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dindjarindiaries · 3 years

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In Defense of The Mandalorian Season Two

A look into how the writing of season two actually reflects the same writing as the original trilogy, most notably The Empire Strikes Back.

DISCLAIMER: This post is in no way trying to refute the opinions of others! I know that, to many, the writing of season two was a let down. I’m simply here to share my opinion on why I thought it was well done, but I’m very open to critiques and discussions (as long as they’re started with good intentions).

Below the cut, I’ll be discussing the similarities of the plot/story’s structure to that of The Empire Strikes Back, how season two acts as a bridge between seasons, and the “dropped” items that many have been concerned with.

SEASON TWO AND THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: DEVELOPMENT AND SETUP

One of the biggest critiques I’ve seen about season two is that it set up a lot of major opportunities for the development of the story and Din and never went in depth on those. Some of these things include Din being told he’s in a cult called the Children of the Watch, the acquisition of the Darksaber, and the removal of his helmet. These are all things we caught glimpses and hints of, but we never saw any resolution for—not even any processing from Din. This left many feeling unsatisfied by the end of the season.

Much like how viewers must’ve felt at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, prior to the release of Return of the Jedi.

This sounds like a stretch, doesn’t it? But hear me out:

A BIG REVELATION: Din realizes that other Mandalorians can remove their helmets and that Mandalore may not be cursed after all. Similarly, Luke finds out he’s the son of Darth Vader. Neither one of these things is mentioned again in their respective season/movie.

A BIG QUESTION MARK: Din doesn’t know where Grogu’s being taken for training or how to contact Luke again and we also don’t know where he’s at in terms of his “helmet rule.” Similarly, Han Solo is sitting in enemy hands, captured and frozen in carbonite with an unknown fate by the time the movie ends.

IN MEDIA RES: Din’s just found out that he’s now the rightful heir to the throne of Mandalore as he wields the Darksaber and we know this is something he’ll have to acknowledge later. Similarly, Luke’s been training as a Jedi been abandoned his training to save his friends, leaving his status as a Jedi Knight unknown but hinted at being finished later down the line.

As you can see, both season two and TESB ended with huge things that were just... left there. We never get to see how they’re resolved or how exactly the characters will deal with all this information that’s been thrown at them. Instead, we’re left with the shadow of their consequences, feeling as if we’re being left on the edge of our seats.

Evidently, this plays out much differently in a show than it does in a movie because there’s a broader range of screen time/story time. That’s why some of these revelations have to come earlier in the season than they would in a movie. The timeline of season two is short as it is; truly, as far as we know, the whole thing takes place over just a few days. Naturally, then, it makes sense that Din wouldn’t have been processing events very quickly—especially with everything he has to do for Grogu at the forefront of his mind.

The idea with both these pieces is the long-run. We’re not looking at the story over just one season/movie anymore like we did with season one of The Mandalorian and A New Hope. This is going into something so much bigger and we’re truly only in the rising action of it all. We have to look past just this season and to the overall picture of Din’s story. If we got all the answers this season, there wouldn’t be much to work with in season three, especially in terms of Din’s character development. The foreshadowing with these season two events is setting up so much potential for Din’s character to be focused on as much as ever in season three, which—as a huge Din Djarin fan—is so exciting to me!

SEASON TWO AS A BRIDGE

Season three was confirmed by Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) before season two even released. Thus, it’s obvious that in the minds of the crew, season two is a stepping stone to the future of the story. If season one was the setup of our smaller story, then season two is the beginning of the larger one. The Mandalorian universe is expanding and thus the time that the story takes must also grow with it.

We can expect that all the big ideas season two set up—Din questioning his Way, starting to remove his helmet in front of others, earning the Darksaber, etc.—will be explored in more depth in the coming seasons. While the main goal of season two was still to return Grogu to his people (which did happen!), it also started to give us hints as to what’s coming for Din’s character and story. After all, this show is called The Mandalorian. It’s about time we learn more about that character and not just his relationship with Grogu, as touching as that part of him is!

BUT WHAT ABOUT...?

THE SILVER BALL?

The silver ball has been a very touching symbol of Din and Grogu’s connection ever since season one. It’s made appearances in Chapter 3: The Sin, Chapter 6: The Prisoner, Chapter 13: The Jedi, and Chapter 14: The Tragedy. In Chapter 3, it was a symbol of how Din’s feelings towards Grogu changed during the episode, where he initially denied him access to the silver ball and then later offered it to him to play with. Yet again in season one we see Din give the ball to Grogu after his run-in with the gang. Then, we don’t see it again until Grogu takes it himself in Chapter 13 and it becomes the very thing that gets Grogu to willingly use the Force, especially with Din’s help.

While this all hints at the silver ball being a key symbol in their relationship, it’s not something that’s been absolutely imperative to their bond. It wasn’t brought up again in either season finale, much to many’s displeasure particularly in season two. I think the reason why Din ends up keeping it is because:

It gives him something to remember Grogu by.

Other than the beskar spear, it’s the only piece of the Crest Din has left.

My prediction is that, should Din buy another ship/a new model of the Crest, he may be able to put the ball in that ship—and then when he reunites with Grogu, his son will be very excited upon spotting it in Din’s new ship. Had Grogu taken it, Luke might’ve taken it away from him, too, because the little womp rat was obviously very distracted by it whenever he had it!

THE MYTHOSAUR NECKLACE?

Yet again, the Mythosaur necklace is a touching symbol of Din and Grogu’s bond. It only makes one appearance in the entire show, though—Chapter 8: Redemption. Not once is it even mentioned before or after. We only see it twice in that episode: first when Din’s dying and he hands it to Cara and second when Din realizes Grogu has it and is chewing on it.

I’m not sure the necklace was meant to have as much weight as we gave it. I believe it might’ve just been a symbol of the fact that Din’s finally accepted Grogu as his foundling, just as Din once was himself. I assume Grogu still has the necklace tucked under his robes and that’s why we don’t see it again in season two. But the fact that it only appeared very briefly in one episode means that it most likely was just a one-and-done idea, which is much different than something like the silver ball.

GROGU NOT WANTING TO LEAVE DIN AND VICE VERSA?

One of the biggest themes of this season was letting go. For Din, it was letting go of his fear over Grogu’s safety and the restrictions of his Way. For Grogu, it was letting go of his fear over using his powers and his deep attachment to Din. While obviously leaving each other was not ideal for either one of them, in the end, it’s what they had to do. Din had to do what was best for Grogu, which was to let him train so he can control his powers. Grogu had to train so Din wouldn’t be risking his life so much to protect him and so he could abandon his fear of leaving his father.

Evidently, by the time they’re saying goodbye, it’s bittersweet—because Din’s proud of Grogu and Grogu’s determined/excited to train, but they’re both obviously going to miss each other. But truly, this is where the season’s been leading us. We had hopes they might stay together, but ultimately, Grogu needs to be trained!

IN CONCLUSION

This season left a lot of unanswered questions—because it wanted to. These weren’t plot holes. These were moments of foreshadowing for later, when Din and Grogu began to have their development on their own rather than together. A big lesson we learned from season one is that every moment of screen time counts. The same goes for season two. We can expect every untied thread from season two to be tied off by the time the series ends—whether that be in season three or season four.

#the mandalorian #star wars #the mandalorian season two #din djarin #the empire strikes back #discourse

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saphira-approves · 4 years

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Don’t Compare My Boy To K*l* R*n: In This Essay I Will—

okAY I’m talking about it

So I can’t find the post right now, but a few days ago I saw a post on my dash comparing Murtagh of the Inheritance Cycle to Kylo Ren of Star Wars, citing parallels for their similarities.

Since we all know this blog is really just a poorly-disguised Murtagh stan blog, I decided I’d share my thoughts on this comparison. I’ll be discussing character backgrounds, character roles, character motives, and character actions.

Part One: Character Backgrounds

Murtagh and Kylo Ren are both descendants of the “previous generation.” Their mothers were both prominent rebels, their fathers were both considered handsome and rogueish, and both sets of parents eventually separated. But that’s about where the similarities end.

Kylo Ren’s—or rather, Ben Solo’s—parents loved each other and loved their son. They may have been flawed in the way they showed it, but then again, the only account we hear of Ben’s childhood (as I recall, anyway, and I’m not rewatching those movies just for a tumblr post) is Ben’s, after he’d been groomed and manipulated by Snoke for many, many years. Han Solo died believing he was helping his son; Leia Organa died saving her son; at the very least, they both loved him enough, even while he was serving the Dark Side, to give up their lives for him.

Murtagh’s parents, on the other hand, were a mess. From Murtagh’s account of their relationship, Morzan didn’t care much about Selena except for her usefulness as a weapon; he was happy to manipulate her and her emotions, but I highly doubt he actually loved her. He certainly didn’t give a damn about Murtagh, throwing a sword at his own three-year-old son. Selena, meanwhile, although she obviously loved Morzan at first, loved Murtagh even more, and clearly recognized that Morzan didn’t care for her the way she had once cared for him—when she recognized an opportunity to work against him, she took it.

