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nevertheless-moving · 4 years ago

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Unnamed Extremely Bad Plan to Defeat Darth Sideous AU - SW AU NO 9

Hopefully writing down this star wars au will help me exorcise the cringe demon that helped midwife it. Time travel au where obi-wan and Anakin come up with an extremely SPECIFIC and UNCOMFORTABLE plan to defeat Palpatine because it unfortunately, would actually work, as it capitalizes on one of Palpatine’s easiest to reach political vulnerabilities. This is not a unique plan- there are other au’s like this, but this one is mine. When searching for ways to explain exactly why this anti-sith strategy inspires such cringe and delight in myself I realized, with sinking dread, I have seen this in an Always Sunny episode...which yeah. I might be over reacting but hey, cringe is a personal phenomenon, everyone’s different.

Anyway! Uh here’s a bunch of plot that will eventually culminate in the plan.

*Too much plot, aaaah*. **All plot actually.** ***Its 1 am and this is still a draft*** ****It’s 2am**** *****This post will be just be background I guess.*****

*******STAR WARS AU NO 9 LAZILY OUTLINED CHAPTER ONE*********

Force ghosts Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi have had time to yell at one another without need for breath, and have more-or-less come to terms with the trainwreck that was their shared life. I wouldn’t call them well adjusted, but they’re more stable then they were the last decade or so of their living existence.

In haunting Luke, they end up encountering an artifact in an ancient Willis temple that offers spirits the chance to fix the mistakes they made in life. It doesn’t truly unwrite what’s been done, but it lets you create an alternate timeline. So this galaxy will still be what it is, but some alternate galaxy somewhere could at least have it better. Its almost never been used, because becoming one with the force usually lets you accept the past, but viewed objectively, Vader and Ben’s lives involved an extreme amount of yikes. They say goodbye to Luke and are flung backwards and sideways.

Anakin is holding his mother as she dies. Obi-Wan is landing on Genosis.

Vader just barely manages to avoid slaughtering the tuskens. To be honest, he doesn’t really get why he shouldn’t- his moral compass is still pretty f-ed up. He’s fairly certain the force is just torturing him, but still he controls himself (for Padme for Luke for Leia).

I’m gonna say well-adjusted!Vader sees murder in general as more of a vice than a sin- on par with having a beer. And really well adjusted Vader is willing to admit to himself that he’s an alcoholic, he seriously cannot regulate, its a problem. He really can’t let himself go, because he’ll just end up spiraling. And so he restrains himself and only seriously maims a few of the adult raiders.

Vader figures he can always come back later and slowly torture them to death if this whole ‘save the future’ thing doesn’t pan out.

Obi-wan leaves his shuttle and hides under a rock for 30 minutes. He calculates thats just enough time for him to pretend he went on an extremely effective and sneaky fact finding mission- just in case anyone checks R4′s records. Gets back in shuttle and gets the fuck out of there, much to Dooku’s chagrin, who lost sight of him after the shuttle landed and is now going to have to switch to one of his alternate start-the-war plans.

On the flight back he reports everything to the council- fallen Dooku and the separatist leaders, the trade federation and the massive droid army, Jango Fett the clone template of the republic army (?) working for the separatists. He briefly comms Anakin, but anyone hacking into their conversations would hear only a nonsensical, rambling conversation. Later, a hacker might turn over the idea that they were speaking in elaborate code, but why would Jedi invent such a thing during peacetime?

The war still starts; at this point in the timeline it was inevitable; the artifact was only designed to give them the chance to correct their own failings, not the galaxy’s. Palpatine still gets his emergency powers.

The same day the armies are discovered, separatist war ships take off to engulf Ryloth. The Jedi are instructed by the senate to lead the clone army and provide immediate relief-this will not be a repeat of the republic’s inaction on Naboo. It’s both better and worse than the first Battle of Genosis. So many more civilians are caught in the crossfire. The first titanic battle is not contained to evacuated droid factories, but rages across an entire populated world. The battle lasts for weeks.

The main reason this fight is less deadly is solely due to the fact that General Kenobi manages to maneuver his way into high command of the entire army.

“I believe assumptions were made since I was the first point of contact with Kamino, Masters,” the Knight explained apologetically to the arriving high council members. “I realize its not quite appropriate, but for right now I am the Jedi most familiar with our forces and the enemies. I would, of course, prefer to cede the role to someone else.”

The assembled Jedi can feel the truth in that statement.

“For better or for worse, advance troops were directed by the senate to land planetside and have met heavy resistance. I managed to redirect them to a more defensible position, where they can provide surface based cover fire for incoming reinforcements. The battle has already begun.” He received a grim nod of approval from Master Windu.

“I feel the need to say now, that if there’s one thing I learned from my time as a general on Melida/Dann, or in working against Death Watch on Mandalore, its that having a clear chain of command is vital for a military to succeed. I don’t need to remind some of you that leadership breakdowns were what ultimately ended both the Stark Hyperspace War and the Yinchorri Crisis,” Masters Koon and Tiin exchanged looks before deliberately sending forth a small force wave of approval, understanding where this briefing was leading.

“I believe that unnecessarily restructuring command before the battle is won here could do far more harm than good.” The reminder of Obi-wan’s unusually militaristic apprenticeship put some of the assembled knights at ease even as it inspired a twinge of guilt in the older masters.

“In command you are, General Kenobi,” Master Yoda finally acknowledged. “A Jedi Master you will be, once done this battle is. Have us do, what would you?”

The battle lasts for weeks, and when its over, the commanding Jedi and Troopers involved will openly acknowledge that had anyone else been in command, it would’ve lasted months, if not years. Facing down logistical, strategic, and tactical problems on a scale unheard of for a thousand years, High General Kenobi does not falter.

Enemy reinforcements seem unending. For all their preparation, every single trooper is new to war, and secretly concerned that should they fall, they will be replaced with cadets who hadn’t even finished their training.

Obi-Wan is putting out fires before they can start. Much to their shock, clone commanders are informed that they will, for the time being, remain in charge of their troops. With a handful of exceptions, Jedi ‘Generals’ were in fact, to be treated as a cross between highly skilled commandoes and advisors with abnormally sourced field intelligence.

“All of you have spent your lives training to lead your brothers into combat. The Jedi Masters and knights who are being assigned to your divisions have not received such training.”

General Kenobi addressed the division commanders, some in person, some over holocomm. All focused in rapt attention as their General reordered the shape of their lives using language they could understand.

“The command structure I am issuing is designed to maximize our ability to utilize our respective strategic capabilities, while minimizing potential loss of your life. It will be our great privilege to serve alongside such an army, and while I fully expect a complementary exchange of knowledge in time, for now, focus on survival.”

The Jedi received similar briefings, tailored for their broader array of combat and military experience. Some, including Jedi Master Pong Krell and Grandmaster Yoda, were pulled aside and tasked with the essential mission of infiltrating and destroying the Droid factories on Genosis. If they were to have a chance of winning this war, they they would need to cut off the seemingly unceasing flow of droid reinforcements.

An elite squadron of Arctroopers and Jedi field operatives were covertly dispatched, Grandmaster Yoda himself in command. Considering Count Dooku had yet to appear anywhere near Ryloth...the grandmaster had the best chance of bringing in the fallen separatist leader alive for questioning.

Shortly after they left, Anakin arrived, having finally turned over Padme’s protection to her regular guard. With the military creation vote past, the assassination risk was considered minimal. The real delay in his arrival came from her repeated attempts to join the Grand Army of the Republic on Ryloth with the intent of coordinating humanitarian assistance. Eventually he managed to convince her that she could do more good in the senate.

After all, he pointed out, someone would need to followup the military creation act with a bill to grant clones equal citizen rights. Otherwise, the legal grey area that cloning fell under and their non-republic origin would inadvertently make the clones slaves.

His borrowed Nabooan cruiser entered the warzone with the grace and efficiency as a small neutron bomb.

Those close enough to see its flaming descent watched in horror, realizing that the high generals own padawan would likely be a war casualty before he ever engaged in combat.

The legion nearest to soon-to-be-ground-zero, under the command of Captain Rex of the 501st, were distracted by heated combat, as the temporary barricade they had put up to defend the civilian population gave way to droidika artillery.

While reloading, several dozen troopers happened to look up to see a speck detach itself from the hull as at spiraled in the lower atmosphere. Hope spread that the Jedi had managed to activate some sort of eject hatch. A skilled shocktrooper could probably control and and survive such a fall with luck, which mean a Jedi almost certainly could.

A few tactical scouts charged with watching the skies confirmed that the speck was indeed a humanoid. No chute was visible, but even 8 days into the war, rumors had already spread about how Master Windu had passed off his chute mid-air to a troopers who had been damaged by suppressing fire, cushioning his free fall solely with the tank he crushed upon landing.

Only one trooper, stationed in the town clock tower specifically to track the Padawan’s arrival and issued with a high-resolution farscope, saw the whole thing. Fortunately for his credibility later, in its current setting, the scope automatically logged photos every 5 seconds, ensuring that for years to come Obi-Wan would have a flipbook as evidence that he was not the crazy one.

CT-3609 or Blink (as he was named after winning the division wide staring contest on Kamino two year prior) forwarded the trajectory of the vehicle to command, who confirmed his analysis that it would impact two clicks out from their makeshift fort and not present a risk to civilian or trooper lives.

As it traversed the stratosphere a figure (desperate repair droid, Blink assumed) emerged from the cockpit to perch on the nose of the ship. As it entered the troposphere, it became painfully obvious that the figure jutting out from the hull of the ship was in fact not a humanoid droid, but an unarmored human. The Jedi stood on the prow of the ship, seemingly impervious to and oblivious of:

air resistance

centrifugal force

normal space gravity

Blink’s slack-jawed bewilderment

the flames engulfing the ship below him

At this range, the smirk on the man’s face was visible (man? boy? kriff is he even through puberty?). Several miles above the surface he leaped, diving towards the ground like a bird of prey.

To the west, the ship made impact with the ground, sending a shockwave that shook the tower just enough for Blink to lose visual in the final moments of descent. Cursing, as while he was confident the Jedi would inexplicably survive, he really wanted to see how. The trooper scanned the droid-engulfed farmland to the north for a crash site, to no avail. Lingering smoke from the burnt countryside negatively impacted visibility low to the ground.

Rather than trying to articulate his report into words, he sent the 50-odd frames the farscope had saved, as well as the coordinates for the jedi’s projected radius of touchdown. A quick radio over to long range electro-ballistics ensured that his landing wouldn’t be marred by friendly fire.

He awaited follow-up questions on the absurd entry method, which, when they came, mostly consisted of variations on “...Is this for real?” and eventually “Can you set the scope to video for a little while?” and finally “Do you think that’s how he got the name Skywalker?”

There was a temporarily lull in fire from the west, likely a ripple effect from the ship’s explosion. From his vantage point Blink could see his batchmates using the opportunity to try and plug the holes in their barricade with broken droid pieces. Regardless of the itch to join them, he knew he couldn’t leave his post until the Jedi actually arrived in camp. Finally, a distant explosion and thick pillar of smoke gave the Jedi’s position away.

He tried to make out details, but the scope had a difficult time focusing through the haze. Manually trying to fine tune the scope’s settings, Blink caught a glimpse of what looked like half a hover tank sailing through the air to impact with a trade federation troop carrier in a fiery explosion. Several more explosions, flying droid artillery, and plumes of smoke were caught on record before visual contact with the source was established. He was mostly visible as a blue blur, lightsaber mowing a meandering path towards their location.

It wasn’t until Skywalker braced himself in place to punch a droidaka into pieces that Blink caught actual sight of the man. Only his eyes were visible, nose and mouth covered by layers of cloth. He blurred, then reappeared on top a massive missile launcher attached to an absurdly heavily armored vehicle. A minute or so of rapid blue flashes passed, the longest he had seen concentrated in one area. Then Skywalker was gone, movement clearly visible as he for once he moved in a straight line, plowing a rapid path away from the launcher.

Less than 30 seconds later, Blink had to wince away from the scope, as a burning white explosion temporarily overwhelmed the direct light filter. The trooper panicked for a moment, thinking he had gone both deaf and blind, but the abrupt, sucking silence ended after a moment with a deafening sonic boom. The shockwave rattled the farscope, nearly knocking it over, but Blink managed to steady it and himself in time.

A cheer emerged from pleasantly surprised vod below. The entire droid legion that had been guarding the missile launcher and apparent ordinance bay was flattened.

It took a moment for the realization to set in that the background noise of missile and and anti-missile collisions directly overhead had slowed pace. With the northern flank gone, artillery were able to redouble efforts to the east, and a second white hot shockwave ensued, signaling that the tide of battle had shifted. It was almost too easy for the republics electro-ballistics to tactically devastate the surrounding forces.

Eventually some sort of win/loss programming must have set in and all forces outside of a certain radius began retreating southward, conceding the scorched land to the republic army. It was cadets work to clean up the final suicidal droid charge.

A commotion ensued as Skywalker leapt the barricade with a mid-air flip. The vod greeted him with cheers, as they correctly assumed his appearance had something to do with the skirmish’s decisive victory.

Blink sent the video of the battle to command and quickly packed up his scope and assorted equipment. Hurrying down the battered tower, Blink thought to himself that this Anakin Skywalker was the best sort of Jedi a trooper could ask for.

uh sorry i got really sidetracked there moving on

Kenobi and Skywalker quickly become the face of the war once again

they grit their teeth a bit, but when they finally have a moment to really plan they eventually agree that to take down Sideous they have to cut off his political power in addition to everything else, and taking advantage of their public personas was the most accessible way to do so (*evil laughter*)

While Dooku wasn’t captured, Yoda heard the truth in his old student’s cryptic warnings about a Sith in the Senate, and the council begins carefully editing their release of tactical plans to the Chancellor’s office in the hopes of ferreting out the spy in their midst.

Pong Krell looses two arms in his duel with Dooku. Obi-Wan successfully hides his smug pleasure at the news. Anakin enjoys makeing comparisons between him and Grievous.

Kenobi doesn’t allow the origin of the clones to go unexamined, although he agrees that if the public were informed that they don’t actually know who ordered them it would probably cause panic.

The ‘inhibitor chips’ are ‘discovered’ early on and Anakin leads the effort to ensure that they are phased out and removed immediately. This consists of reminding every Jedi who even hesitates about how how he as a child slave had some experience with control chips and unless you want to take a leaf out of the hutts books lets start doing brain surgery chop chop mmmkay?

(This isn’t to say that Vader doesn’t still a twinge of shame at acknowledging his slave roots. But it is eclipsed by the burning guilt that he knowingly acted as slave master to his troops for decades after Sideous wiped their minds. He tried to rationalize it to himself, after all he didn’t immediately understand what Order 66 had done to the troopers. But while the morality of murder was more of an intellectual concern than a personal one, treating people as things...)

The Kamonions are a little harder to budge, referencing contracts that they refuse to allow the Jedi to see

Finally Vader snuck into the Chief Medical Scientist’s home while she was sleeping and straight-up threatened to murder her and burn down her lab. At the risk of losing her life’s work, Nala Se complied.

Vader left with the final threat that in the event that Darth Tyranus caught wind and activated Order 66 prematurely, he would kill 100 Kamonians for every Jedi felled by troopers. Shaak Ti was pleased by the cloners sudden change of heart. Tyrannus, and by extension, Sideous, are in the dark.

Obi-Wan frequently publicly confronts Palpatine about the troops citizen status, urging him make use of his emergency powers to grant them citizenship and full pay, with the option to leave the army should they so wish.

Anakin manages to play off his avoidance of the Chancellor as disappointment in his perceived lack of dedication to anti-slavery efforts

Finally Palpatine gives in- regardless of what happens next, the troops will be looked after.

With 2/3rds of the troopers dechipped, Vaderkin is eager to kill Sideous again, but after several intense screaming matches and sparring sessions, the time travelers come to the agreement that even if they succeed in their duel, with things as they were, the perception of the Jedi military coop would cause mass civil unrest. The scattered sith apprentices, while individually weak, were more than capable of magnifying that fear and anger until the galaxy breaks. Darth Sideous wanted to ensure that if he couldn’t have the galaxy, no one would.

(Vader knows this. Sideous enjoyed monologuing, and much of his plotting couldn’t be safely bragged about until after he had decisively won, leaving Vader as the unwilling receptacle for years of pent-up rants and self-satisfied gloats about the inevitability of his victory)

Continued Here

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certifiedskywalker · 4 years ago

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Still Dancing - Luke Skywalker

It is the birthday of the New Republic and, to celebrate, the freshly appointed Senators have thrown a gala that spans across all of the Core Worlds. Nearly the entire galaxy! By Leia Organa’s invitation, you find yourself lost in a sea of unfamiliar faces. You are, it seems, a wallflower, shy and unmoved by the rejoice in the air. Or maybe it’s the dancing that puts you off. Either way, Luke Skywalker is ready to sweep you off your feet.

AN: Gender neutral for the most part! Enjoy!

“You sure look happy to be here.”

“I could say the same for you,” Han fired back before he took a sip of whatever cocktail Leia had ordered for him. His face screwed up at the taste and he all too-quickly placed the glass of bright green liquid down on the table.

“Sour?”

Han answered with a glare.

“Could be worse,” you pointed out.

“Really? How?”

You tipped your head towards the table set next to the one you shared with the smuggler-turned-war hero. “Could be like him.”

Han glanced over and saw the same, overweight Twi’lek man whose head, heavy with his lekku and drink, was pressed against the table. Residue of all colors, including the bright green of Han’s drink stained the fabric cloth of the senatorial place settings. Drool dribbled out of the man’s partially open mouth alongside snores that were drowned out by the political chatter. Han turned in his seat to face you again and shook his head.

“I’d rather be where he is.”

You shrugged. “At least you can still dance away from your problems, Solo.”

“Ha, yeah. Sure.” Han looked back at the passed out Twi’lek and asked, “isn’t this the Ryloth representative?”

“He’s your wife’s co-worker,” you confirmed with hints of a smile played on your lips. Han let out a heavy sigh.

“At least I don’t have to worry about competition.”

“You? No,” you teased and waved a dismissive hand. “You’re a fine Coreillian wine he is to...well...whatever it is that you’re drinking.”

Han frowned but, based on his quietness, your analogy sated him. Both of you, resigned to your spot at the distant, corner table and your respective drinks, stared out into the crowd. Senators, representatives, and business people were dressed in their finest for this long awaited evening: the first annual New Republic Celebration. You, on the other hand, had dreaded your attendance. Though, Leia had stressed to that your presence at the gala was not mandatory.

“I, personally, want you to be there. At best, you meet someone. At worst, you commiserate with Han,” she had said.

That agreement, your promise to attend, was made weeks ago. If you had known it was going to be this stuffy, you would have stayed in your apartments. At least there you knew what you were drinking. There was the added bonus of not being surrounded by strangers, drunk strangers that, lured to their feet by the classical, live music, felt the horrible urge to dance.

Pairs of all sorts and shapes waltzed along the shining, Jelucani fogstone floor. If you dared to watch too long, you grew dizzy and forced your eyes to the stagnant ceiling of dangling, crystal light features. White, amber, and gold reflected beams and refracted waves in a dazzling show that impress you more than the swaying politicians. Much to your surprise, Han seemed more intrigued by the guests.

“Who’s that?” His sudden question coaxed your eyes from the ceiling and in the general direction of his gesture. A lithe figure with powder pink hair was in deep conversation with Leia.

“Amilyn Holdo. Senator from Gatalenta. I met her when Leia took me clothes shopping.”

“I hope she didn’t pay for her dress,” Han jeered. You rolled your eyes and studied Holdo’s holographic dress for a moment. Slips of pink fabric slid around her waist like an in-sown sash, the pastel tone creating a sharp contrast with the rest of the metallic skirt and bodice. Her apparel was not the worst by far. Though, stood next to Leia, whose hair had been done up special for the gala and wore a sleek, white and grey gown, anyone looked gaudy.

With a hard swallow, you let your gaze fall into your lap. Rested there, your hands brushed over the soft material of your outfit. Leia had had more of a say in your look for the evening than yourself. Not that you minded; she had great taste. However, despite your friends’ knack at putting together an outfit, you felt lost in your clothes.

The light blue color of long shawl and matching, flowing trousers reminded you of tundra-covered your home world, Hynestia. When you told Leia just that whole shopping, she had stuck with the color and got to work coordinating accessories and layers. Earlier, you caught your reflection and marveled at your appearance. After working with the Rebellion for so long, you never thought you could look so clean or so poised. Perhaps that was why you slunk to the back of the gala, the ballroom it was held in, and turned your feeling of being out of place into a reality. You didn’t belong here, you yearned for the field, the excitement, and, as grateful as you were for the rest, you longed for the danger too.

Dancing certainly was neither a substitute nor did it appeal to you. Though, the smiles on the faces of those on the dance floor did spark an itch somewhere in your soul. An itch you knew that you would never be able to scratch. Not until you were out of these clothes and back in a shuttle destined to an Outer Rim planet.

“That can’t be...is that…” Han’s voice, once more, broke through your thoughts. When you looked over at him, he wore a wide grin; but it was not directed at you or his wife a few paces away. “I thought you were stranded in Nar Shaddaa!”

“I was, but I couldn’t miss this. Leia would have had my throat!”

That voice! Quickly you traced Han’s eyeline and found its familiar, friendly owner. There he was, Luke Skywalker, dressed in pressed black and a smile that shown like the stars. His blue eyes finally landed on you and, instantaneously, your face warmed.

“Hey,” Luke raised a hand and waved at you as he approached.

“Hi,” you said and returned the wave but smaller, more timid.

“You couldn’t Jedi your way outta this?” Han raised a hand and gestured to the ballroom.

“That’s not how the Force works.”

