endor, Jakku, etc. in secret. The plan is to amass their army, wait for the First Order transmitter to come back online, and face the First Order head on after following the transmitter's signal. Over the course of two weeks, they manage to evade capture and slowly begin put a formidable army together.

Meanwhile, throughout all of this, the First Order continue to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. They have decided not to repair the communications tower, believing that wiping out as many planets and star systems as possible will simply see them end the Resistance by default. Having no communications tower makes them harder to detect. With Hux in command of the fleet, they destroy any rebellious organisations they can find, often indiscriminately wiping out separatist and apolitical planets and civilisations in the process. Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader in all but name, having retreated to his chambers. The darkness within him has significantly weakened since Leia's death. He has become obsessed with locating Rey, often trying several times a minute to contact her with the Force, but with little success. He is also gathering himself after experiencing the reality of becoming an orphan. He begins to understand Rey’s feelings of isolation and loneliness after she was abandoned by her parents, and aims to seek her out for a one-to-one.

3: The Resistance begin to put their plan into action, while Rey attempts to distract the First Order.

To lead the First Order off the scent of the Resistance’s recruitment programme, and after sensing the fading darkness in Kylo’s soul, Rey "accidentally" allows Kylo to enter her mind again and lead him on a wild goose chase. She hopes to draw him out to speak to him. He sees that she is heading to AHCH-TO once more, and follows her, reluctantly leaving Hux in complete control of the First Order fleet. Before Kylo arrives at Ahch-To, Rey meets with Luke's force ghost and they discuss his decision to project himself to Crait. He admits that while it was foolish of the Resistance to expect him to take on the "whole First Order with a laser sword", exiling himself made him useless to everybody anyway. Rey admits that she killed Chewie and expresses her fear that her connection dark side is growing too strong for her to control – she has been getting better at resisting Kylo’s attempts to find her, and she’s thankful for Leia’s lightsaber, but isn’t sure if she can find complete clarity with it. Luke tells her that “confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi”, and reassures her that he trusts her with his sister’s lightsaber. During their conversation, Luke mentions that he has “detected a change in the Force” that he cannot understand, implying that he has felt Finn's presence but can't work out the specifics.

Kylo Ren then arrives on Ahch-To – but instead of duelling with Rey, he simply says he wants to talk. The three of them sit outside the Jedi temples. Kylo says that, since becoming an orphan like Rey, he understands how she is feeling – the isolation, the need for a greater purpose, and the need for control over her destiny. They now have more in common than they did before. When Rey says she understands how he is feeling, Kylo says he has found a way to cure his isolation, provide his need for a greater purpose, and control his own destiny once more. Rey follows his thread and tries to convince him that the light side of the Force is where he will find what he needs, even after everything he has done wrong. When it seems that Kylo is finally listening to her, Luke agrees with Rey and refers to Kylo as “Ben”, pleading with him that there is still a chance for him to become the man his parents wished for him to be. However, Kylo reacts angrily to Luke calling him Ben, and ignites his lightsaber. Rey has greatly misunderstood Kylo’s intentions on Ahch-To: he hasn’t come to the island to give himself up to the light, he has come to kidnap Rey and convince her to join the First Order. Rey joining the dark side and ruling with him is Kylo Ren’s “cure”.

With Luke watching on, physically spent after his efforts on Crait, Kylo begins duelling Rey in an attempt to subdue her. In a rage, Kylo defeats Rey in a moment of surprise and takes her as his hostage. She might have more power in the Force, but when it comes down to lightsabers they are evenly matched - Kylo wins this time. As Kylo leaves, Luke attempts to get through to him by once again saying that it's never too late to embrace who he really is, and who his parents wanted him to be. In other words, it's never too late to be “Ben”. The words seem to affect Kylo, but only temporarily. He takes Leia's lightsaber from Rey, and leaves the planet in his ship.

While Kylo holds Rey hostage aboard a First Order Star Destroyer, he attempts to bring her to the dark side. She resists these attempts and makes him acutely aware that she knows of his weakening darkness, but it takes a lot out of her. She is frequently tired. In order to prove that he isn't weakening at all, Kylo dons the mask once more and tortures Rey for days on end. He continues with the First Order's plan of reckless genocide. During an argument on the command deck, he slaughters General Hux with his lightsaber and assumes full command of the fleet again. Entire planets are destroyed, several star systems are wiped out, and millions – if not billions – of lives are lost in the firestorms. Rey waits in desperation for the Resistance to show up and fight his evil regime.

The weeks drag on but the Resistance are nowhere to be found. With no sign of Finn, Poe, Lando, etc. Rey presumes their plan to recruit soldiers has failed. Feeling hopeless and alone in the universe, weeks of abuse from Kylo have also left her incapable of accessing the Force at all. The Resistance have managed to amass their army, but without the transmitter signal they are missing the final piece to their plan – they are unable to track the First Order fleet. Rey is alone in the universe, unable to access the Force, and convinced that she will never again see her friends. All hope is lost.

4: The final act.

One morning, after waking from another bruising night of torture from Kylo, Leia's force ghost appears in a vision to Rey in her cell. Rey still can’t access the Force by choice, but the Force has still found her. She realises she has access to the Force once again but sees too much darkness, and is too despondent to listen to her mentor. At that moment, two more force ghosts enter the room: Anakin and Luke. The three Skywalkers make Rey aware that they've been working to find the source of the "change" in the Force, and that they have discovered something unbelievable: Finn, a former Stormtrooper and Rey’s otherwise unremarkable best friend, is Force sensitive. With this knowledge, Rey immediately attempts to contact Finn. After a couple of failed attempts, they manage make a successful connection and find eac other. Somehow, their vision is stronger and more vivid than anything Rey had experienced during her visions with Kylo. The Resistance aren't alone after all, and neither is Rey. The two make contact long enough for Finn to sense where Rey is. With the Resistance now able to follow the Force rather than waiting for a broken transmitter signal, a mad dash begins to rescue Rey. The connection between Rey and Finn is then cut off by Kylo, who has uncovered their new plan.