Kylo Ren despised both of his parents, but that hatred seemed hollow, shallow—it had no real reason. They led busy lives, perhaps didn’t make enough time for him, but their actions revealed that they did, truly, love him despite his mistakes, and Kylo’s loathing reveals itself to truly be the manifestation of a spoiled child’s anger, magnified tenfold. Murtagh, conversely, had very good reasons for his complicated view of his parents: he loved his mother, but she was kept from him (and him from her), and she died—possibly in front of him, though he never says, and, unbeknownst to him until much later, having just hidden his brother in Carvahall. There was no love lost between him and Morzan, who was in the best case just an angry drunk, worst case—and more likely—an abusive father, and the only thing Murtagh ever expected to receive from him as inheritance was his sword (which is by itself another whole post in the making).

Part Two: Character Roles

Both Murtagh and Kylo Ren played the role of foil to the protagonists of their stories.

Murtagh and Eragon were very similar in many ways; I’ve mentioned before the many “subtle” hints Paolini gives to their true relationship (”a pair of matched blades” and “brothers in arms” come to mind off the top of my head). Their differences clearly highlight their different upbringings: Eragon thinks in the moment, with his heart and his compassion, while Murtagh thinks ahead, makes plans and contingencies—this difference is most clearly seen when Murtagh kills Torkenbrand and Eragon's strong moral code makes him protest, even though killing the slaver was, objectively, the best course of action they could take. Yet Murtagh is not only Eragon’s foil in action, but also his foil symbolically: they are both sons of Selena, which binds them, and yet the sons of opposing fathers, which others unwittingly use to pit them against each other (yes, this is also a whole other post in the making. like i said, poorly-disguised murtagh stan blog). Murtagh’s foilness to Eragon is deeply interwoven into their friendship and their parallels, showing up in many subtle and unsubtle moments throughout the series.

Kylo Ren’s foil status, on the other hand, is… complicated in a different way. For one thing, he’s not just a foil to Rey, he’s also a foil to Finn—in fact, I’d argue he’s more foil to Finn, and more just a complete opposite to Rey. He’s the experience to Rey’s raw talent, he shifts toward the Light while Rey shifts toward the Dark, but with Finn, their stories of pulling away from the Empire could have been fantastic foil stories. Wasted opportunity. And I’m so mad about it but this isn’t a star wars blog so—

Part Three: Character Motives

Of course, both Murtagh and Kylo Ren’s motives change over the course of their own stories, so we’ll be looking at what they are and how they change.

Kylo Ren starts his story in TFA as a ruthless, power-hungry fanboy who cherry-picked his history lessons and simply ignored the fact that his oh-so-esteemed Darth Grandvader was actually redeemed in the end because Luke refused to give up on whatever scrap of good was left in him and I hate hate hate hate hate Luke’s sequel characterization UGH and so Kylo is “emulating” a false image of what he thinks Vader was: the power, the presence, the mask and modulator aesthetic, the “I’m on the Dark Side because it’s fun, and I get to do whatever I want consequence-free.” Which… no! So, at first, what does Kylo want? Power! Sure, he’s serving Palpatine’s Smeagol puppet Snoke, but eventually he’s gonna be the most powerful person in the galaxy. …well, but then eventually starts getting a little boring, so in TLJ Kylo ups his timetable, tries to get Rey on his side after torturing her for information (OF HIS OWN VOLITION! BECAUSE HE’S A JERK! He did not CARE about even trying to convince her at first, he asked the few questions necessary to justify meeting her resistance with a Force mind-rape), and then when she doesn’t join him on the Dark Side he fights her, again and again and again until he nearly DIES, and then HIS MOTHER DIES TO SAVE HIS UNGRATEFUL ASS, so now Kylo’s priorities switch from “power” to… uh… what, again? Redemption? By… how? Sacrificing his life for Rey?

Oh, now he remembers how his Darth Grandvader history lesson ended.

he’s still a copycat though

Murtagh’s motives, conversely, actually make sense for his situation. When we meet him, he has in the last few months run away from Urû’baen and lost his mentor and father-figure. His two priorities: keep himself and his horse alive, and see what the deal is with the new Dragon Rider he’s heard so much about. He meets Eragon and Saphira by saving their lives from the Ra’zac, and he’s there when Brom dies, and Eragon loses his own mentor. Having just recently gone through that pain himself, Murtagh gets attached, and joins Eragon on his adventure/vengeance quest against the Ra’zac. Murtagh doesn’t reveal his parentage, but he and Eragon find that they have a lot of similarities and get very close, sparring and bantering and becoming “a set of matched blades” and “brothers-in-arms” and other such friendly roles that are not-so-subtle hints at their true relationship, and even when they fight—notably when Murtagh doesn’t want to go to the Varden, because they might kill him, which would be actively violating his first priority of staying alive—Murtagh still agrees to help Eragon because he’s a nice f*cking person okay. And then, through shenanigans, Murtagh ends up getting kidnapped, assumed dead by his few new friends, and then

TORTURED AND MIND-RAPED FOR AT LEAST THREE OR FOUR MONTHS.

And Murtagh’s will never broke! Not until Galbatorix gave him a dragon egg, and that dragon egg hatched into Thorn, and Thorn bonded with Murtagh, and Galbatorix threatened Thorn.

Murtagh fought Galbatorix until Thorn’s well-being was put into danger.

After that, Murtagh’s priorities are skewed; he’s forcibly sworn to Galbatorix’s will, which sucks, but he’s also given fantastic power, which is great; but he and Thorn still get tortured as punishment for messing up, which also sucks. And then Nasuada, someone Murtagh actually likes, is captured and brought to Urû’baen, and Murtagh tries to hide his face behind the silver mask when Galbatorix forces him to torture Nasuada (physically, because Galbatorix never forces Murtagh to attack Nasuada’s mind) because he doesn’t want to torture his friend. In fact, he does everything in his ability to help her. And in the end, he cares about her so much that he realizes hang on a minute, I would actually put SOMEONE ELSE’S health and well-being over my own, which means something in me has fundamentally changed, WHICH MEANS I CAN DEFY GALBATORIX, and so what does he do? He gets rid of Galbatorix’s wards and lets Eragon finish him off. He gives up the Eldunarí to Eragon and Saphira, which were a huge source of his power, because in the end, he’s not a power-hungry maniac, he’s a nice person that shitty things happened to.

(And if Murtagh is a nice person that shitty things happened to, then Kylo Ren is a shitty person that nice things happened to)

Part Four: Character Actions

If you don’t believe me, then perhaps we’ll let actions speak louder than words.

Kylo Ren: In his first appearance, he orders his troops to kill an entire settlement. From there, he tortures Poe for information, obsessively pursues the protagonists who have the key to Luke’s location, becomes obsessed with Rey, who seems Force-sensitive, attempts to torture Rey the same way he tortured Poe, kills his own father even as his father apologizes and tries to help him, chases Finn and Rey (again) into a snowstorm on a planet that’s imploding in on itself because of a lightsaber; and then he’s chasing the Resistance—including his own mother—across the galaxy, killing Snoke and calling himself Supreme Leader (yeah, totally something a secret good guy would do), cornering the Resistance on Crait with the threat of DEATH. STAR. TECH. (miniaturized, but like. what’s the miniature of a planet-killer???? half a planet killer??????), and then ALLYING HIMSELF with PALPATINE (the stupid crusty meatsack didn’t even have to groom this one, he got a new apprentice for FREE), while also PLANNING TO DOUBLECROSS… PALPATINE… and continuing to chase Rey across the galaxy, trying to get her to join the Dark Side, and he only stops when his mother gives up her life to save his.

His mother… who, just recently, he THREATENED WITH DEATH STAR TECH.

All this to say, his “redemption” arc is hollow and stupid. Dying while doing “good” is not redemption, it’s a cop-out. Vader was ruthless not because he took pleasure from killing, but because it was efficient; he was redeemed because he found out he had been lied to, manipulated, used, and abused. Kylo Ren was fully aware of his situation, an abuser himself who took pleasure in his power and in killing people; and he was not redeemed by a kumbayah force-life-transfer BS or for turning on Palpatine, WHICH HE WAS PLANNING TO DO ANYWAY.

Murtagh: Helps Eragon, helps Eragon even when he could get captured or tortured or killed, helps Eragon even though he’s surrounded by people who would suffer no regret over killing him, helps Eragon even though he will get tortured for it later, helps Nasuada because he doesn’t want to torture his friend (let me repeat, he DOESN’T. WANT. to TORTURE. his FRIEND. And he even ends up sneaking into her cell, AT RISK OF PUNISHMENT WHICH WOULD INVOLVE TORTURE, to talk to her and heal at least some of her wounds, and give her a way to tell reality from illusion when Galbatorix does try to force his way into her head), helps Eragon kill Galbatorix in the final battle, helps a little girl he’s only just met and gives her an enchanted fork, because why not, and only waits to rejoin Eragon and Saphira because he recognizes his own need to heal, to take time for himself and Thorn, and later, if FWW is anything to go by, probably to redeem himself by helping people, and fighting whatever threat he’s hearing rumors about in the north. Murtagh doesn’t take pleasure in hurting people, and he goes out of his way to do good things, even at risk to himself, as much as he’d hate to admit it.

Murtagh is hardly perfect; on the one hand, I fully agree with his decision to kill Torkenbrand because what else were you gonna do with him, Eragon, but on the other, yes, he’s flawed. Notably, there’s the moment of him killing Hrothgar, which I’ve discussed, his anger issues, his potential alcohol issues, and his general tendency to put himself first (which… yes, but also, he really doesn’t). Best thing about this, though, his his enormous potential for change, because we’ve already seen him change! And it saved the whole war! One tiny thing, one small moment of self reflection and realization—he changed himself, without any outside influence except for finding someone to care about.

