#want to see them and the exile fighting against the true sith empire

[dairine-bonnet]

Well, if first it was supposed that Carth, according to the game writers and cut content, could redeem fem Revan, and after that they died hand in hand at the Star Forge, then here's my ending: Revan (probably, 'grey' Revan) convinces Malak to reject the Dark Side and they escape together on one of the Star Forge's ships before the station is completely destroyed. Nobody is even aware of it, redeemed Revan is considered a hero who died for the Republic/ or otherwise - maybe only a few people know the whole amnesiac Revan's story, and redeemed Bastila is declared the hero who 'defeated' Darth Malak...

P.S. The name of a possible short fic based on the story could be Presumed Dead.

[shadowstalker732]

ALRIGHT LETS GIVE THIS POSTING THING A GO

MY REVAN TIME (one of them at least)

Also spoiler warning a guess for a game over a decade old? (Am I meant to say spoiler warning? Who knows not me)

(Please don’t yell at me about stats I do what I want)

Anyway first playthrough where I don’t stop and hard restart Tarris or Dantooine 13 times because choice reasons and me forgetting that stealth is useless and just letting the game auto level for me (learnt that the hard way), I’ve basically done Tatooine but I haven’t beaten the dragon yet cos I wanted to bugger off to another planet first and chose Kashyyyk. And I’m down in the shadow lands now (do not worry Zaalbar I WILL GET YOU BACK) and yeah that’s where I’m at.

ANYWAY, Shay or Shar Stalker (because the game won’t let me do non-binary) is a light side Revan. Good of heart dumb of ass and yet will still rob you dry if you place bets on a strategy game against them. Height wise around the 1.6m mark (5′3″ for the Americans). Prefers the double lightsaber look (currently got a short green one and a normal blue one for amnesia version). Not a flirt but definitely had something going on with my Exile in the past but that ended in the Mando war at some point… teenagers in war don’t usually do well mentally wise.. back story and post events of Kotor under the cut (also warning it’s long, like super long, and goes into their future story? As well)

SO BACKSTORY,

Shar got some Mando blood floating in their veins from some ancestor and that causes them to go full buir sometimes hence why Mission, Zaalbar, HK-47, T3-M4 and Juhani get bed time stores aboard the Ebon Hawk and chocolate space milk whenever they stop (Rev gets some too because who doesn’t love some good old Choccy milk), droid duo get cleaned basically daily while Bastila gets the bird for even thinking that this is a waste of time and resources.

Wait I said backstory… TEMPLE LIFE!

Rascal trio with Exile and Alek at their heels. All three, good of heart dumb of ass. Shar was a prodigy and excelled in basically all Jedi subjects at the time, was pretty popular with most people and just a nice person who didn’t stand for bullshit. Got into a few “heated” (honestly that’s an understatement) arguments with council members about how some things in the galaxy were handled but mostly had a positive response from people. At this time their main saber was purple and their off hand a short cyan. Joined the Republic in the Mandalorian wars a few months before their 17′th birthday. Didn’t not return to the Temple once after leaving for war.

The War 

(I should mention I get most of my knowledge from wiki skims (not deep reads) and other Tumblr posts so if it’s off canon… it’s my story and Star Wars is my sand box so I MAKE THE RULES HERE BABY!)

After many battles and the relationship between the battle trio growing stronger with time it was also weakening. At one point Shar and Exile had a romantic relationship going but only kept that going for a few months, they both decided that this was not the time to be doing this and if they both survived would actually give the lovers thing a shot (doesn’t happen). Throughout the war all three realise that they must make sacrifices to stop the war, the old saying “sacrifice one to save the many” is said often between the three at first before it becomes second nature. During one of the battles Shar’s cyan lightsaber is completely destroyed including the crystal being completely shattered. After taking the mantle of the Revanchist only uses the name Revan and never removes the helmet unless it’s only the trio and only then will respond to their old names. All three are slipping mentally in this war but have all managed to hold onto the Light side by trusting each other. After the mass shadow generator event Revan looses all contact with Exile (force and otherwise) and assumes death, despite it being Revan’s own order it’s a major pushing point towards the dark.

The End of the War

Revan faces off against Mandalore the Ultimate and slays him, in his dying breathe speaks of the Sith Empire growing in the Unknown Regions and how this war wasn’t only about giving the Mandalorian’s a good fight but also to weaken the republic for Ultimates Empire allies. Not many Mandalorians knew of the Sith truth behind the war and just followed their Mandalor’s word that this war would bring them the honour of a good fight, and it did in a way. After Revan learns of the empire growing hidden amongst uncharted routes, knew that the council would never believe them and so took matters into their own hands. Taking a fleet and insisting it was to chase down the last of the Mandalorian high command, Revan left for the unknown regions.

The Unknown 

Yeah everything went to shit. Rev and Alek get captured and Sith tortured and kind probed by old man Sith Emperor but in that time Revan gains acute knowledge via reverse mind prob, of how the Sith empire is running, where resources are coming from and key weak points. During this time Alek falls completely and Revan fains it for now. Torture continues for a good while until Revan makes the choice that they have been making all through out the war “sacrifice one to save the many”… Revan embraces the dark side and makes a plan, a plan to empower the known galaxy enough to destroy the “true” Sith empire by uniting it as their own Sith empire. Revan knows light will always rise to face the dark and that the light side is strong, someone will rise to take them down after the “true” Sith empire is defeated and only in death will Revan have fulfilled their promise to the unknown Mandalorian and finally be able to be one with the force. Revan embraces the dark fast and is soon sent off by the Sith emperor who thinks Revan is under his control to take control of the star forge and start building the Sith army in the known galaxy, Revan assumes command with now Malek as their right hand.

Beginning of Darth Revan

Basically what is described in the first Kotor game, Darth Duo go find star maps, get to forge, start fucking up the galaxy yadeyadeya. Malek pulls a sick move and fucks up Revan’s plan to stop the Sith Emperor and boom Amnesia time baby. Oh also during Sith times used a red and their old purple lightsaber but when they got captured by Bastila both lightsaber’s goy yoinked and locked up on Coruscant for simple reasons. 

No Memory Time Baby

Council is smart as fuck and call them Shay Stalker AKA their old name to see if that will reawaken light memories or thoughts in Revan and basically try and nudge amnesia Rev to stay lightside cos they don’t want to see their lost padawan fall back to the dark, (Jedi are a complicated subject), also ONLY SHAY no mention of their other name Shar at all! So that will cause problems later for poor Rev when they start remembering things :), basically the game from here on. Memories of a calm life on a farming planet before joining the military, lost both their siblings (AKA Alek and Exile) while away on service. Joined to stop the Sith from taking any more innocent lives. Throughout the game Shay try’s to help as many people as they can and choose the option that will benefit good and innocent people, constantly says fuck to corporations and nasty people, is not afraid to kill a bitch. As I haven’t completed the game fully (but I am planing a lightside finish and I’m not exactly sure when the “I am Revan” bit comes in I’m gonna leave this as it is. Oh and blue main saber and a short green saber with a crystal they managed to purify (AKA was red but returned to its natural colour through meditation and force cleansing, also helped by Bastila)

Memories

Like I said I haven’t finished the game yet BUT after the whole “oh fuck oh stars IM REVAN?????” Lots of shit starts to make sense and the force “spell” (I’m gonna call it spell) that repressed Revan’s memories had already begun to weaken somewhat before this point but this kinda opens the flood gates but not too far just enough for it to not make any sense at all. Team is there for Rev and the game finishes lightside. (Also I know I said this rev not gonna romance but this is post game stuff now and I just don’t wanna romance Bastila in game so yeah) ANYWAY, Revan and Bastila build a healthy relationship together and Revan starts to regain a lot of memories that their friends help them through. Revan remembers why they took the name Revan and actually goes to Coruscant to the high council to explain why they put on the helmet in the first place and the Council adheres to Revan’s request and returns the original helmet. The Star forged one stays in storage for now. Revan also requests their old armour and lightsabers to help regain memories as to why they fell, the council is hesitant at this request and only allows Revan to meditate with their old things at the main temple with a council member present. Over one or two years a lot comes back but there is still a few key dates, names, moments and details missing. Oh and Revan uses force powers to make Bastila preggers. IF BOBA FETT CAN SURVIVE A SARLAC AND PALPATINE CAN EXIST IN THE SEQUELS. REVAN CAN PULL FORCE BULLSHIT TOO!

The Unknown part 2: Electric boogaloo 

Revan finally remembers what made them go dark and realises they fucked up their own plans pretty bad and the Republic IS WORSE OFF THAN HOW IT STARTED COS OPPS REVAN ACCIDENTALLY KILLED A SHIT TON OF FORCE USERS LIGHT AND DARK SO yeah. Bastila was holding the brain cell of the force bond in this moment and Revan decides the best course of action is to go face the Emperor alone… fucking brilliant Revan how the fuck did you win the Mandalorian wars again my good sir? Revan tells Bastila that they (Rev) has been assigned a mission to infiltrate the remanence of Revan’s old Sith Empire and basically destroy it from within and that this mission is basically so hush hush that Bastila isn’t meant to know but Revan thought it only fair to say that they would be gone for potentially a long time for this mission and Bastila, unaware that this would be the last time she saw them, accepted this goodbye and hoped they would return before their baby was born. But Revan has always been a good lier… even to themselves. Without anymore fuss they left the Known Galaxy leaving all their friends and family behind never to be seen again to face off against the bitch that started it all. (I haven’t read the novels or played the SWTOR game and never plan to do either so again I say this is wiki knowledge that I’m doing what ever I please with that knowledge because Star Wars is a sand pit and I’m the kindy kid that’s decided to sit and play with it today)

Mmmmm Watcha SaaaaaaaAy

Revan gets their ass handed to them and imprisoned for three hundred years and tortured and mind probed AGAIN. Also cut off their connections to any other force user to ensure old dude couldn’t get to them as well. Absolutely not having a good time here. After the 300 years of PAIN the force within Revan gets so fucked up that their physicality splits into two entirely separate beings, Dark Revan and Light Revan. When this happens the prison breaks and Light Revan makes their escape and gets out barely alive while Dark Revan hangs back and swears allegiance to Sith Empire and starts plotting to overthrow old dude cos Sith. Light Revan makes it back to the council and they heal them and have a very hard time believing they are Revan until Revan perfectly describes a gift they gave Bastila before they left that now a descendent of Revan now owns. The council doesn’t understand how Revan split into two entire different beings but accept “the force acts in mysterious ways at times”. Revan is FINALLY given knighthood and helps prepare the republic for the Sith Empire that hasn’t attacked yet but definitely will soon. And this is where Tarre comes in.

Mando Time Yeah!

My Tarre will get his own beefy post (def not as big as this one) maybe tomorrow or the next day so for now it’s just what Tarre does and means to Revan. ANYWHO, Tarre becomes Light Revan’s padawan. (I should mention that Light Revan despite being called Light Revan is leaning towards a grey area within the force but isn’t down right evil like dark Revan is. Dark Revan is killing puppies of an endangered species cos their bored evil). Tarre is Revan’s padawan and becomes a knight. Revan enjoys teaching Tarre about the force and understanding how Tarre was brought up a Mandalorian and with the peace between Jedi and Mandalorian’s at this point was welcomed into the Jedi temple later than most. Revan raises Tarre like he is their own son/little brother and they form an extremely powerful force bond because of it. I’ll go in depth on Tarre’s post but Tarre still gets Mando training for 4 months of the year but the jedi training is the rest of the year. Revan joins Tarre when he return to Mandalore to continue his Mando training and learns more about Mandalorian history and culture while there. While on Mandanlore Light Revan truely feels relaxed for once despite random Mando’s sometimes jumping out and challenging them to fights because apparently Revan is now a ghost story and a feared mighty warrior legend and when anyone finds out that Revan is “alive” immediately tries to prove that they are stronger than Revan (which they are not). A few years after Tarre is knighted the war with the True Sith Empire begins.

I don’t know what to call this bit sooooo UWU

Battles, fights, old shit, it’s a war. Revan proves to be supper fucking useful in leadership but doesn’t do as much “sacrifice one to save the many” moves anymore. Revan keeps predicting what the Sith are gonna do an THATS cos Dark Revan is leading the, and Revan knows Revan best but not the reverse. Light Revan knows how Dark Revan will act but Dark Revan doesn’t know how Light Revan will act since Light Revan technically includes Shay/Shar, Mandalorian War Revan, Amnesiac Shay, and post Amnesia. While Dark Revan is only really Darth Revan and post Amnesia so Light Revan technically outweighs Dark Revan. I’ve probably butchered that explanation or done it too late but that’s how it’s gonna be cos it’s midnight and I wanna finish this and post it today. ANYWAY, final battle between the Revan’s. They have a massive duel on the battle field and eventually Light Revan strikes Dark Revan down but also receives some pretty nasty injuries. Light Revan understands the need to be whole again and as Dark Revan “dies” reunites with that half of the force and Revan returns but Revan is so done, so fucking done with living and trying and they had a good run and now they have what was Dark Revan’s and Light Revan’s injuries all on one body and sure if Rev really tried they could probably suck the life force out of some Sith warriors to keep themselves alive but… they just don’t want to. Eventually Tarre finds the fallen Revan reunited at last and stays by their side as Revan finally lets go and becomes one with the force. After the battle Tarre brings Revan’s body back to the Temple to be burnt as Revan had requested but their armour, lightsabers, and other possessions would be taken to a place only Tarre knew of to be sealed away until a far descendent of Revan’s comes along to claim them as their own. The war isn’t over and Revan’s passing only fuels Tarre further into defeating the Sith empire that the republic eventually does after 20 years of war. 

Conclusion 

And that’s the overall story of this Revan, I know very long, very deep, wtf this is your second post after a what? 1 year break? Actually let me check… yeah nope about a year has passed since my Crash post. If you have made it this far thanks for reading my first ever “decent” post about something I’ve been developing for a while now in bits and pieces. Sorry it was so long but then again I did miss a lot of shit. If you want to interact and ask more questions about this Revan go ahead my ask box is open (don’t be weird tho and just cos I post long doesn’t mean you have to ask long unless it’s legit). I’ll try and get the Tarre post out tomorrow around this time too or earlier depends. Thanks again for taking the time to read my word vomit. Also sorry if there are any spelling mistakes I have missed.

