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bensoloredemptiontrain · 5 years

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The Rise of Skywalker Teaser Trailer & Defense of Bendemption / Reylo

I was emailing with a friend and fellow Reylo, and she was concerned that Reylo might not happen and Ben might not be redeemed, based on the new trailer. I wrote a lengthy response, and am posting a slightly edited version here:

These are my thoughts, in outline format:

The title, "The Rise of Skywalker" - does this mean Rey is related to Luke, and therefore to Kylo?

There are various possible other meanings. It could mean that Rey is a symbolic Skywalker. It could mean that Ben carries on the Skywalker legacy. It could mean that the "Skywalker" rises in Ben, that he returns to the light and carries on Luke's legacy. It could mean that Rey and Ben get together and carry on the Skywalker legacy together by teaching a new generation and making Skywalker babies. It could mean that Luke's influence increases after his death.

There is no way Rey is a Skywalker by blood. They've said that she's never seen Han or Leia or Luke or Kylo in person before The Force Awakens (TFA). That rules out her being Leia's kid. They could still theoretically have her be Luke or Han's kid (with an "unknown" mother), but remember this is Disney we're talking about. Sexual purity and sex only in the context of marriage is a big thing. This is a movie marketed for twelve-year-olds, and sex outside of marriage is NOT a kid-friendly topic. I can't imagine Disney going that route. Also, you think people were upset because The Last Jedi (TLJ) wasn't what people expected? Imagine the backlash if they make it canon that Han cheated on Leia. No. Just... no.

They're not going to go the incest route again, or else they risk being labeled as the franchise that promotes romantic attraction between relatives. (Again. This is Disney.) The attraction between Luke and Leia was mostly an accident; George Lucas did not plan on having them be related when he wrote IV; then during V he wasn't sure if Harrison Ford would sign for another movie (so Leia needed to have another option besides Han), so he kept the Luke/Leia option open until VI, when he could go full steam ahead with Han/Leia. The overall arc of this series (VII-IX) was planned beforehand; you'd think that if Rian wrote the "smut hut" scene and they were related, someone would have gone, "NO NO NO NO NO, THEY'RE RELATED YOU CAN'T DO THAT."

Many Star Wars movie titles really only make sense after the movie, in the context of the movie.

Regarding the title, Kathleen Kennedy said, "It could mean a lot of different things. And I think that’s what was important to us. We didn’t want to have a title that felt like it was telling you the story." i.e. the interpretation is not meant to be obvious, and the title is not meant to imply that Rey is related to Luke.

Is there still hope for Reylo? The teaser looks like JJ might be pandering to the antis/fanboys.

YOU BET THERE'S STILL HOPE FOR REYLO!

The trailer needs to bring the fandom back together. TLJ was really divisive. If they make a Reylo teaser trailer, the antis won't even think about watching the movie. They've had the whole basic story arc planned out even before TFA was released, and I believe JJ started writing The Rise of Skywalker (TROS) before TLJ came out. They are NOT going to change the whole direction of the series because a few people are stupid and loud. But they likely WILL make a trailer that appeals to everyone, so everyone will want to see the move.

The trailer for Return of the Jedi (ROTJ) focuses on Luke, Leia, and Han, so it makes sense (from a "throwback" perspective) to make this trailer focus on Rey, Finn, and Poe.

JJ Abrams liked TLJ.

There ABSOLUTELY is a romantic/sexual subplot between Ben and Rey - the bridal carry, "I can take whatever I want," "I can show you the ways of the Force," "you're not alone" / "neither are you," the hand-holding scene, the elevator scene, THE ENTIRE THRONE ROOM SCENE WHICH WAS BASICALLY A SEX SCENE FROM THE MOMENT BEN SUMMONS ANAKIN'S LIGHTSABER AND MAYBE EVEN BEFORE THAT, "please," etc., etc. Rian says that the two fingers touching is "the closest thing to a sex scene that Star Wars will ever have." Mark Hamill refers to the "romantic tension" between Rey and Ben (he starts to say "sexual tension" and then stops himself) and adds, "they never let ME touch a finger!"

The principle of "Chekhov's gun" - you only put something in a story if it's relevant. (The Luke/Leia subplot doesn't count, see discussion above.) Therefore, from a narrative perspective, the romance between Rey and Ben must be relevant to the story in some way. It's not imagined or made up by fans.

Rey's story arc - the thing Rey wants most is belonging and a family. Doesn't she deserve to get this? Therefore for her to get HER happy ending, she needs to have a family. The Resistance is a symbolic family, but I'm talking about more than that. You could pair her with Poe or Finn, but that doesn't work as well. Poe doesn't have the emotional depth that Rey does, and Finn has Rose. I have a theory that one of the main reasons Rose was introduced was so that Finn would have somebody to love, because he's not getting Rey. What would happen to Rose if Finn and Rey got together? (We're sure Poe will be fine if he doesn't get Rey, the guy has chemistry with anything that stands still long enough.)

Again, heroine's journey. Cue Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, etc. The heroine of the "heroine's journey" story line ALWAYS falls in love and lives happily ever after (after her lover nearly dies). The heroine ALWAYS falls in love with someone that is different from her in some way and who helps her grow as a person. You CANNOT say this about Finn or Poe; you can ONLY say it about Kylo.

