#and rey is like a palpatine or whatever but she denies her bloodline

[luke-shywalker]

Concept: Reylo, but Rey was mentored by Luke her entire life, but it’s like The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1992) where they have to repeatedly reinforce that Rey isn’t really Luke’s daughter, so she isn’t really Ben’s cousin, so it’s not really incest

[friendships-are-masterpieces]

So I went down the rabbit hole of reading a Chris Terrio interview from like 2019 where he defends TROS. The interviewer reads a long ass list of things he retconned. It’s so obvious, but he keeps denying it. The worst offender being Rey’s big parents reveal. He says, “You can leave Episode VIII and say, ‘Well, now, Rey is content. She’s discovered her parents aren’t Skywalkers, or whatever, and that’s fine.’ But so much of her personal story was about where she came from, what kept her on Jakku all those years and the trauma that shaped her.”

Yes, Rey’s trauma was about Jakku. But moreover, it’s about her anger over being abandoned. This is why Luke questions her eligibility for being a Jedi. It’s also why she fell into the cave on Ahch-To and begged to see her parents faces. She feels worthless because she was abandoned, and this draws her to the darkside. Her accepting the truth mirrors Luke accepting Vader is his father in episode V. It’s both what they don’t want to hear, but they have to learn to accept. It’s their hero’s journey. By giving Rey loving parents, you’ve stripped away any motivation she had towards going dark. This is why her journey feels so hollow in TROS, because she’s never at risk. Meanwhile, there was a real internal struggle with Luke in episode VI because he doesn’t want to become his father, but he’s being taunted by Palpatine to kill him. There’s real conflict there.

Also, regarding Finn being force sensitive, he says: “Of course, the galaxy is full of Force users, and you don’t have to be a Skywalker or a Palpatine in order to be strong with the Force.” Okay, so why make Rey a “Palpatine” then? I still don’t understand this logic. It’s like Rey was considered too powerful not to have a bloodline. Also, why mention something so significant about Finn and never utilize it? If Finn is force sensitive, then have a moment where it really means something to the story. It just felt so disposable, like he threw it in.

[solohux]

@anonymous submitted: Okay so, canon-divergent A/B/O verse!

  Kylo Ren never returns to the Light and dies as Ben Solo. He never even entertains the plan that the old washed up Emperor put forth to him. So TROS goes very differently.... 

But the end result is this:- Palpatine dies early on. Pryde mutinies and Hux kills him. The Sith Fleet (Or whatever Palpatine's forces were called) still joins up with The First Order (After a brief civil war), but theirs no silly name change. The First Order and The Resistance get right down to business. Leia still dies. Theirs no stupid search for multiple magical macguffins. The Resistance sadly has no time to call in allies, so they lose badly to The First Order. Rey isn't stupid nor is she suicidal, so she gathers up everyone still alive at this point and gets the hell out of dodge. Poe is the distraction that she needed to make that happen. As a result, The First Order not only effectively wins the war, but Poe is captured as well! 

Here's where the A/B/O stuff comes in! 

Kylo refuses to allow Poe to be executed. He's "culled" The First Order's High Command pretty harshly over the last year of his Supreme Leadership, so few protest this decision. 

But those who do insist that the galactic public will soon be asking for a show of stability from their new government, so Kylo has to do something to reassure everyone that going forward all will be well. 

Welp, nothing soothes the public's fears of instability like a wedding! 

Kylo doesn't marry Poe, of course. That's what Hux is for! 

So Alpha and Omega are joined together in a big showy bonding ceremony. Hux isn't exactly thrilled, but he knows a good deal when he sees it. His position as Kylo's bondmate allows him access to reshape the galaxy as he always wanted to, plus the heirs that he bears for Kylo will assure that his bloodline will continue to influence the galaxy for generations to come! 

Their's no love lost on Kylo's end either. He cares little for Hux personally, but he's the best political choice and Kylo isn't overly picky about who will bear his heirs. 

Now as for Poe, Kylo (Forcibly I might add) takes him as a mistress of sorts. Hux knows about this and doesn't care. He and Kylo only ever have sex for the sake of reproduction. Once Hux bears the odd heir or two, he intends to go on suppressants for the rest of his reproductive life. 

Kylo refuses to go on Alpha suppressants. He hates how they make him feel (He thinks that they weaken his connection to The Force), always has done. He hasn't been on any suppressants ever since he left Luke and joined up with Snoke and he certainly doesn't intend to start taking them again! 