TL;DR Don’t insult my boy Murtagh. Come back when Kylo Ren gets some actual character development.

#started this post #had to look something up in Eragon #got sidetracked #placed a hot topic order #came back #got so fucking tired #please just. just don't compare my son to kyle #i really really hate k*l* r*n #what a dipshit. what a wasted opportunity.#everything after force awakens was a waste of brilliant character development opportunity #murtagh tornacsson #murtagh (inheritance cycle)#inheritance cycle #star wars #cw kylo ren #saph rambles #saph scribbles

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meteor752 · 4 years

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So...I just watched The Rise of Skywalker

And it was...a movie

Now, if you don’t want it spoiled, then don’t click keep reading, because I will immediately start after that.

Got it?

Good

Now that that’s out of the way

THERE IS A CANON LESBIAN COUPLE IN STAR WARS AND THEY SHARED A KISS, I AM DEAD

Sorry I just had to get that out of my system

I am not a movie critic, and for the most part I just enjoy a movie unless it bores me. But I have been saying that I will do this review, and I will, so I will just go over important part by important part.

Good?

Good.

The first scene

This is, hands down, my favorite scene in the movie. The way they introduced Palpatine and that we never really see his face in the scene is really menacing, but still oddly hilarious.

I mean, the man is hanging there quoting himself. He later literally said do it!! I’m surprised he didn’t start to tell the story of Darth plagueise the wise.

Plus, the fact that Kylo doesn’t want to join Palpatine and become his apprentice, but just kill him, is really cool to me. It shows a little different side of his character, that he wants to be his own and not just the next Vader.

Also, after Palpatine saying “I created Snoke”, there’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment of a deformed looking Snoke in a cubicle, so that’s that character's backstory. He was a failed clone all along!

Poe, Finn, Chewie & the Spy

The start of this scene is just pure fluff between our dear space husbands and their mom’s, husband's dog.

The revelation of the spy was cool, but I kinda immediately guessed that it would be either Hux or Phasma.

I really liked the chase scene, plus the banter between the characters. Character interaction is a thing I love in franchises, and this movie does a good job with it

Master Leia

I LIVE FOR LEIA TRAINING REY TO BE A JEDI

The Rey training scene though was...unnecessary, dunno why it was there.

Rey’s always been a kinda on-off character for me. I like her when she’s loose and chill instead of a “badass”. In this movie...I mean she has her moments, but for the most part I didn’t want her there

C-3PO, R2-D2 & BB-8

The fact that BB-9e wasn’t in this movie is a crime

I like Threepio, like most other fans, but he’s just like always been...there for me. In this movie though, holy shit did he shine!

To be quite honest, he was probably one of my favorite characters in it, just because he kept that lightheartedness in an otherwise angsty movie, with some occasional fluff.

What I really like about him is that they made this his movie! Artoo and BB-8 were barely in it, and when they were they didn’t do much, so Threepio could really shine! Literally, he’s made of gold. The latest eight movies he’s basically been bullied by every character on screen, no one really seems to like him (Poe did it in this movie, so it’s still a thing) but they gave him a lot of screentime and I like that!

I don’t like BB-8. He’s mostly there to sell toys, and I get that that’s what Star Wars is all about these days, but don’t make it obvious!! Cough, cough PORG!!!!

Artoo was underused as kriff in this movie. He did basically nothing, despite being one of the franchises most popular characters. My favorite moment in the movie however is when Wiped Threepio And Artoo reunite, and he actually sound HURT when Threepio doesn’t recognize him!! He calls him his best friend okay!?!?

Lando

!!!!

His introduction was so fricking cute! Chewie just went to hug him instantly, because that poor fluffy boy has lost enough!!

Threepio going to explain who he is, and Rey just going “We know who he is!” Is so heartwarming, like he’s a war hero! People idolize him that’s so cute!!!

Knights of Ren

Will get more into them in another section, but look really cool but really underused

Stormpilot, Jedipilot, Stormjedi & Stormjedipilot

Let’s get this over with

All three of the first ships are evident in this movie.

Rey and Poe arguing about BB-8 and The Falcon at the start of the movie...is basically all we get for Jedipilot but what’d you expect?

Poe making Finn general, their banter throughout the movie, the little very unnecessary fight they had, the reunion at the end of the movie-

THIS

Rey: So what were you going to tell me?

Finn: We’ll take it later

Poe: What, you mean when Poe’s not here?

YOU JEALOUS BRO???

Finn wanting to tell Rey something was most likely confessing some feeling for her, but then they survived and yeah, and it was fucking dropped?! Did JJ just forget about that???

Plus, I’ve never noticed this before, but Finn yells Rey’s name a lot.

The reunion hug between the three of them at the end of the movie is what kinda made me like Stormjedipilot. Poe and Rey holding their hands over Finn’s back while he buries his head into their shoulders, like yeah I like that.

Chewie’s “death”

I, to be honest, kinda wanted Chewbacca to die a little here. It would have made Kylo’s turn so much more compelling.

So it is my personal headcanon that Kylo did not know that Chewie wasn’t on that ship, and for a few minutes he actually thought that he, Uncle Chewie, had died. Because I couldn’t be the only one who saw a bit of pain on his face.

Kijimi

I first did not like Zorii, mostly because I thought she and Poe would have had a “relationship”.

Though, when Rey held a lightsaber against her throat, and she just impressively said “Not that it matters, but I like you.”

Gal, you GAAAAY

And also that twice, twice, Poe asks if they should kiss and she dismisses both tries, that I like. Good job movie, god job.

During the raid, you can hear female Stormtroopers, and I think that’s really cool. We’re in movie nine and first now does there exist female Stormtroopers that isn’t Phasma!!

Threepio’s wipe is sad and I liked it, but I feel that they made it a little too sad, considering it was afterwards mostly played as a joke and then they gave him his memories back

Hux the spy

Again, Chewie should have remained dead, but whatever.

I have no problem with Hux as the spy, I was just sitting in the theater mumbling ‘Fulcrum’ while my brother was looking at me weirdly, but what I don’t like is what they did with it.

For Hux just to be shot by some General we’ve never met before is just the equivalent of a letdown, especially since so many people like his characters. Including me, he’s one of the best parts of the Sequels!!

Rey Palpatine

Just so everyone knows, I saw this coming. I mean sure, I still liked the Qui’ra theory more, but when Palps started talking about how he knew who the girl was, then I was just like okay she’s a Palpatine.

What I don’t like is how they don’t talk at all of how this came to be. Like, I don’t even know which one of Rey’s parents who’s Palps child. Who the hell did he fuck?!?!

So yeah, whatever twist, bad execution.

Endor’s Stormtroopers

THIS SCENE IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY I DON’T LIKE REY

They often do this in movies. Heroes have to do something, they can’t do anything at that moment so they have to wait, main Hero does it anyways.

IT’S ANNOYING AS HELL

Finn and the Ex Stormtrooper I can't remember the name of’s bonding moment was cute, but I just kept thinking to myself “Are they siblings? Because it wouldn’t be the first time this has happened,”

Finn getting mad at Poe is weird as shit and I don’t like it.

Dark Rey vs Rey

Huge letdown didn’t like it next

Rey vs Kylo, final battle

It was...fine, I guess. I like that Rey fucking stabbed him, that was cool.

Leia dying to redeem Kylo was dumb! I get that they needed to kill her off in a natural way and not just off-screen but come on!

Plus, if you would ask me, Kylo didn’t need a redemption arc. I think he should have died. As a bad guy.

Han Solo And Lightsaber Toss

Han Solo talking to Kylo was cool, though how does it work?? Was it a vision? Luke manipulations the force? Kylo only saw what he wanted to see?

That Kylo just tossed his lightsaber was symbolic and stuff, but a really stupid decision from his part. How are you gonna protect yourself now, huh? THE FORCE?!?!

Rey going into Exile

THIS SCENE WAS FUNNY AS SHIT!!

Just, Rey, thinking that every Jedi goes into exile, when they don’t feel like dealing with it anymore, and she’s fucking right!!! Yoda, Obi-Wan And Luke would be proud!!!!

Luke’s force ghost also has nearly identical hair to Anakin, which is adorable. Dunno how many that noticed that, since the people I’ve talked with about the movie didn’t, but that was literally all I could think about.

Knight Leia

When Rey picked up her lightsaber, my brother beside me was like “That’s Luke’s green one!” And I got mad because that’s not his lightsaber design at all. Know your facts bro!

That Leia was a Jedi is understandable, I mean was Luke not going to train her? But I’ve always seen her that she could use the force, but didn’t use a lightsaber because she’s badass.

I kinda also wanted her blade to be purple? I think it would have fit her much better, as she is probably the most balanced Jedi we’ve had for a while and she’s got a lot of anger that little Skywalker, but blue works fine I guess. Better than green.

Star Wars Endgame

I liked this scene, it was cool, Artoo got something to do, and Finn and Rose riding those horse thingies is an inside joke between those two at this point, convince me otherwise.

Lando And Chewie arriving though, and the First Order stating that they are “just people”, was really beautiful. Cool scene all and all.

Rey and Palpatine

Palps is still quoting himself! He fucking said “Do It” JJ knows what’s up!!