As he explained, Luke moved and took the seat at the table next to you. Fuel, smoke, and warming spices filled your nose when he leaned in towards you. You looked at him, wondered what he was going to say or do when you saw his hand close around Han’s abandoned glass. He brought the bright green liquid to his nose and sniffed. Immediately, he cringed, face screwed up with disgust, and set the glass back down.

A laugh slipped up your throat and out your lips. The sound captured Luke’s attention and brought eyes up to meet yours. You clapped a hand over your mouth to muffle yourself. Luke chuckled at your reaction and reached over to grab your wrist. Gently, he pulled your hand from your face and set it back in your lap.

“I like your laugh,” he said softly. Heat washed over you, numbed you with the affection in his voice. When you found your voice, you were stopped by a scoff from Han.

“Haven’t heard Y/N laugh all night.”

“Well, we can’t have that!” Luke looked back at you, “tonight we’re meant to celebrate!”

“Galas aren’t quite my...my thing.” Thing? You couldn’t find a better, more descriptive word? Luke cocked his head at you and you sighed. “This is my first time at an event like this.”

“No, it’s just like the celebration on Endor,” Luke gave you a smile and you were thrusted back into the memory of that night, the excitement had been heavy in the air. “Here, it’s just people with fancier jobs and fancier clothes.”

“Less bugs and stinking, furry gremlins,” Han added with a grimace.

You frowned at him before you looked back at Luke. His blue eyes were fixed on you, just as they had been on Endor the night the Empire fell. Tension fell over you that night, made you nervous to be around him; but the good kind of nervous. The kind that let the butterflies in your stomach go wild and your heart threaten to leap out of your chest.

“I...I don’t know,” you murmured. To escape embarrassment, you forced your eyes away from his and out to the dance floor.

“I do,” Luke said and he stood up from his seat suddenly. You peered up at him and watched when he extended his hand down to you. “Let’s dance.”

“Luke, I don’t-” Luke leaned down towards you before you could finish. The proximity shocked you into silence, the quietest you had been all evening.

“I wanted to dance with you, that night, on Endor. You declined every pilot that asked. But will you reject a Jedi?” Teasing and low, Luke’s tone sent a shiver down your spine. You impressed yourself as you held his gaze and took his extended hand.

Easily, Luke lifted you from your seat. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught a glimpse of Han’s expression. His eyes were wide at Luke led you out from behind the table, mouth slightly open. Though, you were so enraptured by the warmth and softness of Luke’s hand in yours. So much so that you almost didn’t notice how Luke had started to lead you in the opposite direction of the dance floor. Almost.

“Um, it’s the other way?” You glanced over your shoulder, towards the crowd of politicians still waltzing around the ballroom.

Luke didn’t respond. Instead, he guided you out of the heart of the gala and down ornately decorated hallways. Hologram images of new New Republican officials littered each walkway but did nothing to distract you. When Luke finally stopped, you were in a small viewing room with walls made mostly of windows that gave you a perfect snapshot of the glowing city of Hosnian Prime. As you looked out across the twinkling lights, distant, soft classical music filtered down the hall from the ballroom. For the first time that night, you found that you could take an easy breath.

“Thanks,” you said when you met Luke’s eyes again. “I needed to get out of there.”

“Sure,” Luke smiled, “but I hope you know that we’re still dancing.”

On cue, he lifted your joined hands and turned his body to front against yours. You couldn’t help the grin that spread along your lips and you played along. Mirroring the movements of the politicians you saw on the dancefloor, you rested your hand on Luke’s shoulder. However, when his free hand found your waist, your breath caught. Luke’s face fell at the sound of your stifled breathing.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah. Yeah,” you swallowed hard and held Luke’s eyes. “So, we’re dancing?”

“We’re dancing,” Luke echoed as he began to move.

Work with the Rebellion had demanded that you be somewhat agile and coordinated. Dancing, waltzing, whatever it was Luke was leading you to do, was not something your revolutionary duties had not required. However, as you moved, you felt as if you were doing it right. Graceful and practiced, Luke moved with purpose and you followed.

The two of you twirled about the small, hidden room in total sync. While dulled by the distance, the music from the ballroom provided that perfect beat for your feet to follow. Though, that didn’t stop you as you glanced down to make sure you weren’t stepping on Luke’s toes.

“You look beautiful.” Luke’s soft tone coaxed your eyes up to meet his. “You always do, but...especially tonight.” Warmth licked at your skin along with the compliment.

“You look quite handsome yourself,” you replied.

In step, you and Luke continued to move. Stride after stride, you moved together. Your fingertips, desperate for you to get closer, pressed tenderly into Luke’s shoulder. He took the hint and brought his body closer to yours, nearly pressed you together using the hand that rested on your back. Your stomach twirled in tuned with you at the touch.

A few minutes passed, with you and Luke focused entirely on each other, before you realized the music had fallen into silence.

“Luke,” you whispered, “the music. It’s stopped.”

“And we’re still dancing,” he said with a smile. “Unless you want to stop?”

You returned his smile and shook your head. At best, you meet someone, Leia had said; and you were tired of commiserating with Han. “No. I don’t.”

Wordlessly, Luke brought your hand, the one joined with his, to his lips. He pressed a feather-light kiss to the skin atop your hand as you both swayed in the quiet. The touch lifted you up, suspended you like the crystal that hung from the ballroom ceiling. You imagined, if you were to step outside of yourself and watch you and Luke dance, you would find that both you would glimmer too.

#Luke Skywalker #luke skywalker imagine #luke skywalker imagines #luke skywalker x reader #luke skywalker fanfiction #luke skywalker fanfic #star wars #star wars imagine #star wars imagines #star wars fanfiction #star wars fanfic #guess who watched bridgerton

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jasontoddiefor · 5 years ago

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This is entirely @excuseme-howdareyou ‘s fault so here we go

A Hopefully More Or Less Complete List Of My Star Wars AUs with honorable mention of @anakinskywalkher as the person I usually bother with my stuff. We also have more AUs together. No, they’re not here because this post is incredibly long already.

I tried to summarize one AU in one sentence. I hope you’re happy.

Here are the AUs I’ve actually written something for [AO3]:

Obi-Wan raises Luke AU: in which Obi-Wan can’t give Luke away and Luke, set after ANH, drags Vader to the Rebellion kicking and screaming

Self-Made Jedi Anakin: In which Anakin wasn’t accepted into the Order and proceeds to study old Jedi temples

Counterpart AU: Jedi and Sith as yep halves of the same order co-parenting their younglings

Grandfather Vader: Pre-ANH Luke as a teen Dad with toddler Rey making Vader realize he needs to change his plans

Accidental Sith Shmi: Shmi, leading the slave uprising on Tatooine, becomes a Sith

Qui-Gon Padawan Reversal: Anakin as his first padawan, Feemor as the baby of the lineage

Female Anakin: Genderbend Fix-it in which the Republic falls but there’s no Vader

Assassin’s Creed AU: Anakin in the 21st century struggles with the memories of his ancestor Vader

Tyrant of Tatooine AU: Anakin is never found and leads a slave uprising

Tiny Emperor Luke AU: Vader kills Palpatine and makes 10 y/o Luke Emperor [AO3]

Eldritch Anakin: Anakin is only half-mortal

Stuff I’ve started writing

Propaganda AU: in which the Rebellion makes use of the fact that Vader is Luke’s father in the most genius way, currently an estimated chapter count of 23, though I won’t actually start posting until I’ve finished this story

Wings AU: In which being a Skywalker is a bit more literal

Another AU in which Luke is a slave and one where he is highly psychometric and touching his father’s lightsaber is a terrible idea

Soulmate AU in which Obianidala are soulmates with three very different cultural views on soulmates and accidentally save the Republic through cultural differences

No Sequels everything is Happy and Luke setting up the new Jedi Order is basically just straight up parenting a bunch of force sensitives kid for the first 10 years

Ideas I’ve entertained and might write in the future or toss into the abyss

Gods AU: in which our main casts are gods given human form

Vader inserting himself as tiny Leia’s teacher to spite Sidious while Bail is Stressed

Another non-Jedi AU which is honestly just an excuse to come up with my own Force-sensitive culture and put Anakin in fancy clothes and have him wear jewelry

One where Luke sneaks off to the academy and meets Han. The sole purpose of this is Han, a rebel, going “what do you mean the short blonde kid i was always saving is Vader’s #2″

Naboo resigning from the Republic, Anakin not being taken in by the JEdi Order and ten years later Padmé and he are separatists trying to get Jedi Master Obi-Wan and his Padawan Ahsoka to help them figure out what’s actually going on

Anakin and Shmi as accidental information brokers/heads of an outer rim criminal empire

Padmé as the Senate representative for the Jedi Order

Role Reversal OT trio with Leia Skywalker as Obi-Wan’s Padawan, Han as Rebel Prince Organa and Luke as a smuggler

Prequels trio role reversal with Senator Anakin, Padawan Obi-Wan and Jedi Master Padmé

The one where Anakin finds a dragon egg on tatooine and keeps it

Obi-Wan, on his way to bring Luke to his relatives, gets attacked by pirates who call Vader. Obi-Wan manages to take out the pirates but suffers a head injury and loses his memories causing Vader to go”could be my revenge,,, could be Obi-Wan joining my side”

One in which more Jedi survive and they all show up on Obi-Wan’s doorstep or on Alderaan and they kinda rebuilt the Order in secret and the twins grow up with a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins

That one where Sabé pretends to be Padmé and raises the twins

Happy ROTS ending where Anakin “Hero of the Republic” becomes a stay at home dad and shows up to the twins’ PTA meetings with space starbucks

One in which Luke is allegedly a clone Sidious created, just wants to be a person and Leia is a Jedi because gosh damn it just let her be a Jedi you cowards-

Too many Time Travel ideas I’m not listing them all just fix its. a lotta fix its.

Jedi Palptaine AU in which Luke accidentally time travels, kills Plagueis as he’s about to drag still innocent Palpatine off and Luke figures good parenting can fix the galaxy

One were the handmaidens stick around both twins and paint vividly different pictures of Padmé depending on whether they were more tasked with being political help or protection detail

A whole bunch of happy modern AUs that I’m not elaborating on bc this list is already too long

THAT’S IT DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO WRITE ALL OF THIS DOWN??? Ages. Ages. there are probs still some missing but idc anymore

If you have any questions, just sent me an ask and I’ll be happy to elaborate!

#star wars #Anakin Skywalker #obi wan kenobi #padmé amidala #Luke Skywalker #leia organa #Han Solo #fanfic #do you see now why it takes me ages to finish a fanfic?#i keep getting distracted #also can you tell im a prequels fan #bc i sure am

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swellwriting · 5 years ago

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A NEW ORDER - Part 1

- Knowledge meets Power -

Warnings: None.

A/N: Okay so hear me out, this chapter is a lot I know, and it’s necessary to set up the story in future parts!! I promise we will meet Mando soon I just had to get the story building out of the way. Also, I know there’s sexual tension between The Senator and Luke, trust me it serves a purpose (conflicts later on and such). I’m not just trying to sexualize everyone’s favourite Space Twink for no reason lmao.

Summary: Leia & crew visits Chandrila, The Senator meets Luke, books are read, plans are made, Jedi training takes place, young Ben Solo is cute, The Senator leaves Chandrila to start her mission to go to the bounty guild in the Outer Rim.

Word Count: 3.8k Series Masterlist Part 2

The New Republic is thriving, and you could not be more proud. Working with the Rebellion to help bring down the Empire, saying goodbye to the Old Republic, issuing the peace treaty with the Galactic Empire which was now in non existence (aside from the parts of the galaxy that remained out of reach of the New Republic where loyal Imperialists fled to hide) and demilitarizing according to the act that was issued following the treaty.

It was work that made you feel good, confident, the kind of politics you flourished in, knowing that you were on the right side, there were no Palpatine’s rising to power, no Empire in the shadows, just plain politics working just the way they should.

It would probably make you sound insane if you were to tell anyone you were growing bored with it, well maybe there was one sole person who could understand.

“Leia!” You exclaimed as your long-time friend walked into the room. You were in Hanna City in Chandirlla, in the empty building that was sometimes the capital building for the Republic, sat in a large meeting room at a long empty table. Though you were sat alone almost every seat had books in front of it.

“I think you read a little too much,” Leia teased as she sat in the seat beside you and picked up one of the books you had taken from the Republic’s large library of books recovered from the Old Republic.

“I don't think there’s such a thing, with a galaxy so large there’s so much to learn and if we ignore the past history is bound to repeat itself.”

“And what’s your interest in the pasts of the Jedi?” She asks flipping open one of the books which contains the Jedi code.

“I think perhaps it’s an outdated religion, but I could see a resurgence if perhaps more force-sensitive people were to come forward and be willing to work together to create a new and improved Jedi Order, separated from the Republic this time.”

“So not politics related? You must be bored.”

“That’s an excellent way to put it, I feel as if I have achieved everything I aimed to with the New Republic, helping to build it into what it is today and seeing the Empire fall from power. I want to move onto other things.”

“You sound exactly like Luke, I really need to introduce you two,” she teases, knowing you have asked her countless times, then she turns to leave the room.

“You should, I’d love to meet him and see what he’s like. My strength with the force is minuscule but given what he’s accomplished, I’m sure he could teach me a few things.”

“I’ll tell him to come to meet you,” she says, her back still facing you as she leaves the room.

“Leia wait, when? Also, what are you even doing here? The New Republic’s capital was moved to Hosnian prime, you know that? There’s nothing here for you?”

“That’s not true, you’re here and you are the only person high up in the New Republic who will listen to me about the rising threat of the First Order, though small I still don’t trust them ever since they left their wing of the New Republic, they have been lurking in the shadows since, probably growing in the sess pool of the Outer Rim.” Spoken like a true princess.

“True yes, and I understand your concern but there’s nothing I can do besides sending your informative report to those above me, again.”

“And will you, again?” She asks and she has this sly smile, you know you can’t say no to.

“Of course, I’ll send them the report until their datapads crash and their trash compactors are filled.”

“See, that’s why I came to Chandrila! I did live here at one point too if you haven’t forgotten, Ben was born here, we like to visit.” She teases you further, knowing you meant no judgment in your question. You’re walking beside her, down the barren hallways of the fancy building. Hallways that were once bustling with people but the ever-rotating capital stays true to its promise, it is not solely on one planet, travelling from different places in the systems.

“So when do you think you can introduce me to your brother? I'm not all that busy right now, there are no elections coming up, I can travel whenever, wherever.”

“Can you walk outside?” She quips and leaves you standing there confused as she leaves the building, you follow her after a moment, doubling up your steps to catch up with her until the sunshine and the bright purple skies fill your eyes.

You follow her to the familiar-looking Millenium Falcon that’s parked in the Senate houses hangar bay, the ramp is down and you can see Chewy with a four-year-old Ben Solo on his shoulders trying to fix or adjust something on the Falcon.

Han is sat in the grass with Luke standing in front of him talking about something in-depth that looks like it’s boring Han because his head shoots up when he sees the two of you approach.

“Senator!” Han exclaims standing up and dusting himself off.

“Solo!” You say with a cheesy smile as he wraps you in a hug getting some of the dirt he failed to wipe off on your long yellow and white dress.

“I'm Solo too!” Ben yells from the top of Chewy’s shoulders.

“And how is my favourite Solo doing today.” You ask as you look up at Ben.

“I'm great!” He yells with a bright smile from you calling him your favourite.

“Luke, this is our good friend, the one I was talking to you about before we got here.”

“Hi, I’m Luke.” He says with a smile as he walks up to you, offering his hand to shake. You can instantly see the resemblance between him and Leia but Luke smiles different, perhaps a bit more cheery than Leia usually is.

“Hello.”

“You’re the one Leia mentioned, you can uh, feel the force right?”

“Yes, but as I was telling her it doesn't mean much I don’t have a lot of control over it.” You try to undermine yourself, not wanting to make a big deal of it, something you kept secret for so long was now less taboo and it was hard to get used to even talking about it without it feeling wrong or strange.

“But you want to learn?” He asks and his voice is gentle, he seems kind and he gains your trust too soon.

“I’d like to yes, but I’m afraid I’m rather new to this whole thing, it was something I really kept to myself as I focused on politics and the New Republic.”

“But now her focus is on rebuilding a better and new Jedi Order.” Leia cuts in revealing your plans before you even properly had made them. You open your mouth but close it as no words manage to come out, trying to explain yourself.

“Well I'm new to this too, the teaching aspect, but I can try my best,” Luke assures you with a smile, he is quite sweet.

“Then you can teach me!” Ben yells as he runs to his uncle’s feet.

“Someday sure buddy.” Luke pats Ben’s hair as he looks up at his uncle with total admiration.

You bring Luke inside the Chandrila Senate House and into the meeting room where you have laid out all the books. The ceilings are tall and the walls are smooth stone as daylight pours in through the windows. He follows you in silence. You are too star-struck to talk to him and he finds you far too intimidating to say a thing. Outside when surrounded by his family he felt at ease, you were but a newcomer to him, a stranger asking him for guidance but in here you were like a princess in your palace, quickly maneuvering down the halls, your long dress flowing behind you, posture perfect and steps calculated as if the entire planet was watching you.

He wondered if that was you unconsciously using the force or if you really just seemed to flow through space like that as if the wind existed just to move your dress as you walked.

“This is a lot of books,” he says as he enters the room behind you and picks a few to look at them, “I have been looking for some of these for a long time, do you think I can borrow them after you’ve read them, or had a droid upload them?”

“Oh,” You say flatly by accident.

“Oh?” He asks.

“I've already read them all actually, that one there I’m reading a second time, the Jedi code, for I think it’s important when building new rules to take a look at the old ones and see what needs changing, so you can take all of them if you’d like.”

“You are writing new rules?” He asks as he flips through the pages of the Jedi Code.

“Yes, I tend to approach things such as this by learning as much as I can, I wrote everything important into my notebook, I can have a droid input it onto a datapad for you if you’d like a copy of that as well?”

“Sure, has Leia mentioned my plans to you?” He asks, confused why you seem to be organizing so many things together to help create a new system and new rules and teachings for a new age of Jedi all on your own.

“No, I just became bored with the New Republic, so this was like a side project I took on, it was meant to be a much smaller thing but I couldn’t help myself.”

“It’s brilliant, I mean, you put a lot of work into something that I’ve been thinking about doing for years. I want to create a new order of Jedi like there was before like my father was in but better.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking! For what I lack in skill I make up for in knowledge if you need any help I’d be happy to lend a hand in any way I can.”

“Well I can teach you the ways of the force, strengthen your control over it, help you find a lightsabre of your own, and you can share some of that knowledge with me?”

“Perfect!” You exclaim as you take the book from his hands and put it down beside your notebook, taking a seat and offering him the seat beside you. He sits and moves close to you to see what your reading as your fingers trace up the page and over your delicately inked words. It was rare for someone to still use ink and paper when datapads were much more easily available and common.

“So here are a few rules I think need changing, to be more modern. I for one think The Jedi Order should be it’s own sperate entity from the New Republic while also working with them given they are the government in the galaxy, but separate to avoid and repetition... of last time.”

You explain and he nods as you flip the pages to a list of rules that you marked as outdated.

“What’s this rule you rewrote?” He asks and your face heats up as you know exactly which rule it is.

“Oh, yes that one. Well Jedi’s were all strictly ordered under celibacy in the past, and though I agree that not forming attachments is very important to the way of the Jedi I do think Celibacy is unimportant in that factor, as long as there are no attachments involved….” you prolong the last words as you look up from the paper to find he’s already looking at you. His cheeks are flushed pink and his eyes are a bit wide as he nods his head slowly.

“Yeah, I think… I agree with you. Yes,” he manages to get the words out and you can’t help but feel your face heat up at the whole conversation topic.

“Okay, good.” You agree as Luke stands up abruptly.

“So tomorrow, I’ll meet you back here and we can start your training?”

“Okay, I’ll be here right in the morning after breakfast.”

“Good, um wear something a little less-” Luke tries to explain but can’t find the words as he looks you up and down, your lightly coloured dress that shows your collar bones and shoulders, it puddles at your feet and is tight on your waist, taking over his thoughts

“Less?” You ask, unsure what he means and he quickly stutters to correct himself.

“No, not less. I meant um, wear something less regal, more um, something fit for agility if you have anything… like that”

“Oh, of course,” You say as you both stand in the room awkwardly facing each other, faces hopelessly red, you can feel the nerves flowing between you through the force, neither of you addresses this as he quickly nods and then rushes out of the room.

You stand there for a moment, chest heaving as you catch your breath and calm yourself, thinking over and analyzing each word of the conversation and the dynamic which turned so awkward once you both were alone.

“I can feel the sexual energy in the room, so either you’re going to sleep with my brother or you enjoy reading these books a little too much,” Leia says as she enters the room loudly.

“No, kriff no, Leia I just, we were just. I'm not sexually attracted to books.” You blurt out.

“But you are to my brother.”

“What! No, I ...we were talking about rules and such.”

“That sounds like foreplay when it comes to you.”

“Leia!” You shout covering your face with your hands.

“Relax, I don’t mind, he needs a woman in his life.”

“I'm not trying to sleep with your brother or do anything besides help him bring a new Jedi Order in place and learn the ways of the force from him, nothing more.”

“Personally I think you need a little something more but if you’re fine being married to a library of books I won’t judge, regardless Ben is adamant that you need to have dinner with us, so could you part with your books long enough to eat something?” She asks and you nod, fanning your face briefly as you follow her out the door and to the nice house just outside the capital that they lived in when Ben was first born.

Being the Senator of Chandrila meant you never really left, it was convenient when the New Republic was based here but now you just travelled to Hosnian prime whenever they called you to a meeting or connected through holo tech.

You much preferred the quietness that lingered when the Capital of the city was so empty, your council and the few droids that kept the Senate House looking so pristine were the only people still here, aside from the residents.

