#set during the battle with Darth Vader at the end of fallen order

[dragonpyre]

Have some low quality art of the only Jedi ever (for @ironhoshi)

[anakinisvaderisanakin]

When Conviction Fails - Darth Vader POV post ESB Fic

Vader was a man of conviction, as far as he saw it. As was expected of any successful Sith Lord; letting the emotions rule and take full control without ever truly allowing them to conquer you. Using fear to his advantage, using rage to gain power, and pain to enhance said power. It had taken two decades to come to this point. Wavering was expected early on; during the initiation towards the Rule of Two. Vader himself had started out with an unquenchable fury in his soul, and a fresh open wound where heart used to be.

When She died, She had taken his compassion with her. She had grasped at the hand of his spirit, and all that he stood for as The Jedi. As Her life withered away, so did all that was good inside him. Left was only an empty shell of suffering; of agony. What was left, he had deplored. In the remnants of the man that had once been; all that he loathed came to light.

And with the passing years, while the pain never faded completely; it had shifted. From a sharp, searing red hot poker constantly burrowing its way deeper into his side; to a dull, distant ache only there to make its presence known. To make sure it was never forgotten, as a cruel reminder. But no longer at the forefront of his mind.

Eventually, it became enough to numb any other emotion. The remorse over the way in which he had, directly or not, caused Her death was enough to daze and desensitize any other reprehensible act he may commit himself to. The slaughter of innocents, of civilians, of women, of children. All in the name of justice, all in the name of the Empire. It weighed little on his conscience. Why should the blood on his hands matter? If he could kill the person he loved the most, and still go on albeit as an empty shadow of his former self - what did it matter who else joined Her beyond the grave?

Except, he hadn't killed Her.

It had been the first thing Palpatine revealed to him; as his severely burnt and scorched flesh still stung and charred within the fresh confines of its haphazardly crafted life support system. As he was still confounded regarding what was real, and what was a waking nightmare. Trapped within the suit that would become the prison of his own making.

“You killed her,” Palpatine had rasped.

Those were his Master’s words. His only explanation. Insinuating that Vader had for one crucial moment lost control, lost his mind; and subsequently ended the one person he'd fallen so far from grace to save. The one soul he had been so desperate to salvage that he had willingly sacrificed his morals, and his very identity, if only to reach for that tiny sliver of hope Palpatine had dangled in front of his nose.

‘But I didn't kill Her.’

If he had killed Her, there would be no child. His son - their son - would have died with Her, still in the womb. Would have been buried alongside his mother in the Naberrie family tomb on Naboo. Would have never seen the light of day, never grown into the bright, promising young man who had destroyed the first Death Star. Would never have been named, never have been hidden away, never have been living life peacefully unaware of his heritage in the shadows of the Empire for nearly twenty years.

But he was alive.

Luke had changed everything.

The discovery of his existence had been like a slap to the face, like a stupefying wakeup call. Like Vader had found himself dunked beneath the icy cold waters of truth, forced to realize the bleak reality. Forced to realize that the one person he’d been blindly clinging to in this world, was even cruel than he could ever have anticipated.

Palpatine had lied to him.

Perhaps, Vader had indeed inadvertently caused Her demise - but She had lived long enough to birth their son. She had not died on Mustafar, She had not been strangled to death by the invisible hand of his Force choke. She had survived long enough to set their only child to the world. Long enough to name him Luke; granting him the name She had picked out for their child if it were a boy from the very beginning of Her pregnancy.

She had been right.

The Jedi had been convinced that their child would be a daughter, She had been adamant it was a son. Their son. Luke Skywalker. Named by his mother, bearing the stark reminder of who had fathered him.

‘Luke.’

Dark, shaggy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The same hard, defiant conviction in his eyes as his mother’s hazel ones had carried. He'd inherited The Jedi's facial features; the same angular boyish face, the same dimpled chin; the same complex. But his spirit was that of his mother's. Burning like a furnace flame, fighting for what he believed was right with a conviction only death could steal away from him. Vader had hoped Luke would be more like himself; easier to break, easier to manipulate, easier to steer in the direction he'd have liked. He had wished he himself could mislead, and pull the strings as well as Palpatine had, some twenty years ago when The Jedi had become tangled in the Emperor's web of lies. Trapped like a fly, to be feasted upon by the ravenous spider.

But Luke was different.

Luke was sensitive, emotional, vulnerable and desperately searching for a way to bond with his long lost father. The Jedi would have recognized himself in those qualities; would have appreciated the similarities. Luke had been deluding himself into expecting a heroic fantasy, envisioning his absent father as one of the men who had singlehandedly led the opposition of what would become the Empire. A as beacon of hope. Instead, he had found himself saddled with the knowledge of what had truly become of The Jedi who had sired him.

Vader clenched his gloved hands into tight fists; the visual memory of Luke's hard set, intent expression as he let go of the ledge still etched into his mind. Blue eyes cold as ice; denying their familiar relations despite knowing very well how the Force did not lie. His Force signature bursting with mistrust, and contempt.

But Luke had lived.

For a short moment, as he watched Luke fall; Vader had been unexpectedly reliving the pain of that moment he came to his senses while still strapped to the operation table, as he broke free from his makeshift shackles.

Crippled; less than half the man he'd used to be. More cybernetics and machine, than flesh and blood. Reaching for Force powers he could no longer tap into; taunting him by remaining just out of reach. He was reminded of crumbling to the harsh floor, beneath the load of his own reconstructed body’s weight; of the searing pain as his respirator attempted to match his sobs with its own periodically synchronized breath cycles.

The physical torment, while a menace in its own right; bearing no likeness to the mental anguish of his breakdown. It had stabbed viciously at his already blackened heart, until nothing but a mangled piece of malformed meat remained; the pang in his chest as he watched the last link to Her fall to his doom bringing it back as a distant echo. He was choosing death over his own father, just as She had chosen death over him and the Empire.

But Luke had survived, by some miraculous whim of the fates. The will of the Force, perhaps. Still in denial; still battered, bruised and disabled. Doomed by his own father to experience the same loss of a limb that Count Dooku had once bestowed upon The Jedi.

The Jedi had been bereft of a right arm; Luke merely of his right hand. It had been a selfish, wicked way of attempting to have his son experience the same indescribable humiliation. Stripped of a part of himself; at the hand of an enemy he had been rushing unprepared to face. Overconfident; in over his head. With this, Luke had learnt never to throw himself head first into a battle he was not equipped to win.

But at what cost?

Vader found himself glaring out into the vast black void ahead of the Executor; clutching at the distant mental link humming between them for a brief moment - like a flicker of light before going out in an instant. Luke was too far away to read; as his signature disappeared along with his ragtag crew of rebels. The Princess no doubt on-board; Vader could tell. Ironic, how it had been her saving his skin this time around.

Still, he felt the frustration bubble up inside. Felt it mingle with the fury; with the disappointment. Despite the carefully calculated trap he'd set, the way it had played out all in his favour until that last moment where Luke broke protocol. His reaction had aligned with none of the scenarios Vader had prescribed beforehand. It had failed; he had failed - and Luke was gone. Just like his mother.

Vader knew he shouldn't be surprised.

Everyone had left him for dead. Whenever he’d dared to love, dared to trust, dared to open up and be vulnerable and sincere - it had been for naught.

Mother, watching with glassy dark eyes when he turned to peer at her over his shoulder one final time; ever the terrified little boy as he left Tatooine behind. The boy who believed the Jedi order would help him free her. Instead; it had kept him from saving her. The last time he’d seen her before her demise; he was only nine years old. She’d been all he knew. Albeit without intention of hurting him, and beyond her own control; Shmi Skywalker had passed away in his arms to leave him alone. Had torn the first hole in The Jedi's heart; had triggered the first act of rampant, blind revenge. His first step towards his dark fate.

“I’m so proud of you, Ani,” she had breathed; as the life left her eyes.

Ahsoka had followed; abandoning him for her own selfish reasons. Walking away from him, dismissing his importance in her life and the value of the lessons he had taught her; the value of their bond. She had made it clear he was never going to be enough; had turned him down despite his pleading, his admission that he understood her feelings better than anyone. The Jedi had failed his padawan, the only one to believe in her innocence and to what end? Ahsoka had still turned him down.

“..And without you,” she had whispered.

Obi Wan was next in line; siding with the maniacal teachings of the Jedi order. Fighting to avenge them - all the while outright lying to his face, trying to trick him into believing he could still return to him. Trying to make The Jedi believe that his former master had ever considered him a brother. That they were ever more than merely master and apprentice; that The Jedi was never the burden or a disappointment he’d felt he was. That he was important to Obi Wan, too, in a way he had never outwardly expressed. That Obi Wan, who never formed attachments after what happened to the Duchess of Mandalore; had been so overtly attached to him.

“I loved you,” he had sobbed.

And then Her; who had turned down his offer of keeping Her by his side. Turned down the offer to become untouchable, as his Empress. Betrayed him, in spite of all he had sacrificed for Her. He had killed younglings for her. His brothers and sisters; his entire life slaughtered in the crumbling ashes of the burning Jedi Temple. To learn the ways of the Dark Side, to join the Sith - to keep Her from dying. And She had thanked him by rejecting him; by claiming She could not follow him anymore.

“I love you,” she had cried; and for the first time in his life - he didn’t believe her.

Now, Luke had chosen to stride the same path. Selfish, like Ahsoka. He too believing in the lies Obi Wan had fed him. Believing himself too virtuous, too pure just like Her. Believing that any lives he had taken in the name of the Rebellion - and his misplaced sense of civil justice - to be easier to explain away, than those his father had claimed. But in a way, Vader supposed it was no surprise Luke took after his mother. His son’s intentions were fair, his sacrifices rational. She had been pure, and good; though She was not fully innocent in the wake of the war, either; she had known where She stood.

Luke had inherited the same sense of morality, the same hunch for standing up for the weak. Standing up against the Empire, as a way of breaking free; of fighting back against the leading elite. Although, his desperation to make a difference and be of importance mirrored that of The Jedi.

Vader had sworn before the battle at Bespin that Luke would be turned. But could he?

Luke was still but a youth; still naive and starry eyed - despite some of that innocence being ripped away in the very moment Vader had revealed to him the truth. But he was secure; he was so steadfast in himself and who he perceived himself to be. The Jedi had been going astray when he was the same age; his fears and insecurities eating him alive. Luke was already an adult; had already defeated his demons.

“I am your father,” Vader had said to him.

The response he’d received was that of Luke crying out in agony, in begrudging despair. All the while knowing that the grim revelation was nothing but the truth. Perhaps Luke would now see that the line between good and evil; right and wrong was not as straight as he had supposed. It was a blurry, tangled mess; the road to hell paved with good intentions. Vader's own road to hell surely had been. But Luke was paving his very own road elsewhere, it seemed.

Still, it stung Vader’s damaged eyes. The rage swelling in his chest; filling the empty void of broken, shredded pieces of what was once his heart. For a second, the shade of glowing amber that coloured his eyes a sickly, Sith yellow faded. Gave way for a pale, tired blue. Bleached by the scorching flames of Mustafar’s lava streams. The same blue eyes The Jedi had once sported. The same blue eyes his son now possessed. Vader shook his head in frustration, and in an instant the shift was reversed. The embers of his fiery stare bleeding through, devouring the remnants of The Jedi resurfacing.

Or, so he would have hoped.

But the pulsating ache inside; dull and sharp as a blade all at once, remained. Vader knew the feeling; recognized the emotion he’d thought long gone. One that had been numbed and buried deep for so many years; underneath the heaps and drones of twisted, lifeless bodies of his victims.

Remorse.

Regret.

Guilt.

Remorse, for the way in which he had handled his first meeting face to face with his son after he had learned the truth of their connection. Regret, for the way in which he had physically, and mentally, snuffed out some of the light of hope previously clear in Luke's bright blue eyes. Guilt, over the fact that he had purposely driven a wedge between them himself; much like he had done between himself and Her. He found he knew no other way.

Vader pursed what was left of his charred lips behind the face plate. He glared at the distant stars, sparkling like burning orbs against the inky sky behind them. Spanning eons of light years ahead. Filling the distance between himself and Luke, making it palpable. Tangible.

He despised Obi Wan for lying to his son. Despised the way in which he had deluded Luke into believing in a childish fairytale. Despised him for telling Luke that his father was dead, that his father was now unreachable.

‘But is that not what you tell yourself?’

Vader turned his head to the side, as if to deny the suggestion. Still, the quiet voice nagging at the back of his head would not be silenced.

‘Do you not constantly tell everybody that Anakin Skywalker is dead? That you destroyed him? Is that not what you tell yourself? Luke is not your son; he's The Jedi’s son.’

‘Luke is my son. My flesh and blood. Mine alone,’ Vader shot back silently; his inwardly projected diction a sharp hiss of a threat; angled towards the defiant part of his own psyche.

‘Then, you must also admit that you are Anakin Skywalker.’

‘His name means nothing to me.’

‘Then, Luke Skywalker cannot be your son.’

‘He is.’

‘Then, you are indeed Anakin, and you accept that as the only truth.’

‘I am not The Jedi; he was weak and foolish. I destroyed him and his pathetic legacy, he is nobody now. He is nothing.’

‘You cannot claim Skywalker as kin, if you do not acknowledge your own identity.’

‘Silence!’

‘Silence will accomplish nothing. It is too late to undo what you have revealed to yourself.’

Vader forcefully ignored his own intrusive thoughts; locking them back away inside the darkness of his past where they could not bother him.

But weren’t they right?

If Luke was indeed his son; did that not mean that The Jedi had never fully died? How could he be a different man, a separate entity, if he recognized The Jedi's son as his son?

‘And Luke is my son. My son, and he belongs to me. With me.’

He could feel it in his bones; could feel it as deeply as he felt the tendrils of the Dark Side surging through him. As deeply as he felt the connection to his own Force sensitivity, to his own memories of Her. Vader had loved Her - loved Her still - and She had been but the wife of The Jedi. If he thought of Her as his beloved, as his everything; did that not mean he must recognize himself as unchanged? A broken shell, a faded shadow of who he had once been. But the same nonetheless.

A fleeting image of Her passed before Vader’s inner vision. Her kind hazel eyes, full of mournful sorrow. Her silky brown hair, falling in springy curls over Her pale shoulders. His betrayal had destroyed Her; had ripped Her from him. How could he ever repent for that? His eyes prickling; Vader snarled silently to himself - deformed face contorting into a visage of hollow, yet overwhelming anguish.

The Jedi had known that what he had done was wrong; as soon as he stopped to think about it. Had known the lives he'd taken could never be accounted for, could never be justified. That, much as he liked to think killing the younglings had set them free from a cruel fate of being twisted by the unkind religion of the Jedi Order; he had been ridden with the burden of their murder. He had locked that knowledge away; had forced himself to deny its meaning.

Still, now, he was not as sure anymore. He found himself wavering; suddenly not as certain of his future as he had once been. Not as convinced of his purpose to suffer for eternity, while bringing upon others the same torment. Vader didn't even take note of the wetness pooling at the corners of his bloodshot yellow eyes until one lone tear broke free to trail down the grooves of his wretched face.

Only then, did the shock seep in.

When had he last cried? Had it been on Mustafar, after he had slayed the Separatists and the realization of what he had just committed himself to came crashing down on him? Had it been when he learnt of Her demise seconds hand after the brutal life saving ordeal, merging the bodily torture with the psychological agony? Had it been when Ahsoka swore to him that she would not leave his side this time, despite knowing what he had done as Vader? Had it been when he found Obi Wan's tattered robes were all that remained of the old man he had struck down, thinking it would bring him peace but finding himself stricken only by grief? Had it been the last time he was reminded that everything he felt, everything he stood for - everything he believed - came from The Jedi?

Luke knew who his father was.

Knew who he was; knew what he was. Despite having his world toppled over and turned on its head; despite trying to deny it. Vader had denied the same fact for so long, that he had almost forgotten where the line he'd forged between what he considered to be The Jedi and himself was drawn. All he knew for certain, was that Luke was his son. And if he wanted to cling to that one scrap of light; there were so many horrendous actions he needed to take responsibility for as well.

The Jedi had never truly died. The Jedi had only ever evolved, had only ever changed as life itself changed and formed him into a dark dealer of vengeance. Had been molded by the path he chose, and by the people he’d loved and lost. Had been hollowed out; until only the carcass remained.

It was The Jedi that had killed Her; he had stolen Her will to live, he had snuffed out Her longing for peace.

It was The Jedi that killed Ahsoka; having zero quells with beheading her as soon as she denied him what he wished for; denied him her allegiance.

It was The Jedi that had killed Obi Wan; striking him down after convincing himself that the blame was all on him, and that it would diminish with the death of his former Jedi Master.

Now, they remained lingering in his peripheral like translucent specters. Like a haunting reminder of how he may never escape. May never forget. May never be able to fully buy into his own lies. May never be forgiven.

The Jedi - Anakin - was still very much alive. Not thriving, but crumbled to the bare bones of a forsaken human being. Beaten down by life, enslaved by one person after the other. But he had a son.

As another tear trailed lazily down his cheek; Vader flinched. The sensation overwhelming him, a mixture of heavenly relief and excruciating devastation. It seemed one may never appear without the other in its tow. The name of The Jedi was supposed to mean nothing to him; was supposed to be an empty callback to a past long since abandoned and overcome. Was supposed to be a distant remnant of a man that no longer breathed. In itself, that was true from a certain point view.

But if it had truly meant nothing, it would never have stung the way it did whenever uttered for Vader to hear. When She said it. When Ahsoka said it. When Obi Wan said it. Whenever it was uttered, it would bring forth all the suffering The Jedi had caused. And all the contempt The Jedi harboured towards his own visage. Therein lay the answer.

‘I am Luke’s father. Luke is my son. I am Darth Vader.’

‘And Anakin Skywalker,’ the pestering murmur of his inner voice whispered.

Anakin no longer had the strength to suppress, or deny that statement.

--------------

Can be found on my Ao3 below, repost from my original acc.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24048643

[perfectlywisedelusions]

The Clone Wars Finale Is Amazing (spoilers)

The entire finale (and even the episodes leading up to it) is great. Spanning four episodes in ATLA style (no surprise with ATLA producer Dave Filoni working on it), the Clone Wars finale is amazing. Not only is the buildup to Order 66 executed perfectly, but the music and color palette perfectly complement everything. With excellent foreshadowing and enough action to keep audiences engaged, the two episodes prior and the first two episodes of the finale, revolving around Darth Maul and Ahsoka’s battle on Mandalore set everything up perfectly. The haunting beginning of Order 66 and Ahsoka’s battle to stay alive continues through episodes 11 and 12, culminating in the destruction of the cruiser she was on thanks to the power of Maul. The best (and most heartbreaking) moments are the final ones, with Ahsoka standing amongst the debris of the ship, in front of the recovered helmets of the Clone Troopers who perished. This moment is especially powerful to fans of the show, who had come to know the clones as ready friends to the main characters. To see their deaths, which were representative of the widespread deaths of the clones and Jedi throughout the galaxy, was very powerful. Ahsoka then drops her lightsaber, a symbol for her ability to let go of her Jedi past and move on to a new future. We then see Darth Vader some time later, at the same wreck. He picks up Ahsoka’s lightsaber and activates it. Not only is this a painful reminder of the man Vader once was, it also illustrates how much he cared for Ahsoka, his pain in believing that she was dead and is symbolic of his ties to the past. His decision to keep the lightsaber indicates that he is bound by the past, and that will eventually be his downfall. But the best shot is the one following that, the shot of the helmet of a Clone Trooper. It’s alone, fallen off it’s stake, broken, and weather-beaten. Vader leaves this helmet behind, and it remains as the sole reminder of the Clone Wars. The men who wore those helmets have now been forgotten, as have the details of the Clone Wars. The lone helmet represents the end to the Clone Wars, their legacy, and their characters. It’s a beautiful and symbolic way to end a show called the Clone Wars. (And I also cry nonstop during the last ten minutes.) (Also a shoutout to Darth Maul destroying the hyperdrive, because he is ridiculously powerful and that was epic).

[swgoji2001]

My Thoughts on Jedi Fallen Order

So after upgrading to a new, stronger laptop (pretty sure my stupidity in attempting to run this game on my old laptop hastened its tragic, untimely demise), I finally finished Jedi Fallen Order last night. I had mixed feelings going into this game, as I have some friends who said it was amazing while others said it was a mediocre story with decent gameplay.

Now after playing, was it the greatest Star Wars game I’ve ever experienced? No, but it was very good. Some minor gripes here and there, but overall I had a blast playing the game.

Warning: Some spoilers will be included, I’ll try to keep them as minor as possible though.

Story:

So I’m not gonna go overly deep into the story as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who still hasn’t played the game, but to be honest I found the plot of Fallen Order to be a bit generic at first. It’s a classic light side vs dark side narrative with a redemption arc or two sprinkled in. In fact, I found the plot of Fallen Order to be quite similar in structure to the Disney Trilogy. Both have MacGuffin hunts (holocron and wayfinder), both include journeys to different planets following the trail of someone else (Eno Cordova and that one assassin dude mentioned in IX), both have mentors who have distanced themselves from the Force (Cere and Luke), and both have antagonists who were failed by their masters (Trilla and Kylo). 

Fallen Order splits off from this more generic route after returning to Dathomir and does it’s own thing, but I found myself asking why I enjoyed the first 75% or so of Fallen Order when I absolutely hated the DT. I found the answer to lie mainly in two things: the characters and the world they found themselves in.

Characters:

Cal Kestis: I absolutely loved Cal’s character arc. He has his own deep personal struggles with his past, feeling responsible for the death of his master. He faces those fears and comes to terms with his past, determined to make a better future. Cal not only comes out of his journey a Jedi Knight, but as a stronger person. Compare this to Rey, who had no meaningful flaws or personal struggles. Plus Cal’s the first ginger Jedi! Score one for diversity!

BD-1: My fourth favorite Star Wars droid, only behind HK-47, KOTOR 2′s T3-M4, and K-2SO. He’s cute, adorable, and loyal to a fault. What more could you ask for in a droid? (Other than a tibanna-powered blaster rifle and a bloodthirsty, anti-meatbag personality of course!) Plus there’s a revelation about his history towards the end that only makes him better and better.

Cere Junda: Star Wars has always had its mentor characters, but in all honesty I found Cere to be pretty generic. A Jedi Master who failed her Padawan and touched the dark side, only to be horrified by it and renounce the Force. Throughout learning her story, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had already seen something like this before. Her arc isn’t bad, it’s well done and feels natural to her character, it was just rather generic.

Greez Dritus: Gotta say Greez grew on me as the game went on. He has his flaw in his gambling problem which bites Cal in the ass a couple times, but towards the end I really felt the connection between him and the others grow. He’s also the source of a good deal of humor.