Have a good one!

[sovonight]

(sith exile au)

recruit

potential

approval

rejection

truth (end)

✧ — ✧

"Pace!" Revan says, when Cela enters. "You're back with us. Heard you got into a little fight."

Revan sounds as amiable as ever, and doesn't comment on the reason for Cela's absence. Cela had, at least, expected to be asked why she hadn't accepted Revan's assistance, in the form of Sion’s visit.

"It was necessary," Cela says. "I'm ready to resume my duties."

Revan looks up from mixing her drink, tapping the stirrer on the edge of her glass twice to clear the remaining droplets.

"Not so fast, Pace." Revan takes a leisurely sip from her drink, and says, "Your apprentice stormed into our records and cleared the place out, save for him. To anyone who dares to peek in, it looks like he's doing research."

"He's not my apprentice anymore," Cela says. Revan looks like she'd suspected she'd hear that, and smiles over the rim of her glass.

"Ah, but he is your project. Your project, your problem, Pace," Revan says. "Isn't that what you said to me when my prototype assassin droid went on a rampage?"

That is an entirely separate case, Cela wants to say. The droid only had to be put down. Jaq is different: she's known him too deeply to destroy him now. And to see him again, after how they parted... she doesn’t know how to stand before him in a way that does not leave her vulnerable.

Revan, patiently watching Cela's face, suddenly claps her on the shoulder.

"Well! I don't have time for this," Revan says. "Go clean your mess up."

✧ — ✧

The doors have been blown open with no regard for their sliding mechanisms. Cela observes the damage dealt to the doors and their internal circuitry, and even still, admires how Jaq's power has grown. Jaq lies within—she can feel it, his storm of emotion that persists still—and she allows her feet to take her towards its center.

"What are you looking for?" Cela calls, as she walks. His response echos to her.

"A way to save you."

"There's nothing to save, Jaq. These years I've lived since Malachor, I've stolen from the Force. I am on a path towards death; I'm at peace with that."

She finds him: a lone figure in a dark room, dressed once more in the standard garb of a Sith soldier, rather than the robes she'd given him. From within the shadows, his eyes glare, and he abandons his work, stalking forward towards her.

"Listen to yourself. You sound like the Jedi you left behind," Jaq says. "You’re not at peace; you're giving up, like a coward."

"You're wrong."

"Am I? Why else did you choose me? I can get you what you need—but for some reason, you decided not to use me."

They stand just an arm's length apart, now, separated only by Cela's reluctance. She breaks her eyes away from the passion of his gaze.

"I chose you because I saw potential in you," Cela says. "One that's been realized. You've progressed faster than any other I've trained. With time, you could become truly great."

"I don't care about—"

"With time, you could replace me."

Jaq's anger stalls, giving way to disbelief. She continues.

"I don’t trust Revan, or any of the Sith Lords under her foot, to run this empire in a way that does not drive it to destroy itself," Cela says. "When I can no longer influence them, I want you to keep them in check."

"That's not what you want," Jaq says. "This life bores you. Leave, and let them burn."

Cela can't imagine leaving. After Malachor V, when Revan had shown her how she could continue to live as she had before, she'd known that she could never return to the Jedi bearing such a technique. Then, when Revan told her of the war she planned to wage against the Jedi, Cela knew that if she chose to run from it, she would deprive herself of sources of the Force. Unwilling to make herself an outcast caught between two sides of the war, scavenging what she could from either side, she chose to join Revan in a position of power.

"I can find you Force users to drain," Jaq continues, as though sensing her wavering will. "The Jedi, the Sith—I can hunt them and their deserters to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. You will live; I promise it."

Yes… deserters. Her mistake was in assuming that all would stay and fight. Students slip away from the academy, and soldiers disappear in the dead of night. And what of the ignorant, whose affinity with the Force lays dormant, just waiting to be awakened with the guidance of the right master?

She looks to Jaq, once more, and the mesmerizing depths of his gray eyes. He looks so alive, so animated—it compels her to live as he does. But he has sacrificed himself to her once before.

"No. I will not have you serve me," Cela says.

"That's not what I'm offering," Jaq says. He is more serious than she's ever seen him, each word a step towards an admission she has never allowed him to reach. "I've never served you. I've—"

She silences him with a hand over his lips.

"Don't say it," Cela says. "Not yet."

When she takes her hand away, it trembles on its path of return to her side. Jaq stands silent, impatient but waiting, and she drops her gaze from his, unable to endure his stare any more.

"Listen to me. Allowing me to drain you should have killed you. It should have left you nothing more than a husk, a void where the Force once was." The fear she'd felt when she'd realized what he'd done—it was little compared to what she'd felt in the quiet of the room afterwards. "I don't know what truly happened. I—I don't know what I've done to you."

Jaq is calm in the face of her fear.

"Does it matter?" He asks. "I'm alive, and so are you."

"I will not ruin you, and lose you, like the others," she says.

"You've already ruined me," Jaq says, taking the curve of her face into his hands, the way she did him so long before. "You ruined me the moment you saved me. You ruin me every time you look at me, like this."

Her breath is caught once again, and her heart—her heart wants her to close her eyes, and give in. But these are not her quarters, and they are not alone; she is too conscious of the fact that they are an impending spectacle.

"Not here?" Jaq asks.

"Not here," Cela answers.

But despite it all, they've reached an understanding. And as they exit, walking past the stray onlookers who scramble to clear out of their way, she turns her thoughts towards their escape.

✧ — ✧

"I've figured it out," Jaq says.

"Have you?" Cela says. Her eyes remain closed, and the volume of her voice barely above a murmur, as she rests beside the steady beating of Jaq's heart. He's abandoned the stiff fabric of his old standard issue shirts, and traded it for one no less dark, but far more comfortable. She sighs in content.

"You're not even listening to me, are you," Jaq says. To the responding shake of her head, he sighs and says, "Guess I am just an instrument to you, after all."

"You are nothing to me," Cela confirms, pulling him closer with the arm she's looped around his waist. It does little, so to indulge her, Jaq shifts so that he lies a little closer, himself.

"What is it?" Cela asks, after a time. "What you figured out."

"Oh. Nothing—I was going to say that you must've spared me back then to use me for my warmth. All that talk about achieving my potential as a Sith Lord must've been a misdirect: you've turned me into a handsome, heated pillow."

"…I've been thinking about it," Cela says.

"The pillow? You're already using it." Idly, Jaq brushes a few untidy strands of hair back from her face, to tuck behind her ear. She gazes up at him.

"Not that. What happened, to allow you to survive," Cela says. "I think it's because it was you."

Jaq looks at her a moment, then laughs.

"Me?" Jaq says. "Alright. What's so special about me?"

"That I loved you," Cela says. "That you returned it. That our bond was of a kind I hadn't allowed myself since Malachor. I think—"

She searches for her next words, then sighs.

"Revan would have known how to explain it fully," Cela says. "But it is something."

She expects them both to fall silent once more, but Jaq considers what she'd said for a moment, then smirks down at her.

"No, I see," Jaq says. "So you're finally admitting that you loved me even then."

Her face grows warm.

"Well—of course," Cela says. "You know this."

"Mm," he acknowledges, "But you've never said it."

"You could feel it. Why would I need to say it?" Closing her eyes, she buries her face in his shirt, seeking her paradise of contentment once more.

"Come on, Cela, just once," Jaq prompts her. "You could do it now. I swear I'm not listening."

"Your lies are useless," she says, muffled against his chest.

But, indulging him, she abandons her realm of comfort. She lifts her lips to his ear, and whispers the true nature of her love to him, one that he has always known.

[bkbricks]

The Six True Force Ghosts (Updated)

I am not a fan of the sequel trilogy of Star Wars (Episodes 7-9). One of my many reasons is the way that force ghosts are portrayed. In “The Rise of Skywalker” the Jedi of the past come back to help Rey defeat Palpatine. However, there are many Jedi force ghosts that come back, most of whom should not be a force ghost. I believe this because of how force ghosts are portrayed before Episode 9 was released. They were a very special type of Jedi and took special practices to master. There are only six true force ghosts, in my opinion.

In “The Clone Wars” show, Yoda undergoes special training to learn how to become a force ghost. He is the second to ever learn, from the Jedi who learned how to become the first: Qui-Gon Jinn. At the end of “Revenge of the Sith” Yoda tells Obi-Wan that he will learn how to connect with Qui-Gon and learn this knowledge himself, as we see he does in the Original Trilogy.

Beforehand

This took special training from all three of these Jedi Masters, that no other jedi had done before. It was also possible because of these three Jedi’s perspectives on the force. In “The Clone Wars” show, Yoda tells the Jedi High Council about becoming a force ghost, and none of them believe him. They all believe it to be impossible. So, because of my love for the prequels and originals over the sequels, I believe that these three Jedi, plus three more, are the six true force ghosts (by the time of Episode 9). Here they are:

Before I go over the six true force ghosts, there is one “Jedi” that I want to clear up that many fans may think to be a force ghost: Ahsoka. First, Ahsoka is technically not a Jedi, since she left the Jedi Order in “The Clone Wars”. She even claimed not to be a Jedi in “Star Wars: Rebels”, during her fight against Darth Vader. She may have had no one to teach her about/aid her in becoming a force ghost. In addition, Ahsoka’s death has never been confirmed. At the end of “Rebels” she was still alive, which took place immediately after the Battle of Endor.

Qui-Gon Jinn

The first Jedi to become a force ghost was Qui-Gon, and he most likely kept his studies about it a secret. He could do this because he was the only Jedi of his time who believed in the Living Force, an idea that the Jedi Order did not teach nor follow. In “The Phantom Menace” Qui-Gon spoke of the Living Force and the will of the force to the Jedi High Council. The Council, especially Mace Windu, did not seem to care about these views on the force, and is only concerned with High Council and Republic business.

Qui-Gon was even offered a seat on the High Council, because the Council believed that his different views from theirs would be good to have. He refused, however, as he claimed that it would take away from his beliefs and practices with the force, one of which could have been his studies of becoming one with the Living Force, or a force ghost.

Yoda

During the Clone Wars, towards the end of the war, Qui Gon’s force spirit reached out to Yoda and contacted him. Yoda did not believe what he was hearing at first, as he had never knew about force ghosts before. He told the High Council about hearing Qui-Gon’s spirit, but the Council did not believe him and deemed force ghosts to be impossible.

They believed something to be wrong with Yoda, and had him put under quarantine in a hospital bed under the strict security of Jedi Temple guards. With the help of Anakin Skywalker, Yoda escaped the Jedi Temple and left Coruscant for another location in the galaxy (at the request of Qui-Gon) to begin his force ghost training.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

At the end of “Revenge of the Sith” Obi-Wan faced the truth that he must exile himself on Tatooine and watch over the young Luke Skywalker. He and two others, Yoda and Bail Organa, had discussed this in their last ever meeting with each other. Once it is settled, the three began to walk away. When Bail left, Yoda called Obi-Wan back for a special message to him.

He told Obi-Wan that he can teach him how to connect with Qui-Gon’s force spirit. Obi-Wan was very pleased, and eager to connect with his old master. Yoda told him that he will need to undergo special training while exiled on Tatooine in order to connect with Qui-Gon. Once he completed this training, Qui-Gon could help Obi-Wan learn how to also become a force ghost.

Anakin Skywalker

Even though he never underwent any special training to become a force ghost, Anakin was very fortunate to become one. Fortunately for him, Obi-Wan had become very knowledgeable with the Living Force. He could even connect with the physical world quite a bit. This can be seen in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”. Anakin, on the other hand, had no chance to learn of the Living Force. He turned to the dark side; then, once he turned back to the light, he certainly had no time to go out and learn about it.

What I will discuss next is technically legends content, but I believe that it fits very well into canon. Anakin became a force ghost because Obi-Wan allowed of it. In “Return of the Jedi” when Anakin redeemed himself back to the light side and fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One, he died soon after. Before his redemption, Obi-Wan considered him unable to be redeemed and too far on the dark side. Throughout Anakin’s true redemption, Obi-Wan’s force ghost had been watching.

He was completely shocked, but proud of his old padawan. Before Anakin’s spirit could fully pass on (he had to first travel to the Netherworld), Obi-Wan reached out to him and told him that he had been forgiven, and could return to the physical world as a force ghost if he listened. After Anakin apologized for everything he had caused, Obi-Wan told him that they had very little time. Anakin then accepted Obi-Wan’s offer. At the end of Episode 6, we can see Anakin’s force ghost standing with Yoda’s and Obi-Wan’s. Qui-Gon’s was not present because we were looking through Luke’s perspective, who never knew about Qui-Gon.

Luke Skywalker

After “Return of the Jedi” Luke certainly had enough time to undergo the special training to become a force ghost. While it is never truly stated that he did this, its almost hinted at and can surely be accepted. Luke appeared as a force ghost in Episode 9. Either Obi-Wan or Yoda (or even Anakin) helped his spirit to become a force ghost just as Anakin’s, or he went through the special training.

Related: Luke’s Jedi Training With Obi-Wan

I like to believe that he took the route of undergoing the special training (possibly very similarly to Yoda’s during “The Clone Wars” show) instead of simply skipping it like Anakin. Anakin did not have time to learn about it, while Luke did have the time, and resources. Plus, Luke’s studying of the Living Force adds more to its mastery and exclusiveness.

Leia Organa

The sixth force ghost is (possibly) Leia. If there are any of these six force ghosts that I would believe to not become one, it would be Leia. This is simply for the fact that she was only a Jedi for one year. Now, you do not need to strictly be a Jedi to become a force ghost. You simply need to be force-sensitive and on the light side, two things which Leia was. She only underwent Jedi training with her brother, Luke, for one year until she had a terrible vision. She visioned that her becoming a Jedi would lead to the death of her son (who was still unborn).

