#finn reads scum villain

[spacebeyonce]

I just did this so I’m curious now would you reblog art from a fandom you’re not part of /dislike if you think the art is nice

hmmmm, probably yeah! I hate the star wars fandom with all that I am but I'll still reblog some good finn art. I still have not read all of scum villain but I'll reblog some fanart if I like it. if it's something I know I'll probably be into sometime in the future I'll probably reblog it!

[eldritch-elrics]

sqq died thinking of airplane and airplane died thinking of sqq. they’re soulmates <3

[danguy96]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Rewrite - Story Outline

Since a lot of you liked the set-up I had in mind for a “redo” of the sequel trilogy, I was thinking of finally laying the basic, rough outline of the first “movie”.

I decided to make this its own post, because it turned out to be pretty long, and would likely take up a lot of space in messaging on either Tumblr or Discord.

As I said before, the universe this takes place in is a mash-up of both old and new canon stuff, with some events happening different than others.

I hope you all like it, and if there’s any questions about this planned story, feel free to ask me them, because there’s a lot I have in mind beyond this.

Also, it’s best if you read the original set-up post I created, since it covers a lot of background surrounding the setting of this story. You can find it here.

With all that out of the way, let’s begin, and start off with a familiar phrase:

We start off our story with a small spaceship landing on a mysterious planet, in front of what appears to be an ancient Jedi Temple.

A hooded figure emerges from the ship, and soon is accompanied by another hooded figure, with this one being female.The male figure says “I apologize if I’m late. I came as soon as I heard”, and asks where the others are. The female figure says that the “Master” has already given his instructions to them, and that they are the only two left to receive the orders from the one who summoned them.

We cut to another hidden figure, meditating and chanting in a long-forgotten tongue. We do not clearly see who this chanting figure may be at first, but I think savvy audiences could guess correctly. Anyway, we see this hidden figure continue meditating, until we cut to his point of view. We see that in the middle of meditation, he is suddenly met with visions.

We see familiar locations, such as the desert world of Tatooine, the volcanic planet Mustafar and a large fortress which towers above everything on the planet, and a mysterious, snow-covered forest, where another figure lights a red cross guard lightsaber. We also see visions focusing on a single Stormtrooper out of all the rest, and visions of young scavenger/mechanic.We then see a dark aura consuming all in its wake, as what sounds like a horrifying voice of legion cackles horrifically.The mysterious man suddenly breaks out of his meditation with a start, and looks around as he breathes heavily.The man turns around, and his apprentices ask him what is the matter.

The old master calms down, and says that he senses a great disturbance is rising within the Force, as his visions become worse and worse with time.The two figures ask if there is anything they can do to stop whatever new dark force is threatening the Galaxy.The old master says there is one chance. He says he has seen figures in his visions. While one of them he cannot reach, the others must be found immediately.The old master says that the two must go in his stead, along with other Jedi Knights he has already sent out into the galaxy, as he senses whatever dark force is out there wishes to see him come out of seclusion.The two pupils bid their master farewell, leaving the master alone with his thoughts about this new threat to the Galaxy.

Of course, the old master is revealed to be Luke Skywalker, now a full-fledged Jedi Master, and currently one of the most powerful wielders of the Force in the galaxy, if not the most. And the two apprentices he spoke to him are his niece and nephew, Jacen and Jaina Solo.

We cut to Poe Dameron receiving vital information, only this time it’s not a map to Luke Skywalker, but info which reveals the connection between those within the Coalition and the First Order, and plans of attack with their new battle station, the Starkiller Base, and the planet he’s currently on isn’t Jakku, but Tatooine itself.

In this version, the Stormtroopers are being led by two members of the Knights of Ren; Kylo Ren, of course, and his rival/teammate, Zayla Ren (and yes, it’s revealed a bit later that Zayla is actually a woman early on, and her personality was inspired by Azula’s from Avatar, only Kylo and her aren’t related).

We go through the song and dance of the Rens and the troopers laying waste to the place, but in this version, Kylo, while appearing threatening, is a bit more reserved than how he was in the OG film, with Zayla being the one to kill San Tekka, and giving the order to shoot any villagers who do not wish to cooperate.

Also, Zayla’s lightsaber would be two-headed, like in that Teen Titans episode where they went into the TV world:

Poe is tortured out of the info by Zayla and Kylo, but as Kylo makes his way out, Zayla tells him that he “hesitated” and she sensed weakness in him. Kylo says that he only took what information was “necessary”, but she reminds him that their master does not accept hesitation or weakness, no matter what. Kylo continues walking down the hallway, but Zayla just continues as he goes, saying that at the rate he’s “improving”, it would “just be awful” if their master soon announced that the Knights of Ren were to have a new leader, chuckling to herself as Kylo resists the urge to practice his Force powers on her.

Anyway, Poe’s droid, BB-8 encounters Rey, much like in the film, but here it’s established that not only is Rey a scavenger, but she’s also a mechanic of sorts, and, as seen in the details of room containing bits of memorabilia from the days of the Rebellion, giving a sort of meta thing of her a fan of the tales and legends of the Rebellion and the Jedi, but she doesn’t have the money to ever leave Tatooine and go on her own adventures. Also, it’s explained that she didn’t know what the Millennium Falcon looked like, due to her hearing it looked much differently than it actually does, as sort of another meta joke about how the Falcon was supposed to look differently in the original draft. And her lineage does get explained, but both sides of her family are explained better, and she struggles with one of them in not just the last part of the story.

We then have a disillusioned Finn free Poe, and they’re shot down, but this time, instead of implying Poe is dead or actually having Poe die, both Poe and Finn make it out, and both travel across one of the many deserts of Tatooine until they find Rey and BB-8. The newly established gang of Finn, Rey, Poe, and BB-8 make off in the Millennium Falcon, but this time Poe is the main pilot, while Rey is the co-pilot, and Finn puts his marksman skills to use by manning one of the Falcon’s gunners.

We then get the reintroduction of Han Solo and Chewbacca, which is somewhat similar to the actual movie, but with a few tweaks, such as them always being a part of the Resistance. It’s also established that Han and Chewie were already trying to get the Falcon back as part of another misadventure which is practically begging to be told in a hypothetical cartoon or comic, and that they’re not washed-up, and Han isn’t separated from Leia. Han still wants his ship back, and is skeptical about the ex-Stormtrooper and the mysterious girl Poe has in toe with him, but he still ends up taking them on board with him, since Poe still has the documents within BB-8.

And don’t worry. Things start to depart from a lot of TFA’s story soon, given how the New Republic is still standing by the end, and we still have a senator and Chancellor to introduce.

As for the Resistance, in this version, they’re more of a smaller ragtag army fighting the First Order, but they need further help from the Republic, which they’ve tried to get for some time. The Starkiller plans and the data which confirms that the FO is receiving funding from those within the Coalition/Confederacy could be what helps them finally win over the Republic to provide military aid. This is continuing with the proxy war/cold war thing going on.

As our heroes make their way to the rendezvous planet where they’ll meet up with Leia and the other freedom fighters, we cut to the capitol city of the Coalition/Confederacy (I’m going to being calling it the Confederacy and the UGC interchangeably), where we’re introduced to First Chairman Krazvlin (it’s a work-in-progress name, but I wanted something which sounded vaguely Russian, and also villainous).

This scene is mostly based off the scene where we’re introduced to the emperor in the original drafts for “The Star Wars”, though here the Chairman’s speech is to celebrate the anniversary of the unification of the new Confederacy, and how their hard won “peace” will not be deterred by any “terrorist” scum.

After finishing his speech, the Chairman and his generals make their way to another, more private meeting with members of the First Order, to discuss the negotiations of the technological behemoth known as the Starkiller, discussing if it will truly be the deterrent the UGC needs to secure superiority against the Republic.

Among this meeting are General Hux, who used to work for the UGC, but is now the leading military officer of the First Order, and Grand Admiral Prydus, commander of the UGC’s main starship fleet, and a veteran of the old Galactic Empire (you can see I took the character of Pryde from Rise of Skywalker, and made him into something more than just a last minute addition, and I imagine him looking different from Pryde as well, with Jason Isaacs being my headcanon choice as to who would play him). 

Prydus questions why Hux, who seemed like such a promising general for the Confederacy, would lend his support to “a bunch of Sith fanatics”, to which a smooth, yet sickening voice answers back “You’d best watch your tongue, Admiral. You’re lucky the Chairman finds you to be still of use, even after your glory days”, and from the shadows step out the two Knights of Ren, Kylo and Zayla.

After the Rens make themselves known, much to Prydus’ exasperation, Hux answers that he lent his services to the First Order not due to admiration of any “religious cult”, but to prove himself as being the commander of his own military force. A military which he says would be “nothing” without his leadership, while Prydus claims that Hux is merely “standing on the shoulders” of those of the former Empire. Krazvlin silences both of them, and says that they still have the matter of the info on their plans and alliance with the FO are still with the rebels/resistance.

Hux and Prydus reluctantly simmer down, though Prydus still questions why the First Order always sends in their middle men, while their true leader keeps himself in secret, not even willing to share a hologram of himself with the Confederacy. Prydus says that he’s tired of all the secrecy surrounding the First Order and their leader, demanding to know his identity. Kylo interjects, saying that his master wishes to remain hidden, until his plans have come to full fruition. Prydus asks just when will these plans finally come to fruition, so that the UGC can finally get back to handling it’s own matters. Kylo answers back once again that his master doesn’t have the time to deal with such useless questions, and that his wisdom is spent on better things. Prydus says that if the Rens’ master was as wise as they say he is, he would have the guts to show himself, and not hide like a coward behind children playing dressup. But as he goes on, he suddenly stops, finding it hard to breathe. We see Kylo is the one Force-choking Prydus, but Zayla turns to Kylo and says “Kylo, I said he was currently still useful to us”, and Kylo releases Prydus.

Krazvlin, going on as if that didn’t even happen, continues on by saying that it is imperative that the BB-8 droid unit not reach boundaries of Republic territory. He asks Hux if he has any whereabouts of the rebels who took the documents, and if he knows where they’re headed. Hux says that the last his troops saw them, they had just left Tatooine on a Corellian freighter, and are now suspected to be in neutral space. Chairman Krazvlin says to alert any troops and spies patrolling that sector to look out for them, as the future of the stability of the UGC and it’s relationship with the Republic relies on those documents being found.

We cut to our trio of Finn, Poe, and Rey, who are currently on board the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo and Chewbacca (yeah, a lot of the New Jedi Order stories either haven’t happened, or happened drastically differently, so no Yuuzhan Vong just yet). The gang is currently flying through neutral space, and each member of the gang has different interactions between themselves and Han. Rey, being something of Rebel fangirl, asks him a bunch of questions of what was it like with the Rebellion, many of which Han either gives brief answers to, or doesn’t answer (I was thinking we could even throw in some dialogue which confirms the Thrawn trilogy did happen in this universe, at least to some extent). Poe is honored to be in the presence a hero of the Rebellion, and the man who fought alongside his parents. Finn, though, is a bit more apprehensive, considering he’s worried Han may suspect him of being a double agent for the First Order, but Han, despite his misgivings, says that Finn “isn’t the first Stormtrooper to defect”, and he won’t be the last (which is not only a shout-out to his original EU backstory of working for the Empire for some time, but also one to Kyle Katarn, and foreshadowing of later events in this saga).

Also, instead of having the run-in with the gang Han pissed off being just a thing in this movie, I was thinking it could be something that carries over across the trilogy, much like Jabba’s subplot.

Anyway, after Han exposits about how he lost his ship after a spat he had with a crimelord who holds a massive grudge against him for “ruining his business” after working with the New Republic to help bootstrap trade with smugglers, and how Luke has been in isolation to keep himself from being discovered ever since a certain incident Han doesn’t like to talk about, they arrive at Takodana, where they’ll lay low until a group of Resistance members meet up with them, along with some Republic help.

They land on Takodana, and meet up with cantina owner, and secretly a leading member of the Resistance, Maz Kanta. She offers to help hide Han and co. until the Resistance/Republic arrives to pick them up.

Later that night, in the secret quarters where Maz offers the gang to rest before the Republic forces arrive tomorrow morning, Rey is stirred awake by a strange sensation, and is drawn by a strange voice to a secluded vault, where she finds an old lightsaber. She tries to pick it up, but the moment she holds it, she’s visited by strange visions. Some of them visions of her past, and how she was supposedly abandoned as a baby on Tatooine. She soon finds herself standing in the middle of a snow-covered forest, where she see a man whose face is hidden beneath a hood reach out to her, with the calm voice of another man calling out to her (the voice of the second man sounding oddly like Ewan McGregor). However, as she moves to approach the man and the voices, she’s grabbed by the leg by something. She turns around, and what’s grabbing her seem to be this formless mass of darkness, trying to suck her in. Rey tries to run, but the man in the hood seems to keep getting farther and farther away, and soon she’s forcefully dragged into the darkness, as a hideous voice cackles loudly (a voice which strangely sounds like Ian McDiarmid). Rey suddenly snaps back to reality, and looks around, alone and afraid. 

We cut to the First Order’s secret weapon and one of their bases of operations, the Starkiller Base, where General Hux is informing the Chairman via hologram that one of their spies has told them that they have seen the BB-8 droid in a cantina on Takodana, and that they will retrieve it before the Resistance/Republic makes it there. Chairman Krazvlin says that for Hux’s sake, he better deliver it them, and ends the call. Hux, visibly frustrated, calls Captain Phasma to handle the mission, and bring the droid to them. She says that it would be her pleasure, and that she also requests permission to go after the traitorous Stormtrooper who let Poe escape. He grants her permission, and sends her on her way.

Meanwhile, Kylo Ren is busy practicing his Force powers and his lightsaber technique, when Zayla storms in and tells him that he can train later, because their master is calling them right now. Ignoring Zayla’s jabs of telling him not to “dawdle”, Kylo goes off with Zayla, to meet their master, and the true power behind the First Order: Supreme Leader Snoke.

When they make it to the room where they contact Snoke, we first see his form through a psychic link which Zayla and Kylo project, using their Force powers (this is sort of taking that whole Force Projection and Force psychic link we see in TLJ, and actually doing it beforehand by more powerful Force users). Snoke says that he has felt yet another Great Awakening in the Force. This one slower than the one after the fall of Darth Sidious, but still a source of rich, yet untrained power. Snoke orders the Rens to travel to Takodana along with Phasma, and retrieve the ones who have been awakened by the power of the Force, to prevent them from becoming Jedi. The Rens accept the order from their master, but before they head out, Snoke says that he can sense that there is still much both must learn, such as Kylo is still “holding back”, and how he senses “much fear” and “insecurity” deep within Zayla (that bit was inspired by a scene from the Genndy Clone Wars series where Dooku says that Ventress has too much fear to be Sith). Snoke finishes by saying that in order to truly awaken their full power, and become true successors to the Sith, they must negate all feelings of fear, and strike without mercy. Only then will they be able achieve their true potential.

