Star Wars IX The Rise of Skywalker

After watching Star Wars IX Rise of Skywalker (Abrams, 2019) there are some many unanswered questions and loopholes in this film. Another thing to notice in the film you got to keep a close eye on is the character development of Rey as she transitions into becoming a Jedi she struggles with a lot throughout the film. Although, I’ve never read the books or the comics (canon or non-canon), but I am a Star Wars fan but not a huge fan like most people are.

            The film opens with Kylo Ren goes to an uncharted planet called Exego. He meets with Emperor Palpatine, who then reveals to Ren that he created the First Order and Snoke just to lure him to the dark side of the force. Palpatine reveals to Kylo Ren a fleet of star destroyers and tells him to find and kill Rey who is completing her Jedi training. Meanwhile, as Rey is finishing up her training, Finn and Poe deliver a message from a spy that Palpatine is on Exego. After this Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO depart in the Millennium Falcon to the planet Pasaana, where Luke Skywalker ended his search for Exego. While on Pasaana they meet Lando Calrissian who helps them on their quest. As they travel through Pasaana, they go through quicksand like substance and find an old dagger leading to their next location. As they are leaving, they are tracked by Kylo Ren and Chewbacca is arrested. To Rey, Finn and Poe he is believed to be dead after Rey hits one of the carriers with force lighting. After trying to translate the dagger C-3PO is unable to decipher the language and in order to do that they have to extract his memory. The group travels to Kijimi where 3PO’s memory is extracted and Rey knows that Chewbacca is still alive. The group then infiltrates Kylo Ren’s Star Destroyer save Chewbacca and retrieve the dagger by the help of General Hux to save the group. The group then arrives to Kef Bir, where Rey locates a Sith Way finder in the remains of the second Death Star. As she touches the artifact, she has a vision of being a Sith. Kylo tracks her destroys the way finder and duels her. Meanwhile, Leia is dying and calls on Kylo Ren through the Force and as he is distracted, Rey impales him. Afterwards, Rey heals him and flees to exile herself on Ahch-To. There Leia sees Luke’s spirit and encourages her to fight Palpatine. Rey then leaves in Luke’s X-wing fighter to Exego. Kylo then has memory of his father, Han Solo throws away his lightsaber and reclaims his identity as Ben Solo. At the Resistance base, R2-D2 receives Rey’s signal, The Resistance then goes to the coordinates of Exegol, as she confronts Palpatine. While in the air Lando brings reinforcements to destroy the Star Destroyer fleet. Ben overpowers the Knights guarding Palpatine and then joins the fight. But Palpatine drains their power and stops the fleet with his force lighting. As Rey is down, she hears voices of past Jedi, who give her strength. Palpatine attacks but Rey reflects using the Skywalker lightsabers. Palpatine is killed and she becomes killed but Ben revives her by transferring his life force into her. The Resistance attacks the remaining star destroyers and people rise against the First Order. As they celebrate Rey visits Tatooine and buries the lightsabers and built her own. She is then known as Rey Skywalker.

            The first question when watching the film is how the Emperor survived and still live. We all remember in Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983), when the Emperor is attacking Luke Skywalker with Force lighting, Darth Vader (who then turns into Anakin Skywalker) lifts him up and throws him down the shaft. As he falls, an explosion happens, and huge cloud of blue force lighting appears. How did he survive? We saw him disappear as soon as the explosion happened. According to The Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, comics and cartoons these sources indicate that he was dealing in Sith magic. Also, in the short TV series Star Wars Rebels, it shows that during the Imperial Era, Palpatine was looking into magical worlds into other worlds or tampering with time and space. What this implies is that the Emperor may have been able to mess with time and space (polygon.com). Which means that when he was thrown down the shaft and exploded something may have broken. In The Rise of Skywalker he does mention that he “died before”. According to a lot of 90’s non canon comic book series Dark Empire Palpatine resurrects himself after he dies the Sith Lord uses this new force move to jump into a new body. Other words that’s how the Emperor was able to come back in this movie.

            Another thing is how is Leia able to use the force? She was never trained in previous movies but now in the ninth episode she somehow is able to use the force. This is another thing that had me and possibly others question why she has the force. Could it be that since she is the daughter of Skywalker and brother to Luke it maybe just run in the family then? There are some subtle hints that she is. According to bustle.com in The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1981), Leia was able to hear Luke still trapped in Cloud City, she is able to hear her could it be that she had the power of the force this whole time, we just really had to pay close attention. In Return of the Jedi she sees the Death Star explode and Han looks up with a scared look, “Luke wasn’t on that thing, was he?” Leia had her eyes closed but then opens them and says no. So, these little hints mean that she had Jedi in her and after the events of episode six she gets training by Luke. According to the non-canon Infinities comics there is a story of Leia holding a purple lightsaber and going through training by Luke. Leia though stopped the training after what happen to the fate of her son. So, this movie does reveal that Leia is a Jedi.

            Finally, when you watch the film pay close attention to Rey. Rey has a lot of character development throughout the film. First, we see her training to become a Jedi under Leia’s leadership. As she undergoes training, she has flashbacks and memories of her past; hence as Anakin Skywalker does in Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002) where he has memories of his mother and past. Rey also struggles with this internal ego in her that she could use her powers for evil instead of good. Kylo Ren sees the danger in her as said by the Emperor that she could become a Sith ruler. Throughout the film you see her struggle with this fear of turning to the dark side, which when in the Death Star she has a vision of herself as a Sith and is attacked. Rey after attacking Kylo Ren and striking him is afraid what power she has and that’s why she fled. She didn’t want to use this power and you see her attempt to throw her lightsaber away, but Luke’s spirit convinces her to fight. Towards the end she does struggle a little but manages to overcome it and kills the emperor as a Jedi. Her path as a Jedi is complete and she overcomes her struggles she has.

            After watching Rise of Skywalker there is so much that happens that you have questions about. This movie makes you think and question a lot about why this and why that gets you thinking throughout the film. All in all, this film was a good way to close the series and it was a good film but not a great one, compared to the others.

Works Cited

Abrams, J.J., director. Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Lucas Film Ltd, 2019.

Gonzales, Dave. “Answering the Biggest Questions About Emperor Palpatine's Return to Star Wars.” Polygon, Polygon, 19 Dec. 2019, https://www.polygon.com/2019/12/19/21030344/how-is-emperor-palpatine-alive-in-star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-snoke-kylo-rey-vader-spoilers.

Harrington, Delia. “Star Wars: How Leia Becoming a Jedi Redefines the Character for a New Generation.” Den of Geek, Den of Geek, 9 Jan. 2020, https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/285250/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-leia-jedi.

Kershner, Irvin, director. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. Lucas Film Ltd, 1980.

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Lucas Film Ltd, 2002.

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars IV: A New Hope. Lucas Film Ltd, 1977.

Marquand, Richard, director. Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi. Lucas Film Ltd, 1983.

Stahler, Kelsea. “'The Last Jedi' Finally Answered This Age Old Question About Leia.” Bustle, Bustle.com, 14 Dec. 2017, https://www.bustle.com/p/is-leia-a-jedi-star-wars-the-last-jedi-adds-fuel-to-age-old-theory-7581845.

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Thomas, Leah Marilla. “Making Sense Of The Palpatine Twist In The New Star Wars.” How Is Emperor Palpatine Alive In Star Wars Episode 9?, Refinery 29, 20 Dec. 2019, https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/12/9070145/how-did-emperor-palpatine-come-back-have-a-child.