After this vision, she gave up her Jedi training and focused more on her political life with the New Republic. Leia most likely never took the time to undergo the special training. However, due to her father’s (Anakin) way of becoming a force ghost, this too could have happened to Leia. Luke could have reached out to her (similarly to how Obi-Wan reached out to Anakin’s spirit) and asked her if she wished to return to the physical world as a force ghost. Leia would have most likely accepted his offer.

So these are the true six force ghosts, in my opinion. Of course, this knowledge could have been passed down to future generations. But these are the only six force ghosts that should have appeared/been heard in “The Rise of Skywalker”. Thanks for reading!

[swtorpadawan]

Promises

Author’s Notes: The following obviously applies to my main Jedi Knight OC, Corellan Halcyon, but I feel it could apply to a great many JKs, so i’ve used gender-neutral pronouns where possible. Graphics courtesy of Wookiepedia, since i’m away from my screen captures at the moment.  The Sith Lord known as Lord Scourge wants Revenge against Vitiate, the Sith Emperor. He wants revenge for what the ancient Sith Lord did to him three hundred years ago, granting him immortality but taking from him everything that made life worth living. He wants revenge for being forced to serve as his personal executioner for all of that time. It is true that Scourge may have started down this long and arduous path out of a sort of enlightened self-interest. Vitiate, Scourge knows full-well, is a threat to the entire galaxy. He has known that from the moment he met him in person so many years ago. The Emperor is a threat to everyone who has ever lived and to everyone who ever will live. But his anger and rage at his ‘Master’ have only deepened over the centuries. Scourge is incredibly fortunate that he burns cold, one of the side-effects that he suffers as the result of Vitiate’s ritual. Were it otherwise, the Emperor would surely have sensed the profound danger that his Wrath represented, and the unrepentant traitor has no illusions as to how that confrontation would end. After the Dromund Kaas operation, Scourge claims to stay with the Defender’s crew simply to be certain that the Emperor has left them no further surprises.   But somewhere deep down, Scourge knows that this isn’t the end of it. Something of the Emperor has survived. But he also knows the Jedi Knight will be there to see the prophecy through no matter what it takes. The Knight’s resolve is the equal of Revan’s, of the Exile’s and of Scourge’s himself. Perhaps even greater.  And Scourge will therefore aid the Jedi however he can. Lord Scourge stays with the Jedi Knight because they promise him Revenge.

Fidelitin Rusk has been fighting one battle or another for his entire adult life. He is considered ruthless and sometimes even reckless by his fellow Republic soldiers, and sometimes even by his crewmates. Rusk – the third-oldest member of the crew but perhaps the oldest in practical life experience – accepts these assessments without rebuke or defense; he is what he is. His entire mindset was constructed for battles and wars that had to be won regardless of the costs. Rusk has fought so hard and for so long that there are some days when even he starts to forget why he does what he does. Indeed, there are times when Rusk disapproves of the Knight’s choices, believing that they risk too much for others and that they are far too willing to however briefly put aside the greater mission to save even a single life all while the entire galaxy stands at risk.

But deep down, the lost soldier’s only true purpose has only ever been to defend those who cannot defend themselves. He was born and raised by a colony of pacifists; that didn’t stop the Empire from annihilating his people. When he looks at the Jedi Knight – so selfless and so brave, so willing to put themselves on the line for those who need them, he is reminded of the justness of that cause. And as he wins battle after battle and that cause is served, than perhaps everything that Rusk has done has been worth it.  

Sergeant Fideltin Rusk stays with the Jedi Knight because they promise him Victory.

Contrary to popular belief, Doctor Archiban Kimble knows perfectly how the rest of the galaxy, and even his closest allies aboard the Defender, view him. The man who calls himself Doc is seen as an arrogant, misogynistic, self-aggrandizing, fame-seeking, womanizing nerf-herder; a man who has left a seemingly endless line of women high and dry over the years, from Prudy and on down the list. Honestly? Doc wouldn’t have it any other way. Letting people believe that he cares so little about his personal relationships gives him a sort of shield against the things in the universe that he doesn’t want to deal with, all while still allowing him to continue to enjoy the things that keep him going.

But a man who worked his through medical school on his own merits and who has consistently chosen to serve as a combat medic on some of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy doesn’t do so just for fame, fortune and women. He could have had all that and lived in style while conducting research projects for a major pharmaceutical company back on Coruscant. No, once upon a time there was a young Archiban who set upon this path, and who did so for far nobler reasons then Doc would ever admit to anyone. Doc doesn’t know how, but for some reason, he knows that when the Jedi Knight looks at him, they see something beyond the broken healer who has put up a shell around themselves. The Knight then offers the medic an opportunity for a more meaningful existence than he could have ever dreamed of.  

Doc stays with the Jedi Knight because they promise to always Help others.

Some days, Kira Carsen feels like she’s spent her entire life just trying to be true to who she is in a galaxy that seems determined to force her to become something else. She was raised on Korriban by some of the most sadistic and fanatical Sith in the galaxy, the Children of the Emperor. Every time she sees one of her ‘siblings’ returning to the dormitories with missing pieces of their memory, she cringes and pulls up her blanket around herself. And when Kira returns one night and realizes she can’t remember what happened to her, she knows that soon, there will be nothing left of her identity, either. The survival rate of acolytes who flee the Korriban academy cannot be higher than two percent. Most flee into the wilderness and, when they aren’t immediately hunted down and killed, become ‘broken’, running around in gangs, often going mad. But ten-year old Kira smuggles herself out on an outgoing cargo ship, and a week later she’s on Nar Shaddaa. She sees the suffering of people, there. Those who are unable or unwilling to kick something up to the Hutts quickly find themselves sent down. The slums where refugees congregate are almost as cruel and unforgiving as Korriban. Life is hard, but here, Kira discovers something about herself. Inexplicably, she actually cares about other people; especially the ones who take her in, and who are too weak to fend for themselves against the predators among them. Then Kira meets Bela Kiwiiks and joins the Jedi Order. Kira is unbelievably grateful to Master Kiwiiks. The Togrutta got her off Nar Shaddaa, gave her a home and a place in the galaxy, and has given her a place in the galaxy and the chance to do some good. Master Kiwiiks is like the mother that she never had. Kiwiiks is gently but firmly trying to teach Kira to be the best Jedi she can be.      

But as proud as she is to be a Jedi, Kira Carsen is trying to be the best version of herself.

When she meets the Jedi Knight, everything changes very quickly. Somehow, the Knight trusts Kira against the Black Sun at the spaceport on Coruscant, and then later still when they’re hunting down Tarnis. When Master Satele instructs the Knight to take Kira in as a Padawan, Kira is elated. She follows the Knight’s lead, but she feels more like a partner than their apprentice. The Knight talks with her instead of at her, and they learn a great deal about themselves and the galaxy from each other. When Kira’s past is revealed, the Knight supports her unquestioningly; first against Valis, then against Master Jaric Kaedan and finally against the Emperor himself on Darth Angral’s dreadnaught. When Kira finally purges the Emperor from her mind, she feels the Knight reaching out to her, aiding her the entire time.

(All this comes before that night under the stars on Tython, when Kira finally jumps the Knight and they become far more than partners.)

Kira is still herself, learning and growing at her own pace. There are times she questions the Knight’s choices. She groans when they take in Doc and worries a great deal when they let Scourge join. But through it all, the Knight never asks Kira to compromise herself; they never tell her how she should feel or think about anything. The Knight simply asks Kira to trust them. And she does. The doubting Jedi questions many things; but they never question the Knight, because the Knight has never questioned her.

Kira Carsen stays with the Jedi Knight because they promise to let her be Herself , and because they let her become the best version of Herself she can.

T7-O1 – Teeseven to his friends – has served the Jedi Order for decades, and quite frankly, they would be hard pressed to find anyone who has done so with greater devotion. The astromech droid is more than content to carry messages and conduct reconnaissance for the Jedi as they continue to adjust to their home on Tython.

But for the mechanical servant, the most satisfying period of his existence was during the time he served as a companion to Jedi Master Ven Zallow, one of the greatest heroes of the Galactic Republic during the last galactic war. Zallow was a true champion of the ideals of both the Jedi and the Republic, serving with wisdom and strength. The little droid misses those days, fiercely. He knows the work he does for the Order is important, but nothing was more fulfilling than knowing ones actions have helped right a wrong or saved a life.  

After ten years of waiting, Teeseven is finally partnered with another hero. This one is even kinder and more powerful than Ven Zallow; they seem to do nothing but sacrifice for others. In the Jedi Knight, Teeseven has found a champion who can save the entire galaxy. Privately, the little droid does worry. He worries that the cruelties of this galaxy will weigh on the Knight, that they will become bitter with loss, and will eventually fall short of their ideals as so many Jedi have before.  But Teeseven will be there for the Knight, no matter what. They will follow the Knight into the darkest places in the galaxy, as they blaze a light. They will be the Knight’s friend, and show the Jedi the way. In return, the Knight will help Teeseven be what the droid always wanted to be.

T7-O1 stays with the Jedi Knight because they promise him that they will always be Heroes.

[falllpoutboy]

fuck it. rey organa solo

or how this scene in the rise of skywalker should’ve went. 

Her training was vigorous and longer than she would’ve liked, but it kept Rey focussed and balanced and she knew deep down that it was necessary. When the battle droids stopped firing, only then was Rey able to slow down into a light jog and then stop altogether. She turned off Luke’s newly fixed lightsaber and turned back into the clearing where General Leia was waiting.

The tropical jungle planet of Ajan Kloss was the Resistants new base, and while it had been a year since they had landed there shortly after the massacre on Crait, Rey still found herself marvelling the beautiful scenery around her. Thoughts about Crait and what happened there began to creep back into her mind, and Rey’s mood soured instantly. She kept replaying it in her head and going over each situation in her head, trying to think about what she could’ve differently. If I hadn’t wasted time with Kylo, I could’ve saved more. I could’ve helped The Resistance. I could’ve saved Luke…

However, deep in her distressing thoughts, she didn’t even realize she had made it back to the clearing. She nearly walked right into the General!

“Whoa, hold on Rey, are you alright?” Leia asked and jolsted Rey out of her trance. Knowing that she should be mindful of her thoughts, Rey shook her head and reassured her. But Leia knew better.

“You’re thinking about it again, aren’t you? Crait. Luke. Kylo…” Leia correctly guessed and Rey knew it was because of her force sensitivity and their bond with each other. When Rey started with Leia, their Force bond was immediately strong and it grew with every session, trial and lesson. Like her bond with Finn, it was ever-present and calming, non-pervasive and genuine, so unlike her unnatural bond with Kylo.

“Yes… I am,” Rey admitted. “How can I not think about it?” 

“It makes you feel low.” Leia surmised again and Rey nods.

“More than just feeling low, but like a failure,” Rey confesses and Kylo’s nasty remarks come to her mind again. You come from nothing, you’re nothing….

“Oh Rey…”Leia sighs and guides her to sit down. “I know that feeling all too well. When the Empire destroyed Alderaan for my lie, I couldn’t help but think of all the ways it could’ve happened. Millions of my people’s lives would have been spared  if I had done something different. Eventually, after my grief passed, I could only come to the conclusion that they were going to use Alderaan as a demonstration of the first Death Star’s might to the rest of the galaxy, no matter what I could’ve said or done. What matters is what we do afterwards to make it was all worth it, to do better and learn from our mistakes and to keep pushing forward,” Leia affirms and she stares into the distance. “It’s a lesson I’ve learned and still am learning today…”

For a few moments, Rey quietly absorbs the General’s words and wisdom. It comforts her but there was still something she’ll never get over…

“There’s still something bothering you?” Leia inquires and Rey slowly nods.

“Before I joined you all on Crait, you know how I went to confront Kylo on Snoke’s ship,” Rey recounted and Leia nods quickly. “When he rejected my help to turn him, he also made an offer in turn for me to join the First Order and become his apprentice to the dark side. He said that I come from nothing, and that I am nothing.... But not to him,” Rey finished bitterly. Suddenly, Leia’s grip on her hand tightened  and her expression hardened as turned to face Rey.

“Kylo lied to you, Rey. You’re not nothing and you don’t come from nothing.”

“Yes, and he said my parents sold me off for drinking money and that they were nothing.”

“He lied again. I have something very important I’ve been wanting to tell you for some time now, I thought I’d never had the time to, with how busy we’ve been, but truthfully, I’ve been putting it off. I thought if I told you after the war was over you’d understand but its pastime you’d know now. Ben is not Han and I’s only child. We wanted to wait a bit until we had another but then, a bit turned out to be almost 10 years. A daughter was born to us and we named her after my mother, Breha Organa’s mother, Aureyla. But we all called you “Rey” for short. I knew Ben was being corrupted from the darkside since before he was born and when you were only two years old, he had inadvertently hurt you with his abilities. So Han, Luke and I decided to take precautions and enrolled him full time as Luke’s padawan in his new Jedi academy and we hid you away, on Lah’mu, away from the dark influence preying on both of Anakin Skywalker’s descendants. We placed you under the care of the locals and we visited you ever moon cycle, sometimes twice. But we were wrong to have thought you’re identity would stay undiscovered. I guess the Lah-mui saw the famed Rebellion generals Han Solo and Leia Organa too frequently visiting the little girl and put together the pieces,” Leia’s voice breaks and a tear slips down her cheek, but she continues. “When you were just one moon shy of six years old, a few drunk locals took you from your caregivers to Jakku and sold you for drinking money. Greed can be as dangerous of a vice as the dark side is.”

Rey could hardly believe what she was hearing. She wouldn’t have believed what was she heard if it was said by just anybody, having been trained to recognize deceit through the Force, but Rey senses through her bond with Leia that every word she said was true. Every cell within her pulsed and sang with the new revelation, the truth. Finally, finally.

“I… so you’re my…. My mum,” Rey stammered out and General Leia, her kriffing mum, shyly smiles and nods. “If you’re my mum… then Ben is….”

“Your older brother, yes.”

“And Han was my… is my…” Just saying Han’s name made Rey’s heart clench and tears spring to her eyes. The image of his death still burned in her mind and knowing that it was her brother killed their father pushed the tears out. “Did he even recognize me a year ago?”