So that's what Poe's role is:- Being Kylo's fuck buddy when that itch of his needs scratching! 

Poe is VERY unhappy about this.  

He's treated well otherwise. His quarters are admittedly small, but they're comfortable. He never has food or drink withheld from him, no matter how mouthy he gets. Kylo makes sure that all of his clothes fit him and are made of nice fabrics. Etc and so forth. 

But any Omega would be unhappy about being denied suppressants, birth control and getting raped multiple times weekly. 

Poe makes his unhappiness clear, Kylo ignores it and takes what he wants every time.  

Eventually all of this sex has a consequence. Poe gets pregnant. He's distressed about the idea of bringing a pup into this situation, but obviously, Kylo doesn't allow him the option to terminate the pregnancy. 

In the end, Kylo isn't even there when Poe births his daughter. He's on the other side of the galaxy! He doesn't even get the chance to go see Poe until the pup is two weeks old.  

When he does come by, Poe is buried deep in the nest he made, curled around his pup. The former pilot gives Kylo hell for having the gall to get him pregnant and then miss the birth, but does eventually hand the pup over to Kylo to see. 

Kylo holds the pup in his arms so gently that it actually startles Poe, but the longer Kylo says nothing and stares at the pup, as if he's examining her.... the more nervous Poe gets. Forced upon him or not, the pup is an innocent in all of this and Poe has already bonded with her.

He loves his baby and a quiet voice in his head starts screaming, a leftover instinct from a more primitive age. A time when Alphas were desperately feared by Omegas as pup-killers, to the point the even Mates couldn't be completely trusted early on....  

Kylo must sense the place where Poe's mind is going, because he quickly hands the pup back to Poe and congratulates him on having borne a beautiful, healthy baby girl. He then inquires about what he named her. 

After a snarky retort, Poe reveals the name he gave his daughter:- Esperanza. 

Kylo snorts out a laugh. Of course Poe Dameron would name his child after the word for "Hope" in his mother's tongue. He should've known. 

Poe lashes out with his tongue once more, but Kylo puts a stop to that. He gets up and idly tells Poe to make the most of the time that he has with his daughter while he still can, because Kylo is going to send her to his Knights of Ren once she's weaned (AKA:- Two years old). 

As an illegitimate pup, Esperanza has no chance to inherit Kylo's titles when she comes of age. Her half-siblings will inherit everything. But Kylo has given her one gift by virtue of having been sired by him:- The Force. 

Any child of Kylo's will have some form of it and Poe isn't entirely Force Null himself. So Kylo always intended to send the pups he had with Poe off to be brought up and trained in the ways of The Force. And who better for the job than his loyal Knights? 

Poe doesn't see it that way. He freaks the fuck out. 

Kylo just shrugs and leaves him to it, he has a mate to see to. 

Poe seethes. Hux of all people sends him a gift basket for Esperanza (Hey, he knows what it's like to be a bastard child!). Kylo visits several times weekly. Poe begins plotting an escape plan.... 

The End! Or rather, you can decide how it all ends!

[hellobrockie]

Some very long Rambly TROS thoughts

Holy fuck there is so much wrong with this movie.

Let's start at the beginning. Kylo tracks down the wayfinder/holocron crystal thing that will lead him to the sith homeworld. We learn that Palpatine was behind both the Snoke and Vader voices in Kylo’s head-basically the dude has been manipulating him for 30 years. Kylo states very clearly he's gonna kill this motherfucker. This is very in line with the Last Jedi- Kylo wants to destroy everything- the Sith the Jedi the Resistance- because he’s tired of the constant push-pull of rejection and manipulation. BUT THEN HE DOESNT KILL PALPATINE???? At first the film argues that he doesn't kill Palps because Palps promises him the big FINAL ORDER fleet? Okay...but I don’t think Kylo really gives a shit about a big fleet of ships when it's offered by the fucker who has been scrabbling his brains for shits and giggles. Once the ‘Rey Palpatine’ thing comes to light, we are lead to believe Kylo went along with the whole final order plan because he wanted to kill Palpatine together with REY???? Ahh okay? 

So now we switch back to Rey. She's basically a jedi, cool. And I guess the Skywalker saber just fixed itself, with literally no scars or anything. A great visual representation about how this film feels about character development that happened in The Last Jedi. So Rey breaks concentration and fails the courses. According to the film, this happens because sheisapalpatine. If you had two brain cells you would realize Rey could be upset for normal reasons ...like that in order to the Resistance to win she’s going to have to put Kylo down like a dog. Its kinda cool that Leia is her teacher (more on that later).