Nightsister Merrin: Sadly, Merrin being an eventual ally was spoiled for me, but I love the subversion because it was built up that she would be an eventual boss fight. Merrin might be my favorite character besides Cal, I wish there were more interactions with her in game! She’s hot, has a great accent, a wicked sense of humor, and is powerful with Nightsister magick. But beyond all that, she’s a parallel to Cal. Both are survivors, the last of their kind, and I’m hoping that if a sequel is made, it goes deeper into their relationship because Merrin and Cal have great chemistry. I also love how Merrin challenges Cal and Cere’s plan to train the next gen of Jedi using the holocron, putting that idea in a more realistic, less idealistic light.

Prauf: I really feel bad for him. I liked him and you could feel the camaraderie between him and Cal, how he wanted Cal to succeed and do great things. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.

Oggdo Bogdo: Fuck this frog! He killed me so many times!

Trilla Suduri (Second Sister): The Jedi Padawan that felt betrayed by her master and became an inquisitor. I always love it when antagonists have a personal connection to the protagonists in some way, shape, or form. Trilla shakes Cal’s faith in Cere, and plants seeds of doubt in him. She wants revenge and the Emperor’s favor, and therefore we know why she chases Cal across the galaxy. She has motivations for all her actions, which is something that Kylo lacked in the DT.

Taron Malicos: I knew something was off about this guy the second I met him. I quite enjoyed the clash of beliefs between him, Merrin, and Cal. Malicos proposes a way forward, a new Jedi Order, but one founded on darker teachings. He offers Cal that power, but Cal proves his stature as a Jedi in refusing it.

Ninth Sister (Masana Tide): Probably the weakest of the villain characters for me. Ninth barely has any presence in the game at all other than the start and to serve as a boss battle on Kashyyyk. I honestly just don’t think she fits into the story as is. Perhaps if they tweaked it so that Ninth and Cal knew each other back before Order 66 she would have fit better. Ninth just doesn’t have any personal connection to Cal and the Mantis crew (like Trilla does) and doesn’t really serve as a trial like Malicos does. Remove her from the story and not much changes.

(If you somehow haven’t had this next one spoiled yet, I’m impressed. Please skip to ‘World’ if so)

Darth Vader: I absolutely loved how he was portrayed. A terrifying, unstoppable force. You won’t last in a fight with him, your can only hope you can outrun him.

World:

Fallen Order’s worldbuilding was on point. Cal’s ability to sense Force Echoes lets you get a more detailed understanding of the environment around you. It’s a small-scale Star Wars story, but the planets all feel lived in if you take the time to explore them. It’s the small details like the probe droid witnessing your initial use of the Force on Bracca or the side-stories you can discover like the tragic tale of the family running from the Empire on Zeffo or Malicos’ corruption and manipulation of Merrin that really flesh out the world. Compare this to the galactic-scale story the DT told, which somehow made the galaxy feel extremely small and uninteresting.

My only complaint with the world-building is the Zeffo. They’re just... there. Very little is explained about them. Who were they? Why were they important? What happened to them? Why did they disappear? Perhaps this was to leave room for a sequel but to me the Zeffo just felt like discount Rakata. I wish the devs had gone with the Rakata instead, but maybe that’s just me.

Also the wildlife on every world is more than capable of killing you if you aren’t careful so you almost always have to be on your toes for them, which rolls us into the next part...

Gameplay:

The gameplay was great fun in Fallen Order. Leveling up and unlocking new abilities was exciting and once I got the hang of them all, it was so much fun just cutting through your enemies. I played on Jedi Master difficulty (died approximately 75 times, give or take a few I may have missed) and it felt really well balanced. It forced me to study my opponent’s moves and adapt to them instead of being a hack-and-slash type of game. Combos are fluid and fun to pull off, parrying opponents leaves an opening to attack, and you can experiment with different fighting styles.

Customizing your lightsaber and appearance was also great fun. So many different options and combinations for everything! Plus you got rewarded for exploration with these extra customization options, so it adds incentive to do that if you care about appearances and whatnot. You can become the General Grievous of ponchos!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Overall Fallen Order was a great game that could have been even better. Of course I have to admit I’m looking at this through the nostalgia of games like KOTOR 2, which flipped Star Wars completely on its head. I would have preferred if Cere’s story had been a bit more nuanced, the Ninth Sister had more reason for being in the story, or if the game had Cal seriously question the use and role of Jedi in the galaxy (he does a couple times to BD-1, but it’s never really built on).

And then there’s my overall gripe about this type of story set after Order 66. It sets up questions like... where was Cal during the OT? Was he dead? Somewhere in the Unknown Regions doing something else? I know the ending of the game sets up the opening for Cal’s story to continue, but still, these types of stories usually end in death for the Jedi protagonist, so I am a bit nervous for his future.

Despite that though, I am super happy I finally decided to play this and am eagerly awaiting a sequel to continue this story.

[aion-rsa]

Star Wars: 12 Snoke Facts You Might Not Know

https://ift.tt/2Tc5xc4

Set up in the first half of the Sequel Trilogy as a powerful new Star Wars villain, Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order turned out to be something else entirely. Despite fulfilling the role of Emperor Palpatine in The Force Awakens, he’s completely off the table by the end of The Last Jedi. And in The Rise of Skywalker, the galaxy is only big enough for one galaxy-conquering villain as Kylo Ren’s fall shows.

By the end of the trilogy, Snoke is revealed to have been a bio-engineered villain all along, Force-puppeted tool Emperor Palpatine used to regain his grip on the galaxy while hiding his weakened physical form on the Sith planet of Exegol. His triumphs no longer truly his own, Snoke’s ultimate legacy is the rise of Kylo Ren as well as legendary motion capture actor Andy Serkis’ performance. 

As we look back at Snoke’s short tenure as the big bad of Star Wars, here are some facts you might not know about Supreme Leader Snoke: 

1. Snoke Was a Strand-Cast Created by Palpatine

Emperor Palpatine created Snoke to be his proxy through which he could regain his power. Although Snoke was bio-engineered in a lab on Exegol, he was a strand-cast, not a clone. This bit of Star Wars jargon means Snoke isn’t an exact copy of anyone, but isn’t natural-born either. We’ve heard the term “strand-cast” before. In The Mandalorian, Kuill speculates that Grogu might be a strand-cast — a speculation which turned out to be wrong when Ahsoka revealed Grogu grew up in the Jedi Temple. 

Palpatine’s ultimate plan was to use Snoke as his voice to whisper in Kylo Ren’s ear. It was one of several ways he was working behind the scenes all along to build the First Order — itself just a shell for the new Empire being built on Exegol. With his own clone body decrepit but his spirit still strong in the Force, Palpatine could possess other people but was looking for a permanent new vessel. 

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Snoke was likely born from these experiments but was too imperfect a vessel to house Palpatine’s spirit. There were other candidates, like the strand-cast who became Rey’s father. But since the process that created strand-casts could not reliably replicate Force-sensitivity, Palpatine’s “son” was not Force sensitive. It was another dead end. The Sith lord next turned his attention to Rey in The Rise of Skywalker.

This strand-cast/cloning storyline shares several plot points with the classic Dark Empire comic series, where Palpatine bided his time until he could come back in a younger, stronger clone body and re-create the Empire.

2. Snoke Wasn’t Aware of His Own History

Unlike Palpatine’s strand-cast “son,” Snoke didn’t know he was created in a lab by the Sith lord nor that he was being manipulated to rebuild the Emperor’s forces. In fact, despite being created some time after the Battle of Endor, he believed to have lived through the rise and fall of the Empire.

All of this is revealed in the novelization of The Force Awakens, in a twist that might actually have been a result of The Rise of Skywalker not having been written or planned out yet. But his status as a Sith sleeper agent fits with Palpatine’s plan, too. Snoke truly believing that he himself was really a dark Force user who had lived through the Galactic Civil War likely prevented Ben Solo/Kylo Ren from sensing the deception throughout his time as Snoke’s apprentice. Palpatine needed Snoke to believe the lies he told Kylo Ren so that he could more easily manipulate the fallen Skywalker.

3. Hugh Hefner and Snoke’s Injuries Informed How Serkis Played the Character 

Andy Serkis rose to fame as the motion capture performer behind Gollum’s creepy mannerisms in The Lord of the Rings, quickly becoming well-known for injecting unique life and personality into monstrous characters. For Supreme Leader Snoke, Serkis drew from “the gold-lamé Hugh Hefner look,” the shining robe evoking the Playboy magazine founder. Serkis says he and The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson also considered drawing inspiration from “so many different dictators,” but settled on the uncanny Hefner idea. 

Snoke’s visual appearance was still being finalized when Serkis joined J.J. Abrams to work on the character for The Force Awakens. Therefore, the actor developed his ideas about the character at the same time as the artists were developing theirs. In The Last Jedi, Snoke finally appeared in the flesh as opposed to as a hologram, allowing Serkis to draw even more from the villain’s grotesque physical appearance. 

Serkis says he imagined Snoke’s deep scars were the source of some of his anger. “He’s terribly powerful, of course. But he is also a very vulnerable and wounded character,” Serkis told EW (via io9). “He has suffered and he has suffered injury. The way that his malevolence comes out is in reaction to that. His hatred of the Resistance is fueled by what’s happened to him personally.”

4. His Look Was Based on Classic Horror Movies 

According to the book The Art of The Force Awakens, “J.J. [Abrams] and [creature effects supervisor] Neal [Scanlan] didn’t want him to be old and decrepit, like the Emperor,” said senior sculptor Ivan Manzella, who sculpted a maquette of an elderly, bald face for Snoke. Early ideas made the difference even clearer by making Snoke a female character. 

The final result did look a lot like Palpatine, though: a hunched old man with a face distorted by deep wrinkles and scars. Manzella, who also made the final sculpt, says that Abrams wanted his look to evoke Hammer Films horror movies (such as classic takes on Frankenstein and Dracula). In particular Peter Cushing, who played Victor Frankeinstein and Abraham Van Helsing in several Hammer movies, was a direct inspiration. 

Manzella also added what he felt was a sense of beauty to the character: “I imagined him to be a beautiful marble sculpture, so dark and menacing, but actually quite beautiful to look at … It’s almost like Snoke was quite handsome when he was younger.”

The Frankenstein comparison is especially apt since Palpatine and his Sith cultists built Snoke themselves.

5. Snoke Is Not a Sith Lord 

You may have noticed that Snoke does not have the “Darth” title like the Dark Lords of the Sith do. He was never given one because he isn’t technically a Sith Lord. But the fact that he’s a bio-engineered being created by Palpatine explains why his training of Kylo Ren followed the Sith mold so closely, since all along Palpatine was trying to manipulate Ren.

During the time of The Force Awakens, many fans theorized that the next film would reveal Snoke to be Darth Plagueis, the Sith master who taught Palpatine the ways of the dark side. Plagueis was interested in extending one’s lifespan through the use of the dark side, so an old man with mysterious origins could very well have been him. This theory didn’t pan out. 

6. Rian Johnson Felt Snoke’s Presence Distracted From Rey and Kylo Ren’s Stories

The fan theories didn’t line up with what The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson had in mind for moving the Sequel Trilogy cast into the future. In a conversation with EW (via Collider) Johnson explained his reasoning for knocking Snoke off the Sequel Trilogy’s chessboard.

“When I was working on the character of Kylo, I came to a place where I thought the most interesting thing would be to knock the shaky foundation out from under him at the beginning of this movie…By the end of this film, he’s gone from being a wannabe Vader to someone who is standing on his own feet as a complex villain taking the reins.”

But if Kylo took the reins, where would this leave Snoke?

“That made me realize the most interesting thing would be to eliminate that dynamic between the ‘emperor’ and pupil, so that all bets are off going into the next one. That also led to the possibility of this dramatic turn in the middle, which could also be a really powerful connection point between Kylo and Rey.”

Instead of focusing on Snoke’s history, Johnson found Kylo Ren’s ongoing story more relevant and felt killing Snoke was necessary to push his former apprentice’s arc forward.

7. Snoke Chose Ben Solo Because of His Skywalker Blood

Speaking of the Sith, Snoke may not be one, but he is interested in the lineage of one of the strongest Sith of all time. He chose to corrupt Ben Solo specifically because he was the grandson of Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa were perhaps too ingrained in the light side and too dedicated to the cause of the New Republic for Snoke to manipulate them, but the mercurial and directionless Solo was the perfect target. Using Ben’s obsession with Darth Vader to turn him further to the dark side was a relatively easy task for Snoke.

In the comic series The Rise of Kylo Ren, we learned how Snoke began reaching out to Ben from an early age– and another comic, Age of Resistance: Supreme Leader Snoke, also fills in some of Snoke and Ben’s history. Before the events of The Force Awakens, Snoke spent a lot of time planting seeds of distrust between Ben and his uncle and teacher Luke Skywalker from afar, all while biding his time on a space station with an expansive garden, where Ben flees for guidance after the destruction of the Jedi academy. 

Read more

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Some time after this, Snoke took Kylo Ren to the Force cave on Dagobah from The Empire Strikes Back to experience a vision. There, Kylo kills an illusory Luke, but stops short of killing his parents. But Snoke encourages him to use his anger, fear, and other emotions associated with the dark side to complete his training.

The visual dictionary for The Rise of Skywalker shows how deep Palpatine’s plan went. It says Palpatine intended killing Snoke to be the mark of Kylo Ren’s full descent into the dark side and rise into Sith-hood. Snoke’s death was in a way a symbolic killing of a Sith master — it’s traditional for the apprentice to kill the Master — while Palpatine himself remained alive and well to take over as Kylo’s new master. A final, decisive victory over the Skywalker bloodline.

8. Snoke Trained At Least One Other Apprentice Before Kylo Ren

According to the The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary, Snoke canonically trained someone else before Ben. Little is known about this mystery apprentice. We don’t know the person’s name, when this took place, or how it connects to Palpatine’s overarching plans. The existence of this apprentice is implied by Snoke’s description of Kylo Ren as his most gifted apprentice, suggesting there must have been someone else to compare him to. 

In the Age of Resistance comic, Snoke also mentions that he plans to have more apprentices after Kylo Ren is gone. But Ren cuts that plan short in The Last Jedi.

9. Snoke Had At Least One Earlier Run-In With Luke

The facial scarring and collapsed cheek Serkis talked about might have been created by Luke Skywalker. In The Rise of Kylo Ren, Ben Solo alludes to “what Master Luke did to you.” But Snoke is more interested in Ben’s conflict with Luke. 

What happened between Snoke and Luke is still unknown. It’s possible that whatever confrontation led to Snoke’s scars was also the first time Ben met Snoke. 

10. Snoke Played a Key Role in the Empire’s Transformation into The First Order

Since Palpatine had to hide his weak clone body from everyone except his secret Sith acolytes, he placed Snoke in charge of the day-to-day growth of the First Order. Through his own lackeys, General Hux and Captain Phasma, Snoke spearheaded the new stormtrooper program that captured and indoctrinated children, building a military force powerful enough to go against the New Republic. And behind the veil of the Unknown Regions, an uncharted sector of the galaxy where the New Republic held no dominion, Snoke helped reorganize what was left of the Empire into the First Order, eventually becoming its Supreme Leader. 

Snoke’s Attendants, the purple-robed aliens seen briefly in The Last Jedi, are also part of this initiative. They are the ones who helped the Imperial remnant settle in the Unknown Regions, using their abilities to blaze hyperspace trails that made First Order conquest much more efficient.

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11. Snoke’s Flagship, The Supremacy, Is the Only Ship of Its Kind

Snoke’s flagship was ripped in half by “the Holdo maneuver” in The Last Jedi, a strong blow by the beleaguered Resistance. Along with being the site of Snoke’s throne room, the Supremacy also contained enough factories to produce entire fleets for the First Order.

In fact, it was the base of operations for the entire First Order, which did not have a capital planet but instead maintained their military superiority from space. Technically, the Supremacy was a Mega-class Star Destroyer and the only one of its kind ever made. 

12. Snoke’s Ring Contains a Relic From Darth Vader’s Castle

Snoke was a collector of Sith relics and secrets, traveling around the galaxy in search of knowledge, settling on his Force philosophy, and collecting things before he recruited Ben. It’s unclear how much of this Sith pilgrimage really happened versus the memories implanted by Palpatine, but it does appear that Snoke did actually discover the lost concept of a Force dyad, which he used to bring Rey and Kylo together.

He also discovered many dark side artifacts. One detail that’s easy to overlook in The Last Jedi is Snoke’s ring. The gaudy gold ring contains a hunk of black crystal. The Last Jedi Visual Dictionary defines this as obsidian from the catacombs beneath Darth Vader’s fortress on Mustafar. The ring also features “gold etched with glyph of the Dwartii.” In both canon and Legends, Dwartii is a planet which is home to several different schools of philosophers. 

The post Star Wars: 12 Snoke Facts You Might Not Know appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[ahsokamygirl]

Sleep Well, My Angel

Summary: Plagued by Force visions of his late wife, Darth Vader seeks closure in her mausoleum. Inspired by Sleep Well, My Angel by We Are The Fallen.

Tags: Suicie Attempt Mentioned, Angst, Character Study (Darth Vader|Anakin Skywalker)

Happy May, 4th

AO3 (more SW fanfics) | On Archive of Our Own

Watching you sleep for so long

He stood before the heavy doors, drawing courage to do this. His black suit hissed with his mechanic breathing, his cape swirled around him and he felt himself shake.

He debated once again if this was a good idea. He didn’t know what he was doing there, he just hoped… This was his desperate plea.

He looked at the glass windows near the doors. All colorful, contrasting with the atmosphere of the place. The day was cold, windy. Dark, as if the Force was responding to how he felt inside.

The heavy doors blocked his entrance. Not anymore. He’d been kept away for far too long. And, somehow, something inside him said in a dreadful whisper, not enough. He took a deep breath before waving his hand and the doors opened. A loud groan came from them from their weight, but otherwise nothing resisted. There was no point in her mausoleum being locked with the heavy security sent to guard it. Palpatine’s direct orders, he’d been told.

Knowing that I can’t turn the rain into sun anymore

He took a breath, as much as the machinery allowed for his lungs, and stepped into the mausoleum. His eyes immediately fell on her. Her tomb. A block of even, grey concrete. He didn’t notice his feet moving closer, so much so he could just reach out and touch. The atonal ambient was such a contrast to the colors, the flowers and the mural. The mural. The glass mural behind her. His eyes lifted to look the bright glass. It was the closest he’d ever get to see her again. The closest he’d ever get to see her again and not have her say how he’d killed her.

She was so beautiful, so full of light and love and pain he couldn’t face her. So he turned around and looked at her tomb, but she was still there. She’d always be there. The day may have been dark, filled with rains and clouds, but there was enough light to see. There was enough light to make the engraved image in the glass shine through. The time placed her entirely where her tomb was, like she was dancing in colors and swirling in emotions around him.

She was even more beautiful now, ethereal, whimsical. She looked like a true angel.

“Are you an angel?”

And the image engulfed him. He is but a darkness right in her center, as he was always meant to be. The source of her pain, of her heartbreak.

She was depicted in her royal clothes, as any Naboo queen should be. Except she was not cremated like the others, as it was the tradition in the planet, but buried. It had been a gift, for him to see her again, since he missed her funeral. After his battle with his former Master, his injuries had rewarded him with endless weeks of surgery, pain and maintenance for his life-support suit. And then the missions came and he was glad because he had had no guts to come visit her until now. Until the vision of her and the collapsed building. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to visit his wife, dead and with their unborn child still inside her.

He was supposed to save her life, their child’s life. But he failed. Failed to keep her safe, keep her alive. He even failed to keep her happy, he thought bitterly as he remembered the tears in her eyes, light up by the river lavas.

I’ve given you all that I am

His hands ached to touch hers, touch her. He wanted to feel her soft skin touching his damaged face and soothing the pain, the agony. But how can he touch such a delicacy after what he did? After what he had become?

“I love you!”

“Liar!”

After he caused her so much pain, physically and emotionally. He had given everything he had to keep her safe. He had turned on the Jedi Order, himself and untimely her. In the end wasn’t that his mistake? Losing himself made him lose her

Now I stand here too scared to hold your hand

Losing himself acted as a catalysis to lose her. Padmé loved the hero of the galaxy, the good person. Padmé loved Anakin Skywalker. She didn’t love a monster, she couldn’t. She was purely light and he was meant to lash out at her with the fire of the Dark Side. He knew all that back on Mustafar, just a little more than a year ago. The guilt he had felt was enough to make him cry then, afraid he’d lose his wife, the reason he did every dark deed asked of him. But that guilt was not enough to stop him. No, rather he chose to draw strength and power from it, like the Jedi never allowed. Like the Sith encouraged.

Afraid you might wake to see

Afraid she’d come visit him again, just to say how much she hated him, how it was all his fault. The vision he had had brought on many feelings of guilty, longing, rawness, rage, love.

“… But you died.”

“No. I did not die,” she said.

Padmé lowered her light blue hood and revealed her face. Her dead, mostly bones with and barely any skin or muscles.

“You killed me,” she said. “You.”

He shuddered just thinking about it and the pain was too much. It took his breath away and made his legs tremble. He fell to his mechanical knees before he could stop himself, shoulder shaking. He thought he could save her. Her and their child.

The monster that had to leave

He believed his new master could save her. Save her from any menaces, from dying in childbirth. From everything. She was healthy, he knew it. He saw the medical droid’s affirmations after examining her. Her lineage had no problems during pregnancies either, all of Naboo to be more specific. She had been through battles, assassinations attempts… Nothing was supposed to hurt her. Ever. Except…

He never thought he would be what finally killed her.

‘Cause you see the shelter as the storm

He had offered her peace, security, power and love. He had offered it to her, he had given himself entirely to her.

“You’re going down a path I can’t follow.”

She saw it as bad future, a dark possibility. She said no. she saw the shelter he had accomplished as the storm.

Holding wind to keep you warm

Padmé Amidala was everything Anakin Skywalker ever wanted. She was his glowing light in the darkness, the love of his life.

But she couldn’t be everything for Vader. His master had commanded him to leave that life behind and so he would. He would emerge from this place entirely Darth Vader.

You were everything to me

This is why I have to leave

Padmé Amidala was everything to him. And that is, precisely, why he has to leave. Leave this mausoleum as Darth Vader, the Emperor’s fist, without an ounce of the Skywalker.

That name wasn’t who he was anymore. Hadn’t been for a long time already. He just had always carried a piece of him inside, the part that was good for her. She believed he had good in him still, after he Fell and turned to the Dark Side, after he killed younglings, after his dark deeds.