In the following days, you trained with Luke and discussed the future of the Jedi. Before you knew it he was giving you a lightsabre of your own that used to belong to Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han said he got it from a friend who bought it off a scrapper after the Death Star was destroyed. You had read about Obi-Wan Kenobi and you were glad to have such a respected Jedi Master’s lightsabre, one that was almost lost forever.

It was the last night before your friends were going to leave Chandrila, you were confident in your skills and Luke had a good understanding of the route you two were going to take with this.

“So whats next?” You ask as you sit in the meeting room with Luke once again.

“There’s still a lot of planning to be done, we need to decide on a planet to home the school, a safe location.”

“Any places in mind?”

“Well, I have to do some travelling to find a place, there are also more books and things that I need to track down. But we mostly need students and that’s where I thought you could come in.”

“You want me to find the students?”

“For most of your life you were hiding the fact that you could feel the force, I think you know what it’s like and you are best suited for recruiting, plus your political side makes you hard to argue with. A lot of these people will be children, very young.” He pauses as he senses your nervousness at such a grand task, doubting yourself and your abilities. “I sense so much light within you, so much hope and kindness that I believe you are best to tackle this. If you want to that is.”

“No of course I do! I’d gladly take that job! I’ll take a break from my political duties with the New Republic and with the help of my pilot droid I’ll track down the future students!”

“I have a feeling, though I hope it’s not true, Han had suggested it and ever since I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“What is it?” You ask as you grab his arm, his tone turning more serious.

“You are a competent fighter and stronger with the force than I thought you would be. If I didn’t have faith that you could do this I wouldn't let you but I think the best way to track these children down is to follow rumours, the problem is that the remnants of the empire will also be following these rumours, tracking down these children, putting bounties on them. So you should go to the bounty guild, the one in the Outer Rim and see how many you can get information on. You may run into a bounty hunter or a few while tracking down these kids so be careful. Then when you find them bring them back here in secrecy, this is your planet I’m sure you can keep them safe here until I establish a place for the school.”

“Okay, I’ll follow any intel I can get and I’ll contact you on the holo transmitter I gave you.” You confirm, pointing the holo transmitter you gave him in his hands.

“Great, I’ll keep you updated too and once I find a planet suitable I’ll join you?”

“Okay,” you say and then smile at him, it felt good, this plan felt good. You had a surge of confidence fill your bones, he believed in you and that meant so much.

“So does this make me a Jedi now?” You tease as he gets up and goes to leave the room.

“I grant you the rank of Jedi Knight,” he jokes, though he is being serious the words feel funny on his tongue, being a teacher and a Jedi Master will be weird.

“Jedi Knight, Senator of Chandrila, member of the New Republic, I like all these fancy titles I have.”

“Well, they suit you,” he compliments as he looks over your appearance again, you still have on a fancy dress, it’s light blue and purple which resembles the sunsets on Chandrila, your light sabre is strapped to your thigh under your dress perfectly concealed if not for the high slit in your dress which makes it visible. His eyes trail up your long legs, admiring you before meeting your eyes and then nervously looking away before forcing out a cough. “I better go.”

“Talk to you soon,” you say as you had already said goodbye to your friends earlier. You watch as he walks away, haste in his step as he boards the falcon, picking up Ben who was stood on the ramp waving to you ecstatically. The Falcon doesn't fly away for a few minutes until it reopens again and Luke walks out, his droids close behind him.

You walk down the steps meeting him halfway, Luke runs up to you almost bumping into you.

“Take my droids with you, R2 can help with flying and computers and Threepio can help you with translating and keeping you company.”

“I am fluent in over six million forms of communications!” The tall golden robot says matter of factly.

“I will take good care of them,” you say with a wide smile before closing the space and wrapping your arms around Luke, encasing him in a grateful hug, “thank you.”

“It’s no problem, I wish I could give you more.” He says casually, you notice the holo transmitter is strapped to his belt, keeping it close to him. You were glad to be building this new Jedi Order with Luke, you couldn’t imagine trying to work with anyone else, he was a great teacher, a gentle soul, a bit foolish but strong with the force.

It gave you hope, this mission should be a breeze! You watched the Falcon fly off and then went to your room to pack up some things and load your ship. You had a Star Yacht, which technically was one of the Chandrila Star Ships but you had total clearance to take yours used for travelling from Chandrila to Hosnian Prime anywhere in the galaxy as you saw fit, no one was going to question your flight plans anyways.

You had a pilot droid which was modelled after the one of a kind droid L3-37 which belonged to Lando Calrissian and got a bit of fame from freeing the slaves on Kessel. When you found the model which only resembled the original droid you had to have it, though none of the personality was shared you were still glad to have a one of kind pilot droid with a personality of her own. You considered hooking her up to the falcon to take what bits of L3 that were integrated when the original droid died, but decided L3 was better off as part of the Falcon, resurrecting droids wasn’t your strong suit anyway. Your droid, L8-39 was a calm droid, precise in her piloting and hated her nickname L8 because she was in fact, never late.

Your ship was just meant to be a travelling ship, a yacht in every sense of the word. There was a bedroom compartment not much less than your actual room in the Senate House, it had a small kitchenette, storage, lots of guest space, a lounge room and was built for comfort and elegance with its shiny chrome exterior.

Though it had a strong shield there were little to no offensive procedures in place, you packed your blaster, your lightsabre and some other handy things that remained after the demilitarization act and decided with your fancy ship, L8, Threepio and R2 you were more than capable.

- Part 2

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norcumii · 5 years ago

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yet another sequels rewrite

UGH. I have absolutely no stamina anymore. Ok, so this might be an unholy mess especially with as little sleep I’ve managed lately, nevermind the headcold, but here we go. I want it out of my system, dangit.

Under a cut because long thing is long, and MANY MANY SPOILERS FOR THE SEQUEL TRILOGY, UP TO AND INCLUDING RISE OF SKYWALKER.

Also, apologies, you can see where I got caught up in the banter and a character hogs the screen when they’re meant to be more on the sidekick level of prominence. I should fix it, but I enjoy razzing the character too much, so. Er. Sorry?

(and then you can see about halfway through my energy levels just died and the rest is handwaving. THAT one I’m sorry for.)

Episode 7: The Legacy of Skywalker

This begins much like canon, with Poe and BB-8 getting vital intel from random old guy in the desert – it’s not about Luke Skywalker, it’s about what the First Order plans. Finn doesn’t shoot, and no Dark Side figure romping around – though Phasma IS there, and she kicks serious ass and is generally terrifying. Poe is captured, Phasma questions him, sends him off to an actual interrogation cell.

We cut to a small smuggler vessel, sleek but not top of the line, has seen some wear and tear. Inside, Kylo Ren is having just another day as a smuggler kvetching with his crew – none of them want to deliver goods to Jakku, but damn the pay is decent (and stars know business has been thin lately – something’s been riling up the smuggling underground, though no one can point to what exactly). Kylo is tall, favors dark clothes, maybe has a helmet for when going into battle but not around the ship (very similar to that of the bounty hunter Boushh). His crew are Rose and Paige Tico, mechanic and gunner respectively. The sisters aren’t happy he wants to make the delivery on his own, but he’s determined – he needs them to come to the rescue if things do go badly. Someone has a bad feeling about this, but fine, whatever. Kylo ends with a cocky grin and a swagger as he pulls on the helmet and straps on probably more guns than are necessary (attentive audience members will note there is nothing REMOTELY like a lightsaber to his gear).

Meanwhile, Finn and Poe – tortured by a familiar style of interrogation bot – escape, and crash, and Finn presumes Poe is dead. He ends up meeting up with Rey, desert scavenger, and her new friend BB-8 who recognizes his jacket. In the background, we can see Kylo delivering a pallet of goods, bargaining with the locals, etc. Then the First Order swoops in, blowing shit up. The crowd scatters, Finn and Rey hauling each other to the parked ships. They run towards the closest – only to have it blow up before they get there.

The audience sees Kylo shrieking “My ship!” and gawping at the explosion, and about to be shot down (he was doing a damn good job fighting his way to the escape vehicles before then). Rey and Finn grab this idiot and drag him towards the nearest ship, aka a battered old Millennium Falcon. He shuts down a little as they sprint aboard, Finn dives towards the gunner turret while Rey works to get them the hell out of there. Things happen much like canon, though things break down in the fight. Kylo finally shakes off the shock of losing his ship and almost dying, and sprints towards maintenance to Deal With Things (by now the audience STILL doesn’t know who he is, but there should be the suspicion that he’s tied into this – he’s too familiar with things). The Falcon escapes into hyper, and Kylo is very angry about having to leave his crew behind, as is Rey about leaving in the first place.

We swap back to Kylo’s crew, waiting for word from him. As they’re scanning frequencies, they pick up a Resistance SOS. The sisters are exchanging looks, clearly not happy about this. “Aw man. Kylo won’t like this.” “I don’t like it, nevermind Kylo. Wait, play that on repeat, was that – Paige. Paige, that’s Poe Dameron’s ID squawk.” They share agonized looks, then Paige quietly says, “You know the Generals wouldn’t send him out if it wasn’t important.” “...shit. Kylo is gonna be so pissed.”

They rescue Poe, only to reveal the ladies are undercover Resistance agents, don’t tell Kylo, he cannot know. Meanwhile, they’ve gotten a space!E-mail/text from Kylo, he’s off planet and trying to get back they should get safe then contact him. So they’re off to take Poe to the Resistance.

Back on the Falcon, things break down again, dumping them back into normal space. A very crankry Kylo starts repairs, he and Rey get a bit snippy about how one does this, he’s being territorial until pushed then he’s all “you know what? Fine! You do it your way, see if I care!” Finn just wants to deliver BB-8 to the Resistance, guys, please stop this. Kylo is very against going to the Resistance for any damn reason at all. He just wants to get back to his ship, and off this stinking bucket of bolts! Rey...is speculating about Han Solo, and other legends (all of which make Kylo hunch his shoulders and be all disdainful). She wants to help Finn and BB-8, but she HAS to get back to Jakku.

They get tractored by a Resistance corvette, then boarded by Chewbacca and General Han Organa, who wants to know WTF is going on here, he hasn’t seen the Falcon in forever, not since Lando disappeared with it. And – wait. WAIT. WHO IS THE TALL SKINNY SMUGGLER IN BACK, SLINKING AROUND TRYING NOT TO BE NOTICED? WTF BEN?

(Rey and Finn: Who’s Ben? “That – that would be me, guys.” “I thought you were Kylo Ren!” Han rolls his eyes, looking embarrassed. “You’re really calling yourself that? Still? You came up with that when you were five.” Kylo gets a stubborn look and glares right back. “Hey, you know what, maybe I could’ve just named myself after the family cat, would that’ve made you happier?” Han has an agonized look. “Your mother named it after a land walker!” “And you’re complaining about Kylo Ren?? It’s not like anyone else in the family is any better! That was AT-AT the third, she has burdened at least two other animals with that ridiculous–” Finn: “Excuse me, but could we possibly save this argument for later?”)

Saved from more embarrassing family moments by the First Order attacking (unrelated to the Jakku mess, should emphasize how the First Order is getting up to more and more shit in the galay), Vice Admiral Holdo aboard the ship tells them to go, she’s got this. Off the Falcon goes to Maz Kanata’s.

We finally see the leadership of the First Order - a cloaked figure at the head of the table (maybe a holopresence?); Hux; Phasma; another cloaked figure, slouching and apparently uninterested in what’s going on. Something something ominous plans, the Resistance is the last bastion against us, the Republic is corrupt and just as bad as its predecessors, burn away the past and let new life grow forth as we dictate it, to create something new and glorious (and altogether creepy as fuck).

Back on the Falcon, Han and Kylo are Not Speaking To Each Other, but Han is answering basic questions about how the First Order’s been up to shenanigans, clearly someone’s paying off politicians and/or controlling them, they tried working within the system but that finally became a clear dead end so here they are. Grumbling about Luke being off on a mission and Lando’s been missing for awhile, it’s been rough. *MEANINGFUL NOT-QUITE-A-GLARE AT KYLO, who is still totally ignoring this* They’re headed to Takodana, which should be a solid neutral location - they can contact the Resistance there, then send everyone on their way. (He’s totally keeping the Falcon, though. It was his first!)

Things on Takodana go very similar to canon. The group splinters some, Rey finds the lightsaber, visions of vague betrayal, glimpses of Order 66, hints of the Big Four meeting. The First Order attacks (again) much to everyone’s shock because this is Neutral, how dare. Han and Chewie get captured instead of Rey. Leia shows up, invites them back to Resistance HQ, Kylo is...torn. He goes along with.

Reuniting with Poe, Kylo sees the Tico sisters being far chummier with the locals than they should be, realizes his mother had spies watching him, HOW DARE, he is an ADULT why are they LIKE THIS--

“You can yell at me all you want later, but right now we have data to decrypt and a rescue to plan, especially if you want to yell at your father in person too. It was his idea.” (It was, but Leia is THE head honcho, and she was the one who had to approve it.)

Data is from a spy, most of it has insane good encryption, but what they can make out is a HQ and something about Lando (??!?). They have coordinates, Finn has intel, so off they go for a rescue.

Since travel time is a thing, we need to see actual interaction with the new heroes. The new trio sparring, talking, hanging out playing space chess. Kylo is the awkward older brother figure who totally does not know how to fit in but somehow does a little anyways (note: these moments should be in the minority. He’s a side character, not a main). Getting to know and hang out with Rose, Paige, and Connix. Leia holds regular lightsaber classes for all interested (Finn’s a natural, Rey’s interested but prefers her staff, and Poe’s been doing this for years (Kylo is almost aggressively absent)). Folks keep stumbling over Rey in the hydroponics (look, there’s an AMAZING montage here, ok?).

The focus should be on Rey, Finn, and Poe: Poe digs these two; Finn’s reactions to going back; Rey grappling with how she left but at the same time she’s got people around and she likes them, wants more of this.

At some point, Rey - who’s been trying to get ANY and all intel on her parents or family who might just not know where she is, corners Kylo with Finn, Poe, and BB-8’s help. It’s honestly distressing to her that he has all these things and he just...left. He left family. Just...how could he?

He doesn’t blow them off, instead sits down and is visibly pushing himself to speak. “My family...is a lot. My uncle’s a galaxy renowned Jedi, the Jedi, the man who killed the Emperor and reforged a millennia old Order. Mom’s been an outstanding politician since she was a teenager, the Rebel leader, last Princess of Alderaan, the woman who built up the new Republic and kept it together though sheer willpower. Oh yeah, AND a Jedi, too. Dad’s a war hero, and while the criminal underworld sometimes says different, he’s got the rep of some amazing criminal mastermind with a heart of gold. My grandfather was Anakin Skywalker, one of the last great Jedi, General, hero of the Clone Wars - and Darth Vader, everyone’s worst nightmare.” He looks at Rey and Finn. “You two are at the opposite end of things. You’re figuring yourselves out from the ground up. Nobody’s shoulders to stand on, and hell, that’s hard. I get it.

“But for me…. My family – the names, the history – it all has such weight to it. All this legacy. I’m not anything like any of them, and I’ll never have the skills or power that any one of them do. Hell, what’s even left for me to be good at?” Poe opens his mouth, it’s possibly an old debate between them. Kylo waves it off. “I know, I know. ‘Find something. Make something.’” He makes a face at Poe, who makes one back. He turns back to Rey and Finn. “You’ve never had anyone’s shoulders to stand on. I’ve never been Ben Organa and not in several very large shadows. I didn’t know how else to find myself, and no, I still don’t know who that is, sorry.”

Finn makes a face. “So, what, we all ought to just give up because someone’s already been the best at things?”

“Hell no. That’s my problem, not yours. Besides, you’re not in those shadows. If you want to pick up that legacy, if you’re willing and able to shoulder that burden, more power to you. It’s not for me, though. Be Jedi, be smugglers, be heroes.” Grins at Poe. “Be the best damn pilots in the galaxy. Whatever.” He pauses and smirks. “Probably not the villains, though. Galaxy’s got enough of those.”

Leia leads the rescue team, there needs to be serious callbacks to RotJ and her saving Han then. The First Order is surprised at being attacked directly, but rallies, lots of fighting, Resistance doing well.

Phasma leads a mixed group of “specialty troopers” which encounters Finn, Rey, Kylo, and...danggit, probably not Poe. I want to include Poe, but he’s probably air support. During the flight, when the Resistance is getting the clear upper hand, Phasma motions to the specialists, who all pull lightsabers. It’s not a total flip to the Order’s advantage, but they’re using the Force and suddenly Finn and Rey are having to tap into powers they’ve only experimented with, and meanwhile everyone’s playing keepaway. Finn probably has Luke’s old lightsaber, Rey is ALWAYS dangerous. Eventually Phasma pulls out a lightsaber and does one of those scary Force throws so it’s spinny glowy blade of DOOM heading right towards the center of the normal Resistance troops, away from a very busy Rey and Finn who don’t even see it -

And Kylo reaches out and Force pulls it to himself, swings it around, and makes a face. “I hate these things.” (It shows. He’s adequate with it, but Phasma has another lightsaber and is kicking his ass. This should also be the first time he EVER shows any hint of being Force sensitive, and that includes he should never be pulling some Han Solo bullseye shots without looking shenanigans.)

Han and Chewie’s rescue party is fighting their way out, and then things cut to an officer running into central HQ, telling the two cloaked figures that no really, they need to evacuate, NOW, there’s too great a likelihood that the whole place is going to come down.

Head-Honcho-Cloaked-Figure [who I now desperately want to call Head Honcho inna Poncho, but I shall try to refrain] turns to Casual-slouchy-stance-cloaked-figure. “I think it’s time to reveal the Second Order, don’t you?”

The second figure shrugs, like it’s no big deal to them, and pulls out a datapad to punch in some things. “Signal sent.”

And across the battlefield, Resistance fighters start to turn. A bunch of them are using stun blasts, but in the air there’s no such mercies. I keep playing with the notion that Holdo’s ship just up and leaves the system (and let’s face it, with the potential for an Ackbar who’s swapped sides cackling “It’s a trap!” like “and you fools have fallen into it!” appeals, then sure, him too.) Paige, wherever she is, is also one of the turncoats. And down in that messy cluster with Finn and Rey, Kylo Ren pauses, then turns and strikes down several of the Resistance fighters he just saved.

At this point, people decide it is LEAVING TIME. Rey and Finn are presumably Most Distraught, there’s some kind of retreating fight between them and Ren-and-Phasma-and-her-troopers.

It’s not quite a rout. Not quite. There’s a lot of blood spilt on the ships they retreat onto, though. People just turned, for no reason anyone could figure. (Later, someone analyzes comm traffic, and finds another encrypted signal they can’t interpret.)

Our Heroes are Not Happy, for all that ok, they achieved some pretty significant mission goals. By the time they get back to base, everyone’s caught up with everyone else. Losses - in both senses - were significant. Finn took a nasty blow to the back, but given time he should be ok. Whether that means back to functioning as before, or he now needs some kind of mobility device AND THAT IS NOT SOME HUGE TRAGEDY, I leave up to the viewer. (In the latter case, damn well ought to later on show a number of Resistance members in similar circumstances, because representation and let’s face it, should be happening ANYWAYS regardless.)

They all get back to base to find that during the time they were away, a number of folks did the turncoat thing, but thankfully nothing too important blew up. Also, Luke finally got back from his mission. He greets the crew, and introduces them to what he went to fetch: a new medic named Kix, who had been working with some space pirates. (LET DANIEL LOGAN PLAY CLONES, DAMMIT.) They don’t know why things went strange, but they might have a few ideas.

General notes because I’ve reached the end of my patience with this plunnie, in no particular order:

I cannot emphasize enough that Kylo Ren is not, and NEVER is, the main villain here. He’s on par at MOST with Phasma, as we saw her in canon Episode 7 and 8. Quite possibly less.

It may or may not be relevant, but Rose and Paige were never sent out with the primary mission to babysit him (the man is THIRTY, for the love of GODS). He was honestly just a useful cover for them to travel around a lot, make contacts, and courier stuff. (He thought they kept making deals on the side, whatevs, not his problem.)

The person in charge of the First Order was once a Jedi (probably a padawan?) who escaped the purge, gave in to the dark side, and decided fuck the Empire and the Emperor, and what they did to us - AND fuck the Republic, too! (And that’s why they have the whole “burn down the past” attitude.)

There’s technically three “Orders”: the First order is the public face, the stormtroopers and the battleships. The Second Order is the hidden agents, some actually turned, but many with control chips like what was used on the clones. The Third Order is a group of Dark Force users, building their bullshit upon old sith books and those Jedi books they’ve decided to repurpose (and that way you can tie in the books of ancient Jedi Bullshit that were almost burned in canon).

Hux is in charge of First Order, Phasma the Third, DJ in charge of Second - he’s the reason there keep being encrypted stuff the Resistance can’t read. They go looking for someone who can slice into this stuff, and naturally this sketchy as hell guy has a reputation for being able to crack these things. No one really quite twigs to him being the likely culprit as to creating them. Or at least, that opinion gets drowned out somehow.

Finn was being groomed to be part of the Third Order. He did not realize this.

Kix helps suss out the chips and ways to try to deal with them.

Without much useful detail, my brain supplied Episode 8: The Fall of the Republic; and Episode 9: The Resilience of Hope. Make of that what you will?

I think this would mean 8 would be about the chips, while across the galaxy assorted sleeper agents would be taking out relevant political targets, and causing general unrest to take down the Republic. It should be about the small victories, not the large ones - this person rescued here, that life skill learned over there - even as the First Order keeps making successful powergrabs.

9 would be more about finding roots. Lando - who’s been spying within the Order, finally surfaces with intel (what intel is a very good question I do not have an answer to). I get the feeling Kylo would die somewhere in here - if so, it absolutely should not be the pivot point of either the battle OR the war, no more than Paige’s death was in canon. (Meanwhile, it’d be nice if Paige could be saved.)