We cut back to Maz’s place on Takodana, just as morning starts to break. Finn asks about where Rey is, as he hasn’t seen her all morning. Maz and Han say she’s been pacing outside all morning, and it seems like she doesn’t wants to talk. Finn, however, decides to go and see if he can comfort her. Finn finds Rey staring out into the distance, staring at the rising sun. He asks Rey how she’s doing, but she turns around fast, revealing bags under her eyes, and a worried expression on her face. After calming down, she reveals not only about what happened last night when she found the lightsaber, but also her past on how she was abandoned on Tatooine as a baby and her feelings about her she’s always felt like a nobody, and how she took comfort in hearing the tales and legends of the Jedi, the Old Republic, and the Rebel Alliance, wishing she could be a part of a grand adventure like that. However, now that she is on such an adventure, she’s starting to see it’s not as fun as she thought it would be, and even something inside of her is saying she’s getting in too deep. Finn comforts Rey, saying how he understands what it’s like to not have any other family to confide in, but says that if things do get ugly, he’ll be there to help her out.This helps Rey calm down just a bit, but she still says that she would like to go out and take a walk in the woods. Finn understands, but he says that she should at least take his blaster with her, just in case. She thanks Finn, and goes on her way. 

Rey goes out into the woods to clear her mind, while Finn goes back inside. Han, Maz, and Poe ask if Rey is alright. Finn says that he hopes so, but then he mentions how Rey has been out of it ever since she grabbed that lightsaber, which causes Maz to look up in surprise and worry. Han asks what she’s worried about, and she and the others go the room where the lightsaber is, seeing that its case has been opened. Finn goes up to inspect the lightsaber, feeling almost drawn to it, but when he touches it, he gets visions of his own. Visions of a baby being taken away from his father, and visions of the future featuring a growing army of sinister Stormtrooper-like droids with glowing, red eyes.Finn comes to, and is asked what’s wrong. Something in him tells him that they need to go and find Rey, now.

In the forest, Rey is feeling a bit better, and all seems quiet in the woods. Too quiet. Just then, she hears a roaring sound in the sky. The sound of spaceships. She looks up and sees First Order ships heading towards where the rest of the gang are, and runs back in an effort to help them escape. Unbeknownst to her, a figure in a dark cloak and mask follows her.

We see Zayla Ren and Captain Phasma leading a group of Stormtroopers to search and storm the area for the droid, the traitor, and the members of Resistance and Republic armies. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang is hiding away, forming a plan of attack that’ll buy them some time before the Republic’s ships show up. Finn volunteers to go after Rey, but Han objects, saying it’s better if they stayed together as a group. However, Maz says that if Finn feels that Rey might be in danger, it’s for the best that he goes after her. She gives Finn the lightsaber, saying that he must keep it safe, and that he must trust in his instincts to find Rey. With their plan formed, Han, Chewie, and Maz and her forces stay behind to hold the front line of the cantina, while Finn and Poe go off to find Rey.

While on their way, they end up encountering a few Stormtroopers, including Captain Phasma and good ol’ TR-8R. Finn holds back the Stormtroopers with the lightsaber, as they fight in armed combat, with a few troopers using the weapon TR-8R used, while a few have gained a new upgrade, inspired by the original drafts of the first Star Wars; lightsaber-esque swords.

Finn fights surprisingly well, but soon they seem to be outnumbered. But just when it seems like Poe is about to be struck down, an unseen presence suddenly drags half a dozen trooper in the air, and tosses them like ragdolls. Finn, Poe, and Phasma look to see the source of this, and we see a cloaked figure, brandishing a green lightsaber. A Jedi Knight. One of the two Jedi Knights we saw in the opening. The Jedi removes his hood and cloak to reveal a young man with brown hair. Jacen Solo. One of the Solo Twins.

Phasma at first orders her men to attack, but Zayla intervenes, saying that it’s best if Phasma goes off to handle finding the droid. The Jedi is her priority now. Much to Phasma’s chagrin, she follows orders, and leaves Jacen to Zayla. We then get the first half of our first lightsaber duel of this new story.

We cut to back in the woods with Rey, who’s been trying to make it back to the others, but she feels like someone is following her. Sure enough, her suspicions are correct, when she suddenly comes face to face with Kylo Ren. She backs off fast and pulls out the blaster Finn gave her, pointing it at an unfazed Kylo Ren. She trembles as holds it, threatening that she will use it on him. Again, Kylo remains silent and comes towards her. Rey, in a panic, wildly shoots at Kylo, but he merely deflects each blast with a wave of his hand. Kylo approaches her closer and closer, until another Jedi jumps in Kylo’s way, brandishing a purple lightsaber. The Jedi removes her hood to reveal Jaina Solo, the other Solo Twin.

And so begins our other lightsaber fight, which is going on simultaneously as the Zayla vs Jacen fight.

We cut back to the fight over on at the cantina, where it’s become a mini war-zone. Jacen is continuing his fight with Zayla, while Han and Chewie are defending BB-8. Meanwhile, Poe and Finn are fighting their way towards the woods where Rey is. On their way, they’re attacked by flying fighter droids (sort of like speeder bike-sized versions of those vulture droid fighters, only with a new design to fit with the First Order), and run into the forest for protection. As the droids prepare to attack our heroes, Finn puts his hands in front of him to shield himself, but suddenly the droids are Force-pushed back, and crash into the trees. Finn doesn’t know what he just did, and Poe just stands there with his mouth agape.

We cut to Han and Chewie and Maz, who’ve been holding out as long as they can. However, the tide suddenly turns when an X-Wing blasts a group of troopers and fighter-probes. Yes, backup from the Republic has finally arrived, with a few of their starships now hovering overhead, and some carriers starting to land. Zayla manages to match Jacen in skill in their lightsaber duel, but she is reluctantly forced to retreat, saying that Jacen is “lucky” this time, before distracting him and taking off.

We cut over to Kylo, still fighting with Jaina, and while they both seem to be evenly matched, Jaina has been mostly defending herself without intention of doing harm, as she can sense who it is underneath the mask. Kylo Ren demands to know why Jaina is holding back. He says “Is it because of guilt or pity? If so, then you are wasting your time.” Kylo manages to knock Jaina back, and says that she can’t change anything. He continues with saying that it is only through this path that he can truly achieve the power to bring order, and gain the power which the Jedi foolishly fear. Kylo goes on about how it’s too late for him, and that Jaina should just give up trying, but before he can do anything, he receives a message from Zayla to stop fooling around and leave with one of the force-sensitive users already. Kylo stops, and uses his Force powers to distract Jaina, and then Force Jump away from the fight, going after Rey. Rey, meanwhile, thinks she’s gotten far away enough, but is exhausted from her lack of sleep and running for so long. She stops to rest, but then Kylo Ren appears behind her, and he uses his Force powers to put her already exhausted self to sleep. He then takes on board his ship, just as Jaina catches up to him. 

Finn and Poe manage to spot Kylo’s ship, just as it takes off with him and Rey in it. They come across Jaina, and, both being worn out, ask if she could possibly explain what’s going on. She says she’ll explain on the way back, but then she notices the lightsaber Finn has, and asks where he got that from.

Back at the cantina, Republic forces have arrived, here to pick up Han Solo and the rest of the gang in order to bring them to the Republic capitol in order to blow the whistle on the First Order and the Confederacy. Among them are a few familiar faces, including R2-D2 and C-3PO, and, most importantly for Han Solo, Senator Leia Organa, his wife.

There’s a heartfelt reunion between husband and wife, along with Artoo and Threepio, with others soon joining them, as Jacen finally reunites with his mother and father, and Jaina soon makes the reunion complete as she arrives back with Poe and Finn. This family reunion however soon takes a darker turn, as Jaina brings up the news that she saw Kylo Ren, and faced off with him, which worries Han and Leia. It’s then revealed to Finn and Poe that Kylo Ren is actually the son of Luke Skywalker, and also that Finn has been carrying the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker, the man who became Darth Vader.

Maz later explains to them how she was able to come across the lightsaber. It was thought to have been lost in Cloud City after Luke’s battle with Vader, but Maz says that some Cloud City personnel was able to find it. Not knowing the Jedi were to be reborn in a couple of years, the staff member sold it off for credits. Luckily, Lando and Maz were able to track it down, and managed to buy it back. They knew Luke wouldn’t want it back, so Han, Leia, and the rest decided that after fixing it up, it would be a gift to Luke’s son after he completed his Padawan training. Needless to say, those were the best laid plans of womp rats and men (I know this seems a bit much, but I wanted to fill in that hole where Luke’s lightsaber came back, and I wanted to give it some weight and meaning as to why it was brought back, besides nostalgia).

After Jaina explains that Rey has been kidnapped by the First Order and we learn of Kylo Ren’s identity, we cut to the Starkiller Base, where Phasma is being berated by General Hux for letting the droid fall into the hands of the New Republic. She assures him that she will not fail in the future, with Hux responding that she had better be sure of that, reminding her that she can be considered expendable if the time arises. Phasma walks off in a huff, and crosses paths with Zayla, who says that she doesn’t see any reason to be so upset, saying that she could be “lucky” and end up being shipped off to work in mines of Kessel, which Zayla hears are “simply lovely” this time of year. Phasma tells Zayla to mind her own business, and asks why Zayla isn’t as upset about their plans being found out.  Zayla says that while the UGC lost what they needed, she says that they managed to succeed in finding what’ll eventually be worth more than this hulking mass they call a battlestation. Zayla continues her little verbal spat with Phasma, saying that as they speak, Kylo Ren is interrogating their new “guest”, probing her mind before seeing what other uses she can be of for them. “Soon we shall have the precious data your troops failed to retrieve, and so much more”, Zayla says, and then she casually walks off, leaving Phasma to stew in her anger and resentment.

We cut to Rey, strapped to an interrogation chair. The beginning of the scene starts relatively similar to how it did in the movie, with Rey asking where her friends are. Kylo replies that she will be relieved that he has no idea, and asks if she still wishes to kill him and if she still fears him. Rey replies that it’s a natural reaction when you’re being hunted by a “creature in a mask”. After a moment of silence, Kylo removes his helmet, to finally reveal the face of Rey’s captor. We now see Kylo Ren’s true face, a young man with dark hair, and greenish-blue eyes, but also with a solemn look on his face, and a scar across one side of said face.

We go on with the scene playing a little bit like it did in the film, with Kylo asking about the droid, and Rey hesitating to give the full answers, and Kylo knowing what information the droid has, but there’s a twist in this, with Kylo saying that it’s not just that information he’s after. He also senses something within in Rey. Something his master is after. He probes Rey’s mind, sensing the fear, uncertainty, and apprehension within her. How she feels like she shouldn’t even be here. He assures her that her she is meant to be here, and tells Rey that things such as fear and hesitation makes one weak. He continues to search Rey’s mind, trying to go deeper. Yet, Rey tries to resist, making it difficult. Kylo demands that she stop resisting, but Rey keeps going on.

Both try their hardest, but then something happens. As Kylo stops trying to hold himself back into Rey’s mind, and as Rey, being surprised at how she’s even resisting him, pushes back, the two are suddenly mentally transported to this realm of utter darkness, where Kylo not only hears and even sees some events from Rey’s life, but Rey hears and sees some events from Kylo’s past, but some seem to be blurred. She hears a young boy crying out for his mother, and hears a sinister voice saying how someone will learn how to how harness the true power of the Dark Side, and suffering shall be his master, before there’s a flash of what appears to be lighting and a scream. Just then, both Rey and Kylo Ren come back to reality. Both are in shock, but Kylo Ren angrily brushes it aside, and orders a Stormtrooper to take Rey to her cell.

After the interrogation scene, we cut to the Republic/Resistance forces touching base on what’s going on, and giving us some exposition about what Jedi Council has been doing, and I was also thinking this would be a good time to give some exposition as to how Anakin Solo (Han and Leia’s other son from the old EU) disappeared and was presumed dead, and why that was one reason Ben/Kylo turned to the Dark Side. They also hint that “something else” also sent Kylo over the edge, but they don’t have time to explain, as they prepare to land on the new capitol planet of the New Republic, Hosnian Prime.

When our heroes land on Hosnian Prime, they are greeted by officials of the New Republic, here to congratulate Poe, Leia, Han, and the rest for safely retrieving the information they need on the existence of the Starkiller Base and the alliance between the First Order and the Confederacy. One of these officials is the Margaret Thatcher-esque, supposed ally to our heroes (and someone who most certainly isn’t secretly a traitor); Senator Holdeena (guess which character she’s based off of). She says that their valiant efforts are greatly appreciated, and that now all they need to do is convince the Senate and the Chancellor to take action. Finn and Jaina inform the Senator that they hope the Senate will take action soon, for a friend of theirs has been captured by the First Order.

We cut to everyone’s “favorite” part of Star Wars; a bunch of guys talking about politics in the Senate. Though, in this case, it’s a bit more interesting than trade routes.

The Senate discusses about whether or not to officially give full aid to the Resistance, and if a rescue mission is worth the tensions of spiraling into further conflict with the Confederacy and the First Order. Some representatives accuse Leia and Holdeena of warmongering, with the first vocal ones about it being reps from the Chiss (the race of which Grand Admiral Thrawn is a part of, mostly due to Thrawn being considered one of the founding fathers of what became the UGC). Leia argues that while the possibility of a war may occur, she says that the First Order has been carrying out numerous attacks for years, and, if these new documents are to be believed, all with the support and financial aid of the UGC/Confederacy. Leia says that she wishes to avoid full-out war with the UGC as much as possible, but requests that at least she and the Resistance members be given aid with a star fleet to help disable the weapon firing capabilities of the Starkiller Base, as well as be given clearance to stage a rescue mission. While still a risk, the deciding vote goes down to Chancellor Jorgeus Kartemur, who allows for a rescue mission, as well as an attack, but he grants them only a limited number of Republic fighters and carriers.

We cut back to Starkiller Base, where Kylo Ren is having an “emergency meeting” with Snoke, discussing how he was trying to probe Rey’s mind, but she was able to resist him, and then they inadvertently made a mental link with each other. Snoke says that it seems that this new “child of the Force” is strong. Very strong. Snoke then instructs Kylo to keep his guard up around her, and that she must not fall into the hands of the Jedi, especially those members of the Skywalker Clan. Kylo says he he will make sure Rey and other “children of the Force” will either join them or die, and ends his conversation with his master.

Kylo Ren goes off to be by himself in his room. There we get a scene reminiscent to the one from the actual movie, where he is talking to himself while staring at the broken mask of Darth Vader, only now he’s also discussing about he can’t go back to the Light. Not after what he’s already done, and he says that the Light Side cannot grant him the power he seeks. The power to undo the misery he’s endured. Kylo swears he will achieve that power, and “finish what [Darth Vader] started” (however, the more we get to know about Kylo/Ben’s backstory in this, it puts this scene into a whole new and different context).

We cut to the Republic-Resistance Alliance, going over the plans for a small group to secretly land on Starkiller Base, while a team of fighters, lead by Poe, will make their way to the main weapon reactor. Like in the film, comparisons are made to the Death Star, but here they really push this being even stronger than the Death Star, saying that the plans for it need to be examined even further before figuring out how to destroy it completely. It’s decided that those going on the rescue mission will be Han, Chewie, Finn, and the Solo Twins, along with a few red shirts. Han and the twins say goodbye to Leia, who is still worried about Ben/Kylo. They reassure her that they’ll be okay, and Jaina tells her she sensed the conflict within Ben. Finn wishes Poe good luck on his mission, and Poe says he would like to thank Finn for saving him. Finn, in turn, says thanks for believing and trusting in him, and they both head off to begin their respective tasks. After those little character-driven moments, we see the cruisers and ships take off for the Starkiller Base (oh, and in this version, they’re launching from Hosnian Prime, and not D'Qar).