One thing that I’ve been trying to figure out since I saw the movie was what the hell was Palps’ goal? He said for Rey to strike him down (Said the same to Luke, is he suicidal??) and then he would become? Apart? Of her? What?

I’m sorry, but that doesn’t make any sense.

Kylo vs Knights of Ren

So these are Kylo’s guys, right? His inquisitors, per say.

Except these used to be Jedi, his clanmates, his friends.

So why the kriff did they all turn against him like that?? AND WHY DID HE JUST FIGHT THEM BLINDLY DUDE THESE WERE YOUR FRIENDS!!

If I could have changed anything in this movie that has nothing to do with ships, then it would be that at least ONE of the knights would have supported Kylo and not just blindly turned against him.

Though I must say, Rey giving Kylo Luke’s lightsaber through their bond, was pretty badass.

Palpatine steals Kylo and Rey’s bond

The. Fuck.

WHAT KIND OF FORCE POWER IS THAT?!?!

IF YOU CAN JUST STEAL A JEDI’S FORCE BOND, WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT WITH ANAKIN AND OBI-WAN PALPS?!?!? HUH?!?!?!

But for real, stupid decision, could have gone without it.

Jedi Rey vs Sith Palps

It was cool, a cool moment, I sat excitedly and whispered to my brother all the voices I recognized, I think Ahsoka could be heard??

...

I looked it up and yeah her voice is there, which means that she’s dead R.I.P Snips.

One of the better scenes of the movie, though I think it’s cheating because of nostalgia and love for these characters.

(I LOOKED UP WHICH THE VOICES WERE, AND WE’VE GOT FRICKING AAYLA SECURA, LUMINARA UNDULI, ADI GALLIA AND KANAN JARRUS!!!)

Reylo

*Sigh*

Ya know, I really hoped this wouldn’t happen. I almost wanted to skip this, and really make all the Reylo fans mad.

But I have to talk about this.

This kiss, should not have happened.

Now if you are a Reylo shipper, that’s good for you, I ship way stranger things than that, but to actually make it canon?!?!

Kylo having a crush or something for Rey? Sure, I can understand that’s he’s pretty much obsessed at this point. But for Rey, badass Rey who is pretty lesbian, to have feelings for Kylo? THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP PEOPLE!!

And that they made a toxic relationship canon, but not a gay one, really says something about Star Wars doesn’t it.

Death of Kylo

I laughed out loud during this scene. Not joking, people around me were annoyed. And that his clothes didn’t disappear? Is Kylo a naked force ghost? Did he do that for Rey?

Wait

Don’t answer.

Happy Rebels

The Lesbian couple that kissed was obviously queerbaiting, and you should never praise that, but that is probably all we will get Gays, so let’s just take it and cry on the inside.

Is that Stormtrooper gal Lando’s daughter? Because my brother whispered that to me, and I got those vibes too. Or is she way older than what she looks like and we were supposed to see her as a love interest?

The hug was cute.

Rey Skywalker

I will never accept this as canon ever.

To see the moisture farm again was nice, I liked that.

And for Rey to finally have her own lightsaber, and a yellow one too (I read a fanfic where she had a yellow one, was that like pre-seen??).

But the Skywalker thing...eh.

I would have found it cute if she’d said Rey Palpatine, as if she’d embraced her origin and decided that the name Palpatine isn’t just to be afflicted with the emperor, but also with her, the last Jedi.

Also, did she go into exile? Because damn, those Jedi do that a lot!

All in all, I liked this movie! I wasn’t bored a single bit while watching it, as there was always something going on, and I like when that happens. I don’t think that had happened since Empire with a Star Wars movie.

It isn’t in my top three, but it’s up there, and better than The Last Jedi.

Though I must say, they did take some things from Return of the Jedi and put it in this movie, specifically the ending.

Though I must say, and don’t hate me for this, it was better than Return of the Jedi okay bye

#the rise of skywalker #The rise of skywalker spoilers #The Rise Of Skywalker review #Stormpilot #finnrey #damerey #Finnpoerey #Reylo #I can't believe I used that tag

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stlgeekgirl · 4 years

Text

My Star Wars Discourse

It’s been a week since I’ve seen TRoS and the majority of the people have seen it, I’ve read theory upon theory and criticism, upon criticism from both sides of the aisle, ironically all of them are pretty much saying the same thing, just using different words.

Now, I have words. I’m one of those “rarities” on Tumblr. I was a young child when A New Hope came out in theaters. I read TESB before I saw it and it was a huge deal when my father took me to see RoTJ. I am still under the stubborn belief that the EU is still canon, no matter what anyone says. (Mara Jade is canon, dammit!) I’ve been a fan of Star Wars since the age of 10 and my fangirl squealing is usually kept between my siblings and my IRL friends.

But, because I know some people have not seen it yet, I will not only be tagging this so those blacklisting it won’t see it on their dash, I’ll also put it behind a cut. Because it might be long, and slightly ranty and nobody wants to scroll past that.

Abandon hope, ye who enter here.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve harbored a dislike of JJ Abrams since 2009 when he pulled his BS with the Star Trek franchise. In fact, the only reason I liked Into Darkness was because Benedict Cumberbatch was in it and even then, I was not happy with him being cast as Khan. He was a wonderful bad guy and there was a multitude of evil villains he could have brilliantly played. My favorite movie was.Beyond because Justin Lin directed it and, in my mind, that was the most “Star Trek” Star Trek movie done this century.

On to Star Wars. After my anger with the first franchise, the first thing I said when I heard Abrams was doing Star Wars was “if he fucks this up, I will appear at his house with a pitchfork”

First, I liked Episode 7,8 and 9. Truly, I did. There were things I didn’t like about then, but all in all, I did like the overarching theme of family and making your own that was tied in with the usual Good vs. Evil that is Star Wars. I loved the First Order and it’s resemblance to what the Empire used to be. Someone wrote that in the Star Ward universe, the Empire represented Nazism and the First Order represented the Alt-Right. I think that is a perfect example and one that gives us hope. If rebels can defeat a powerful institution like the Empire/First Order, then it gives us hope. Which is what Star Wars was supposed to do; give us hope.

I thought Kylo Ren was the perfect foil to Darth Vader; wanting to be like the largest representation of evil in the galaxy but never quite getting the same amount of respect. The tantrums in The Force Awakens were priceless of a spoiled man child who can’t quite fit into grandpa’s black boots.

The hate/hate relationship between Kylo and Hux was both creepy and laughable and I found myself truly upset when he was killed with so little afterthought.

The theme of good vs evil and the lure of the dark side that happened between Kylo and Rey throughout the last three movies was well done. Well done in the theme of the seductive tricks evil uses to make a person turn.

Now the things I had issues with:

I am not a Reylo shipper. But I know people I am friends with are and the entire YSINMSATOK rule is still in effect. I thought the thing between Kylo and Rey was abusive and manipulative and it reeked of evil seducing good in order to corrupt. That said, I did like the thing between Ben and Rey. And I have to admit, whatever my thoughts on Adam Driver, the man is a phenomenal actor. by just facial expressions you could see the transformation from Kylo Ren to Ben Solo and it was powerful.

I understood that for someone to come back from years in the Dark Side, a sacrifice must be made. Anakin did it and so did Ben. It was true to the story and there was no other way.

I also want to say that Stormpilot should have absolutely been a thing. An actual canon thing. I’ll even venture so far as to say that not only should Stormpilot have been a thing but so should FinnPoeRey. (I’m not sure what that ship name is, forgive me). As much as I adore Vinette Robinson and smiled when I saw that “the gay kiss” was two women, they absolutely could have and should have made that reunion scene more between Poe and Finn.

I liked Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi and I am annoyed at Abrams’ “retconning” as much as he could. If he had a vision, he should’ve stayed with all three. Johnson’s TLJ felt like Star Wars and the scene where Kylo turned his back on Rey was powerful as hell. He had a choice and he made the wrong one, which made his redemption/sacrifice in TRoS even more important.

I absolutely hate this phrase but Rose Tico absolutely deserved better. She deserved more than to be an unwitting romantic foil for Finn in TLJ and because of that, she was sorely unused in TRoS. Her character was so much more in TRoS and yet she was hardly in it.

I’ve seen people tell me that they didn’t like her character because she wasn’t really much in TLJ and therefore they couldn’t see where she could even be placed in TRoS. To those people, I offer this: Dominic Monaghan. This person, who’d never even been in a Star Wars movie until this one was given the role that Kelly Marie Tran should’ve had, Instead of being regulated to one-liners and afterthoughts, she could’ve absolutely been placed in the staring role as arguing against Finn and Poe instead of Kin. No offense to Monaghan, who had the honor of playing in a Star Wars movie, but there was literally no reason for Kin to be in this movie other than Abrams needed another white male to shine out and, I’ll say it, racism and misogyny. Rose “got in the way” of Stormpilot (which, BTW, I have not heard any backlash against Keri Russell’s Zorii Bliss) and therefore she became a casualty of fandom and a director who pulled the equivalent of Lucas insisting “Greedo shot first” with his retconning.

Do not take this to mean that I ship it. Rose Tico was supposed to be “us”. She was used incorrectly and FinnRose would’ve been horrible. The ship was forced and therefore it didn’t work...at all. Rose was so much better as one of General Organa’s army and she should have been used as such in TRoS. In her meager parts, Rose shows knowledge and an eagerness to the Resistance that far surpasses anyone other than the main three.