No, the person behind everything is not connected to “something greater,” they remain a random padawan from the old Jedi who managed to survive.

I think that’s all I’ve got, tagging @dragonhoardsbookz for their interest, and many thanks to @dharmaavocado for egging me on and being a kind voice of reason. <3

#star wars #well this ended up messy #whoops #stupid brain giving out halfway through #sequel trilogy #sequels critical #fic ideas #plunnie for adoption #though by plunnie i mean a bit of a monster #it is frustrating how quickly i reach 'fuck it' levels of impatience #spoilers

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atamascolily · 4 years ago

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a quick and dirty fix-it for “The Rise of Skywalker”

A barebones fix-it for The Rise of Skywalker, using as much existing plot threads as possible.

(I’m not going to claim this would be a perfect movie, but it would be 1000x better than the actual film.)

TL;DR: avoid introducing new characters and work with the ones you already have. Cut out as much unnecessary plots and directions as possible and focus on a few main ideas. Give the characters actual motivations for their actions.

Oh, and let ghost!Luke troll Kylo from the afterlife.

Opening crawl catches us up on what happened during the time skip: Lando is helping raise an army for the Resistance, Leia is ill, Kylo is supreme leader, Rey is studying to be a Jedi. We open with Leia's funeral, everyone is grieving. Rey wanders off alone and has flashbacks of Leia using the unused footage from TFA. Maz approaches and asks her what she's doing. Rey angsts about the broken Skywalker lightsaber, and shows how she's created it into two blades in a quarterstaff. She also mentions how she can't reach the spirits of the Jedi, that no one will talk to her from the other side. Maz reassures her she's doing just fine, that she has everything she needs.

Meanwhile, Poe is in charge and uncertain about what to do. Finn says whatever they do it will be together and he has faith in Poe. Lando appears, agreeing that that's the right answer, and that he's brought the fleet. Poe asks Lando to lead it, and Lando agrees. They are interrupted by Rose, who has picked up a broadcast from Palpatine announcing his return to the galaxy and demanding immediate surrender to his Final Order forces. The signal is coming from Exegol, but they don't know how to fly there to attack it because it's protected by space obstacles. Rey realizes that there are mentions of a wayfinder in her book. Lando says he and Luke went looking for one on Jakku years ago, and Rey freezes in her tracks.

Kylo's meeting with Hux and the other FO moffs also gets interrupted by this same meeting. Hux snarks at Kylo's uncertainty and gets attacked for his troubles. Kylo says he's going to meet this Emperor personally, and when Hux asks how, since Exegol is protected, kylo says he has his ways. He stalks off to Mustafar to get Vader's wayfinder, only to be trolled by Luke's ghost continually, to his intense annoyance.

Kylo flies to Exegol, confronts Palpatine, and they agree to an alliance/combine forces. Hux and the moffs are super skeptical/nervous, but comply grudgingly. Kylo sends the knights of Ren after Rey on Jakku when Palps says she’ll go back there to confront her heritage (he tells Kylo what it is but we cut before we hear the details).

On Jakku, Rey (accompanied by Finn, Poe, Chewie and the droids) land, encounter the festival, go looking for the coordinates. Rey talks to a child, admits she doesn't have a family name, the FO chases them, and they flee into the desert "just like old times". They are trapped by a sandworm that Rey injures and then heals. They find the remains of the ship Rey remembers from her visions and she has flashbacks about her parents and her past and her connection to Palpatine. She realizes the second wayfinder is on the death star ruins at Endor, but the knights of Ren attack before they can leave. Rey defeats them easily, but is shaken at her anger and rage and violence she is capable of in the process, despite Finn's re-assurances that Rey doesn't have to be/isn't her heritage.

Kylo is upset that his knights failed and vows to do better, mocking them in the process. They track Rey to Endor, and Kylo says he'll deal with this personally. Meanwhile, the gang encounters Jannah and her crew of ex-stormtroopers. Finn and Jannah bond, a single-minded Rey runs away to investigate the ruins after a tearful good-bye to Finn. Rey explores the ruins, finds the wayfinder, has a vision of herself as Empress Palpatine, only to be interrupted by Kylo. They argue/fight, she stabs him, and then heals him, saying she's not a murderer like him, that Finn is right and she can choose to be different. She takes Kylo's TIE and flies off with her wayfinder while Kylo gasps on the floor.

Luke's ghost shows up and Kylo agonizes about returning to the light. Luke forgives him, and eventually Kylo tosses his saber into the sea. Luke says he's proud of Kylo and says there's something he wants to show him on Ahch-To. Finn and Jannah and Poe come looking for Rey and discover Kylo. Poe is skeptical, but Finn believes Kylo has changed, and Jannah gives him a ship so he can go on his own.

Rey sends the signals to the Resistance fleet, which Rose picks up, as the Final Order prepares to attack the galaxy. Kylo flies to Ahch-To and Luke's ghost leads him to Leia's hidden saber, and Kylo realizes how much his mother gave up to protect him. Kylo flies to Exegol using the crumpled Death Star wayfinder that he repairs, and goes after Rey.

Rey confronts Palpatine on Exegol, only to agree to Palpatine's plan for galactic dominion to save her friends. Ben is confronted by the Knights of Ren, who taunt him and reveal that they were under Palpatine's sway the entire time, and the whole First Order was a front that Palpatine used to control and manipulate Kylo this entire time. Kylo defeats them and rushes to help Rey, interrupting her before she can give into Palpatine. The two of them fight, but Palpatine defeats them both, and it seems hopeless. Meanwhile, the Resistance fighters, now including Jannah and Finn and Rose, confront the fleet over Exegol and the battle rages.

Rose broadcasts Finn's speech to the stormtroopers, asking them to lay down their weapons just like Jannah's team did because it's the right thing to do and they do, to Hux's dismay and chagrin. Hux, sensing the tide is turning and hating Kylo Ren, surrenders.

Rey makes contact with the spirits of the Jedi in a vision and wakes up. She defeats Palpatine, but dies in the process. Ben wakes up, sees Luke, realizes he has to choose between his own life and hers. He choses Rey, heals her, but dies before she can wake up. A grieving Rey is comforted by Luke, who tells her he's proud of her.

Rey walks out under her own power and rejoins the others in her ship (exclaiming don't shoot since she's still in Kylo's TIE), and leads the triumphant forces back out of Exegol.

Cut to celebrations on the Resistance jungle base. Toasts for those they lost, and for the rise of the New Republic and defeat of the First Order. Poe's going into politics with Lando's guidance. Finn looks around for Rey, doesn't see her. Rey sits alone, until Luke's ghost comes to see her, followed by Leia. Glimpse of Ben in the distance, walking with Han. Finn comes up and asks what she's looking at. Rey asks him if he can see it, and he says, "I see it." They hug, and go back to the celebrations, where Maz winks at them. "you've come a long way from that scavenger I first met." Rey smiles and touches her lightsaber, holding Finn's hand, surrounded by her friends. "Yes, I know."

#star wars #WHY DISNEY WHY #fix-it fics

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gffa · 5 years ago

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You know how some fandoms just keep piling on the fic, so you’re like, “I’ll just wait one more day, so I can read a few more and include them on the list!” and then two weeks later it’s still happening and you finally have to go, “NO, I HAVE TO YELL ABOUT THIS NOW, NOT IN ANOTHER MONTH.” and yet people still keep posting fic? That’s me yelling at STAR WARS fandom about how much wonderful fic there is and that I cannot keep up with it and it’s the best problem to have! Because, oh, this collection has some incredible fic, so many of them that I want to shove right at people and yell at them to read this amazing thing, and how brilliant this fandom is. STAR WARS FIC RECS: TIME TRAVEL RECS: ✦ Legacy by myrlendi (thehistorygeek), luke & leia & obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & cast, time travel, 105k wip Three months after the Battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker goes in search of a rumoured Jedi temple in a secluded part of the Mid Rim. He finds within the temple nothing but a strange artifact, which unexpectedly brings him much closer to the Jedi of old than he ever thought he would be. ✦ Let’s Try This Again by Nny11, obi-wan & ahsoka & anakin & cast, time travel, 33.5k wip Anakin’s life is shaken up when he finds a small togrutan toddler hiding in a dingy alleyway, after all, she did create a Force bond with him and is apparently his future Padawan. Wizard! PREQUELS RECS: ✦ A Constituency of One by victoria_p (musesfool), padme & obi-wan & anakin & cast, 3.7k Padmé is the one who figures it out. ✦ And the Void Answered Back by Ghost_Owl, obi-wan & anakin & rey & finn & poe & ben & yoda & maz & han & cast, force ghosts, 84.9k wip (Follows the Force ghosts of Anakin, Obi Wan, and friends getting dragged kicking and screaming through the events of The Force Awakens) ✦ Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi by stonefreeak, obi-wan & anakin & padme & cody & bail & palpatine & cast, 22.1k wip By an old Republic law, all members of the Jedi High Council are senators in the Galactic Senate, and can thus be voted in as chancellor. ✦ Dooku Deserves a Break by nny11, dooku & qui-gon & yoda & obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & luke & cast, 1k Master, it’s time now. The voice was faint and familiar, and it burned. It’s soothing sound eating away at everything. Pain, pain, pain- It went ignored. ✦ The Past Remains by otherhawk, obi-wan & anakin & cody & mace & plo & adi & depa & cast, 15.6k The war drags on leaving trauma and destruction in its wake. After a bereaved Master is accused of harming his padawan, Obi-Wan is sent to talk to her, dredging up memories of his own past. ✦ Not the same fate as mine by liv_k, obi-wan & anakin, 2.6k Excerpts from the journal of a newly minted Jedi Knight. ✦ perfect in so many ways by victoria_p (musesfool), padme/sabe, nsfw, 1k Padmé knows she’s been selfish. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, obi-wan & bant, 1k When Bant steps into Obi-Wan’s room in the Halls, it’s like a balm to his nerves. She’s one of his oldest friends, and her familiar presence is so very soothing. He really has missed her, they see each other too rarely these days, what with the war. ✦ Villain of a Different Story by HiNerdsItsCat (HiLarpItsCat), obi-wan/satine & anakin & cast, 73.2k wip It turns out that there are some perks to being the Chosen One: Anakin finds himself transported five years into the past—only to discover that it isn’t his past, but a completely different one. One where Obi-Wan Kenobi left the Jedi Order, where Qui-Gon Jinn survived… and where Anakin Skywalker is the galaxy’s greatest villain. ✦ Accidental Baby Acquisition: The Obi-Wan Kenobi Way by kitkatkaylie, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & cast, 8.5k wip Shmi Skywalker was desperate, so when she saw a Jedi in the marketplace of Mos Espa she did something that many would judge her for if they knew but just as many would understand. ✦ A Personal Touch by DragonHoardsBooks, obi-wan & anakin, 6.2k New jedi padawan Anakin Skywalker realizes that there is more to being a jedi then he tought. Discovering a completely new culture will take time and effort, but maybe he’ll make some friends along the way. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, mace & cast, 1.2k “News, I have, from the investigation into the altered mission reports from the Senate.” ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, anakin & ahsoka & background obi-wan & cast, 2.4k The past and the present blurs together, Anakin can hardly breathe through it. Too many thoughts crowd inside his head and the more he tries to sort himself out, the more of the past he remembers and the more fears for the future it brings up. ✦ Passing by Nny11, ahsoka/barriss & luminara & anakin, modern au, 18.3k Barriss claims she’s dating Ahsoka, Ahsoka agrees to go along with it, and both of them spend the next 6 months worrying the other will discover their crush on the other. Nobody is really surprised about this fact besides them. ✦ Jedi of Light by Sannah, obi-wan/anakin/padme & mace & yoda & plo & even & jocasta & cast, 9.4k wip Out of irritation with the war and with permission from the Council, several talk show hosts create a show that airs weekly about the Jedi. They name the show *Jedi of Light,* and go around following Jedi and asking them questions. OBI-WAN/ANAKIN RECS: ✦ And yet, somehow, a happier ending by liv_k, obi-wan/anakin (pre-slash?), ~1k He had always known that there would be no happy ending waiting for them at the end of the road. And yet, somehow, he felt that this was happier than what could have been. ✦ The Missing Part by Nightstar269, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & palpatine, NSFW, modern au (of sorts), 109.3k wip Anakin Skywalker, a student of mechanical engineering, has always felt that his life was lacking something, a feeling that was made much worse with the deaths of his mother first, and of the woman he loved some time later. Still haunted by the pain and heartbreak, he tries to go on with his life as well as he can. When an initiative of the director of the university has the students attending the classes of another degree so as to enrich their knowledge, he will meet someone that will turn his world upside down. ✦ my push and my shove by victoria_p (musesfool), obi-wan/anakin/padme, nsfw, crossdressing, d/s, 1.8k There wasn’t much Anakin wouldn’t do to make Padmé and Obi-Wan happy. ✦ Collar by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, 9.4k “You have to be sure, Anakin. Once we’re in, we’re in.” “I think I can handle being your sub, Obi-Wan.“ ✦ Shaak Herding for the Troubled and Lonely by protos_metazu_ison (larkspyt), obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme & ahsoka & plo & cast, au, 34.3k wip Disgraced Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was content to live out the rest of his life as a hermit until the Prime Minister appeared at his door, begging him to attend the Skywalker clan’s annual party. ✦ Solstice by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & cast, 8.9k wip After the events of Equinox, Obi-Wan and Anakin find themselves back at war with enemies both seen and unseen. ✦ Home by little_tales, obi-wan/anakin & qui-gon & shmi & cast, time travel, 6.4k wip Time travel fix-it story with a bit of a twist. After his death, Obi-Wan wakes up on Tatooine, in the body of his padawan self. But instead of trying to prevent Anakin from Falling, he decides to change the future by stopping Qui-Gon from ever meeting the little Ani. ✦ Tidbits by SingManyFaces, obi-wan/anakin, ~1k Things go a little bit differently when Anakin sees Obi-Wan off on his mission to Utapau. ✦ untitled by subskywalker, obi-wan/anakin + implied obi-wan/anakin/padme, nsfw, 1.6k (The easiest way to kill someone? You just need to kill what they love the most.) ✦ 36 Questions by kenobiapologist, obi-wan/anakin + background anakin/padme + implied obi-wan/anakin/padme, 30.7k In a study by psychologist Arthur Aron, they found that strangers would fall in love when asked to answer 36 questions together. ✦ Let’s Be Wrong Together by bluebell26, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 3.1k Anakin Skywalker had a dark secret. He’s been in love with his Master for several years now. He is attached. Yes, attached. It was bad, he shouldn’t, but what his former Master didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. ✦ Untouchable by Blu3sc0rpion, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, non-con issues/themes, 64k wip A mission on Kraysiss-Two takes a turn for the worse. Ancient Sith designs work against both Obi-wan and Anakin as they desperately try to find a way off world. In the throes of confusion their relationship begins to spiral. They might be able to escape, but can they ever truly be rescued? ✦ Seed by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin + anakin/padme, NSFW, 44k When Anakin falls prey to a lethal poison, Obi-Wan has no choice but use all his resources to heal him– no matter how reluctant he is in administering the antidote. ✦ Miasma by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & cody & rex & & kix & cast, dark themes, 20.6k Obi-Wan never believed his best friend and lover Anakin would die first. But he has. ✦ [iasip music] Anakin Explains to His Darkest Timeline Son That He’s Gay by destiny919, obi-wan/anakin & luke & ahsoka & cast, 2.2k "Ah, Padawan,” said Qui-Gon. “The crux of the matter lies in that our world is prey to the spectre of compulsory heterosexuality.” Obi-Wan gasped, horrified. “No! Not that!” ✦ Swear On It by dirkygoodness, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, mild d/s undertones, 6.5k He squeezes his eyes shut tight against it and holds his breath for a moment, trying to get himself under control. Tonight it doesn’t seem to be working, though, because the images of people he knows and loves hurt and bloody and dead just won’t get out of his mind. ✦ Unexpected by planetary_retrograde, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 2.1k Obi-Wan’s first instinct when Anakin is hiding something is to help. ✦ Hidden Treasures by SingManyFaces, obi-wan/anakin, modern au, 3.9k Ben Kenobi doesn’t look like the type to have tattoos, and Anakin badly wants to see his hidden ink. ✦ He Is the Chosen One by wearethewitches, obi-wan/anakin & cast, fem!anakin, 17.8k Darth Vader dies. Then, Anakin Skywalker wakes in the body of a dead slave woman in 31 BBY, a year before the Occupation of Naboo. ORIGINAL TRILOGY RECS: ✦ Maker by ambiguously, luke & r2-d2 & c-3po, 1.8k Threepio’s processor has an error. Luke and Artoo have to figure out why. ✦ does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name? by suzukiblu, multiple pairings across all of star wars, soulmate marks, 2.9k Drabble series about various soulmates in the Star Wars universe. ✦ brittle, break by glorious_clio, leia & luke & han & chewbacca & rieekan & cast, 8.2k They’re not on Hoth very long, but Leia stands still long enough for it to leave an impression on her. A very cold sort of impression. ✦ sand into glass by glorious_clio, luke & cliegg & owen & beru, 2.2k AU where Cliegg is around for Luke’s arrival at the Lars homestead. Luke has a lot to learn from his grandfather. REBELS RECS: ✦ The Starry Crown by bedlamsbard, ezra & kanan & sabine & zeb & chopper & cast, 8.8k wip Months after Ezra Bridger vanished into the depths of the mysterious Jedi temple on Lothal, he reappears – with Kanan Jarrus in tow. All Hera Syndulla and the other surviving members of the Ghost crew want is to retrieve their missing teammates, but a Jedi who can raise the dead is a prize too great for the Empire to pass up. Palpatine will do anything to get Ezra and the secrets he carries – secrets that may allow the Emperor to control reality itself. FULL DETAILS + RECS HERE!

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #obikin #ahsoka tano #luke skywalker #leia organa #han solo #fic recs

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mrspettyferr · 5 years ago

Text

19 Years Later

Inspired by the epilogue of Harry Potter

No matter how many years had passed, it was strange to see the isolated planet of Ahch-To crowded with so many ships and people. The Lanai did their best to round up the anxious children, many of which were playing with practice sabers or trying to catch a glimpse of the thala-sirens lounging among the jagged cliffs. Some chased after porgs or skipped along the rocky paths. The padawans were more disciplined, chatting in small groups or staying close to their parents.

For Rey Solo, she was caught up in the memories, watching it all with a quiet sense of contentment. The once ruined huts and structures had been rebuilt, made of dilapidated stone and rock. There were even temples now, classrooms for the younglings and padawans, and landing pads made of grey slab had been built offshore to accommodate the incoming ships.

Some of the Masters had made an appearance, floating among the grassy hills and rock-like structures, their pearly glow frightening some of the younger children. Lando Calrissian was among them, grinning wickedly as he always did on this day. He enjoyed watching the disbelieving students as they came to realize that many of their Masters were, in fact, Force ghosts. Luke Skywalker would be among them, but of course he always made his grand entrance at the opening ceremony.

“Oh!”

Rey was pitched forward as Leia bumped into her, the young girl’s knapsack bouncing on her back as she rushed past.

“Leia, don’t wander off too far!” Rey called after her. This was her third year, and she was finally of age to select her Kyber crystal. It was all she talked about these last few months.

Not far behind came the endless arguing that had not stopped since they left Takodana.

“They don’t really eat people,” Anakin said, sounding less confident than his words implied. “That’s just a stupid rumor.”

“Yes, they do,” his twin sister insisted. “And they’re going to eat you if you don’t—”

“Hanna,” Rey warned.

“They won’t eat me, of course,” Hanna went on, tucking back a strand of wavy black hair that never quite managed to stay confined to her braid. “They only eat darksiders.”

“I won’t be a darksider!” Anakin argued, his dark eyes flaring, his cheeks flushing. “Maybe you will be!”

“Maybe you’ll be neither,” she said with a smirk.

“Hanna, that’s enough,” came Ben’s deep voice as he finally emerged. He was wearing his formal Senator robes, which looked out of place among all the green and sunshine.

“What?” Hanna asked innocently. “I’m only repeating what Master Luke said.”

“He didn’t say that. He—” Ben paused, seeming to think it over and coming to the same conclusion as Rey.

“He probably did,” she muttered, shaking her head. She turned to the twins. “Thala-sirens are harmless. Now, grab your bags and we’ll find Uncle Finn and Aunt Rose.”

After the opening ceremony and welcoming feast—which parents were encouraged to attend—they would travel to Naboo, the new seat for the Galactic Senate. Ben was a Senator, and they—along with the kids—often traveled between Takodana and Naboo, where they kept an apartment. Rey, having no desire for politics, ran her own mechanic shop right out of their home on Takodana. It was a castle, after all, and she preferred the smell of oil and rust to the cantina that Maz had established. Maz spent most of her time traveling the galaxy with Chewie. After the war, she had practically forced Ben into restoring the castle to it’s former glory.

“You destroyed it, least you can do is fix it,” she had said. But when they finished, more than a year later, Maz hadn’t moved back in. She only waived them off and said, “Take it, it’s yours. I have no need for it. But the statue stays.”

It didn’t take long to find their friends. Finn was crouched down before his daughter, triple checking her bags and sprouting more advice that Rey was sure Paige did not ask for.

“Stay away from the cliffs. Storms bring in strong currents. Don’t go near the nexus, you know it’s forbidden until seventh year. And don’t listen to Lando, the porgs aren’t venomous. But if they do bite you, just—” His gaze whipped up to Rose, who was watching it all in amusement. “Did you pack enough bandages? What if she—"

“It’s school, not the military, dad,” Paige grumbled.

“I just want you to be prepared,” Finn insisted, reaching out to pat her impossibly curly black hair.

“I think you’re prepared enough for all of us,” Rose teased. She waved when she spotted Rey, Ben, and the twins approaching. Finn followed her gaze; then he bounced up, grinning wide.

“Uncle Finn!” the twins chorused, running forward and half tackling him with a hug.