Soo then we spend the next hour on a pointless adventure with the Trio™. Which would be fun, if they were ever established as a Trio. Arguably the real trio might be Rose-Finn-Poe. More on Rose later. Here is a list of incomprehensible things that happen here:

Kylo reforges his mask. Because Reasons? The knights of Ren. Because Reasons?

A handful of force bond scenes. The first one actually isn’t half bad. By wearing the mask, Kylo is rejecting the intimacy inherent to the connection because he is about to  defile it. Grabbing Rey’s necklace is a physical and emotional violation. It's the first time he has ever used the connection for personal gain.  The other connection scenes mostly just play around with the two of them being able to pass each other stuff. They lack the careful editing of TLJ connection scenes. Disclaimer: I’m a pretty hard core Reylo and these scenes really lacked the magic they previously had.This might be un-purpose Kylo is clearly pretty lost as this point.  Dull, lacking in heart like so much of this film. 

Kylo becomes a cartoon power ranger villian spouting Palpatine exposition and attempting to create suspense by almost catching the trio a couple times. Some of the dialogue is almost Revenge of the Sith Anakin level awkward.  It lacks both the unstable angry energy of FA or the sad tired boi energy of TLJ. 

Rey makes force lighting because I guess she was upset and it's a genetic ability now???

Poe gets a female love interest, becuase hes heterosexual. HeTeroSeXUal.

Poe and Finn flirt for a whole hour while Poe checks out some new chick and Finn now has a harem thing kinda. 

Poe is now a spice trader. BECAUSE YOU KNOW HE'S THE HAN SOLO OF THE TRILOGY. Let's just forget that TLJ establishes that Poe is his own character, probably loyal to the resistance since birth. His parents are rebellion alumni.

Two death fake outs. I don’t know why they had to give 3PO his memories back. He lost them at the end of the Prequels and R2 loved him anyway. Chewbacca capture was a missed opportunity to get some resolution to him shooting Kylo in the gut. 

Hux is the spy. Lovely. He is the ultimate weak bitch. Tbh the most consistent character development. Arguably my favorite detail on the entire film. Perfect execution. Domhnall Gleason is a gift. 

Now onto Endor. Endor has so much potential and squanders most of it.

Finn meets other people who left the stormtrooper program. Cool. Weird how it's tied to force sensitivity. I like the idea of the force putting Poe and Finn in the right place at the right time, but I think to imply people’s ability to escape slavery is tied to force sensitivity brings us to the problematic terrority of the sequels. Also the only one who talks to Finn is also black. And Clearly has a romantic vibe. Okay…..

The Rey Palpatine thing is made explicit. Even though anyone will half a brain figured it out 90 minutes ago. More wierd implications…..who would agree to fuck an old man Palpatine? So Rape i guess. Rey’s parents were normal...is this some kinda side material hook to read more about them or some shit??? Kylo refers to Rey’s parents as ‘filthy junk traders’. He's right. THEY SOLD HER INTO FUCKING SLAVERY. However Rey’s parents are good people??? WTF THIS IS THE JEDI COUNCIL ALL OVER AGAIN.

 Soo Kylo destroys the wayfinder to force Rey to work with him. Anti-Reylos will often get their panties in a twist about how it’s an ‘abusive relationship’. This is the only scene that really comes off as manipulative- in a way it never did in TLJ. Partly because they play up this idea of power-hungry Kylo (which has little basis in reality. In FA he just wanted to make Snoke his daddy. And TLJ Kylo is just soo fucking lonely) rather than sad boi Kylo trying to hold onto someone. Damn the TLJ throne scene is soo careful with getting that energy right, balancing the heartbreak with a little gaslighting (sorry off topic).  Then They Fight. Kylo doesn’t even pull out a saber at first because he literally has no intention of killing her. Rey fights because she's mad. Leia decides to intervene at this time, which is weird because Kylo still has no intention of hurting Rey. Apparently Leia sending Kylo a text is enough to freak him out. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE TIME FOR FLASHBACKS, MAYBE A ‘YOU’RE MY ONLY HOPE’ TO TIE HIM BACK TO HIS NAMESAKE. 