If there is a disagreement, take a good hard look at your argument.

There’s probably more I can touch on but this is already much too long. Usually, I don’t discuss my Star Wars love in so much depth but as this is an end of an era, I could no longer sit idly by without finally putting my 0.02 in. I know there will be people who hate me for this and to them, I saw...*shrug*

#star wars #spoilers #the rise of skywalker #fan discourse #fan wank #Star Wars Universe #SWU #tros spoilers #if I missed a tag #let me know

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paintedgold-sprinkledblack · 5 years

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So, I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the whole mini redemption arc Xehanort was given. My boyfriend and I talked about how it was a lot like Darth Vader, that the only way to repent was through the act of dying. And I totally understand that. Idk if there’s any kind of ‘interdimensional prison’ in the KH universe, and it honestly would have been more trouble for the characters having to deal with what to do with the guy if he lived.

Everyone just seemed...coolio with it though. If I was anyone from the Wayward Trio I would have been much more openly salty, not to mention Sora’s perspective seeing as he had just MURDERED Kairi like an hour before.

((Xehanort wanted to keep fighting initially, and I mean, respect to that, but then a few words from his old friend and he’s like “lol k let’s go”.))

My biggest issue is that even in death, his actions inadvertently lead to more pain. The final battle leads directly to Sora going to search for Kairi, which lead to his death.

If this game teaches anything, it is COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT. All of the main characters are not the most proficient in this department...but Xehanort’s reasoning was sound. Like I totally get WHAT he was trying to accomplish. Similar to many villains, their mindset makes sense but the execution is poor. Eraqus had a pretty solid head on his shoulders, and if Xehanort had expressed what he wanted to do, I think they could have found a way to make things work...without killing everyone and everything, and without bringing pain and destruction to countless worlds and possibly up to millions of people.

Why not use the X-Blade and Kingdom Hearts to reunite all of the worlds back into one? Sure, it would be super hard in the beginning, but maybe after time that would be the best way to bring the Light back to its full potential. For someone as intelligent as Xehanort, I think he could have made his plan...a little less evil. Maybe that’s just me though, what do you all think??

(( I just want to say though...the moment Eraqus grabbed the X-Blade and said “Enough. Checkmate.” I got mad chills. I loved that line. Mark Hamill is a saint. ))

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takaraphoenix · 5 years

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What is your take on Rey/Kylo?

Ooof. So, fair warning, this is probably going to be long and also go off-topic at times!

But mainly it will boil down to: They gotta fucking sit down and make up their minds about this damn ship and those damn characters in this damn franchise, because I don’t think the writers/creators have decided on a take yet...

And I don’t know if that’s because the last movie was lacking JJ Abrams and like one person with the actual vision of what this trilogy is supposed to be should like... stay on the fucking project, but...

They pretty much set Kylo and Rey up as endgame in the first movie. Just... everything about their interactions. And then they got that soul-bond-thingy going on and she can reach his heart and he spends all his time thinking about her - and then he even kills that damn Snooky dude and the way those two fought side by side with each other!

But the second movie also had Rey and Poe meet for the first time. And they shared about three solid seconds of quiet eye-contact and as anyone who’s ever seen a straight Hollywood movie - and a Disney movie - knows, three solid seconds of quiet eye-contact between A Man and A Woman means they have just epically fallen in love and will be endgame. Like, that’s literally been coded as “falling in love” for decades now.

So, honestly, as of right now I don’t trust the franchise there.

Personally, I think Rey and Ben would be good endgame. They have a great dynamic and influence on each other and especially after we heard why Ben turned to the dark side, that literally sealed the deal on him getting a redemption arc - even though I 100% hate this trilogy for doing that to Luke. That... You... You don’t do that to the hero of your OG installment, turning him into a batshit crazy lunatic who is trying to kill not only an innocent child but also his own nephew. That was just... so bad and I’m still... so mad.

But yeah no, Luke trying to flat-out murder kiddo!Ben totally qualifies Beni for a redemption arc. I mean, fucking Darth Vader got a redemption arc too and he, among many other things, slaughtered a bunch of innocent little children. So like... yeah, Ben’s getting one too, especially since this is a Disney movie.

I’m just skeptical about the whole killing-Han-Solo thing. I 100% blame Harrison Ford for, but I’m still skeptical because it’s a thing that did happen now. Thanks, Harry... =_= (But seriously, there is no way the franchise would have killed Han Solo off in the first movie of the third trilogy if Harrison Ford hadn’t wanted out so desperately. And I think that really dented the franchise, because Han was not just vital, but also his death was bad... Because killing your own dad does make the whole redemption arc thingy a tad bit harder, unless we kill a Snape-kills-Dumbledore there and there is some wonky explanation as to why it’s All Okay...)

Moving away from the details of Ben’s redemption arc and back to the ship; they have been setting those two up so great... and then the second movie happens.

And I totally blame the incompetence of the writers of the second movie for that, because that Finn/Rose thing was a horribly written romance too, so yeah it’s that they were incompetent in writing romance. Seriously, they could have set Finn/Rose up and have them grow closer, but they completely butchered it by that rushed development toward the end. And in that same spirit did they write Poe and Rey having “three seconds of meaningful eye-contact”, trying to ““set”“ a romance up there too without actually putting the work into setting it up.

Though for both of those weird and misplaced romances, I blame Disney. Because the fandom has been shipping Finn/Poe too hard, so obviously do both those guys need female canon love-interests now so you can’t even headcanon them to be together because Disney’s just that homophobic.

Seriously, I see the reason for that Poe/Rey ““moment”“ in Disney forcing their hand in the second movie after the gay pay-off from the first one.

That being said, because it had to be said, Episode IX is going to be back in JJ Abrams’ hands and I really, genuinely don’t see Ben/Rey not being endgame there. He is the OG who set them up. He’s gonna see them through.

Now, that was a huge load of canon... which is rare for me to discuss on the matter of shipping, but with a ship that is dancing around becoming canon, that does factor into it.

All of that being said, let’s move on to my personal feelings.

Fun fact: I shipped them before I ever even watched a singular Star War. Just... out of spite. Because I stumbled across them on tumblr and the sheer amount of hate they got - and the sheer amount of hate the shippers got.

I really don’t like bullies, so the more often I ran into stray Reylo posts, the more vindictively did I hope those two character become canon in whatever franchise they’re in just to spite the antis, because if you seriously think bullying people over the fictional characters they ship you kind of deserve that those exactly fictional characters become a canon ship. That’s called karma.

And then my @kimmycup actually made me watch the Star Wars and I was surprised that, even beyond the spite, I did really end up shipping them for the great dynamic I described in the beginning.

I love a good soul-bond. Even if... the bad guy... for... unexplained reasons... set it up?? But the bond they shared, the connection they made and how she does make him better.

I also have a weakness for the dark and broody character to get his happy powerful sunshine hero, so there’s that. *side-eyes Nicercy*

Personally, I am living in that alternate reality where Harry didn’t want to fuck off, so Han lived and after all is said and done, Ben/Rey and Poe/Finn join him and Chewie on the Falcon and we go onto wild smuggler shennanigans for another trilogy. That’s the ideal Star Wars I’m living in.

#Reylo #Kylo Ren #Ben Solo #Rey #Star Wars #Phoe's Random Movie Rants #this totally qualifies xD #Anonymous

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trashqueenkyloren · 6 years

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Longass Meta on Kylo Ren’s Redemption Arc/Rey and Kylo

SO, to begin, this is something I’ve wanted to write literally since Dec 2015 but the fear of being hated on has been so strong that I’ve just recently felt confident enough to post it and I really just want this out there before The Last Jedi comes out so I can compare although it’s so close to the release date this is all probably irrelevant now oh well

So I went into The Force Awakens basically as a blank slate (I’ll explain later) and I really just want to point out a few thoughts I had while watching it the first time that point to a potential Kylo Ren Redemption arc and the possibility of Rey and Kylo at least teaming up (this is mostly just my opinion, feel free to disagree!)

(way more under the cut guys, read on if you like!)

To begin, let me explain a little bit about myself

PART 1: BACKGROUND

When I went to go see TFA in theaters, I knew almost nothing about Star Wars. I had seen the originals like once when I was like 5 and had not really gotten into it. In fact all I knew was that

1) The force and the light/dark side are a thing

2) Darth Vader is Luke’s father

3) Han is Leia’s love interest and Luke is her brother (and even this I had to ask my friend to clarify/make sure I had it right)

and obviously I knew the names of yoda and r2d2 and other really basic knowledge, you get the idea

The Force Awakens is what made me become a Star Wars fan (don’t worry, I have since then made up for my mistakes by rewatching all the movies and such)

but anyway what this means is

I went into TFA as basically a blank slate, meaning I had no biased Star Wars thoughts to cloud my judgement

I saw what the filmmakers wanted me to see

In addition, being a person who currently studies Literature, Psychology, and Film Studies at college (yeah, yeah, I fit the stereotype, kill me), if there is something I know well it’s Storytelling

The only things I really knew about TFA before going into it were that

1) It was a sequel to the originals

2) Rey and Finn are the main characters (had seen pictures and was already lowkey shipping FinnRey)

3) The bad guy was some masked dude

That's it. I wasn't a huge fan so I hadn't bothered to look up anything else about the movie and hadn't seen any spoilers. But enough about me .