“Hey! Look at you two. Wow, how tall you’ve grown, Anakin. And Hanna, is that…a blaster?” He looked at Rey with mild alarm.

“Yeah! Want to see how good I am?”

“No, no,” Finn said quickly, throwing up his hands. “Let’s keep that holstered before…anyone…” He was glancing nervously around now. “…sees…a child with a blaster…”

Rey shook her head, a smile tugging at her mouth, and pulled him into a hug as the twins went to Rose and Paige.

“Giving the eleven-year-old a blaster now?” he muttered so only she could hear.

“They should know how to use them properly,” said Rey. Then she amended, “I caught the kids playing with them as toys and figured it was better to instruct properly. Don’t worry, she’s not allowed to keep it here.”

Finn’s body rumbled as he laughed. “It’s been too long.”

“It has,” she agreed, pulling back. “How’s Poe? I missed him at our last trip to Naboo.”

“Ah, the General is always busy.” Finn still gave his friend a hard time about the title, especially when he had to use it in public. His expression faltered slightly as he looked past Rey to Ben, who had approached with quiet stealth.

“Solo,” Finn greeted a little formally. It took him almost a year to break the habit of calling him Ren.

Ben inclined his head. “Soldier.”

Finn coughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Commander, actually.”

“I fail to notice the difference under Dameron’s command.”

Finn muttered something under his breath, but a reluctant grin tugged at his lips.

Rey and Rose exchanged a look, rolling their eyes. Despite the fact that Ben had worked with the Resistance to defeat Palpatine all those years ago, a bit of tension still remained between the two of them. Rey didn’t know if it would ever truly fade, but they were civil and on occasion, even friendly.

Rose on the other hand was more forgiving, and now she offered Ben a warm smile. “Good to see you, Ben.”

His lips parted slightly—not a smile, but a friendly enough gesture. His smiles were rare, reserved only for his family. “You as well,” he said.

“Mother, I want to find Grandpa Han” said Hanna, tugging on Rey’s arm, a slight whine to her voice.

“Me too,” Anakin chimed in.

“Can I go, too?” Paige asked Rose.

“We need to get you all settled first,” Rey said. “And we need to find your sister…”

Her voice trailed off as she searched for Leia. The girl was a curious thing, disappearing all over the castle when she was a child. She was probably looking for Han, too.

Rey wasn’t sure if it was because of the sacred grounds, or some other unexplained thread of fate, but the Force ghosts could manifest permanently on this island. They could manifest anywhere, if they wanted, but it was more difficult. Here, they were free.

Han refused to call himself a Master, and spent most of his time telling the students stories. But occasionally he would teach them about mechanics and piloting, insisting even Force wielders should learn the basics. Leia on the other hand did insist the students call her General or Master, to both Luke and Han’s amusement.

Rey felt a surge of relief when her eldest finally appeared, panting, as though she had just climbed the steep stairs to the monastery at the top of the island. Her brown hair was straight like Rey’s, her bangs messy and ribbon half undone, as though she had rolled out of bed and done very little to tame her hair. Which was usually the case. She looked sweaty and her ivory robes were already spotted with dirt and earth.

“Where have you been?” Rey demanded. “I told you not to wander off.”

“Everywhere,” Leia answered breathlessly. When she finally caught her breath, she straightened a bit, her eyes widening with some newfound enlightenment. “I’ll say this, though. I’m never drinking that green milk again.”

They all laughed, and Ben finally smiled.

- - -

Once the students were all settled into their lodgings, it was time to head to the Great Temple. Each new student would be called forward and tested, like they were when they first showed signs of being Force-sensitive. But this testing was necessary before entering secondary school here on Ahch-To, to reveal which side of the Force they leaned closer to, if either.

It was still a concept that was met with some reluctance. After Palpatine’s fall, more and more children and even teenagers seemed to become Force-sensitive. Old ties to both the Empire and the Republic, to the First Order and the Resistance, created a rift. This sense of division had been long engraved, a strong reason why peace could never be established for long.

When Rey and Ben had come together to defeat Palpatine and his army, they had done so by uniting factions of the First Order and the Resistance, by embracing the light and the dark side. By achieving balance.

Soon after, both Rey and Ben felt a call to Ahch-To. When they arrived, they found not just Luke, but other former Masters: the great Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Anakin Skywalker. Among them an idea bloomed, of restoring not the old Jedi Order, but a new order: the Order of the Force.

But it started with an academy, of training, when they became of age. On Ahch-To, Masters—both living and gone—taught light and dark histories and theories. Luke had been right, in a way. It was time for the way of the Jedi to die—not die entirely, but to change and grow.

The Force was the Force, the light and the dark and everything in between.

As they approached the temple, Leia scrambled inside to find her friends, Hanna trailing after her. But Anakin hesitated outside the entrance. Two girls and their parents moved past, trying not to stare. Rey was used to the staring, to the attention of being a war hero.

Frowning, she pulled her son aside, but before she could ask him what was the matter, he blurted, “What if I’m a darksider?”

Rey and Ben shared a glance. Their bond allowed them to communicate telepathically, but they didn’t need to in this moment. Ben crouched down, his huge frame nearly swallowing up Anakin.

“Leia was named after your grandmother,” he said quietly. “And Hanna, after your grandfather. But you…Anakin Ren Solo. You were named for two people. Both of which were powerful in the light side of the Force, and the dark side. They made some mistakes and bad choices, but even when they drifted too far into the dark side, they still found their way back to the light. They found their way home.” His eyes flicked up, meeting Rey’s, and her expression softened. “They are a testament that should you ever fall, no matter how far, you can still rise.”

“But what if—what if I’m neither?”

“Then you will be like me.”

Anakin’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean? No one is more powerful in the Force than you, Dad.” He winced and shot an apologetic look at Rey, whose brows had raised slightly. “Except you, Mom. And High Master Skywalker. Does he count?”

Rey laughed, and Ben smiled a bit. “For many years I was conflicted, torn between the light and the dark,” he said. “I had to learn to find the balance. And maybe someday you’ll learn the same.”

The children knew some of Ben’s past as Kylo Ren, as Rey and Ben knew they could not hide it. He had dedicated the past nineteen years to restoring the galaxy, but some would never forgive him for the role he played among the First Order. And they did not want to lie or bury the past by denying it. But the children knew even less of his involvement with the First Order and the tragic upbringing that tore him apart for so long. Someday, when they were older, he would tell them all of it.

Even with Ben’s admission, Anakin was still insistent. “But if I do lean to the dark side—”

“—then it only shows how passionate you are, Anakin,” Rey said gently, crouching down next to Ben. She reached out and brushed a strand of unruly black hair from Anakin’s eyes. When he made a face at her words, she added, “Passion comes from the heart. It’s part of what makes you human. And we will love and accept you no matter what side, if either, you lean toward.”

“Every student is different,” Ben added. “It’s only an evaluation to help the Masters find the best approach to their teachings. You, and only you, get to choose which path you walk. And you will never walk it alone, son. We promise you that.”

Anakin nodded, finally reassured. He took a deep breath and straightened, then marched into the temple with his chin high.

Rey and Ben stood, and caught Leia’s—Grandmother Leia’s—eye across the temple. She was the most regal of Force ghosts, elegant and noble, and her eyes shone with pride. Then she turned away, greeting a group of students who were demanding her attention.

“He’ll be all right,” Ben murmured, wrapping an arm around Rey.

She thought of Leia, Han, and Luke. She thought of Lando, of Obi-Wan, of Yoda. Of Finn and Rose and Paige. And she thought of herself and Ben, all looking after their family. They would never know the loneliness that Rey and Ben had. Never know what it felt like to be unloved or abandoned, to feel isolated and alone. They would never allow it.

“I know he will,” she said. “They all will.”

She glanced up, and when Ben felt her gaze, he looked down at her. His expression softened, as it only did for her and their children.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s go see what theatrical entrance Luke has in store this time.”

Ben groaned, but allowed her to tug him inside. “I refuse to applaud such dramatics.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t know anything about dramatics, Ben.” They found two empty seats in the back, next to a couple of Twi’lek’s that greeted them warmly.

His mouth twisted. “I would hardly call—”

“Shh, it’s about to begin,” she interrupted as the candles dimmed and the Force ghosts took their places at the front of the temple.

Ben sighed and took her hand in his own. Rey squeezed it, remembering the first time she had touched his hand across the stars on this very island. She felt him looking at her, and when she peered at him, she knew he was remembering the same thing.

So Rey smiled, and Ben smiled back.

All was well in the galaxy, and for the Solo’s, who finally had all they had been searching for.

Connection. Compassion. Family. Love. Acceptance. Belonging.

They would hang on, and never let it go.

#reylo #rey x kylo ren #rey x ben solo #mrs pettyfer writing #reylo babies #reylo family

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loopy777 · 4 years ago

Note

A larger question that needs two asks to cover. One of the biggest criticisms against the star wars sequel trilogy, is that all the OT main characters died complete failures after having all their work undone. Luke was the shining hope for new jedi, but had his academy killed, gave up, and essentially just became a bitter Yoda, then after returning to the man he used to be, he dies. Han saw his son become evil, abandoned his wife and became a smuggler again, and died failing to redeem him.

Leia worked so, so hard to make the new republic happen, only for it to die ridiculously easy. Essentially, there's an argument to be made that all their work was undone and they all died miserable failures. What's your thoughts on the subject?

Well, my take on this comes my philosophy on sequels in general. Unless it’s something with enough entries to really play with things, sequels need to maintain or escalate the story stakes. James Bond and Marvel movies, for example, can sometimes go big and sometimes go smaller scale, because they’re essentially episodes in a television series or chapters in a massive book.

Star Wars, on the other hand, is all epic all the time. Its movies are always events- and when they aren’t, the titles of the movies themselves tell us that they’re small skippable little things. Episodes 1-6 are about the greatest threat ever to the galaxy and Jedi; a sequel trilogy can’t follow that with a story about mopping up and just doing the stuff implied by the ending of Episode 6. But Episode 6 was meant to be the finale to the saga, so there’s no remaining threats or plots on the same level as Palpatine, the Empire, and the Sith.

I thought the sequels, at least TFA and TLJ, had an interesting way around that by being about the concept of sequels themselves. In order to create the proper stakes, the heroes were indeed turned into failures- and the heroes are directly reacting to that! Leia reacts by digging in trying to keep fighting. Han reacts by going back to just surviving. Luke reacts by giving up and trying to die. They hate the sequels turning them into failures as much as the audience.

And then TFA brings them back into things by having them become aware of the new heroes and the cycle of stories. What so many people took as Han’s moments of “Wow, I think Rey might be my daughter,” I took as “Huh, another wide-eyed prodigy from a desert planet who’s dragging me into an epic adventure.” I took Luke’s reaction to Rey offering him the lightsaber as him realizing that the story is starting over again and trying to draw him back in. Even Kylo Ren is actively trying to fit into the Darth Vader role and is frustrated that he’s just a cheap copy.

(I could have done without the repetition being so explicit with the return of X-Wings, TIE Fighters, a jungle base for the Rebels, another desert planet, Bigger Death Star, etc. The themes could have been there with new visuals that merely homage the old stuff. But I think the choice to recycle so much was a direct ploy to ease people back into Star Wars after the reactions to the prequels, so hoping for a lot of new stuff in TFA was probably always futile.)

And then TLJ directly follows this up by making the concept of a repeating story one of the major themes, explicitly! I considered it solid validation of my interpretation of TFA! (Now I honestly have no idea what was intended with TFA, because I think Rise Of Skywalker is completely disconnected from it. If ROS indeed represents the original intentions of J.J. Abrams, then TFA must have been heavily pulled off track, to its benefit, by Lawrence Kasdan.)

Han’s death, to me, was a mix of triumph and failure. On the one hand, he finds the strength to give himself over to The Story, to let go of survival and offer everything up for the chance to save his son. I think he knows that it’s not going to work, but he understands that it’s a step that has to be taken, and so he makes the attempt and lets his life be claimed.

This is the problem facing the young cast in TLJ. They trust too much in The Story, in heroes and last stands and destiny and redemption and sacrifice and a righteous cause. Luke, on the other hand, sees how all of that accomplishes nothing in the long run; he sees The Story at work and knows that a Happy Ending depends on where the storyteller stops, that continuance inevitably brings back the darkness. He realizes that the storyline of the prequels was forced on him in a repeat, despite his victory in Episode 6, and wants no part in an endless cycle of dumb movies about space wizards killing people.

It’s Leia who seems, in TLJ, to see the possibility for a path of balance. She’s still part of The Story, still values the things that the younger generation does, but she also sees that those things won’t bring victory by themselves. They need to be smart about how they participate in The Story. Strategic with when they invoke The Story and when they should shy away from it. The failures of the younger cast eventually teach them this, as well. Rey uses the Millennium Falcon to bait the First Order at the end of the movie, pulling TIE Fighters into a reenactment of Return Of The Jedi to save her friends, but she no longer thinks she can force the redemption of Vader onto Kylo. Poe and Finn learn lessons about how the true value of Heroic Stands isn’t taking out bad guys, but changing the direction of The Story.

And Luke finds the path of balance as well, finding that The Story can be turned against the darkness. Where Finn and Poe learn when not to invoke the Heroic Stand, he rediscovers the moment when both a Hero and a Last Stand is the greatest weapon to employ against the enemy, and so steps back into his role in a way that will let the younger generation learn and continue to grow. That he does so in the single greatest feat of the Force in the entire saga makes it especially triumphant.

Kylo Ren, meanwhile, has likewise become frustrated with the nature of sequels, but instead of finding a balance between new and old, he casts away everything old (”Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. It's the only way to become who you were meant to be.“) and seeks only something new- and in doing so is defeated by the protagonists who have weaponized The Story against him. Because a franchise like Star Wars can’t go fully New as there’s too much valuable IP to mine.

This is why I had such high hopes for ROS. Luke had already turned the tide of The Story, and the next cast had been set up to find an Ending that would prevent The Story from happening again. Literally all the next movie had to do was deliver on what was already set up with some plot mechanics.

And that’s why Rise Of Skywalker is so bad, to me. After two sequels dealing, on a meta level, with the concept of sequels themselves, ROS just copies tropes from the classic trilogy without adding anything, without finding new meaning in anything. Rey learns that her father is Darth Vader (metaphorically), and struggles with the same themes Luke did, eventually coming to the same conclusions. She confronts Palpatine just like Luke did, with the aid of a darksider she helped pull back to the light, and makes the conflict into just another clash of Jedi vs Sith, doing nothing to guarantee that another sequel down the line won’t bring that enemy back for a nostalgia cash-in.

Even Leia becomes a failure, throwing a Redemption trope at her son with no meaning behind it, turning him away from the darkness but without any insight into how he became Anakin Skywalker Redux, how she and Han and Luke had previously failed. She did nothing to prevent it from happening again in another generation; she just solved this one problem and then died, tidying up her subplot but having no lasting impact.

All of this confirms that Han, Luke, and Leia are merely failures, as you describe, as ROS shows that they’ve left nothing behind that will continue. Where TLJ introduced the idea that they had to fail in order to gain greater understanding of The Story, so that they could teach its mastery to the next set of protagonists and end things with merely one Sequel Trilogy,

And thus ROS confirms that failure is inevitable; Rey, Finn, and Poe will fail again the next time Disney needs to exploit nostalgia, because they never mastered The Story. The full cast tried to confront the nature of Sequels, saw the conundrum that they can have no impact while Disney sees more money to be made from Star Wars...

And they all give up, surrendering to cliche. Han, Luke, and Leia repeat their acts from previous movies, or the acts of their predecessors from the prequels, and cash their checks and walk away. I don’t mean the actors; I truly mean that ROS turns Han, Luke, and Leia into Space Opera jobbers.

So yes, they all died as miserable failures.

But, dangit, until ROS, I thought there was going to be a greater, beautiful point to it.

And there’s no fixing it now. This isn’t a story that can be retconned or ignored. ROS’s abandonment of the themes of the previous two sequels stands as a glaring Statement Of Intent from Disney: there is no meaning in these movies, just the exploitation of a thing we once loved.

And that’s going to take a lot come back from.

#thekingofwinterblog

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thelastjaedi · 5 years ago

Text

TROS Rant

This post will contain spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker, so below the cut is spoilers.

The Palpatines Ultimately Win

Rey, a palpatine, ends up taking everything that belong to the skywalker family: the legacy saber, the millennium falcon, Han’s blaster, leia’s ex machina saber, the chosen one prophecy, the last skywalker’s life force, and their name/legacy. And her first act as a skywalker is to bury their sabers on the planet they all hated. The planet where Anakin was enslaved and where his mother’s life was stolen from him. The planet Luke could not wait to get off of and where his aunt and uncle were murdered. The planet where Leia was enslaved by a crime lord.

And the worst part is that Palptine gets what he always wanted: the lifeforce of a skywalker is used to keep a palpatine alive.

It Makes Everything the Skywalker Family Went Through so Pointless

If they were going to undo RotJ’s happy ending, they should have made the ending of the sequels even happier and more triumphant.

But instead, Anakin’s sacrifice amounted to nothing because Palpatine just lives on to completely wreck his family. Luke was a complete failure when it came to rebuilding the Jedi order. Palpatine manipulated/groomed Ben Solo since infancy, turning him against his family. Leia‘s wish was to create something better than the Republic and the Empire, but the New Republic was destroyed by the First Order. She wanted her son back, and Han sacrificed his life to try and bring their son back. Luke did too in TLJ. He gave his life to manufacture a situation where he could apologize and acknowledge what he did to his nephew, and in such a way to where Ben could not act out without ending up with another family member’s death on his hands. And then with the whole “salt purifying wounds” symbolism of the planet in general, it felt like the first steps to repairing this family. This story’s trajectory seemed to be about saving the last skywalker from the mistakes of the previous generation and in doing so, allowing the new generation to learn from those mistakes and build something new. Han, Luke, and Leia gave their lives to try and right that wrong and bring the last scion of this bloodline home. And when Ben FINALLY makes the right choice, he is excluded from the final fight against Palpatine via yeet pit, and then dies 2 seconds after finding the happiness and acceptance he was never allowed to have with Rey.

They Did The Character of Ben Solo So Dirty

They took a huge retconnish step back after TLJ paved the way for something really cool in TROS. He was finally free to be his own person, out from under the thumb of an abusive master, leader of his faction, and resolved rather than conflicted. Resolved to do what, we will never know—would he have acted as an anti hero against palpatine’s sith army? Would he have been dethroned by Hux/Pryde and have to operate independently? WHO KNOWS. But instead of exploring anything NEW with him, TROS has him reforge that mask (for no given reason), still be conflicted about everything, and have to plot with Rey to overthrow yet another abusive master. He just repeated his arc in TLJ, but with prequel-level dialogue with Rey and a RotJ-Vader ending. Except he gets NO LINES in the last act beyond “ow”. After his scene with Leia-induced-memory!Han, he essentially becomes a mute. Also that scene where Luke gives Rey Leia’s lightsaber, saying that she always knew Ben would fall so she gave it up and wanted Luke to pass it on to someone worthy? What? Give up on your son I guess. Way to destroy Leia’s character and make her look like a terrible mother.

And because of how exhaustingly how contrived the whole reylo angle was presented in general, the kiss scene probably felt REALLY forced for the general audience. Like the actors played the scene well—Adam’s facial expressions of utter hopelessness and regret upon finding her dead was absolutely gut wrenching. But his death happens SO fast: he meditates, she wakes up, they kiss, the music swells and you think everything is going to be ok—then he drops dead 2 seconds later and neither the audience nor Rey are given enough time to process that. It moves on to the celebration montage ripped straight from RotJ’s remastered version—AND HE IS NEVER SEEN OR MENTIONED AGAIN! Not even as a force ghost on Tatooine with Luke and Leia when she proclaims herself a Skywalker. Are they going to edit his force ghost into the scene 20 years later when they remaster this film? Or are we just going to pretend this character never existed and he was not the hero--because he really was the hero of this film.

Balance is Never Restored

Did that “Journal of the Whills” passage in the TFA book even matter? In the end, balance was never reached. The light won the day and the darkness perished. Again. History literally repeated itself. So what’s the next fascist regime or sith zombie that’s going to sprout up in 30 years? There was no resolution or catharsis between the two aspects of the force. It was just “Sith avatar Sideous bad, Rey jedi avatar good, don’t think too hard, enjoy the holidays and see you in 30 years when we want to see what Rey Skywalker is up to!” And you know that’s coming — they did not even give us closure to the Skywalker saga because they can always make movies about her and any of her false-Skywalker decedents! It’s SO UPSETTING.

I’m mostly disappointed because it would have been nice to see a resolved view of the force that is not so black and white. Like maybe the Sith were a perversion of what the dark side is: a cancer or parasite that has corrupted it. TLJ opened the door for so many nuanced and honestly really intelligent concepts that TROS just threw out the window for “cool force powers”. There is absolutely no “peace” in the force, it’s used with straight up aggression constantly save for the force healing/life transferring, which is overused in this film and has therefore lost any substantial weight in the story because of it.

Rey Repeats the Mistakes of a Past Generation

She literally repeats Leia’s mistakes. She is a Palpatine, but in choosing to hide that from everyone (besides Finn, I guess) by taking another family’s last name, she is essentially lying. That did not work out so well with Leia, who hid the fact she was Vader’s daughter from everyone besides Luke and Han. It got out, her political career was tanked, she lost the trust of a lot of her friends, and it helped alienated her son from their family.

And what is this nonsense about Luke and Leia having always known she was a Palpatine all along, but never said anything? Even though she was aware of Rey’s desperation to know where she came from and why her family left her behind? Did she just omit the truth from Rey just like she did Ben? WHAT? THIS IS SO HORRIBLE.