We cut back to Rey, and we see that she’s mostly been sitting in her cell, with a Stormtrooper patrolling it, while occasionally going off to do something else (making the rounds, I guess?). However, Rey has been currently been trying to get out of her cell while the guard is away from the door, and has been using a device she helped fix back on Tatooine to see if she can open the door (I think Ezra from Star Wars Rebels used something like that one time, though I think this would be a bit different, considering she’s on the inside of the cell). However, the trooper comes back and almost catches her, berating her for trying to escape. He gives Rey her scheduled prison meal, and continues to mock her, taking away the device she had. Rey in a fit of frustration yells at at him to just leave her alone. Much to her surprise, the trooper says back in a monotone voice “I will leave you alone”. Rey, confused, remembers the stories of Jedi Mind Tricks, and, to test it out again, she tells the trooper that he will give her device, which he does. She then she uses it to tell him to leave the prison bay, and unlock the doors for her so that she may leave, and to leave his weapon. The trooper does all of this, and Rey manages to unlock the door, and then escape with the trooper’s blaster (I know this seems as asspull-ish as the original movie, but it’s leading to something).

We cut to the command center of the Base, where Hux is in a meeting with Prydus and Krazvlin, being informed how the Republic now knows of their secret location and their alliance, and could launch an attack any moment. Prydus says that if that superweapon of theirs is supposedly stronger the Death Star, why haven’t they used it to alienate the Resistance in one fell swoop? Hux says that it’s increase in power also means an increase in charging time, and that it requires a large amount of energy. Prydus says that whether it’s ready or not is irrelevant. If they can at least use at least fraction of its power against the Republic, use it while they still have the chance. Hux says he will see what he can do, but before he ends his conversation, Krazvlin tells him that if this really is more powerful than the Death Star, like Hux says it is, then that better mean that that battlestation is strong enough to avoid going down in a ball of flame.“This Confederacy has paid well over a thousand kings’ ransoms to fund this project. For the sake of your career, General, you best hope that it is worth the price.” says Krazvlin. Hux says he understands, and the meeting ends. Hux then orders his men to prepare the fleet of First Order and Confederacy ships for the arrival of any Republic dreadnoughts and Resistance fighters. Hux then says to himself that he’ll show them it’s “worth the price”.

We then cut over to Kylo Ren, who’s making his way over to Rey’s prison cell with Zayla Ren. As they’re walking, Zayla keeps getting on Kylo’s case about how instead of getting the information they need, he allowed her to see into his mind via a Force Link. Kylo defends himself while trying to keep his cool that he had no idea that would happen, and that it doesn’t matter, because with they’re combined strength, they can reach into the mind of their prisoner with ease. However, when they come to the cell, they find it’s been opened, and the guard is missing from his post. We don’t see Kylo’s facial reaction to this, because he’s wearing his mask, but we do hear his heavy breathing. Zayla makes one last stab at him, before leaving him to his “tantrum”. We see a scene similar to the movie where some Stormtroopers casually walk away, but there’s a third one Kylo Ren Force pulls towards him by the throat, and orders him to have the troops search for the missing prisoner, and bring him to her alive (I was thinking of reimagining this scene to have it appear slightly humorous, but then takes a dark turn when Kylo goes back to being threatening).

Speaking of Rey, we cut to her sneaking around the Starkiller Base, trying her best not to get caught. She does well in dodging the Stormtroopers for a while, but then she comes face to face with a few Stormtroopers. Low on options, she once again tries to do a Jedi Mind Trick, holding her hand out and doing the motion, while trying to get the Stormtroopers to let her pass.Though, to her surprise, it doesn’t work, and the troopers just stare at one another in confusion. Rey, tries it, saying “You will let me pass”, to which the troopers say, “No, we won’t”, and they raise their blasters. Thankfully, Rey shoots at them with the blaster she has first, and then runs off while they’re distracted, managing to lose them by some miracle. 

Rey is left more confused than ever (I wanted to make it clear that while she has potential, she’s not a god-mode character. Also, the idea of that scene was just too funny for to pass up.)

We cut to the Republic-Resistance Alliance fleet, preparing begin their mission. They first send out some troops and ships to distract the fleet surrounding the Starkiller, while Poe’s squadron goes in to destroy the firing device, while Han’s group goes in to rescue Rey, and to disable any remaining shields the base has.

The battle is intense, but they manage to buy enough time for Han, Chewie, Finn, the twins, and the red shirts to sneak aboard.Once on board, they use both Finn’s knowledge of the base, as well as the mini-map of the base they got from the plans, to navigate where they might find Rey and the shield controls.However, Finn gets a strange feeling inside him which tells him that Rey is somewhere other than the holding bay. Han doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but Jaina and Jacen say that Finn is onto something, as they sense where Rey is, and they make their way to her location.

Meanwhile, Hux is preparing to fire the Starkiller’s laser, and targets two of the 6 large Republic ships.The Starkiller Base charges its main laser, and opens fire on the two ships, wiping them out. From his ship, Poe hopes the rescue team is able to shut down the shields in time.

We cut to Rey, who, after also sensing the familiar presence of her new friends, is finally able to reunite with the gang. However, this reunion is short-lived, as Phasma and her guards have caught up to Rey, and try to surround heroes. Phasma insults Finn, referring to him by his number and calling him a traitor, and questioning why would he join such a pitiful band of miscreants Finn answers back by saying his name is Finn, and over the course of a few days he’s found more respect and companionship from this group of people than in all the time he’s spent in the First Order. Phasma scoffs at him, saying they’re still outgunned. Finn says that’s where she’s wrong, and smiles toward Jacen and Jaina. Taking the cue, the twins use their Force powers to go all Force Unleashed on the troopers, taking apart some of their weapons, while tossing around others. Some of the smarter troopers flee for their lives, leaving Phasma on her own (There’s also a small line where Jacen says, “Sorry if you knew any of those guys” and Finn says “Don’t worry, I didn’t”).

Just when it seems like they’re about to take her out, Phasma says that in exchange for her life, she can take them to the base shield control room. After making her promise that she won’t backstab them. Phasma takes the group to the shield controls, and turns them off. When asked by Jaina why she’s doing this, she says that she’s not the only “Force-wielding brat” she has an issue with. As the shields go down, the Republic-Resistance morale goes up, and they begin their direct attack on Starkiller Base. While the gang wonders what they should do with Phasma, with Han suggesting the garbage chute, they feel a huge rumbling, signifying the true attack on the base has begun. Phasma uses this as a distraction for her to escape. Before they can catch her, they’re stopped by Zayla Ren, who allows Phasma to get away. 

Jacen volunteers to fight off Zayla as part of a “Round 2” between them, while the others make their escape back to the ship. Jaina says she’ll help, but Jacen says that they still someone to take the new users back to “him”, and she reluctantly goes off. As Zayla and Jacen have their second battle, the rest of the crew head on over to the Falcon and the other small ships they used to get there.

While making their way to the ships to escape, they once again come across Kylo Ren, and we finally get to that scene, only it thankfully plays out differently, with certain characters getting out mostly okay (oh, and they’re not on a narrow platform when this happens).

Han confronts his nephew, calling him by his true name; Ben. Han tells Ben to take off the mask, which Ben does, revealing to Han and Jaina the scar he’s gained from his “training” with Snoke. Han is visibly disturbed by what he sees, demanding to know what Snoke has done to him. Kylo answers that Snoke has taught him more about the power of the Force than any other Jedi has. Han replies “Including your father?" 

Kylo hesitates, until he says that Luke did not hold the power of which seeks. Only through the path he is currently on, can he achieve it. Han says that Ben is talking nonsense, and asks him to look at himself. Han says that Ben has already seen what Jaina thinks of him in this state, and asks him to imagine what Jacen thinks of him. What his aunt think of him. And then Han says "What would Anakin think? What would your mother think?”

At first, it seems like Ben is conflicted, and has some wavering in his voice which seems like regret. But then he starts to slowly become more angry, telling Han that he doesn’t know him, and that he doesn’t know what Anakin or his mother would think.“You’re not her… You can’t possibly know how she could’ve felt.”

Han, his gruff exterior lowering, beseeches Ben to please come home, practically begging him at this point (I was even thinking you could hear him starting to cry, in a rare moment of weakness for his character). Ben, however, just keeps giving a hushed “no” to each plea, until he finally shouts it, Force-choking Han. Ben/Kylo says that he can’t be changed. This is what he is now. Han still pleads between gasps, but Kylo just lets his anger and pain out in one burst and violently force pushes Han into a wall, yelling “Just leave me alone!”

Han crashes into the wall, and is knocked unconscious, while debris from the surrounding area covers part of the lower half of his body. Kylo runs off, not looking back behind him. Jaina tells Chewie and the remaining red shirts to take Han back to Falcon, and get him medical attention ASAP. She goes after Kylo, with Rey and Finn following close behind, despite her warnings.

We cut to Poe and his squadron, finally being able to make it to the main defense reactor. Destroying it would mean that the Starkiller Base would be defenseless. And just in time, because it appeared to be charging for another blast.

We then cut back to Jacen and Zayla’s fight, where both the Jedi and the Would-be Sith have been pushing their limits, with their battle being so intense that make it to the outer, planet surface of the base. As they each try to outmatch each other, Zayla reveals a trick her twin-headed lightsaber can do; she’s able to split it in two, and wield them at the same time (drawing parallels to Asajj Ventress, once again).

We then cut back to Jaina, Finn, and Rey, who’ve caught up to Kylo Ren. 

Suddenly, Rey stops and recognizes this as the same snow-covered forest in her vision. Finn asks her what’s wrong, and she snaps out of it, regaining some of her composure.

Jaina fights off Kylo, while Finn goes off to attend to Rey after she’s been knocked back by Kylo. Jaina manages to fend Kylo off, but Kylo senses Jaina doesn’t want to hurt him, and tries to use this to catch her off-guard. However, Finn returns, with Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. Kylo pauses, and recognizes that lightsaber from his father’s descriptions. He demands to know how Finn has it, and demands that Finn hand it over, but Finn says if he wants it so bad, then he should come and get it for himself, igniting the saber. Kylo is now facing two against one, and manages to hold his ground, but struggles. Kylo senses that Zayla is nearby, fighting Jacen. He mentally calls out to her for assistance, to which Zayla agrees, baiting Jacen to follow her to where Jaina, Finn, and Rey are.

It’s now three against two, but Zayla has a trick up her sleeve. Sensing that the twins are close, she uses lightsaber techniques to catch Jacen off-guard while he’s fighting her, and uses one lightsaber of hers to slash at his back, taking Jacen out of the fight. Jacen, wounded, falls over, as Jaina is distracted enough to be knocked back by Kylo. All that leaves is Finn, who is outmatched by the Knights of Ren, but still manages to be cornered by Kylo.

Rey has been coming to, and sees her friends in trouble. She becomes so filled with passion, that she lets out a huge “NO!!”, after muttering smaller nos (another parallel to Kylo), which causes a huge Force push which knocks back Zayla and Kylo (but mostly Zayla, who is now injured and out of commission). We then have the scene where Rey gets Anakin’s lightsaber, only Finn, Jaina and Jacen are all conscious enough to witness it. That, and instead of fully  defeating Kylo, Rey uses her skills she learned with her staff to compensate, but she’s still not managed to completely beat him, only fighting to a standstill (and it even seemed like Kylo might win, despite his injuries) when parts of Starkiller Base start to explode.

Snoke mentally calls out to Zayla and Kylo to retreat for now, but they will make sure the children of the Force will pay dearly for this humiliation. Zayla and Kylo retreat back into the non-explodey part of the base, while Rey and the others are left in the snow. Just then, a light above appears. The Millennium Falcon has arrived, and lands just in time for the rest of them to be picked up, and brought to the medical bay.

Meanwhile, Poe has successfully destroyed the main defense reactor, causing a chain reaction which greatly damages the Starkiller. A good chunk of the FO/UGC forces have also been trashed, and soon begin to retreat, with the Republic-Resistance Alliance having achieved a massive victory.

However, not all is well. Those on board the Falcon are taken to a medical bay on one of the ships (sort of like that ship at the end of Empire Strikes Back), with Jacen having to heal from the wound Zayla gave him, Han slowly reviving from Kylo’s attack, but still in a weak condition, and Jaina, Finn, and Rey being exhausted from the battle.

A week passes, and emergency power is turned on in the command center of the Starkiller. Hux is getting an earful from Krazvlin and Prydus, looking at the ground for much of the conversation. Krazvlin is losing his last bits of patience with the FO, while Prydus is all but foaming at the mouth. Hux does say to the Chairman and the Grand Admiral that while they may have failed today, the Starkiller Base is still in operation. With new upgrades and restructuring, they could have it rebuilt better than ever, and then truly make the Republic pay for this defeat. While Prydus is against it, Krazvlin agrees, on the condition that this will be the last chance on the Starkiller Project. Hux says he will not fail them, but says that they’ll need to regroup their thinking about the First Order, including the construction of a more stable and organized star fleet, as well as more effective soldiers. Prydus, having calmed down, says that is one alternative; a remnant plan from the days of the Empire. Prydus asks Hux and Krazvlin is they’ve ever heard of the “Dark Trooper Project”.

We then cut to Phasma, who is once again having a spat with Zayla Ren. Zayla says that Phasma looks like “something the nexu dragged in”, while Phasma tells Zayla that she’s not in her most “lovely” state, either. Phasma asks why Zayla seems so cheerful, saying that they lost control over their battlestation, and she lost those force-sensitive users as well. Zayla says while that is true, she also says she’s gained something else today. Phasma asks what that is. Zayla says “Oh, just your loyalty, and leverage”.

Phasma asks what Zayla is talking about. Zayla replies that she recalls having saved Phasma’s life twice now; once on Takodana, and few days ago she saved her from being thrown in a trash compactor. Phasma asks that because she was forced to rely on her once or twice, that now means she’s supposed to be indebted to Zayla. Zayla says “No, no, no, it’s not because of something so childish. It’s because I would hate to see someone like you be turned in for treason.”

Phasma is shocked by what she hears, stammering as she asks what Zayla means. Zayla says that she was around the area when Phasma decided to turn on them and turn off the shields to the base. Phasma says that Zayla must be bluffing, and this is another one of her foolish mind tricks. Zayla guarantees Phasma that it is no trick, and she produces a small data drive, saying it contains all the footage the security sensors were able to pick up. She tells Phasma “not to worry” as she managed to delete all the footage of her betrayal, and that all that’s left is within this drive. 

Phasma stammers once again, asking Zayla what she wants. Zayla says that all she wants is to help “protect” Phasma. After the fiasco that’s happened over the course of the past week, she’s been hearing about how heads will roll because of this, and she’s just making sure that Phasma’s won’t be one of them. Phasma remains silent, and Zayla tells her not to worry, because as long as she does what she says, “this ‘Force-wielding brat’ will help you stay in your cozy position, and maybe even get you promoted”. 

Phasma, knowing that she can’t do anything, resigns herself to Zayla’s service, which pleases Rayla as she goes her own way.

We cut to Kylo Ren, communicating with Snoke (I was thinking that now it would be via a hologram, instead of a force bond), saying that he has failed him. Not only have two potential allies to their cause slipped through their fingers, and but the First Order’s main weapon has been crippled. He expects punishment, but Snoke says that while that may be true, Kylo has also shown his willingness to stop holding back, and willingness to cut the ties he had in his “past life”. Snoke says to report to him in-person at his secret location, so that he may begin to complete his training, along with the training of the other Knights of Ren. Snoke says that Kylo is that much closer to achieving the power he so desperately craves; to power to be master over life and death.