PART 2: THE CHARACTER OF KYLO REN

Now, while viewing TFA, one thing that struck me and captivated me in a way that no other Star Wars movie had was the character of Kylo Ren. I had definitely not expected to like this character at all. Two things changed this for me

1) The reveal that he is the son of Han and Leia

Never before (in the movies) had Star Wars had a character that was so clearly torn between the two sides. Him being the son of Han Solo and Leia gave him a legacy and a reason for us to want him to be good. We want Han and Leia to get the happiness they deserve. Honestly, if you don’t want a Kylo to be redeemed just think about poor Leia losing her son and still having hope for him (Do it for Leia!!) .

2) His feeling the pull to the light

This scene surprised me because the fact that Kylo is talking to an old helmet about his inner feelings means that

a) he has no one to confide in so he is withholding a lot of strong mixed emotions and feelings, which is unhealthy

b) he is tempted by the light side while being on the dark, which is very, very different from most villains, who (it seems to me) disregard the light completely. Which means despite wanting desperately to be bad he can’t even do it because of an inborn light side like a teenager going through a rebellious phase

and c) he is being honest about his call to the light because he has no reason to lie if he’s not talking to anyone, which means he really does still feel a compulsion to be good

Star Wars, being a family-friendly film saga, usually has a pretty clear dichotomy on good and evil (hence, light and dark sides). We root for the good guys, not the bad guys. It’s always been sort of a black and white morality going on, but Kylo is one of the few characters that enhances the Star Wars universe by bringing to light (heh) the potential for gray morality in an otherwise black and white world (as it is)

He is a person that really should be on the light side because of his family and such, but because of Snoke’s constant manipulation and unfortunate upbringing he’s been struggling with the dark side his entire life. It’s really a sad thing to think about.

Additionally

While initially hating him, I ended up feeling a great deal of sympathy for him throughout the film, so much so that I wondered why they had even made him a villain at all

He was not a weak villain like I had heard in reviews, just a conflicted one. A lot of people don’t like it when villains don’t fit perfectly into a “pure evil mustache-twirling-type”. I found Kylo infinitely more interesting because of this.

He’s no Darth Vader. But that’s the point. Both he and the audience, in a sort of meta twist, know that he’ll constantly be in the shadow of Darth Vader. So, instead, he’s younger, more volatile, more emotional, uncontrollable, unpredictable. He’s contrasted from all these villains to show how he stands out as different. He seemed to me separate from the Hux/Snoke kind of evil that didn’t have any sort of redeeming qualities at all. Evil for the sake of evil, if you will

The viewer’s sympathy for the villain and how obviously they showed his flaws and potential for good is the crucial foundation of a redemption arc

I liked him a lot as a character pretty much up until he killed Han Solo. Then, I obviously believed he was a lot more evil than he looked, although the fact that he definitely didn’t seem happier or better or more dark-side oriented in any way after this still suggested that he didn’t become completely evil

After this, it hit me that the ONLY sure-fire way to make people absolutely hate Kylo Ren as a villain and squashing people’s complaints that he was too wishy-washy or not bad enough as a villain was to have him kill off one of the most beloved characters in Star Wars history (who also happened to be his father)

He was so obviously drawn to the light and not bad enough throughout the first half of the movie that the writers had to take a huge step in order to get him to the actual level of villain and add a lot of unlikeability

PART 3: KYLO REN AND REY

(My favorite part of the movie ^ Has been my laptop’s background wallpaper since Dec 2015. I would get a poster of it if I could)

In this section, I will describe some things I picked up both about Kylo’s characterization around Rey and their interactions between them. I think that Kylo’s actions towards Rey played a large part in getting the audience to think he was “too weak” of a villain (Something I heard in reviews a lot after watching the movie)

1) The infamous bridal carry scene

Okay my first thought when I saw this was that he was way too gentle with her. Honestly, Kylo, you need your hands to use your lightsaber and the force, so this is much you rendering yourself completely useless on unsafe territory

He could’ve slung her over his shoulder? Or passed her off to a Stormtrooper? So this struck me as very strange, to say the least. To think that he would carry her so gently. But then we see this

Now, the importance of the combination of the bridal carry and the crossing of the threshold was not lost on me

It reminded me a lot of a movie a had scene only a few months earlier (which I would highly recommend), Crimson Peak.

While the bridal carry itself could indicate romantic interest between the two characters (somebody already wrote a really good meta about this so I won’t go into it here) the additional crossing of the threshold is a step in the traditional “Hero’s Journey,” a set of steps in a literary work that star wars loves to rely on, where the hero’s journey begins and the hero’s life is changed

Typically, it’s the point of no return for our hero, as things change in a permanent sort of way for their journey moving forward

2) The Unmasking Scene

I was shocked by this scene for a few reasons which I’ll go into here

a) First off, I was shocked by how youthful he looked. I was expecting a creepy looking old dude or someone with a bunch of scars on their face, but instead we get this young, handsome boy. (Yes, I find Kylo Ren attractive, but does this somehow invalidate my thinking in this meta? No. I can put aside attraction for an objective analysis.) But what I also realized is that he doesn’t need the mask to live, like Darth Vader did. He needs a mask for the entirely opposite reason, in order to make him seem intimidating. Without it he just looks like a lost child, he needs the mask in order to be taken seriously.

b) The second thing that shocked me was that this is the first installation of a trilogy and they’ve already unmasked the main villain. This speaks volumes to them wanting the audience to humanize him as early as possible. Darth Vader didn’t get unmasked until the later part of the last movie of the trilogy. If they wanted him to remain purely antagonistic, they would would have left his mask on. This means that they aren’t going to want us to view him as the one-dimensional cardboard cutout villain, they want us to view him as a human with flaws.

c) The final thing I want to touch on is that Kylo’s unmasked came directly after Rey’s quote “That’s what happens when your being hunted by a creature in a mask”. When Rey said this, my reaction in the theater was, So just take it off! And then he did. And I had really not expected him to actually take off his mask for her, as this meant he did not want her to view him as a “creature” or a “monster,” but he wanted her to see he is a human, just like her. He wanted to create empathy between them. This move, along with me noticing that Kylo was much younger and more attractive than I thought, coupled with his attempts to reassure her (tells her he doesn’t know where her friends are, “you’re my guest,” “don’t be afraid, I feel it too”) led me to believe the Kylo Ren might actually be Rey’s love interest, instead of Finn. It seemed like a unique plausible twist and it was just kind of an instinctual gut feeling that hit me. Of course, the thought of this went out the window when Kylo murdered Han, but, after reviewing the movie a couple more times, the thought kept coming back to me.

(Okay quick side note, my friend and I came across a Kylo Ren action figure for The Last Jedi that says different phrases in Barnes and Noble recently, so I pressed it, and one of the phrases is just Kylo saying “Don’t be afraid” in a gentle tone and my friend and I were laughing because what kind of villain just says “don’t be afraid” even in their action figure? That’s like, the least threatening thing, so anyways...)

3) The Final Fight

I really, really liked the fight at the end, aesthetically it was beautiful. I really liked that neither Rey nor Kylo seemed to overpower the other, even though Kylo should’ve easily been able to overpower Rey because he’s physically stronger and has had more experience and training.

The fact that Kylo says “It’s just us now” clearly to Rey honestly made me laugh because Finn is standing literally right there, but Kylo clearly doesn’t view him as a threat because he knows that Rey is strong with the force and therefore, she is more of a threat to him. A lot of what Kylo says can actually be applied to Rey too, which I find interesting. When he says “Han Solo can't save you,” yes he’s talking to Rey but he’s also talking about himself, as he believes Han Solo was unable to save him.Then he’s obviously not trying to flat-out kill Rey in their fight, he’s trying to get her to join him because he believes he can train her (“I can show you the ways of the Force”) which also surprised me.

It was interesting to see Kylo weakened by his wicked act, instead of strengthened as he thought. This, to me, meant that he still had the potential for light and redemption in him, given enough character development in future movies. I’m excited to see what The Last Jedi and Episode IX holds for him, and what they decide to do with his character. All I’m saying is, he has a lot of potential for a good redemption arc, as the foundation has already been laid for it.

PART 4: ENDING THOUGHTS

I think that both reylos and “antis” have a lot of valid points, but miscommunication seems to be a main problem.

I guarantee you that literally no reylo wants Kylo Ren and Rey to make out, like, right now, as it stands with the ending of The Force Awakens that we know. They need Kylo to go through a redemption arc FIRST and there needs to be a lot of things that need to change for this to occur. If Kylo Ren didn’t threaten Rey in any way in this movie then they would not be enemies, and there would practically be no plot. Also, I’m pretty sure no one wants Rey’s story to be eclipsed by Kylo or her story to revolve around saving him. This should come about through Leia/himself. But also, love does not make a character inherently weaker.

Right now, Rey and Kylo are enemies, on opposite sides of a war. But they have a lot of potential for the “Enemies to Allies to Lovers” classic trope (with TFA as enemies, TLJ as allies, and then ep 9 as Lovers) But things must proceed in this order for this to occur. There is no skipping stages here. It is their potential for more which intrigues reylo shippers so much.

Personally, I am intrigued by their yin and yang, with one person in the dark being drawn to the light, another in the light being tempted by the dark, and I want them at least to team up (it could remain platonic) to bring balance to the force. To me, seeing this play out would be extremely satisfying, and be something unlike what Star Wars has done before.