The Resistance arrive through hyperspace and show that they have successfully amassed a large army capable of taking on the First Order. The battle begins. Both sides lose high numbers of soldiers, but the Resistance take out key command decks and start to gain the upper hand. Rey gets through to Kylo now, whose situation has become desperate. Unable to fight his way out and seeing that the Resistance have started to win the fight, Kylo hands Leia's lightsaber back to Rey and asks her to take his life - not in anger so that the First Order can “rise even stronger with Rey at the helm”, but so Kylo can become Ben in death and reunite with his parents, hopefully becoming one with the Force. It’s his last chance at a peaceful existence. He admits to Rey that her power in the Force has always frightened him, that her nature has always interested him, and that for so long she seemed like his last hope to find focus within the Force. Rey points to the battle outside and says that, as worried she is about her own power, the Resistance were the only focus she needed – Kylo’s attempts to turn her to the dark side will always be futile because of who her friends are. Kylo says he has taken Luke's advice from Ahch-To - the only way for him to find any kind of inner peace is to sacrifice himself and join his parents in the afterlife as “Ben”. Rey stands over him with the lightsaber as he closes his eyes, accepting his fate. But Rey stops and lowers the lightsaber. When Kylo opens his eyes, Rey says she won’t do it. Not because she can’t bring herself to kill him, but because he doesn’t deserve a peaceful afterlife. He's a villain, undeserving of redemption. Rey says that her response to her increasing darkness was to seek solace and work on those fears; Kylo’s response to his weakening darkness was to performatively slaughter millions of people. The lives he’s taken didn’t get to go out on their own terms, so neither should he. She walks out of her cell and leaves him there, kneeling.

In the meantime, Finn, Rose and Poe have reached Rey's holding cell, having followed Finn’s connection to her during the battle. The three of them escape the ship and join the battle once again. Kylo Ren walks to the one remaining command deck that hasn't been destroyed collapses in front of the window as he watches the Resistance army gradually take out his fleet. His ship is the last to be destroyed, and he perishes as it burns and explodes. In other areas of the galaxy, First Order ships are blown out of the sky by the people they have enslaved and oppressed over the years. The Resistance have won.

In the aftermath of the battle, our friends reunite and celebrate the victory. A ceremony of thanks is given, and the galaxy's population lives through a period of celebration. Finn and Poe’s relationship has grown stronger over the course of the film, and Disney commit to having a proper on-screen same-sex couple. Luke’s force ghost appears to Rey one night and asks why she didn’t give Kylo a peaceful ending, citing the fact that his darkness was fading as an example of him deserving a second chance. Rey argues back that force ghosts are granted the chance to interact with the real world because their time in life was cut short, and despite that difficulty, they confront their mortality and embrace death – Kylo had already had too many chances and wasted them all on murder and greed. He didn’t deserve peace.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that there were several Force sensitive people out there in the universe all along, and many of them joined the Resistance movement - Broom Boy gets a cameo. As such, the title of "Skywalker" is now given to slaves and the oppressed who are without family names but havethe gift of the Force. Finn finally has a surname: Finn Skywalker. Poe and Rose are declared peacekeepers (essentially, anti-Sith police) and form a team tasked with maintaining peace in the galaxy to ensure another “First Order” doesn’t appear again. With the galaxy now safe to travel through, Rey heads with BB-8 to the Lars homestead. She has reformed Luke's lightsaber at last, she she buries it alongside Leia's lightsaber, having also learnt how to build her own. She stares out to the twin sunset on the horizon. When a traveller approaches her and asks for her name, Rey says that she's "Rey, just Rey”. She doesn't need a surname to feel like part of a family. She already has one: the entire galaxy who came to save her.

Have you got a timeline for this?

 

[Sylar]

Agreed with @balaks , new trilogy was more fun to watch. Ep3 had some good stuff, but as noted above, had some bad stuff too.
1 had a good fight, 2 was just the worst thing ever. And has bad as TLJ was for me in terms of being part of a trilogy, I liked the luke stuff at the end
TFA whilst having so many similarities to what came before it, felt like a fun SW movie.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Have you got a timeline for this?

Get another joke.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Glad this thread hasn't collapsed into nostalgic revisionism over the prequels like everywhere else on the Internet seems to have done. I thought I was more forgiving than most people when it came to those films (except Attack of the Clones, which I really hate) but people talking like this sequel trilogy was somehow worse always struck me as incredibly disingenuous. I enjoy Revenge of the Sith more than The Rise of Skywalker because I love its commitment to darkness and I love the way the last half hour slots into A New Hope, but The Force Awakens & The Last Jedi are miles more fun than anything offered up by everything in episodes 1-3. It's like we've memory-holed the very real problems with the prequels for some reason. The original trilogy remains the strongest overall, though - obviously it doesn't take a genius to work that out.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

Was bored over the Christmas period and have been off work sick in the new year. Spent that time working on a fanfic of episode 9 because, honestly, I had nothing better to do. I've tried to be as detailed as possible. I've tried to keep in as many elements of The Rise of Skywalker as possible while trying to remain thematically consistent with The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens. Quite a lot of the planets are just placeholders - I know very little about the Star Wars universe so some of the planets might not be suitable. It's also cheesy as feck, so feel free to rip it to shreds.

Spoiler

With the RESISTANCE on the run and the FIRST ORDER on their tail, sad news spreads through the galaxy that GENERAL LEIA ORGANA has passed away.

Her son, Supreme Leader KYLO REN, continues to rule over the galaxy with an iron fist, tracking down Resistance bases and destroying anybody who obstructs his path.

With the Resistance running out of options and places to hide, they are forced to venture to the outer rim of the galaxy as they desperately seek safety. . .​

1: The film begins with the First Order continuing their authoritative rule of the galaxy; the Resistance are sheltering on Ajan Kloss in the days before General Leia Organa’s funeral.

A fleet of FIRST ORDER Star Destroyers chase a lone RESISTANCE X-wing. The X-wing is piloted by a young woman whose face we have never seen before. She tries to contact Resistance bases nearby but has no luck – she’s totally alone. Commanded by General Hux, the Star Destroyers use excessive force to lock their weapons onto the X-wing and blow it up after a brief chase. Once their target is eliminated, a cautious voice from the back of the control room asks Hux why the First Order are using significant resources to obliterate just one ship when small blasts will suffice. Hux responds that "rebel scum dissenters" of any number or status must be dealt with “immediately, harshly, and brutally” – they don’t want another repeat of what happened with Holdo, when “just one ship” tore through an entire fleet, which they had to rebuild at great expense. It is clear from this scene that the First Order will stop at nothing to display their dominance and wipe out the Resistance once and for all.

We now focus on the Resistance, who have fled to AJAN KLOSS – a jungle planet much like the Forest of Moon of Endor, which is situated in the outer rim of the galaxy. Leia’s dying hope was to be buried in a place of significance to the Skywalker family, but with the First Order monitoring all known Resistance locations in the aftermath of the Battle of Crait, our heroes have had to compromise. Out of respect for the deceased General, Ajan Kloss' many indigenous species have allowed the Resistance some space to set up camp and enough time to celebrate Leia’s life. Finn, Rose, and Poe, etc. repair ships after and help with the construction of a temporary headquarters for the Resistance. Rey spends her time deep in the nearby forest – she is continuing her Jedi training without Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, which was destroyed during her Force battle with Kylo Ren. She has been unable to repair it. While Rey trains, Kylo Ren constantly attempts to intrude her mind and uncover the Resistance’s new hiding place. She manages to resist him for a while, but is concerned that she won’t be able to hold him off for long.