Instead Rey gets him in the gut. She then heals him, something that should have been really intimate. This would have been time to kiss him in that wistful ‘ I wanted to know what it would be like before I exile myself forever way’. This is one of the scenes that desperately needed more breathing room AND GIVE KYLO SOME FUCKING DIALOGUE YOU COWARDS. Healing him combined with Leia stuff should have reduced Kylo to a pile of tears. I think he would find it completely overwhelming that someone thinks he is worth it, worth a part of their life source, worth their final breathes. 

Oh woah surprise Han Solo. This kinda works for me because unlike robot Leia and fairy godmother Luke, Han looks alive. Plus Han is only a memory so Kylo has to save himself, make his own choice. Aww fuck this got me the closest to tears becuase he looks so fucking sad about the fact that he can’t go home. Damn you Adam Driver and you’re big weepy eyes. His mother is dead and I don’t think he ever truly realized that she wanted him back. I guess with the way things went with Luke, he just assumed he was unwanted. Even now, Han is the only one of the 3 Ben can really imagine taking him back. Who knew Han was such a softie.  At the same time there is something so unintentionally sad about the fact that Ben’s whole family can become force ghosts and not a single one gives enough of  a shit about him to show up at the turning point of his life. 

Also the implication that Ben turns to protect Leia’s lifework is strange. Leia’s legacy is the Rebellion, a democratic senate, a planet wiped off the map, NOT SKYWALKER JEDI #2 JJ!!!!! Ben doesn’t even interact with any of the larger powers at work, he just saves Rey. 

Also while Ben’s guilt and shame about killing Han (his true sin) keep him on the dark side, this doesn’t address the 8 million other reasons he left the light. Also why do Leia and Rey never discuss this???? His own fucking family repeatedly rejected him because of his ‘Vadar-ness’ which is ironic considering…….

Then we cut to Rey’s fairy godmother-esque trip to Ahch-To where she arms herself with all of the Skywalker’s personal effects:

Mad that Rian Johnson denied you that ESB fanservice call-back of Luke being able to pull his x-wing out of water?? Don’t worry JJ has got you covered. 

Mad that Leia didn’t have lightsaber? Don’t worry JJ has got you covered, Leia was always prepared to be a back up to Luke because she doesn’t have her own perspective or anything or like a whole fucking political system to run. Also she stopped training because apparently completing her journey would end in Ben’s death...ooo SmArT foreshadowing that Rey using her lightsaber will end in one dead Ben boi. 

Leia and Luke ALWAYS knew about Rey Palps. Which is funny because they threw their own flesh and blood in the trash because he seemed kinda Vader-y. I guess it's wrong to judge people by their bloodlines unless its your own bloodline. I can’t even. 

There is no mention of Ben at all- even though Leia and Luke both died for him and Rey put her whole heart into saving him.  

Now to Exeger or whatever again. Almost two hours in and we’re back at the planet we were on in the first 5 minutes.

Spaceship stuff happens. Take out your checklist to get those pilot and ship cameos. Ooo look its The Ghost! OG trilogy pilot! Lando is there! WOOO! Poe’s girlfriend lived somehow! 

Ben’s last words are ‘Ow’.

Palps wants Rey to kill him because I guess that will make her evil? Since when does killing people make you evil? I don’t think killing Palps to save the world in the same as ‘striking your enemies down in hatred’ or whatever. 

Oh Hey Ben is here. Palps doesn’t care much I guess even though trolling Skywalkers is his whole life’s passion. 

Palps drains the life out of Ben/Rey. They don’t die. Ben goes flying into a pit. Rey has to face Palps alone because I guess even though Ben/Rey are stronger together and are cosmically linked the lone jedi thing will happen anyway?? Is feminism about doing everything on your own rather than building meaningful connections with your equal partner. Honestly only Men would think a women has to do everything alone to prove her worth, Rey has been wanting allies and family her whole life LET HER HAVE IT. 

Also okay sooo Palps did technically kill Rey’s parents and she had about a whole 5 minutes to think about that. Multiple generations of Ben’s family have been tortured by this guy, so I think it would be rather cathartic to see him play a bigger role in the end of Palp.

Rey enters the Avatar State. Cue more fanservice cameos (I love you Ahsoka, but you said it yourself, you ain’t a jedi). In another backhanded slap to TLJ were back on the TheJediDidNothingWrong line of thinking. Anakin is present ...I wonder if anyone else is interested in talking to him…...