Now, if you don’t ship reylo or don’t want Kylo Ren to be redeemed, awesome. That’s your opinion and you are free to have it. I don’t wish to start arguments or discourse, I simply wanted to vent some thoughts. This post shows my opinions, which I am also free to have. Thanks for reading about it!

#kyloclub #reylo #kylo ren #rey #tlj #tfa #leia #meta #ben solo #my meta #the last jedi #the force awakens #star wars #sw #my thoughts

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arabian-bloodstream · 6 years

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I just watched The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi back to back and I am sorry, but I really see the vast majority of complaints as complete and utter bullshit. What happened in TLJ was a pretty dang good continuation (and better written film, btw*) of what happened in TFA. * Explain to me how the hell a couple of bombs and blasts from rebel planes caused a freaking ENTIRE planet to implode? And why the FUCK did Leia hug Rey--a girl she doesn’t know, has never seen, never met--after they return to the Rebel base over Han’s death? Not even INSTEAD of Chewie (which is pretty big in and of itself) but period? Because again with the A. GIRL. SHE. HAS. NEVER. MET. Yes, Rey was upset over it, and obviously Leia was... but again, why did Leia walk over to this complete stranger to her and hug her like the two were besties!?! Shit like that did not happen in TLJ. Stuff made sense. For instance...

- Luke exiled himself because he betrayed--as in about to SLAUGHTER WHILE HE WAS PEACEFULLY SLEEPING--a Jedi pupil of his who also happened to be his nephew! This led to the destruction of his entire Jedi training temple, and the departure (meaning this batch turned to the Dark Side) and death of his other students. That? Is a pretty damn believable reason as to why he would exile himself. - Snoke dying? Is just not a big deal. Why? Because clearly, Snoke’s big purpose was to be killed by Kylo Ren in order to save Rey. It was a turning point for Kylo Ren. No, he didn’t turn to the Light Side, but it was still a pretty massive move showing that the conflict is still there. Just like the Emperor wasn’t the big bad who eventually found redemption in the Original Trilogy... that would be Darth Vader, Snoke isn’t the big bad in this Trilogy; it’s Kylo Ren. Who was also clearly NOT shown as being 100% evil in this by the end, nor is his connection with Rey over either. He keeps saying “Let the past die,” but he can’t let go of Luke, or, you know, Han. Which Luke specifically mentioned to him... which we were then given a visual representation of in the last shot of Kylo Ren. Where he was not triumphant in an evil way or even seething in anger or rage. Nope, he was literally kneeling on the ground, clutching his father’s golden dice, conflicted misery on his face. The same conflicted misery that was on his face as he stared at Rey aboard the Falcon... the whole time kneeling before her. Yes, she shut the door, but that doesn’t mean that she is done with him. It just means that she is done right now, but if that connection is still there, which obviously it is, well, they’ve got the connection and he’s got the conflict. - There was also great stuff for Finn. He learned how to care about another person (Rey) beyond his upbringing as a Stormtrooper in TFA. In TLJ, he saw beyond that. He saw the bigger picture and realized that it wasn’t just about saving the few people you care about (Rey and Poe), but it was about working to save the galaxy; it was about the goals of the Resistance. He found a resolve that isn’t wrapped up in Rey, but rather is about his own purpose. He truly will now be one of the leaders at the forefront of the Resistance because of his experiences in this film. - Oh, and that is what the Canto Bight arc was about. That was a lot of development; it wasn’t shoved in your face. It wasn’t presented in clunky, simple writing. It was nuanced, and it was written through his interactions with Rose, with Poe, with DJ, with Phasma, through his non-interaction with Rey, through his failures even… because he learned from them. It’s like what Yoda said: You learn from your failures as much as you do from your successes. - The same thing goes for Poe. Poe in the beginning was the same as he was in TFA, doing his thing, to get the job done. But in this case, he disobeyed orders from the leader of the Resistance and got most of their bombardiers killed because he had to take a risk and do things his way even though they were outgunned and outmanned. And he really, really messed up. In doing so, he was demoted (rightfully so) and being demoted, he lost his place in the inner circle of command and so he wasn’t let in on the plans that were underway because he couldn’t be trusted to follow orders. HE put himself in that position. So the whole mission that Rose/Finn went on could have been aided by Holdo, been completed faster, maybe been done in time had he not disobeyed, thus not been demoted therefore been part of command decisions. And their mission could have been called off sooner when it looked like things were failing to get the pods ready. But again Poe had put himself out of position to get that information because of his impulsive need to be the hero and save the day… and because of the fall-out, and because of him once again NOT trusting those in command, and disobeying orders, more people died. (I’m not saying that he was at fault there, just that he felt guilt about it and it was a huge turning point for his character in realizing that he needed to stop and listen and not just do his own thing.) So he did learn, he did figure out that he needed to listen. He needed to listen to those in charge** because that is what he signed up for, those people are looking at the bigger picture. So in the end, he obeyed orders and pulled back. That was HUGE for Poe. Huge character development on his part. He helped save pretty much all of the other pilots (except for Finn–who didn’t listen, Rose helped there) from dying. ** Coincidentally, all women, and incredibly badass! Ugh, there’s so much more, but I just can’t even. Watching the two films back to back just made it even more obvious how the complaints just don’t make much sense narratively. If one doesn’t like the film because it doesn’t fit your personal head canon, that’s fine. But to say that the film played fast and loose within the canon of Star Wars, strayed from The Force Awakens set-up, offered up poor characterization or was too funny ***, that is just not objectively the case.

*** TFA had about just as much humor as did TLJ. Poe Dameron’s first interaction with a higher-up from the New Order (Kylo Ren) had him being a smart-ass just like he was in TLJ (with Hux). And there were several laugh-out-loud moments throughout the film. Of course, every SW film has had humor littered throughout.

Finally, it must be pointed out, this is the SECOND of a three-part film. That people are judging this film as if it's the final say in what is happening is frankly mind-boggling to me.

#star wars: the last jedi #reylo #star wars: the last jedi spoilers #star wars: the force awakens #finn #poe dameron #kylo ren #luke skywalker #I mean #Come on!#What is on the screen is not your personal fanfic

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toga-vibes · 7 years

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Ok Kyle feeling guilty about his dad doesn’t change the fact that he FUCKING KILLED HIS DAD. YOU EVIL MOTHERFUCKERS HOW DO YOU EVEN TRY TO JUSTIFY THAT.

*ahem* what I’m trying to say is that feeling guilt or regret over an action doesn’t wipe away the consequences of that action. Even DARTH FUCKING VADER understood that, after his redemption (which y'all won’t stop talking about), and he paid for his actions with his life (which I still think is a kinda low cost to pay, considering how many people he killed and lives he destroyed). Also, I don’t think redemption would be the best path for Kyle (at least from a story perspective). We’ve already seen the most dark side-y dark sith lord come back from the edge; it’d be stupid to see the same thing with a villain who’s always on the knife’s edge of complete darkness. I’d rather see him keep making stupider and stupider decisions and see him fall completely into darkness after he ends up believing that’s where he belongs.

Ok, before I move on, let me just say that I’m a HUGE anti. Why? I’ll touch on it in the next part, when I talk about…

REY!! My beautiful sand wife and amazing scavenger babe. First off, it is not Rey’s job to redeem Kyle. She’s got enough of her own shit going on. Like who the fuck are her parents (come on jj ur killing me). And why won’t Luke help her (like seriously she just found out about these awesome powers that might actually give her a place to belong, and Luke shuns her. Wtf man). And how Finn’s still in a coma back on D'qar. The first dude that actually cared about her (I’m not a finnrey, but I don’t hate that ship. Maybe it’s not super abusive and terrible?)

Point is, Rey’s got her own shit to deal with. Even if she knew how Kyle felt about Han (and how would she know? Did he sit down and talk to her after she literally almost killed him?), that *should* be the last thing on her mind. Kyle’s feelings about killing Han don’t wipe away the literal torture he put her through? Like the last time my dad hit me was almost 7 years ago and I still flinch when he gets loud. Rey should have some trauma about getting mind probed and having her deepest fears and insecurities pulled from her mind by a guy she wanted to kill. She should feel disgust and anger and even some fear towards Kyle. You don’t just bounce back from stuff like that. Also, Rey asking Kyle for help with Force stuff would be like me asking my dad for parenting advice. Pointless, and also counterintuitive to what I’d be trying to accomplish. I don’t want to be a parent like my dad, and I’m sure rey doesn’t want to be a Force user like Kyle.

Ok i just realized that my phone auto corrected Kylo to Kyle in this entire thing. Yep, that tired. I’ll finish this when I wake up

Tl;dr: you still have to face the consequences of your mistakes, and it’s not Rey’s job to redeem someone who caused her trauma. Thanks for coming to my ted talk, reylo is trash

#togaspeaks #i bathe in reylo tears #anti reylo #its 5:12am goodnight #how many hate messages am i going to get i wonder #i didnt even touch on some of the eu stuff i wanted to draw parallels to #oops #shit ill put this in the reylo tag hit me with ur best shot #reylo #oops there it is #star wars #star wars spoilers #also try to fight me on knowledge of sw in general. itll be fun lol.

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jcmorrigan · 6 years

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What was your opinion on Kylo Ren in Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens?

Loved him.