We cut to our heroes, with some of them celebrating their victory, while others are more melancholy, seeing it as a bittersweet victory.

The Republic has lost two of its cruisers and some of their own fighters, and have stirred tensions even further with the UGC, which some view critically. However, they’ve also left the First Order licking it’s wounds, and many in the Senate are seeking to pursue economic sanctions against UGC groups who were associated with the First Order.

And it’s also bitter for our heroes. Han is still breathing, and he’s regained consciousness, with Leia at his side, but he’s also hurt emotionally, wondering if the nephew he loved really is gone.

Unlike the movie, Finn is still conscious, but he’s still recovering from the fight with Kylo and Zayla, as is Rey, who he finds sitting by herself, looking a bit forlorn. Poe comes up to Finn, and says she’s been like this for a long time. Mirroring the talk on Takodana, Finn goes up to Rey, but this time Poe accompanies him. Finn and Poe try to comfort Rey, who’s trying even to comprehend all that’s happened in the past week or so. She’s wanted adventure all her life, and thought it would be fun and exciting, and while she admits she’d be lying if it wasn’t fun making fools out of First Order troops, she’s also scared about her encounters with the Knights of Ren, who apparently want her because of Force powers even she can’t understand. Finn and Poe comfort her, while also informing Rey of Finn going through instances similar to Rey’s, where Finn says that he might be also be in tune with the Force, and reaffirms that if there’s any trouble she’s in, he’ll be there to help, with Poe joining in on that declaration of friendship, and they share a big group hug.

After that’s over with, Jacen (who has recovered, mostly) and Jaina approach the trio, saying they must discuss something of vital importance.

Later on, they are discussing with Leia and the trio that from what they’ve seen and what they’ve felt within Rey and Finn, that they are two of the Force sensitive users their master told them to find and protect

The gist is that Luke sent them out to find new Force sensitive students for him and the Jedi Council to train, and that Jacen and Jaina are merely two of the Jedi Knights he’s sent out on this mission to comb the galaxy for potential Force users, young and old, to help train them in the ways of the Force, to combat the growing evil presence behind both the Knights of Ren and the First Order. However, in order to throw off suspicion from the First Order, Luke decided that while some of his new students should be trained by him personally, it would be best if others were to be trained under the guidance of the Masters of the Jedi Council who are currently standing in for Luke while he is in hiding.

The twins decide to take Rey to Luke, and that Finn must be brought to the New Jedi Council.

Rey doesn’t know how to feel, considering while she wants to discover the mystery behind her new power, which could also lead to the mysteries of her past and the visions she’s had, she’s also apprehensive because she was just reunited with Finn, Poe, and the rest of the people she’s just come to now as the only friends and family she’s ever had. Jaina and Jacen assure her that this is not goodbye for her and friends, and Finn and Poe reassure Rey that though they may be apart physically, they’ll always be together in spirit, and will wait until her training is complete.

Although still having mixed thoughts, Rey still agrees to go, and Finn agrees to meet with the Jedi Masters on the Council.

They all say their goodbyes to each other, with Jacen deciding to take Finn to the Council and the Academy, while Jaina takes Rey to where Luke is hidden.

Leia and Han (the latter of whom currently having to temporarily use a hover chair while he recovers), say to them as they begin to depart “May the Force be with you, always.”

Just before they leave, however, Finn says for Rey to keep Anakin’s/Luke’s lightsaber. Rey objects at first, but Finn says that while Luke may not need it, she likely will, and tells her not to worry, since he’s always been a bit better with a blaster, anyway.

With everything said and done, both Jacen and Jaina’s ships take off for their respective planets.

We then cut back and forth to Rey and Finn on board Jaina and Jacen’s ships, respectively, nervous about the whole situation, wondering what’s going to happen to them. While in thought, they’re alerted that they’ve arrived their respective destinations.

Finn and Jacen arrive on the planet home to the Jedi Council and the Academy, Dantooine (Luke decided to move the Council and the Main Temple far away from Coruscant, and also has a temple and academy on Yavin IV, like in the old EU), while Jaina and Rey arrive on the planet with the Ancient Jedi Temples we saw at the beginning of the “movie”. 

Finn and Jacen arrive on Dantooine where they stop in front of pristine structure of the enclave of the Jedi Temple. Jacen says he has important business with the Council scheduled, and they’re led to them.

Meanwhile, Jaina and Rey arrive on the world where Luke is, where it appears that other Jedi Knights are arriving with other Force-sensitive users, young and older.

Also, just to note, Luke abolished the rule of taking Force-sensitive people when they’re children or babies, opting instead to either have them be trained closer to home, so that they can still go back as if it were school, or have their families come along with them, where they provide for them as well (this especially happens with poor families with Force-sensitive children, who wish to have a better life). 

Anyway, Jaina takes Rey to the main ancient Jedi Temple, where Luke is waiting.

We then get another back and forth scene where we cut between the scenes of Rey and Finn meeting their new masters. 

With Finn, we’re brought to the Jedi Council room, where two figures have their backs turned from them, and are looking out the window. Jacen says that he trusts they sensed why they are here. The female figure in the white robes says that they have. Jacen then formally introduces Finn to the Jedi Masters whom Luke left in charge while he was away, and the ones who will help him train him.

The two Masters turn around to reveal an older human man, with a slight scar on his face, and faded brown-gray-ish hair, yet with smile on his face, and a Togruta woman, with also a warm smile on her face.

The Torgruta woman removes her hood, and welcomes Finn to the Jedi Order, and they each introduce themselves as Jedi Masters Ashoka Tano and Kyle Katarn.

Finn is in awe of actually meeting two legendary Jedi Masters.

At the same time, Jaina brings Rey to where Luke is, practicing his Force meditation, currently even levitating a bit from the ground, as certain small objects levitate around him (sort of like he was supposed to be introduced in TFA before changes were made). Jaina pardons her interruption, but she says she’s brought one of “children of the Force” he sensed, and that Rey apparently has something for him. Luke slowly stops his levitating, and the objects around him follow suit. He stands up, and thanks Jaina, to which she says that it was no trouble (a small joke on her end), before calling Luke “uncle”.

Rey steps forward to the man, who turns around and removes his hood to reveal the face of the one who destroyed the Death Star, the one who helped restore the Jedi Order, and the one who brought Anakin Skywalker back over to the Light Side so that he could finally bring balance to the Force; Luke Skywalker.

After a moment of staring in awe, Rey realizes something and remembers what Jaina just said, as well as what Poe said earlier, and takes out the lightsaber Luke once wielded, and his father before him. She presents it to him, thinking he might still want it back as a keepsake. She reaches out to hand it him, but before she can, Luke holds up his hand, and says with a solemn, yet warm smile “No. It’s not mine, anymore.”

Rey is taken aback, but then Luke says that if she so desires it, that lightsaber is now hers. Rey is even shocked now, and Luke simply says with a nod, “Welcome, Rey. As of now, your training has begun.”

We then get a scene where we pan back, and see both the scenes of the new Jedi apprentices standing before their new masters, side by side.

The End of Episode VII

Some fitting music to cap it off:

And that is officially my rough storyline pitch for my rewrite of The Force Awakens. I hope you at least enjoyed some of it, because I have big plans for it in the future, when I come up with the other two story outlines for this trilogy.

Again, feel free to ask me what I have in mind for this “rewrite trilogy”. along with any other questions which spring to mind.

However, I will say this; I will try to treat the original trilogy characters as well as I can, show that their efforts weren’t for nothing, and that everything will turn out right for them in the end.

Until next time, when I come up with the story outline for the next part in this rewrite trilogy:

Episode VIII:The Lost Jedi

[comickergirl]

A (SPOILER-FILLED) List of Good Things in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, in no particular order:

The score

Seriously, any time Leia’s theme played I just silently thanked John Williams 

Rose Tico

‘doing talking’

The fact that the Skywalkers remain the biggest Drama Queens in the entire galaxy

I am referring, of course, to:

Leia ‘NOT TODAY, SPACE’ Organa, and...

Luke ‘I can make a fool out of you from literal LIGHTYEARS AWAY and look fabulous while doing so’ Skywalker 

I am...conflicted...over Snoke’s robe. I mean on the one hand, if you’re the Supreme Leader, then you have every right to terrorize the galaxy in something comfy, but on the OTHER hand, like. Where’s the menace?

See, this does not scream ‘fear me’:

To me it says, ‘I’ve had a long day, time to binge watch some GBBO.’

Which is why I’m torn. 

...You know what? You do you, Snoke.

Right then, moving on:

'Amazing. Every word of what you just said is wrong.’

Paige Tico, you big damn hero, you. RIP

BB-8

YODA

Rey’s lil’ smile @ the rain

Rose saving Finn (THANK YOU, ROSE, THANK YOOOOOU)

Finn DESTROYING Phasma

And calling her Chrome Dome

‘You’ll always be scum.’ ‘Rebel Scum.’

*cue emphatic fist-pump of pure joy*

Holdo having none of that mutiny nonsense 

Leia having none of that mutiny nonsense

Poe and Leia’s relationship really deserves its own post but I’ll try to sum up here: I think it’s really cool that Poe Dameron's mentors end up being two powerful ladies. We’ve got a lot of dude Jedi Masters in this franchise, so there’s a lot of guys mentoring other guys/gals, but not a lot of ladies being the teacher. (In the films)

The entirety of the Luke and Leia reunion. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted

This might be an unpopular opinion, IDK, but I’m very okay with the wrap up on the mystery of Rey’s parents. I actually agree with what’s been said by the cast in interviews, in that it’s kind of always...been there? In an Occam’s razor way. 

The shot of Luke and the twin suns setting. feeeeeeelings

The weaponized hyperspace jump splitting Snoke’s ship in two. VISUALLY STUNNING, MY GOSH.

‘Oh, you meant reach out, like...’

Maz’s all-too-brief cameo

‘Blibbity blobbity bloop’

Crystal Critters

Rey + Lightsaber remains the best ship, let’s just all agree on that

I mean, c’mon guys, she clearly chose Lightsaber over Kylo. True love, right there.

Speaking of ships (if we must)...

Sorry, Dreadnought fans.

MEANWHILE, that third act Falcon entrance? PERFECTION.

‘Oh, they hate that ship!’

Rey, re: Falcon’s ball turret: ‘Oh, I like this!’

(Really, guys, from planetfall onward...just great stuff.)

Okay friends...I have deliberately formatted this so that the inevitable Kylo bashing is all concentrated down here. If your form of SW positivity does not include ragging on Kylo, I suggest you leave now, while those warm fuzzy feelings are intact

But if, like me, you have no qualms about hating the villain of the movie, read on

RIGHT, OKAY

More Good Things about TLJ: The Anti-Kylo Hour

Snoke using force lightning to zap Kylo’s evil, murderous butt

Rey, speaking for us all, re: shirtless Kylo, ‘don’t you have a cowl to put on, or something’

Rey ultimately rejecting Kylo’s evil, murderous butt

Kylo can go take a long walk off a short pier, for all I care

(Have we picked up on the fact that I love to hate Kylo Ren yet? No? Well let’s continue, then)

If we’re going to be subject to an evil, manipulative force bond between these two--then I’m glad one of the meetings involved figuratively shooting Kylo with a blaster

Make no mistake--I hate Hux almost as much as I hate Kylo, but I admittedly had a few, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ moments as I watched them interact

Kylo Ren Is the Poor Man’s Vader by Design--the title of my TED talk

ALSO we can dispense with the ‘Snoke’s the REAL big bad’ nonsense

Because Kylo’s gone from the Actual Worst to the Supreme Worst 

ALRIGHT, thus concludes--oh, no, wait, one more

REY, SHUTTING THE FALCON’S DOOR IN KYLO’S EVIL, MURDEROUS FACE

Okay, thus concludes anti-Kylo hour

Let’s return to more pleasant thoughts...let’s talk about REY:

Staff training that turned into lightsaber training for no other reason than Rey being like: why not

Rey’s Jedi Look™

(Sincere question though: I understand most of the outfit--it’s just more layers on top of what she was already wearing but where the heck did she get the boots?)

That part in the fight against the red dudes where she drops the saber and takes out his/her knees

‘Lifting rocks’

I like that the beacon to light her way home was shared between Leia, Finn, and Poe

As a Finn/Rey fan, this film was a struggle (and no, not because of Rose, I’ll not hear one unkind, angry ship-war-driven word against her, thank you very much) but because those goobers weren’t together

‘Where’s Rey’

‘Ask about Finn’

The HUG

Anyways

Rey finally met Poe!

And the film ended on this lovely moment between Leia and Rey and WHEN DOES IX COME OUT?!?!?!

WAIT ONE LAST THING I know who Snoke reminds me of, it’s been bothering me all weekend:

(Please tell me someone other than myself remembers the Ketchup Vampires)

[recklessdarkness]

Well, most of us must have already watched Phasma’s deleted scene from TLJ by now, so here are some of my considerations about it and reasons why I believe she’s still alive.

First of all, I believe there was a specific reason from this scene to be out of the final cut. They said it was because they needed the movie to be shorter, but I think it wasn’t just that. If you remember the final cut in TLJ, the last dialogue between Phasma and Finn is pretty much the same here as it is there: “You were always scum”, “Rebel scum”. The only two differences, then, are the previous talking and the way she “dies”. The previous dialogue would give Phasma much more feature in the movie than she had in the final cut, in my opinion. We’d see what she thinks of Finn, the fear in her eye when her troopers seem to believe what Finn says, and mainly how she reacts to this fear; that is, eliminating those who could threaten her in any way, which is familiar for those who read the novel. We would finally see something a little bit deeper about her, but we didn’t. Finally, in this delete scene she’s shot by a blaster, which would make it much easier for her to be dead for real, although her armor is made of the Emperor’s Naboo yatch’s chrome and could resist the shot as well. However, we didn’t get to see any of this in the final cut. I believe the only reason for them to have decided to replace the only scene where we would see something deeper about Phasma is because they didn’t want the final cut’s scene to end like this one; they wanted to make it unclear whether Phasma is dead or not. They could have used the same dialogue in a different way and just replace the ending, then, but yet they didn’t. I think this is because we will get to see more about her later on, so they didn’t want to reveal it still.

As I said, Phasma’s armor is made of the Emperor’s Naboo yatch’s chrome, so it would probably resist the fire in which she fell as well. This means that her fall into the fire doesn’t mean she’s dead in any way. She might have burned part of her face, as her helmet was broken, which I believe she did, but there’s no way to say for sure that she’s dead only by the final cut’s scene.

The other reason, and this one is more about my personal thoughts but it kind of makes sense, is why would they choose Gwendoline Christie to play Phasma if her time in the movies wouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes and her face wouldn’t even be seen at all? It could be anyone behind that helmet, if that’s the case, don’t you think? They wouldn’t have chosen her if her character wasn’t going to have the lightest feature. And I personally think they wouldn’t put only one female villain in the movie just to throw her away so quickly. So yes, I truly believe we’ll see more from Phasma in Episode IX. Even because, let’s be honest, who’s left on the First Order? Is she really so replaceable? According to what I read in the novel, the answer for this last question is “no”.

So that’s pretty much how it is for me: Captain Phasma IS ALIVE!