If they had to make her a Palpatine, why not have her own it and be like “it is not my bloodline that defines who I am, but the choices I make.” Which is a nicer message and juxtaposes with Kylo who accepted his dark legacy because he felt like he had no other choice—especially when everyone who was suppose to help him thought he is another Vader/a lost cause anyway.

I personally really like the message that she was no one, and you did not have to be anyone special to be a hero. I also hate how her bloodline diminishes her struggle with her affinity for the dark side. Her backstory as an abandoned orphan provided enough reason for her to struggle with the pull to the dark side. But this reveal oversimplified that and just chalked it up to her genes. And to say that her power was a result of her heritage, and not because she was a chosen vessel of the cosmic force is a mistake.

Rey and Kylo’s Force Bond is Terribly Misused

Their force bond (which was arguably the most compelling part of TLJ) was turned it into exposition fodder and weaponized. It was originally created for the purpose of allowing these two opposing forces to TALK to each other rather than fight. TLJ established that they could not use the force on each other OR harm each other through the bond for a reason: so they could communicate and learn from each other. It really felt like foreshadowing for some sort of catharsis or resolution between the light and dark aspects of the force. Especially with the whole spiel about balance, and how the light and the dark are both natural parts of life and the force (warmth, cold, peace, violence, death and decay that brings forth new life ect). That was such a lovely and spiritual interpretation.

But instead of expanding on that idea, TROS not only made them able to fight each other through it, but he took it to video-game-super-power level extremes. And it was just plain absurd. Were some scenes cool? Yeah, I thought him pulling the legacy saber out from behind his back to fight the knights was great, and the teleportation was hinted at in TLJ, but I hated their lightsaber fights. It was too over the top with the flipping and such. I really liked TLJ’s message that the force is not a super power, but rather a mystical force that guides you if you are open to letting it work through you. This movie just spat in the face of that idea.

And it’s so annoying that they described their bond as this mystical “dyad” that occurred because of who their famous grandparents were—THAT IS SO INFURIATING! It’s not the will of the force that these two people on opposing sides were linked so deeply, but because of their family legacy. Bloodlines are all that matter apparently—not that the force is working through these two similarly broken people in an effort to fix and balance itself. And ultimately refine the incomplete view of the force that the Jedi and Sith tore the galaxy apart over.

I also hated how the bond is described “two as one”, but then one dies without the other (twice!) and Rey can wound him without so much as a flinch. If the bond is really one life force/spirit inhabiting two bodies, shouldn’t they have to die at the same time? Or at least be able to feel each other’s pain? Or be able to share this life force they supposedly already share and both survive? Like you can’t kill one without killing the other, sort of deal? It just feels like it was hyped up to be this immensely powerful thing, and that in order to defeat Palpatine, they would have to do so together. But all that exposition seems pointless after one half of the dyad survives without its counterpart. And it is never addressed after. Like what even is the point of any of this yin yang stuff if yin can just die off with no consequences? Was the entire point of that plot thread meaningless exposition? And if the explanation is that Palpatine stole their force bond to revive himself, that’s straight up stupid. TROS will have wasted this unique connection that had so much potential for good and for meaningful resolution and fabricated yet another way to empower the already OP villain.

But if you pretend none of that dumb dyad shit happened, Ben Solo’s death is one of the ONLY things about this movie that makes sense thematically. I’m not happy that he died. I do not think it was necessary. But I am trying to make peace with the fact that it is a beautiful sacrifice. I always felt like their arc was reverse Padme x Anakin, and Anakin’s entire fall to the dark side was because he wanted to become powerful enough to save the person he loved from death. He never achieved that because his love for Padme and his motivations were inherently selfish. He wanted her save her so he could keep her beside him. Ben, however, rights that wrong and selflessly gives his life for the one he loves. He does so knowing that he will die, and does not even hesitate, because he wants her to live even if he can’t be with her. So in that way, and excluding the dyad stuff that makes his death confusing and nonsensical, I actually felt like it was fulfilling. Sort of. One of the only things that came close to feeling well thought out in that movie, I suppose. But it still did not land quite right because of how poorly it was orchestrated. I genuinely do not think people picked up on the subtle romance hints they dropped around those two. Like the tropes are there, but it’s almost entirely subtext and not something the general audience picked up on until the shirtless scene and even then it was more of a meme. But regardless of whatever romance was set up in the previous films, I felt like their entire arc in this film was dysfunctional as fuck and not cathartic at all. It was very juvenile and reduced to a series of “join me! No! —sword fight— Join me! No! —sword fight—” Did I enjoy some of their banter, yes. But it was not nearly as satisfying as their exchanges in TLJ.

The Retconning of TLJ and Extended Material

It felt like TROS was trying so hard to pacify everyone who hated the direction TLJ took the narrative. And so much of the movie’s run time is spent retconning what was revealed in that movie, with no explanation other than “from a certain point of view” loopholes. And there were so many tasteless digs at TLJ. The comment about the Holdo maneuver. Luke catching the lightsaber and raising that ancient, sea-corroded x wing from the water on Ach-to. Rey’s parents becoming nobodies to protect her from Grandpappy Palps. Leia unable to get a single ship to answer her distress calls at the end of TLJ, but Lando can fetch the whole damn galaxy in an End Game like fashion.

Poe is randomly a drug smuggler despite his backstory already being established as being a part of the New Republic’s Navy and having Rebel Heroes for parents.

Chewbacca already got a medal in the comics, so that scene was so redundant. Did the writers even consult with the Lucasfilm’s story team?

Leia was trained as a Jedi and only gave it up because she knew her son was going to turn to the dark side. It was already established in Bloodlines that Leia chose to be a senator because the galaxy needed her in politics more than it needed her with a laser sword. That was where she could do the most good. And she sacrifices everything--even her family--for the sake of building something better and new. But that sacrifice is reduced to her giving it up because she essentially has given up on her son before he is even born? I just do not understand why that flashback was necessary. Or why she needed a lightsaber. It is like it was included to pacify people who were upset with Leia using the force to save herself in TLJ, but an explanation is not needed because we have already established in the films and in extended material that she is force sensitive.

I don’t even want to talk about the vats full of Snokes.

Finn being force sensitive is cool, and I could totally see the potential in that from TFA, but it goes absolutely nowhere and his character is back to being Poe’s sidekick and Rey’s lost puppy. Rose gets absolutely NO screen time, and is sidelined the entire film to pacify people who hated her character in TLJ. I do not need FinnRose to be canon, either. I loved their development in TLJ because Rose challenged and progressed Finn as a character. And even though I always thought FinnPoe was going to be endgame, I never thought they would sweep her under the rug. Speaking of Finn and Poe, they queer-baited everyone with Stormpilot, only to give both of them hetero love interests. Finn and Poe have so much natural chemistry and meaningful interaction, especially in the last resistance novel that came out, that it was a slap to the face to see Finn psuedo-paired with Jannah/Rey and Poe paired with Zori.

Hux was set up to have all this ambition and a tense rivalry with Kylo Ren. But he gets shot by a random new character for helping the Resistance he hates so much-- that is incredibly nonsensical. There was so much potential for a First Order civil war between Kylo Ren and Hux, and he was hyped up in the comics to be a very dangerous adversary. What a waste.

Were there moments in the film that were fun and enjoyable, sure, but I find that all of the problems eclipse those moments. It’s really hard to find stuff I actually liked about it. C3PO was great, but I felt like him getting his memories restored removed the weight of his sacrifice. Much like everything else in this film. There were way too many fake out deaths for anything to be meaningful. The movie itself was, admittedly, gorgeous. The Death Star ruins was such a magical set. The soundtrack was beautiful as ever. But I just feel so depressed and sorry for the tragedy that was the Skywalker family after watching it, that I cannot even enjoy the parts that were enjoyable.

#TROS #TROS spoilers #Reylo #Ben Solo #spoilers #Rise of Skywalker

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darkspellmaster · 6 years ago

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Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi -Rewrite if it was in the old legacy EU

With the recent reactions to the whole of Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, I began to notice that there are many similarities to certain characters. For Example, Ben Solo has an almost beat for beat personality to Kyp Durron save some differences, and Rey is a decent duplication of Jania Solo down to the whole ability to hardwired and fix mechanics, along with her droid. I started to wonder what would happen if you put the whole of the movies into the Old EU of Star Wars, and figured, why not share it.

Do note that rather than dealing with the Vong and the Dark Nest and all that followed these Movies take place of that.

This one will have large changes due to the nature of the story and honestly trying to keep consistent with what Episode VII showed regarding characters and the comics have shown as well. Opening sequence, it’s been a few weeks since the First Order was defeated. Rather than sit around and wait, the Resistance forces have been evacuating to other areas of space and trying to keep things from getting too bad. Word has gotten out that a large dreadnaught was coming after them, and Poe pulled together a group of willing volunteers in the remaining fleet to attack it, disobeying Leia’s orders to not engage with the fleet. The idea actually stemmed from Kyp who came up with it and the act is a means of keeping the large class ship at bay. Paige Tico is killed in the ensuing battle, but most of the Resistance makes it away.

Leia gives a stern warning to Poe and demotes him for not going over plans and disobeying her orders. While Saba puts Kyp on leave ordering him to go with Jania and Jessia Pava to locate other resistance cells and find out what’s happening. The First Order has effectively gone around using their ‘friends” to kill some of the communication in the galaxy and no one is sure what’s going on. Meanwhile we learn that Hux was planning on having the dreadnaught wrecked to cover for a device to be planted on the escaping last ship. The tracking device is designed to get a reading in hyperspace that allows the First Order to keep tabs of where the main fleet ship is headed.

During this time Finn wakes up confused. Anakin get’s Poe who calms his friend down with Leia, and the two get Finn back to normal. Finn asks Leia about where Rey is, and she explains that she has her on a mission and that she has a tracker that allows Rey to know where they are. While things are going on Finn talks to Anakin who says his brother is still out there and that he’s going to make him pay for harming his father, they’re speaking through hologram as Anakin was sent by his mother to Corusant to keep an eye on his father and monitor him. Finn asks Anakin about the whole “force hug” thing with Rey and Anakin tries to explain what’s going on that that in some cases there can be a bond that can be formed between two powerful force users, either by choice or by accident. Finn mentions that Kylo managed to track Rey and him down, and Anakin says there could have been a chance that Kylo managed to create a link between her and himself.

Their discussion is cut short when the small group of ships are attacked. The ships scramble but the dock with the wings is blown up on the main ship. The Resistance manages to get other ships to scramble but the attack is over whelming, and then there’s an explosion on the bridge, set off by a tie fighter. Ben and Leia have a moment of knowing where each other is, and then the whole thing goes to hell. Leia is saved by Saba who uses her force to pull her student back to her, and a few other members of the higher ranking Resistance leaders are brought back in, but the cold of space has killed too many of them.

Cal Omars, General Ackbar’s friend and Rear Admiral, mourned his friend General Ackbar and insisted that they find out exactly what happened to allow them to be followed by the First Order. During this time Leia dropped her tracker, and it was found by Finn. Realizing that Rey could be in danger, and that if the FO were to stage another attack he figured that he would leave for Courasant and meet with Anakin there where they could find a way to get Rey back to them and protect her.

The tech heads discover, with Connix, that there’s a tracker that’s allowing them to be followed but they can’t disable it. Finn over hears this, and decides it’s time to go. However his plans are cut short when Rose discovers him trying to leave. She has been ordered to not allow any pods to leave due to the investigation and the possibility that the FO could capture the occupant. Finn tries to leave but finds that the pod has been set to paralyze anyone for a short amount of time if they try to enter the pods.

Meanwhile Cal and Darcy say that Holdo is now head of the group, here we meet Haydnat Treen, one of the remaining officers who puts thoughts into Poe’s head that Holdo may not be all that she claims to be. Poe goes to see her to find out what Holdo plans to do, and she refuses to tell him, explaining that it’s on a need to know basis and when she’s ready to tell him she will. This doesn’t make Poe feel any more sure about her and Treen indicates that she could be working for the First Order.

Finn in the meantime is finds himself interrogated by Mara who thinks he may have subconsciously put the tracker on the ship before he left originally with Han. He explains that he didn’t and that there could be a way to disable it as they would have to have the second tracker on a ship to allow them to follow. Rose surmises it has to be on the main ship, and Mara says she’ll get her network to look into it. In the meantime, he and Rose are to go check in with Holdo, and instead the duo go to see Poe who is with Leia in her room where she’s being monitored.

Finn and Rose describe their plan to Poe and they contact Maz who explains about the Code breaker. In the meantime, Mara goes to Saba and Holdo, whom she’d previously met and tells her she needs to start trusting the other members of the crew with her plans or else it could end badly. Holdo tells her that they’re suspecting a spy or saboteur among the ranks. Mara offers the idea of having a team go onto the ship and disable the device from within, but it’s voted down. Fearing for her son’s life, she decides to go against the word of Saba, heads off to find the group discussing plans on how to get on the ship and the Master Codebreaker, and tells them she wants in. Finn gives Poe the tracker from Leia and he and Connix set up a plan to get them off ship.

On Atch-too, Luke takes the saber but rejects the offer, telling Rey that she should go back to Leia. There is no way for him to help at this time and walks away from her. Rey follows trying to explain the situation, as Luke points out that the First Order just blew up the New Republic and that Han is in grave condition. Luke explains that he knows, because he felt both, and knows that he’s not sure how to fight Snoke. Rey seems disenchanted with Luke.

Rey decides to hang around and try to talk to him, but Luke goes about his business. During this time she finds his old X-wing submerged in water. He tells her he won’t leave until he finds an answer. Rey becomes frustrated and starts practicing with her saber, while Luke watches her. In the middle of this she meets a young man who informs her that forcing Luke to leave just yet is not the way to do it. The young man introduces himself as Jacen Solo, Jania’s twin brother. He was the one that Han was looking for.

The two eat lunch together and Jacen explains his view of Jedi Philosophy, and asks her about herself and her past. When she explains she doesn’t remember anything other than Jakku, he wonders if there is more to it that is being blocked. Jacen thinks there’s a way to unblock memories that she’s had but he doesn’t quite have the skills for that, yet. He also asks about his father and she explains her feelings for Han as a father figure to him. Jacen points out the tree to Rey on their walk and she goes to investigate. Here she finds the books and Luke finds her. He questions her reason for being there, and not Leia. Rey tells him that she was sent and that she’s not sure exactly what Leia wants her to do and she leaves him alone.

Jacen and Luke have a moment while Luke is meditating on things, and they talk. Jacen argues that his mother had to have sent Rey for a reason, and he sensed that she isn’t like other force users. There’s something raw in her and untapped and that she may be the key to understanding Snoke and maybe helping Ben. Luke points out that he tried to help Ben but it failed, just as Obi Wan couldn’t help his father. Jacen then points out that Luke wasn’t a failure to Obi wan and saved Vader. Maybe Rey could be the balance that Luke is seeking out.

Luke goes to Rey and says he’ll give her three lessons, but only three. If she can prove to him that she’s ready to train after those three, then he’ll consider coming back. If she fails then she goes back without him. This is really a test on her in a way, a lot like Yoda tested him. Rey agrees to this.

During their first training Rey winds up reaching out to the dark side, much to Luke’s shock. She also gains a meeting of the minds with Kylo Ren who is surprised to see he can talk to her. Previously the only one he could contact was Anakin, who had been invading his mind, but he’d since blocked him. Rey and Kylo talk, but it’s clear that she doesn’t trust him and hates him for what he’s done to Han and Finn and her friends. The link is cut off when Luke touches her during their training and he feels that pull of the dark side in her, trying to tempt her. He’s worried that she has too much anger in her and it’s clouding her judgement as it did his once.

While alone during a rainstorm, after contacting Jaina Solo, and informing her she found Luke but that he won’t come back and that Jacen is there with him, Kylo contacts Rey and the two talk again. Kylo mocks her for wanting Han and Luke to be her father, and Rey points out that she doesn’t need his attitude as she’s training and will become strong enough to stop the First Order. As she’s talking Jacen over hears her talking aloud and breaks the link when he calls out to her.

Jacen is starting to suspect something with Kylo and is worried about her, and offers to train her in a working with the saber that she brought and tells her to ask Luke about the history of it. Luke mentions that she, like his father, himself, and his sister, have a strong force sensitivity, but he refuses to tell her the whole story of the saber. Jacen watches this and worries that the more Luke pushes Rey away, the closer she’ll fall to the darkness and starts to meditate on ways to actually help her break off the temptation and use her anger in a more positive way.

Meanwhile Kylo senses Anakin again trying to invade his mind and there’s a brief moment where Anakin talks to Kylo, calling him Ben and trying to pull him back to the light. When Kylo tries to force him out Anakin says he hates him, and, to Kylo’s surprise he’s actually hurt by this, but tries to cover it.

Back with Finn, Rose and Mara, with BB8, as per request of Poe, head for Canto Bright. While Rose explains parts of the place, Mara goes into stronger details about it’s past and a job she had there in regard to the Empire. Finn asks her if she ever feels regret in leaving behind the Empire, and she says no, but she feels for those that she killed for them, and those with force powers that could have been jedi to help keep the peace.

She mentions she knows someone who is now helping run the business end of things there and feels they may need to seek out his help. When they land, Rose docks the ship in a location that Mara feels may be a bad spot, but the two younger members feel that it’s an in and out job. The trio, with BB8 head in to town, keeping a low profile. When they get to the Casino Mara splits from the group as she thinks they would be way too obvious. She goes to seek out “Lovely” a former informant of hers who is now working with the Master Codebreaker.

Finn and Rose in the meanwhile observe the Casino. Finn is surprised by the opulence of the place, noting that where he’s from the world is static and very militaristic. Rose points out that a lot of the glitter is built upon the exploitation of others in the city, and points out the fact that there are various people all around that are clearly slaves or exploited workers who are being used by the rich people in the city. Finn likens it to how Phasma and the upper rank of the FO abused the people of the planets they took over for various work, so that they could build more for their army. He wants to find a way to help the remaining troopers that are still under Hux and Rose seems impressed with that.

While they are talking, they see the Master Codebreaker and are about to go talk to him, when the police, due to the parking violation, attack them. Mara uses the distraction to get to “Lovey” and orders her to take her to the man that she’s working with to replace the Master Codebreaker for. The two end up at an office and inside is Lando Calrissian. He’s surprised to see her, but Mara cuts short the chit chat and explains why she’s here and that Han is in bad shape due to Kylo Ren.

On the ship with Poe, he and Holdo keep having bad run ins, and due to Treen, he’s starting to think she’s on the side of the First Order. Kyp reports in that they are finding cells and the other members of the resistance but there is a rumor going around about the possibility that the Resistance has a traitor in it’s midst. Poe starts working on a mutiny with Connix and others because he intends to smoke out the traitor and catch them in the act.

Mara contacts him and tells him that they have someone that could help but they need to get Finn and Rose out of trouble. The spy hears this and plans on reporting this to Holdo to cause more trouble and fracturing in the ranks of the Resistance.

Over on Atch-too, Rey has her second lesson about learning not to trust everything that she hears and not to believe everything that she sees. Again she gets frustrated with Luke who is trying to get her to break from her anger, but it’s not working. Jacen begins to worry that something may be influencing her and decides to keep an eye on her. While alone for a moment Kylo slips inside Rey’s mind again and they talk about what she’s learned from Luke and Rey calls him out for the near death of Han and the attack on Finn again. Kylo in turn mocks her about her not knowing her parents and then turns around and mentions that she could seek out answers if she allows herself to fall into darkness for a bit. Rey, recalls the cave that Luke mentioned, and Kylo figures out that it’s a Sith cave, and tells her that she can find answers there if she chooses.

That night, while she thinks the other two are sleeping, Rey goes out to where the cave is and goes inside, where she deals with a strange vision and a wall that is like a mirror, asking to see her parents, only for the images to blur and distort till she can only see herself reflected. Unknown to Rey, Jace had been sensing things, namely his brother Ben, and goes to try to find him, only to see Rey go into the cavern and is unable to stop her.

In the mean time Luke, who had been meditating on Rey where they first met, get’s some words of advice from Obi-wan who reminds him to have patience with Rey. During this time he opens himself up to the force, allowing it to come to him and finds Leia is unconscious and wakes her up as their minds meet. Jacen finds his Uncle and tells him he saw Rey go into the cavern and the two discuss what to do about it. Jacen also explains that he suspects that Ben may be influencing her, and he think that there may be a bond there that got made at some point, but he’s not sure how. Luke and Jacen decide to go see if they can find Rey.

Back with Rose and Finn, the two have been put in a cell with BB8 and a man named DJ, a slicer who offers to help them escape and disable the tracker. Rose is suspicious of the man but Finn feels that this could be the break they need and that he could work better than the codebreaker. Finn, Rose, DJ and BB8 start to break out of the cells and are on their road to escape when members of the Black Sun show up to block them. DJ it seems has gotten on their radar, namely their leaders, who wants him. None of them are ready for the fight, only to watch in surprise as both men are disarmed and fall to the floor unconscious. To their surprise it’s Lando and Mara to the rescue.

Mara explains that the Codebreaker helped them get into the Jail, and we see “Lovely” holding the man with a Gun to the back. Turns out “Lovely” was part of the Empire back in the day and owes Mara, and works for Lando now. The group split up when the guards come, Lando, Lovely, Mara, BB8, and DJ heading one way while Finn and Rose head another.

The Trio make it to the stables where they meet a group of kids and Rose convinces them to help release the space horses. Rose gives one of them, a boy named Temiri, a resistance ring (formerly rebellion ring) to use for the kids to get out of there and get help from those in the resistance as they would recognize it. At the same time DJ ditches Mara, Lando, and Lovely –who still has the Codebreaker at hand, (but BB8 follows him not trusting him) and Lando offers them his ship as a way of getting off, only to discover it’s stolen.