“He did and when you were taken, we planned to tell you as soon as you were rescued. As the years passed and we still couldn’t find you, Han lost hope the most although I tried reassured him that I knew you were still alive due to our force bond. Your disappearance coupled with Ben succumbing to the darkside and Luke’s exile painfully pushed him back into smuggling and we separated. Please understand that I never game up hope for you, but the First Order rose so quickly and Luke’s disappearance also made it so much more difficult for me to find you. For fourteen years, not a day went by without me thinking about you, Rey.” At that, they both stood up and met in the middle for a bone-crushing hug.

It could’ve been minutes, hours or a few days but time didn’t matter to Rey now, not when she was wrapped in the warm embrace of her mother. Their force bond was so palpable and enrapturing, it filled them with such a feeling of content and happiness, so much that Rey never wished for it to end. Then something dawned on her.

“Wait,” she sniffled, still slightly crying. “You and Han being my parents must mean that Luke is my…”

“Uncle.” A voice Rey never thought she’d hear again sounded from behind her and she gasped when she turned around. It was Luke, but not quite Luke. He wore the Jedi robes she last saw him in but his visage was tinged with an outwardly blue glow and he was nearly transparent. This was the corporeal Force spirit one could project after they’ve died, Rey knew from reading the Jedi texts she took from Ahch-to. 

“So you recognized me too, huh?” Rey questioned, curious to know why he lied to her as well.

“I knew…. But I didn’t care,” Luke admitted, almost shamefully. “I couldn’t make myself care. Then, I asked who you are to see if you even knew but you didn’t, so I didn’t care. I’m sorry I died without having properly greeted my niece and for not treating her with the respect she deserves. And for not being the teacher I should’ve been.”

His sincere apology touched Rey deeply and she smiled at her uncle. She knew now the reason for his indifference and could not hold it against him now. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry for attacking you that night.”

“All is forgiven,” Luke reassured her and he smiled gratefully. “I know this is all coming as a shock to you, I thought my parents were nobodies too until I got a rude awakening.”

“Luke, you can’t hold that against me forever,” another voice chimed in and Rey and Leia whirled around to see what it was. Another force spirit had appeared, a man older than Rey but younger than Luke and Leia, dressed in Jedi robes with shoulder length hair and bore a strong resemblance to Luke and Leia, even herself. 

“Father,” Luke greeted warmly and walked around to him.

“Anakin,” Leia acknowledged him but stayed close to Rey. Father… Anakin… Skywalker. My grandfather.

“All of our family’s problems seems to just repeat themselves,” Luke mused and then remembered himself. “Father, this is Aureyla, Leia and Han’s daughter. She wields our lightsaber now.”

Rey didn’t think she’d be making introductions to the notorious Darth Vader when she woke up earlier, but here she was. A lame “Hi” was all she could manage to say.

“From what Luke has told me, you’re strong in the ways of the Force. As strong or even stronger than me. Rey, you could be the one to bring balance once and for all and destroy the Sith foever. But you will be tempted and tested,” Anakin firmly stated. “Don’t fall victim to the dark side as your brother did, try to overcome it with everything you have.”

“A thousand generations live in you now…. But this is your fight,” Luke adds. However, Rey still has one more inquiry to make.

“What about Ben? I know he’s been seduced to the dark-side and has chosen it over and over, but what if there’s still a chance he could be saved,” Rey asks and her relatives look uncertain. “I don’t know if I can kill my brother knowing there’s a chance he could change.”

An uneasy silence falls over then and then Anakin speaks up. “You’ll do what feels right. Your instincts and feelings will guide you towards the answer. You can make your choice to save him, whilst Kylo can choose to continue his path and ignore any other options. You’ll know what to do then.”

The unspoken words were there, plain as day: If he won’t make the choice to join you and save himself, kill him or let him die. It left a bad taste in her mouth but Rey knew she would have to make the hard decision herself when the time again. Her father’s death flashes before her eyes again and Rey knew Kylo would have at least that to answer for. She nods grimly.

“I wish we all could’ve been a family together, Rey laments and Anakin’s eyes soften. “There’s so much I want to know about you all.”

“We’ll be with you Rey. Soon, after this is over, we’ll appear to you and we’ll talk about whatever you’d like,” Luke consoles her.

“May the Force be with you,” Anakin proclaims and they suddenly depart with a soft fade. Taking their advice and wisdom to heart and mind, Rey looks to her mother with resolve. 

“Let’s go Mum, we’ve got a war to win.”

[rainofaugustsith]

So did anyone else read the datamining?  I’m very tired of walking on eggshells and not criticizing the Jedi because some people will be angry about that. What follows is criticism of what is in the datamining regarding Project Nova. If you don’t want to see it, please scroll on. Similarly if you don’t want to be spoiled, please scroll on. 

The goal of Project Nova might have been to "rebuild the Jedi Order" but they plan to do that by tracking down Jedi in hiding.

Ie, Jedi who don't want to be found, and don't want to return to war...to make them fight for the Republic. Daeruun even mentions grabbing the librarians on Tython who by his own admission haven't seen combat in a decade or more to press into war service. From the datamining: 

Daeruun: Word of the victory on Corellia has spread, and a number of Jedi in hiding have returned to the fold. Even so, many of them have seen so much war... they are hesitant to return to positions on the front lines. We can certainly find other ways for them to contribute, but I fear the precedent we'd be setting. To defend the Republic is the duty of all Jedi. We can afford to give them time to re-center themselves before they resume combat assignments. Player: Jedi have more to offer than their lightsabers. Daeruun: True enough. I only hope they rediscover their full potential soon. Player: The Republic needs us all. We would never force someone to fight against their will--but if they won't serve as Jedi, then they should not be Jedi. Daeruun: A hard stance, but in these challenging times... it's best to be clear about our role. Daeruun: Even still, our numbers are perilously thin. But there are a number of Jedi still on Tython, serving largely in archival and research capacities. Many of them have not seen combat in more than a decade. But they are still Jedi--and it is the duty of all Jedi to defend the Republic. ***

It's said several times that the Jedi's "duty" is to fight for the Republic and on Tython, at the beginning of the class stories, it's said that they're supposed to fight for the Republic even if they don't agree. The Republic seems to see the Jedi only as their instruments of war. We certainly see that during the prequels. The Jedi are sent out to clean up whatever mess the Senate makes.  And the Jedi seem to do this regardless of if it’s the right thing. There’s that moment with Master Kiwiks on Corellia in the class story where she’s clearly not up to fighting and yeah, you can send her out there to the front lines again. Arn in Onslaught seems to still be healing from the trauma that he had, but nobody seems to be paying much attention. Arn cracks and slaughters the slavers on Mek-Sha which should be a damned big red flag that he needs some time off and away, but whoo hoo, send the poor guy to Corellia,  It makes me pity some of the Jedi characters in the game. 

There's that statement "if they won't serve as Jedi, then they shouldn't be Jedi" but the Jedi are notoriously intolerant of any other Force orders or Force users who don’t want to be Jedi. Even if one of these Jedi in exile said "look, fine, strip my title, I'm done with the Order" they probably wouldn't get off the hook. They'd probably be imprisoned on Tython or Belsavis (take a good look on Belsavis someday...lots of NPCs there are labeled as "fallen Jedi" and the like).

And this is one reason I think the Republic is just as awful in its way as the Empire (don't get me wrong - my stance is that neither side is good, and both sides routinely commit grievous human rights abuses, but the Republic resembles the USA waaay too much for my own tastes). Sure, in the Sith Empire if you are an apprentice or Sith Lord or even a Darth you’re often at the mercy of doing whatever Darth MeanieMeanieSkullface wants you to do for them, but I don’t see there’s much of a difference between that and the Republic literally rooting Jedi out of hiding or out of the libraries to throw them into a battle zone, or saying it’s the Jedis’ “duty” to do the Republic’s bidding.  If you're Force sensitive in either faction your fate is to become a pawn of your government.

[clairen45]

Luke Skywalker: Biblical Hero?

While reviewing the photographs from TROS published in Vanity Fair, I stopped on the one featuring Luke with R2D2.

At first glance, I honestly thought it was teasing about finally getting the true story behind the infamous Jedi Temple massacre, that one fatal night that tipped the scale into the birth of Kylo Ren. But as was kindly reminded to me by @tricaurelie, nope, because this is “old Luke”, the one that Rey got to meet on Ahch-To. The picture can sure be misleading as it reprises key elements from the Jedi Temple massacre, mostly R2 and fire. And the planet where Luke decided to establish his temple does exhibit some traces of vegetation, as seen here:

But, nope, this shot is not supposed to be about a flashback that finally tells us all about what and how it all went down, something that is important about the premices of Kylo Ren. Even though, you could very well imagine Force Ghost Luke (in his old form as recorded) coming to tell the story all over again. I don’t really believe in that theory as I enounce it. It’s possible, but meh... How Luke will play out, and this particular scene, who knows, but still, I want to come back to the way Luke is portrayed here and the symbolism behind it. This is very obviously a Moses display. The bearded patriarch. The burning bush. Alright. Let’s pause. Come to think of it, there is more than one biblical figure that can be related to Luke Skywalker.

Some Luke’s superfans would vehemently argue the case for Luke as a Christ figure. Savior. Super powers. The son. The Force is with him... And maybe the EU pushed forward this notion of superhuman, godlike Luke Skywalker. Though, let’s be honest, the only one clearly designed to look like people’s most popular mental picture of what JC may look like is obviously young Obi Wan. Like come on. To the point that you find countless stories and memes of Obi Wan honestly mistaken by people for Jesus. Obi Wan, you will always be the one and only Space Jesus! For real.

Fun fact is the same people who will shout that TLJ was #notmyLuke! should ironically rejoice in the fact that, in a way, Luke achieved some Christlike dimension by sacrificing himself to “atone” for others’ sins and redeem the lost sheep, aka Kylo. And when I say atone for others’ sins, no, this is not solely for Kylo Ren’s sake. He says it very clearly when he tells Rey about the Jedi:

the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy. Hubris. At the height of their power they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.

He is atoning, through his penance and death, not only for his own hubris and failures (his pride in the mighty Skywalker blood), not only for the sins of his father, but also for the sins of thousands of generations of Jedi teaching, that eventually failed. That’s a pretty big plate. Yet, I don’t think this is completely fair to see Luke as just straight Christlike figure. There are lots of other major biblical figures that ring truer to his personal arc, such as:

1.DAVID

As in David and Goliath. Why? obviously the shepherd/farmboy that gets to be God/The Force’s agent against an enemy so massive that the fight initially seems like a joke, and who eventually delivers the lucky strike that takes the enemy down.

Bonus point: the severed head from Goliath is evoked in ESB when Luke cuts off Vader’s head...

Also David is a key figure into the lineage that brings forth the Messiah, as exemplified through the symbolic of the tree of Jesse. Out of the house of David, a Savior is supposed to come that will usher in a new kingdom. Hence why it was paramount in the New Testament to have Jesus Christ being a descendant of David to establish his legitimacy as the Messiah.

In SW, the “mighty Skywalker blood” is also supposed to create a chosen one who will bring balance back into the Force. A prophecy that was at the core of the second draft script for ANH, in the piece that Lucas referred to as The Journal of the Whills: “ …And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as THE SON OF THE SUNS."  If Lucas had clearly originally thought that Luke could be this one (binary sunset, the son), the OT does not totally play that out. It was even totally dropped out of the storyline. Luke is not Obi Wan and Yoda’s “only hope” after all... and there was no reference whatsoever to a prophecy, or a savior, in the OT. Though, of course, Lucas decided to come back to his initial idea in the PT, with the prophecy becoming the leitmotiv of Anakin’s rise to the status of Jedi and eventual demise into Lord of the Sith. Remains in the ST the mighty Skywalker blood and lineage, with Kylo at the seeming end of the line... (seeming because, eventually, more babies will be on the way). Thus the title, The Rise of Skywalker, could not be more clear, like the tree of Jesse rising high into the sky to bring forth a savior...

2.ST LUKE

Easy one. Don’t think names have no meaning, they do. And writers pick out names for their characters for very good reasons, though not always totally conscious. Case in point, Luke. Lucas may have been drawn to the moniker for obvious homophonic reasons: Luke/Lucas. Luke means light. Sure, son/sun, binary suns, only hope, yadi yada. Comes the ST. Very clever thing happens. St Luke becomes handy. As one of the Evangelist, he is thus entrusted with “recording” precious testimonies about Jesus’s life and God’s message to mankind. Cool thing for old Luke is that he plays the same role, kind of. He is the custodian of the Jedi teaching. He is the last custodian of their legacy. He is also very literally custodian of books. And also, as I pointed out many times in my metas, like this one, the way Kylo Ren is always portrayed as a bull, well, guess what animal is symbolic of St Luke’s? Would you? Right!

3.ABRAHAM

Note that Luke did not end up in an inverted scenario where he could have been Isaac to Vader’s Abraham if Satan, instead of God, had demanded the head of Abraham’s son. Palpatine did not specifically request the death of Luke. It was never expected of Vader. The Emperor wanted to have Luke and possibly turn him. No sacrifice was required. And when Luke refused to bow down, Palpatine did not ask of Vader to put him down. He just took matters into his own hand.

In the ST, though, the way we get to see Luke’s temptation to kill sleepy Kylo is very evocative of Abraham raising his knife to strike down his son.

Debating the will of the Force over Kylo’s dreams was pretty much akin to Abraham listening to God’s voice putting him to the test... With more dramatic consequences in Luke’s case...

4.MOSES

Ok, so that’s the first one I mentioned when bringing up that VF photoshoot. Moses is a good one for Luke. The burning bush is obviously a symbolic they had fun with on TLJ with the whole burning of the Jedi library tree, with Yoda playing the voice that talks Luke back into reason and send him onto completing his mission.

Moses is mostly about guiding people to a better world that you will never reach. Thus, in SW lingo, balance of the Force. Peace to the galaxy. Happy end in IX, right? You betcha!