Under the ash and the lies

Something beautiful once here now dies

His intentions weren’t to forget. No, never forget. How could he forget his angel? No. He came here to find peace. He came here to find closure, to find peace of mind.

He couldn’t shake the image of Padmé that filled his head almost constantly now.

And the tears blurry my eyes

As you sit there all alone

He should be there with her. He should have died with her. He felt the pull, the end of his life, the Force calling for him, the peace it would involve him in with. But then his master had saved him, given him life. His latest holocall with him had showed how displeased he was with his suicidal actions.

Honoring his master’s gift of life, he decided to seek closure instead of actually killing himself.  His master had giving him life again. A purpose. Something to do, something to accomplish. And he couldn’t disappoint his master.

Except…

I just want to come home

Except it wasn’t that easy. He couldn’t just let her go. If he could, Anakin Skywalker would have done it a long time ago. He couldn’t. What he could do though… It wasn’t her he had to let go. It was himself. It was the hero of the galaxy, the Hero with No Fear that had lived in fear. He hesitated because without him, no part of him would ever have her again. And then he could never go home. Not that she would ever accept him back. Not now, not like this. She had made it very clear.

There was nothing for him there anymore.

I’m sorry

He’d been unstable when he turned to the Dark Side. The sudden, immense power he felt from the Dark Side once he Fell had been overwhelming. And the power from his emotions gave him helped too. The anger, the hate, the fear, the grief, the love… All emotions the Jedi kept forbidden to him, that kept his power away, locked up. That kept him at their mercy, always getting punished, punishing himself. The Force screamed at his power. He had never felt such emotions so strongly, so purely. And he had never drawn from them, only kept them at bay.

Then he was free. Truly, for the very first time. Except his freedom had come with a price and it was too high for her to pay. And he knew that, even before she told him. Before-

“I don’t know you anymore. You’re going down a path I can’t follow.”

I’m sorry

He had asked her forgiveness, but not only didn’t grant it, she also blamed him. For her death, for their child’s. She had her mind set on blaming him and she was right. He had killed her, he was to blame. Her love for him had ended and it was all his fault. Nobody else’s. His and only his fault. Guilt and shame corrupted his insides, churning and smoldering them even further.

He had dismissed her love once, accused her of betraying him, and now he was paying the price.

And oh, how steep a price. Had he only known.

Sleep well, my Angel

His voice regulator kept his emotional state at bay, modifying it to sound neutral. It avoided the public to view his emotions, just like his mask. Oh if others only knew how much he felt under the mask.

“Sleep well, my angel,” he said in a deep, clear voice, but as a raspy, broken voice inside.

His voice modulator changed his voice and he only hoped Padmé would recognize it in the Force, recognize him. Though he doubted she’d want any contact with him by free choice, unless it was to hurt him. And after their last encounter – that dreaded Force vision that had left him hurt, raw - he wasn’t sure could take it. As a matter of fact, he was certain he couldn’t. He would have to learn how leave the guilt behind. Behind a name he didn’t go by anymore.

His gloved thumb brushed the engraved symbol at her tomb one last time before he rose to his feet, turned and walked away from her resting place, his cape flowing wildly behind him and the doors closing with a loud noise.

The Dark Side sang his renewed rage and pain, making him stronger, more powerful in the Force.

And Darth Vader never looked back.

[alistairs-raven]

My ranking of all 11 Star Wars films in order.

Disclaimer: I actually like all the SW films in some way except my least favorite. But there are definitely some that have more that I dislike about them. Also my opinions are 100% the only opinions one can have, and if this list offends you, it was meant to offend you personally.

11: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I have watched this movie twice, once in the theater and once during a marathon. I also have never seen this movie in it's entirety because I cannot focus on it. It bores me so much that I keep blanking out and daydreaming. I cannot tell you anyone's name except the main character and the main imperial officer. I just could not get into this movie, but I will say if nothing else, it had the best Darth Vader scene ever.

10: Star Wars 9: Rise of Skywalker

It took me days to figure out if I liked this movie or not. There are actually a lot of things that I like, but the things I didn't like I REALLY didn't like. So much so, that this movie actually really hurt me to think about. And apart from a movie being boring, it shouldn't feel like personal stab to what matters to you. I liked Palpatine (pointless as that plot was), Kylo Ren and Rey's amazing acting, and seeing old friends again. This movie also had good humor. The bad things are too many to count, but mainly this film was poorly directed, full of 3 films worth of plot that make no sense, and the worst offender is that it felt like the director (JJ Abrams) did not care about these characters at all. I had fallen so in love with pretty much everyone in the ST, and to see almost all of them sidelined, stereotyped, and departing from any previous character development just hurt. This film made me cry, and not in a good way.

9: Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace

I don't hate this movie. In fact when it first came out, I enjoyed it. Sure I was a dumb little kid, but I rewatched it a lot. Sadly, as an adult I see now all the issues with it, none I have to really get into since everyone knows at this point. The parts I enjoy are Darth Maul (hell yea), the podrace, and this film also probably has the best score of the entire series.

8: Solo: A Star Wars story

This one was good, it just wasn't great. The actor's portrayal of Han Solo was perfect, Lando was perfect, I loved seeing places that you only hear about in passing in the films. Freakin Darth Maul (hell yea). The not so good was this movie had a very generic heist plot, it felt incomplete, and I didn't really connect with anyone besides Han and Lando.

7: Star Wars 6: Return of the Jedi

This one also falls into the 'just okay' category. There's no real plot except a recycled one from episode 4, Luke has no personality in it, Leia is sidelined. The goods are that Vader's sacrifice to save his son was so unexpected and beautifully done (at least in the original cut), the Jabba Palace scene is one of my favorite parts of the entire series, and the rebel characters in this movie are super fun (Ackbar, Lando, ect). Also the ghosts at the end was a very nice touch.

6: Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones

I HATED this movie when it first came out. I only saw it once and not again until last year when my friend insisted we marathon the SW movies. Now I love this movie, because it's the good kind of bad. The whole thing is just a meme, with some of the worst dialogue of the entire series. However, the characters are all super fun. Rewatching it years later, I was pleasantly surprised that I now love Hayden's portrayal of Anakin Skywalker. His character is by far the best part of the movie. He brought so much energy to the character, and I actually really connected and felt for him. I always loved Kamino, and I think it's very creative. The effects were also a lot better. The bad is the poor directing, horrible dialogue (sand), and that this movie killed Boba Fett for me.

5: Star Wars 4: A New Hope

These next three are hard for me to rank. Episode 4 is fun, creative, makes you feel like a kid again, has effects that were so groundbreaking that they held up for 40 years, changed filmmaking itself, introduced us all to a universe that has touched so many lives around the world. I am convinced that the Lightsaber sound is the best sound design in history. All the characters are likeable, the score is the best in all of cinema, and there is such a sense of satisfaction when this movie ends. It's hard to find faults with this movie, but of course our dear Mr. Lucas had to change this movie that was perfect, so now it's full of ugly cgi. That added Jabba scene is so dumb.

4: Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith

I loved this movie when it came out and I am still very fond of it. When it came out we all thought it was going to be the last SW (lol) and I was determined to enjoy it as much as I could. It has the best effects of the prequels, all the characters are well acted, there's so much emotion and heart in it, and it has some of the coolest planets and settings in it. I LOVE the opening scene, I still can't watch it without my jaw dropping a little. There was a lot of hype leading up to it, and I grew really fond of General Grievous and was disappointed to see him barely used. It also suffered from the bad dialogue issues that plague Lucas films. Despite the good acting, there were awkward moments that I feel were a case of bad directing. Padme dying from a 'broken heart' despite now having babies makes me feel that Lucas doesn't understand people.

3: Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens

This movie is very special to me for personal reasons - I almost didn't live to see it. But it was well worth staying alive for and gave me a new reason to live. It introduced me to Rey, a nobody who has had to deal with being alone for so long. Something that I can relate to. And it also introduced me to Kylo Ren, the angry and also very alone character that quickly became my favorite character of all time. I even legally changed my name to Ren. Finn, Poe, BB-8, Hux, Phasma... so many characters that I all love and have spent hours talking about, roleplaying, reading about, drawing, and just enjoying. My complaint is the plot, which is simply a remake of episode 4. I also am not the biggest fan of JJ Abrams directing style, as I feel he can make movies very well, but he's not a very creative storyteller and is infamous for simply repolishing things other people have done. Also Rey's theme is my favorite song in the entire SW score.

2: Star Wars 5: The Empire Strikes Back

Before the ST, I had watched this one more than all the others. Hoth, the battles, Yoda, the asteroid field, cloud city, Vader, Lando, I am your father moment, Leia being force sensitive, the list goes on. Also this movie gave us the BEST bad guy theme (until dual of the fates that is). This movie felt a lot cleaner than the one before it and the one after it. It also had good dialogue, character development, and depth that's missing when Lucas is directing. It was less fanservice and more just a good film. However I never understood the tree scene (wtf was that). And it always bothered me that Lando allowed them to hurt his friend, granted it wasn't what he originally thought was going to happen.

1: Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi

I went to this movie 10 times in the theater and have seen it countless times since it came out. I LOVE everything about this movie. It's creative, full of new ideas and concepts, has so many emotions, beautiful art direction, and deepened every single character in it. Rarely does a movie come along where every character develops and is different at the end. Rarely do we get a movie in a huge series that focuses on being a good movie rather than fanservice. I could not predict this movie, and was on the edge of my seat for the whole thing wondering what in the world was going to happen next. The director, Rian, is clearly a fantastic storyteller who can also do subtlety. The first 4-5 times I saw this movie I was still seeing new things. It revived a love of Star Wars in me and I dreaded what would come after because I doubt anything will ever be this good again. I certainly hope we get something as good or maybe better one day. This movie solidified Rey as my favorite SW protagonist.

[aq2003]

today is international fanworks day, heres a list of some of my favorite fics

-star wars

The Silent Song by Eirian Erisdar When Qui-Gon Jinn is told to take a new padawan, the Force pushes him towards a certain initiate - but when Qui-Gon is told that Obi-Wan cannot speak, he hesitates. And all the while, Palpatine moves in the shadows... 

A Trophy, Nothing More by solojones After killing Obi-Wan Kenobi in 'A New Hope', Darth Vader takes a moment to reflect on what he's done.

Adagio by ruth baulding A slow movement, in a minor key, set on Tatooine post-Mustafar.

The Weeds in the Wilderness by ealcynn A man wakes on a cold and desolate moor. He knows he is hurt. He knows he is alone. What he doesn't know is what he is, or where he came from. He doesn't know even his own name. But there is something else that this man knows, and that is that if he doesn't get help soon, he is going to die. And on this strange new world, there are so many dangers.

Teachers by Selena "Remember, Anakin, the master learns as much from the padawan as the padawan learns from the master." Eight lessons Anakin Skywalker learns through Ahsoka Tano, and one Darth Vader does.

one door closes, another opens by isabilightwood Ahsoka runs through a portal in the Lothal Jedi Temple, and finds herself seventeen years in the past. Only to find everything is slightly different - her seventeen-year-old past self was just executed, Obi-wan is missing, and Anakin fell eight months early, prompting Order 66 just after her arrival. With only her questionably useful knowledge of the Empire as a guide, Ahsoka finds herself helping to build a rebellion from scratch. Again. But this time, with a few more Jedi left in the galaxy. Some of whom could cause more problems than they solve.

Reprise by Elfpen Ben Kenobi dies aboard the Death Star in the year 0 BBY. He wakes up shortly thereafter in the Jedi temple in the year 41 BBY. Haunted by memories and regret, Ben must forge a new path for himself in the Jedi Order of his youth while navigating the murky waters of time travel. Crafting a better future from bitter experience is hard, but learning to heal is even harder. Part 1 of Reprise

Hard Deviations by flute25 “The snares of the world were its ways of sin. He would fall. He had not fallen but he would fall and surely, in an instant. Not to fall was too hard and he felt the silent lapse of his soul, as it would be at some instant to come, falling, falling, but not yet fallen, still not fallen but about to fall.” James Joyce - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Obi-wan Kenobi goes undercover, fighting a battle against Dooku, the Sith, and himself. Takes place during the Rako Hardeen arc. Part 2 of Divergences

Drifting Starlight by Pandora151 Just before the fateful Battle of Naboo, Qui-Gon Jinn is brought to the future, to the Clone Wars. He doesn't know why or how, but he knows one thing for sure: He never, in a million years, expected the galaxy to end up like this. Part 2 of The Journey of the Lights

-mcu

for good by Madelinedear "Sorry, May, we can't all be best friends with a celebrity.” May opens her mouth to retort reflexively, the words 'we aren’t even friends' on the tip of her tongue before she closes her mouth. Because they are friends, now. They’re way past that point. Oh my god, she thinks somewhat hysterically. Tony Stark is my best friend. (or; Tony Stark, May Parker, and the road to something like friendship) Part 1 of call you home

Exclusive by copperbadge Heroes In Manhattan: From Captain America's Hidden Talents To The Truth About The Hulk, We Debunk The Myths And Expose The Daily Lives Of The Avengers. Part 1 of Magazineverse

Watch Our Souls Fade Away by GloriousBlackout Nebula and Tony struggle to come to terms with everything they've lost as they make the journey back to Earth. Takes place immediately after the events of Avengers: Infinity War.

the rattle of their hearts by iron_spider Tony deals with the aftermath of Infinity War. He needs to get things back to normal. And Peter is an essential part of normal. Part 1 of rattle universe

home training by theformerone T'Chaka takes Erik back to Wakanda. Erik is a problem child. Part 1 of erik stevens, prince of wakanda

We've Made It This Far, Kid by EmAndFandems Tony's just trying to protect the kid from SHIELD. Why does everything have to be so hard? Meanwhile, Peter's biggest problem is buying movie tickets, until he gets a harsh awakening.

the spider-man conspiracy by tempestaurora  WHO IS SPIDER-MAN? The screen showed Peter Parker, sixteen years old and determined to prove the identity of Spider-Man over the course of the three-part documentary he was making, unknowing that it would become viral within days of the first part being released. Behind the camera, way off screen, was Harley Keener, Tony Stark’s other prodigy child, grinning like crazy as Peter started the documentary. Only a few people knew what was to come, and those few people were about to have a great few weeks. “My name is Peter Parker, and with the help of my friends, Ned Leeds, Harley Keener, and my Aunt, May Parker, who provided me with a lot of red yarn for this project, we’re going to uncover the identity of Spider-Man.” OR "what if peter just decided to fuck with everyone who didn’t know he was spider man and make a documentary about him trying to uncover the Truth." Part 1 of the conspiracy kids

Below Freezing by aftersoon (notboldly) When Rhodey crash lands in the Himalayan wilderness, it tests more than just his survival skills.

-marvel 616

Resurrection, Reconstruction & Redemption by Elspethdixon, Seanchai Doom brings Steve back from the dead. Hijinks ensue, some of which might vaugely be considered plot. Part 1 of Resurrection-verse

Winter Is All Over You by Kiyaar Tony can't remember why he's running.

Sea Stars by Muccamukk Summary: Steve comes back to life somewhere entirely unexpected; Tony doesn’t remember being a hero; something is rotten in the province of British Columbia, and the 2010 Olympics are doomed.

(Not So) Lonely At The Top by foldingcranes Summary: Riri has a bad day, and Tony tries to be An Emotionally Available Adult for her. It doesn’t go so bad.

Emanata (The Comics Will Break Your Heart Remix) by teaberryblue Summary: Steve Rogers has the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dreams of becoming a comic artist when eccentric billionaire, superhero patron, and obsessive comic enthusiast Tony Stark offers him a job drawing Iron Man. But Tony Stark has no idea that Steve Rogers is really Captain America, the newest member of the Avengers. And Iron Man has no idea that Captain America is really Steve Rogers, up-and-coming comic book artist. And Steve doesn’t know what to do about the fact that he’s falling head over heels for them both.

Changeling by Sineala Instead of deleting his entire brain and reloading from a backup, Tony attempts to erase just the SHRA database from his mind. As Steve later finds out, this is unfortunately not what he actually did. Part 1 of Changeling

Zero Sum by Crait Did you do your best, Anthony? And did your best only make things worse?Series Part 1 of Stark Disassembled

-jojo’s bizarre adventure

nothing like the sun by succubused

“All Jotaro’s other targets are dead. Except for you.” Malika cocked her head, considering Kakyoin. “After he came back the last time and he was…alone in there, I…grew him flowers, a few times. I wasn’t supposed to. But he was in the dark for so long. I thought he wouldn’t mind losing a little bit of blood as long as it reminded him there was still something left.” “What do you mean,” Kakyoin said slowly, “‘in the dark’?” Malika didn’t answer. White flowers unfurled from her forearm, gentle trickles of blood rising up the thin stems. She watched them thoughtfully. White poppy; consolation. She plucked a poppy out of her arm and held it carefully between two fingers. “You have to get him out,” she said. “You have to.”

AU where Jotaro is the evil brainwashed assassin sent to kill Kakyoin, who makes life very complicated for Dio by being better at counterpossession than he is. Part 1 of nothing like the sun

somebody's baby boy ain't coming home tonight by simkjrs He rolls back the sleeve on his left arm and looks at the scabbed-over words that have been cut into his skin.

KASAI 181 BRING PEN

It’s not like Jotaro makes it a habit to listen to what other people say to him, but this is too strange of a case. He doesn’t remember doing this to himself, but if he didn’t do it, then who? And if he did do it, then why can’t he remember? ---- Four months after Egypt, and there is something strange happening back at home.

I am the desert by catboysam Jotaro hated to admit it to himself, but despite the fact that he hadn't teared up when they left Japan, he missed his grandfather’s presence. After having him beside him for so long and through so much, being separated from him felt… almost wrong. Like another thing was missing. And the more he lingered on that thought, the more the lack of Polnareff's presence felt wrong too. Jotaro invites Polnareff to his high school graduation.

the sidewalk soldiers sing the midnight blues by queenieofaces In hindsight, he doesn’t know why it didn’t occur to him that losing a hand might affect his hamon. His lungs are fine, but the flow of energy through his body is different now, no matter how imperceptibly.

The Best-Laid Plans by deuil Jotaro'd mentioned to Josuke on a few occasions that every plane that Joseph Joestar's ever been on has crashed and burned. Josuke wonders now if he's somehow managed to metaphorically inherit that trait.

Can't Go Back Now by etymologyplayground "No, no, he was not the devil. It is just that he was called Diavolo. … Well, maybe he was, I don't know," Giorno says. "Bene, he was the… director? Of Passione." "Boss," Fugo supplies him. "He was the boss." Giorno snaps his fingers at Fugo gratefully. "He was the boss. I should not care about him personally except that he made Passione sell drugs, and weapons. That's no good, you know." Jolyne slides her eyes over to Hermès, who is very resolutely looking at the road. She bites her lip. Jolyne thinks about the dime bag of weed currently sitting in the glove compartment. "Oh, yeah, for sure." -- Giorno and Fugo visit the Florida crew. Jolyne figures some stuff out about herself, her dad, and Hermès.

Untitled (1980-2014) by platinumfinale Jotaro Kujo, and his family, grows up. Contains spoilers for parts 3-6.

and the PTA meetings are worse by shonens Love thy neighbor. Or hate them. Hate them so passionately you trim your hedges in the shape of 'get fucked' in hopes of ruining their day. A collection of AU short stories about mudad, oradad, and suburbia.

[rebelsofshield]

Panels Far, Far Away: A Week In Star Wars Comics 10/9/19

The journey to The Rise of Skywalker begins, Darth Vader makes the hunters the hunted, Tarkin gets in touch with his inner Peter Cushing, and two Jedi navigate a turf war in a strong and crowded week of Star Wars comics.

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #2 written by Cavan Scott and art by Francesco Francavilla and Kelley Jones

One of the thousands of charms of Star Wars is how it has been haven for cult and genre actors since its very start. Last year, during Tales from Vader’s Castle, Cavan Scott finally tapped into Christopher Lee’s past as Count Dracula to deliver the Dooku vampire tale we have always wanted. Keeping that same spirit alive, Scott channels another horror icon with Star Wars roots in Peter Cushing’s Tarkin. Yes, we get a Tarkin Frankenstein story here and yes it is a lot of fun.

While the stories told in this Adventures spin off are never particularly intense, Cavan Scott has consistently managed to draw from classic horror tropes in fresh and fun ways that are creepy and unsettling in all the right October vibes. This episode which plays out like a Frankenstein horror tragedy sees a stitched together monstrosity made by Tarkin attempting to exact revenge on the man who ruined his life. In traditional Mary Shelley fashion, it’s the monster who gets the most sympathetic play here and Scott really seems to be enjoying himself as he restructures this seminal scary story for a Star Wars setting.

Art wise, this issue is once again a little uneven. The frame sections by Francesco Francavilla are dependably great. Vanee remains a suitably creepy antagonist and by issue’s end the series has taken a turn that will hopefully ramp up the tension. Kelley Jones’s Tarkin story is fairly disappointing though. Environments feel bland and ill defined and character’s faces often feel blurred or lacking in detail. It’s not particularly clear if this is decision made by Jones or the issue’s colorist Michelle Madsen, but the result is a visually bland segment for what is otherwise a really fun tale.

Score: B

Star Wars: Allegiance #1 written by Ethan Sacks and Luke Ross

Turns out we are getting two weekly Star Wars comics in October! In addition to Vader’s Castle, the Journey to The Rise of Skywalker begins in Star Wars: Allegiance.

The First Order’s invasion of the galaxy marches on. With the Resistance still recovering and the Republic practically obliterated, few stand in the way of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren’s advancing forces. When the neutral planet of Tah’Nuhna is bombarded by the First Order fleet, General Leia decides that the time has come to take more direct action. Taking a team including Rey and Rose, she leaves to find allies among her old friends on Mon Cala. Meanwhile, Finn and Poe attempt to locate a key weapon stash, but may have attracted attention from dangerous parties.

As much as I enjoy the sequel trilogy, one of my biggest frustrations has been that the secrecy surrounding these films means that the time between films is often low on tie-in media for its characters and stories. I grew up with the Clone Wars multimedia project telling the story of the galaxy spanning conflict set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and it’s hard not to wish that something similar could have unfolded between 2018-2019 with the invasion of the First Order. As a result, there is a certain novelty to a story like Allegiance. This is still a mostly uncharted year for the Galaxy Far, Far Away and getting to check in on pretty much every major character from the Sequel Trilogy still carries a special thrill.

This issue proves to be mostly set up though. The idea of Leia reconnecting with the Mon Cala and other allies during this new war is an interesting one and it ends on a cliffhanger that hints towards some intrigue in the future. However, as a whole, nothing much of consequence happens here. Much of the issue is writer Ethan Sacks setting the stage for the next three issues, which feels misguided given the relative shortness of this comic’s runtime. It is still fun to read, but it is hard to not leave wishing for a little more meat on what has been presented. At least the wait is only one week for more.