Rey dies. I’m not sure why. Palps legit sucked the life of her and she lived, but the Avatar State killed her. 

Ben crawls out of pit. Damn Adam Driver has legs for days. He heals Rey, its kinda sweet but it's also really really weird that he hasn’t said anything. Not saying we need an over the top love declaration but even his emotionally constipated parents managed to get an ‘I love you’ out. 

Ben saves Rey. The thing Anakin thought the dark side would give him the power to do. Interesting bookend. Sad that my boy has such low self preservation, he gives her his life without hesitation. Why do we have to die for other people? It’s much harder to have to live for other people. To move and grow beyond the past. To try and be our best everyday, even when its hard. Isn’t that real redemption? 

Ben kisses Rey. Awww. Its missing some of the elements of a big romantic drama kiss, which I would be okay with ...if it was followed up with a big romantic kiss with a sunset on a new planet before the credits roll. Alas this does not happen. The audience is somewhat befuddled since their had been almost no dialogue referencing their emotional connections. The ‘no one knows me./I do.’ dialogue from the trailer did not appear in film. 

Ben smiles. It has all the boyish charm and innocence Anakin wished he had in the prequels. Aww he really has never kissed anyone. I wonder when the last time he smiled was. HAS THIS MAN EVER HAD A GOOD DAY HIS ENTIRE LIFE. I am emotionally moved until approximately 2 seconds later….

Ben dies. There is no funeral. No mention. Rey doesn’t shed a single tear. This dude literally gave you his life without hesitation. Is Reylo one-sided? Or at least not equally felt? Ow. U The Resistance doesn’t wonder what happened to the Supreme leader. We know at the end of TLJ Luke became a legend, I do not think this happens to Ben. 

The Resistance parties. Cue Return of the Jedi film reel. Poe and Finn are heterosexual. No resolution to the stupid ReyFinn force sensitve thing. Two women kiss. It will be cut out of the Chinese release. 

Rey buries the lightsabers on Tatooine because you know Luke lived there and Leia once wore a metal bikini there. Rey choose the name Rey Skywalker. Which is interesting because she didn’t get along that well with Luke. She finished her training with Leia Organa Solo, Princess of Alderaan who just happens to have been a result of a sperm donation from Anakin Skywalker. She found a father figure in Han Solo. She loved a guy named Ben Solo. I’m not saying she should name herself Rey Solo, but it certainly is better than Rey Skywalker. I mean it's almost like a person's worth and ability aren’t dependent on either a bloodline or acceptance into the galaxies most powerful family. Rey nobody would have been fine.  I’m not going to get into the feminist angle of a self made women tying herself to the legacy of a man. Cue theaterwide groaning. 

Twin suns. Cool. I liked them better in The Last Jedi.

Rey has a yellow-ish lightsaber and maybe made out of her staff. Wonder where she got the crystals from and why they didn’t introduce it earlier. Possible implication she's going the way of the ‘grey’ jedi? idk some Jedi have yellow actually. Ahsoka had a yellow one. Not sure since this film is back on the JediwayisBest bullshit. 

We see Luke and Leia's force ghosts. Ben’s last word was ��ow’.

In Summary, some odd implications:

Rey Palpatine is quite possibly the worst idea of all time. Worse than midichlorians. The highest level of fanboy pandering and Rian Johnson erasure. Rey has a lot of very real things to be angry about - her rough childhood, the deaths of her mentors, loving someone as dense as Ben Solo, having to come to terms with the fact that her parents didn’t love her. 

Return to prequel-esque thinking on slavery. Apparently it is not that bad if you sell someone as long as you do it with LOVE. 

Making Finn force sensitive is not character development. Its just half assed pandering and additional exposition in a film filled with exposition.

There is some truly awful dialogue in this film. Its shot composition and editing is so sloppy compared to FA or TLJ. 

The force in balance means killing everyone on the darkside. 

Rose is completely sidelined. She is the only Asian character on screen. She is seemingly replaced with a black woman who has a similar background to Finn and is a scavenger like Rey. Yikes. Why does this feel like an anti-interacial relationship thing. 

Said Black women Jarrah talks to Lando, another black character in a bizarre dialogue that vaguely implies all black people are related. I might be really misreading this, but its weird. I would have liked her to talk to Rose instead because female solidarity. 

FinnPoe is played up a LOT. But we are also repeatedly reminded they are attracted to women. This does not feel like woke Bisexual culture. This is pandering without making a commitment. 