5.ST JOHN OF PATMOS

That one is a great one. St John is the famed author of the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, and thus, one could say, the last apostle (wink wink). The Book of Revelation is of course better known as the book of the Apocalypse, which is not only about the myriads of horrible things likely to shower upon mankind and the world (like, the end of the world) but also about the promise of a new world ushered in, the new coming of Christ and a new Heaven and Earth coming to replace our current ones. No more suffering and death. And no more sin. Interesting piece of information about this revelation is that it came to St John on the island of Patmos where he was sent into exile....

Ummmm.... Exile on an island? Where have I ever seen that? I also love the way that St John is always represented with a bird...

And that, in fine, the Luke we get at the end of TLJ, is about to deliver a prophecy of sorts: “The Rebellion is reborn today, the war is just beginning and I will not be the last Jedi.” One that is about death and destruction (war is beginning) but also mostly about hope. Luke,the prophet, is also the first voice we hear in the teaser for episode IX. One that is very much about hope. And also very much reminiscent of the tree of Jesse:

A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight 

Mind you then who the son of suns is at this point...

[bpdanakins]

I get the idea why a lot of people love this “Gray Jedi” interpretation in that its acknowledging life, death, creation and destruction, and how this is a cycle we see in real life and we cannot fight things like death, and that struggle is what helps us grow, etc etc. That’s real life and this is true.

But it’s not really what we’re shown in Star Wars. We know from the OT alone that the Force is created of all living things, and we know that when someone dies (in SW), they become one with the Force, and thus a part of all living things. This is kinda already like the cycle of life and death as is. 

The Light Side and the Dark Side is how a Force user chooses to use the Force. The Dark Side is destruction and death, but not in this romanticized view which helps the Light Side grow stronger, or ‘cleans the slate’ so good can begin again, or teaching one not to fear death and struggle or whatever. It’s destruction, because it destroys both others and the user itself. It corrupts them, turns them into terrible people, the worst of themselves. And it’s death, bc again, it’s corruption of the self and of others, and it makes one evil and evil likes doing evil things like mass murder.

It’s a perversion of the natural cycle of life and death and the celebration of it, not part of the cycle itself. Because the Dark Side is a manipulation of the Force to do and create evil, and evil is not something that can ever be spun into something that is a necessary step towards good things.

The Sith, in turn, have never been good. Like... ever. Yes, one can and should be selfish at times, in that it is important in many ways to put yourself first to improve yourself and help yourself become healthier and be okay with things like that. But that’s not the Sith type of selfishness. Sith covet everything. And Sith empires are literally always fascist/dictatorship ones. They encourage and use slavery, genocide, racism, all these sorts of things. Because nothing gives one a bigger power trip than to decide who deserves to live and who deserves to die.

(And if people want to point to the ever popularly used KOTOR games, we are shown in them how the Sith Academy itself is built upon the desire and requirement to kill each other as part of the curriculum.) 

(Also Kreia never encouraged the Exile to be a Sith btw.)

People don’t like the Jedi and/or criticize them, and thus often turn this into this idea that the Jedi encouraged suppression of the self and the Sith encourage the opposite, and that’s why they’re both wrong. And there’s good arguments for that and against that, but that still has nothing to do with trying to paint the Sith as some necessary force in the galaxy.

Imagine making the argument that it’s a good thing for us to have periods of war, genocide, racism (and other sorts of bigotry) and slavery, etc, in order to learn to be good. And not just that, but make the argument that it’s necessary for this to happen forever. I don’t want to live in that world, where we brush off these horrific things as just the generational reminder that the world sucks and it’s okay for us to view it as such for our position of privilege where we’re not the ones directly suffering every day from these things. That’s just. Bad y’all.

To take it further and make the argument that Anakin’s destiny was to suffer for over a decade and go through horrific things (plus do horrific things) just because the whole goal was for him to commit mass murder on the Jedi so there were only four Force users in the galaxy is 1. weird, 2. terrible, and 3. why do you want him to suffer? 

[masterskywalkers]

KOTOR character meme - Revan (Mara Reagan)

Questions taken from this post. The Exile’s character questions are also filled out here, for anyone interested!

Name / Gender / Appearance / Favourite Hobby

Revan (post memory wipe) goes by the name Mara Reagan. It’s likely that was also her name prior to the Mandalorian War also, but she has no memory of it being so. Once she discovers who she is, most of her memories are jumbled and mostly relating to the Order, since she’d spent most of her life as a part of it.

She has dark hair which she often keeps tied up, and brown eyes. She enjoys puzzles, and spent a lot of her spare time cracking codes or playing with logic based games (the equivalent of chess).

We know Revan was born on the Outer Rim. Where, and to whom? How did they end up in the Order?

She doesn’t really remember her life past the order due to having both joined at such a young age as well as to having her memory wiped in later life, yet there are echoes of memories related to living on Telos and often having to fend for herself. She was found to be highly force sensitive at around age seven, and sent to the Dantooine Jedi Academy soon after.

What was their relationship with Kreia like?

Revan respected Kreia highly. Revan (or Mara) was not the easiest Jedi to teach - she was incredibly strong willed and had a very obvious sense of justice. She was questioning certain methods and beliefs of the Jedi Order very early on. Her and Kreia were able to sort of see eye to eye, Kreia being the catalyst for Revan later believing there is only the force and no true ‘evil’ or ‘good’.

I also feel that Kreia held a great respect for Revan also, and understood a lot about what she was trying to do. Kreia would likely have been behind Revan’s decisions 100% because they were Revan’s own and not restricted by ‘but this is the Jedi way’ etc.

What was their relationship with Malak like?

Oh my god. I have so many headcanons for Mara and Alek it’s ridiculous.

They were best friends, as close as brother and sister. Alek always followed Mara everywhere, and when it came to fighting in the way he was the one who turned to Mara and likely said the equivalent of ‘when do we start?’

… And I expect that the descent into becoming Sith was so damn heartbreaking in the grand scheme of things, simply because of how much of what they had became twisted. Mara never remembers that she’s the reason Malak lost his jaw, and Alek grew near paranoid that as Darth Revan she was only looking for glory, leaving him behind in the process. And that in turn made him want to become the best out of the two of them, to the point that the betrayal towards her was seen as vital.

They both became so twisted and feared that they forgot who the were as well as who the other was to them. And … that hurts to think about.

What was their relationship with the Exile like?

Again, Revan/Mara greatly respected the Exile (Aria). They were also incredibly good friends, although Aria was younger than Revan. Other than Alek, Aria was one of the first to follow after Mara into war.

Aria was just as tactical and innovative on the battlefield as Mara was, and they ended up bonding greatly through that mutual talent and respect. But it came at a price, as the lines began to blur for them and their methods became both more effective as well as more destructive. Malachor V was the catalyst, and I believe the disjointed memories that resurface from that event are as much a burden for Mara to carry as they are for Aria.

Was your Revan truly doing what they believed was necessary to save the galaxy, or were they just bent on galactic domination- or were they somewhere in between?

At the beginning it was 100% ‘this is what we need to do, and the fact the Jedi aren’t intervening is absurd. We need to help’ kind of deal. Later Mara believed she was doing what was necessary but again, knowing what risks were acceptable losses compared to what was just plain murder / genocide became incredibly blurred for her. She grew to greatly hate the Mandalorians, feeling that the best thing for the galaxy was to just wipe them out entirely. She has always considered them fierce and honourable warriors, though.

Later however she learns to respect and like them - and that’s thanks to Canderous (and later, the other Mandalorians she meets).

What false background/memories did the Council give them, and why? How did they feel when they discovered those memories were fake? Were they all fake?

Okay, so, I’ve given this a lot of thought over the years.

Mara’s ‘replacement’ memories were that she was an ace smuggler, but they weren’t exactly lies. The Jedi Order had rather given her the memories of the life she likely would have led had she never been discovered by someone for her force sensitivity.

When she’s with Carth during the time they first meet she is an incredibly believable smuggler. Carth is just astounded at what she can too, and the tales she shares with him of things she thinks she’s done are just shocking.

When it came to Mara realising she wasn’t ever really Mara though … oh boy. She took that badly, especially when Carth takes it worse. Mara has ‘heard’ the stories of Darth Revan’s actions and she thought they were some of the worst things a person with any grasp of power could do, so for her to have to understand that all of the things that made her stomach turn were either conducted or ordered by her own command or hand? It was a lot to accept.

Did they romance anyone?

Carth, and I don’t care if anyone calls his character boring. Both Mara and I think he was damn interesting (that and I live for the angst of Carth waiting for her to return, never knowing if she’ll ever come back but understanding you can’t keep someone like Mara caged).

Who was their favourite crew member to hang out with?

It’s tied to both Canderous and HK.

HK is a link to the person she once was, and Mara loves her murder!bot. She doesn’t deter him from the murder, but makes sure that he only has his enjoyment to deserving assholes.

Canderous though is someone Mara liked from the get go, and she’s incredibly stunned later (after discovering she’s Revan) that he doesn’t hate her but continues to just respect her - even more so now he knows she’s the great warrior his people fought against. His way of thinking and seeing this is incredibly interesting to Mara, and she feels that she learns a lot from him. Canderous very much became the link for her to see that both sides in a war have their own perspective and that’s something that’s huge for her.

Dark Side ending or Light Side ending? Did Bastila survive?

Neither :)

Mara saved the galaxy, but then decided to once again stick her middle finger up at the Jedi and followed her own path. Although she’d had history with both the dark and the light, Mara was probably very close to being a Gray Jedi.

Bastilla lived, by the way ;) She aids Aria (Exile) a lot with the rebuilding of the Jedi before Aria and Atton leave in search of Mara. Revan never returns to the Jedi, regardless of whose rebuilding it.

What happened to them post game? Just how WRONG is the swtor ‘canon’?

I follow canon to the points that Mara goes in search for both the Sith Empire and Emperor Vitiate. But that’s as far as it goes since I, like many, was very disappointed in the ending of the Revan book.

She’s gone for years (as is Aria and Atton - who refuses to leave Aria’s side at this point) and the three of them attempt to wear the Empire down as best as they can up until they feel they can finally contact those they’d left behind in order to fight the threat once and for all.

Mara never regains her memory fully, and is forever haunted by bits and pieces of both her past and the life the Jedi constructed for her. It’s something which the Emperor tries to use to weaken and coerce her back under his control, but despite his efforts it fails to work efficiently.

Her and Atton have a very rocky friendship, and she’s not sure how she can ever fix the things her past self had done. She realises that it’s something she can’t fix, and that instead they simply have to rebuild their trust in one another other time. Atton never looks up to her like he once did (which Mara is thankful for because she feels she doesn’t deserve it) but over time they do come to some understanding and acceptance of one another.

I don’t know if she ever returns to Carth. In my headcanon the fight against the Sith Empire takes a good number of years but it is successful, yet I feel that once Mara feels she’s accomplished what she had once failed to do she disappears of the radar, still believing her past horrors are something she shouldn’t be forgiven for or that she can really return from. Not to mention she’s been the victim of horrors and abuse herself, I feel the poor dear eventually becomes exhausted of everything and when what’s done is done, she returns to the life she once she believed was hers: smuggling.

[stormofteacups]

The Last Jedi: a spoilerific response to a friend’s review

SPOILERS

Direct discussion of plot points in the movie!

Ok ok ok ok

Let’s jump in

“Luke Skywalker’s character is turned on his head. The film starts with Luke throwing his beloved lightsaber off a cliff, which shocked everyone in the theatre.”

That was not Luke’s beloved lightsaber. That was his father’s lightsaber. By holding on to that lightsaber, OT Luke was holding on to an idea of who his father was. When confronted with his actual father, he refused to let go of that false idea and so paid a price, by having it cut off.

Think about that. Keep that in mind. It’s very important. This is a theme that very specifically plays out at the END of the film.

“He is an eternal optimist in return of the jedi, even succeeding in turning his father from the dark to the light. Where others gave up on Vader, Luke remained hopeful. Luke remained true. Given all of this, we are supposed to believe that he almost kills one of his own students because he sees the dark has overtaken him? Surely not more than Darth Vader, surely not more than the absolute darkest version of a human being (seriously, the imagery of darth vader is just brilliant). Luke’s failure and reason for his exile does not align with his character at all, making his behavior shocking and surprising, but not interesting.”

I agree with you that Luke betraying Ben is just so out of character. It’s the part of TLJ that I struggle with the most.

I have a hard time accepting that a character who chose to believe in “Crazy Ole Ben” Kenobi on Tatooine, who chose to believe in sassy, snotty Princess Leia (and god I love how she gave no fucks about every lame ass dude she met), who chose to believe in the about-to-not-even-exist-anymore Rebellion, who chose to believe in cynical and selfish Han Solo, who chose to believe in the lingering goodness of Darth Vader and was proven right in every instance of holding faith, would then have a lack of faith so profound that he would, even for a moment, consider murdering a boy. Especially his sister’s boy.

BUT

I CAN accept that his betrayal of Ben WOULD utterly destroy Luke. I do believe that a man whose character was based on faith, optimism, and hope would be so completely shamed and broken by that moment, that he would shut himself off and abandon the other person most hurt by his actions, Leia. I can accept that, I just have a very hard time with the caveat that Luke would ever do that to another person.

You could say that this goes back to the OT with the lesson that doubt and fear lead to the dark side, and I have a tangential rant about that stance (what up Jedi temple that includes alters to both light and dark with literal and thematic examples of how one must have the other to be functional), but yes, it’s a desperately weak plot point, from where I sit, but there it is.

And I’m rolling with it because that plot point folds into the themes and overarching messages of the film. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

“We know nothing about Snoke, we know nothing about how he came to lead the first order, we know nothing about his haggard appearance, and so many great possibilities died with that character. How was he trained as a sith with all of them dead? Where are the knights of Ren and his connection to Snoke? How did he come to lead the First Order (as the SUPREME COMMANDER, not just a high ranking member of the empire like Vader). Snoke’s death surprised everyone, but that’s it. A moment of subversion that does nothing to serve the story.”

Snoke was always uninteresting and unimportant. Just like the emperor was always uninteresting and unimportant in the OT. They were plot devices. They were something to point to and shout “absolute evil!”

Let me let you in on a secret: absolute evil is not interesting. It never has been and never will be.