With Leia dead, Rey is now the only living member of the Resistance who is Force sensitive. During a training session one afternoon, Rey tells BB-8 that she feels isolated from the others in the Resistance because they aren’t Force sensitive and therefore don't understand the responsibility on her shoulders, especially now that both Skywalker siblings have passed on. She also finds that her lack of a lightsaber is making it difficult for her to properly focus her energy and correctly channel the Force. This leaves her mind feeling scattered, and she worries that further complications with her training will leave her increasingly vulnerable to Kylo's never-ending attempts to enter her thoughts and reveal Ajan Kloss as their hiding place.

A day later, Lando Calrissian arrives in time for Leia's funeral, having received a coded Wookie transmission from Chewbacca about the ceremony. The funeral takes place, with several characters eulogising about Leia’s influence on them. Rey becomes emotional during her speech. She worries that having just one Force sensitive person in the ranks of the Resistance may be putting them at risk of being discovered, especially now Leia is not there to mentor her. She makes plans to leave, so as to ensure that Kylo Ren does not find their base. While Rey is preparing to leave, Finn attempts to stop her (just as Rose had done for him), but Kylo Ren creates a connection in the Force that interrupts their conversation. This is the first time Finn has ever experienced one of Rey and Kylo’s bonds and is visibly shocked. Kylo exposes the Resistance’s hideout and confirms Rey’s fears that her presence is a danger. The Resistance begin to evacuate.

Within an hour, the First Order arrive in TIE fighters, led from the front by Kylo Ren. They destroy the forest and Resistance headquarters, forcing Rey, Finn, Poe & co. to evacuate people en masse. During the escape, Chewbacca is captured and taken prisoner for questioning, with the First Order having intercepted his message to Lando concerning Leia’s death. In the middle of the melee, Rey attempts to stop the transporter from leaving by holding it down with the Force. Kylo initially attempts to free the transporter from her grip but he quickly relents – he is concerned about her level of power. Rey accidentally loses control and destroys the transporter, killing Chewie in the process. Rey tries to search through the burning wreckage for her friend but she is forced to flee on the Falcon with Finn, Rose, Poe, etc. They try to reassure her that there was nothing she could have done and that Chewbacca’s death was an accident, but Rey enters a depression – she is terrified that no matter what she does, or how hard she trains, she may have no control over her connection to Kylo and the dark side.

It is revealed during the attack on Ajan Kloss that the transmitter used by the First Order to track coded Resistance transmissions was broken by Ajan Kloss' natives, who joined in the fight in order to buy the Resistance enough time to escape and managed to fire a blaster at the central communication tower. The Resistance are aware of the transmitter’s malfunction but believe it will be repaired in due time. Its temporary disablement, though, means they are able to find somewhere else to hide and devise a plan.

After jumping to hyperspace, things settle, and so Lando takes this opportunity to explain where he has been over the last thirty years. After the second Death Star was destroyed, Lando joined Luke in hunting down the last splinters of the Sith. Then when Luke started his academy and exiled himself following Kylo Ren’s betrayal and the rise of the First Order, Lando went into hiding. Using his connections in the underground, he was able to evade detection for decades. After learning of Leia’s death through the grapevine, he spent weeks travelling the galaxy, waiting for more news. The Wookie transmissions from Chewbacca were the first words he’d recognised in years, so he decided to follow them - that's where he found the Resistance on Ajan Kloss. He suggests that the Resistance head to OSSUS, a mostly abandoned desert planet situated in the outer rim.

Finn is alone on the Falcon. During the attack on Ajan Kloss, it was shown that, in a moment of complete instinctive panic, Finn accidentally stopped a Stormtrooper's blaster bolt just by hoping he could do so. It froze in mid-air and eventually fired backwards into the Stormtrooper who shot the initial blast. With a couple of flashbacks to moments in the previous two films that could be interpreted as such, it is revealed to the audience that Finn is Force sensitive. He is not completely aware of what to do with this information or how to deal with it. Eager to explore the topic with Rey, however, he tries to broach the subject with her. He fails, however, struggling to get his words out before being interrupted by Poe.

Upon arrival at Ossus, the Resistance find a spot to rest. Rey is still visibly affected by her role in Chewbacca’s death and deliberately isolates herself from her friends in order to protect them. She heads out into the desert.

2: The film continues with the Resistance seeking shelter on Ossus following the attack on Leia’s funeral.

Finn is approached by Lando, who asks if they can head out to find Rey. Sensing his chance to finally tell Rey that he might be Force sensitive too, Finn doesn’t hesitate, telling Lando that he “knows where to find her”. The pair venture out into the deserted wilderness and discover her hiding place very quickly. Once they find her, the three of them spend together. Lando tries to reassure her that, from his experiences with Luke and Leia, he can tell when a person is defined by honour, virtue, and all that makes a Jedi whole. When Rey apologises profusely for killing Chewie and argues back that Kylo Ren can sense the true darkness in her, Lando responds that “If Luke saw good in you, and if Leia saw good in you, I’d trust them over the boy who betrayed them.” He forgives her for Chewie’s death and assures her that she was trying to do the right thing by saving him. Lando then reveals that, before his exile to Ahch-To, Luke handed both Skywalker lightsabers to him. Lando gave Luke’s to Maz Kanata because Luke wished for his saber to remain hidden, but Lando kept onto Leia’s for himself. He then unveils Leia’s lightsaber and passes it to Rey. He assures her that she is not slipping into darkness, and that having a lightsaber will help focus her mind and resist Kylo's call to the dark side. She will complete her Jedi training, as long as it takes.

Finn tries to pluck up the courage to mention his powers to Rey, but he receives communication from the Resistance that they are to head back to base. He is interrupted once again.

Upon their return to the new Resistance camp, they find Poe and Rose halfway through a presentation of the plan they now have: the Resistance have felt ever since Crait that they are alone in the fight against the First Order, but know that isolation is how the First Order win. The Resistance’s plan is to bring the galaxy together to fight back. Crucially, the broken First Order transmitter has bought them enough time to return to some of those earlier mentioned "significant locations" and recruit fighters. Poe, Finn & co. head to as many notable points of the galaxy (read: saga) as they can, visiting Naboo, Coruscant, Tatooine, Karshyyyk, Canto Bight, the Forest Moon of Endor, Jakku, etc. in secret. The plan is to amass their army, wait for the First Order transmitter to come back online, and face the First Order head on after following the transmitter's signal. Over the course of two weeks, they manage to evade capture and slowly begin put a formidable army together.