[smitsv]

okay gays fasten your seatbelts here’s my review on tlj (99% negative, 100% spoilers)

my first problem is the characterization, or lack thereof. especially for poe and luke. let us start with poe. i cannot tell you how out of character he was. i’ve read the comics over three times and before the awakening and have done major character studies and digging for poe, and lemme tell you, whoever that was in tlj was not poe. poe would NEVER have risked hundreds of lives to do something reckless and idiotic as what he did in the movie, let alone talk back and disobey leia’s orders. poe is selfless, not selfish. if poe was ALONE on that mission, he would’ve undoubtedly sacrificed himself because he is SELFLESS and a HERO. he isn’t ignorant and rude, and i don’t even want to talk about that mini tantrum he had. he also barely acknowledged finn so uh yeah ooc poe. also he RESPECTS WOMEN. now to luke. if y’all have seen the past three movies he’s in, you’d be smart enough to know that luke would NEVER consider killing ANYONE. luke is a fucking pacifist and that stunt he pulled on k*lo was NOT in character at all. luke would never fucking do that. he would’ve also tried his best to help kylo, not to just fucking kill him.

dj’s character was absolutely pointless

this movie is racist. a white fascist man (hux) slapping an innocent black man (finn) is racist enough on it’s own. finn being sidelined as well for kylo, who is a cishet fascist man baby, to have the spot light was absolutely ridiculous and well, racist, pal! finn was sidelined so fucking hard and i’m so sorry to john boyega and all you finn stans out there. also, notice that the only people who got visibly abused or hurt were the trio of colour. poe and finn were tasered multiple times for NO ABSOLUTE FUCKING REASON

yoda was in it so its automatically bad

rey was so naive in this. they made her delicate and easily manipulated, and not in character at all. in tfa she was shown to be brave and smart and snarky and clever, yet none of that was shown in tlj.

literally everyone lied about leia being important in this movie i was so upset. i was looking forward to her kicking ass yet she was in a coma half the movie

rose and finns mission was completely pointless and just an excuse for rian to make them go on their knees in front of two white fascists and have them abused

I HAD TO SIT THROUGH TWO MINUTES OF ADAM DRIVER SHIRTLESS. EVIL EVIL EVIL

rian fueled the reylos lmao! them touching hands was pure evil, also kylos manipulative speech to rey was disgusting

rian was trying so hard to make kylo relatable.... like... sweetie we dont want to relate to a white fascist man baby

where was??????? the plot??????? what was it??????????

not enough finnpoe

that finnrose kiss was so unnecessary????? they’ve known each other for what, 18 hours????? does rian not know how to write romance...........

touching on my point before, finn and poe barely got any screen time together????????? what the fuck???????? rian said he ‘couldn’t fit gays in’ yet had the room to fit in an unnecessary kiss and some reylo bullshit

hux and kylo were annoying lmao but whats new

lando wasn’t in it. so it’s bad

they focused so much on the villains????? the resistance got less screentime (or at least felt like it) than the first order and that pisses me the hell off. im here for the fucking heroes not the evil fascist group

everything was so upsetting?????? it got worse and worse

the screenwriting was shit the dialogue was shit

rian was trying too hard to be funny

the trio of colour were treated terribly. finn and poe i said their reasons before but for rose, she was literally just a love interest for finn yet they had no romantic chemistry whatsoever

holdo was a bitch lmao also POE WAS RIGHT HE’S ALWAYS RIGHT

rian johnson ruined star wars, thanks.

the only good things that came out of this was poe calling hux pasty and finn’s presence (also him proudly calling himself rebel scum because bitch me too!!!!!!!!!! im now rebel scum too finn i love you). and like i mean the cinematography was nice

thank u for ur time

[janiedean]

finn and poe’s sl in the last jedi: a few considerations

first thing to state: these two both needed to have some kind of journey from A to B in order to arrive at the ending that this movie had in mind and the set-up for IX, finn needed to deal with Some Issues that were there since TFA and poe needed a lot of screentime to make up for the fact that while he’s one of the main three, in TFA he had very limited screen time. now.

finn:

needed to work on his main **character flaw** that was stated in TFA, ie: he tends to go flight when in a flight or fight response, which is entirely understandable from his POV but not exactly useful if he has to, uh, *be in a rebel resistance*;

needed to know more people and see more beyond what he knew since he’s been a stormtrooper all his life and only ever worked for the first order and he can’t get around just knowing rey and poe and maybe leia but it’s not like they knew each other;

needed to see beyond his stormtrooper bringing up and get around, you know, having individuality;

what this movie did was addressing all of that by:

sending him away from the only two people he knows (okay, poe not so much because they were in contact always but still) so that he has the chance to, you know, leave and come back;

giving him a storyline with rose ie someone who has entirely good reasons to fight for the resistance and lost her family and everything she had and opened his eyes to other horrid shit the first order did (you know, he goes from ‘this town is beautiful’ to helping her tear it apart sooo) and who admires him first as an icon but then as himself and is willing to die for *him* without really owing him anything beforehand;

doing that, he realized which were his priorities, he fought for people other than his two friends, he realized that he wanted to be rebel scum (or did I dream that conversation with phasma) and by the end he was about to die for the cause when in the beginning his first thought was running (without even warning poe for that matter) so that he’d save his ass and rey’s. which is entirely understandable from his pov, again, but it was something the movie needed to address and is named character development, which he got in spades;

now he’s reunited with his friends, made more friends, knows his place in the world and doesn’t want to run anymore. mission accomplished.

poe:

needed more time to have his personality established given his lack thereof in TFA;

needed to be established as leia’s successor which this movie obviously was pointing at;

needed to learn the skills to be a good leader;

now, they could have shown him already being good at it, but thing is: this movie ran two hours and a half and no one wants a Perfect Protagonist Without A Flaw in movies, because it’s completely unrealistic and the fact that poe was a+++ amazing in TFA worked because we saw him less than the other two, if he was like that all the time he’d have been a gary stu.

so, what this movie did was addressing all of the above by:

giving him a hell of a lot of screentime which was used to show us that while he’s an excellent guy all around he does have some flaws;

(which are all by the way entirely consistent with his character because if he’s a hothead who likes to blow things up and fly in the middle of the action he most likely won’t consider that sometimes you have to retreat or that sometimes you have to look at saving lives rather than making sacrifices of most people you have before being left with a handful)

establishing that he and leia have definitely a parental/familial vibe because she basically treats him like she’d treat her own family and they’re familiar in ways you are not with your boss;

putting him in a situation where he realizes that acting rashly means you get demoted regardless of how good you are at your job;

giving him the tension with holdo which made him realize that you can be a good leader also by retreating and not ATTACKING all the time, that sometimes you have to buy time like that and that it’s not cowardly to run and that it’s not necessary to go around sacrificing your own life and others’s for the cause;

doing all of the above, he went from promising general to��virtually effective leia substitute, because at the end of the movie he did exactly the contrary of what he did in the beginning, told finn what leia told him (to disengage), stopped finn from going after kylo and luke when he realized luke was buying them time so they could run, and leia herself told people to follow him and not her, which brings us to the conclusion that the infamous rewrites post-tfa most likely were to give him a larger role and effectively set him up to become the next general (also because let’s be real, if han died in VII and luke died in this one, leia was gonna die in the next one if carrie had lived to act in it, and all of them needed the new trio to pick up where they left from), and this when poe was a character who was supposed to be killed at the beginning of tfa.

like, they gave all of this hell of a storyline to a character who was supposed to not even survive the first movie, that’s how much they liked him and how much they accounted for the fans liking him.

so: what happened with this movie was giving them arcs with proper screentime for both which addressed points that couldn’t be addressed in TFA and set them up respectively to a) finn being a full part of the resistance where he’s staying by his own choice and where he’s made friends and found his own individuality and not forcing him to be it which would have happened if he stayed in the main ship for the entirety of tlj, he needed to leave and come back and get rid of his former boss/phasma to fully leave his past behind, b) poe being the new general of the resistance with leia’s full blessing and after we saw that he learned how to be one and we can trust him to take good decisions because he learned on his own skin what it means to take bad ones.

doesn’t seem to me like *character assassination*, except that of course we get to the crux of the problem which is, ‘stormpilot didn’t happen’ and ‘neither of them is confirmed gay’ and apparently that trumps everything else. ship discourse under the cut because this post is long.

now:

this is the middle movie of this trilogy. if stormpilot was gonna be a thing I highly doubt it’d have been a thing here since we’ve seen that people were clutching their pearls over freaking lefou in b&b and here we’re talking about main characters - if it was happening, it would happen next movie;

if they locked lips now it’d have been in a situation where finn literally knows no one except rey and poe and we don’t know anything about poe except that he’s a good pilot, he’s a nice guy and looks hot in leather jackets, which.. I mean, do we want them to establish their personality before thinking about them kissing?

neither of them was *confirmed gay* (though I mean with finn I guess he’d need some experimentation around to find out what he likes but never mind) and finn and rose kissed and poe was flirty-ish with rey so OMG HORRIBLENESS: you know, they could.... be bisexual. or pansexual. both of them. which would also mean they might be interested in women as well as each other. like, just a thought to consider;

the finn/rose kiss was her kissing him, not him kissing her, and like it could either go somewhere or it might not, but if it turns out that he likes her and they become canon and stormpilot doesn’t happen.... there’s nothing inherently horrible in finn liking rose who is a nice girl who went through a lot of shit and has all the reasons in the world to like him and tbh I find it really gross that I’ve read around ‘ew omg he kissed a girl how horrible’. I mean, back when TFA came out we were all rejoicing that we had a nice diverse ship and we were all having fun and sorry to break it to you but finn/rose is also a *diverse* ship so it’d be still fairly progressive to have it canon in a mainstream scifi movie. but now since finn kissed the wrong diversity it’s... a downgrade? like, you do realized how it sounds?

anyway, if finn/rose doesn’t go anywhere, the next person in line realistically to be his love interest (if he does have one by the end) is poe, not rey (who, as much as people around here like to deny, might have been set up to have a meaningful story with *ben solo* who is, sorry to say, not the horrible irredeemable villain a lot of people decided he is, and if you still think he is just go watch the OT and realize that the entire point of it was redeeming darth vader ie someone who did a lot worse than kylo but of course we all forget that SW is a franchise about redemption, huh?), and those two spent the entire movie worrying about each other, staying in contact if they were apart, let’s not go over the ‘finn is naked and wet’ part or finn wearing poe’s clothes for the entire thing or poe coming fully into his future-general self by ordering finn to retreat therefore saving his life rather than send him to sacrifice himself at all costs to take out that cannon (while most people who went after the cannon in the beginning died, including rose’s sister), which doesn’t seem to me like *nothing*. like, we had a lot of stormpilot interactions in this movie considering what they needed to do with it;

now, while it’s probably not likely that it might happen forreal or overtly (it’s still disney guys) saying that, considering all of the above, what I’m seeing was a movie that did both of them justice and didn’t sideline them or their relationship while also dealing with another ten storylines at once and if the point that makes everyone think they’ve been butchered was that they didn’t lock lips you know how it sounds like? like whatever these two characters do or stand up for it’s worthless unless they make out, or unless they’re **gay** (not even bi, gay), and therefore you’re basically reducing them to their PERCEIVED sexuality. ie they’re worth nothing if they aren’t the sexuality the fandom wants them to be, which sorry but a) it’s bullshit, b) it’s tokenism, c) it’s ASSUMING SOMEONE’S PERSONALITY ENDS AT THEIR SEXUALITY AND THEIR ACTIONS ONLY MATTER IN LIGHT OF THEIR SEXUALITY.

like, we have two main characters in the new trio who were given extensive screentime and storylines that brought them forward from the previous movie and gave them character evolution and development and brought them to a narratively better place and made them better people (never mind that if they get together in IX it’d be way healthier than if they had in this movie)........ and that somehow doesn’t matter because we didn’t get a confirmation that they would lock lips or that they prefer to bang men and actually one of them being kissed by a woman is seen as character assassination when in the first movie finn sure af wasn’t going around stating his sexual preferences if he even figured out any?

I mean, I’d like to think we’re watching these movies also for the plot and if poe and finn have to be lgbt rep other than minority rep maybe it’d be nice if they also had a personality to go with it, and possibly realistic too because people without flaws aren’t realistic and sure af the OT trio and prequel trio weren’t flawless people actually all the contrary, and this movie did nothing wrong in establishing it. but hey, seems like we only care about it if they kiss. does it sound woke to you? because to me, it doesn’t.

tldr: idk how this movie butchered either of them or did them wrong or ruined them (all the contrary), but if all the criticism’s point is OMG THEY AREN’T GAY AND THEY DIDN’T KISS then we don’t want well-written characters, we just want the ship. and honestly, making it everything about the ship while throwing everyone else under the bus (rose first and foremost) is hardly, like, progressive or anything, but whatever you like.

[viella-art]

My thoughts on The Last Jedi

Since I got a few asks about what I thought of the movie I wanted to put them here.

General impressions is that, though the movie has obvious flaws I loved it. The movie can be overwhelming at times, with the amount of information being crammed into it. It made a whole lot more sense to me after viewing it a second time. I’m putting it under a read more because it contains spoilers and it is quite a lot.

A lot of people wouldn’t know this about me, but the characters I’m most invested in are Finn and Kylo and they both have great character development. I know a lot of people were dissapointed by Finn’s story because his actions seemed pointless, but Finn as a character certainly grows.

In TFA we see Finn going from ‘I’m fighting for myself’ to ‘I’m fighting for a friend’. Going into TLJ that is definetly still his mindset as you can see when he wakes up and immediately asks after Rey. And when he thinks the fleet is doomed he wants to escape to make sure Rey is safe.

The only reason he doesn’t is because Rose (bless her heart) does a commendable job of actually following her orders despite Finn being a resistance hero and keep him from escaping in an escape pod. I think Finn learns from Rose what it’s like to go from fighting for a friend to fighting for a cause. He wholeheartedly chooses the resistance in TLJ and while his normal M.O. is we need to get out of here, he now gives a speech about hope and how they need to hold out just a little longer. Boy was ready to die fighting for the cause too! Finn was anything but stagnant in TLJ and I’m excited to see what he does in IX now that he has fully accepted his role as Rebel Scum.

Now my man Kylo, he had the mother of all arcs! We can see Kylo being unhappy with Snoke from the get go, and even lets his anger take over as he actually tries to attack him (Snoke quickly puts him down with some Force lightning). Him bonding with Rey was done well, IMO, and them both thinking the could turn the other was in character. 

Kylo for me became actually dangerous in this movie, despite... not doing all that much. But like Adam has said in many interviews, Kylo thinks that what he does isn’t good necessarily, but he thinks he’s right. And that is dangerous, because he will use that to justify his actions.

Kylo deciding to be the Supreme Leader himself couldn’t have made me more happy. I wanted Kylo to be the big bad and Rian came THROUGH! Seeing Ren get more unhinged was like... fuel to me. I fully expect him to go full Azula in IX and I hope he gets to shine as the villain.

As for Hux... I didn’t really mind his characterisation in the movie. Sure, there are some moments that IMO could have been a little less comedy, but overall I loved his somewhat incompetent ass. In TFA we don’t see Hux do much besides giving orders, a speech and some sneering at Ren. I feel like we get a glimpse in his personality. Hux is arrogant to the point that failure is just not an option in his mind it seems. He is so cocksure about the Resistance going down that he doesn’t consider the option of their escape.