Luke Ross’s dark and shadowy pencils at first may seem like an odd fit for a script that is at times fairly playful and silly, but it does work to create a larger feeling of dire straits and desperation. Our heroes are in a tough spot in this story and it could really get worse at any time.

Score: B-

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order-Dark Temple #3 written by Matthew Rosenberg and art by Paolo Villanelli

Dark Temple continues the trend of being the most “Star Trek-y,” Star Wars story in some time. Luckily, this plays to the narrative’s benefit. The idea of the Jedi functioning as a sort of monastic Star Fleet is not a bad one and seeing a Jedi trying to navigate intense planetary conflicts is a great conceit for a story.

This has been Dark Temple’s best storytelling feature since its first issue and it only continues here. Cere has unwittingly gotten involved in a land war between an ancestral people and the encroaching forces of a galactic corporation. Writer Matthew Rosenberg improves on his characterization of Cere here. While she has yet to really distinguish herself as an individual, Rosenberg can mostly get by with making her react to the dramatic circumstances around her. It is hard not relate to her plight as a young woman stranded far away from friends and resources and attempting to navigate such a complex situation with the potential for deadly violence.

Rosenberg adds a nice wrinkle to this conflict that comes as a genuine surprise and complicates things even further for Cere and the people she is protecting. While the exact nature of the titular temple remains a mystery and it is still unclear what exactly the Second Sister prologues mean, this series continues to entertain and intrigue on its own merits even without being a tie-in to the upcoming video game.

Art wise, Paolo Villanelli continues to knock it out of the park. With his vibrant colors that shine both in moments of peacetime and in violence or his creative character design, Dark Temple continues to be the best looking Star Wars comic on the stands.

Score: B+

Star Wars: Target Vader #4 written by Robbie Thompson and art by Stefano Landini

From day one, Robbie Thompson’s Target Vader has always promised one thing: bounty hunters facing off against Darth Vader. Finally, this moment of reckoning comes as Beilert Valance and his team conduct the final step of their plan, and the result is the best issue of this series so far.

Target Vader delivers some simple, violent pleasures. Thompson jettisons the bland uninteresting mystery and forces these colorful but undeveloped characters into a life or death battle royale. In an inspired move, Thompson peppers in brief moments of backstory for each hunter, often times just before their untimely demise. It doesn’t do enough to really make up for the shortcomings of the first several issues, but it adds an emotional punch to the blaster shots and lightsaber swings.

Thompson keeps this battle a suspenseful ebb and flow. Neither Valance’s team or Vader remain on top for too long and the circumstances are often upended from page to page and the end result feels refreshingly inevitable. For the first time, I am genuinely excited to see where this comic goes from here.

Visually, this issue is also a step in the right direction. Stefano Landini draws a mean Darth Vader and in general he nails the fight scenes with some impressive panel to panel choreography. The kicked up dust of battle and movement of character distracts from some of the shortcomings of past issues and the result makes for enjoyably action packed chapter.

Score: B+

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Movie Reviews: Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review a few days after the movie first drops in the U.K, so if you haven’t yet seen the movie don’t read on.

Fan-Service:

Alright so before jumping into the character analysis, which I probably should just do because I have a lot to say, I want to quickly talk about a major problem with this movie, and yes I will be saying that a lot, and that is the fan-service.

There is a heeping load of fan-service moments and things just thrown in to either make fans nostalgic of what has come before or just to say they did it and I at large am pissed off because every bit of fan-service here I personally did not ask for and nothing I wanted as a fan was there.

For instance, Lando. I love Lando and will talk about him in his own section further down but I did not see the point of him in this movie. Billy Dee Williams still looks good in the role, but the man did nothing to contribute to the progression of the movie or the mission other than go off and get reinforcements which anyone else already in this trilogy could have done, like Maz Kanata...what did she contribute also?

Also Ewoks, I’m sorry I know the last part of this movie was on Endor because said system is around the place the Death Star fell and Palpatine still resides, but my freakin’ god seeing a split second shot of two Ewoks, who again I loved in Episode VI, but also to get Warwick Davies back to play Wicket (I think that’s the same one anyway)...what was the freakin’ point?

My final rant point is on the quite blatant fan service of LGBT representation. This particular topic is personal to me as a gay man and someone whose academic venture over the last three years has been about LGBT representation.

When you have quite a clear fanbase or sub fandom that are screaming for certain shipping couples, but then refuse to deliiver on the gay male ship in favour of the predictable hetero ship, to the point where this movie gives both Finn and Poe female love interests and makes Finn look slightly like a tool for having two other love interests but still wanting Rey...all of this I can forgive because it is kind of like the “Stucky” ship in the MCU.

However, to then, out of nowhere, have a lesbian kiss between two Resistance members at the end of the film during celebrations, one of whom was apparently the harbinger of doom because she delivered all the bad news and the other was a pilot, who I know was also Rosa Parks in Doctor Who so happy she has a role like this, but again it just felt forced, out of nowhere, with characters no one cares about and honestly I would have been happier seeing Poe and Finn kiss.

Characters:

Rey:

As I said in my non-spoiler review, Rey truly comes into her own as a Jedi in this movie. I do think The Last Jedi only really serviced her and moved her piece forward on the development chessboard.

However, while it is great to see Leia mentoring Rey at the start of the movie and doing a serviceable job, the fact Luke is still mentoring her from beyond the grave and his teachings are being upheld and honoured by Rey is really great to see.

This does not however justify the end of this movie, which is where we begin with Rey’s character.

One of the biggest mysteries of this trilogy has been discovering who Rey is and where she fits in with Star Wars lore. We know that Finn was a Stormtrooper and Poe fulfills that Han Solo role, but while Rey fills the Jedi quota for the trilogy, fans have long-suspected that she is somehow related to either Luke, Leia, Han or even Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I don’t think anyone was expecting her to actually be revealed as the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine...and to be honest I don’t think anyone actually wanted it.

It’s a losing battle comparing any movie to Avengers: Endgame, but during Avengers: Endgame when big character and plot moments hit, the audience erupted in either shock or cheers. I get the feeling that the reveal of Rey being a Palpatine was supposed to ignite that type of response. I had a moderately full audience and there was no reaction from them.

However, not only does this service Rey as a character for the second half of the movie because her character motivation is not only about battling her inner demons and heritage, but also discovering who she is in her own right...something she has been searching for since we first met the character on Jakku in The Force Awakens

This leads to the last scene of the movie which is a culmination of not just the last three movies but also her confrontation with Palpatine. On Tatooine just outside the Lars Homestead, Rey buries both Luke and Leia’s lightsabers. She then surprisingly pulls out her own lightsaber which happens to be yellow...or gold (if it’s meant to be grey or white the lighting did it no favours) and with her sidekick BB-8 heads off into the twin sunsets, but not before some random old woman asks who she is, she responds with “Rey” but when she asks “Rey who?” she looks to the left and sees the Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia and turns back to the woman answering with, “Rey Skywalker”.

This is what is meant by the title “The Rise of Skywalker” as the name will now live-on in Rey, who has adopted the name only. She is not actually a Skywalker and if you think about the fact Rey and Kylo kissed a few scenes prior to this, it is kind of disturbing that she sees both Luke as a father figure and Leia as a mother figure.

I am not happy with this development for two reasons 1) It’s a cheat, not only is it a cheat of promise in the title but it’s a cheat in practise because Rey wasn’t revealed to be a secret Skywalker she merely decided to use the name as a surname because I guess “Rey Palpatine” would not serve her well.

I also don’t like the idea of a surname being used as a mantle, we now have seen six “Skywalkers” either officially or unofficially so in the movie canon and out of the six, five either are or were Jedi or at least “ones with the force” because both Leia and Ben (Kylo Ren) have never been Jedi at least in the movies but while Ben was a Sith, Leia was an apprentice and both had access to the force.

Shmi I believe (Anakin’s mother) is the only named “Skywalker” to not have any attachment or affiliations with the force. Now I don’t know if Skywalker is her maiden name or married name but aside from her, as I said, everyone with the Skywalker bloodline has at least had a “force sense” so to make Rey the last of the Jedi, that we know of, and also now giving her the name of Skywalker just to honour Luke and Leia and not actually be related does seem a tad cheap to me.

It’s not like when Han and Leia named their son Ben after Ben Kenobi, Obi-Wan’s hermit name, because that was honouring a fallen friend. I get Rey officially has no living family, particularly after killing her grandfather, and choosing to adopt the Skywalker name is both a way for the name to live on in her and to honour both her mentors, but this is supposed to be the end of the Skywalker era and with Rey newly being a Skywalker at the end of the movie and also once again seemingly being on her own (with BB-8) on her adventures at the end it just seems like there is more to come from her and I really don’t think there should be.

I am not saying Daisy Ridley can never come back as Rey in any future Star Wars movies but I’m thinking more in a Harrison Ford/Billy Dee Williams way not a Mark Hamill/Carrie Fisher way, at least not for now.

Also, I mentioned in my non-spoiler that a lot was promised leading up to this movie and something the trailers teased heavily was “Dark Rey”. The two biggest theories surrounding this reveal of Rey as a Sith with collapsible double-edged red lightsaber were that 1) Rey would legitimately turn to the dark side and Ben Solo would be the one to bring her back to the light or that 2) The Dark Rey we saw would be some sort of vision, hallucination or dream akin to when Luke believed he was fighting Vader during his training with Yoda on Dagobah and in fact it was an illusion used as a metaphor for him fighting his inner darkness.

It turned out, of course, to be the latter theory but the movie at least had the reveal of Rey being a Palpatine to explain why the 30 second scene we see this vision in exists...no lie it’s about the same amount of time as Luke battled himself for in Episode V.

Basically when Rey was filled with rage over Kylo Ren while trying to save Chewie from being taken by the First/Final Order, she succumbed to her anger and rather than using the force in the traditional sense she was discovered to have the ability to produce force lightning, as only Sith Lords have been able to do.

While Dark Rey did look cool, I’m glad she wasn’t actually Rey and we actually had to spend a chunk of the movie with her as a Sith, particularly not with that lightsaber.

I’ll be talking about him again when I talk about Palpatine but the only master of the double-edged lightsaber for me is Darth Maul. That’s his thing in my opinion aside from his looks and he owns it.

On the positives of Rey, I do like the fact that they have set her up as the feminist hero in the same sense that Moana and Belle are feminist Disney princesses. I think obviously making Rey the focus of the trilogy meant that more young girls would look up to her as opposed to Leia or Padmé before her and so making her the strong and tenacious Jedi Knight that she is was one of the best things about this trilogy, when done right.

I did also like how she interacted with Finn and Poe, I’m not entirely sure why they have the type of banter they had due to the lack of the trio interacting in this trilogy but I enjoyed the sparring between Rey and Poe over the Falcon damage and BB-8 damage and even when it seemed Finn was about to profess his love for Rey before dying but then not dying and so going quiet about it and Rey effectively calling him out for it.

However, what did Rey wrong throughout this trilogy is just how easy everything seemed to come for her. As I said before she was often off on her own mission without Poe and Finn with only BB-8 and sometimes Chewie for company. The fact we never saw her properly train with a lightsaber or the force before being revealed as an expert with both still annoys me and here, the fact she goes to give up after Leia’s death but is stopped by Luke, a Force Ghost, who then reveals that she is in fact not stranded after burning her ship because Luke has his old X-Wing summoned from the depths of the sea was just stupid.

Also, where did Rey get her new lightsaber from? Because unless Leia left it for her or R2 created it for her we don’t know where it came from or why it is distinctly different to Luke and Leia’s.

Finn:

Finn I feel revealed himself as my favourite character of the new trilogy during this movie, meaning originating in this trilogy, because I haven’t really had one up until now due to the lack of any likeable development throughout.

However, John Boyega really does Finn justice here not only making the character more likeable but also giving him a potentially great character development arc that could see him come full circle from when we first met him during The Force Awakens.

The only problem is, from what we see, this story abruptly goes completely nowhere.

The development comes when the trio arrive on Kef Bir where the Death Star remains are and come across a tribe of freedom fighters led by Naomi Acke’s waste of a character Jannah.

It’s revealed that Jannah and her tribe were once in fact Stormtroopers but, like Finn, decided to rebel against their Sith overlords and vowed to aide the resistance to thwart them.

This could have been how Finn’s story ended had he made the decision to join the freedom fighters by the end of the movie, now granted with no Sith or First Order there’s no need for freedom fighters but just for Finn to have found his people and his place to belong would have been a fitting ending for him.

Also to any shippers out there hoping for a Finn/Poe romance, I think the writers made it quite clear in this movie that both guys have eyes for the ladies with Finn apparently interested in Rose, Rey and Jannah.

The Finn-Poe bromance is in full bloom here though, finally, and it is filled with both the banter that I so hate in laddish behaviour but still enjoy here and also the fact that they can both be real with each other even when it’s something the other may not want to hear.

I am annoyed they never really wrapped anything up for Finn, aside from him finding his tribe but not actually sticking with them. The movie kept throwing out curve balls to do with his story and character but never had them either caught or thrown back, so his story is still all over the place.

Would I want to see John Boyega return? I guess yes if he does return with Jannah and maybe even Lando, I have a theory on where that will go, because at least it is a newer direction for the character.

Kylo Ren:

I never liked Kylo Ren or Adam Driver, I have never really seen the appeal in either of them and believe Kylo is simply Darth Vader-lite. I’ve always hated that mask and even now it has notable cracks I still don’t like it. I just feel as though the mask was always Vader’s thing and Kylo’s is the fact that he has that lightsaber sword.

That being said, once again the most notable plot point in this movie is the relationship between Kylo and Rey. The chemistry is quite easily there, I do see these two as a couple in another reality and Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver do sell that rather well.

I did come to enjoy their shared force communication in this movie particularly as it was noted to have some interesting side-effects, most notably the ability to take something from the other’s location. I audibally gasped when Kylo snatched that necklace from Rey and that’s how he knew where she was, similarly how when Rey accidentally destroyed that plinth with Vader’s helmet on and it fell at Kylo’s feet he knew she was in his quarters.

My favourite example of this go was at the very end when Rey was facing off against Palpatine and Ben (Kylo reformed) was facing off against the Knights of Ren and Rey was able to psychically transport her lightsaber to him. I can’t remember if it was Luke or Leia’s she gave to him but I do hope it was Leia’s because him fighting with his mother’s lightsaber would have been so awesome.

Speaking of his reform, I found that to be the sloppiest moment in the movie. I really did not understand the quickness in which he went from wanting to turn Rey to the dark side to denouncing the Sith altogether. Now yes, your mother dying is going to be a turmoil for any individual and seeing the ghost of your father, because yes Han Solo returns in this movie, is going to throw you...but there was no real internal struggle and it just seemed again very rushed and the almost as if the writers were saying “Well the audience know this is where we were always going to take the character so there’s no need for the internal struggle to be shown”.

Also, I understand that he didn’t exactly have time for a costume change and merely took off his Kylo Ren armour, but then he merely looked like he was wearing pyjamas in that final battle. I wasn’t expecting an Elsa level transformation or anything but something a bit more...more.

Then when it did come to Ben joining Rey in battling Palpatine and Palpatine, quite strategically in my opinion, sent him flying down that pit, the fact that he anticlimactically climbed up the pit I originally thought was the movie saying “See a Skywalker rose” similarly to how The Dark Knight Rises had Batman climbing up that cliff-face. But no, apparently the “Rise of Skywalker” was nothing to do with an actual Skywalker.

The most confusing part of this movie though is what exactly happened at the very end of the movie when Ben died and Leia faded away at the same time. Leia’s “last great act” was to stop Ben from battling Rey, this seemingly caused her to die. However, when Ben died, Leia faded. So are we presuming that somehow Leia enthralled her son to be good? If so, was his redemption a fake? Also if so, did Rey technically kiss Leia not Ben?

Yes, this kiss was the biggest anti-climax in the entire trilogy. Everyone has been pushing for a “Reylo” coupling and it finally happens only for Ben to die immediately after, it was pure and simple fan service.

Poe Dameron:

I have never really cared for Poe, nothing particularly against him or Oscar Isaac but I just felt as if the character was always trying too hard to be Han Solo and failing every time.

This movie not only emphasised how much of a waste Poe had been, but also why you should always be careful what you wish for because it may happen and it may transpire that you are not as attuned to it as you thought you were.

I am talking about Poe now being the General of the Resistance after Leia’s death and effectively leading the Resistance to their doom. I remember when Han was made a general during Return of the Jedi and while he was also slightly incompetent he at least learned from mistakes whereas Poe...got so many people killed he should have been court-marshalled.

Every action he made in this movie seemed to be wrong and he was continuously pulled up on it by everyone, Finn, Rey, Chewie, even 3PO. I quite liked the concept of doing that lightspeed jumping that apparently you’re not supposed to do because it reminded me of Guardians 2, but they weren’t supposed to do it there either and that wasn’t at the consequence of damaging the Millennium Falcon!

Also, they made a blatant reference that Poe had a previous lover in Kari Mitchell’s character, but the only problem with this is we’ve never heard anything about Poe’s history prior to the events of this trilogy so we are supposed to care about it now? When the trilogy is about to end?

Had we heard from episode 1 about hints of Poe’s history and maybe a lost or abandoned lover then seeing their reunion here may have held some weight...but with what we got it didn’t work.

I don’t even know where we left Poe aside from obviously being a war hero for being the leader of the Resistance. But unlike Rey who has gone off to do her own thing and Finn who has the potential to be going off with Jannah and her tribe, Poe doesn’t really have a place.

Even BB-8, who seems to be Poe’s main concern throughout this movie, goes off with Rey, so where does that leave him?

General Leia:

As I said in my non-spoiler review, it is such a shame that this is the lasting impression fans will have of General Leia. I am not saying they should have altered Episode VIII to include Leia’s death but there was something so disjointed about her involvement in this movie.

That being said, I did enjoy some of her lines to Rey at the start of the movie and they did try very hard to make it flow with the story despite clearly being lines meant for another situation. I liked all her pearls of wisdom to her about trusting droids and being comfortable with who you are.

However, this movie’s greatest insult is definitely showing a flashback to Luke and Leia training as Luke was clearly Leia’s Jedi Master at some point after Episode VI.

Now yes, we were shown a de-aged Luke and Leia so they looked slightly like how they did during Episode VI, and it was dark enough a setting that they didn’t look as bad as Leia did at the end of Rogue One, but that one scene sparks a great controversy with this whole trilogy.

Why the heck haven’t we ever had a follow-up movie to Episode VI that simply focuses on Luke, Leia and Han? A movie that shows Leia being trained as a Jedi would have not only satisfied a lot of movie-centric fans curiosities but also would have set up this trilogy slightly better with maybe showing Leia pregnant with Ben and why Luke chose to isolate himself, why Leia and Han’s marriage broke down. Something just to give fans of the original trilogy closure and then introduce these new characters rather than having the original trilogy and new trilogy all try to co-exist and wrap up at the same time.

Also, I swear in this one scene we saw Luke’s lightsaber was green so why were both his and Leia’s lightsabers blue when Rey had them?

Then also with her actual death, as I said with Kylo felt rather anti-climactic and weird. I understand fully that Carrie Fisher’s passing was a complete shock for everyone and so they had to work with what they had, but not only does it simply feel like Leia getting into bed and then death, you have Maz expositioning it before it happens...is that why Maz is back? To be the exposition of the movie?

Again I love Lupita and understand why she was cast in Episode VII because she was the hot ticket to have back then, but she doesn’t do anything in these movies.

I did appreciate her line of “Goodbye princess”, that did spark some emotion that wasn’t annoyance or rage and was sadness for both Leia and Carrie Fisher so the movie got me there.

Lando Calrissian:

Billy Dee Williams as Lando was one of my favourite things about the original trilogy. I loved how similar he was to Han but while Harrison Ford had an almost smouldering rogue quality about him, Lando was suave and cool with this real jazzy vibe about him.

Even seeing him back it was a bright spot in this movie, however, I don’t think he was utilised as well as he could have been. After Leia died and Poe was gathering the Resistance for a mission debrief, Lando looked like that old war veteran that was simply there to lend advice, when in actuality he was the one with the most experience, who fought the Empire once before and won so why wasn’t he saying what was what?

Then at the very end when everyone is celebrating the victory, Lando randomly comes across Jannah who asks where he’s from and he responds “Gold System” while she responds with not knowing where she is from and so he says “Let’s find out”. I don’t know if they’re trying to go down the route that Lando is Jannah’s father maybe but they are definitely pushing for either a spin-off or some form of continuation to this particular story.

Now again, I liked Jannah here, and feel a movie focusing on Lando, Jannah and even Finn would work. But it was so randomly placed at the very end of the movie that it just seemed like the writers had no idea what to do with either character.

Also I did not like the fact Lando never had a scene with Leia in the movie, just simply one scene where the two reminisce about old times or talk about Han would have been good but instead we had another Star Wars alum return and not interact with anyone else from the alumni cast.

The Resistance:

I mentioned the Resistance a bit with most characters but here is my problem with them as an organization, they are not organised! The Resistance was formed in Episode IV to thwart the Empire, they destroyed two Death Stars and seemingly saw the death of the Emperor...when in actuality the Emperor survived and simply rebranded the Empire into the First Order so they failed on their main mission.

Then for the last three movies what exactly have they achieved? Because I cannot point out one successful thing this organisation has managed to achieve on their own. Rey was the one to kill the Emperor which saw the end of the First/Final Order, all the Resistance did was provide cannon fodder.

Also, when Lando finally arrived with the cavelry, I don’t know if they were trying to imply that some of the voices you heard were cameos from the shows but again, I don’t watch the shows. I know I saw both John Williams and Lin Minuel Miranda in cameo roles during the big air battle which I felt were both good and bad elements because they were so random but all in all, I have never been a fan of the Resistance.

Also Greg Grunberg, I like the actor, I liked him on Heroes, I know he is friends with JJ Abrams...but there is doing your friend a solid, and then there is making your movie more pointless then it needs to be. He was unnecessary and I’m glad he died.

Villains:

Okay so I have labelled this section “Villains” because I don’t think even they know what they’re calling themselves anymore. They were originally the First Order, then they changed their name to the Final Order, this got laughs from my audience because it was so stupid. Then Palpatine tried creating his new Empire which lasted all of 5 minutes...there was no order to this First, Final or Any Order.

As for Palpatine himself, his return was very abrupt as it was right at the start of the movie. I did enjoy the atmosphere they set up around the villain with the lightning and the desolate wasteland but what was with that fecking crane? I get he has no legs but the result was him looking more like a Dementor than the all-powerful formidable Emperor Palpatine.