Meanwhile, throughout all of this, the First Order continue to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. They have decided not to repair the communications tower, believing that wiping out as many planets and star systems as possible will simply see them end the Resistance by default. Having no communications tower makes them harder to detect. With Hux in command of the fleet, they destroy any rebellious organisations they can find, often indiscriminately wiping out separatist and apolitical planets and civilisations in the process. Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader in all but name, having retreated to his chambers. The darkness within him has significantly weakened since Leia's death. He has become obsessed with locating Rey, often trying several times a minute to contact her with the Force, but with little success. He is also gathering himself after experiencing the reality of becoming an orphan. He begins to understand Rey’s feelings of isolation and loneliness after she was abandoned by her parents, and aims to seek her out for a one-to-one.

3: The Resistance begin to put their plan into action, while Rey attempts to distract the First Order.

To lead the First Order off the scent of the Resistance’s recruitment programme, and after sensing the fading darkness in Kylo’s soul, Rey "accidentally" allows Kylo to enter her mind again and lead him on a wild goose chase. She hopes to draw him out to speak to him. He sees that she is heading to AHCH-TO once more, and follows her, reluctantly leaving Hux in complete control of the First Order fleet. Before Kylo arrives at Ahch-To, Rey meets with Luke's force ghost and they discuss his decision to project himself to Crait. He admits that while it was foolish of the Resistance to expect him to take on the "whole First Order with a laser sword", exiling himself made him useless to everybody anyway. Rey admits that she killed Chewie and expresses her fear that her connection dark side is growing too strong for her to control – she has been getting better at resisting Kylo’s attempts to find her, and she’s thankful for Leia’s lightsaber, but isn’t sure if she can find complete clarity with it. Luke tells her that “confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi”, and reassures her that he trusts her with his sister’s lightsaber. During their conversation, Luke mentions that he has “detected a change in the Force” that he cannot understand, implying that he has felt Finn's presence but can't work out the specifics.

Kylo Ren then arrives on Ahch-To – but instead of duelling with Rey, he simply says he wants to talk. The three of them sit outside the Jedi temples. Kylo says that, since becoming an orphan like Rey, he understands how she is feeling – the isolation, the need for a greater purpose, and the need for control over her destiny. They now have more in common than they did before. When Rey says she understands how he is feeling, Kylo says he has found a way to cure his isolation, provide his need for a greater purpose, and control his own destiny once more. Rey follows his thread and tries to convince him that the light side of the Force is where he will find what he needs, even after everything he has done wrong. When it seems that Kylo is finally listening to her, Luke agrees with Rey and refers to Kylo as “Ben”, pleading with him that there is still a chance for him to become the man his parents wished for him to be. However, Kylo reacts angrily to Luke calling him Ben, and ignites his lightsaber. Rey has greatly misunderstood Kylo’s intentions on Ahch-To: he hasn’t come to the island to give himself up to the light, he has come to kidnap Rey and convince her to join the First Order. Rey joining the dark side and ruling with him is Kylo Ren’s “cure”.

With Luke watching on, physically spent after his efforts on Crait, Kylo begins duelling Rey in an attempt to subdue her. In a rage, Kylo defeats Rey in a moment of surprise and takes her as his hostage. She might have more power in the Force, but when it comes down to lightsabers they are evenly matched - Kylo wins this time. As Kylo leaves, Luke attempts to get through to him by once again saying that it's never too late to embrace who he really is, and who his parents wanted him to be. In other words, it's never too late to be “Ben”. The words seem to affect Kylo, but only temporarily. He takes Leia's lightsaber from Rey, and leaves the planet in his ship.

While Kylo holds Rey hostage aboard a First Order Star Destroyer, he attempts to bring her to the dark side. She resists these attempts and makes him acutely aware that she knows of his weakening darkness, but it takes a lot out of her. She is frequently tired. In order to prove that he isn't weakening at all, Kylo dons the mask once more and tortures Rey for days on end. He continues with the First Order's plan of reckless genocide. During an argument on the command deck, he slaughters General Hux with his lightsaber and assumes full command of the fleet again. Entire planets are destroyed, several star systems are wiped out, and millions – if not billions – of lives are lost in the firestorms. Rey waits in desperation for the Resistance to show up and fight his evil regime.

The weeks drag on but the Resistance are nowhere to be found. With no sign of Finn, Poe, Lando, etc. Rey presumes their plan to recruit soldiers has failed. Feeling hopeless and alone in the universe, weeks of abuse from Kylo have also left her incapable of accessing the Force at all. The Resistance have managed to amass their army, but without the transmitter signal they are missing the final piece to their plan – they are unable to track the First Order fleet. Rey is alone in the universe, unable to access the Force, and convinced that she will never again see her friends. All hope is lost.

4: The final act.

One morning, after waking from another bruising night of torture from Kylo, Leia's force ghost appears in a vision to Rey in her cell. Rey still can’t access the Force by choice, but the Force has still found her. She realises she has access to the Force once again but sees too much darkness, and is too despondent to listen to her mentor. At that moment, two more force ghosts enter the room: Anakin and Luke. The three Skywalkers make Rey aware that they've been working to find the source of the "change" in the Force, and that they have discovered something unbelievable: Finn, a former Stormtrooper and Rey’s otherwise unremarkable best friend, is Force sensitive. With this knowledge, Rey immediately attempts to contact Finn. After a couple of failed attempts, they manage make a successful connection and find eac other. Somehow, their vision is stronger and more vivid than anything Rey had experienced during her visions with Kylo. The Resistance aren't alone after all, and neither is Rey. The two make contact long enough for Finn to sense where Rey is. With the Resistance now able to follow the Force rather than waiting for a broken transmitter signal, a mad dash begins to rescue Rey. The connection between Rey and Finn is then cut off by Kylo, who has uncovered their new plan.