What is interesting is the struggle against evil. It’s the choices you make. It’s your compromises and / or sacrifices. The evil is not the story. If you’re looking at Snoke for compelling story, then you’re looking at the wrong thing. The reason Kylo is compelling is specifically that he is NOT absolutely evil. There are still choices for him to make. We fear for Rey BECAUSE of the choices she could make. Snoke already made his choices, Ya boring.

“The First Order as a lazy, uninteresting antagonist for the rest of the series. “The First Order Reigns” indeed.”

The first order: did you need to know more about the empire in order to understand and enjoy the original trilogy? Nope.

Maybe we get more about the first order in another movie, maybe we don’t. I do think there could have been room in these last two movies to discuss how and why an organization like that could rise, but honestly, the simplest answer is to look at our current political climate and say to yourself “Just look at all these rich fuckers literally taking healthcare away from sick children. Look at all these myopic, racists shit bags pretending Jesus was NOT a brown refugee. Look at all these nazi / fascist motherfuckers angry that the world doesn’t belong only to them. God Damn it, white people.”

That’s really all I think there is to the empire and the first order.

“Leia being a superman in space is one of the worse things I’ve seen in the movies. This doesn’t have much impact with my overall thesis but I have to mention this. Leia is out in space for a long time, we know she is strong with the force, but there could’ve been so many other ways to show this other than this scene. ”

And why, exactly, can’t Leia be Superman in space?

Listen, I didn’t like having them give me the moment of intense grief (but to be honest, I started crying when I saw ‘GENERAL ORGANA’ in the scroll) and then snatching it away like that. I feel a scene like that would have been MUCH better served later in the film, but they needed Leia to remind us to forgive ourselves and each other; to smile and remind us that you never fuck up so bad that you can’t try again. But again, WHY can’t Leia be Superman in space? Why? Really think about it? If you JUST didn’t like it, then okay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ you like what you like.

“Finn’s entire story was unnecessary and should have been cut. Why are we, as an audience, supposed to care about this story? It does nothing, doesn’t expand anything about the characters, other than being able to see Finn fight his old boss, but the whole story turns out to be a red herring. Rose (Finn’s companion throughout this story) was introduced without fanfare, and we are supposed to feel connected to her at the end when she saves finn, but I have trouble remembering her name. She had a sister that died, and she was sad. That’s all I got. I feel that you shouldn’t introduce a new character into an ongoing series if you won’t do anything significant with development. Finn’s partner and the admiral were both throw away characters. Compare this to someone like Lando, who is introduced in Empire Strikes Back but steals the show in his direction. We get a full fledged character, interesting and flawed, and all in one movie. It can be done, it was just done poorly in The Last Jedi.”

About Rose:

The fact that you know what her name is, but you insisted on calling her “Finn’s partner” is something I want you to think hard about.

The fact that she had SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH MORE screen time in TLJ than Poe EVER got in TFA (and let’s remember that Poe was both a literal and figurative throw away character in TFA) and yet you talk about her like a throw away character while never referring to Poe that way is something that I want you to think about.

Anyway

About the “Finn’s entire story was unnecessary and should have been cut.” thing:

It wasn’t Finn’s story. That might be where you fell out of step with the movie and the beats felt wrong? It was not his story. It was Rose’s story, through which Finn grew.

As far as the criticism that Poe, Finn, and Rose had a pointless plot line...well, yes and no. The fact is, they all should have had faith in the leadership of The Resistance.

The plan to launch the transports and WHY maybe could have been shared with more people, but they were being tracked through hyperspace, something that was supposed to be impossible, so it is reasonable that they would keep their last, desperate plan on a strict need-to-know basis. Poe had been demoted through his recklessness, Finn was barely known to anyone in Resistance, and Rose was a maintenance tech. None of these people would be on the need-to-know list.

Their ploy was hurriedly conceived and executed without any consultation with others, because they lacked faith in their leadership (and this included General Organa, who would have been instrumental in putting that leadership into place). Their plan was not a great plan. Basically, what I’m saying is...they fucked up. They set themselves up to fail and then they failed. Sometimes people fuck up and they fail.

And here’s the thing, everyone who keeps calling the Rose/Finn plot a red herring is right! Their story line serves a bigger narrative purpose than this one movie.

What does this movie tell us, over and over? We are the spark.

Rose and Finn inspired people along the way. Most obviously, they inspired the children in the stables. Those kids will tell the story of how they helped the Resistance to their friends and family and anyone else who will listen. Others will remember the wild stampede and subsequent freedom of the racing animals and will feel their own desire for freedom and rebellion reflected in that act. Those sparks will catch. The flames will spread. Rose, Finn, and Poe failed in what they set out to do, but they accomplished something else. They sparked hope.

Why are we talking about Lando? We got a new Lando, that was Benicio del Toro.

“That leads me to this next part. Admiral whats-her-name that takes over the resistance capital ship is a terrible character all around. When she sacrificed herself at the end for the fleet, there was no emotional impact at all (even given how great the cinematography is during the suicide scene). The director should’ve let Ackbar go out this way, why try to make us attach to some random admiral we know nothing about? Ackbar has history as a character, has a weight to character. Having him go out the way the admiral did would have made a great impact, and seen a great character go out in a very satisfying way. Instead, he is thrown out without fanfare and replaced. The only distinguishing feature of Ackbar’s replacement is that she had purple hair and argued with Poe. Which brings me to another not only throw away character but throw away plot section.”

About the Admiral whose name you also will not deign to use (can you tell I was real offended by this thing? Listen, if a character didn’t work for you, okay, but considering the OT had TWO NAMED WOMEN, and the ONE MEANINGFUL WOMAN in the prequels who apparently freed her planet from corporate oppression just to die of sad about her boyfriend is such a monumental bummer! And also I don’t think A SINGLE STAR WARS MOVIE HAS PASSED THE BECHDEL TEST????? I just think maybe you could be a touch less disrespectful and dismissive, please? Especially because):

Hey, yo! Did you pick up on how the establishing shot of Admiral Holda addressing the fleet echoes our most recognizable images of Mon Mothma addressing the rebellion? ADMIRAL HOLDA IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY. HER SACRIFICE IS A SYMBOLIC END TO THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY FOR THE SAKE OF A NEW STORY. ITS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE MOVIE. THEMES HAPPEN.

THERE IS DEATH AND DECAY AND THEN THERE IS NEW LIFE.

SPEAKING OF:

Remember Luke’s dad’s lightsaber? The one he tried to throw away at the beginning of the movie? The one that Rey keeps picking up and holding on to as a symbols of who and what she thinks the Jedi are? Did you see what happened when Rey tried to pull a Luke Skywalker and redeem the dark side user she felt connected to? It blew up in her face and broke. I feel like that’s pretty important, you know? Because themes.

“What I lament most is the missed potential. We have been given fantastic explorations of the Star Wars universe in books and video games, some great explorations of the Light and Dark side that give a more nuanced view of the Star Wars universe. Luke even starts to mention the Hubris of the jedi, which I hoped he would elaborate on more and go into why he thought the jedi were wrong. I also hoped he would go into why we avoid the dark even though the jedi are wrong, I hoped Luke would explain how he came to these conclusions other than one student that fell to the dark. I hoped so much for so much more. There was a real opportunity here to make this exploration part of the main saga, but we instead get subversion for the sake of subversion, surprise for the sake of shock. There were some great things to build on from the previous film, but those are tossed aside for the sake of surprise.The Star Wars saga is worse because of the director’s decisions, and I’m sad it happened that way.”

The lament of potential: hey, I get it. I watched Vallerian. I GROK the lament of potential, but I think I have to agree with Davis that this seems more about personal expectations built up over the last two years. And also, the potential isn’t dead, you know? We’ve got a whole other movie coming with Rey and those books and her new found self determination.

There is not a loss of potential. There is more to see and do!

[uniquequotesonlife]

13 Things We Learned About Travel by Watching Star Wars

View photos Luke yearns to get away over a binary sunset. (Video: Benguitar9000/YouTube) Are you excited yet about Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens? We sure are!  So when someone tells me they’re going to try traveling someplace soon, I give them my best Yoda impersonation: “DO or do not. There is no try.” With J.J. Abrams revving up the Star Wars hype machine again, it got us at Yahoo Travel thinking about how the original films are as much a travel guide as they are a classic mythological space opera. We see diverse lands and fascinating modes of transportation, all in a story sparked by one farm boy looking far, far away to the heavens with wanderlust. You don’t think we can come up with 10 travel lessons learned from Star Wars? As Han Solo once said, never tell me the odds! Here are 13 of them that will teach you a Jedi’s wisdom when on the road, inspired by the thousands of times I’ve watched the original trilogy (no dorks here!). One note: I’ve purged most of the prequel movies from my memory in protest to George Lucas, but I do include one romance-related reference to them here. Han Solo was the original Uber

(Video: Daniel M. Kobayashi/YouTube) Ride sharing was cool in the Star Wars films long before their geeky fans in Silicon Valley thought of it. Obi-Wan didn’t use an app to find Han, but he did go to a part of town where rent-a-pilots were known to congregate, and he arranged to ride a vehicle driven by its cocky owner. Notice any parallels? When Han found out they were running from the Empire, he even used surge pricing on them! How much more Uber can you get? Can’t you just picture Princess Leia calling CEO Travis Kalanick a “scruffy-looking nerf herder”? Related: Go Far, Far Away to See Where the New ‘Star Wars’ Was Filmed Also like Han, Uber shoots first at its critics, and it’s known to keep a secret compartment or two. We just hope Uber will follow his lead and learn that underneath that bad-boy exterior, the company has a heart of gold. (We’re not holding our breath.) One thing is for sure: Anyone would give the Millennium Falcon a five-star rating. If you must lie to customs, play it cool

(Video: Daniel M. Kobayashi/YouTube) Repeat after me: “These aren’t the Cuban cigars you’re looking for.” Maybe you shouldn’t risk it with American customs, but travel to enough countries and you’re probably going to need to employ some Jedi mind tricks against sketchy border-control people. In my case it was the officers at the Syrian airport six years ago, when I had to calmly deny my father was from Syria — had they known the truth, under law I could have been drafted in the Syrian army even though I was born in the U.S. Talk about going to the Dark Side. Pack a versatile wardrobe for any occasion

(Video: Stormcab/YouTube) We’ve got to hand it to Princess Leia — in addition to being the kick-ass, courageous leader of a rebellion against an evil government, she can really pick an outfit. When she was dodging Imperial starships in Episode IV, she was dressed in a practical white robe with that iconic hair bun; on frigid Hoth in Episode V, she wore smart layers. And when cavorting with Ewoks in Return of the Jedi? She was all about that camo look, baby. And all this was despite most of her wardrobe getting blown up on Alderaan! Preadolescent boys like me were most intrigued by Leia’s Slave Girl outfit while trapped on Jabba’s sail barge in Jedi. But we’re not going there, OK? Resist the temptation to have an unplanned wedding when you travel

(Video: Daniel Ard/YouTube) Hey, girlfriend, I understand how you feel traveling with that guy you’re dating. He’s tall, handsome, and saying super-romantic things such as, “I don’t like sand.” You’re light years from home and alone with this person, surrounded by digitally enhanced scenery. Sure, he had one bad night and slaughtered some innocent locals, and he hinted at his desire to become a galactic dictator. But just look at those eyes! And it’s like he can read your mind! Don’t jump into any big relationship decisions without getting back to reality and giving it some thought. Padme didn’t follow that advice, and she got married on the road to a future Sith Lord who knocked her up, then indirectly murdered her. Don’t go into bad neighborhoods by yourself or without telling someone

(Video: joncarr/YouTube) Luke learns this the hard way when he takes his landspeeder into the Jundland Wastes, chasing after Artoo without even telling his aunt and uncle. True, he wasn’t technically alone, but would you want C-3PO having your back in a fight? We’re not saying you should stick to tourist areas when you travel — some of the best experiences are off the beaten path — but have a sidekick and make sure you know exactly how you’d get out of a hairy situation. Luke got bailed out not once but twice when you include his kerfuffle at the Mos Eisley Cantina, but we don’t all have exiled Jedi Masters looking out for us, now do we? No, really, Luke … DON’T go into dangerous places by yourself!