Also, he mentioned how “The dark side of the force grants powers unthinkable”...which still doesn’t explain how he is still alive or reborn after being thrown down that tunnel in Episode VI.

Again, the reveal of him having Rey as a granddaughter came out of nowhere because we never knew Palpatine had a family, despite the fact Palpatine is one of few characters we have seen throughout the first two trilogies.

I did appreciate them establishing Ben and Rey’s bond as a type off life force energy which Palpatine utilised to rejuvenate himself. Although why he didn’t rejuvinate himself back to human form rather than the wrinkled old man is beyond me.

In regards to the First Order, the reveal that General Hux was in fact a spy giving secrets to the Resistance was again laughable, just him revealing “I’m the spy!” was enough to make me laugh.

Again Domnhall Gleeson is a good actor but this role has been so extreme and overdramatic that it has become a cartoon rather than a legitimate threat.

As for Richard E. Grant, people are really quick to insult Idris Elba for Cats but I think the actor who needs a word with his agent is Richard because, as much as he loves this franchise, he wasn’t quite enthralled in the world and rather seemingly playing the part of someone who is lucky enough to be on the movie.

My final point is on the fact that Palpatine claimed he is the culmination of all the Sith, meaning he has all the souls of all the past Sith in him. This is quite reminiscent to me of the Dark Swan arc in Once Upon a Time where Emma, and later Hook, became the Dark One and was able to summon all the past Dark Ones.

However, unlike Rey who was able to hear the voices of all the past Jedi, we only heard two past Sith Lords voices in Vader and Snoke. I know it wouldn’t be right to provide new voice clips for most of them because Christopher Lee, who portrayed Dooku, is sadly dead, but just to hear Darth Maul, Dooku and even General Grievous along with Vader and Snoke would have been a nice touch.

Meanwhile on the Jedi side you apparently had the voices of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan both young and old, Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker, Yoda...and then you have a bunch of others who I don’t know because I don’t watch Clone Wars or Rebels so I didn’t recognise any of them.

Future:

Alright so where does the future of this franchise leave us...well we know that Disney+ is currently making waves with The Mandalorian and will soon to be hopefully making more waves with the Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi shows, however in terms of movies I am not sure where they go from here.

I do feel the most logical step is to focus on rebuilding during the hiatus and then coming back stronger.

Overall I rate the movie a 5/10, this movie was a complete hot mess. There were no solid great moments and aside from some great lightsaber battles between Reylo as well as some okay space battles towards the end of the movie, but the story was practically non-existence and there was no finality that the end of an era requires.

So that’s my spoiler review for Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other posts.

[saltylikecrait]

Rebirth - Spooktober prompt

This oneshot was inspired by dark side abilities in the Legends canon.

Note: this prompt was written in a 15-minute sprint and is unedited.

At first, they thought nothing of it. Space had its share of oddities and unknowns that messed up comms and systems. Surely this was nothing different?

The long-abandoned Imperial space station said otherwise.

There was a long discussion between the crew of what was to be done. Ultimately, it was agreed that a short exploration couldn’t hurt if they wore their life-support suits. Perhaps, Chewbacca had pointed out, they would find some important old relics that might be of use to the fallen New Republic.

So Finn and Rey decided to go in for a few minutes just to check things out. They wanted to bring R2-D2 with them, but they had no idea if gravity was stable in the station.

To their shock, not only were life support systems in place and oxygen was plentiful in the station, but a couple of decades-old droids were still manning it. They paid the humans no mind as they kept to their work, checking consoles and cleaning floors. Even with a minimal crew, the station almost looked like it was brand new.

Puzzled, Finn furrowed his brows as they wandered the halls.

There didn’t look to be anything of much importance here. Rey wondered out loud if this was once a temporary station for Imperials to stop in on during long trips. The tech seemed nothing special, as old as it was. Even the crew quarters set aside in case sentients came on board looked to be for temporary use.

Nothing was out of the ordinary until they came to a locked port. And locks were a sure thing to pique Rey’s curiosity.

She ended up under one of the floor panels to find a way to unlock the thing. It didn’t take long. If anyone was an expert on Imperial space structures and their inner workings, it was Rey.

When the door slid open, Rey popped back up with a grin on her face.

But they were disappointed again to find nothing out of the ordinary. It seemed to be just a typical cargo bay.

That is, until they came across a stasis pod.

The window to see into the pod was fogged after years of use, making it impossible to see in. They couldn’t even tell if it was empty or not.

“I don’t think it is,” said Rey. “I sense a life in there, through the Force.”

And so it was decided that they would wake the person inside and take them with them. It didn’t seem right to leave someone to eventually die in stasis. Pods could last for centuries if kept powered, but all things eventually would come to an end.

Finn hit the button to start the defreezing process.

A human man, pale with even lighter hair woke from stasis for the first time in decades. When he opened his eyes, they tinted a sickly yellow as he stared at his saviors and grinned.

“Children,” he said. “Tell me: what year is it?”

“Thirty-six years after the Battle of Yavin,” Finn responded. He hoped that would clarify enough to the man. Surely if he was an Imperial, he would know of the Battle of Yavin.

The man laughed. “That long?” He looked to the lightsaber at Rey’s side. “And have the Jedi risen again?”

Rey tilted her head, weary of the man. “Not yet,” she told him. “Now tell us who you are.”

He sighed. “Are you telling me that the youth of this generation no longer recognize the face of their Emperor?”

Finn gasped as Rey activated her lightsaber. The blades were positioned in a defensive position, ready to strike if necessary.

“How are you still alive?” asked Finn. “Didn’t Luke Skywalker kill you?”

With a laugh, Palpatine tossed his head back. “Did he tell the galaxy that? Is he the hero of that story? No, boy. The real murderer in that tale was my own apprentice, Darth Vader.” As if testing his power, his hands flickered with static. “I had planned this for years. My own Empire would not outlive me. I would give the order upon my death for its own self-destruction and I would allow myself to never die. This body that you see before you is a clone’s and the dark side allowed me to transfer my life to it.”

He looked right at Rey. “But these bodies age too quickly. The dark side is too much for them. But you, my dear, would make a wonderful vessel.”

Without listening to more, Rey ran for it and Finn followed right behind her.

The clone gave chase.

To their luck, it seemed that the clone had not yet regained full power. Years of being in stasis would have disconnected the body from the dark side, leaving it needing time to readjust to living.

But that didn’t stop Palpatine from shooting bolts of lightning at them.

“Wait, so he has lightning?” screamed Finn. “Can you do that? Is that a Force thing?”

“I don’t know!” Rey shouted. “Probably a dark side thing?”

It seemed at least that his aim could be a little off. And the items in the corridor could give them an advantage. It gave Rey an idea, but she would have to be exact.

“Chewie,” she yelled into the comms. “Open the loading bay doors. You’re going to have to catch us.”

Chewbacca growled.

“Finn, put your helmet back on. We’re going into open space!”

“Are you crazy.”

“We’ve got to kill him without killing us.”

When her helmet was secure, she opened the airlock of the corridor they were in and Rey used the Force to lift a generator towards the direction of Palpatine’s lightning.

A direct hit.

“Jump!” she yelled.

As the pair drifted into space, the generator exploded, setting off further explosions in the space station until the whole place erupted into space.

That should do it.

Just as planned, Chewbacca expertly maneuvered the Falcon to catch them. They drifted into the cargo bay as the doors closed and the area re-pressurized.

Taking a deep breath in relief, they slid to the ground together in exhaustion.

[tomeandflickcorner]

Star Wars: Episode 5- The Empire Strikes Back

While it could be argued that A New Hope was a basic mythical style adventure set in a futuristic environment, the first sequel really seemed to up the ante quite a bit, with the stakes becoming much higher.  And while that potentially icky love triangle was still more or less present, it did start to lean more strongly into one direction.

Even though it’s not directly stated in the movie, three years have passed since the Death Star was destroyed.  But because Darth Vader survived to tell the rest of the Empire about its location, the Rebel Base on Yaven 4 had to be abandoned.  As the text crawl informs us, the Empire have been chasing down the Rebels across the galaxy ever since then, forcing our heroes to constantly be on the move.

At the start of this movie, the Rebel Base is currently located on Hoth, a planet that’s constantly covered with ice and snow. I do wonder how Luke managed to settle into such a cold environment, as he’d spent his entire life on a desert planet. But while it’s never established how long they’ve been stationed on Hoth, I guess he might have had time to adjust to the drastically different climate.

Anyway, the movie opens with Han and Luke, who are surveying the area surrounding the Hoth base, searching for any signs of life only to find nothing. After setting up a few scanners to continue searching for any lifeforms, Han heads back to the base.  But Luke opts to take the scenic route back, as he’d witnessed what he believes to be a meteorite hitting the ground a short distance away.  Unbeknownst to him, the ‘meteorite’ is actually one of the Probe Droids that Darth Vader has been sending out to locate the Rebels, on account of the fact that he’s now searching for Luke.  There’s something I have to say about that, but I’ll hold off on that for now.

Before Luke can actually go investigate the site where the Probe Droid landed, the Tauntaun (a bipedal lizard-goat creature) he was riding starts to freak out.  Seconds later, Luke is attacked by a giant yeti-like creature called a Wampa, resulting in Luke getting knocked out.  I wonder why Luke’s Tauntaun didn’t smell the Wampa until he was right on top of them.  Also, wasn’t it just mentioned that Luke and Han were specifically looking for any signs of life?  So why didn’t their sensors detect the Wampa’s approach?  Were they just looking for signs of human life?  I guess that would make sense, as the Rebels already knew there was some form of life on Hoth.  After all, they had managed to domesticate a team of Tauntauns, which were native to the icy planet.

Back at the Rebel Base, we see Chewbacca in the middle of performing repairs to the Millennium Falcon, which was apparently damaged in a previous battle that occurred off-camera.  When Han returns from his scouting mission, he promises to give Chewbacca a hand in a moment.  But first, he approaches General Rieekan to give his report on how he didn’t pick up any life signs during his scouting mission.  Han then announces that he’s planning on leaving Hoth and can no longer stay and assist the Rebel Alliance, on account of the fact that Jabba the Hutt is now out for his blood.  It turns out that Han never used the money he’d gotten for helping to rescue Leia in A New Hope to pay back his debt to Jabba.  So he’s going to have to get that taken care of ASAP or Jabba will start sending bounty hunters after him.  Apparently, Han’s already had a run-in with one such bounty hunter on a planet called Ord Mantell, during an adventure that I think was explored in one of the Star Wars novels I never read, and he doesn’t want to push his luck any further. General Rieekan expresses his sorrow to see Han leave, but wishes him the best.

However, Leia, who had been within earshot of this conversation, doesn’t take the news as well.  Instead, she all but runs after him, trying to convince him to stay, stating that the Rebel Alliance needs him, as he’s proven himself to be a true asset. But Han isn’t swayed and starts to challenge Leia, telling her to just come out and admit the real reason why she wants him to stay.

Yeah, this movie really puts the petal to the metal in regards to a potential romance between Han and Leia.  Han is convinced that Leia had developed genuine feelings for him during the past three years, but it constantly discouraged that she won’t allow herself to admit it, even to herself.  While I suppose it could be argued that Han is coming on too strongly, I have to disagree.  But to explain why, I’m going to go off on a brief tangent, so you’ll have to forgive me for that.

The way I see it, the whole relationship between Han and Leia has what Anakin/Padmé lacked.  Yes, there’s a bigger age gap between Han and Leia then the one that existed between Anakin and Padmé, but my main issue with Anakin/Padmé had nothing to do with their ages.  (Not really.) With Han and Leia, they’ve pretty much spent the past three years getting to know one another.   It wasn’t as if their interactions in this move were the first time they’d seen each other since the end of A New Hope.  No, they’ve had three years of shared adventures and experiences under their belts.  In addition, while I never got what Padmé ever saw in Anakin, I can see exactly what would draw Leia and Han to one other. With Han, he was a complete loner when we first met him.  He was completely used to calling all the shots and felt he could only count on himself (and maybe his best friend, Chewbacca.)  All of a sudden, here’s this young woman who might look fragile and delicate, but has both bark and bite.  Someone who can clearly hold her own in a fight, and most importantly, isn’t afraid to challenge him and put him in his place.  Chances are, Leia seriously impressed Han without even trying.  As for Leia, think about what her life might have been like before meeting Han.   To everyone around her, she was the daughter of a respected senator and his wife. She probably spent her whole childhood having to live up to everyone’s expectations by following Bail Organa’s example.  Especially in regards to their secret connection to the Rebel Alliance.  Simply put, Leia most likely spent her entire childhood being molded into a great leader.  And when Bail Organa died when Alderaan was destroyed, everyone must have immediately turned to her, expecting her to take over her adoptive father’s role. After all, Bail was one of the founding leaders in the Rebel Alliance.  Imagine how it must have been to have so many people turning to you for guidance when you’re only 19.  You can’t even take the time to properly mourn for your home planet, or the people you considered your parents.  Now, all of a sudden, here comes Han.  And unlike everyone else, he doesn’t humbly defer to you.  He actually talks back to you and isn’t afraid to argue with you. Simply put, Han is probably the first person Leia has met who doesn’t treat her like royalty or an esteemed leader. He treats her like an actual person. I imagine that is both confusing and refreshing for her at the same time.

So that’s why I don’t think Han is out of line when he challenges Leia to just come out and admit that she has feelings for him.   Because Leia is just so accustomed to putting the needs of the Rebellion before her own, she is in danger of becoming incapable of basic human emotion.  Han probably knows that’s no way to live. And I have to say I agree with him. For starters, what would Leia do once the war ended if she hadn’t learned to let herself let go and focus on herself once in a while? Han probably knows that Leia would be a lot happier in the long run if she stopped making the needs of the Rebellion her only priority.  (This is made even clearer in a deleted scene.)  So of course he’s going to be blunt in his attempts at getting her to open up.

On a side note, I do have to chuckle a bit in regards to those random Rebels who are walking by during Han and Leia’s confrontation in the hallway.  They don’t even stop and look back at these two arguing.  It makes you wonder how often this sort of thing happened during the three year time jump.  By this point, the other Rebels are probably just shaking their heads every time they see Han and Leia fighting.  There might even be secret bets going on over how long it’s going to be before those two just get a room together.

Either way, Han and Leia’s most recent spat has to be put on hold when word gets around that Luke hadn’t returned to the Hoth Base.  When he finds out about this, Han is greatly concerned for his friends, as night is approaching and nights on Hoth are dangerously cold.  In order to find him, Han decides to set off on his own, despite the warnings from the other Rebels about the rapidly dropping temperatures outside.  As such, he heads off on a Tauntaun to begin searching for Luke.  And after an hour or two goes by with no sign of either Han or Luke returning, Leia has no choice but to give the order for the shield doors to be closed until morning.  This is a rather hard-hitting scene, as we can appreciate how difficult this situation must be.  Leia knows that the chances of Luke and Han surviving for the night out on the frigidly cold planet are very slim, but she knows she can’t risk a search party until morning, or put everyone in danger by leaving the doors open overnight.

Meanwhile, Luke has woken up within the Wampa’s cave, where the Wampa was busy devouring Luke’s Tauntaun.  He manages to escape with the aid of the lightsaber Obi-Wan had given him in A New Hope.  It had apparently fallen off his belt when the Wampa hung him up from the roof of the cave.  Which was really convenient.  What if it had fallen off when Luke was being dragged through the snow on the way back to the cave?  Regardless, Luke manages to free himself from the ice cave, even wounding the Wampa when he attacks.  (By the way, when did Luke learn that trick with summoning the lightsaber into his hand? I don’t remember Obi-Wan getting to that particular lesson before he died.)  But Luke then proceeds to run out of the cave and out into the night. While this might seem like a bad idea in hindsight, I can understand it, as Luke was in a high stress situation at the moment, and he had very little time to come up with a good plan.  And he probably had no idea how far he was from the Hoth Base.  Nevertheless, he begins trying to make his way back to the base, but eventually, the dropping temperatures prove to be too much for him and he collapses from the cold and exhaustion.

At that moment, Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost appears before Luke.  Obi-Wan instructs Luke to travel to Dagobah and seek out Yoda, who will continue Luke’s Jedi training.  Okay, two things.  First, Obi-Wan claims that Yoda was the one who instructed him.  This is a pretty big retcon, as it completely ignores the fact that the prequels told us Obi-Wan’s master was Qui-Gon.  But I guess this could refer to the fact that Yoda instructed Obi-Wan on the ways of Force Ghosts.  Second, why is Obi-Wan waiting until now to send Luke to find Yoda? It’s been three years, after all. Why wait until Luke was dying of hypothermia?  What if Luke hadn’t made it out of his predicament?  That would put a damper on the plan to have Yoda continue Luke’s training. Then again, I guess it’s possible Obi-Wan knew that Luke would soon be saved, because Han appears on the scene seconds later.  After making sure that his friend is still alive, Han, in an attempt to help warm Luke up, deposits him inside the body of the Tauntaun, who chose that moment to die from the bitter cold.

We then cut to morning, when a small Rebel shuttle is deployed to search for Han and Luke.  And what’s the name of this Rebel shuttle?  Rouge Two.  That name is rather bittersweet when you know the story of Rouge One.  Although, it does present the question of what this particular pilot did to earn the name of Rouge Two. Given what happened with Rouge One, being called Rouge Two is probably a huge honor.  Either way, the Rouge Two pilot manages to find Han and Luke when Han is able to radio up to him.  Not that I’m complaining, but I do wonder how Han managed to survive the night. I doubt there was enough room for him in that dead Tauntaun, too.  Granted Han mentioned to the delirious Luke that he was getting a shelter put together, but what was he using to make that shelter?  And how did he manage to keep himself warm through the night?

Anyway, Han and Luke are both brought back to the Rebel base, where Luke is immediately given medical attention.  Under the care of the Medical Droids, he soon recovers from his hyperthermia, as well as the injuries he received from the Wampa attack. (I’ve heard people say the Wampa attack was written in to explain the facial scars Mark Hamill got from his real life car accident, but I’m not sure if this is true or not.)  As Luke is recovering from his ordeal, Han, Leia, Chewbacca 3PO and R2 all come to check up on him.  During this scene, Han pretty much continues the earlier ‘argument’ he got into with Leia, stating that he thinks General Rieekan’s decision that it would be dangerous for any ships to leave Hoth at the moment was just an excuse, and that Leia really just didn’t want him to leave.  This assumption exasperates Leia who, in what I think was an attempt to knock Han down a few pegs, kisses Luke on the mouth.  Which is REALLY gross when you know that those two are brother and sister.  George Lucas did know about that plot point when he made this movie, didn’t he?  Or did he just plan on Luke having a twin sister and hadn’t yet decided on having Leia be the long-lost sister?  If it’s the latter, then it probably would have been smart to have included more female characters into the story.  You know, so there would be other candidates who could have been the sister?

But there’s no time to really dwell on that, because the overall plot kicks in again at this point.  The Imperial Probe Droid that Luke had mistook for a meteorite earlier in the film has taken notice of the Rebel base’s exterior and has begun sending a transmission back to the Empire, notifying them about it.  While one of the Imperial Officers was ready to dismiss it as just being a smuggler settlement, Vader’s Force Senses enabled him to realize that it was indeed the Rebel Base they were looking for. Thankfully, the Rebel Alliance’s radio contact team managed to intercept the Probe Droid’s transmission, which puts them on high alert, especially when 3PO, who was in the room at the time, informs them that the signal they intercepted was most likely an Imperial code.  Their suspicions are confirmed when Han and Chewbacca head back out to investigate and determine the existence of the Probe Droid.  While the Probe Droid activates a self-destruct mechanism when he’s tipped off that the Rebels have spotted him, the Rebels realize it might be too late, and that the Droid had already informed the Empire that the Rebel Base was on Hoth.   Their fears are proved to be well founded when an armada of Imperial ships appear on their radar.  As such, they begin the excavation, with a fully-recovered Luke joining the team of Rebel pilots charged with fighting against the approaching AT-AT Walkers in order to give the others the chance to evacuate.

As such, we enter into the first action sequence, with the X-Wings fighting the AT-AT Walkers while the rest of the Rebels evacuate in transports, with the transports leaving two to three ships at a time.  Although, as much as I love the design of the AT-AT Walkers, I do question the practicality of utilizing them in the attack on the Hoth Base.   I get that the Imperial armada managed to drop them off on the planet surface so the Imperials and Stormtroopers wouldn’t have to traipse across the snowy surface of the planet, but wouldn’t ordinary tanks have been more practical?  Either way, the attack on the Hoth Base begins.  While Luke and the other pilots manage to take out all the AT-AT Walkers (even though Luke’s rear gunner is killed in the process), the Imperial forces still manage to infiltrate the Rebel Base, prompting Leia to order a full-scale evacuation.  Even so, Han, whose departure was delayed by him and Chewbacca having a prolonged difficulty in finishing their repairs to the Millennium Falcon, has to nearly drag Leia out of the control room to get her to her transport.  Because Leia had apparently refused to leave before the other Rebels had a chance to get away.  However, on the way to her evacuation transport, the attack on the surface of the planet causes one of the tunnels to cave in, blocking Han and Leia’s path. As such, Han has no choice other than to get Leia off the planet on the Falcon, with 3PO tagging along.  Because this movie kinda sets up the status quo that 3PO predominantly accompanies Leia while R2 is mostly seen with Luke.  Kinda ironic as this is more or less the same setup that occurred with Luke and Leia’s parents.  The female gets 3PO and the job as senator/political leader and the male gets R2, along with the position of skilled pilot and Jedi. (And yes, I can see how this can come off as rather sexist, but I’d rather not go into that at the moment.)

As for Luke, after he’s finished taking out the AT-AT Walkers and then gets the evacuation order, he declines from following the rest of the fleet to their designated rendezvous point.   Instead, he decides to reroute his X-Wing to venture to Dagobah and locate Yoda, as Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost had decreed.  And it’s at this point the movie splits off into two separate subplots.  While Luke’s subplot involves his journey to Dagobah and his training under Yoda, we’re also following Han, Leia, Chewbacca and 3PO as they try to evade the Imperial fleet that end up tailing them when they attempt to escape Hoth.

Admittedly, the fact that the Imperials are so focused on the Millennium Falcon is a bit head scratching.  Because the opening text crawl makes it seem as if Vader is aiming to track down Luke.  So why would he go after the Millennium Falcon?  I suppose it’s possible that he might think Luke was on that ship, as he probably remembered seeing it during the Battle of the Death Star and concluded that Han and Luke were friends.  But wouldn’t his Force Senses have tipped him off that Luke was not on board?