The Resistance arrive through hyperspace and show that they have successfully amassed a large army capable of taking on the First Order. The battle begins. Both sides lose high numbers of soldiers, but the Resistance take out key command decks and start to gain the upper hand. Rey gets through to Kylo now, whose situation has become desperate. Unable to fight his way out and seeing that the Resistance have started to win the fight, Kylo hands Leia's lightsaber back to Rey and asks her to take his life - not in anger so that the First Order can “rise even stronger with Rey at the helm”, but so Kylo can become Ben in death and reunite with his parents, hopefully becoming one with the Force. It’s his last chance at a peaceful existence. He admits to Rey that her power in the Force has always frightened him, that her nature has always interested him, and that for so long she seemed like his last hope to find focus within the Force. Rey points to the battle outside and says that, as worried she is about her own power, the Resistance were the only focus she needed – Kylo’s attempts to turn her to the dark side will always be futile because of who her friends are. Kylo says he has taken Luke's advice from Ahch-To - the only way for him to find any kind of inner peace is to sacrifice himself and join his parents in the afterlife as “Ben”. Rey stands over him with the lightsaber as he closes his eyes, accepting his fate. But Rey stops and lowers the lightsaber. When Kylo opens his eyes, Rey says she won’t do it. Not because she can’t bring herself to kill him, but because he doesn’t deserve a peaceful afterlife. He's a villain, undeserving of redemption. Rey says that her response to her increasing darkness was to seek solace and work on those fears; Kylo’s response to his weakening darkness was to performatively slaughter millions of people. The lives he’s taken didn’t get to go out on their own terms, so neither should he. She walks out of her cell and leaves him there, kneeling.

In the meantime, Finn, Rose and Poe have reached Rey's holding cell, having followed Finn’s connection to her during the battle. The three of them escape the ship and join the battle once again. Kylo Ren walks to the one remaining command deck that hasn't been destroyed collapses in front of the window as he watches the Resistance army gradually take out his fleet. His ship is the last to be destroyed, and he perishes as it burns and explodes. In other areas of the galaxy, First Order ships are blown out of the sky by the people they have enslaved and oppressed over the years. The Resistance have won.

In the aftermath of the battle, our friends reunite and celebrate the victory. A ceremony of thanks is given, and the galaxy's population lives through a period of celebration. Finn and Poe’s relationship has grown stronger over the course of the film, and Disney commit to having a proper on-screen same-sex couple. Luke’s force ghost appears to Rey one night and asks why she didn’t give Kylo a peaceful ending, citing the fact that his darkness was fading as an example of him deserving a second chance. Rey argues back that force ghosts are granted the chance to interact with the real world because their time in life was cut short, and despite that difficulty, they confront their mortality and embrace death – Kylo had already had too many chances and wasted them all on murder and greed. He didn’t deserve peace.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that there were several Force sensitive people out there in the universe all along, and many of them joined the Resistance movement - Broom Boy gets a cameo. As such, the title of "Skywalker" is now given to slaves and the oppressed who are without family names but havethe gift of the Force. Finn finally has a surname: Finn Skywalker. Poe and Rose are declared peacekeepers (essentially, anti-Sith police) and form a team tasked with maintaining peace in the galaxy to ensure another “First Order” doesn’t appear again. With the galaxy now safe to travel through, Rey heads with BB-8 to the Lars homestead. She has reformed Luke's lightsaber at last, she she buries it alongside Leia's lightsaber, having also learnt how to build her own. She stares out to the twin sunset on the horizon. When a traveller approaches her and asks for her name, Rey says that she's "Rey, just Rey”. She doesn't need a surname to feel like part of a family. She already has one: the entire galaxy who came to save her.

I would watch that.

 

[balaks]

Glad this thread hasn't collapsed into nostalgic revisionism over the prequels like everywhere else on the Internet seems to have done. I thought I was more forgiving than most people when it came to those films (except Attack of the Clones, which I really hate) but people talking like this sequel trilogy was somehow worse always struck me as incredibly disingenuous. I enjoy Revenge of the Sith more than The Rise of Skywalker because I love its commitment to darkness and I love the way the last half hour slots into A New Hope, but The Force Awakens & The Last Jedi are miles more fun than anything offered up by everything in episodes 1-3. It's like we've memory-holed the very real problems with the prequels for some reason. The original trilogy remains the strongest overall, though - obviously it doesn't take a genius to work that out.

It's become cool nowadays to bash something and totally overreact as if it's the worst thing ever. Frankly anybody saying the new movies are anywhere near as bad as the prequels either have incredibly poor taste in movies or are just saying it to get a reaction. Are they as good as the original 3? Nope. Are they mostly great fun and enjoyable? Yes. Do they need to be anything more than great fun and enjoyable? Nope.

 

[sullydnl]

TPM and AOTC were legitimately two of the worst mainstream films of their respective decades. Even vaguely competent, mildly tolerable blockbuster fare leaves them in its wake.

 

[caid]

I think the new one is every bit as bad as the prequels. Suppose the acting and script were better. It was crap in its own way anyway and i wouldn't willingly watch it again.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

I think the prequels are more watchable, I don’t know if they’re better. Revenge of the Sith is the best of all of them, but that isn’t saying much.

For me it’s like arguing over which of your two kids shitty nappies smell worse.

It's like arguing over whether your kid's shitty nappy smells worse than a kid's shitty nappy stolen by skunks whose hair is on fire running through an open sewer wearing Lynx Africa.

 

[2 man midfield]

It's like arguing over whether your kid's shitty nappy smells worse than a kid's shitty nappy stolen by skunks whose hair is on fire running through an open sewer wearing Lynx Africa.

Which one is which?

 

[Fingeredmouse]

Which one is which?

I think that is immediately obvious.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Frankly anybody saying the new movies are anywhere near as bad as the prequels either have incredibly poor taste in movies or are just saying it to get a reaction.

Not near as bad, much worse. Sorry about your reaction.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

Not near as bad, much worse. Sorry about your reaction.

The new films, poor though they are, are at least recognisable as films.
The prequels are outsider art.
I do hate sand though.

 

[hungrywing]

Which one is which?

The latter is clearly Attack of the Colognes

 

[NinjaFletch]

The absolute worse criticism you can level against the sequels is that they're mindless, unambitious, bland, by the numbers CGI action fests with the warmth and depth of cardboard, but which can be enjoyed by switching off your brain, stuffing your face with popcorn and not thinking about them.

The prequels by comparison are in large parts an utter chore and only fleetingly hit the very low bar of being sort of watchable.

Anyone that seriously thinks the prequels are better needs to be institutionalised, and I'm saying that as someone who strongly dislike the sequels.

 

[Gehrman]

I'd be shocked if anybody in their right mind felt the new movies were worse than the prequels.

I feel the prequels at least were original and expanded the lore of universe while the sequels are just lazy rip ofs of the originals. Equally bad imo.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Was bored over the Christmas period and have been off work sick in the new year. Spent that time working on a fanfic of episode 9 because, honestly, I had nothing better to do. I've tried to be as detailed as possible. I've tried to keep in as many elements of The Rise of Skywalker as possible while trying to remain thematically consistent with The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens. Quite a lot of the planets are just placeholders - I know very little about the Star Wars universe so some of the planets might not be suitable. It's also cheesy as feck, so feel free to rip it to shreds.