Rey’s worth as a character is related to her connection to powerful people in the Star Wars mythos, not her own traits. 

Ben’s character resonates really strongly with abuse victims and outsiders. His lack of dialogue strips him of a lot of his agency.  His estrangement from his family is not resolved. Vader, who arguably did a lot worse things gets a whole dying monologue and force ghost thing. 

Oh hey C3PO said the festival is every 42 year old….OG came out 42 years ago. heh.

In Summary:

Watch the Clone Wars animated series

Fall in love with Ahsoka

Watch Star Wars Rebels or at least all the episodes with Ahsoka and also the series finale, it's got some cool force stuff in it. 

Think about the cool force stuff in Star Wars Rebels and the cool force stuff in The Last Jedi. Woah.

Apply all this cool force stuff to your own personal version of the Rise of Skywalker

Wait for clone wars finale Feb 2020

Rinse and Repeat

Peg Kylo Ren

Oscar Isaac is the Captain on the FinnPoe Ship. 

The Last Jedi was the Best One. Fight Me. 

Find the fanfiction where Rey tells him what a good boi he is which reduces him to a puddle. Find the fanfiction where he cries during sex the first time, the second time, every time. Find the fanfiction where his force ghost gets a hug, where his family welcomes his back. 

Read Fanfiction:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852886

What I would do instead:

Delete Rey Palpatine

Ditch the mask. You have a fucking Oscar nomiated actor hiding under it. 

After the Endor part, have Kylo join either Rey or the Resistance. Personally I think him hitching a ride on the Falcon would have been wonderfully awkward. And maybe give some closure the calling Finn a ‘traitor’ thing. This is fanservice-y, but no more fanservice-y than the rest of the film. And maybe finally answer the question of who does/doesnt know who Kylo Ren is. Would like a verbal declaration that he identifies as Ben Solo or least Ben or something. 

Ben can still die I guess but maybe give him some kinda funeral. Or reuse the golden dice symbolism. 

Slow everything done. Let the audience feel sad, feel happy. Oh and cut out those fucking death fake outs. 

[my-fandom-mania]

Alright, I’ve had more time to think about The Rise of Skywalker and I stand by everything I’ve said: I really did like it

In short...

Things I liked: The Trio, Princess Leia, Finn and Poe, the voices of the old Jedi

Things I didn’t like as much: the way Rey’s parentage was handled, TLJ, TROS should’ve been two movies, and a certain part of Kylo Ren’s ending.

Parts that I absolutely loved:

Finn/Rey/Poe. They are such an amazing trio. I wish we’d had more of them. But what we did have was pretty incredible. Poe and Rey bickering and Finn trying to maintain order, they’re all disasters really. That hug at the end was the absolute best.

Princess Leia. I knew I was going to be a MESS when I saw her and I wasn’t wrong. The moment she came onscreen, I teared up. I love that they were able to give her time in this movie considering everything. Anything related to her part in the story, or Han’s involvement bc it may have been he filled in for her in that scene, I am going to let slide. I do love she was confirmed to be trained and she was Rey’s Master. I always thought it’d be stupid to only train one Skywalker haha. I loved her lightsaber.

Also when Chewie BROKE DOWN, I cried. That hurt

Finn and Poe. When it comes to movies and shows, I don’t go looking for romance. I don’t think every story needs a romance. But you can’t deny chemistry. Oscar Isaac and John Boyega have a great chemistry. I am sad they didn’t end up together. They were honestly robbed in my opinion. And I’m tired of Disney claiming representation and then putting in some easily missed tidbit to make it seem like they are living up to their words. Anyways. Finn and Poe were like and old married couple, and I loved it. In my mind, they’re together. And I wanna say, I appreciate the hell out of Oscar Isaac.

I loved hearing all the past Jedi voices. That was amazing. I love the prequels, so hearing them all, even if none appeared as Force Ghosts like I wanted, was a highlight for me.

Alright some things I didn’t really like:

Rey as Palpatine’s heir was a nice twist, but it was ruined by the fiasco that was TLJ.

On that note, TROS makes me hate TLJ. Before I was kinda like, whatever, not the best, kinda long, didn’t add too much, but NOW?? JJ Abrams basically had to undo TLJ.

TRoS felt so packed and so rushed, but if we had just been able to spread TROS over two movies, I think it could have been waaaay better. Not just the movie either. The trilogy could have been way better. Now I wish I could want to watch the whole thing again, but honestly, TLJ feels like a filler movie, and I could just watch TFA and TROS and I’d be good.