Then again, it becomes clear later on that Vader hadn’t yet figured out that Luke was his long-lost son until he is personally contacted by Emperor Palpatine at a later point in the movie.  But this does make it a bit more confusing.  Why would Vader be apparently so interested in Luke if he hadn’t already suspected that Luke was his son?  Was it just that he was intrigued by the young man on account of how he sensed Luke’s strong Force Sensitivity during the Battle of the Death Star?  Also, in the scene when Emperor Palpatine is telling Vader that he suspects that Luke is Vader’s son, it’s rather weird how he and Vader are talking about how Luke is the son of Anakin Skywalker, as if Anakin and Vader weren’t the same person. Cinematically, I understand why they had to do that, as nobody was supposed to know that Vader was Anakin at this point in the movie, but once you do know about that particular twist, it just makes the dialogue really odd.  Either way, Emperor Palpatine’s master plan is to capture Luke and force him into turning to the Dark Side, thereby turning Luke into a Sith Lord like him and Vader. Which is slightly odd, as it was established in Phantom Menace that there could only be two Sith Lords at any given time- a Master and an Apprentice.  So, if their plan is to turn Luke into a Sith Lord, doesn’t that mean that they both know either Vader or Palpatiene will have to get killed off?  I suppose it’s possible that the Emperor plans to kill off Vader in favor of Luke and that Vader thinks he can overthrow Emperor Palpatine and take over as Luke’s master, but even so.

Anyway, in the Millennium Falcon crew subplot, Han quickly discovers that the ships’ hyperdrive unit was somehow damaged as well, which prevents them from making the jump to lightspeed. (Seriously, how was the Millennium Falcon damaged?  They’ve been trying to repair it throughout the entire movie so far.)  So Han has to quickly scramble to repair the hyperdrive on the double so they could get away from a pair of Star Destroyers.  But before he could make much progress, they find themselves in another spot of trouble.  Because the Imperial ships have chased them right into the path of an asteroid field.  In a desperate attempt at escaping their pursuers, Han decides to fly into the asteroid field, stating the Imperial ships would be crazy to follow them. Despite 3PO’s pessimistic outlook on their chances of successfully navigating through an asteroid field, Han manages to dodge the asteroids before deciding to land on a particularly large asteroid.  (Yeah, just try to tell me that Han doesn’t have some degree of Force Sensitivity. 3PO had just stated it was almost impossible to navigate through an asteroid field.  And Han managed to do so in a ship that Spaceballs not only compared to a Winnebago, but one that was apparently already heavily damaged.)  The Millennium Falcon ends up taking refuge inside a rocky cavern inside the asteroid. There, they hope to evade detection from the Empire so they can finish the repairs to the ship.

It’s during this ship repair scene that 3PO is actually somewhat useful for once.  Being a Droid, he can plug himself into the ship’s computer and get a full system’s diagnosis in order to determine what exactly needs to be fixed within the hyperdrive mechanism.  While it’s made somewhat clear that he isn’t quite as adept in this area as R2, since Protocol Droids were not designed for this sort of thing, he still shows a willingness to do his best.  And yes, there is one moment when 3PO comments on how the Millennium Falcon’s computer has a peculiar dialect.  While I doubt George Lucas and his staff had thought up L3 at this point in the franchise, I still appreciate that line now, as it’s a reminder that L3 lives on in some form.  Although, that does lead to the question as to whether or not the Millennium Falcon can be considered somewhat sentient.

However, because the ship is essentially dry-docked until further notice, this means Han and Leia are forced to closely interact with one another.  Which, in typical romance novel fashion, leads to them sharing a rather well-timed kiss. While it isn’t outwardly stated, it does become clear that Han’s earlier assumptions that Leia had developed feelings for him wasn’t too off the mark, and that her outward hostility towards him was pretty much just the result of her trying to deny her feelings.  It’s possible that her upbringing in being constantly looked to as a leader led her to believe that, if she ever did look for a romantic partner, it should be someone respectable.  Almost like a modern-day prince.  And Han clearly comes across as the exact opposite of a suitable match.  That’s probably why she was so determined to push him away.  Because she knows that’s not the sort of man she’s supposed to end up with.  Nevertheless, she is still drawn to him and doesn’t pull away when he moves in to kiss her. In fact, the extended version of the scene shows she even instigates another kiss when Han pulls away. However, the moment is spoiled when 3PO barges in, completely ignorant to what he’d just walked in on.  With the spell broken, Leia quickly retreats to try and deal with her conflicting feelings, as she’s now probably feeling even more torn between what she wants and what’s expected of her.

While Leia is off reflecting on things, she spots something flying past the cockpit windows.  When one of the flying creatures initiates the closest thing this movie has to a jumpscare, a startled Leia hurries off to inform Han of what she saw. Instantly on the alert, Han steps outside the ship with Chewbacca and Leia accompanying him.  As a result, the three of them discover the flying creatures are a group of Mynocks, which I guess are like space lampreys with wings. When a whole flock of them appear, Han starts shooting at them, but that, for some reason, causes a tremor in the cave.  That’s when Han starts to figure out that things aren’t what they appear to be, and he ends up shooting at the ground to test his theory.  Simply put, they didn’t land the Millennium Falcon inside a cave, but in the gullet of a space slug.  (So, there are Mynocks living inside the mouth of a space slug?  What kind of weird symbiotic relationship is this?)

In any event, now that Han has figured out that they’re inside the gullet of a space slug, he hurries Leia and Chewbacca back inside the ship, taking off on the double.  They manage to fly out of the space slug’s moth in the nick of time. However, this once again gets them back into the situation they were before, with the Imperial fleet chasing them. And because the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive still isn’t working, they’re pretty much sitting ducks. Thankfully, Han once again gets a brilliant idea.  His plan involves pretending to charge at the lead Star Destroyer and then land on the top of the ship.  This apparently enables the Millennium Falcon to avoid being detected by the Star Destroyer’s radar, as the signal from their ship blends into the Star Destroyer. This plan ends up working like a charm, although it did result in the death of Imperial Captain Needa, whom Vader held personally responsible for losing the Millennium Falcon.

While they’re tethered to the side of the Star Destroyer, Han announces to Leia the next stage of his plan.  Utilizing his knowledge of Imperial procedure, which we now know he’d gained from the time he’d spent enrolled in the Imperial academy, he plans to take advantage of the fact that Star Destroyers typically empty their garbage compartments before jumping to lightspeed.  Han plans to blend in with the debris and wait until the Star Destroyers leave.  After that, they’ll be free to head off without any further trouble.  The only issue is that they’ll need to find a safe port to finish the repairs on the Millennium Falcon.  When they start scanning the records of nearby planets, Han notices that his old acquaintance, Lando, is in the vicinity, on a planet called Bespin.  The planet’s records indicate Lando now owns a tibanna gas mine there.  Han decides that, even though Bespin is a bit of a distance from their current location, their best bet is to head there, because while Lando can’t exactly be trusted, he knows the man is no friend to the Empire. And so, once the Star Destroyers jump to lightspeed after jettisoning their garbage into space, just as Han predicted, the Millennium Falcon begins the journey to Bespin.  Although, while I’m not sure when this addition was put in, we do see the Millennium Falcon is now being followed by the Slave I, the ship that’s owned by Boba Fett.  There was an earlier scene when Vader had hired a team of bounty hunters to track down the Millennium Falcon.  And Boba Fett, who had previously been hired to track down Han for Jabba, was among them.

Meanwhile, Luke and R2 have arrived on Dagobah, which is an unpopulated swamp-covered planet.  Because the planet has no settlements, and is covered by a heavy blanket of clouds, Luke pretty much crashes his X-Wing in the middle of the swampy lake.  He does manage to make it to shore, though.  Even though R2 has a brief spot of trouble with some kind of aquatic beast. (Yes, I know the prequels were made years afterward, but seriously, did R2 completely forget that he could have simply flown to shore?)  After cleaning the gunk and saliva off of R2, Luke sets up camp, where he admits to R2 that he almost thinks he recognizes his surroundings.  Which I guess is meant to imply he had Force-induced premonitions of coming here.

Out of nowhere, Yoda suddenly appears before them, although the Jedi Master does not make his identity known at first. Instead, he takes on this whole act, as if he’s just some crazy old Alien living there.  (It does present the question as to whether or not R2 recognized Yoda, though.  His behavior during Yoda’s initial appearance in this movie suggests not, but shouldn’t R2 have at least noticed that he was at least the same species as Yoda?  What are the odds that there were two individuals of that particular Alien race on the same planet?)  Anyway, from what I can gather, the reason why Yoda was putting on the whole act at first was so he could test Luke, and figure out if he had the right sort of temperament to undergo Jedi Training.  Unfortunately, Luke ends up failing that test by displaying he has too much impatience.  In disappointment, Yoda finally drops the act and starts communicating with Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost, stating that he doesn’t believe Luke can be taught.  However, Obi-Wan continues to vouch for Luke, by stating he’d been just as reckless and whatnot as Luke had been when he’d undergone his Jedi Training.  Luke, upon realizing that the little Alien had been Yoda the whole time, begs for a chance, insisting that he’s not afraid.  To which Yoda states ‘you will be.’

Despite Yoda’s reservations, he begins Luke’s Jedi training sessions.  Which appears to involve Luke running around Dagobah’s surface with Yoda clinging to his back.  Though Yoda does give him a lecture about the dangers of the Dark Side, stating that while the Dark Side is quicker and more seductive, a true Jedi must use the Force for knowledge and defense, never to attack.  At some point, however they end up at this cave that apparently contains concentrated Dark Force energy.  Yoda informs Luke that he must enter the cave, in order to undergo another test. Luke proceeds to do so, but he refuses to heed Yoda’s statement that he won’t need his weapons inside the cave.  

Once he’s inside, Luke finds himself face to face with Darth Vader.  Immediately, Luke activates his lightsaber and proceeds to battle Vader.  The fight ends quickly with Luke decapitating Vader. But when part of Vader’s helmet explodes, exposing the face beneath, Luke is shocked to see his own face within the mask.  Obviously, this was meant to be taken as a lesson, with Luke being shown that he could easily end up just like Vader if he’s not careful.  But I do wonder if this was also meant to be a subtle bit of foreshadowing as to who Vader really was to Luke.  Either way, Yoda seems to sense what happened within the cave and is visibly crestfallen.  Which I guess means that Luke failed his test.  It’s hard to determine what Luke was supposed to have done, though.  Maybe it was the fact that his first instinct was to attack Vader upon seeing his image that made him fail the test.  I did notice the Vader hallucination only activated his lightsaber after Luke did.

Nevertheless, Luke’s Jedi Training continues.   This time, Yoda has moved on to the lesson of exploring the telekinetic aspect of the Force, by having Luke lift rocks with his mind.  Unfortunately, the lesson is interrupted by R2, who franticly informs Luke that the X-Wing is sinking into the swamp.  (Exactly how long has Luke been on Dagobah at this point?  And why did the X-Wing only start to sink now?)  Upon seeing his ship sinking, Luke starts to worry about how he’s supposed to get his ship out now.  To this, Yoda pretty much rolls his eyes and is all ‘haven’t you been paying attention to me?  I’ve literally just been instructing you how to lift things with the Force, remember?’  So Luke decides to take a stab at using the Force to lift the X-Wing out of the swamp. (With Yoda delivering his iconic line of ‘Do or do not.  There is no try.’)

Unfortunately, while Luke’s attempt at pulling the X-Wing out with the Force seemed to be working, he gives up almost instantly, as he can’t get over his preconceived notion on how the X-Wing is simply too big to lift.  Not even Yoda’s reminder on how powerful the Force can be gets through to him.  Luke just simply refuses to even try, stating that what Yoda is asking of him is impossible.  Once again, Yoda is visibly disappointed in Luke’s inability to get it. And, to drive the point home, Yoda effortlessly pulls out the now-submerged X-Wing, placing it safely on the solid ground.

Have to say, it’s almost embarrassing how much Luke is messing up in his training sessions with Yoda.  While I know it was probably done this way to make Luke appear more human and we had to see him struggle a bit, it also makes it a bit problematic.  Like, is this guy really the person who Obi-Wan and Yoda were investing all their faith into?  Is he really their best chance at restoring peace to the galaxy? If so, that’s really worrisome. Then again, they also thought an arrogant whiny brat like Anakin was their prophesized Chosen One, so I guess it makes sense.

Anyway, Han, Leia, Chewbacca and 3PO eventually arrive on Bespin and make their way to Cloud City, a series of buildings suspended above the clouds by anti-gravity boosters or something.  Despite a rather cold welcoming, they’re eventually allowed to land.  Shortly after landing, Lando comes out to greet them personally, along with a few of his staff, including a cyborg named Lobot.  At first, Lando appears to greet Han with hostility, but this is quickly shown to be an act.  (I do wonder if this is the first time Lando and Han have seen each other since the events of Solo, but maybe we’ll get that answer on a later date.)  Once he drops the fake hostility, Lando greets Han like an old friend, even though Han starts showing a bit of jealousy when Lando pours out the charm upon noticing Leia.

As Lando proceeds to show Han, Leia, Chewbacca and 3PO around, he goes on to explain that he obtained the gas mine in a gamble, but it’s been a relatively successful business, despite a number of problems ranging from supply issues to labor disputes.  However, during the impromptu tour, 3PO breaks off from the group when he encounters another Protocol Droid and overhears an Astromech Droid within a side room.  He ends up going to investigate, for reasons I can’t really understand.  So there were other Droids roaming the corridors.  So what?  It’s not as if Droids like 3PO and R2 were rare.  But the movie had to get 3PO alone somehow, I guess.  Anyway, when 3PO heads off, he stumbles into a place he wasn’t supposed to be in, resulting in an unseen figure shooting him into pieces.

Meanwhile, on Dagobah, Luke ends up getting a premonition during another training exercise.  He ends up seeing a vision of Han and Leia being tortured on Bespin’s Cloud City.  When he tells Yoda about his vision, Yoda informs him that he’s seeing the future, but goes on to say that even he cannot tell if Han and Leia would die, as the future is always in motion.  Yoda tells Luke that he could help them if he went to find his friends, but doing so would destroy everything they had fought and suffered for.  Despite this, Luke finds he can’t concentrate on continuing his training as his vision is plaguing him.  He ultimately decides to travel to Bespin in order to help Han and Leia.  As he’s preparing his X-Wing to leave Dagobah, Yoda and Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost attempt to talk Luke out of it, stating that his training isn’t complete and only a fully trained Jedi Knight has any hope of defeating Vader and Emperor Palpatine.  Obi-Wan goes on to state that if Luke chooses to face Vader now, then he will do it alone, as he and Yoda won’t be able to help him.  In the end, Luke decides that it’s worth the risk, as the lives of his friends are on the line.  As such, with the promise that he will return to complete his training later, Luke sets off for Bespin, leaving Yoda and Obi-Wan to watch his departure in despair.  At this point, Yoda states that Luke isn’t their last hope, as ‘there is another.’ Which is obviously meant to set up the reveal that Luke has a twin sister.  Though if they were thinking Leia could have been their Plan B, they totally botched that one, as nobody has even informed her that she’s Force Sensitive yet.

Back on Cloud City, Han, Leia and Chewbacca have noticed 3PO’s absence, prompting Chewbacca to go looking for the Droid. He ends up finding 3PO’s scattered pieces inside the mining facility’s junkyard and manages to retrieve the broken Droid from the little pig men who work there.  There’s also a small scene at this point with Han and Leia, which pretty much only exists to show that Leia is much more receptive to Han’s affection since their big kissing scene, as she allows him to kiss her forehead. (There was even an earlier scene when she willingly kisses his cheek upon seeing his plan on blending in with the Imperial garbage was working).  However, Leia makes it clear that she doesn’t believe Han will stick around, as she fully expects him to head off on his own again once he’s done escorting Leia to rejoin the rest of the Rebel Alliance.

Before Han could confirm or deny Leia’s assumption, or Chewbacca could start working on putting 3PO back together, Lando stops by the suite that he’d loaned them.  He invites the group to join him for a drink.  On the way to the dining hall, Lando informs Han, Leia and Chewbacca that his mining operation is not under the Empire’s jurisdiction, but is small enough to not be noticed.  Nevertheless, there is still the possibility that the Empire would eventually find out about Lando’s mining business and shut them down.  But Lando states he’d just made a deal that would ensure the Empire would never set foot on Bespin.  The details of that deal becomes clear when Lando opens up a door, revealing that Vader himself is waiting for them.   It turns out, because of Boba Fett tipping them off, Vader and a squadron of Stormtoopers had arrived on Cloud City before the Millennium Falcon did. As such, Vader had bribed Lando into betraying Han, Leia and Chewbacca to the Empire.

On a side note, props to Han in this moment. His first instinct upon seeing Vader is to move in front of Leia and fire his blaster at the Sith Lord, despite the fact that he probably knows by now that this wouldn’t accomplish anything. But it’s the fact that that was his first instinct that what makes this moment admirable.  He’s probably learned by now that Vader had personally tortured Leia while she was imprisoned on the Death Star, and also was among the men who forced her to watch as her home planet was blown up, and therefore moves to shield her from Vader without thinking.  Gotta love it.

Despite Han’s best efforts, he, Leia and Chewbacca are all taken prisoner, being confined to a prison chamber.  While he’s confined, Chewbacca takes the time to start reassembling 3PO, which is how we learn that the reason why he got shot into pieces in the first place because he’d stumbled across the hiding Stormtroopers earlier and they didn’t want him to warn anybody of their presence prematurely. Anyway, Vader and the rest of the Imperials proceed to torture Han (and maybe Leia as well, even though we don’t see what they do to Leia).  As Han is being tortured, Vader assures Boba Fett that he can have Han once the Empire is done with him.

Lando, however, is clearly starting to regret betraying his old friend to the Empire.  Especially when he’s notified that Han will eventually be turned over to Boba Fett, who plans to deliver him to Jabba, and that Leia and Chewbacca would not be permitted to ever leave Cloud City again.  He ends up visiting the three prisoners in their cell to explain that the Empire wasn’t really after them at all.  Instead, Vader is simply using Han, Leia and Chewbacca as bait to trick Luke into coming to Bespin.  (I guess this is why Vader was so insistent on following the Millennium Falcon into the asteroid field.  He knew the people on board were Luke’s friends and that he was sure to come rescue them if he knew they were in danger.)  Upon hearing the details of Vader’s plan, Han lunges at Lando in rage, only for Lando’s bodyguards to beat him back until Lando breaks up the confrontation.  Before leaving the cell, Lando apologizes not being able to do more for them, but insists he has too much at stake to risk angering Vader.

However, it’s then discovered that Vader intends to turn Han into a Guinea pig.  His plan is ultimately to force Luke into this carbon freezing chamber, which will essentially encase him in carbonite until further notice.  But since the process has never been used on a human before, Vader plans to test it on Han first.  Lando is visibly shocked upon hearing this, but ultimately does nothing to prevent it, as he’s fearful of what the Empire would do if he tried to interfere.  When Han is brought into the chamber where the carbon freezing takes place, Chewbacca tries to fight back, but Han urges him to stop, telling his friend that he should save his strength as Leia will need him to keep her safe.  Reluctantly, Chewbacca listens to Han.  But before the little pig guys from earlier drag Han onto the platform to be lowered into the carbon freezing chamber, he’s able to share one last kiss with Leia, who finally admits that she loves him.  And while I think there are some people who might give Han flak for simply saying ‘I know’ instead of returning the sentiment, I think it makes more sense this way.  Throughout the movie, we’ve seen signs of how much Han cares for Leia and how he largly tries to put her first.  So, in that moment, he probably realized how distraught Leia must have been, especially since she’s picked now to come out and say that she loves him.  He must have realized that she was saying it now because she was afraid he’d die without knowing how she really felt.  If that’s the case, by saying ‘I know,’ he was reassuring her that he’d always known, and that she didn’t have to feel guilty for not telling him sooner.

Ultimately, Han gets encased in carbonate.  And because the monitors fixed to the sides of the carbonite block indicate he survived the process, Vader orders that the chamber be reset for Luke.  Vader then proceeds to instruct the Stormtroopers to escort Leia and Chewbacca to his ship. An order that shocks Lando, as Vader had previously stated that Leia and Chewbacca were to be left alone.  When he tries to remind Vader about that, Vader simply announces that he’s changed his mind.

Before anything more could be said, notification arrives that Luke had just arrived at Cloud City.  As the Stormtroopers escort Leia and Chewbacca (who is now carrying the partially repaired 3PO), Vader gives orders that Luke is to be led right into the carbon freezing chamber.  So Luke, despite Leia’s attempts to warn him, walks right into Vader’s trap.  The two begin a prolonged lightsaber battle, with the occasional intermission.  Yeah, there are quite a few moments during this battle where Luke gets shoved into the carbon freezing chamber but escapes at the last possible second by performing a Force fueled jump, or when he gets sucked out a window.  There are a few moments like that, in which the movie is trying to drag it out and move the battle to a different location.

While all of this is going on, Lando has apparently decided that Vader had gone too far.  As he’s walking through Cloud City with the Stormtroopers escorting Leia and Chewbacca to Vader’s ship, he secretly signals Lobot to rally together Lando’s staff.  These men end up ambushing the Stormtroopers en route to Vader’s ship, allowing Lando to try and get Chewbacca and Leia to safety.  However, they’ve both too angry at Lando over what happened to Han to accept his help, with Leia doing nothing to interfere when Chewbacca tries to strangle Lando.  It’s only when Lando manages to inform them that they can still save Han if they can reach the East Platform before Boba Fett leaves that they decide to ease up on him. Taking advantage of this information, Leia and Chewbacca both race off, leaving Lando gasping for breath. Unfortunately, while they are joined by R2 (who got separated from Luke) along the way, they don’t make it in time and can only watch helplessly as the Slave I takes off.

However, while they have failed to prevent Boba Fett from taking Han away, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando and the two Droids now have to deal with the fact that additional Stormtroopers have apparently figured out that Leia and Chewbacca have essentially escaped, as they appear on the scene and start to shoot at them.  To get away, they have to fight their way to where the Millennium Falcon is docked.  Along the way, Lando manages to send out an announcement through Cloud City’s P.A. system, informing the population that the Empire has taken over the city and that they’d better get out before more Imperials arrive.  As a result, a whole bunch of people start running through the halls of Cloud City, which probably helped give Lando, Leia, Chewbacca and the two Droids cover as they made their way to the Falcon.  (Try and spot the random extra carrying the ice cream maker during this scene.  This guy is apparently so iconic, te fans gave him an elaborite backstory.) Eventually, Lando, Leia and the others manage to make it to the hanger where the Millennium Falcon is waiting, with R2 managing to hack the door to the hanger bay open.  (Though 3PO, who is still strapped to Chewbacca’s back and has been making pointless comments the whole time, dismisses R2’s attempts to warn them about something being wrong with the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive.) Once R2 gets the doors open, they are able to take off on the Falcon.