Spoiler

With the RESISTANCE on the run and the FIRST ORDER on their tail, sad news spreads through the galaxy that GENERAL LEIA ORGANA has passed away.

Her son, Supreme Leader KYLO REN, continues to rule over the galaxy with an iron fist, tracking down Resistance bases and destroying anybody who obstructs his path.

With the Resistance running out of options and places to hide, they are forced to venture to the outer rim of the galaxy as they desperately seek safety. . .​

1: The film begins with the First Order continuing their authoritative rule of the galaxy; the Resistance are sheltering on Ajan Kloss in the days before General Leia Organa’s funeral.

A fleet of FIRST ORDER Star Destroyers chase a lone RESISTANCE X-wing. The X-wing is piloted by a young woman whose face we have never seen before. She tries to contact Resistance bases nearby but has no luck – she’s totally alone. Commanded by General Hux, the Star Destroyers use excessive force to lock their weapons onto the X-wing and blow it up after a brief chase. Once their target is eliminated, a cautious voice from the back of the control room asks Hux why the First Order are using significant resources to obliterate just one ship when small blasts will suffice. Hux responds that "rebel scum dissenters" of any number or status must be dealt with “immediately, harshly, and brutally” – they don’t want another repeat of what happened with Holdo, when “just one ship” tore through an entire fleet, which they had to rebuild at great expense. It is clear from this scene that the First Order will stop at nothing to display their dominance and wipe out the Resistance once and for all.

We now focus on the Resistance, who have fled to AJAN KLOSS – a jungle planet much like the Forest of Moon of Endor, which is situated in the outer rim of the galaxy. Leia’s dying hope was to be buried in a place of significance to the Skywalker family, but with the First Order monitoring all known Resistance locations in the aftermath of the Battle of Crait, our heroes have had to compromise. Out of respect for the deceased General, Ajan Kloss' many indigenous species have allowed the Resistance some space to set up camp and enough time to celebrate Leia’s life. Finn, Rose, and Poe, etc. repair ships after and help with the construction of a temporary headquarters for the Resistance. Rey spends her time deep in the nearby forest – she is continuing her Jedi training without Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, which was destroyed during her Force battle with Kylo Ren. She has been unable to repair it. While Rey trains, Kylo Ren constantly attempts to intrude her mind and uncover the Resistance’s new hiding place. She manages to resist him for a while, but is concerned that she won’t be able to hold him off for long.

With Leia dead, Rey is now the only living member of the Resistance who is Force sensitive. During a training session one afternoon, Rey tells BB-8 that she feels isolated from the others in the Resistance because they aren’t Force sensitive and therefore don't understand the responsibility on her shoulders, especially now that both Skywalker siblings have passed on. She also finds that her lack of a lightsaber is making it difficult for her to properly focus her energy and correctly channel the Force. This leaves her mind feeling scattered, and she worries that further complications with her training will leave her increasingly vulnerable to Kylo's never-ending attempts to enter her thoughts and reveal Ajan Kloss as their hiding place.

A day later, Lando Calrissian arrives in time for Leia's funeral, having received a coded Wookie transmission from Chewbacca about the ceremony. The funeral takes place, with several characters eulogising about Leia’s influence on them. Rey becomes emotional during her speech. She worries that having just one Force sensitive person in the ranks of the Resistance may be putting them at risk of being discovered, especially now Leia is not there to mentor her. She makes plans to leave, so as to ensure that Kylo Ren does not find their base. While Rey is preparing to leave, Finn attempts to stop her (just as Rose had done for him), but Kylo Ren creates a connection in the Force that interrupts their conversation. This is the first time Finn has ever experienced one of Rey and Kylo’s bonds and is visibly shocked. Kylo exposes the Resistance’s hideout and confirms Rey’s fears that her presence is a danger. The Resistance begin to evacuate.

Within an hour, the First Order arrive in TIE fighters, led from the front by Kylo Ren. They destroy the forest and Resistance headquarters, forcing Rey, Finn, Poe & co. to evacuate people en masse. During the escape, Chewbacca is captured and taken prisoner for questioning, with the First Order having intercepted his message to Lando concerning Leia’s death. In the middle of the melee, Rey attempts to stop the transporter from leaving by holding it down with the Force. Kylo initially attempts to free the transporter from her grip but he quickly relents – he is concerned about her level of power. Rey accidentally loses control and destroys the transporter, killing Chewie in the process. Rey tries to search through the burning wreckage for her friend but she is forced to flee on the Falcon with Finn, Rose, Poe, etc. They try to reassure her that there was nothing she could have done and that Chewbacca’s death was an accident, but Rey enters a depression – she is terrified that no matter what she does, or how hard she trains, she may have no control over her connection to Kylo and the dark side.

It is revealed during the attack on Ajan Kloss that the transmitter used by the First Order to track coded Resistance transmissions was broken by Ajan Kloss' natives, who joined in the fight in order to buy the Resistance enough time to escape and managed to fire a blaster at the central communication tower. The Resistance are aware of the transmitter’s malfunction but believe it will be repaired in due time. Its temporary disablement, though, means they are able to find somewhere else to hide and devise a plan.

After jumping to hyperspace, things settle, and so Lando takes this opportunity to explain where he has been over the last thirty years. After the second Death Star was destroyed, Lando joined Luke in hunting down the last splinters of the Sith. Then when Luke started his academy and exiled himself following Kylo Ren’s betrayal and the rise of the First Order, Lando went into hiding. Using his connections in the underground, he was able to evade detection for decades. After learning of Leia’s death through the grapevine, he spent weeks travelling the galaxy, waiting for more news. The Wookie transmissions from Chewbacca were the first words he’d recognised in years, so he decided to follow them - that's where he found the Resistance on Ajan Kloss. He suggests that the Resistance head to OSSUS, a mostly abandoned desert planet situated in the outer rim.

Finn is alone on the Falcon. During the attack on Ajan Kloss, it was shown that, in a moment of complete instinctive panic, Finn accidentally stopped a Stormtrooper's blaster bolt just by hoping he could do so. It froze in mid-air and eventually fired backwards into the Stormtrooper who shot the initial blast. With a couple of flashbacks to moments in the previous two films that could be interpreted as such, it is revealed to the audience that Finn is Force sensitive. He is not completely aware of what to do with this information or how to deal with it. Eager to explore the topic with Rey, however, he tries to broach the subject with her. He fails, however, struggling to get his words out before being interrupted by Poe.