I loved, loved, loved the fact that he was about to pop a cap in Kylo’s ass and quickly hid that bc Kylo woke up and he knew he would probably not win that fight. Him immediately swearing fealty to Ren felt in character too. I’m fully assured that Hux is a ‘Live to fight another day’ kinda guy and I expect him to have something up his sleeve (other than a dagger) in IX and Kylo better watch his back, because his rabid cur of a general is coming for him.

I think the Poe/Holdo dynamic was pretty lazy writing. Their conflict could have been resolved fairly easily and it felt petty on both sides. This is my biggest gripe with the movie. Poe should have trusted Holdo and Holdo should have told people her plan. There was no reason for her not to spill the beans, and because she didnt say anything Poe could stage a mutiny fairly easily. That being said, I did love both characters. Laura Dern played Holdo very convincingly and I loved the softness she gave to a competent military leader.

As for Rey and Luke. Rey’s arc was good and I hope her parents really are nobodies. I loved Daisy’s acting, especially in scenes with Adam, and I feel like Rey is slowly gaining confidence in her part in this story. I wish she got some actual training from Luke though.

Luke... was a little bit dissapointing. I cannot believe that the same man that would not give up on Vader would give up so easily on Ben Solo. Maybe at the end where he fights Kylo and sees that Kylo is making all of this bad choices himself, but not when he was a student training with him. I can understand why Mark berated Rian for that. I did however love the twist that Luke was astral projection across the fucking universe, especially since Kylo mentions to Rey that the effort alone would kill you. Luke for me is a mixed bag of feelings. He has some great moments, and some moments where I felt his character was seriously mistreated.

Overall, even though the movie didn’t have the strongest plot, I still loved it. I loved that it went a different route. Thematically I would say it’s actually closer to The Return of the Jedi than The Empire Strikes Back, but I’m glad it didn’t emulate either movie. 

I do wish that there was more of a cohesion between TFA and TLJ, some characters (Like Kylo and Poe) seem very different from what we see in TFA. Kylo for example, sounds really different between these two movies. So for the character’s sake, I hope there is a little bit more cohesion between VIII and IX.

[skywalkersapprentice]

LUKE FUCKING SKYWALKER aka my review of the last jedi

(spoilers)

Contrary to my feelings leading up to the force awakens, I was more nervous than completely excited for this film. I was so terrified that it wasn’t going to be good.

by the end of this movie, those fears had been soothed.

Bad Things(tm) 

it’s a shorter list than i thought it would be but it still exists

kylo ren’s entire existence annoys me. like i came out of tfa hating him and now i loathe him. 

thAt SHIRTLESS SCENE GOD I HATED THAT. it could have been so much worse and i’m grateful it wasn’t but jeez. i strongly echoed rey’s feelings of ‘put a shirt on’. 

the entire fucking force bond thing got on my nerves until i realized it was snoke’s fault. then it was okay. 

rey nobody. listen you guys, i’m all for the found family trope usually but you can pry rey skywalker out of my cold, dead hands. 

i feel like sometimes this movie didn’t know what it was doing with it’s plot. canto bight was beautiful, but that entire plot ultimately felt meaningless. 

same with luke’s purpose, i couldn’t.... really figure out the role he was supposed to be playing. 

some of the scenes on the island felt really fucking boring. 

why did hux slap finn like yeah mate we already know he’s an asshole

this was the biggest one for me- rey’s character. it could have been done so much better. she felt like she was aimlessly wandering around the island for half the movie and she deserved more than she got. i’m just thankful this is the middle act and that she’ll be back in the safe hands of jj abrams for the final movie. 

also finn and rey deserved a better reunion scene but the hug was adorable.

Good Things(tm)

this is a much longer list

ROSE TICO. omg i adore her???? she’s so awkward and tiny and charming. i spent most of the battle of crait thinking ‘omg please don’t die’ and i’m SO HAPPY she didn’t. i ended up not minding finnrose, which i thought i wouldn’t like. she and finn worked so well together.

LUKE THREW THE LIGHTSABER OFF THE CLIFF SDFGHGFDFGH I LAUGHED SO HARD. i immediately knew i was gonna like luke in this movie. 

also i dont’ wanna hear a word about ‘bad characterization’ when it comes to luke. it’s been 30 years since we saw him last and people change. 

i think it helps that i have read basically none of the post-rotj eu and so i had no expectations of what luke ‘should have’ been like. but anyway.

another thing i laughed so hard at: poe pretending not to know who hux was while he was speaking all pretentiously. that was hilarious. 

and then bb8 overextending himself trying to keep the ship working. bb8 was the silent hero of this movie and you all need to appreciate him.

CHEWIE AND THE PORGS. oh my godd when he was eating that one porg and then the rest of them show up with huge eyes and legitimately sad expressions. i was literally aww-ing. i’ve bought into the cute porg marketing. they made me smile every time they were onscreen. sue me. 

i really liked what luke had to say about the light side not ‘belonging’ to the jedi, because it’s true. time to think outside the box lads

rey looked so good in that jedi outfit

the golden four (finn, rose, rey and poe) all looked amazing tbh.

i almost liked kylo ren for one (1) second after he killed snoke and then he decided that he wanted to destroy the rest of the galaxy too and i was like Oh My God

also they made a bold move by killing snoke but i really liked that they did. now ren can step into position as the Main Villain, which is what he deserves. (no redemption arc bitch you’ve tried to murder everyone like twice)

also the way!!! snoke died!!!!! was so cool!!!! he could read ren’s intentions like a book, but the way ren deceived him into thinking that rey was his sworn enemy because ‘i can’t be betrayed’ was amazing. and this is coming from someone who despises kylo ren.

lmao @ hux and ren subtly fighting for control over their troops. i wouldn’t be surprised if hux eventually stabs ren in the back.

THAT SCENE WHERE REN AND REY BREAK ANAKIN’S LIGHTSABER

THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING

it would have more meaning if rey was also related to anakin but whatever

holy shit. the entire scene with yoda. i was silently squeeing into my hands the whole time.

this is the first time i have ever been happy to see yoda but oh. my god. that little troll cackling as he destroyed the early jedi texts (‘page turners, they were not’) was AMAZING. 

i almost forgot to mention but 

LEIA

USING THE FUCKING FORCE

TO SAVE HERSELF AND BRING HER BACK TO THE SHIP WHILE LOOKING LIKE A GODDAMN ANGEL

that was the first time the guy beside me offered me tissues. i was not okay.

also i love her dynamic with poe so much. and that scene where amilyn and leia are discussing him and amilyn says ‘i like him’ and leia goes ‘me too’ is so pure.

also leia and amilyn had one (1) scene together but it still managed to make me emotional. leia has lost so much and this was just one more thing, but their goodbye was good.

also i love my gay mom amilyn tbh. the luna lovegood comparisons were rolling in before the film and tbh i could see that! i’m so sad she had to die but what a fucking way to go. the entire theater was dead silent when she made that jump to hyperspace. 

i don’t think i’ve ever sworn this much in my life. whatever.

something i really liked that i didn’t expect to is how so close ren and rey came to leaving their respective sides. the lines between light and dark got so blurry in snoke’s throne room, but eventually what happened seemed to cement their respective positions, pushing them even further away from one another. it was cool.

leia marching onto the bridge of the command ship fresh from unconsciousness and stunning poe wow what an icon

also when will the gays learn to communicate i mean poe and amilyn come on

can we talk about that scene in the falcon when luke and artoo reunite :( omg. artoo still has leia’s old message and i personally want to die.

luke and leia’s (natural) force connection that spans half a galaxy!!!! ‘luke’ ‘leia’ i personally want to die (part 2)

canto bight looked straight out of the prequels and i was Living

i was also living for the way finn and rose destroyed it

“you have always been scum”. “rebel scum” THAT’S MY BOY I LOVE FINN

also there was something that finn said on crait while they were in the mine (i forget what it was) but poe and rose both looked at him like they were falling in love 

and also poe’s delight when seeing that finn and rose aren’t dead and immediately going ‘where’s my droid’ :( i love how much he loves bb8, it’s very reminiscent of anakin and artoo.

speaking of crait

LUKE FUCKING SKYWALKER

[INCOHERENT YELLING]

when the shadow appeared in the mine i was like..... omg. it can’t be. he wouldn’t.

and then it WAS and i realized that we were actually getting a leia and luke reunion, after i had convinced myself it wouldn’t happen, and then i started really crying. i don’t think i’ve ever cried like that at a movie before. i don’t even remember most of what was said, except for luke’s ‘no one is ever really gone’ (directed at leia, by then i was properly sobbing) and then the forehead kiss. i was a mess. the guy beside me offered me kleenex again.

That was, without a doubt, my favourite scene in the film. Luke and Leia got to say goodbye. I feel like that actually healed something in me that broke when carrie died last year. like, the movie was worth making just for that one fucking scene.

but then it got better.

when ren ordered all the walkers to fire on luke and then luke walked out unscathed someone in front of me actually clapped with glee. from the moment he ignighted his lightsaber, there was an energy of just joy in the theater, and you could tell that scene was exactly what everyone had wanted from luke.

AND THEN KYLO REN TRIED TO CUT HIM IN HALF AND IT DIDN’T FUCKING WORK

I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE DELIGHTED

'amazing. everything you just said was wrong.’ YES LUKE YES

I can’t wait for luke to haunt ren from beyond the grave in episode 9. i don’t know how i feel about the fact that he’s dead, but it’s far from the sadness i felt when han died.

like rey and leia said- there was a sense of peace there.

I just. I just wish Leia could find that peace. She has lost absolutely everyone. And now the movie that was supposed to be about her can’t exist.

‘in loving memory of our princess carrie fisher’ made me halt on the steps and bring my hand to my mouth on the way out of the theater. i’d forgotten that would happen. :(

I don’t want to end this on a sad note. I really did like this movie. It’s not quite good enough for a 9 and i hesitate to rate it as low as a 7 so an 8 it is. 

Overall- better than i’d hoped. had some absolutely magical moments that made me remember why i love this franchise so much. there were some truly cool force-related moments, i love the golden four and luke skywalker is fucking awesome. kylo ren is fucking terrible, i wish this movie had progressed it’s characters a little and rey deserves to be a skywalker.

bring on episode nine. 

[eldritch-elrics]

so zhuzhi-lang is in love with shen qingqiu right? i think zhuzhi-lang is in love with shen qingqiu

[blueincandescence]

A Non-Toxic Reading of TLJ

http://scavengersholocron.com/category/home/why-the-last-jedi-isnt-just-bad-its-toxic/

This article — “Why The Last Jedi isn’t just Bad: It’s Toxic” — is going around tumblr as the best compilation of TLJ’s faults. I read it eagerly, hoping to understand what I missed. It’s a very thoughtful read and it made me think a lot about my assumptions. 

I still feel that there is a valid non-toxic reading of TLJ, because the arguments are predicated on two beliefs that I simply don’t share.

1) Kylo Ren is portrayed as sympathetic.

I never felt that. Fuck Kylo Ren. He gets a deeper backstory. Luke isn’t perfect. It’s more complicated. Blah, blah. In the end, he isn’t redeemed; his redemption is shown to be a lost cause.

From the article:

In other words, there’s nothing relatable when you think about a wealthy white male growing up sure of his place in the world and deciding to leave it all behind to join a fascist organization.

Exactly! That’s what the movie shows.

So the argument is that Johnson says that Kylo “is relatable because of his angst.” And, yeah, that piece may be somewhat relatable to some people. I find it insufferable and I’ve been rolling my eyes at this trash character from day one. But he’s a perfect example of millennial fascism. Kylo Ren is the living embodiment of, “Cool story, bro. It’s still murder.”

But wait, wouldn’t that mean that Rey’s entire role in the movie basically focused on developing Kylo Ren as a character? It does, and you wouldn’t be wrong to think that way.

I was pretty checked out during the Rey/Ren scenes and was really hoping they would go nowhere. Which they did! Rey does the Luke Skywalker thing of trying to save the villain but the villain doesn’t want to be saved because he is the worst so she leaves him to his fate. Subverted!

The Kylo Ren I watched on screen is not sympathetic. He’s pathetic. Will that stop shippers from glorifying him? No, but Rey rejects Kylo’s millennial fascism our-version-of-Nazisim-is-different-we’ll-be-benevolent-violent-dictators bullshit outright, so they’re still stuck in la la land.

2) That characters have to be perfect for us to love them.

They don’t! Heroes are fallible! NO ONE IS PERFECT. We all have lessons to learn. The good guys in this movie learn their lessons and become more admirable. The bad guys (spoiler! Kylo Ren) do not learn their lesson and doom themselves. 

Finn:

Again, from the article:

Until The Last Jedi where Finn is again painted as selfish and cowardly, and the film does not shy away from this fact.

Here’s some meta I wrote about Finn’s arc in TLJ. Finn’s arc isn’t that he’s a coward who becomes brave. It’s that he’s mistrustful of causes. Why on earth should he put his life on the line for the Resistance? Finn sees the world as morally gray. He tries to leave in TFA because he wants to live and, after all the terrible things he’s been through, he deserves it. His arc is about coming to terms with his identity as “rebel scum.”

Not to mention, it’s Rose who ultimately has to teach Finn about the seedy belly of Canto Bight and how it operates: through slave labor. Another character shouldn’t have to explain to Finn, of all characters, the tortures and ills of slavery. After all, that’s the only life Finn’s known, taken as his family and raised in a life of servitude as a Stormtrooper to the First Order.

Rose doesn’t teach Finn about the horrors of slavery. She prompts him to see it under the glitz and glamour of a freedom he’s never gotten to enjoy. The instant Finn realizes that slavery and torture are behind Canto Bright he rejects the whole place. Precisely because he doesn’t need to be taught that. His experience of slavery is much more stark and, well, fascist than Rose’s. But he never tries to deny that they’re equally bad. 

Finn is tempted by the gray side. But Benecio’s character snaps him out of that funk right quick. He takes his place as a leader of the Resistance. Destiny doesn’t tell him he has to be. No one passes on the mantle. He figures out what his morality is and makes a stand. That’s heroic!

Poe:

Painting him as a cocky flyboy with a chip on his shoulder just doesn’t work when it goes against everything we’ve been told about his character. The “lesson” Poe was supposed to learn was one he already knew.

What do we learn about Poe in TFA? He’s the best and he has the ear of General Leia. The rest is fanon and outside texts that a fraction of the audience have read. Poe is reckless in the way that action movies reward all male heroes for being. 

I didn’t feel less sympathetic toward Poe because of this. The whole plot is predicated on the idea that the audience will be on Poe’s side and mistrust Holdo. Poe is the character we care about, so it’s a surprise to learn that he can be wrong. In that way, “the action-oriented hero saves the day” trope is deconstructed.

Is it done well? Eh. The Holdo plot was contrived. There needed to be a better reason to keep the info secret — some stuff about spies or whatever, fine. Make an effort. But Holdo’s mistake makes us more sympathetic to Poe, even though he’s wrong his heart was in the right place. 

That’s precisely why he is rewarded in the end with command of the entire Resistance from General Leia herself. He’s learned that the best strategy for the Resistance is not the one that does the most damage to the First Order — the Resistance protects its people whenever humanly possible.