Now, I have to pause for a moment to talk about Lando.  In spite of everything, he’s actually a rather likable character.  Sure, he did betray Han and the others, but it’s still made clear that he’s not doing this because he’s a bad guy.  And as things progress, you can see he’s seriously regretting his actions, especially when Vader’s intentions with Han and Leia become clearer.  And in the end, he makes a valent attempt at redeeming himself.  In short, Lando is an iconic grey character.  And he even seems to have been cut from the same cloth as Han. Remember that Han had this whole ‘look out for number one’ approach at the start of A New Hope.  But he eventually turned himself around and slowly started to emerge as a heroic character.  Well, now we’re seeing a similar progression with Lando.  The only real difference is that we didn’t get to see the moment when Han ultimately decided to come back and join in the Battle of the Death Star.  With Lando, we can see the moment when he decides to officially start fighting back against the Empire.

Of course, while Lando, Leia, Chewbacca and the Droids were escaping on the Falcon, Luke’s battle with Vader was continuing on. It ultimately ends up on, you guessed it, a long platform over a large gaping chute.  The lightsaber battle comes to an end when Vader slices off Luke’s hand (which is not too dissimilar as to how Anakin lost his hand in a battle with Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones.)

As the injured Luke tries to stagger away from Vader, the Sith Lord tries to coax him into surrendering and join forces with him. Only for Luke to adamantly declare that he’d never join Vader.  But Luke is thrown for a loop when Vader reveals the truth- that he is Luke’s father.  The revelation is devastating to Luke, as he can sense the truth of Vader’s words.  However, in spite of the shocking revelation, Luke still refuses to accept Vader’s offer to pledge his allegiance to the Empire.  Instead, he allows himself to simply fall off the platform. Thankfully, Luke’s fall doesn’t prove to be fatal, but it does result in him ending hanging from some kind of thin pole affixed to the underbelly of Cloud City.  I could be wrong, of course, but I’m guessing these poles serve as part of Cloud City’s anti-gravity generator that keeps the city hovering over the clouds of Bespin.

Obviously, this presented a problem, though.  Luke is still no doubt in serious pain from getting his hand chopped off, so he’s not going to be able to hang on to this anti-gravity pole forever.  Thankfully, he manages to remain collected enough to call out to Leia through the Force. Because of the twin bond they currently don’t know they have, Leia is able to hear Luke’s call.  She convinces Chewbacca and Lando to turn the Millennium Falcon around so they can go back and save Luke.  They manage to do so, with Lando being the one to get Luke into the ship, where Leia is quick to help stabilize Luke’s injuries until they can get him somewhere for proper medical attention.

However, once Luke is on board, the heroes once again find themselves with the issue of how to escape the Imperial Star Destroyers. Especially since, as R2 tried to warn them before, the now-repaired hyperdrive unit was subsequently deactivated by Vader’s forces.  (Insert more useless commentary from 3PO, who continues to be more of an annoyance than an asset.)  Thankfully, R2 manages to switch it back on in time, allowing Lando to make the jump to lightspeed.  Luke, on the other hand, is unable to focus on how they were lucky to escape with their lives, as his thoughts remain on the knowledge that Vader was his father the whole time.  And he’s left wondering why Obi-Wan never told him the truth about the matter.

An undetermined amount of time later, our heroes have finally managed to rejoin the rest of the Rebel Alliance, who now reside in some space station somewhere.  There, Luke is able to receive proper medical treatment, with a Medical Droid fitting him with a highly advanced prosthetic hand.  As Luke adjusts to his new appendage, he joins Leia, R2 and 3PO (who was finally put completely back together again) at the window looking out into space, where they watch as Lando (who has apparently officially joined the Rebel Alliance) and Chewbacca take off in the Millennium Falcon.  Their plan is to track down Jabba and Boba Fett in order to find out where they’ve taken Han, in order to formulate a plan to rescue their friend.  Before leaving Lando gives them his word that he and Chewbacca will signal them the moment they find Han and then meet them at an established location Tatooine.  And it’s on that note, the movie ends.

While it might have been a gutsy move to end this movie on such an obvious cliffhanger, they probably knew at this point that they were going to make more Star Wars movies, considering the original film was an instant hit with audiences.  Although, this did pretty much set up a pattern that continued with the other trilogies, with the second film in a trilogy always ending on a cliffhanger.  (Although, The Last Jedi’s ending was a different kind of cliffhanger, for reasons I’ll discuss on a later date.)

As for the reveal that Vader was Luke’s father, I gather this was a huge shock for audiences at the time, as the prequels obviously didn’t exist when this movie first premiered, and there was nothing substantial to suggest it prior to that moment when Vader came out and revealed it. However, I honestly cannot remember how I reacted to that when I first saw the movie.  Of course, I was probably around three when I first saw it, and by that point, I was able to watch the movies on a VHS tape.  It might have been possible that I’d already been spoiled by the time I watched it, or I was too young to really grasp why that was such a big deal.  I just don’t remember being shocked by it.  

Also, it actually did surprise me how much I found myself loving Han/Leia during the rewatch I did in preparation for this review. Not that I was ever opposed to the pairing, of course.  I guess I just never was that invested in it before.  But this time, I found myself simply loving their dynamic.  Maybe I was just noticing the numerous similarities to Captain Swan, my ultimate OTP, this time around.  Because there were a LOT of parallels going on here.  Either way, I can now safely say I’m a Han/Leia shipper.

Next week is Return of the Jedi.  Which is probably the most interesting of the films, to say the least.

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[ramajmedia]

Star Wars: The Best Scene In Every Movie, Ranked | ScreenRant

Scenes are important in any movie, but as a “space opera” (an opera that takes place in sci-fi settings with fantastical characters and plot devices), the scene is a particularly important unit in each Star Wars movie. Although it was a six-part saga for years, Disney has added several movies to the Star Wars canon in recent years as the Mouse House has purchased Lucasfilm, started up a sequel trilogy to pick up where the original trilogy left off, and also given us a couple of spin-offs under the “Anthology” banner to top it off. Here is The Best Scene In Every Star Wars Movie, Ranked.

RELATED: Every Star Wars Movie In Chronological Order

10 Solo: The great train robbery

The main criticism of Solo: A Star Wars Story – the only box office bomb in the history of the saga – was that it didn’t feel necessary. Did Han Solo really need an origin story? The answer, obviously, is no. Still, it was a fun trip to everyone’s favorite galaxy far, far away with some riveting set pieces, the greatest of which was the train heist scene. Most Star Wars films are classed as “space operas,” but Solo was more commonly called a “space western,” and no scene places it in this category more than when Han joins Beckett’s crew in robbing a train.

9 Attack of the Clones: Obi-Wan’s fight with Jango Fett on Kamino

This one was a toss-up between the Battle of Geonosis, Yoda’s lightsaber duel with Count Dooku, and Obi-Wan fighting Jango Fett on Kamino. But it’s the latter that takes the crown of the greatest scene in Attack of the Clones, because it brings out the best in both characters. Obi-Wan uses his lightsaber-wielding skills and Force abilities to outgun Fett, while Fett uses his futuristic gadgets and quick wits to hold his own in a combat situation with a Jedi Knight. Plus, the fact that it’s raining (Kamino is a perpetually rainy planet) only adds to the cinematic feel of the scene.

8 The Force Awakens: Rey and Finn escape Jakku in the Millennium Falcon

Although Han’s reunion with Leia and the mysterious final-act appearance of Luke are great scenes, arguably the greatest set piece in The Force Awakens is the one that sees Rey and Finn escape from the First Order in “a piece of junk.” The camera pans over to reveal that this junky ship is, in fact, the Millennium Falcon.

RELATED: Star Wars: The Millennium Falcon's 10 Finest Moments

Pursued by a couple of TIE fighters, they escape Jakku through the wreckage of an Imperial Star Destroyer that fell from space during the Battle of Endor. The scene has the perfect blend of intergalactic action, dynamic plot progression, and character moments.

7 The Last Jedi: Luke Skywalker becomes one with the Force

Rian Johnson’s bitter, grizzled characterization of Luke Skywalker was criticized by Star Wars fans, because it didn’t line up with the Luke we know and love. We all remember Luke as the brightest, most optimistic person in the galaxy; the guy who saw the light in the evil tyrant who destroyed planets and dominated civilizations. However, in his final scene in The Last Jedi, he returns to his old heroic self. He projects himself onto Crait to distract Kylo Ren long enough for the Resistance to escape. It turned out to be his last heroic act, because it took all the energy out of him and killed him. Even fans who hated The Last Jedi can’t deny tearing up when Luke became on with the Force.

6 The Phantom Menace: Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s lightsaber duel with Darth Maul

This might be the greatest lightsaber duel in Star Wars history. Fans were disappointed with a lot about The Phantom Menace, because they’d waited 16 years to see George Lucas follow up the Star Wars saga with a prequel, and despite the dark origin story of Darth Vader they were promised, what they got was an adorable little kid talking about angels, Jar Jar Binks, and the line “This is podracing!” However, they did get a terrifying, softly spoken villain with a tattooed face and a double-bladed lightsaber, an effective portrayal of young Obi-Wan Kenobi by Ewan McGregor, and an emotionally affecting new character who acted as his mentor – and all three of these converged in the awesome climactic lightsaber battle, punctuated with John Williams’ breathtaking track “Duel of the Fates.”

5 Rogue One: Darth Vader slaughters a corridor full of Rebel troops

Some could argue that the ending of Rogue One would be even more impactful if Darth Vader’s ominous appearance linked to the main characters’ storyline. They were all going to die anyway, so why not have them slaughtered by Vader instead of the Death Star’s trial run? However, as it stands, the scene is plenty effective. A group of nervous Rebel troops stand guard while Tantive IV collects the Death Star plans and gets ready to depart. Suddenly, amid the corridor’s cloud of fog, Vader ignites his lightsaber, illuminating himself in a frightening red glow. This might be the greatest moment in a Disney-produced Star Wars film to date.

4 Return of the Jedi: Darth Vader is unmasked

Star Wars fans spent the whole original trilogy wondering what was under Darth Vader’s mask. At the end of Return of the Jedi, they had that question answered. Vader redeemed himself by tossing the Emperor into a reactor core to save Luke, but in doing so, he exposed himself to a lethal dose of Force lightning.

RELATED: Star Wars: 10 Early-Draft Return Of The Jedi Ideas That The Rise Of Skywalker Might Use

Before he died, he wanted to look upon his son with his own eyes, so he removed his mask and shared a tender moment with Luke. For all of the action and spectacle and space battles, sometimes the best Star Wars moments are the quieter ones.

3 Revenge of the Sith: Obi-Wan and Anakin’s battle on Mustafar

The conflict between Obi-Wan and Anakin comes to a head in their lightsaber duel on Mustafar. Anakin has fallen into the arms of the Dark Side, joined Palpatine, murdered all the Jedi’s younglings, and sent Mace Windu flying out of a window, all because he felt underappreciated by Obi-Wan. He thought Obi-Wan looked down on him and didn’t see them as equals. When Obi-Wan beats him in combat and leaves him limbless in a pool of lava, the final nail in the coffin is proving Anakin’s fears to be unfounded: “You were my brother, Anakin!” This is an example of the prequel trilogy adding to the original trilogy where the sequel trilogy detracts from it. It tells us that Darth Vader got his condition from Obi-Wan, and that he’s a tragic hero.

2 The Empire Strikes Back: “No, I am your father!”

At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke senses that his friends are in danger on Cloud City and abandons his training with Yoda to go and save them, Star Wars fans get to see what they’ve been waiting two movies to see: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader engaging in a lightsaber duel. Luke finds himself hopelessly outmatched by Vader, getting his hand chopped off and being backed out onto a ledge. There, Vader reveals to Luke that he is, in fact, his father. Faced with the decision to join his father in leading the Empire or jump to certain doom, the gallant Luke chooses the latter.

1 A New Hope: Luke blows up the Death Star

The single greatest moment in Star Wars history is also the most obvious one. The characters of the original trilogy each have a three-movie arc, but they each reach a kind of resolution in this moment (except for Leia, who isn’t present). Obi-Wan proves what it means to be “more powerful than you could possibly imagine” when he speaks to Luke from beyond the grave, Han learns the virtues of heroism and boldly returns to blow the TIE fighters off Luke’s tail, and Luke himself focuses his mind and uses the Force to blow up the Death Star. The Rebels haven’t yet won the war, but they’ve won the battle.

NEXT: 10 Possibilities For Disney's New Star Wars Trilogy

source https://screenrant.com/star-wars-best-scene-every-movie-ranked/

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Time to cry about STAR WARS fic? Ha ha, trick question, it’s ALWAYS time to cry about Star Wars fic. This is what life is now. Crying about Star Wars, especially via fic. STAR WARS FIC RECS: ✦ Broken by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & rex & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan (sort of), dark themes, 17.5k wip    The Twins are unstoppable enforcers of the Emperor’s will, the sun and moon that hang in the black void of his rule. It is said they are not the same age and that under their hoods they do not look alike, but they fight as one entity, silent and terrible as an eclipse in a spring sky. ✦ Capture and Release by Rocket_Sith, obi-wan/anakin, mild bondage, 19k wip    Anakin’s past comes back to haunt him unexpectedly during a mission. What starts as Obi-Wan’s attempt to help him face his fears takes on a life of its own and evolves into so much more. ✦ Heart of Kyber by Eirian Erisda, obi-wan & cast, 3k    With part of the Open Circle Fleet docked for some much-needed shore leave after a harrowing battle, Obi-Wan gives the rest of the 212th the slip and wanders planetside alone. ✦ The Cry of the Fallen Jedi by crowleyshouseplant, ahsoka/barriss, 5.1k    Barriss looks for Ahsoka after she disappears into the Sith Temple. ✦ untitled by fireflyfish, obi-wan & anakin & cast, ~1k    Prompt: Number 6 their vices with Obi Wan please ✦ tap, tap, tapping on the glass by skymurdock, obi-wan/anakin, modern au, ~1k    .so while I am screaming at this big bang (what do you mean you don’t want to move come the fuck on you got this far) here is a small destressing thing based off of Just Like Heaven. ✦ The Light You Leave Behind by laventadorn, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme & ahsoka & bail & asajj & cast, 28.6k wip    Ahsoka has left the Jedi Order, and Anakin is haunted by the last words he spoke to her on the steps of the Temple: “I understand, more than you know, wanting to leave the Order.” ✦ He Watched by temple_mistress, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 22.1k    Obi-Wan secretly watches Anakin in lightsaber practice. Anakin is not having any of it. At all. ✦ Temple History by sanerontheinside, obi-wan & anakin, 1.4k    There was no way his Master wouldn’t see that bruise, and so now Anakin was hiding. ✦ Sofa, So Good by Smitty, obi-wan & anakin, 10.9k    Why would anyone want Obi-Wan’s grody old couch? ✦ The Curious Feeling of Falling by Eirian Erisdar, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & cast, 2.6k    There is a common misconception that Obi-Wan Kenobi has never felt the pull of the darkness. ✦ A Falcon in the Dive by Eirian Erisdar, obi-wan & cast, 1.8k    A dive is so very different from a fall. Obi-Wan dives into the unknown. From the Temple gardens to Naboo, Mandalore to Utapau, and in the Unifying Force to another Falcon altogether. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, obi-wan & yoda & mace & cast, ~1k    “Disturbing, these findings are.” Master Yoda’s ears droop slightly, as his clawed hand gently lays the datapad he held back on the table. ✦ Meet the Skywalkers by frodogenic, anakin & piett & luke/mara & han/leia & jacen & jaina & anakin solo, 34.8k wip    Newly returned from the Unknown Regions with Darth Vader, Admiral Piett doesn’t expect much of a welcome from the New Republic. And not in a million lifetimes would he have predicted that their very first guest would be Luke Skywalker. After all, Vader is still his mortal enemy…right? ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, obi-wan & cast, ~1k    Obi-Wan is tired. So, so, tired. He rubs a hand over his tired eyes, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep and not wake up until the war is over. full details + recs under the cut!