(Video: schultzstudio/YouTube) Yup, he did it again in The Empire Strikes Back, only this time in the snow at his tauntaun’s expense. Luke gets bailed out more times than American banks. If you’re traversing any desolate, icy terrain, have someone to help you fight off Wampa creatures so Han Solo doesn’t need to rescue you. When traveling with the boss, DO NOT slack off

(Video: DRMMRI14/YouTube) It might start with sleeping in before the conference. Then you have a couple too many drinks at the hotel bar and embarrass yourself. Before you know it, you’re pulling out of hyperspace too close and letting your sworn enemies know you’re there. Then this happens, and you’ve failed your boss for the last time. And remember, the Emperor is not as forgiving as he is. Don’t crash at a friend’s house unless you’re on good terms

(Video: Canale di BenguitarBis/YouTube) We understand Han and the gang didn’t exactly have an Airbnb search at their disposal while ducking Star Destroyers in The Empire Strikes Back. But by his own admission he didn’t trust his frenemy Lando and hadn’t spoken with him lately, yet he chose to fly to Bespin anyway. All that got him was betrayal, electroshock torture, and a frozen date with Boba Fett. Lando did redeem himself by saving Han, but still. A general rule: If it’s been more than a couple of years since you talked to the person, don’t ask to crash with them if you don’t fully trust them.   Back up your photos and video as you travel … just in case you’re attacked by a Star Destroyer

(Video: QuoteTheGuy/YouTube) When most of us travel, we accumulate files that we can’t risk losing: a photo of that glorious beach sunset, a video of your kids playing in a Parisian fountain, a blueprint to destroy the same Death Star that blew up your home planet. You know, typical souvenirs. Princess Leia knows this, as demonstrated by the way she quickly reacted to Darth Vader’s boarding party by saving the Rebel plans inside the most reliable flash drive in the galaxy, R2-D2. Even if you don’t have an astromech droid handy, carry a USB memory stick with lots of space. You can find Zen in exotic places … with the right instructor

GIF11 (Video: Canale di BenguitarBis/YouTube) Luke Skywalker was not into glamping. He flew to an ugly swamp to learn how to untap his spiritual potential from a cranky old guide who was on his back all the time. But what a guide Yoda was, and despite a frustrating start and that one bad trip where he saw his evil father’s face as his own, Luke emerged a far stronger and wiser person ready to take on the universe. Plus Yoda showed him how to get your vehicle out of the mud. When you’re shopping at a mobile flea market in the desert, inspect the merchandise closely

Would you buy a droid from these guys? (Courtesy: Wookieepedia) While the pre-Jedi Luke Skywalker was trying to whine his way out of the Jawa market — “But I was going to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters!”— Uncle Owen was the one who questioned and picked out C-3P0, the most overqualified farm droid ever, because Threepio spoke the right language. This was the right call. On the other hand, Owen passed on R2-D2 for that defective red look-alike droid without a good inspection. Thankfully the droid broke down on the spot, so they were able to exchange it for Luke’s future X-Wing copilot. Related: Eye Massagers and Star Wars Toasters — Odd Gifts From SkyMall for the Holiday Season Really, Owen and Luke should have known better. It’s not like the Jawas were Amazon, with a credible return policy: They were fly-by-night merchants. When you’re traveling through a foreign town and dealing with a street vendor you’ll never see again, you need to trust but verify. Be friendly with the locals and they may help you out of a jam

The cutest secret weapons you ever saw. (Courtesy: Wookieepedia) I tried going through this article without an Ewok reference — they’re my least favorite part of the original movies, and it’s hard to believe that a family of teddy bears could take down the Empire. Still, there’s a lesson to be learned here: While the Empire threatened the Ewoks, Leia befriended them, which swung the odds in the Rebels’ favor in the Battle of Endor. A parsec is a measurement of travel time … or is it? We confess, we’re not sure what the lesson is here, but it needs to be said in any mention of Star Wars and travel. As Han Solo tries to price-gouge Obi-Wan and Luke for a ride on the Falcon, he brags that his ship is so fast, it “made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.” Only thing is, a parsec is a unit of distance, not time. It’s kind of like saying, “My car is so fast, I drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than 400 miles!” Either this was a rookie math mistake by George Lucas, a con attempt by Han, or something else: Han shortening the Kessel Run from 18 parsecs to 12 by bravely flying close to black holes. We’ll probably never know, and nerds like me will be debating it years from now in our nursing homes. source Read the full article

[phosphorescent-naidheachd]

So I am woefully behind on my dash and thus all The Best Blogs such as your own, but please tell me: What were your thoughts about Twin Suns? Please feel free to refer me to a post if you already made one.

*blushes* Thank you! And sorry for taking so long to reply to this! Apparently I had even more thoughts on “Twin Suns” than I’d initially thought.

Rebels 3x20: “Twin Suns” has its weaknesses, but I really enjoyed it overall. As you may be aware, I’m a fan of Obi-Wan (yes, yes, I know, ~shock~), so I spent pretty much the entire time I watched the episode clapping my hands in glee (albeit softly, so as not to drown out what was happening) because Obi-Wan was on my screen again. I mean, you’re talking to the person who gets excited every time canon makes the slightest of oblique references to him, so…¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’ve also always been All About Those Parallels™ and this episode abounds with them. The most obvious, of course, are the ones that mirror Qui-Gon’s death sequence in TPM, and I found this fitting for several reasons. First and foremost, I love it because it brings Maul and Obi-Wan’s story full circle. By setting their fight amidst the desolate sand dunes of Tatooine, Obi-Wan and Maul meet for the last time where the audience met Maul for the first time – something which the show explicitly underlines in 3x10: “Visions and Voices: “it ends where it begun… a desert planet… with twin suns”. (In fact, for all we know, the setting of Obi-Wan and Maul’s final encounter might even be somewhere in the Xelric Draw, which, according to Legends canon, is where Qui-Gon and Maul first met and fought. If you look at this map, you’ll notice that the Xelric Draw covers a wide swath of the space between Obi-Wan’s hut and Mos Espa, so it’s not improbable that Obi-Wan might travel there by dewback.)

In contrast to our introduction to Maul, however, which took place under the heat of a midday sun, our last glimpse of him takes place at night under the stars; Obi-Wan and Maul are at the end of their journey together and so – ostensibly, anyway! – are Maul and the audience.

Just as day and night contrast, so too do Obi-Wan and Maul, both when compared to their younger selves and when compared to each other. Both characters have gone through enumerable events in the three decades since they first met one another, all of which have shaped them… but at the end of the day, Obi-Wan has grown and changed in a way that Maul hasn’t. One of the first things Maul says in TPM is the following: ”At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.“ And at the end of “Twin Suns”, his last line is “He…will…avenge us.”

For all that Maul scolded Ezra about refusing to break free from the chains of his past in “Visions and Voices”, Maul is still focused on revenge – still focused on Obi-Wan; in the end, it’s all he has left to give his life purpose. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, has moved on from their grudge match and is focused on the future – on Luke. He is no longer the hot-headed padawan or the crusading knight that Maul knew; he is a guardian, and thus it is only when Luke is threatened that Obi-Wan deigns to fights Maul. Luke is, after all, Obi-Wan’s sole remaining tie to Anakin, his sole remaining purpose for existing… and seemingly his sole remaining hope for a better future.

At the same time, however, the two characters have a great deal in common. Obi-Wan and Maul have always been foils to one another. Both are Force Sensitive children who were taken and raised by their respective Orders, thus setting their feet on the paths to their respective destinies. Both had brothers that were destroyed by Sidious’ machinations and both are deeply lonely as a result. Now, both are relics of a past that has already passed into legend for most of the galaxy; they are old men who have no place in this new world – this new Empire – and have consequently been hiding in exile for the past seventeen years. Obi-Wan has long been aware that they have some commonalities (see some of his comments in TCW 5x16: “The Lawless”) and I think Maul is aware too… he just refuses to acknowledge as much until he’s dying. (Honestly, I’ve always gotten the impression that he’s subconsciously a bit jealous of Obi-Wan and that that is one of the roots of his resentment towards him, but that’s a conversation for another day.)

“He…will…avenge us,” Maul says with his dying breath. Us. Although they belong to very different traditions and have made very different choices, Maul tacitly acknowledges that at the end of the day, they both belong to a way that has vanished, and that this experience bonds them together. It is my personal opinion that both men are tired of fighting by this point – it’s simply that Maul doesn’t know any other way. He seeks out Obi-Wan because it gives his life renewed purpose, and he fights Obi-Wan because that is what he has always done. No matter which of them wins the fight, Maul gets what he wants – either the defeat of his nemesis or a release from his own suffering.  

In a sense, Maul has been occupying a liminal space between life and death ever since Obi-Wan cut him in half in TPM. When we first re-meet him in TCW 4x21: “Brothers”, Maul is emaciated and utterly deranged. As TCW progresses, Maul regains some of his sanity and ambition – and his brother! – only to lose them again. At this point in Rebels, just as when Oppress first found him in TCW, Maul has lost all sense of self and purpose, his own spite and a burning desire for revenge against Obi-Wan (and Sidious) the only things keeping him alive. He lacks hope.

Fortunately for Maul, Obi-Wan is heavily associated with hope in Star Wars; does “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” ring any bells? ;-)  That said, Obi-Wan is associated with sorrow as much as he is with hope. Perhaps nowhere is this peculiar combination encapsulated as well as in that oft-quoted excerpt from James Luceno’s Legends novel, Labyrinth of Evil: “And you, Master. What does your heart tell you you’re meant for?”“Infinite sadness,” Obi-Wan said, even while smiling.”

We see this theme repeatedly play out in Rebels. The two most blatant examples of Obi-Wan being linked with sorrow are when Maul uses Ezra’s suffering to lure Obi-Wan out of hiding (“Your pain, your sorrow… it calls to him”) and portions of Obi-Wan’s holocron message (“I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with a dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place […] Do not return to the Temple…that time has passed.”). Meanwhile, Obi-Wan repeatedly acts as an embodiment of hope for at least three of our main characters: Kanan (“This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in The Force […] we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always.”), Maul (“As for myself, I seek something much simpler, yet equally elusive… Hope. […] I see him! […] He lives!”), and Ezra (“The answer to my question of how to destroy the Sith is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”).

Obi-Wan’s sorrow and hope both come to the forefront during his brief appearance in this episode. Maul’s unnecessary death is tragic in and of itself to Obi-Wan, but the way in which it mirrors Qui-Gon’s death and the fight that preceded it only adds to the pain he feels. And although he undoubtedly has hope for Ezra and the Rebellion after safely seeing the boy off (just look at the faint smile on his face before Maul starts to speak again), there’s something incredibly sad about his parting words to Ezra: “That is your way out. Your way home.” Obi-Wan can’t go home anymore – his home no longer exists. Yet still he clings to hope.

“Look what I have risen above,” Obi-Wan says in response to Maul’s taunting. And that’s Obi-Wan in a nutshell, isn’t it? He’s far from perfect, but despite all the blows life has dealt him, he perseveres and continues to choose the Light. In their previous confrontation in “The Lawless”, he told Maul, “You can kill me, but you will never destroy me”, and this holds true throughout Obi-Wan’s life and beyond. Obi-Wan is sorrow, yes, but he is also hope – and although hope can be shattered, it rises anew from the wreckage each time, a phoenix from the ashes. And hope is indeed “more powerful than you can possibly imagine”.

A related recurring Star Wars theme found in “Twin Suns” is that ‘it’s always darkest before dawn’. It is only after Ezra has given up on finding Obi-Wan, collapsing of heatstroke/dehydration/exhaustion next to a powered-down Chopper, that he achieves his objective. Although Maul dies, he does so with a glimmer of hope that the “Chosen One” will balance the cosmic scales. One might even call it a new hope. ;-) Meanwhile, we literally see this theme played out at the end of the episode, with the dark night fading away into pale morning mist, Tatooine’s twin suns hanging partway up in the sky as Beru calls for Luke (presumably to come back in for breakfast?), the titular new hope.

Speaking of the Chosen One… Ughhh, I’ve hated that prophecy ever since it first popped up in TPM. Can I believe that several key individuals in-universe bought into said prophecy? Absolutely. But honestly, “bring balance to the Force”? I know prophecies are always vague and therefore can be interpreted twelve thousand different ways, but come on. This ties into Star Wars’ problem where it can’t quite make up its mind as to what the Force is, let alone what the Light and Dark sides of it mean or what “balance” would look like. One could argue that we’re not supposed to understand it any more than the characters do – all of whom having differing beliefs on the subject – but I personally think it’s sloppy storytelling rather than an artistic choice. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if TLJ clears any of this up.

…But I’ve gotten off-topic here. The Chosen One. *sighs* Up until TCW’s Mortis arc, I was happy to believe that the prophecy was only true insofar as characters’ perceptions of and reactions to it, but TCW more or less put paid to that when it had literal manifestations of the Force declare Anakin the Chosen One. I can still headcanon my way around that, but I’m pretty sure the canonical intention is for the prophecy to be a legitimate thing. So, working from that interpretation…

I know there’s been a lot of debate post “Twin Suns” about the implications of Obi-Wan’s statement that Luke is the Chosen One – does this mean that Anakin was never the Chosen One in the first place? does this mean that there’s more than one Chosen One? – but I think a lot of viewers are overlooking the simplest explanation, which is that although Obi-Wan may believe that Luke could be the Chosen One, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he is the Chosen One.

Obi-Wan canonically places a great deal of hope – and pressure! – on Luke’s shoulders throughout the Original Trilogy, so a belief that Luke is the Chosen One would dovetail nicely with that behavior. For instance, with that belief in mind, his comment to Luke in RotJ takes on a new meaning: “Then the Emperor has already won. You were our only hope”. This complete and utter focus on Luke to the exclusion of Leia would make a bit more sense if Obi-Wan sincerely believes that Luke is the true Chosen One. (Though that still doesn’t answer the question why Obi-Wan would think Luke must be the Chosen One rather than Leia. *rolls eyes*) Moreover, it is makes sense that Obi-Wan would no longer believe that Anakin/Vader is the Chosen One. By the time we reach the Original Trilogy, Obi-Wan appears to have given up on Anakin. In his mind, the moment that “the good man who was” Anakin turned to the Dark Side, Darth Vader “betrayed and murdered” him. In Obi-Wan’s mind, submerging the galaxy into darkness is incompatible with bringing “balance to the Force” a la the Chosen One prophecy; therefore, Anakin either lost his status as the Chosen One when he became a Sith or he was never truly the Chosen One to begin with.

Another possibility is that Obi-Wan, master of “half-truths and hyperbole” as he is, is merely trying to give a dying Maul some form of comfort and hope. After all, he never outright says that Luke is the Chosen One – his reply of “he is” in answer to Maul’s question (“Is he the Chosen One?”) certain implies that he’s referring to the person he’s all but admitted to protecting (i.e. Luke), but we all know that Obi-Wan sometimes has a casual relationship with the truth, especially when he thinks his obfuscation will serve a greater good.  It would be just like Obi-Wan to intentionally give a vague reply that he knows someone will read an incorrect message into; after all, it’s not like he’s lying… And ironically enough, this is another way in which Obi-Wan parallels Maul. Obi-Wan’s line to Ezra that Maul “used your desire to do good to deceive you” and “manipulated the truth” could just as easily apply to himself, what with his “the truth is often what we make of it” and “from a certain point of view” way of looking at the world.

But honestly, I couldn’t care less who is or isn’t the prophesied Chosen One. It’s been a recurring theme in the prequels and animated TV series, but thus far it has yet to significantly affect the story (except insofar as it affects the characters, who in turn influence the plot – but most of this is implied rather than shown outright onscreen).

The audience sees “Twin Suns” through Ezra’s and Maul’s eyes, and both of them are lost – figuratively and literally – throughout most of the episode. From a narrative standpoint, perhaps this is why so much of the episode’s time is spent focused on them wandering in the desert. Both characters are searching for Obi-Wan in hopes that he will be the solution to their respective problems… failing to recognize that those solutions can only be found within themselves. On a personal level, I’m a bit unsatisfied by how much of the episode is wasted on Maul and Ezra’s wanderings, but I can acknowledge its merits on a meta-narrative level. Perhaps we’re supposed to feel frustrated and as though something is incomplete, just as Maul and Ezra do… or perhaps I’m giving the Rebels writers way too much credit.