This is the feminist (in the philosophical sense; not the guy vs. girl bullshit) identity of the resistance that sets it apart from the masculine military-industrial complex the film abhors: Life is sacred. But, as we learn through Finn’s arc, choosing to put your life on the line is a heroic act. And thus we have balance. Finn and Poe make some mistakes along the way, but they end up exactly where they should be: The Leaders of the Resistance.

Rose:

Despite Kelly Marie Tran’s boundless enthusiasm for her role, Rose Tico is ultimately underwhelming as a character. Despite mourning the death of her sister, her ultimate presence in the film seemed to be reduced to a girl with a bad crush on Finn.

No!!!!!! Rose is fabulous. Rose stands up for herself at all times. Rose goes from hero worship to taser in ten seconds flat. And yes tasering a black man is in horrible taste given the world we live in. What standing up to Finn demonstrates about her character is that she’s representative of Ride or Die Resistance. She knows the world and its horrors. She mourns her sister but she’s proud as hell. She understands she’s only a tech but when she has expertise in something she doesn’t let the two most famous men in the Resistance talk over her.

Her crush on Finn is active. When Finn disappoints her, her conception of him changes. When Finn amazes her, her feelings take root. She does something about her crush. She saves his life. She kisses him. Rey is no longer the center of Finn’s universe. His capacity care grows and he grows, too. He still feels for Rey, sure, but Rose Tico is amazing and he knows it and the audience knows it.

...

All that said.

I will acknowledge that it is entirely possible I’m giving the movie too much credit. Maybe I'm willfully interpreting things not as they were meant, but as I would like them to be.

But isn’t that how fiction works?

I’m not saying TLJ is a perfect film or I wouldn’t have wanted less Kylo (please, lord, give me less Kylo). I would never say that other people’s interpretation of the film’s racism and misogyny is wrong. I’m going to continue to read articles on this topic and educate myself and try to grow in my understanding.

But is it wrong to celebrate the message I left the theater with if I can point to concrete moments and ways I read it as progressive? Is it wrong for me to love these characters and see the best in their arcs?

[snokeslayer]

I've had a few people ask me via PM and text why it is that I really, really, really did not like The Last Jedi. So here's my list of pros and cons (not comprehensive, and after only one viewing). SPOILER ALERT --- IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LAST JEDI, DO NOT READ THIS POST. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. SCROLL RIGHT ON BY IF YOU DON'T WANT

BIG

FAT

LAST

JEDI

SPOILERS!

Okay.

I’m sure I’m forgetting both some positives and some negatives here, but here are my Pros and Cons of The Last Jedi.

PROS:

- Beautiful battle sequences. I loved seeing A-Wings. I loved seeing Kylo Ren pilot a TIE Interceptor. I loved the moment of silence when the ship is split in half. I loved seeing the red dirt under the salt on Cait as the speeders rushed past. The battles were top-notch. - The fight scene with Kylo Ren/Rey in the throne room was beautifully epic (except for how Snoke died)Amazing aerial and exterior shots of Ach-To (filmed on Skellig Michael in Ireland) - The Porgs were cute, if definitely created exclusively for merchandising. - Rey’s parents really did turn out to be nobody. - Kylo Ren going fully Dark instead of getting redeemed. The new dynamic where Hux is subordinate to Kylo Ren

CONS:

- The pacing felt awkward. The movie was wayyyyy too long and bloated with unnecessary subplots. - I simply did not like Rose Tico. She felt childish in all the wrong ways, and I think she was pigeonholed alongside Finn for *reasons* - The entire casino sequence felt entirely too human/Earthly. Aliens in tuxedos? No. There are no tuxedos in Star Wars. It didn’t feel like a cantina scene; it felt like James Bond.The score was, at best, “variations on some very good John Williams theses” but had absolutely no stirring moments that captured my heart the way the TFA soundtrack did with its most powerful moments. - Leia. Flying. Like. Superman. No. No. No. No. - Did I mention Leia flying through space? - One more time, let’s discuss Leia flying through space. - Saw Luke’s Force Projection fifteen minutes before it was revealed (no footprints in the salt) - The fact that one instance of Force Projection was enough to kill Luke Skywalker - Luke tossing the lightsaber away as for a cheap laugh when we ended TFA with the emotional cliffhanger of Rey holding it out to him. Would have been better for him to just walk away from Rey.So much of the “humor” felt forced, stilted, or actually counterproductive to the emotional gravitas of the film. “I’ll Hold for Hux” was the dumbest sequence I’ve ever seen in my life. The humor was cheap, cheap, cheap and there was wayyyy too much of it. - The overall tone and writing style of the film felt more like a Marvel film than a Star Wars film. - Snoke literally just kind of toppling over dead after failing to foresee the lightsaber strike against him was anticlimactic, to say the least. - (I feel stupid saying this but) shirtless Kylo Ren for the sake of shirtless Kylo Ren - The new Vice Admiral felt wildly out of place, both visually and in terms of character. I know why she was there, but I disliked her presence and found it jarring. Also, droids pilot ships all the time. A droid could have done what she did and the rest of her character’s actions could have been undertaken by Akbar (without killing him) - Yoda’s Force Ghost was too opaque - Why did Yoda blow up the tree if he knew (and he definitely did) that Rey had already taken the Jedi texts to the Falcon? I'm open to an explanation that I didn't receive. - Yoda’s speech pattern was inconsistent and didn’t match the “abnormal syntax” from Original Trilogy or Prequels Yoda.It’s been confirmed that Snoke was *not* a Sith, so their use of terminology like “master and apprentice” and “complete your training” is, at best, something needing explanation. - Benicio del Toro overacted his role. The stutter was too much. He was an interesting enough character without a speech tic. - Hux was cartoonish as a villain and implausibly incompetent given his extensive training by his father. - Phasma has now turned out to be the most useless POS character to ever be promoted by the actor in press junkets and have merchandise of her sold. I mean, she used a beetle to kill Brendol Hux, so that's cool, but all we ever saw was foot soldier stuff. And her dying line - "You were always scum" - and Finn's response, "Rebel scum," was fan-service to the point of cringing.

[telnaga]

subjective tlj opinions under cut

i think the arguments on how finn and poe were slighted hold water. TLJ had a lot of offshoot plotlines that were going everywhere all the time and just seemed to be saying too many things with too many pieces that didn’t fit. and they really did just kinda throw away all of finn’s growth from tfa to start over again in tlj?? the rose storyline was good with the wretched hive of scum and villainy being rich people. comrade rose. COMRADE ROSE. and the little kid pulling the broom to him at the end was arguably the most powerful scene in the whole movie. & the salt and red dirt planet scenes were beautiful. 

and for the leia/poe/uhhhhh purplelady storyline it rly kinda sucked and was weird, there was no reason for purplelady not to tell poe her plan, there was no reason for poe to do a good and justifiable thing and then have it turned around like “oh purplelady was right all along :) sweatie :)” unmmmmmgh. i really kinda feel like that was either entirely purposeless and out of nowhere, or something racist i dont know much about bc im white and not latinx. bad. also though, purplelady is leia’s girlfriend. thats facts

ok but as for the actual main storyline, the luke and ren and rey bits, i thought they were good. i thought THAT was a good story. it was about how you can recover from failure. how your past doesn’t define you. how it doesn’t define your future. how you have a CHOICE over who you are through what you do. luke’s not all powerful, infallible. kylo ren will never make a choice to be good. the skywalker line isn’t the only thing in the universe that matters. the jedi texts arent important, nor is the jedi order itself. (kinda subverted by rey taking them ... like uhhh... ok.) spaceyak tit bad, potential for reylo reading bad but not really on the fault of the movie itself but on ppl who will read reylo into it because this movie showed indisputably that kylo ren will never choose to be good, and so will never be redeemed. even when he turned on snoke it was not because snoke corrupted him, but because he was using him, and kylo wanted to be the one in charge. HOWEVER that whole scene and battle was fucking amazing absolutely stunning really incredible and good. their connection was good because i feel like rey really understands kylo ren, and allowed herself hope that that could mean he could be good. obviously it didnt, and shes always hated him, and she hates him even more now. but idunno how to explain it i just saw myself in rey a lot in that. wanting to give people even the smallest of chances bc you understand where they came from on some level, who they are. it also kinda somehow made me for the first time hope rey is related to the skywalkers on some level. because her relating to kylo would really just kindof completely mirror my life. you know.

point is, i liked it overall. definitely could use some work. but the rey parts? the luke parts? and by extension, the kylo parts? amazing. good. wonderful.

also kylo’s a good villain, a good character. i fucking hate him. hes awful, terrible, irredeemable. but thats why hes good. he completely mirrors that type of man that exists today and is often the greater evil. the man who feels persecuted through their own fault. who throws away everything good by choice. who grasps for a legacy that was nothing but lies and evil. who is volatile, violent, and certainly comes off as whiny and pathetic until they do something awful and youre reminded that doesnt make them less dangerous

[thetimelordbatgirl]

I pretty much dislike a lot of things sadly- like, the trailers had me screaming to kingdom come when they came out- my boy Finn fighting a abuser that hurt him, Rey getting training and Poe and Leia were awesome- but of course....good trailers often mislead really.

So of course- due to spoiler reasons, it'll be listed under read more:

*The biggest issue of the bat: the POC characters being sidelined in Rian's story almost here:

  -Finn, my boy, didn't even get much development here??? He was meant too apparently, closest we got was him declaring himself rebel scum to a dying Phasma? Like, okay....but again, we didn't have him develop to that as his arc from Force Awakens is recycled here- and his and Rose' mission barley got any time in the movie really.

 -Poe- lets recall: first movie and comics Poe: drinks respect woman juice every day of his life, will respect mom!Leia and would never be a hothead- now take every part of that away from him, make him a reckless hot head and take away his captain title and have him be slapped at one point by a white woman and be a hothead who disobeys orders but was somehow in the wrong.

 -Rose, OUR FIRST WOC LEAD IN STAR WARS PEOPLE....and shes treated like crap- seriously, shes made into a crazy character at first cause how dare she mourn her sister, shes used as a person to hate Finn at first, oh, and shes basically there as a No Homo relationship and along with Finn, her mission doesn't relate to the plot in the end- and she literally was in a coma at the end of the movie....we asked for this representation and were given nothing.

 -Characters like Paige Tico- killed off without no words despite being hyped up as important people.

*The racism continues when it comes to:

 -Having a white woman like Leia, whose meant to see Poe as a son apparently, hurt Poe for disobeying.

 -Having Rose and Finn slapped by neo-Nazis essentially and having them KNEEL before the neo-nazi's even.

 -....See Roses coma comment.

 -....See Paiges death comment.

*The treatment of woman in general is gross tbh:

 -Leia, our queen, our general, played by the late Carrie Fisher, deserved so much respect....but she ended up in a coma herself in the movie, and ended up being used a 'look feminism, shes putting Poe through pain!' tool, and wasn't even allowed to grief- this woman lost her husband and brother in a span of few days....but then she wasn't allowed to be human and mourn cause the rebellion.

 -Rose, again, see Roses comments above.

 -Same for Paige.

 -Phasma, made up to be some badass person, who could outdo Kylo almost here, could literally murder anyone even in a deleted scene where Phasma was meant to take out lives before dying....was killed off, so bye-bye.

 -REY- oh god, what did they do to her? In film 7, we saw her a tempered force user who can defend herself, only trusts people after a certain amount of time, and care deeply about Finn and call Kylo a Monster and beat him after he put Finn in a coma and then seek out Luke, looking hopeful- this film? BYE, SHES HERE TO BE A MANS MANPAIN AND SUFFER AT HIS HANDS- she gets gaslighted, mentally abused, rejected everywhere and by the end, is the Last Jedi, but at this rate, we left shell shocked Rian damaged such a strong female character just for a fucking man to develop, just for a neo-Nazi character to develop.

*What they did to Luke cause WTF. My man would NEVER consider killing a member of his own family, this is the same man that as a young man, believed there was hope in his father, who was pretty evil by then- but Rian....RIANS TELLING ME HE WOULD CONSIDER KILLING HIS NEPHEW JUST CAUSE THEY NEED SOME PATHEITC REASON TO PUSH KYLO UP- no, that's not my fucking Luke Skywalker- he would train Rey with such Joy, and be the one that hopes to bring his nephew back, not the other way- and his death? BULLSHIT.

*The lack of Lando? We have....no room for another MOC to return, but we have room for Luke drinking milk from monsters tittys and Kylos....shirtless scene- yeah, uh, I can see why there was no room.

*That fucking Shirtless Scene....WHAT EVEN WAS THAT SCENE- HE LOOKED LIKE CGI EDWARD CULLEN WITHOUT THE SPARKLES BUT WORSE.

*Snoke was in general built up to be a great villain, the ultimate evil who the new trio had to defeat.....wait nope, great evil can make force Skype but not sense hes about to be murdered- this is our great evil everyone.....

*That force skyping....THATS NOT HOW FORCE BONDS EVEN WORK-

*The fact that Rian went with Rey Nobody- Force Awakens laid out all the evidence for Rey Skywalker: the family lightsaber calling to her, her and Leia hugging despite never having met before in some sense, Kylo recognising her too, the fact that Homestead played when the lightsaber flew to her, the fact that she was dumped on a sand planet too, THE VISIONS SHOWING A SHIP FLYING AWAY AS REY AS A CHILD CRIES FOR THEM TO COME BACK- HOW DO YOU EVEN SAY HER PARENTS ARE DEAD ON JAKKU WHEN IT WAS SHOWN THEY FLEW AWAY AND NEVER CAME Back-

 -Though it was said by a villain so again, take Rey Nobody like it doesn't exist.

*Yoda Cameo.....I mean, you could have had Anakin Cameo...you know, a Jedi that generally gets the problems with the Jedi and therefore would know what to do, BUT NOOO....IT HAD TO BE YODA-

*Finnrey being apart for a lot of the film...until the end at least- I mean, Rian wasn't even trying there.

*The no homo with Finnpoe- really, half of the cast ships this ship, and Rian still screwed it over- we have no room for gay either now? Bullshit.

*The fact that the force was pretty much the YGO Season 4 seal of Orichachos here- made up bullshit as the story went on: you can float through space with it, force Skype essentially, fucking theres a grey side somehow now, PROJECT YOURSELF ACROSS SPACE AND THEN DIE BECUASE OF IT- this is YGO season 4 bullshit writing here.

*We meant to believe at the end that the new hope was a Luke Skywalker lookalike kid....instead of you know, a force senestive black kid or a force sensestive girl- but nope- its the white boy that's the new hope.

*The fact that even Mark and Daisy didn't like the movie speaks levels when a actor and actress dislike their own movie.

[missconduct]

As Strong as Darth Vader

<p>“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” (Yoda, 1980, The Empire Strikes Back). I usually don’t begin an essay with a quote but in this case I feel it’s important. My theory here is just a theory based on how I’ve viewed this story for 35 years. If you don’t agree it’s ok take it with a grain of salt, my friends in Star Wars fandom, because it’s not canon lol this is all in my head. I’m speculating how the story could go, and that’s part of the fun in this saga is speculation.<br>

  The first time I heard they were making a new trilogy I cringed as a lot of people did fearing the worst for a story I love so much. I didn’t read spoilers, or cruise YouTube looking for theory videos. I barely watched the trailer. In fact all I saw of the trailer was a few glimpses of Finn wielding the blue saber (only because I was already a huge fan of John’s because of his character in Attack the Block). I stepped into this new world not knowing anything. I didn’t even know who Adam Driver was. I didn’t even know there was a girl protagonist in the movie. My canvas of TFA was blank.