✦ Broken by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & rex & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan (sort of), dark themes, 17.5k wip    The Twins are unstoppable enforcers of the Emperor’s will, the sun and moon that hang in the black void of his rule. It is said they are not the same age and that under their hoods they do not look alike, but they fight as one entity, silent and terrible as an eclipse in a spring sky.    Chapter 4: This is an update rec and will focus on this chapter, rather than the fic as a whole. This fic continues to break my heart, but also utterly engross me–it’s still not a happy fic, it’s almost assuredly never going to be a happy fic, you gotta roll with that when you start it, but it’s well-told and has this really sharp edge to everything, it doesn’t try to oversell what’s happened, but instead lets the horror of all of this breathe, lets what happened with Obi-Wan and Anakin have the room to settle and is almost understated, so much is unknown, but it still carries the weight of just how awful it is. This is one of those chapters that really hit me with how much has been lost between these two, how much of who they were is just gone, even if bits and tattered pieces remain somewhere long buried, it only hurts more because they can never really fully come back from this, it can’t be undone. Seeing the reactions from Ahsoka and Rex, the interaction Dooku has with both of them, drives home just how little is even there anymore, even when they’re set off by something or other. They’re truly feral here and the final scene of the chapter has this incredible frantic energy without trying too hard, I just felt the chaos and sheer intensity of it! But, really, my favorite thing about this fic is how it takes the bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin and twists it to something so much more desperate and dark, the one thing they have when all other lights go out for them, the one thing they hold onto when everything else must have been pain. I loved seeing them through Dooku’s eyes, the way it was such a waste of who they’d been, that the fic does such a lovely job of showing how terrifying The Twins are while still making the audience sad for how much was lost to get them there. It’s dark, but it’s so good for me. ✦ Capture and Release by Rocket_Sith, obi-wan/anakin, mild bondage, 19k wip    Anakin’s past comes back to haunt him unexpectedly during a mission. What starts as Obi-Wan’s attempt to help him face his fears takes on a life of its own and evolves into so much more.    Chapter 6: This is an update rec and will focus on this chapter, rather than the fic as a whole. There is a whole lot of talking in this chapter, which I can see why it was being difficult, because it’s a lot of hard stuff to articulate, especially for characters who aren’t sure they’re on the same page and the stakes feel very high (because everything feels very high for Anakin Skywalker), but it’s also this really warm, not quite fluffy, but certainly softer scene between them, where they’ve worked hard to get to this point and it finally allows a bit more breathing room for what they need to talk about. The sense of how long it takes to pull the words out of Anakin, how he wants to spill everything everywhere, but is also so terribly afraid, the way the restraints have come to mean something safe and comforting to him through association, all of it just left me tearing through the chapter and feeling really content with the characters afterward. It was something much softer than they all too often have and it was lovely for that. ✦ Heart of Kyber by Eirian Erisda, obi-wan & cast, 3k    With part of the Open Circle Fleet docked for some much-needed shore leave after a harrowing battle, Obi-Wan gives the rest of the 212th the slip and wanders planetside alone.    I can’t tell you how much I just quietly fell in love with this fic, how it gets the balance of Obi-Wan’s character down so very well–how entirely Extra he is about slipping away from the Jedi Cruiser, how casual he is about it and the mild chaos he knows he’s going to leave in his wake, how it’s fine, and yet how he’s also a man weighed down by the war and being a Jedi with his face plastered all over the HoloNet sometimes. It’s a nicely sharp fic about Obi-Wan trying to regain a bit of anonymity and how well that does/doesn’t go, a lovely look at the everyday people’s reactions to the Jedi who are fighting for them and how Obi-Wan feels about it all, plus a really just pitch-perfect satisfying ending. I loved this for the characterization, but also because it hit my id in just exactly the right ways. ✦ The Cry of the Fallen Jedi by crowleyshouseplant, ahsoka/barriss, 5.1k    Barriss looks for Ahsoka after she disappears into the Sith Temple.    Oh, this was a really lovely story about Barriss looking for Ahsoka after the end of season two of Rebels, all the history between them that you felt looming in the background, the almost gentle tone of this, even among such terrible events, the guilt and pain Barriss still carried with her, the depth of her sorrow and what she owed Ahsoka, all of it was very pretty and very heartbreaking and very lovely a read. ✦ untitled by fireflyfish, obi-wan & anakin & cast, ~1k    Prompt: Number 6 their vices with Obi Wan please    This isn’t really precisely fic, but more a series of headcanons written in a style very much like a fic, which I’m always weak to! And I liked this piece for how it’s about the things Obi-Wan likes and about the characterization underneath that, what a person’s vices says about them and the life they live, as well as how, even amongst all these people that Obi-Wan cares about, there’s that certain focus on Anakin, how much Obi-Wan loves him. It’s a lovely piece that I enjoyed this take on Obi-Wan! ✦ tap, tap, tapping on the glass by skymurdock, obi-wan/anakin, modern au, ~1k    .so while I am screaming at this big bang (what do you mean you don’t want to move come the fuck on you got this far) here is a small destressing thing based off of Just Like Heaven.    Oh, no, I wanted so much more of this one, ahhhh, I would have read a full 30k of this AU, where Anakin’s ghost-of-sorts is haunting his apartment and runs into his ex Obi-Wan, who is subletting the apartment. It’s a short thing but it’s so much fun and already has plenty to get me engaged with it and some great “what the utter fuck” as the characters realize the situation they’re in. Utterly delightful! ✦ The Light You Leave Behind by laventadorn, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme & ahsoka & bail & asajj & cast, 28.6k wip    Ahsoka has left the Jedi Order, and Anakin is haunted by the last words he spoke to her on the steps of the Temple: “I understand, more than you know, wanting to leave the Order.”    Chapters 5-6: I already loved this fic and what it was doing and what it was trying to do with the terrible situation the prequels characters found themselves in with the war. But after chapters 5 and 6, I’m even more in love, because it’s so considering of everyone’s points of view and how easy it is to lose track of yourself, to make one side or the other the enemy, when they’ve been a friend to you for a long time. The nuance, care, and delicate consideration in these chapters just had me over the moon, because it felt so much more real and impactful and full of depth, that it’s easy to sometimes want to blame the Jedi for things that are much more complicated than they first appear and yet without losing the warmth and compassion of Padme’s character, how very, very much she feels things and cares. I read these chapters with such with so much emotional engagement because of that, they’re so good and sharp for that. But this fic is also very much on top of things with the relationships between the characters, especially the strain between Obi-Wan and Anakin, as it’s obvious what’s coming or at least looming on the horizon with Anakin and how of course Obi-Wan sees it, but there are so many other things that are pressing on them for time and getting in the way. My fannish heart was completely wrapped up in everything between them, how painful it was in just the right ways and how much I felt for both of them. This is one of the fics I most look forward to whenever it updates, but I also entirely recommend reading it now if you can stand wips, because there’s some great stuff already put down! ✦ He Watched by temple_mistress, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 22.1k    Obi-Wan secretly watches Anakin in lightsaber practice. Anakin is not having any of it. At all.    This is one of those fics that I suspect you have to be in a certain mood to read, it’s very softened edges and big, dramatic confrontations and love confessions, it’s one of those fics you read when you want something kinder and sappier to read for these characters because you’re tired of getting your heart broken by canon or more wrenching fics, and I greatly enjoyed it for doing exactly what it wanted to do, giving me something that was all about their relationship and then nicely satisfying porn. Because, oh my god, Anakin just being so hungry for getting up on Obi-Wan’s cock and riding him until he screamed his Master’s name was exactly what I wanted, that he was so beautiful while wrapped up in the throes of it, that he was this incredible tight heat and clenching muscles as he rose and fell on Obi-Wan, that this was all he seemed to want in the world, to have his Master finally in him and their spirits connected, it soothed my heart and soul. If you’re looking for something with their sharp edges and heavy weight to everything, this isn’t it, this is something fluffier and happier, even in its angsty moments, you know it’s going to work out, the characters are much softer and emotionally open (well, okay, Anakin is always spilling his feelings everywhere, let’s be honest), and it’s for when you just need them to be all sappy in love and to roll around in that for awhile and then read some very nice sex of Anakin wanting nothing more than to sit on Obi-Wan’s cock for like the rest of his life. And I enjoyed it for exactly that, that it was just the right length for what it was doing, and it was entirely kind-hearted and warm! ✦ Temple History by sanerontheinside, obi-wan & anakin, 1.4k    There was no way his Master wouldn’t see that bruise, and so now Anakin was hiding.    Oh, this was a lovely look at Anakin’s younger years, trying to fit in and struggling with it, especially because it’s not preachy or unbalanced, but instead this really warm-hearted, kind look at a tough situation and how these characters dealt with it. Moppet Anakin is adorable and I felt so much for him, loved him so much, but, ahhh, the moments between him and Obi-Wan, the way a Master looks after a Padawan, just had me utterly melting at how perfect and good this was. ✦ Sofa, So Good by Smitty, obi-wan & anakin, 10.9k    Why would anyone want Obi-Wan’s grody old couch?    You may want to read The House That Obi-Wan Built first, but all you really need to know is that Obi-Wan decided to train Anakin on Malastare because he needed something different and they’ve started sprucing up the place they got. I also had to reformat this fic to get it into readable shape (but it was just a find & replace job), which I mention to encourage others through that because, oh, every moment of this was joy. The author does an absolutely fantastic job with their dynamic, that older brother and younger brother dynamic that works so well for them here, BUT ALSO that Obi-Wan is an absolute shit cook and he’s kind of a dick sometimes in that way older brothers are, especially when responsible for their brother’s training, but it’s always done with love, and it’s so sharp and engaging and fits the characters, especially for something that was posted in 1999! But then I’ve always liked anything by Smitty and this fic really holds up, it’s absolutely charming and sharp and was an incredible bright spot in my reading this week, which was already pretty great. ✦ The Curious Feeling of Falling by Eirian Erisdar, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & cast, 2.6k    There is a common misconception that Obi-Wan Kenobi has never felt the pull of the darkness.    This is a lovely bird’s eye view of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life, the pull he’s felt towards darkeness and the strength of his character that’s required to pull away from it, that it’s never been easy for him. It’s told in snippets, from when he was still just an infant to his time as a Padawan to his time as Anakin’s Master to Tatooine, the anger that has followed him all his life and how he’s risen above it, in ways that are rarely easy. It’s a bittersweet look at the character in exactly the way I was looking for. ✦ A Falcon in the Dive by Eirian Erisdar, obi-wan & cast, 1.8k    A dive is so very different from a fall. Obi-Wan dives into the unknown. From the Temple gardens to Naboo, Mandalore to Utapau, and in the Unifying Force to another Falcon altogether.    A bittersweet and painful look at the greater scope of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s life, from when he was young to the final days of his life, told through snippets and themed with a falcon in a dive. The metaphor worked very well for me, but also the fic captured that sense of how much good there is in Star Wars, but also how much sadness and loss and how much heartache it causes me. It’s not a long fic, but it was just the right length to accomplish what it wanted to do. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, obi-wan & yoda & mace & cast, ~1k    “Disturbing, these findings are.” Master Yoda’s ears droop slightly, as his clawed hand gently lays the datapad he held back on the table.    This is part of a larger story universe, which I think should be read in order for this part to make sense! Another shorter addition to the Supreme Chancellor!Obi-Wan universe and I really enjoyed it because it’s another one that shows how delicate the whole situation is, that even when the Jedi finally have more room to actually do something, they have to move so very carefully and they’re trying to juggle all these factors and trying to do what’s best in the situation and it’s just really not easy. But it’s also so satisfying to see some of the bad things starting to be exposed and how you can feel shit’s going to hit the fan pretty soon. ✦ Meet the Skywalkers by frodogenic, anakin & piett & luke/mara & han/leia & jacen & jaina & anakin solo, 34.8k wip    Newly returned from the Unknown Regions with Darth Vader, Admiral Piett doesn’t expect much of a welcome from the New Republic. And not in a million lifetimes would he have predicted that their very first guest would be Luke Skywalker. After all, Vader is still his mortal enemy…right?    Chapters 9-10: This is an update rec and thus will focus on this chapter, rather than the fic as a whole. Two more chapters of this fic that’s super fun and delightful, for Anakin’s family just totally and utterly ruining his cool, while still obviously caring very much about him. I mean, he’s still Darth Vader, he’s still pretty terrifying, but his grandkids and his son are still Skywalkers and still can never quite be properly cowed or not pipe up with their thoughts. I especially enjoyed seeing Luke again, though, there was some interesting almost plotful stuff with Piett and what to do with the Executor now that they’re moving ahead with rejoining the galaxy and some nicely light-hearted moments with all the cast. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, obi-wan & cast, ~1k    Obi-Wan is tired. So, so, tired. He rubs a hand over his tired eyes, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep and not wake up until the war is over.    This was short, not even quite 500 words, but I really enjoyed it, as a way of showing how Obi-Wan is distant from the war and how difficult that is, but he does what he can, how it affects the way he strategizes, and just how much he’s handling at once. I really do enjoy this AU so much and this was a lovely addition to it!

[aion-rsa]

The Mandalorian: Is Cal Kestis the Jedi Who Will Find Grogu?

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This Star Wars article contains spoilers.

Ever since Ahsoka Tano sent Mando and Grogu to Tython to find a Jedi who could train the little baby Yoda, fans have been speculating whether this means that yet another classic character from the saga is set to appear on The Mandalorian. At a time when there are so few Jedi left in the galaxy, the list of potential cameos is short, and at the very top is Luke Skywalker, who is arguably the most powerful Jedi still active five years after Return of the Jedi. Other possibilities include fan-favorite Rebels protagonist Ezra Bridger or even another Jedi from the old Legends continuity, such as Kyle Katarn or Mara Jade.

But some fans seem to be convinced that the Jedi who will swoop in at the last second to save Mando, Grogu, and friends from Moff Gideon, the Dark Troopers, and the Empire is none other than Cal Kestis, the Jedi first introduced in the 2019 video game Jedi: Fallen Order. While Kestis isn’t quite as high-profile as some of the other potential cameos The Mandalorian could deploy, his story in the game could point to him playing a much larger role in the rebirth of the Jedi Order.

Once a Jedi padawan who fought in the Clone Wars, Cal was forced to hide his true identity after Order 66 wiped out the Jedi Order. At the start of Jedi: Fallen Order, we find Cal working in a ship-breaking yard on the planet Bracca. But when he’s forced to use his powers to save a falling friend, he catches the attention of the Empire and the Inquisitors, who launch a campaign to hunt him down. The rest of the game is a race across the galaxy to stop the Empire from exterminating other Force-sensitive people like him.

As far as noble Jedi go, Kestis is a pretty good example. While he has to cut down animals and people alike over the course of the adventure, Cal also tries to avoid being the aggressor and has a love for life in all of its forms. He believes strongly in the philosophy of the light side and his ultimate goal is to restore the Jedi Order and build a new temple.

Since he was raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant before its destruction, Cal knows all about the Order’s most sacred traditions and philosophies. Unlike Luke Skywalker or Ezra Bridger, for example, he both knows exactly what the old Jedi were like and fully agrees with their way of doing things (unlike Ahsoka Tano). Were he to meet Grogu (or Luke), Cal would be someone who could pass on quite a bit of first-hand knowledge about the Jedi life that you won’t find in any sacred texts.

Cal and his master Cere Junda, another secret Jedi Knight, survive their fight with the Empire in the game and even an encounter with Darth Vader, giving Jedi: Fallen Order a somewhat happy ending, although Cal is forced to destroy a Jedi holocron that could lead him to a whole new generation of Force-sensitive children. Despite what the holocron could mean for rebuilding the Order he loves, Cal can’t risk the list of names falling into Imperial hands. But it’s still possible Cal has spent the last few few decades looking for others like himself, which would make him finding Grogu all the more captivating.

The math should work, too. Jedi: Fallen Order takes place in 14 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin), five years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. While we don’t know how old he was during his adventure in the game, you could make a reasonable guess that he’s in his early 20s. The Mandalorian takes place 23 years after Jedi: Fallen Order, which means Cal would be in his 40s were he to return for Grogu. Could 27-year-old Cal actor Cameron Monaghan pull off 40? Maybe with a bit of makeup!

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

But are we even sure he’s alive? We have no idea what happened to him after the end of the game, although the success of Jedi: Fallen Order probably means we’ll find out in a sequel eventually. It’s also possible that Cal is dead by the time of The Mandalorian. After all by the end of the game, he still has years of Imperial persecution ahead of him…

The Mandalorian season 2 has so far been very willing to bring in wild cameos (Ahsoka’s transition from animation to live action being the highlight) and Star Wars lore deep cuts. It’s a story very much focused on the non-Force sensitive Din Djarin, but Ahsoka’s appearance showed that the creators think Jedi mysticism has a place in the space Western as well.

Keep up with all of The Mandalorian season 2 news here.

The post The Mandalorian: Is Cal Kestis the Jedi Who Will Find Grogu? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[cometladyicarus-blog]

Goodnight, darth Vader, Don’t Let the Wampas Bite chapter 8

Ch. 0

Ch.1

Ch. 2

Ch. 3

Ch. 4

Ch. 5

Ch. 6

Ch. 7

Ch. 8

“You live on a ship.”

Luke looked up to the Togruta woman and tilted his head. “Why do you say that like that?”

Ahsoka shook her head with a shrug. “I should be more surprised, but Master Skywalker liked his ships back in the war.”

“What kind of ships did Dad have?”

“Junkers, really. Ask him about the Twilight sometime. I’m still not certain it had engines when he took it.”

“What kind of a ship was it?

Leia rolled her eyes. “Luke, it’s a ship, who cares?”

“I asked, I care!”

“Well I don’t! Aunt Ahsoka, Uncle Rex and Dad have told us about Christophsis. Can you tell us about it from your side?”

The former Jedi shrugged and looked up to see Rex dozing in a chair near the doorway. “I guess, but it’s getting late. Why don’t you change into your sleep clothes and get into bed, and then I’ll tell you about my first battle in the Clone Wars, okay?”

“Okay. But Dad still owes us a chapter from our book.”

“Uncle Rex! Uncle Rex!”

The poor clone jolted and reached for his hip and the empty holsters at both sides before groaning. “Blast, I need to stop falling asleep like this.”

“Uncle Rex, Aunt Ahsoka’s gonna tell us about her first battle in the war!”

Rex nodded for a moment before he stopped nodding. “Commander, why are you telling these kids that story? It’s bad enough the gold clanker gets after me for telling my war stories….”

“I was twelve. You were ten. They’re not that much younger. Master Skywalker destroyed a Trade federation ship when he was nine – you said so yourself.”

“They’re Skywalker’s kids, sure, but they’re neither Jedi nor soldiers.”

Leia grinned as she finished arranging her pillows into a support so she could sit up. “We’re going to be Sith. Jedi betrayed the Emperor, Dad tried to stop them, but when he went to end the war, the Jedi almost succeeded in hurting the Emperor again. The Jedi sent a – uh – ass-ass-assin to kill Mom and Dad too. Of-ishy-ally, they did.”

Ahsoka frowned. “Who taught you that?”

“Our teacher at school. And in Pre-school too.”

“He didn’t teach you?”

Luke frowned. “Dad doesn’t like to talk about the end of the War. It makes him sad, and then he gets a whole bunch of broken droid bits that he works on. Sometimes I help. Leia doesn’t like to help.”

She glared at her brother. “I keep them clean and pretty!” She turned back to the ex-Jedi. “You promised to tell us about your first battle in the War.”

“Alright. Rex! I’ll need your help to keep some of the facts straight.”

The thirty-something looking clone looked into the bedroom, half of a messy sandwich in his mouth and a couple canteens in his hands. “Wiff wha?” He offered one canteen to her.

“Christophsis. You know how it started better than I do.” She didn’t open it when she took it, and looked around for a second chair to bring over to where both of the twins could see them without favoritism.

With one hand free, he chewed the bite of the sandwich and swallowed before speaking. “Alrigh’. It’s caf’ Commander. Should keep us awake a bit longer until Lord Vader gets back.” He took the chair Ahsoka had used the Force to bring over and sat, looking very out of place, wearing his armor in the bedroom for children and sitting in a chair meant for much smaller forms, his knees were halfway up his chest as he balanced the half-sandwich on a knee and set an open canteen of caf’ on the floor. “So, the evil Separatists were blockading Christophsis from any ships getting in. Not even trade goods could get through, and the people were starving, sick, and injured.”

“What’s a blockade?”

He smiled, and his eyes seemed to be looking far beyond anyone in the room. “It’s when a number of a military force are used to keep things from getting past them to a place. Like the Stormies out in the hangar are keeping bad guys from getting to your home, except in a blockade nothing good, bad or neither gets in.” Rex paused a moment, shaking his head a little before picking up the story. “So, nothing from off-world was getting to Christophsis, and the blockade fleet was facing off with the Republic’s fleet in the system. We’d sent ships time and time again with relief supplies, but nothing was getting through the blockade. General Kenobi and some of the Republic’s top scientists had developed a top-secret tool to try and get through the blockade with supplies, but there would only be one chance, and they needed everything they could to make it the best chance they could.  

“So they called for General Skywalker, his fleet, and the 501st to come, help out, and trade places so the tired and injured soldiers could get better, and the damaged ships could be fixed up. So we arrived. General Skywalker nearly broke his nose on the top-secret tool….”

The twins were asleep before Ahsoka got to speak, had in fact fallen asleep after hearing how the General got through the blockade, before Rex could tell them again about how he and Cody found a traitor Ventress had bought.

After washing down a mouthful of sandwich, the veteran Captain spoke. “Good seeing you again, Commander.”

“Why am I not being shot at?” She fidgeted with her hand.

Rex shrugged. “Me, my 501st, lot of the others, we took out the chips in our heads that Fives died telling us about. But even then, you weren’t a Jedi anymore. You’re still not a Jedi, and you were taken off of the Order 66 list when you left or something. He thinks the chips were used to make us obey the Executive Order, just in case we had gotten too attached to our Jedi COs. Officially, because you were betrayed by a Jedi, you went into hiding for an undercover mission to look for other Jedi traitors. You still hold rank in the 501st.”

“Rex, what really happened? Why is Master Skywalker a Sith, and in that suit? Who is the mother of those kids?”

He shrugged, shoving the last of his sandwich into his mouth as he stood to collect the canteen and put the chair back. “Haf th’ ash him. Or d’kiths.”

“Chew, swallow your food, and we can try that again. You had better food manners during the war.”

He washed down the sandwich with caf’. “Didn’t usually have to talk while eating. Or I was eating food that was easier to move around in case I had to talk.”

“You just ate dinner too.”

“Fast metabolism for accelerated aging, Tano, don’t you remember? Anyway, you’ll have to ask Lord Vader. The kids might know some things. There’s always the official records as well. Goldenrod might be happy to tell you all about them. Artoo would be a more reliable source for other details.”

A dark shadow approached the two veterans of another era. “Thank you, Rex. Ahsoka. I did not expect the Emperor to contact me after my meeting.”

“Krayt Drakelings have fallen asleep, sir.”

“The what?”

“My children. Rex called them terrors who could kill without knowing they would when they were only two and running off on him. Like Krayt Dragon young.”

“Right.” She shrugged. “So, yeah, I got captured. What’s your big plan, Skyguy? Execute me?”

Vader shook his head. “You’re not a Jedi. Rex, would you update the Commander on the 501st please? I imagine she would like to know what she had been doing officially.”

“One question first – who is the mother of those kids? They said something about assassins going after you and their mother at the end of the war, and you weren’t close to any woman in my memory. Well, maybe Senator Amidala, but you and she had different-“

“Padme Amidala. They are children of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. To the Jedi assassins, Amidala was the enemy for being a politician, even if she did not support turning the Republic into an Empire.”

Apparently Rex didn’t know, since his canteen clattered to the ground and he groaned. “Now it all makes sense. You went after her on the <EMP Ship from the first TCW arc>, then there was the whole Banking Clans thing with her, when the Seppies went after Naboo, blast it all, how did that manage to stay a secret and unnoticed?”

“No wonder she looked at me weirdly when I said you and she thought so much alike.” She nodded. “Rex, he said something about updating me on the 501st?”

“Right, ma’am. Sir.”

Vader waited for the last two allies who knew him from before the armor to leave before looking into the room with his sleeping children.

“I’m not afraid to die. I’ve been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life…. I love you.”

“You love me? I thought we had decided not to fall in love. That we’d be forced to live a lie and it would destroy our lives.”

“I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway.”

Proof she had loved him, and he loves her was in that room. The glowing stars were bright spots in his red vision, but he smiled under his mask. Once his master was overthrown, he might finally be able to see both of them with his own eyes, but for now, he couldn’t let himself be seen outside of his chambers without any part of the suit.

“One day, I will become the greatest Jedi ever. I will even learn how to stop people from dying.”

“Not from a Jedi.”

He frowned at the last two memories as they came to mind. Ahsoka was with the Rebels, if he could convince her to return to the 501st, maybe convince her to use her position to help her rebels, he could feed information to them, wear out the Stormtroopers the Emperor insisted on using….

Luke turned over and muttered something about “bad motivators” and “blue milk.”

He was missing out on time with them the longer Palpatine lived and had him in meetings or out hunting down the last of the survivors of that stupid order. Only the very youngest of the escaping younglings from then were really left, and Kenobi. Part of him wondered if his master truly managed to kill Yoda. He didn’t see the old green Jedi Grandmaster’s body at that time, and he wasn’t quite as good at fighting with a lightsaber or the Force as he once claimed he was.

“I am as good as Master Yoda.”

“Only in your dreams, my young Padawan.”

“So, I have permission to act against the Inquisitors? How nice. I had to rebuild my lightsabers because of them. Twice they dragged me into a droid facility, and one time, both of my lightsabers got cut in half. Damn near took my arm while the machines were at it.”

“Could file for replacement parts.”

“They’re expensive considering how illegal most of them are now as ‘Jedi Artifacts.’ At least I managed to recover the crystals, and Master Skywalker taught me to keep extra parts on hand all the time.” Of course he did, Ma- Kenobi was fond of lecturing him on losing a lightsaber, and he in turn lectured her on not having lightsaber construction materials nearby at all times in case she lost her weapon.

“Where are they anyway? Thought those things were your life, like my Deeces.”

“He took them. Didn’t trust me with them in the speeder, though my leg’s still broken. Or the ship. Or here. Why does he use another ship when he lives on one?”

“Who knows what goes on in the mind of a Jedi, or a Sith.” Rex sounded like he was repeating something he had heard from long ago.

He stepped into the door-less doorway of the guest bunkroom to look at them both. Considering the room used to be a brig, it was repurposed well for a guest room. “I could finish your training, and you could resume your position in the 501st, if you wanted.”

She looked at his mask and frowned. “I’m not a Sith.”

“You don’t have to be.” He’d rather she wouldn’t anyway. The Sith ways didn’t work either as they were.

She crossed her arms and shook her head. “You’re teaching your kids to be Sith. I know how the Sith work – there are only two.”

He sighed, the noise translating poorly from his mask as merely another exhale. Instead he paced the hallway for a moment. “Not really. They’re learning the basics of the Force, but I will not follow Darth Bane’s teachings. I will go to an older Sith Order’s model.”

She snorted. “The Sith Order? They fell apart fighting each other, manipulated by their emotions.”

“Repressing emotions didn’t help the Jedi either, when they were blind to a Sith leading their government.” Her frown deepened, but the pause before her counter argument told him she agreed with his point.

“The Emperor will want me dead.” She had a point, but he was working on that. For now, he could make himself look like he was doing as Dooku once did and training a ‘secret’ apprentice. The Emperor would expect him to do so eventually, why not the student he already had taught?

“I can distract him enough for a while.”

She looked to be considering her options before turning to Rex. “So, Rex, you got used to not taking orders from me. Are you sure you could handle taking orders from someone younger than you?”

He smiled. “You? Younger? Nah, I’m, what, two years younger than you? Three? I still have more experience than you with months of combat service before Christophsis.”

“I won’t be your apprentice. But I’ll be part of the 501st. I don’t kill kids. And I can use a blaster if you don’t trust me with my lightsabers.” She didn’t look away from his mask as she spoke.

Rex paled a moment before forcing himself to smile. “Good to have you back, Commander.”

“I accept the alternative terms of the deal. There will be a uniform for you to wear, and armor, in the morning.”

Hours later, his helmet’s HUD alerted him of a message being sent out on an encrypted signal.

The plan has changed. I have a new source of intel for the cells and will not be out in the field. –Fulcrum out.

He chuckled to himself. She was learning to be a very good leader before the Jedi, and he, turned their backs to her. Of course she wouldn’t simply be taking orders.

And he just gave one of the main inner circle of the Rebels an almost complete free-access over Imperial information. Not truly free access, she would find much still classified to her, but it would likely be more information her spies elsewhere would get.

He did hope she wouldn’t get the 501st killed, however. He was lucky to get many of the original clones that were left under his command. The others in the military could have the Stormtroopers. And the bad knock-off clones who only lived for three years now.

He switched over to view the twins, still asleep.