Lovely uses the Codebreaker as a distraction for the police to allow Lando and Mara to escape on a speeder and the duo run into Finn and Rose who are crashing about the town with the space horses. The five make it outside of town, and Mara informs them that their “Ally” has escaped. Fortunately Lovely gave her information on how to hack and disable the tracker. Lando suggests another ship, but they get stuck on the edge of a cliff with no way out.

Mara and Lando offers to stay behind and help the others escape. They are ready for a fight, when Lando’s Ship the Libertine appears out of nowhere, run by DJ and BB8 who took it not knowing it was Lando’s. Lovely soon joins Lando and the others, and informs them the police are on their way. Lando and Lovely stay behind, saying they will meet them soon enough where space is Unknown. Finn and Rose have no clue what he’s talking about but Mara thanks him and promises that they will meet again.

The group of four humans and one droid take off, just as the police come and Lando comes up with a plausible story about being kidnapped by some crazy red head whom he dated and owed money to.

Meanwhile back in the Resistance Poe and Connix are dealing with Holdo who is beginning to suspect something is up with them. Treen in the meanwhile catches a message from Finn to Poe about them having what they need and she warns Hux about what’s going on. Darcy sees her sending a message and alerts Holdo about it. Treen though goes to tell Poe about the message and urges him and Conniex to hurry up with their plans, as she suspects Holdo is up to something, and is getting them picked off one by one. Kyle and Sabra are keeping an eye on things and find out from Kyp that Maz’s place got attacked by some Black Sun Members and that one of their own was at Canto Bright. Jaina also informs them that they caught one of the spy’s associates and tells them who it is.

Over on Ach-too, Rey is now back in her hut and dealing with the fall out of what she saw. She and Kylo talk about the situation and Ben tells Rey about why he left his Uncle. In the vision Rey sees Ben Solo sleeping in his bed and a cloaked figure come over to him, eyes full of anger and hate. The figure draws his saber, and is ready to cut down Ben when he defends himself and flees in fear of his life. However the vision is cut short when Luke discovers them and sees Ben there in his mind.

He takes down the Hut to dispel the illusion but it only winds up hurting his cause with Rey. Rey is angry at her treatment by him, and his actions, and attacks him, which Luke easily fends off. She wants to know the truth of the matter, Luke yields to her after he disarms her and she pulls his old lightsaber on him. Rey demands the truth, and Luke tells her his side of the story.

As he tells it, he went to see Ben to talk but saw a horrible vision, that he won’t tell her about, and, for a moment thought of ending him, but then realized what he was doing and stopped. Only for Ben to wake up, see the saber lit and he attacked Luke, then destroyed the Jedi Temple. Rey doesn’t know what to believe, so she offers him his saber again, asking that he come with her to stop the First Order. Again Luke refuses so Rey is resigned to bring Ben back to their side and heads to depart from Ach-too.

Back with Rose, Finn and Mara, Mara senses Leia waking up and her husband and fears something is going wrong. Rose and Finn are talking with DJ about things, and DJ says he will help for Rose’s pendent. Finn tells her not to give it over, but she does as there’s something greater to deal with. Mara also mentions that material things can be given, but memories stay and Rose has Paige with her through the Force. She also questions DJ and his reasons for helping, bringing out that he “used” to work for the Black Sun. DJ mentions that the Black Sun has a prince on her head, and that he could get a pretty penny for it should he turn her over. Mara warns him that while she is a Jedi, it doesn’t mean that she can’t, and won’t, protect her crew and if that means ejecting him into space, well she will do it if she has to.

The Quartet head for the Supremacy with the intent of dealing with the tracker.

Around the same time Leia has gotten up and Poe and Conniex start their mutiny. Treen and the others turn on Holdo and have her and Darcy held captive as they go to commandeer the ship. While they are here Treen starts to upload a virus into the systems that would wreck it and make them sitting ducks, this unknown to Poe or Conniex. Holdo get’s out of her situation with the Jedi’s help and Kyle explains that Holdo was never a traitor and that the real one is Treen. Holdo and the others hurry to the bridge.

Meanwhile Leia and Sabra make it there before the others, and Sabra disarms Treen when she tries to fire on Leia. Poe is glad to see Leia awake but confused what’s going on, and in order to protect him, Sabra and Leia knock him out. Holdo and Kyle make it to the bridge but the virus is inside and is causing issues with the ship, they are able to slow it down but not stop it and the First Order is on their way. They decide to evacuate the ship, and send word to Kyp, Jania and Anakin to meet them on Crait.

On Ahch-too, Rey gets ready to depart when Jacen catches up with her after finding Luke and discovering what he told her. Jacen stops her and begs her to reconsider her plan, but she points out what Luke did and that he’s not the man she thought he was. Jacen tells her, that no he’s better than she knows, and that he was saying that to keep Ben from knowing the truth. Rey asks him what he means and Jacen explains what happened that night.

It was true that Luke had visited Ben. Ben had been Kyp’s student and Kyp had warned Luke about some things going on that he felt about Ben. Luke had gone down to see Ben and had found him sleeping, and seen visions in Ben’s mind. He had his saber, but it was never on at the time. Jacen, who couldn’t sleep, had gotten up, and saw his Uncle come from Ben’s hut and followed him back to the temple. He over heard Kyp and his Uncle Luke talking about Ben, and thinking that Ben may go to the dark side and become like their grandfather, Jacen foolishly took his Uncle’s robes and saber and went to see Ben, with his plans on talking to him and if not talking then fighting him to stop him from becoming another Vader. Luke, he surmised, discovered the missing items and when down to stop it, but it was too late, and Jacen had already threatened Ben at this point, causing Ben to lash out and destroy the temple and become Kylo Ren.

Rey is surprised by this, but then says that Kylo needs to know the truth of the matter, that his choice was built on a falsehood. Jacen offers to join her as back up, but he doesn’t think that this will go well. Jacen gets his own ship as Rey takes off on the Falcon. Luke discovers this and winds up meeting with Yoda who gives him words of wisdom. Failure is a harsh but important lesson and that you can fix your mistakes, but you must learn from them first in order to understand why you failed and that even in failure great knowledge can come. Luke decides to go after Rey and Jacen, and pulls his X-wing out of the water, and uses the force to basically get it ready to fly with R2 back behind him.

Mara, Finn, Rose and DJ, with BB8 make it on the Supremacy and Finn steals uniforms for them. They act as if they’ve captured Mara, since she would be too obvious given how well known she is by now being the Former Emperor’s hand and all that, and it gives them an excuse in case they get stopped. Here they make their way for the tracker and DJ does the hacking as promised. However, not everything seems to go to plan, as they are spotted by one of the other droids and reported. This leads to them being captured by Phasma, who gloats as not only do they have Finn, but a Jedi as well. Mara realizes that DJ sold them out, and she manages to slip BB-8 her saber so they can’t take it.

While this is going on Rey and Jacen arrive by the Supremacy, with Rey using an escape pod to land on the ship. Jacen followed her, using the camouflaging aspect built into his ship by his sister, to follow her into the ship. Being cautious Jacen waited for Rey and Ben, hoping that she’s right about bringing him back. Rey in the meanwhile is handcuffed by Kylo Ren and taken to see Snoke, but on their way she senses Finn and Mara, and Mara senses her on the ship, though she says nothing to the others, not knowing that Finn sort of feels Rey there too.

Rey and Kylo talk on a ride up to Snoke’s throne room, with Rey trying to convince Kylo to join the light again. While this is going on, Luke managed to catch up to the Falcon and dock with it, but has to watch and wait with Chewie as neither can get near the ship due to Snoke, as Luke can feel him starting to sense things around him. Rey tells Kylo he has it wrong with Luke but Kylo won’t hear it, and leads her to Snoke. Here Snoke welcomes her and sets her free, only to use the Force to pull away the light saber. Jacen realizes that Rey is in danger but stops when he sees his Aunt Mara, Finn and Rose being held captive.

At the same time the crew of the Resistance is evacuating the ship. Kyle learns from Holdo and Leia that they suspected that there was a spy for a while and that Leia thinks that Treen is the reason how the First Order was able to know about various plans that they had had in the past. Leia also informs Conniex and Kyle that she had already approved of Holdo’s plans, and both women realize that the virus has made the autopilot plan impossible. Sabra offers to stay with Holdo, but she points out that as the Jedi leader they will need her. The three women embrace, as they bid a sad fairwell to one another. Treen is locked up, and Kyle promises that they will figure out what to do with her once they get to Crait.

Meanwhile back on the Supremacy, Hux tells his captives about Treen and that she’s implanted a virus that will make it hard for them to escape. Mara calls him a coward, and Hux points out that she’s a traitor to the empire, to which she replies that there is no Empire, it died when Luke killed Palpatine, and she was freed from his grip. Rose asks how they got found out, and Phasma points to DJ, who then admits that he’s a Black Sun agent who’s working for the Black Sun to help out Hux for money. Honestly he doesn’t care who wins because in the end the Black Sun’s will still be there to make deals. He leaves, with Finn calling him out.

Phasma says there going to execute then by taking off their heads, namely because the jedi would stop the bolts. They’ll kill Finn and Rose first and let Mara feel all the death from the Resistance as they start a bombardment of the ships that are fleeing the Resistance craft, thanks to DJ and Treen’s info. The action causes Mara to nearly go unconscious with the pain of the many losses. In the mean time BB -8 has managed to get to Jacen who helps him get into a Scout AT –ST and the two plan on saving the group.

Rey in the meantime is dealing with Snoke and basically what you see happen in the main movie is what goes on here. During the attack from Snoke, there’s a moment when she links up with Poe, who get’s woken up by feeling her pain and sees the destruction of the many ships and is in shock by it. However Holdo stops all that when she rams the Supremacy at light speed causing everything to go haywire. Snoke get’s killed, Kylo says that Rey has no family, the two fight over the saber after a truce, and Rey escapes the room after waking up.

Jacen in the meanwhile after the blast uses it as a means of de cloaking and shooting up various ships while BB-8 attacks the Stormtroopers. Luke connects to Mara and gets her to break from her feeling the pain of others to use the force to get her saber back from BB-8 and fight off the Stormtroopers, helping Rose fight off the officers coming after them. Finn defeats Phasma, knocking her down into a pit. Mara gets them to Snoke’s shuttle where they blast off, leaving the Supremacy to fall apart.

Kylo wakes up and sees Hux there, something has changed in him, but he’s not sure what, yet that vanishes soon after. Kylo says he’s in charge now, and Hux agrees, but seems reluctant as if he finds it almost funny.

Rey is found by Jacen who helps her to his ship and the two take off in the damaged craft to the Falcon. Chewie helps them dock for a moment, as Jacen carries in a unconscious Rey. They destroy Jacen’s ship and leave it behind. The two groups head for Crait, with Luke feeling Leia waiting for them.

Kyp and Jaina with Anakin arrive first to greet the survivors and reunite with their Mother. Han, is still in a coma, but alive. Anakin explains that he tried to connect to Ben but failed, and Kyp and Jaina inform her that there are others waiting in the Unknown region ready to help, but communications are down and the cells are going to have a hell of a time reaching them, even as they send out an SOS. Jania and Anakin both tell Leia that they felt something change in the force and that Luke is coming back.

Kyp meanwhile sees Poe and Kyle and his other friends and is glad they are alive. He also thinks they should get rid of Treen, but Sabra says that she could be useful as an informant. Finn, Mara, and Rose, with BB-8 make it back first and Mara is reunited with her son, Leia and the other Skywalkers, and Jedi. Poe and Finn embrace with Rose being hugged by the remains of the engineering core. When they landed the Resistance planed on attacking them but Finn coming out caused them to hold their fire.

Finn, Poe and Kyle come up with a plan for defenses, as the First Order comes to attack the base with heavy weapons. The Jedi form a wall around the base, casting back bolts and other things to keep the AT-ATs and Sixes off balance while the Resistance Pilots take them on with speeders. During the battle tie fighters are sent out to take out the Speeders as the Battering Ram sets up to destroy the door. Kyle realizes that there is no way for them to stop that from happening and orders all Jedi back to protect the resistance members inside should the battering Ram work.

Rey, Chewie, and Jacen come in with the save using the Falcon, with Luke helping on one of the guns to assist. They pull away the Tie fighters but that still leaves the other weapons. Poe realizing that they were too late to stop the Battering Ram calls off the attack, but Finn tries to stop it any way, leading rose to nearly get killed stopping him. She goes unconscious saying that she couldn’t help her sister, but she wanted to help him.

Finn brings Rose inside as the FO pulls back for a bit after they blow open the bunker door. Things look bad as the resistance tries to see what the First Order is planning on doing. Inside the Falcon, Luke sense Kylo as does Jacen. Luke is going to try a force projection that he learned from a Fallanassi, but Jacen won’t let his Uncle do it alone, knowing that it could kill him and that’s the last thing he wants. He needs to confront his brother and atone for what he did to cause him to go on this path. Luke, reluctantly agrees, and the two go into a meditative state allowing them to project Luke into the Bunker.

Luke sees his Sister who feels that the galaxy has given up hope as no one is coming to their aid. He tells her not to give up and that there is always hope. Luke sees Mara for a moment and his son and winks at 3-P0 before heading out to deal with the First order. The other Jedi realize what he’s doing and while the stronger ones lend him their strength, the others help look for a way out. Finn and Poe realize that the foxes know a way out and follow them.

Meantime Luke confronts the First Order and gets shot at by them, emerging just fine and seems to shrug off their attack. Kylo decides to go down and confront Luke himself, saying that Snoke is dead and he’s the leader now. Luke says he knows and Kylo taunts him asking him if he’s come to save him. Luke tells him no, and then apologizes for the pain that Ben has been put through. Kylo attacks Luke and the two fight for a bit, with Luke mostly dodging the attacks. Kylo calls Luke a coward and Luke says that the Jedi will live on, that you can’t strike them all down. Again Kylo attacks and taunts Luke about what happened that night when a saber cuts between them and join in. Jacen comes in and says it was never Luke that attacked him, that it was him that Ben saw that night.

Jacen begs Ben to forgive him, that if he would just come back they would find a way to fix things. That he still loves his brother and he’s sorry for what he did to him. Yet Kylo doesn’t believe it because Jacen never acted afraid of him and was always there for him even when Jania and Anakin seemed scared of his power, Jacen never flinched and never turned away. Why would he do that? No, to him Jacen is lying and Luke was the reason for it all.

Jacen and Kylo engage in a fight with Luke, eventually Luke senses that the resistance is getting away and backs up with Jacen. Luke says that if he cuts them down it won’t fix things, and that it will only make them stronger. Jacen returns that he still loves his brother and will find a way to save him and bring him back to make up for all that happened to Ben.

Kylo rejects this and attacks them, slicing at them only to have them both vanish. At the same time Rey has made it out back and saw the foxes. She lands and uses her powers to lift the rocks, feeling Jacen waking up and then him pulling Luke back from becoming one with the force. Finn hugs Rey along with Jania and Anakin. The group heads on board with the wounded and dead, cramming into the Falcon.

Kylo finds his father’s dice and catches Rey closing the door on him as Chewie takes off for space with the Resistance. On board the ship Finn checks on Rose who is still out with Anakin. Luke and Mara reunite for the first time since he left and Luke gets to hold his son. Leia and Jacen hug and hold one another as he apologizes to his mother for causing his brother’s downfall. Rey thanks Poe for keeping the tracker of her to watch where she was, and the two smile with a more formal meeting this time and the “I know” line and she’s slightly embarrassed by this. Later she and Leia are talking about the broken Light saber and Leia reassures her that everything will be well as they can repair the saber and that they have all they need to start the Rebellion over.

Mara mentions to Luke that Rey reminds her of him, and he sees the future in her.

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dnmeinster · 6 years ago

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Why The Last Jedi Fails

I've debated whether it would be worth spending time writing this, as I know there are many critical takes out there about The Last Jedi. But I figure it's time to gather up all my critiques and criticisms of Star Wars Episode 8 and put them into one (hopefully) coherent post. Warning: I will be praising some parts of this film.

After I saw The Last Jedi opening night, my immediate reaction was that I loved it. It is a beautifully shot film with some great scenes. My initial trepidations were ones I've come to accept: Rey's parents are nobodies and Snoke was killed off without a backstory. However, in the hours after watching, my critical brain turned back on and started to dissect every other bit of the film. After seeing it a second time, the problems became more apparent.

Let's start with the film's greatest problem and a huge missed opportunity: Canto Bight. Everything surrounding this whole plot point and locale is misguided from the minute it's mentioned. It starts by wasting Maz Kanata, a potentially interesting character who is given little more than a cameo to send Finn and Rose off to the casino world. Even worse, Maz's short amount of screen time includes a dig at the prequels, when she dismisses any notion that they'd be interested in her union dispute. Here, we get some insight into how this film will approach politics in the Star Wars galaxy. But director Rian Johnson misdiagnoses what was wrong with the prequels. Space politics can be interesting! See: Star Wars Bloodline. Johnson's decision to shy away from it compounds the problems when they actually get to Canto Bight.

It all goes wrong from the moment they land. Literally. Finn and Rose "park" their ship in a spot they're not supposed to. Then they enter the casino, in what is apparently an homage to the cantina but on a grander scale. This diverse set of gamblers are apparently war profiteers, as is briefly mentioned. But their only interaction with any of them is when they are approached and arrested for parking illegally. Seriously.

In prison, they encounter DJ, who will eventually join them on their mission to disable the First Order's tracker. But first, they have to go back to the casino area and release enslaved creatures so they can trample and maim these profiteers we are told are bad. This is a very long sequence that ends with Finn saying how glad he was to hurt them. Huh? Hurt these people you don't know and haven't spoken to?

The entire Canto Bight subplot lacks any depth. It's completely superficial, and maybe that would've worked if they didn't spend so much of the movie there. But it ends up being a whole lot of time wasted on what amounts to finding a way to get DJ with Finn and Rose. This could've been so much better.

HOW TO IMPROVE CANTO BIGHT

Honestly, this should've been caught when someone was reading Johnson's drafts, because we're basically stuck with a chunk a TLJ that degrades it while simultaneously expanding its running time. But it could've been fixed, starting with Maz.

Instead of having Maz phone in her appearance, they should have met her on Canto Bight. Right there, we lose one prequel crack and give Lupita a slightly larger role. While there, they interact with these profiteers, engaging in a moral debate about the First Order vs. the Resistance, while finding out how the conflict is viewed through the galaxy. Were there a lot of systems missing the Empire? How do they feel about the New Republic's destruction? Eventually, that moral debate is what leads to fisticuffs and their subsequent imprisonment, as opposed to a parking ticket.

Johnson doesn't touch on any of this in TLJ. His take on the morality of the conflict is restricted to two lines involving DJ. First:

DJ: Good guys, bad guys, made-up words. Let's see who formerly owned this gorgeous hunk-uh. Ah, this guy was an arms dealer. Made his bank selling weapons to the bad guys. (Hologram shows a tie fighter.) Oh... And the good. (Hologram shows an x-wing.) Finn, let me learn you something big. It's all a machine, partner. Live free, don't join.

And second, when DJ betrays them:

DJ: They blow you up today, you can blow them up tomorrow. It's just business.

Finn: You're wrong.

DJ: Maybe.

This is the extent Johnson is willing to go when it comes to morality in the Star Wars universe, and it's just not enough. Either dig in or don't mention it. Short changing it is a disservice, but that's exactly what happens.

If the entire Canto Bight sequence was redone, it would not only be a better Star Wars movie, but a better movie in general. It doesn't have to be exactly as I think it should be, but it needs vast improvements. If Disney were to ever special edition the sequels, then Canto Bight should be singled out. And yes, I do think they should special edition them, along with the prequels. But that's for another time.

MOVING ON

The second greatest issue of The Last Jedi is how immensely it fails at being a sequel to The Force Awakens. I am undoubtedly biased when it comes to discussing TFA because JJ Abrams is one of my favorite directors and I absolutely loved his take on Star Wars. Now, one of JJ's favorite things to do is to approach plots as mystery boxes, whose contents are slowly revealed over the course of a TV series or movie. And don't say he didn't have any clue as to where TFA was going, as he had an outline prepared for the sequel, and an idea for who Rey's parents were. Along comes Rian Johnson, who, instead of opening that mystery box, takes a hammer to it.

So much of what is hinted at, left unsolved, or teased in TFA is either ignored, brushed aside, or poorly answered in TLJ. This is a problem. TLJ is supposed to be a direct sequel, not a spin-off or an unplanned continuation. When Yoda suggests there's another hope in Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi provides an answer to who that is. Imagine if it didn't. Well, I suppose you don't have to cause this basically happens with TLJ.

There was a lot of set up in TFA, but Johnson used TLJ to tear all of that up instead of building on it. Rey's lineage, strongly hinted to be significant through multiple scenes in TFA, is made to be meaningless in TLJ. Maz Kanata teased having a story about how she came to possess Anakin's lightsaber, but that's ignored in TLJ. Snoke is treated like a disposable villain, even though he somehow managed to stitch the Empire back together and tempt Ben Solo to the dark side. The Knights of Ren are mentioned in an offhand comment in TFA and are completely missing in TLJ. I could go on.

Okay, I will. Why would Luke leave a map for his friends to find him in TFA if he went to Ahch-To to die? And why did Luke leave it with Lor San Tekka? (Johnson's answer: stfu, Luke is emo now.)

The Last Jedi also feels like a smaller movie. There are two new locations introduced: Canto Bight and Crait. It revisits Ahch-To from TFA, and the rest takes place on ships. This is not necessarily a problem, except it fails to show both the dominance of the First Order and the scope of their battle with the Republic/Resistance. Star Wars is a big universe. Shouldn't it feel that way?

And then there's issues with some of the returning characters. Finn is tied down in the wasteful Canto Bight plot that doesn't do much for him. Leia spends most of the movie in a coma. Ackbar is murdered for no reason and with even less fanfare. Poe gets an expanded role, though somehow it doesn't lead to much character growth.