  As I watched the movie quite a few things caught me by surprise. I’ll quickly list them; Kylo as a villain, the interactions between Rey and Kylo (that’s a huge ass one), where the hell is Luke? The symbolism in the story as a whole, and my deepest one is Kylo’s obsession with his grandfather. As I watched the movie these things caught my attention because the rest of the story is (and I saw it admittedly) a re-play of the original trilogy (which I think was a strategy to play on the nostalgia of the original). It intrigued me intensely though because there were all these twists in it that were obviously not a copy cat of the original trilogy.

  As I sat in the theater watching it for the first time the scene when Kylo is speaking to Darth Vader’s helmet began. I watched this clearly conflicted, confused, lost villain pleading with a dead man’s helmet to, “show him again, the power of the darkness.” I literally said in a whisper under my breath, “this doesn’t make any sense to me??? Vader’s greatest moment of triumph, his greatest strength was his ability to turn back to the light side. He chose to be good again, to do the right thing, to save his son, his family, from the darkness. Why would this mask show him anything dark???” I didn’t like it at first. The scene made me feel so sad. It was as if Vader’s sacrifice meant nothing at the end of ROTJ. Like his greatest moment was forgotten in this new world.

   Then I saw this girl who I viewed as confused and lost as much as the villain was. Trying to come to grips with where her life was going. Should she stay and wait for her family? Should she finally accept whatever the truth was and move on? Then she hears a call. I thought it was interesting that the call was a little girls cries, almost as if her own loneliness were calling to her. She touches this long lost relic that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker, and her life takes a turn that is going to forever change her destiny.

  I’ve watched Rey’s force vision way too many times to count and the 2 things that are consistent in them that stood out to me were 1: Kylo Ren, and 2: various voices from the past echoing through the force. Now a lot of people think that these past voices are the individuals speaking directly to her, but I didn’t see it like that. Even though Obi-Wan says her name, it’s more like the force is speaking to her through the echo of past force users. This is important because I’ll bring it up again later.

  Through my journey with Rey, I saw her frightened and alone after the vision. I know Maz is trying to help her, but it might freak me out if someone had just made me come to the realization that my deepest fear was true. That I had to accept the people who were supposed to care about me and come back for me were never coming back. She’s afraid, she’s alone (Finn just abandoned her also. He’s leaving her to go to the outer rim territory.) She runs, and who does she run right into? Our strange lost Villain. At this point, I was really wanting to know who and what was under that mask. Remember spoiler free, didn’t even know who Adam Driver was.

  Then he sweeps her away “Bridal carry” style onto his ship, abducting her! That had me on the edge is my seat because that whole scene had me trying to figure out where this was going. Was he a man under that mask ? Or a monster? Was this an endgame romance or a creepy stalker crush?

  Then I witnessed the “interrogation scene.” This is the most important scene in the movie for me, and not for the reasons you might think. Yes, my jaw dropped and (despite my very good looking husband sitting right next to me ) I almost wet my pants when Kylo took off his mask. I turned to my daughter and whispered in an awestruck voice, “I think he’s the leading man. How about you?” My 13-year-old daughter’s reply, “omg mom, damn” and we laughed. Yes, there is a lot of incredibly hot, passionate, sexually charged shit going down in that scene! That’s not why it’s the most important scene for me. As I watched, this girl rise to the occasion and step up onto the equal ground with this boy, she said those famous words that helped me piece my headcanon puzzle together, “you, you’re afraid, that you’ll never be as strong as Darth Vader!”

  Now a lot of people don’t pay much attention to this line. They simply think it’s just her calling him out on being a Darth Vader fanboy. Maybe the writers were going that direction, but I don’t think so. When I first heard that line I whispered under my breath “oooooooo that was deep.” And in my head it made sense. That was a huge foreshadowing of Ben solos redemption, and the part this girl is going to play in it. This part of the movie is what drew me deep into the story.

  So I went back and saw the film 5 more times after that, in the theater. Then immediately pre- ordered my iTunes copy to be available for download as soon as it was available. I watched, and watched, and watched it again, and again. I could even watch it again today lol. It wasn’t enough. I kept wanting to know more. I started cruising and just looking through fan bases, but it looked like the things I wanted to talk about weren’t subjects that were well received, so I didn’t venture into joining or posting in any fan sites. Then I started cruising YouTube and came across this channel called Star Wars Connection and found a video titled, “Visual Storytelling in The Force Awakens.” Omg, these ladies understood me !!!! They understood everything I understood in the movie!!! And listening to them helped me develop my theory about Kylo’s redemption and the connection between Rey and Kylo-Ben.

  During the second part of this outstanding podcast, they briefly talked about Luke’s journey into the cave on Dagobah. In that scene, Luke is confronted by Vader when he cuts his head off, and the helmet explodes revealing Luke’s own face within the mask. It got me thinking about Luke’s greatest fear and how it related to Kylo. They are similar but different. Luke’s greatest fear was falling to the Dark side and becoming just like his father. Kylo’s greatest fear is the (I hope this is the correct term) subverted version of Luke’s, that he will never be as Strong as Darth Vader, that he will never be like him. Is it possible that part of what went down between Luke and Kylo has something to do with this fact? This is all speculation but it got me thinking that if there are similarities between Anakin and Kylo, then wouldn’t there be similarities between Luke and Kylo also? When Luke sees his face in the mask it scares him. Kylo wants to see his face in the mask.

  While thinking about Luke and Kylo it leads me to Rey. These three individuals are key to what this story really is about. It’s not about who Rey’s parents are or aren’t that is irrelevant. I’m sorry to all those anti-Reylo’s out there who are gunning for her to be a Skywalker or Solo but in my headcanon, she’s not. Her part in this story in my mind is clear. It was a passionately romantic love that started all this, and it will be a passionately romantic love that will end all of this. 

   Rey and Kylo have collided. I have seen a lot of speculation about whether or not they knew each other prior to their meeting on Takodana. Through all the speculation I’ve seen the only one that makes sense to me is that they have seen each other in dreams and visions. In the novelization, it even says that Rey knows this man from a dream or a nightmare. I believe she has had dreams of him her whole life. Which is why I think he smiles when he sees her image of an island. Anakin had dreams of people and future events, why can’t Rey. I believe Kylo has had dreams of her as well. In my headcanon dreams and visions are two different entities. A dream coming to you in your sleeping state, a vision coming to you through a waking moment through something else. Rey has visions of Kylo when she touches Anakin’s lightsaber in the castle. Is it possible that Kylo has had a similar vision of Rey? Someone speculated that maybe Kylo had Obi-Wan’s lightsaber somehow. (Thank you Rebel Scum Podcast for twisting my idea lol to present it as yours, but you got it all wrong) Kylo doesn’t need anyone’s light saber to have a vision of Rey. He has Anakin’s mask. Part of my speculation is that Vader/Anakin’s mask is Kylo’s transmitter for his force vision.

  Now I know a lot of people probably think of Vader’s mask as a Completely Dark side relic. I’m sorry though I don’t see it that way. Remember I told you that the first time I saw the movie while watching this scene I kept thinking that the mask was more a representation and symbol of Vader’s greatest strength and triumph. Think about Vader’s last moments while wearing the mask. The moment Luke told him he could feel the conflict in him, and he knew there was still good in him. His sadness feeling torn, watching the emperor torture his son, Padme’s son! almost to death. The pain he must have felt being torn apart between the dark and the light at that moment. Vader chucking the old guy over the railing into the abyss to save his family, to do the impossible, something that Yoda said couldn’t be done. He came back to the light. Even the walk with Luke carrying him to the shuttle. Still trying to save his father. Removing his mask peeling it off of his face so he could look at his son one last time with his own eyes. That mask in my opinion saw a lifetime of light before Vader/ Anakin passed away and became one with the force again. I view that mask as potentially being a grey instrument of the force. If the mask has given him visions both light and dark it would make sense that he would ask it to show him again the power of the darkness. A lot of people think that individual characters from the past are directly speaking to both characters, as I pointed out earlier. Could Kylo think that Vader speaks to him through the mask. Is it possible that this is just purely THE FORCE itself using voices of powerful Jedi of the past? The force is just using these voices as an echo to bring these two very powerful force, sensitive individuals, together. Why would the force will this?

  I try to clear my mind and recognize what Yoda says over and over numerous times in the saga. It is this entity that binds everything together. It has a will all its own. It calls those bound to it, it is a force sensitive beings choice if they will answer the call. If they will choose the light path or the dark. Perhaps there is a medium ground.

   No matter which religion it is there are light and dark sides to it. Without one the other cannot exist. In my theory the force is trying to bind Rey and Ben together, and yes I do believe it is trying to bind them together using a romantic passionate love. The evidence of this is clear in TFA. Kylo is already addicted to her presence. He can’t just hand her over to Stormtroopers like he did Poe, he has to carry her. He’s not trying to intimidate or frighten her. He takes off his mask for her. He speaks softly and calmly. I’m sorry but when I was growing up if my brother was interrogating me for any reason (Like where I hid the remote to keep him from changing the channel.) he was never nice, never calm, and it usually ended with blows aiming for the head or the gut, and furniture flying across the room, and the last person we wanted around was the other one. Kylo is not her brother or cousin. Sorry folks it’s not in the story. He wants her in his life! He pretty much begs her to let him teach her, he needs her in his life. Which is a big reason Otze’s essay about force bonds is now my favorite Star Wars Reylo essay. If they are related, I will still love it, because it’s Star Wars.The story can still be explored through different characters in a future trilogy, but I will be reading and writing tons of Reylo fan fiction to get over it lol!

  While I believe that Kylo will be redeemed through this love he has for Rey I do not know how it will end for him in my head. I do not think it’s going to end well for him. I see them both being bound together through the force and I think it’s very foretelling that each one has a connection to a relic that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker. The lightsaber was Anakin’s. He was the first to wield it. The mask also belonged to Anakin. Anakin is still being chosen by the force to achieve balance. Using relics of both sides of his life To bring these 2 people who share this connection in the force together. I think this could foreshadow one of them (probably Ben) making a self-sacrifice to save the other. I really don’t want that to happen though, I want Kylo to survive. Maybe going on a journey of penance, wandering the galaxy trying to help others to pay for his past. IDK if that will happen either but I’d love that, and it could spark an animated series. (lol)

  I believe it’s possible. As many have said in fandom his character still has a lot of growing up to do. I’m so on the edge of my seat to watch that unfold. I want to know if in the end, he will fulfill his ambition and his destiny and truly become “As Strong as Darth Vader!”

 I went on for a long while now and I hope my day dream about this awesome passionate story made people think, maybe even daydream a bit themselves. I’m sure I’m probably completely wrong about this whole headcanon of mine lol (@Scavengershoard ) Like Rachel and Kirsty are always saying though it’s always fun to speculate. Have a great rest of your weekend everyone and thanks for reading

Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think(Please be kind though, do unto others right!) ❤️⭐️

[disneydatass]

Wait, did you end up seeing tlj? If you did, would you mind sharing your thoughts?

yes i saw it. i’m not sure if you wanted just a general “was it good or bad” kinda thing or a deep analysis; so I'm gonna put all my thoughts under the cut. major spoilers @ anyone who hasn’t seen the film don't read.

•okay so starting off the film with the space battle instead of rey/luke i didn’t mind; however >3 minutes into the film and that real cheesy humor/bit with general hux felt so out of place...obviously the previous trilogies had humor laced throughout it but idk that bit just seemed like 5 year old childish humor?? not a major offense but again for the start of the film i hard warning bells going off already

• sassy poe, and leia not having any of his shit (but secretly loving it because it reminds her of han) i SO APPROVE/LOVE

• Leia is such a badass ilhsm!!! The whole using the force to vacuum suck herself to safety was beautifully shot and seeing it in 3D just added to the experience of not only this scene but the whole film

• Although obviously i don’t want leia to die, her not dying in this episode has me majorly concerned for how they are going to send her off in episode 9 (i know no one predicted carrie to leave us which is why they didn’t kill her off in this film) but i just so hope that they do my girl justice in the final piece of this trilogy 

•  I LOVE ROSE TICO

•no really, i just love her.

• Finn and rose’s whole adventure to cantonica (the las vegas casino planet) i liked and appreciated how it paralleled the greed and cruelty of people with money and how they obtained it that currently goes on in real life

• again not to sound like a broken record with words but i LOVE PHASMA SHE IS SO BADASS

• however i feel like that fight scene did not do either finn or phasma justice at all. i was more than ready to see finn “win” against his former boss but to have phasma just fall off a broken cliff essentially after only a few hits by finn left me a little disappointed. Again phasma was just so cool but finn’s rebel scum line was great

• Finn going in to sacrifice himself at the end was going to have me enraged, but rose putting a stop to all that bullshit was so needed. what was not needed tho was that kiss! not that i have anything against the ship (because i know that finnpoe is dream i will never live to see) the romantic relationship/kiss between them felt totally forced (ha..)

• Kylo is a whiny emo baby that i can not stand and hollywood owes me 10 grand for having to see a pale chicken in black tights

• Snoke felt like an absolute waste of a character. Obviously idc enough about him and i didn’t want him to live but he had so much build-up that his death felt anti-climatic (for a nerd comparison it felt exactly like what the 1oo did to the ice queen)

• Kylo killing the very mentor that everyone said was behind his darkness proved that kylo is beyond redemption tho so i am glad that they are continuing that he is villain because him all of a sudden turning good would be too unrealistic

• Kylo and Rey’s force skypecall/bonding was beyond terrible writing. The dialogue was so awkward/cringe on a galactic level 

• Rey going into the cave of darkness with that black mirror imagery was really cool visually but also left me feeling like “wtf was the point of that?” when there was no reveal

• It’s still hard for me to believe that Rey’s parent’s are just piece of shit nobodies. Everyone was waiting for something that we didn’t get. (idk if there is a bigger metaphor here saying that you don’t need to come from somewhere to be somebody but again it felt like they were building to something greater and didn’t deliver)

• LUKE SKYWALKER’S STORY ARC W.T.F.

• The entirety of the original star wars trilogy is that luke has an unwavering sense of moral good. He could not kill his father even after everything he has done, so to have him even attempt/think to kill his nephew felt so uncharacteristic (but i guess that was a plot twist they were going for??)

• Luke going back to farming on an island felt like a full circle moment from where he began and having yoda come back and burn sacred shit and making fun of luke i thought was a good callback to the originals 

• THE ENTIRE BATTLE ON CRAIT WAS PERFECTION

• Kylo trying to wipe out his sassy gay uncle to absolutely no avail was SO FANTASTIC

• I knew that something was going down when luke showed up with darker and shorter hair so i wasn’t surprised by that reveal of holographic force power but still---

• MY BOY KICKED ASS WHILE DOING YOGA FROM A PLANET AWAY

• Him evaporating after using so much force power felt like obi-wan in a new hope so i was satisfied with that ending (and i’m glad he got to reunite with leia before leaving)

• REY SLAMMING THE FALCON DOOR/CONNECTION ON KYLO FELT SO GOOD YALL

• The little boy with jedi powers and having hope was a good closing shot (it felt like they were trying to imply that like rey he doesn’t come from much but is extremely strong with the force--i know they are doing this just so they can make 20 more movies but still)

• With all that being said i did like it better than the force awakens and luke’s message of finding the in-between of good and bad is the perfect metaphor for how this film left me feeling