JJ was the one who STARTED Reylo. TFA looks so much like a fairy tale, it's not even funny. Rey's dressed in white, Ben looks like a dark prince (and his lightsaber looks like a knight's sword), their first and last meetings in the movie take place in FORESTS, the scene where Rey runs out of Maz's castle looks like the scene where Cinderella runs out of the king's castle, the scene where Ben says "I can show you the ways of the Force" sounds like the scene where Aladdin sings to Jasmine "I can show you the world," and the whole idea of a beautiful girl meeting a guy who seems and looks inhuman at first sounds an awful lot like Beauty and the Beast. JJ's not stupid. He knows how this comes across; he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. Also, who carries someone bridal-style across a battlefield?! That's literally the most romantic but also dumbest way to carry someone - he can't reach his lightsaber! (Contrast this with when he captured Poe, he just had the stormtroopers drag him onto the ship.)

Kylo is repairing his mask, is fighting together with stormtroopers, and may be the one who attacks her in the beginning. / Is this a waste of Adam Driver's talent?

Take a good look at the hands repairing the mask. They do NOT look like Kylo's hands. They look kind of furry or hairy, so either this is a humanoid alien, or it's a human wearing some really hairy coat. Also, look at the bracelets on the wrists. I am almost 100% positive that this isn't Adam Driver.

He's fighting with stormtroopers. Yes, it appears that way. This could either take place before his redemption, OR there is a theory that either Hux will try to overthrow Kylo and the First Order will split into factions (so this could be Kylo's men against Hux's) OR there is another theory that Finn will help the stormtroopers rebel (so this could be Kylo on the light side leading the stormtroopers who are in rebellion).

When he strikes down the guy in the forest, his fighting style looks more sexy and assured, as opposed to the vicious and unstable fighting style that we've come to expect from TFA and TLJ, which might imply that his "soul" is healing.

Adam Driver knew where this was going from the beginning. They told him his character's whole arc before he signed, because he didn't just want to play the token bad guy. He wanted to play someone with emotional depth and challenges, so we can expect to see that continued in TROS. When Adam is asked about Kylo's story arc, he ALWAYS gets this little secret smile on his face, even though he's trying to keep his face neutral. It's adorable. When he was asked what he liked best about his character's story arc in TROS, Adam said that he couldn't say, but that "we're working toward something in particular with that character" (and he followed this with another one of those secret, adorable smiles).

NO ONE INVOLVED WITH STAR WARS CALLS KYLO THE VILLAIN. NO ONE. Contrast this with Vader (who was redeemed) who was blatantly called the villain in the teaser trailer for ROTJ. And, the teaser trailer for ROTJ had NO hint whatsoever that Vader was redeemable. No one guessed it. There weren't really hints elsewhere in A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back that Vader was redeemable, either. (Contrast this with Ben.)

Maybe Kylo is the one who attacks her in the beginning. Sure, maybe. It looks like his gloves (although you don't see his face, so it might not be him). But if this is a fight between them, it could easily be at the beginning of the movie, before he gets redeemed and before they fall in love. Also, what if the trailer makes it look like he's attacking her, but really this takes place after he's redeemed and she's jumping into the cockpit to JOIN him? We don't know.

She's not being shot at. She's being chased, but we don't see her being shot at, which is interesting. You could make the argument that maybe the guns on the TIE Silencer have jammed, but that doesn't seem likely, given that the ship looks pretty sleek and new and intact.

You don't make a legitimate villain this sexy. You just don't. (JJ has even gone on record saying that Ben looks like a "dark prince" when he removes his helmet during TFA.)

Rey seems to hang around just with Finn, Poe, etc. / Kylo does not seem to play a major part in all this.

Kylo has NEVER played a big role in the TEASER trailers... they've always focused mainly on Rey (and Finn and Poe). In TFA teaser, we just see him from the back igniting his lightsaber in the forest. In TLJ teaser, we just see a close-up shot of Kylo holding his lightsaber. Kylo has NEVER had more than a brief cameo in a teaser trailer, but he's always had a bigger part in the regular trailer. Actually, his role in this teaser trailer is bigger than in the other teaser trailers!

They could intentionally be cutting down his screen time in the trailers if he doesn't really have any "villain" scenes in the movie, to keep that a surprise for when people actually see the movie.

Trailers are great at leaving out important details. The teaser trailer for TFA leaves out the fact that Rey has the Force. The teaser trailer for TLJ trailer leaves out the Force bond between Rey and Ben. (etc.)

Trailers are great at being misleading. The regular trailer for TFA trailer implies that Luke would actually have a role in the movie. The regular trailer for TLJ implies that Rey was talking to Ben when she says, "I need someone to show me my place in all of this."

Also, check out this picture of Ben in TROS! That look on his face totally screams tall-dark-and-broody-guy-redeemed-from-the-dark-and-reuniting-with-his-true-love ;) I don't think I've ever actually seen him look this at peace.

AND check out Daisy's reaction when asked about Rey and Kylo this weekend - the secret smile / trying-not-to-smile expression and the "we'll have to wait and see."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0diw4fAisQ (3:30-4:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5E6EbcAMRE (0:00-0:10)

#star wars #the rise of skywalker #episode ix #ben solo #reylo

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