And I can't forget Phasma. A character with so much potential yet given such short shrift in both TFA and TLJ. She feels tacked on in this film, when she could've been given a meatier role given how underwhelming all of Johnson's original characters are. Which brings me to...

THE NEWBIES

The Empire Strikes Back introduced us to Yoda, Lando, and Boba Fett. The only memorable addition to The Last Jedi are the porgs.

Johnson gives us three new characters in TLJ: Admiral Holdo, DJ, and Rose. There isn't that much to say about them, because, well, they're not very memorable and they're certainly not iconic. Holdo is a one note character meant to serve as the adversary to Poe. Her entire role consists of antagonizing him and withholding information. She's much more interesting in Claudia Grey's novel, Leia: Princess of Alderaan.

I've already mentioned the role DJ plays during Benicio del Toro's criminally tiny amount of screen time, so that leaves Rose. She's...okay? Sticking her on Canto Bight certainly doesn't help her. The most memorable thing she does is interrupt Finn's suicide run and plant a kiss on him, both of which come from almost nowhere.

It really feels like these characters are underdeveloped and the actors are wasted in the roles, and that's a shame. But then, that's the story of the prequels as well. It's just that it was less surprising when George Lucas was doing it.

THE WORST MOMENT IN THE LAST JEDI

Luke Skywalker is far from the Luke we remember in RotJ. At least until the end of the film, when he leaves Ahch-To, joins Leia and the Resistance, and takes on Kylo Ren and the First Order on his own.

Except he didn't really leave Ahch-To, it's a Force projection, and the stress of creating it kills him. What?

Han Solo's death makes sense given his son's role in TFA. Luke Skywalker dies because Rian Johnson chose to kill him. There is not a single reason plot-wise for Luke to die in this movie. The Sequel Trilogy should not be about killing off a member of the original trio in each film. And it didn't have to be. What were they thinking?

When Carrie Fisher passed away, and it became clear Leia was not going to be in Episode 9, that should have convinced the powers that be to change the last three minutes of the film and allow Luke to live. Yes, he can return as a Force ghost, but that's not the same. They would've only had to cut Luke's disappearance and a line from Rey and BAM, Luke's still alive for Episode 9.

His meaningless and arbitrary death ruins this film. (And after they spent a whole film trying to find him, no less.)

THE GOOD

Now that I've rattled off some of the major flaws I perceived in TLJ, let me list some of the good.

The Yoda Scene: Easily the best moment of the film.

Luke tossing the lightsaber: A hilarious and unexpected moment before there were too many "hilarious" and unexpected moments.

Hux: The one minor TFA character Johnson does an excellent job with. He may be my favorite character in the film.

Rey and Ren: The development of their relationship is the strongest element of TLJ.

The Caretakers: See Damon Lindelof's Instagram.

The Porgs: Adorable pests/wookie-fodder.

Luke flashbacks: We needed more of these.

Artoo: BB-8 is stealing his thunder, but he can still get in a cheap shot.

Threepio: He's also in this film.

Praetorian Guards: That's some good lightsaberin'.

The Cinematography: Seriously, this movie is gorgeous.

It feels like a Star Wars movie (minus one ridiculous ironing scene).

FAILURE

Yoda tells Luke how failure is the greatest teacher, laying out one of the themes of this film. The other, a quote played over numerous TLJ trailers, is "Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to." Let's explore.

Weeks before Max Landis disappeared from Twitter following sexual harassment allegations, he described how every character in this movie fails:

REY - Turn Kylo - Fails KYLO - Turn Rey - Fails FINN - Turn off tracker - Fails POE - Save Revel Fleet - Fails SNOKE - Kill Rey - Fails LUKE - Train Rey - Fails HUX - Usurp power - Fails LEIA - Escape - Mostly Fails ROSE TICO - Turn of tracker - Fails HOLDO - Evacuate to Planet Secretly - Fails

That's a lot of failure. Ironically, you can add one more:

RIAN JOHNSON - Make a great Star Wars film - Fails

But this theme is not why TLJ doesn't work. It's the other one that drags it down. The whole idea to let the past die. If this was Episode 9, and Disney was about to start fresh with a new series of Star Wars films, perhaps it would work. But this is the middle chapter. The past, especially TFA, should not be killed. It should define the entire Sequel Trilogy.

After all, this is a culmination of everything in the OT and PT. The First Order is born from the Empire. The Resistance is born from the Rebellion (and then turned back into the Rebellion? Guess you can't let the entire past die, huh?) Most of the characters come from other movies. This is their last time to shine.

Johnson subverts expectations too many times in TLJ. It works at first, with Luke tossing the lightsaber, but by the end, it has become trite. Rey's parents are nobodies. Snoke's dead. Luke's dead. The entire Resistance can fit on the Millennium Falcon. (And Kylo Ren’s awesome mask is wrecked.) He's killed the past without building anything for the future. That's left to JJ in the single remaining film in the trilogy. Come on!

The Last Jedi is so polarizing because there’s so much to nitpick, whereas The Force Awakens mainly had only one general complaint leveled against it (it was too much like A New Hope). One fan may be okay with Leia's Mary Poppins scene, while also despising how Luke became a cranky hermit. Each potential negative has to be overlooked to come out of it with a positive view, but it’s a lot easier to focus and harp on the negatives. And that's what's happened online, and, yes, in this post. Also, killing off Luke for no reason was dumb.

Before I go, I want to mention how overrated Looper was. Interesting concept, but it falls apart at the farm. And they gave that director a Star Wars film, while taking one away from the guys who did the Jump Street movies and The Lego Movie. Sigh.

If JJ sticks the landing with Episode 9 and churns out a terrific film, perhaps TLJ can be viewed in a new light. And opinions do change over the years. But even though Revenge of the Sith was pretty good, no one looks back fondly at the prequel trilogy.

#star wars #the last jedi #the force awakens #revenge of the sith #a new hope #empire strikes back #return of the jedi #rian johnson #luke skywalker #leia #han solo #kylo ren #rey #finn #poe dameron #jj abrams #george lucas #supreme leader snoke

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him-e · 7 years ago

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this might be a dumb comparison but would you consider star wars/skywalkers in general to be kind of like a greek tragedy? or at least inspired by greek tragedies? i just really love mythology and would like to think there’s some sort of connection in some way. thank you! :)

Definitely! Star Wars relies heavily on archetypes and psychological motifs, and many of them come from Greek and Latin literature. In the original trilogy, taken in isolation, you see more echoes of arthurian myths and classic fairytale elements than tragedy. It’s when you think of the three trilogies as a whole, particularly in terms of Anakin’s arc, his rise and fall and redemption and the repetition of the cycle with Ben’s fall just a generation later, that the Greek tragedy vibes become evident.

To put it in very simple terms, Greek tragedy typically revolves around a good/average man who has one “fatal” flaw (usually an error in judgment or hubris). Because of this, but also because of the crucial role played in the genre by the inevitability of fate and the cosmic order dwarfing humanity, fragile and powerless even at its best and at the mercy of much bigger and incomprehensible forces, the hero is bound to fall. And one fundamental aspect of tragedy is that the audience knows he’s going to fall, and watching the events unravel to the inevitable gut wrenching conclusion is cathartic. (see how the whole prequels experience is built on the premise that you know exactly how it’s going to end.) (also, side note, catharsis is a major reason why even today we need fiction, including “dark” fiction.)

The fall of the hero often takes the form of a heavily immoral act, a horrific crime against the aforementioned cosmic order that the hero performs either in good faith, as a result of his hubris, anger or passion, or because he feels he has to—be it accidentally killing your father and sleeping with your mother, sacrificing your own daughter to the gods, punishing your asshole ex husband by killing your own children, or choking your pregnant wife who has come to confront you after you slaughtered a temple of younglings. As monstrous as the act can be, the audience can’t help but sympathize with the fallen hero, because it’s clear he’s motivated by a desire to do the right thing (or to fix some wrong), he loves fiercely and intensely, he is (at least in part) a victim of circumstances, and the pain and punishment inflicted on him and everyone who he loves and who loves him is disproportionate. What happens to the protagonist is a metaphor of the fragility of human condition, in which sometimes a minor mistake or an unforeseeable chain of events leads to catastrophic consequences. Individual responsibility matters, but it’s always portrayed in tension with the cruel irony of a blind, irrational fate who tears good people and bad people down alike, which it often succumbs to, or is proven to be eventually irrelevant.

You can see how Anakin is in this sense the quintessential tragic hero. A good man raised in humble conditions but destined to be royalty, to be the hope of a galaxy, the fulfillment of a long awaited prophecy, who rises to a state of quasi-kingship (becoming a Jedi master, marrying a former queen), but remains ultimately a slave—to his own passions and fears, to destiny (as personified by Palpatineworking slowly to corrupt him), to the will of the gods (the Force), to the trappings and limitations of a corrupt society (the Jedi order and the republic). His one fatal flaw, loving Padmé, backfires and turns him into the very cause of her death.

Ben’s fall is also deeply tragic, as it’s the result of a twofold lapse in judgment: Luke’s (who falls for a second prey of his own darkness and briefly considers executing his nephew for the greater good) and Ben’s himself (who mistakes this one second of weakness for a truly murderous intent, and violentlyretaliates, and never stops acting on the false assumption that his uncle was really going to kill him).

Hubris and madness are two other crucial themes in greek tragedy and I can see the dark side as a fascinating space opera portrayal of both. And then, vengeance, and family—and even more relevant to star wars, the cycle of violence-pain-revenge. The original crime opens a wound in the cosmic order (you could also say: the Force becomes unbalanced) that spreads like a cancer dooming multiple generationsand is only really healed when there is a genuine will to step out of this cycle.

This is imo the key to understand the three trilogies in their entirety, and what they’re trying to do with the sequel trilogy in particular. Many people struggle with Ben’s fall because he “had everything”—i.e. was born in a time of peace, from a loving family of revered rebellion heroes, with unique force powers and someone to teach him how to use them, etc.—so his turning to the dark side is thrice as hard to swallow. Was he a bad seed from the start? Or did he just infuriatingly squander all he had? Other people complain that the new trilogy is built on a nihilistic concept, that evil always come back cyclically one way or another, that victory is never complete, that the heroes are bound to make the same mistakes over and over again, or that everyone is inevitably destined to be corrupted and lose hope (see the discourse re: Luke in TLJ).

Both miss the point, in my opinion. The way I see it, it all ties back to Anakin’s original crime—his tragic, blood-soaked fall to the dark side, order 66, and most importantly Padmé’s death—and how that crime was a cosmic wound that tore the balance of the universe apart and was never fully healed. So it reverberates across the galaxy, onto his progeny, and his progeny’s progeny (Ben).

Luke did begin to make things right—by choosing to reject violence he gave Vader the chance to sacrifice himself to to kill the emperor and save his son, which earned him his redemption. And…it’s a good way to end a story if you want it to end there, but if you want the story to continue, then you have to face the fact that it’s only a partial, and in many ways convenient solution to a much larger problem. Vader’s redemption did nothing to eradicate the deep-seated political views of those who were still loyal to the Empire and fighting for a dictatorship in the moment when Palpatine was killed. It wasn’t enough for Luke and Leia to actually embrace their lineage and come out as Vader’s children, if Bloodline is to be believed. It wasn’t enough to shield little Ben from Snoke’s attentions—in fact, Anakin’s blood is exactly what put a big ol’ target on Ben’s back, with nothing of his grandfather’s post-redemption wisdom to keep him on the right track, only the myth of his legacy, a myth that as we’ve sadly seen can be easily misconstrued and exploited and that Leia and Luke never properly explained to Ben either. Anakin just died, and if that single sacrifice was enough to save his soul, it actually didn’t do much to fix the countless wrongs he contributed to create during the two decades he served the Empire as lord Vader. The galaxy bled because of him. And he just died and left his children to clean up his mess. Lucas’ original idea that Vader’s redemption brought balance to the Force is a good happily ever after, but only if you don’t really plan to deal with the consequences.

More on a thematic level, RotJ represents a perfect fairytale ending on almost all fronts but it leaves a question unanswered: was Anakin wrong to love Padmé? Is romantic love wrong? Aside from Han and Leia—whose marriage didn’t end well anyway—romantic love comes out of this narrative as a tragically negative force. Specifically, romantic love for a Jedi. If you consider the first six films, the logical conclusion is that the Jedi were right, after all, to forbid romantic attachments, because look at the mess Anakin made. Anakin destroyed himself and Padmé. It was only Luke’s familial love that made him come back to the light—Luke, the eternal celibate Jedi. Familial love is good, romantic love is poisonous. The narrative absolutely implies this reading.

So although RotJ’s ending fixes everything on a superficial level, the wound keeps festering underneath, there are still many things that weren’t made right, and this is why only a few years later Luke is still so haunted by the darkness and still so afraid that a new Vader is possible that he actually considers killing his nephew for a split second. This is why the ashes of the old Empire don’t die out, but instead give birth to a new tyrannical power; and why Leia cannot be free to live her life in peace with her family, but still feels committed to a rebellion that never ceased to have reasons to exist, even after the Emperor’s death.The gods (the Force) aren’t satisfied, if you will, so they keep punishing this family. The original evil has not been completely exorcised. Love, personified by Padmé’s unacceptable, unnatural death, hasn’t been vindicated. The balance is not restored. And Ben falls.

The sequel trilogy is set to heal this wound, for real, this time. It’s also why it has a much darker tone (despite the superficial humor) than the original trilogy. It’s not impossible for a tragedy to have a happy ending, but the resolution must have the same tone, the same gravity of the premise. The prequels are a tragedy, and the original trilogy is essentially a fairytale, a hero’s journey—they’re basically two different genres, and Vader’s last minute redemption seems (and is) inadequate once you’ve seen all three movies of his very detailed and nuanced fall to the Dark Side.

We’re watching, through Ben, the tortured redemption arc that should have been written for Vader if this story had followed a chronologically and stylistically linear narrative. Through Ben and Rey, we’re watching a reconciliation of the Dark and the Light side, whose unresolved conflict, worsened by the repressive puritanical policy of the Jedi order, originated the schism in Anakin’s soul. And we’ll also (hopefully) get the answer to that question I said earlier, and see the redemption of romantic love.

#anon #asks #sw asks #sw for ts #sw**#///#greek tragedy #house skywalker #reylo for ts #just a little #mmm i hope this makes sense

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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An Introduction to the Works of Rebecca Roanhorse

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Rebecca Roanhorse launched into high visibility in SFF with her short story “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience” in 2017, and her works have continued to wow readers of all ages (she writes fiction for adults, middle grade, and young adults). Her prose is gorgeous, and she takes a hard right turn from more traditional, European-influenced fantasy in her epic new novel, Black Sun. Along with her original works, Roanhorse has also written several Star Wars stories, and is a contributor to Marvel’s new comic anthology Indigenous Voices. If you’re interested in the future of SFF, you can bet your stars that Roanhorse is going to continue to be in the spotlight.

“Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience”

Roanhorse’s short story, published in APEX, won both the Hugo and the Nebula. It’s a story about identity, both who you really are and who the world expects you to be. Told in second person, it follows Jesse Turnblatt, who works at a virtual reality Experience, giving Tourists “authentic” Vision Quests that he’s created based on what the typically New Age customers expect from television and movies. When he meets a lonely young man who seems to want something actually real, he realizes that he also needs a friend. But the story takes a Single White Female twist, and leaves Jesse questioning his own reality. It’s a chilling story about erasure and gaslighting that uses SF tropes to maximum effect.

The Sixth World

With Trail of Lightning, Roanhorse’s first published novel, the author entered the urban fantasy genre, telling the story of Maggie Hoskie, a monster hunter, in a post-apocalyptic, flooded world. She’s been trained by a legendary immortal—with whom she also fell in love, but who abandoned her. Now, she’s struggling to decide whether her talent with violence makes her the hero or just another monster. When she becomes involved in solving a string of killings, she accepts help from modern medicine man Kai, who balances her violence with healing. Den of Geek talked to Roanhorse about bringing Native American characters into the urban fantasy genre, and centering Indigenous heroes in the spotlight.

The second novel, Storm of Locusts, follows Maggie out of the Navajo reservation, Dinétah, as she searches for Kai. The medicine man has fallen in with a cult, according to her leads, but Maggie doesn’t think that’s quite right—there’s more going on than meets the eye. Maggie heads out on a post-apocalyptic road trip to track down her friend, and fight whatever monsters she has to take down to save him. Like Trail of Lightning, the book is told from Maggie’s point of view in a clipped, first person present tense voice.

Roanhorse told Den of Geek that four books are planned, and noted that the most difficult part of writing the series was in getting the representation right. Maggie is Diné—Navajo—and Roanhorse is not. “I’ve lived on the Navajo reservation and I’m married to a Navajo man, but it’s not my culture. I wanted to be very careful about the stories I chose to use, the way that I portrayed people and places and everything that went into the world-building I tried to be very conscious that this was going to be a lot of people’s first introduction to Navajo culture, and that I’d have a lot of Navajo readers. I didn’t want to let them down. I didn’t want to get it wrong.”

Critics have praised Roanhorse’s work—Trail of Lightning was a finalist for the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award, and it won the Locus First Novel Award—but she has also received criticism from the Navajo Writers’ Association and others for writing Diné characters when she is not Navajo herself. Nick Martin in The New Republic summed up the criticisms, writing an article ultimately supporting Roanhorse and suggesting that, because Roanhorse is also Black, some of the criticism stems from anti-Black prejudice.

Race to the Sun

With Race to the Sun, a middle grade novel for the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, Roanhorse introduces readers to Nizhoni, a Monsterslayer—heir to the Hero Twin of the same name—who has to stop monsters from taking over the world. The mission of the monsters is to destroy the earth (Nizhoni’s first foe, in his human guise, is the CEO of a pipeline fracking on Native Land). Nizhoni has always wanted to be special, but she’s not quite sure she and her younger brother—who takes on the role of Born of Water, the second Hero Twin—are ready for these challenges. Like the Sixth World books, Race to the Sun draws heavily on Navajo tradition and religion and features a fast, first person present-tense voice that makes the action feel immediate. Nizhoni’s personality shines through her narrative, and because she’s a seventh grader, her voice has a lot more levity than Maggie’s. (She also has her horned toad stuffed animal come to life and serve as a guide to her adventure.)

Like several other books in the “Rick Riordan Presents” series, Nizhoni is a chosen hero, given a time limit to fix a grave supernatural problem, who meets up with the supernatural beings of her cultural tradition over the course of her adventures. (The heroes of Riordan’s own “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” books and Roshani Chokshi’s “Aru Shah” books helped establish that pattern.) Nizhoni’s voice also parallels those heroes: she’s got some sass and sarcasm in her narrative that she might not share out loud, but readers are tuned into her inner thoughts, and they hear it all. Race to the Sun includes more of all the things fans love about books from this imprint (which also includes works by Carlos Hernandez and Yoon Ha Lee).

Star Wars: Resistance Reborn

Roanhorse has also contributed fiction to the Star Wars universe, including her Darth Maul vs. Obi-wan Kenobi story in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Stories of Dark and Light (narrated in audio by Maul’s voice actor, Sam Witwer) and her novel, Resistance Reborn. Set between The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker, the novel opens with General Leia still grappling with her near-death—and too-brief reunion with her brother—as she tries to find out why Resistance allies never showed up to help on Crait. Meanwhile, Poe Dameron and his Black Squadron play diplomat while struggling to come to terms with that same question. Is the Resistance really alone in the Galaxy? Unlike Roanhorse’s other novels, Resistance Reborn takes a more classic shared-world style of narration, shifting perspectives among the different characters. Her inner narration of Leia is spot on, depicting both her suffering and her continual ability to move on in spite of it. The tone is reminiscent of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe books, and for readers curious about that same question of why allies didn’t show up until the end of Rise of Skywalker, this is likely to offer a few answers (while giving readers more time to spend with favorite characters).

Black Sun

With Black Sun, Roanhorse moves in an entirely different direction from all her previous work, creating a stunning epic fantasy in a lush secondary world. Like Resistance Reborn, she uses a third-person narration who switches between the characters’ perspectives, but here, she uses beautifully lyrical prose, steeped in the mythology of this new world. Moving in and out of time, Roanhorse weaves together the story of a broken city, once governed by benevolent priests who kept the peace, but now corrupted by political struggles and the interests of foreign nations. The story opens with Serapio, whose mother is engaging in a ritual she’s prepared him for by carving his skin; it culminates in her stitching his eyes shut. As the narrative progresses, readers learn that the ritual allowed Serapio to become an avatar of the Crow god, whose people were brutally murdered a generation earlier by the priests dedicated to the Sun. The point of view characters—Serapio, earnest and justice-driven Sun Priestess Naranpa, and earthy Xiala, a ship captain descended from Mother Ocean herself—are all deeply drawn and sympathetic, even when they are at odds with each other, making it difficult to know who to root for.

In her worldbuilding, Roanhorse leaned on pre-Columbian civilizations, and borrowed a bit from Polynesian navigators, to create a fantasy that feels both familiar and entirely new. “It still seems incredibly rare to find a fantasy inspired by the Americas,” she writes in her acknowledgments. “I think part of the reason is the persistent myth that the indigenous cultures pre-conquest were primitive and had little to offer, when the opposite is true.” Roanhorse’s Meridian is pure fantasy, populated with megafauna such as giant crows that can be ridden, and huge water striders that pull barges, but it shows the richness of being inspired by cultures of North America. The city of Tova borrows designs from the ancient cities of the Anasazi, built into cliff faces, but the divide between the Sky Made who live above and the people of the Maw, who live below in poverty, feels both modern and relevant. Though Black Sun concludes a full story and brings this first volume to a satisfying close, the story is by no means over; Black Sun is clearly the first step in a longer epic narrative, and it’s one readers will be impatiently waiting for until the sequel comes out.

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Whether she’s taking on your favorite franchise characters or in her original works, Roanhorse is absolutely an author to watch.

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