Of course, no discussion of this episode would be complete without examining Ezra’s role in the story. “Twin Suns” acts as a metaphor for Ezra’s inner journey every bit as much as it does Maul’s. While their futures may indeed “converge on a planet with twin suns” as Maul claimed in “Visions and Voices”, Ezra does not choose to “walk that path together” with Maul. Ezra certainly has his attachments, but unlike Maul, he isn’t so married to the past as to be irrevocably trapped in it.

“What else can we do?” Ezra says in response to Chopper’s grumbling after their ship is destroyed, leaving them stranded in the middle of the desert. “We have to go forward.” And that’s what this episode is about for Ezra, really – learning to move forward again… and learning to accept that he already has everything he needs in order to do so. 

A few more random thoughts before I (finally) end this:

•   Chopper’s slump and resigned sigh before turning around to go after Ezra like his babysitter will never not be hilarious to me.

•   Chopper goes from being powered-down and sand-logged in one scene to awake and alert in the next. The only possible conclusion? Obi-Wan must have fixed him while Ezra was sleeping. And later, Obi-Wan pats Chopper while talking to Ezra; that’s practically a declaration of friendship coming from him! It makes you wonder what kind of conversation they had before Ezra woke up… (That would explain how Obi-Wan knew Ezra’s full name, though, if Chopper told him.) …I kind of want that missing scene in a fic now.

•   “You saw what you wanted to see, believed what you wanted to believe,” Obi-Wan tells Ezra of the combined holocrons’ message. Going off of what I said earlier about Obi-Wan possibly misleading Maul, I can’t help but wonder if he’s doing the same thing to Ezra here. I mean, Obi-Wan is obviously trying to get Ezra to not delve into the subject any further and to leave Tatooine before he learns about Luke (and, y’know, to protect him from Maul), but part of me wonders if there’s anything more to it – the same part of me that wonders if the holocrons had a point beyond the obvious (and, if we’re being honest here, author intended) interpretation. Not to take anything away from Luke, but I’d love to see a fic that runs with an AU interpretation of the holcrons’ message. 

•   I had had some doubts when I first heard him in the episode promo, but I after watching “Twin Suns”, I have to admit that Stephen Stanton did an excellent Alec-Guiness-as-Ben-Kenobi impersonation in this episode. Kudos to him and to the writing staff for nailing the character’s speech patterns a la ANH.

•   I’m just as glad to see Maul finally gone (well, ostensibly anyway!), but I’m also glad that he was able to find some small measure of peace on his proverbial deathbed. He was dealt a truly terrible hand in life, and although he inflicted suffering on so many beings, you can’t help but feel sorry for him.

•  “That is not your responsibility. I will heal this old wound.” Other fans have doubtless already commented on this Easter Egg, but it’s still worth a gleeful mention.

•   Responsibility is another theme that runs throughout “Twin Suns”. I got the impression that we’re supposed to think Ezra is initially trying to foist the primary responsibility for destroying the Sith off on someone else, someone older and more qualified (hence his search for Obi-Wan) and that he eventually learns to take responsibility for fighting evil himself. I disagree with that reading– I’d argue that Ezra’s narrative arc has been more about learning to be able to depend on others, as he’d had stand on his own two feet for years before he met the Ghost crew. Moreover, while of course the Rebellion doesn’t need to wait around for mystical saviors in the form of Jedi (nor should they!), that doesn’t mean that the adult Jedi – namely Obi-Wan, Yoda, and any other Councillors who might have survived – have no responsibility to the Rebellion, either. The rise of the Empire was by no means solely their fault, but like many, they did help to enable it… and therefore the responsibility for destroying it also partially rests with them. The problem, of course, is that this isn’t their sole responsibility to the galaxy, and so they have to choose which responsibilities to prioritize. In the end, they deem the survival of the Jedi (through themselves and Luke) and the protection of someone powerful enough to eventually bring about the demise of the Sith (once again, Luke) to be more important than any individual strikes they could make against the Empire on their own. Are they correct in their decision? Well, that depends upon your point of view.

•  You can definitely see the moment where Obi-Wan goes from a calm refusal to fight – even amusement – to Must Protect Luke At All Costs™. Similarly, you can see the moment when he recognizes the move Maul is making and adjusts his stance accordingly. Some very nice animation work here from the creators!

•   Some fans find the shortness of Maul and Obi-Wan’s final duel to be unsatisfying and unrealistic, while other fans think that the duel’s speed and anticlimactic nature are the whole point. I… don’t particularly care, tbh? I can see both sides. That said, I do think that they should have shown Obi-Wan’s lightsaber making contact with Maul’s saber-staff and chest for more than half of a second in the dark; on my first watch-through, I didn’t realize that he’d actually hit Maul until Maul was dead. I was so confused… and I know I’m not the only viewer to have had this problem.

•  I love the strange sense of kinship that’s evoked between Maul and Obi-Wan as he lays dying. And the way Obi-Wan cradles Maul and gently closes his eyes kills me every time.

•  Why, precisely, is Ezra so sure that Maul is dead when he left before the Big Showdown™? Does he just have that much faith in Obi-Wan? Did the Force tell him as much? Personally, I’m rooting for someone to write a crack fic where Obi-Wan comms him mid-flight through something he installed in Chopper or something and tells him, leading to a wacky correspondence. (Utmost secrecy and security risks? What utmost secrecy and security risks?)

•  I was slightly disappointed not to get any more of Luke than his silhouette (well, Ezra’s silhouette, if we’re going to be technical lol – Rebels re-used footage of Ezra to save time & money) in the closing scene, but I also thought it was kind of fitting. The closer we get to the timeline of ANH, the stronger Luke’s shadow looms over Rebels, after all.

•  The closing scene in general!!! I get chills each time I watch it. It really ties “The Journals of Ben Kenobi”, the Rebels series, and ANH together nicely. All we needed was for Obi-Wan’s bantha family to make an appearance… ;-)

•   As much as I loved “Twin Suns”, I think it would have worked better if they’d cut just a smidgeon of the ‘wandering in the desert’ bits and used that extra time to 1. Show a point in Obi-Wan and Ezra’s conversation where Obi-Wan gets Ezra to promise not to tell anyone that he’s still alive and on Tatooine, or 2. Shown us Kanan’s reaction to learning that Obi-Wan is still alive… and is hiding on a backwater planet instead of searching for remaining Jedi and/or helping the Rebellion (I’d love to see the other characters’ reactions to this news too, but Kanan’s reaction is the one that is most important thematically), or 3. Use their original draft’s plotline, which involved Ezra and Kanan going to Tatooine instead of Ezra and Chopper. This last scenario would have the added benefit of more narrative ‘showing’ than ‘telling’ when it comes to Kanan’s reaction, and it would allow for further streamlining of the episode, as TPTB could then cut out most of the scenes with the rest of the Ghost crew (which, although enjoyable, split the audience’s focus in an undesirable way in this episode, IMO, even if they did act as nice bookends). Any of these options would have made for a much tighter, less rushed, more coherent, and more satisfying episode.

All criticisms and analyses aside, I really liked “Twin Suns”. Although it’s enriched by knowledge of previous Rebels episodes, it can stand on its own. I’d say it’s definitely among the best work Rebels has produced and is a worthy addition to new Star Wars canon.

[bkbricks]

The Six True Force Ghosts

I am not a fan of the sequel trilogy of Star Wars (Episodes 7-9). One of my many reasons is the way that force ghosts are portrayed. In “The Rise of Skywalker” the jedi of the past come back to help Rey defeat Palpatine. However, there are many jedi force ghosts that come back, most of whom should not be a force ghost. I believe this because of how force ghosts are portrayed before Episode 9 was released. They were a very special type of jedi and took special practices to master. In “The Clone Wars” show, Yoda undergoes special training to learn how to become a force ghost, the second to ever learn, from the jedi who learned how to become the first: Qui-Gon Jinn. At the end of “Revenge of the Sith” Yoda tells Obi-Wan that he will learn how to connect with Qui-Gon and learn this knowledge himself, as we see he does in the original trilogy. 

This took special training from all three of these jedi masters, that no other jedi had done before. It was also possible because of these three jedi’s perspectives on the force. In “The Clone Wars” show, Yoda tells the Jedi High Council about becoming a force ghost, and none of them believe him. They all believe it to be impossible. So, because of my love for the prequels and originals over the sequels, I believe that these three jedi, plus three more, are the six true force ghosts (by the time of Episode 9). Here they are:

Before I go over the six jedi force ghosts, there is one “jedi” that I want to clear up that many fans may think to be a force ghost: Ahsoka. First, Ahsoka is technically not a jedi, since she left the Jedi Order in “The Clone Wars” and even claimed not to be a jedi in “Star Wars: Rebels”, during her fight against Darth Vader. She may have had noone to teach her about/aid her in becoming a force ghost. In addition, Ahsoka’s death has never been confirmed. At the end of “Rebels” she was still alive, which took place immediately after the Battle of Endor. 

Qui-Gon Jinn

Qui-Gon was the first jedi to become a force ghost, and he most likely kept his studies about it a secret. He could do this because he was the only jedi of his time who believed in the Living Force, an idea that the Jedi Order did not teach nor follow. In “The Phantom Menace” Qui-Gon speaks of the Living Force and the will of the force to the Jedi High Council. The Council, especially Mace Windu, does not seem to care about these views on the force, and is only concerned with High Council business. Qui-Gon was even offered a seat on the High Council, because the Council believed his different views from theirs would be good to have. He refused, however, as he claimed that it would take away from his beliefs and practices with the force, one of which could have been his studies of becoming one with the Living Force, or a force ghost.

Yoda

During the Clone Wars, towards the end of the war, Qui Gon’s force spirit reaches out to Yoda and contacts him. Yoda did not believe what he was hearing, at first, as he had never knew about force ghosts before. He told the High Council about hearing Qui-Gon’s spirit, but the Council did not believe him and deemed force ghosts to be impossible. They believed something to be wrong with Yoda, and had him put under quarantine in a hospital bed under the strict security of jedi temple guards. With the help of Anakin Skywalker, Yoda escaped the Jedi Temple and left Coruscant for another location in the galaxy (at the request of Qui-Gon) to begin his force ghost training.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

At the end of “Revenge of the Sith” Obi-Wan faces the truth that he must exile himself on Tatooine and watch over the young Luke Skywalker. He and two others, Yoda and Bail Organa, have discussed this in their last ever meeting with each other. Once it is settled, the three begin to walk away. Once Bail leaves, Yoda calls Obi-Wan back for a special message to him. He tells Obi-Wan that he can teach him how to connect with Qui-Gon’s force spirit. Obi-Wan is very pleased, and eager to connect with his old master. Yoda tells him that he will need to undergo special training while exiled on Tatooine in order to connect with Qui-Gon. Once he completed this training, Qui-Gon could help Obi-Wan learn how to also become a force ghost.

Anakin Skywalker

Even though he never underwent any special training to become a force ghost, Anakin was very fortunate to become one. Fortunately for him, Obi-Wan had become very knowledgeable with the Living Force and could even connect with the physical world quite a bit. This can be seen in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”. Anakin, on the other hand, had no chance to learn of the Living Force. He turned to the dark side; then, once he turned back to the light, he certainly had no time to go out and learn about it. What I will discuss next is technically legends content, but I believe that it fits very well into canon. Anakin became a force ghost because Obi-Wan allowed of it. In “Return of the Jedi” when Anakin redeems himself back to the light side and fulfills his destiny as the Chosen One, he dies soon after. Before his redemption, Obi-Wan deemed him unable to be redeemed and too far on the dark side. Throughout Anakin’s true redemption, Obi-Wan’s force ghost had been watching. He was completely shocked, but proud of his old padawan. Before Anakin’s spirit could fully pass on (it had to first travel to the Netherworld), Obi-Wan reached out to him and told him that he had been forgiven, and could return to the physical world as a force ghost if he listened. After Anakin apologized for everything he had caused, and Obi-Wan told him they had very little time, Anakin accepted Obi-Wan’s offer. At the end of Episode 6, we can see Anakin’s force ghost standing with Yoda’s and Obi-Wan’s. Qui-Gon’s was not present because we were looking through Luke’s perspective, who never knew about Qui-Gon.

Luke Skywalker

After “Return of the Jedi” Luke certainly had enough time to undergo the special training to become a force ghost. While this is never truly stated that he did this, it is almost hinted at and can surely be accepted. Luke appears as a force ghost in Episode 9. Either Obi-Wan or Yoda (or even Anakin) helped his spirit to become a force ghost just as Anakin’s, or he went through the special training. I like to believe that he took the route of undergoing the special training (possibly very similarly to Yoda’s during “The Clone Wars” show) instead of simply skipping it like Anakin. Anakin did not have time to learn about it, while Luke did have the time, and resources. Plus, Luke’s studying of the Living Force adds more to its mastery and exclusiveness. 

Leia Organa

The sixth force ghost is (possibly) Leia. If there are any of these six force ghosts that I would believe to not become one, it would be Leia. This is simply for the fact that she was only a jedi for one year. Now, you do not need to strictly be a jedi to become a force ghost, you simply need to be force-sensitive and on the light side, two things which Leia was. She only underwent jedi training with her brother, Luke, for one year until she had a terrible vision. She visioned that her jedi training would lead to the death of her son (who was still unborn). After this vision, she gave up her jedi training and focused more on her political life with the New Republic. Leia most likely never took the time to undergo the special training. However, due to her father’s (Anakin) way of becoming a force ghost, this too could have happened to Leia. Luke could have reached out to her (similarly to how Obi-Wan reached out to Anakin’s spirit) and asked her if she wished to return to the physical world as a force ghost. Leia would have most likely accepted his offer.

So these are the true six force ghosts, in my opinion. Of course, this knowledge could have been passed down to future generations, but these are the only six force ghosts that should have appeared/been heard in “The Rise of Skywalker”. Thanks for reading!