Upon arrival at Ossus, the Resistance find a spot to rest. Rey is still visibly affected by her role in Chewbacca’s death and deliberately isolates herself from her friends in order to protect them. She heads out into the desert.

2: The film continues with the Resistance seeking shelter on Ossus following the attack on Leia’s funeral.

Finn is approached by Lando, who asks if they can head out to find Rey. Sensing his chance to finally tell Rey that he might be Force sensitive too, Finn doesn’t hesitate, telling Lando that he “knows where to find her”. The pair venture out into the deserted wilderness and discover her hiding place very quickly. Once they find her, the three of them spend together. Lando tries to reassure her that, from his experiences with Luke and Leia, he can tell when a person is defined by honour, virtue, and all that makes a Jedi whole. When Rey apologises profusely for killing Chewie and argues back that Kylo Ren can sense the true darkness in her, Lando responds that “If Luke saw good in you, and if Leia saw good in you, I’d trust them over the boy who betrayed them.” He forgives her for Chewie’s death and assures her that she was trying to do the right thing by saving him. Lando then reveals that, before his exile to Ahch-To, Luke handed both Skywalker lightsabers to him. Lando gave Luke’s to Maz Kanata because Luke wished for his saber to remain hidden, but Lando kept onto Leia’s for himself. He then unveils Leia’s lightsaber and passes it to Rey. He assures her that she is not slipping into darkness, and that having a lightsaber will help focus her mind and resist Kylo's call to the dark side. She will complete her Jedi training, as long as it takes.

Finn tries to pluck up the courage to mention his powers to Rey, but he receives communication from the Resistance that they are to head back to base. He is interrupted once again.

Upon their return to the new Resistance camp, they find Poe and Rose halfway through a presentation of the plan they now have: the Resistance have felt ever since Crait that they are alone in the fight against the First Order, but know that isolation is how the First Order win. The Resistance’s plan is to bring the galaxy together to fight back. Crucially, the broken First Order transmitter has bought them enough time to return to some of those earlier mentioned "significant locations" and recruit fighters. Poe, Finn & co. head to as many notable points of the galaxy (read: saga) as they can, visiting Naboo, Coruscant, Tatooine, Karshyyyk, Canto Bight, the Forest Moon of Endor, Jakku, etc. in secret. The plan is to amass their army, wait for the First Order transmitter to come back online, and face the First Order head on after following the transmitter's signal. Over the course of two weeks, they manage to evade capture and slowly begin put a formidable army together.

Meanwhile, throughout all of this, the First Order continue to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. They have decided not to repair the communications tower, believing that wiping out as many planets and star systems as possible will simply see them end the Resistance by default. Having no communications tower makes them harder to detect. With Hux in command of the fleet, they destroy any rebellious organisations they can find, often indiscriminately wiping out separatist and apolitical planets and civilisations in the process. Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader in all but name, having retreated to his chambers. The darkness within him has significantly weakened since Leia's death. He has become obsessed with locating Rey, often trying several times a minute to contact her with the Force, but with little success. He is also gathering himself after experiencing the reality of becoming an orphan. He begins to understand Rey’s feelings of isolation and loneliness after she was abandoned by her parents, and aims to seek her out for a one-to-one.

3: The Resistance begin to put their plan into action, while Rey attempts to distract the First Order.

To lead the First Order off the scent of the Resistance’s recruitment programme, and after sensing the fading darkness in Kylo’s soul, Rey "accidentally" allows Kylo to enter her mind again and lead him on a wild goose chase. She hopes to draw him out to speak to him. He sees that she is heading to AHCH-TO once more, and follows her, reluctantly leaving Hux in complete control of the First Order fleet. Before Kylo arrives at Ahch-To, Rey meets with Luke's force ghost and they discuss his decision to project himself to Crait. He admits that while it was foolish of the Resistance to expect him to take on the "whole First Order with a laser sword", exiling himself made him useless to everybody anyway. Rey admits that she killed Chewie and expresses her fear that her connection dark side is growing too strong for her to control – she has been getting better at resisting Kylo’s attempts to find her, and she’s thankful for Leia’s lightsaber, but isn’t sure if she can find complete clarity with it. Luke tells her that “confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi”, and reassures her that he trusts her with his sister’s lightsaber. During their conversation, Luke mentions that he has “detected a change in the Force” that he cannot understand, implying that he has felt Finn's presence but can't work out the specifics.

Kylo Ren then arrives on Ahch-To – but instead of duelling with Rey, he simply says he wants to talk. The three of them sit outside the Jedi temples. Kylo says that, since becoming an orphan like Rey, he understands how she is feeling – the isolation, the need for a greater purpose, and the need for control over her destiny. They now have more in common than they did before. When Rey says she understands how he is feeling, Kylo says he has found a way to cure his isolation, provide his need for a greater purpose, and control his own destiny once more. Rey follows his thread and tries to convince him that the light side of the Force is where he will find what he needs, even after everything he has done wrong. When it seems that Kylo is finally listening to her, Luke agrees with Rey and refers to Kylo as “Ben”, pleading with him that there is still a chance for him to become the man his parents wished for him to be. However, Kylo reacts angrily to Luke calling him Ben, and ignites his lightsaber. Rey has greatly misunderstood Kylo’s intentions on Ahch-To: he hasn’t come to the island to give himself up to the light, he has come to kidnap Rey and convince her to join the First Order. Rey joining the dark side and ruling with him is Kylo Ren’s “cure”.

With Luke watching on, physically spent after his efforts on Crait, Kylo begins duelling Rey in an attempt to subdue her. In a rage, Kylo defeats Rey in a moment of surprise and takes her as his hostage. She might have more power in the Force, but when it comes down to lightsabers they are evenly matched - Kylo wins this time. As Kylo leaves, Luke attempts to get through to him by once again saying that it's never too late to embrace who he really is, and who his parents wanted him to be. In other words, it's never too late to be “Ben”. The words seem to affect Kylo, but only temporarily. He takes Leia's lightsaber from Rey, and leaves the planet in his ship.

While Kylo holds Rey hostage aboard a First Order Star Destroyer, he attempts to bring her to the dark side. She resists these attempts and makes him acutely aware that she knows of his weakening darkness, but it takes a lot out of her. She is frequently tired. In order to prove that he isn't weakening at all, Kylo dons the mask once more and tortures Rey for days on end. He continues with the First Order's plan of reckless genocide. During an argument on the command deck, he slaughters General Hux with his lightsaber and assumes full command of the fleet again. Entire planets are destroyed, several star systems are wiped out, and millions – if not billions – of lives are lost in the firestorms. Rey waits in desperation for the Resistance to show up and fight his evil regime.