Finally, Kylo Ren. I was so happy he wanted to help Rey in the end. I liked that they had a connection. I DID NOT like the kiss. If they had hugged, or just held each other or something, I think it would have felt a lot deeper and more meaningful. The kiss felt so forced. I am not mad about his end. I have nothing against him, but I don’t see how he could come back from everything he did. So his end, and the end of the Skywalker bloodline and family story was fine.

[theethird]

Thoughts on Kylo Ren...

(no spoilers because, the movie in question isn't out yet. Lol. )

It just occurred to me that Kylo Ren is a walking bundle of contradictions.

Former Jedi Padawan turned to the dark side, yet not fully.

Allegedly responsible for the destruction of Luke's Jedi Order, yet still feels the pull of the light.

Wields an ancient Lightsaber with a red crystal, that's also cracked, yet demands the blue saber of his grandfather.

Here's what we've been told or at the very least can put together about Snoke and Kylo so far:

We know Snoke comes from the Unknown Regions, or nearby.

We know that there was a certain force attuned structure on Jakku that Palpatine was interested in.

We know Kylo's saber isn't a common design or an original one, as we saw it in Rebels but with a GREEN crystal.

We know Snoke isn't a Sith, but is powerful in the Dark Side.

We know Snoke has been watching Kylo since his infancy. (Very creepy but I digress)

We know Kylo is conflicted. He's not fully immersed in darkness and his lack of physical features (yellow eyes and pale mottled skin) is evidence along with him saying that he still feels pulled to the light.

Here's the thing about red crystals though. In order to create one, you have to be so filled with darkness that when you attune yourself to the crystal, that you can resist it's call to the light to save you from yourself. We saw Vader get offered a future where he atones from his sins by killing Sidious and having Obi kill him, which he promptly denies to turn his crystal red.

Kylo doesn't have that kind of conviction. Even though he kills Lor San Tekka, that's after he has his saber. He has his troops kill those villagers, but hear me out.

Kylo could very well just be playing along. And not in the sense of a planted mole. I'm thinking that he feels trapped in a sense.

Theory time! I propose that Snoke somehow manipulated Kylo after he learned that Vader was his grandfather, i.e. when Leia got exposed as his daughter. Kylo then lashed out in anger, probably flexing his strength the way saw Rey tap into hers in the most recent trailer, and I think from there Snoke took advantage, and made the situation worse, causing Kylo to think that it was all his doing and that he was stronger than he thought, pushing him to the darkness but not fully to the dark side because it wasn't all his doing. I think from there, Snoke gives him the saber as a gift until he's ready to complete his training.

How do Force Users complete their training? They build their own sabers. Vader told Luke his training was complete when he saw that he built his own saber. Snoke told Kylo that it was time to complete his training at the end of the last movie. But we know that TLJ starts right afterwards, and sabers take a long ass time to complete. So my guess is Kylo is going to teeter on the edge at the point of no return this whole movie, finally making a choice or having one made for him. Also the whole thing with wanting Anakins saber was so that he could corrupt the crystal to prove himself but even then Anakins ghost probably would've reacted.

TL:Dr, I think Kylo is trapped by guilt over causing a situation that killed an entire new order of Jedi, and created a rift in his family, while also feeling justified since they lied to him and Han probably wasn't around for whatever reason. Snoke is using that to gain a gifted commander from a tortured youth.

I'm not pro-reylo, but Rey could be the one to bring him back, albeit in a non-romantic way, and honestly it's giving me Lion King vibes. She playing Nala to his Simba and I think he's gonna have to reclaim his birthright in episode 9, since Luke has rejected it and Snoke is abusing it. Like if this is about the Skywalker Saga coming to a close, it's gotta be about the legacy being justified, vindicated and redeemed. Justified in a sense that the Force was right to create Anakin, Vindicated in that the means are validated by the end result and redeemed in a way that balances the Force and removes the bloodline from the central focal point of the Galactic narrative. Kylo has to cast off his identity as a Dark Jedi, but not truly become a Jedi again. Rey needs to learn her place in the order of things but she isn't needed as a Jedi either, just a hero. Snoke and Luke both have to die to accomplish balance btw, and probably Leia as well.

The Force needs to become free of its attachment to the Skywalker bloodline and this Saga needs to be about that happening through Kylo.