The weeks drag on but the Resistance are nowhere to be found. With no sign of Finn, Poe, Lando, etc. Rey presumes their plan to recruit soldiers has failed. Feeling hopeless and alone in the universe, weeks of abuse from Kylo have also left her incapable of accessing the Force at all. The Resistance have managed to amass their army, but without the transmitter signal they are missing the final piece to their plan – they are unable to track the First Order fleet. Rey is alone in the universe, unable to access the Force, and convinced that she will never again see her friends. All hope is lost.

4: The final act.

One morning, after waking from another bruising night of torture from Kylo, Leia's force ghost appears in a vision to Rey in her cell. Rey still can’t access the Force by choice, but the Force has still found her. She realises she has access to the Force once again but sees too much darkness, and is too despondent to listen to her mentor. At that moment, two more force ghosts enter the room: Anakin and Luke. The three Skywalkers make Rey aware that they've been working to find the source of the "change" in the Force, and that they have discovered something unbelievable: Finn, a former Stormtrooper and Rey’s otherwise unremarkable best friend, is Force sensitive. With this knowledge, Rey immediately attempts to contact Finn. After a couple of failed attempts, they manage make a successful connection and find eac other. Somehow, their vision is stronger and more vivid than anything Rey had experienced during her visions with Kylo. The Resistance aren't alone after all, and neither is Rey. The two make contact long enough for Finn to sense where Rey is. With the Resistance now able to follow the Force rather than waiting for a broken transmitter signal, a mad dash begins to rescue Rey. The connection between Rey and Finn is then cut off by Kylo, who has uncovered their new plan.

The Resistance arrive through hyperspace and show that they have successfully amassed a large army capable of taking on the First Order. The battle begins. Both sides lose high numbers of soldiers, but the Resistance take out key command decks and start to gain the upper hand. Rey gets through to Kylo now, whose situation has become desperate. Unable to fight his way out and seeing that the Resistance have started to win the fight, Kylo hands Leia's lightsaber back to Rey and asks her to take his life - not in anger so that the First Order can “rise even stronger with Rey at the helm”, but so Kylo can become Ben in death and reunite with his parents, hopefully becoming one with the Force. It’s his last chance at a peaceful existence. He admits to Rey that her power in the Force has always frightened him, that her nature has always interested him, and that for so long she seemed like his last hope to find focus within the Force. Rey points to the battle outside and says that, as worried she is about her own power, the Resistance were the only focus she needed – Kylo’s attempts to turn her to the dark side will always be futile because of who her friends are. Kylo says he has taken Luke's advice from Ahch-To - the only way for him to find any kind of inner peace is to sacrifice himself and join his parents in the afterlife as “Ben”. Rey stands over him with the lightsaber as he closes his eyes, accepting his fate. But Rey stops and lowers the lightsaber. When Kylo opens his eyes, Rey says she won’t do it. Not because she can’t bring herself to kill him, but because he doesn’t deserve a peaceful afterlife. He's a villain, undeserving of redemption. Rey says that her response to her increasing darkness was to seek solace and work on those fears; Kylo’s response to his weakening darkness was to performatively slaughter millions of people. The lives he’s taken didn’t get to go out on their own terms, so neither should he. She walks out of her cell and leaves him there, kneeling.

In the meantime, Finn, Rose and Poe have reached Rey's holding cell, having followed Finn’s connection to her during the battle. The three of them escape the ship and join the battle once again. Kylo Ren walks to the one remaining command deck that hasn't been destroyed collapses in front of the window as he watches the Resistance army gradually take out his fleet. His ship is the last to be destroyed, and he perishes as it burns and explodes. In other areas of the galaxy, First Order ships are blown out of the sky by the people they have enslaved and oppressed over the years. The Resistance have won.

In the aftermath of the battle, our friends reunite and celebrate the victory. A ceremony of thanks is given, and the galaxy's population lives through a period of celebration. Finn and Poe’s relationship has grown stronger over the course of the film, and Disney commit to having a proper on-screen same-sex couple. Luke’s force ghost appears to Rey one night and asks why she didn’t give Kylo a peaceful ending, citing the fact that his darkness was fading as an example of him deserving a second chance. Rey argues back that force ghosts are granted the chance to interact with the real world because their time in life was cut short, and despite that difficulty, they confront their mortality and embrace death – Kylo had already had too many chances and wasted them all on murder and greed. He didn’t deserve peace.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that there were several Force sensitive people out there in the universe all along, and many of them joined the Resistance movement - Broom Boy gets a cameo. As such, the title of "Skywalker" is now given to slaves and the oppressed who are without family names but havethe gift of the Force. Finn finally has a surname: Finn Skywalker. Poe and Rose are declared peacekeepers (essentially, anti-Sith police) and form a team tasked with maintaining peace in the galaxy to ensure another “First Order” doesn’t appear again. With the galaxy now safe to travel through, Rey heads with BB-8 to the Lars homestead. She has reformed Luke's lightsaber at last, she she buries it alongside Leia's lightsaber, having also learnt how to build her own. She stares out to the twin sunset on the horizon. When a traveller approaches her and asks for her name, Rey says that she's "Rey, just Rey”. She doesn't need a surname to feel like part of a family. She already has one: the entire galaxy who came to save her.

Why did you spoiler that? It's as long as your usual posts.

 

[Grinner]

I think I'm just too old for these movies now.

At least we still have Chewie and Lando. They can go off on some wacky new adventures. That Worzel Gummidge-looking Resistance General is always grating and huge close-ups of Driver's oily, boily mug are a bit much. How is this man a sex-symbol to women?

 

[sullydnl]

I think I'm just too old for these movies now.

At least we still have Chewie and Lando. They can go off on some wacky new adventures. That Worzel Gummidge-looking Resistance General is always grating and huge close-ups of Driver's oily, boily mug are a bit much. How is this man a sex-symbol to women?

Yeah, it's weird. He's kinda tall and was in the marines for a bit, which might make him seem more attractive to some people. Beyond that I don't get it.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I heard him described somewhere as looking like a child tried to draw Alan Rickman. I don't get the appeal either.

Episode 1 wasn't overly terrible, I'd rather watch that than the sequels. Episode 2 remains one of the worst films I've ever seen, although at least it seems like part of the story unlike the sequels. A bad, awful part of the story, but part still part of the story.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

He has great screen presence, a deep voice, seems intelligent and articulate, and is charismatic. I don't think it's hard to comprehend why he is attractive.

 

[Twins]

I would totally let him bum me.