I realize there has been some debate on him because he’s more emotional than past Star Wars villains, but that level of emotional display is really why he resonates with me. As I’ve said before when talking about SW, Kylo Ren, at first, doesn’t seem like my type. I generally like the swaggering, overconfident conquerors of kingdoms or crime lords. Kylo Ren doesn’t run on confidence but on something more complicated. Yet I found myself enraptured by his struggle. I love how he still struggles with the family he left behind, so much that he has to - this shouldn’t be a spoiler at this point - ask his own father to help him kill him and remove that influence from his life. And that stands out to me as his defining character moment. He doesn’t just murder Han in cold blood as he did the people of the town he didn’t know in his introductory scene. Han is a tie to his past, so he ASKS Han to let him murder him. What’s up for debate is if Han knew what Kylo Ren was asking FOR, since he worded it so vaguely.

In fact, family is a huge thing for Kylo Ren, which is unusual in most villains (though then again, Star Wars villains have always had an angle in this department, with Vader’s struggles being against his own children and trying to figure out how to navigate his feelings about them - in this way, Kylo Ren is almost an inverse Vader, having to navigate feelings about his parents). His looking up to Darth Vader is kind of cool on a meta level - it allows Vader fans to identify with the new guy, because the new guy isn’t here to just replace Vader; the new guy is here to fan out over Vader and try to carry on Vader’s legacy. Now, I wasn’t a big Vader fan, but I too could get aboard this almost fanboyish aspect of Kylo Ren. I am also 100% here for his complexity and trying to figure out to which members of his family his loyalty truly lies, if not Snoke.

And his temper tantrums serve a couple purposes. On a deep level, they allow me to really get to know him as a character. If I can see what makes a character just BREAK DOWN emotionally, then I have a better grasp on what makes them tick, and I, an emotional person myself, can identify with them. (This was why I was unable to enjoy Orson Krennic in Rogue One; he was written to just be a pragmatic, calculating machine of a villain who didn’t have fun, throw temper tantrums, or sink into depression and instead maintained an emotional monotony.) But on a shallow level, they’ve led themselves to the most comedic moments in the film. I lose it every single time the Storm Troopers are headed down the hallway only to stop upon hearing Kylo Ren destroying Rey’s holding cell, turn around, and WALK THE OTHER WAY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT PREPARED TO DEAL WITH THIS.

Do I think Kylo Ren is redeemable? I think it’s important to remember that he has committed some acts that mark him as especially despicable. Like I said, his mass murder in his introduction scene. That being said, I don’t think redemption is out of the question for him, and I’d be interested to see it happen, especially if it ties into whatever they have planned for Leia. But if Kylo Ren DOESN’T have a redemption arc and remains bad to the bone, that’s good too! He’s an incredibly effective antagonist, and he has the potential to go deeper and darker while maintaining status as a foe.

#star wars spoilers #kylo ren #the force awakens #star wars the force awakens #rogue one critical

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waitjustaflick · 7 years

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Freedom

After reading @chancecraz‘s POV piece on Vader, I couldn’t get this old ficlet out of my head. It was an idea I had for a longer story set in a parallel universe in which Leia's true parentage had been discovered when she was a child. The story would be told from Han’s, Leia’s and Vader’s points of view.

Not sure any of us are into dark Leia, but I can assure you this would be a story of self-discovery and redemption for all involved. And you better believe Vader wouldn’t sit on his mechanical arse like the Emperor wants him too...

He noticed her the minute he walked in the cantina. It wasn’t her delicate beauty that drew his gaze, it was something in the air around her. A sense of power.

Han had been around a lot of powerful creatures in his time - warlords, gangsters, errant royals. He knew the way they commanded your attention, caught you in your lies, sent a shiver of something up your spine.

So, when he saw her he decided to steer clear. Didn’t matter how young she looked, how alone. Didn’t matter that his eyes kept circling back to her inspire of himself. He was a free man once again - now that he’d paid the Hutt off with the old man’s borrowed money - and he wasn’t going to mess it up.

[Over there,] Chewie murmured, tipping his massive head toward a group of Yuzzums. Han thought he recognized one or two them from past dealings, but they were always hard to distinguish. Each of them was the same four foot tall ball of fuzz with wide orange eyes and big, loud mouths.

Han sighed. They always had jobs, and they paid decently. Never stiffed you.

The girl now had a drink in front of her. She fondled the handle of the ale stein as if contemplating the beer’s existence. Her hands were dainty, graceful in a way he rarely saw, and for a flick he wondered why he’d been put off. Then she looked up.

Heart pounding, he turned back to the bar.

There was no doubt about it, that girl was trouble. Her eyes were wide, almost doe-like, but there was a depth to them that Han never saw. All the things he’d already felt tripled when she’d caught him staring. So why’d he want to turn back?

Chewie bumped his shoulder and let out an impatient harrrumph.

The Yuzzums were in animated conversation with Balerro, a slimy berk who called himself a smuggler from the Tamerin sector.

[What are you waiting for?] Chewie said.

Han knew they could outmaneuver Ballerro. He could underbid the guy then skim a little off the top. The Yuzzums never bothered to count their wares. He’d probably get another few runs out of it too - there were always more of the little buggers. They popped up like daisies.

Chewie made a move toward the group.

Han put a hand out to stop him.

“Hold up, buddy,” he murmured. Chewie looked at him quizzically then shrugged before stepping back up to the bar. They weren’t flush by any means, but they had a little bit of leeway now. They weren’t as desperate as they’d been before they'd hooked up with that old monk and his pup.

[You want to wait for a bigger fish?] Chewie said after a gulp of whiskey.

Han caught himself before he looked again.

“Yeah,” Han grumbled, voice deeper than normal. He felt like a string on a guitar after a tight strum, every never vibrated with an intensity both alluring and uncomfortable.

[Just remember, that’s what got us mixed up with Jabba.]

Right. The problem was Han liked power. Power meant money. Money meant freedom. It was that simple. Even when he tried to play it safe, to rein himself in, he always went for the gamble, the move with the highest stakes. There was that hope he couldn’t quash, that niggling belief in his own goodness. The thought that one day he might hit the jackpot.

“The girl in the booth,” his mouth moved even as his mind ground to a halt.

[What girl?]

Chewie was looking right at where Han knew she’d be. His stomach did a strange flip as he glanced over his shoulder, already knowing what he wouldn’t find.

She was gone.

Leia was bored. Horribly, utterly bored.

None of these creatures knew anything.

She’d been sitting in this sticky booth for almost an hour, scanning the minds of those around her. They were full of thoughts, mostly violent, avaricious or sexual in nature, but nothing she could use. She’d told herself she wouldn’t indulge; she had to keep her mind sharp. But, when the crusty Aqualish asked her for the fifteenth time if she wanted anything, she broke down and ordered a beer.

Had to keep up appearances after all.

She thought she’d enjoy this more. After all, it wasn’t often that the daughter of Lord Vader had the chance to venture into the real galaxy. There’d been a time, in her earlier teens when she had desperately wanted that chance. It had consumed her, the idea of a normal life.

Her lip curled as she felt the Aqualish’s intention to cut her beer with dishwater.

The truth was the real galaxy was so predictable.

Her father had tried to tell her. But Leia had had to see it for herself. They were all just hands in a grasping, selfish hoard. The magic she’d dreamed of as a child was nothing but a fantasy.

A slight tingle alerted Leia to a new presence. Years of focused study, of frustrating solitude, had honed her senses to a knife point. Currently, there were five creatures looking at her. A moment ago there had been four. This gaze was different.

It took surprising effort not to seek out its owner. Leia was curious by nature. She always wanted to know more, to be better, to have the upper hand. It had taken quite a few force lightening shocks to rid her of that impulse. But, she was grateful for those lessons now. After a few creeping flicks, the stranger’s gaze disappeared and Leia could finally satisfy herself.

At first glance, Leia blinked. She’d never seen a Wookie in person. She’d heard about the disgusting breed. She’d been a target of her father’s rage after a huge shipment of them had been stolen. A flash of cold fury stole through her at the memory.

It changed temperatures when she saw the man.

“Corellian Ale for the lady,” the Aqualish waiter simpered.

She could feel the waiter’s smugness, and slight sense of arousal. She wanted to bat him away like a fly or, better yet, lacerate his insides just a bit, but instead she smiled her thanks. The only thing that interested her in this moment was looking at the man.

“Little thing like you shouldn’t be at a place like this.” Leia regretted the smile instantly. She hated small talk.

“I can take care of myself,” she deadpanned.

“I’m sure you can take care of something,” it simpered.

She lost patience and stared into its beady eyes. “Leave me,” and before it complied she added, “And quit your job.”

The waiter followed her orders, and finally Leia could focus again.

The man was turned completely away now. All she could see was a tumble of golden brown hair topping his his tall form. The hair fascinated her. No man she’d ever known wore his hair that way. Imperials were all closely cropped and neatly capped by helmets or hats.   He wasn’t in uniform either. His shirt looked somewhere between threadbare and worn in, most of it covered by a ridiculous looking vest. Really the outfit was embarrassing.

She frowned and looked down at her beer. He was about to look at her again.

Why did that thrill her?

Nothing thrilled Leia. She was calculating, cold. She didn’t care about anything beyond the Force. It wasn’t her father’s approval she sought. It wasn’t his affection. It was advancing on the path, getting closer to the freedom that she craved. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to be free of, but she wanted it desperately.

He was looking at her hands, and Leia swallowed as she felt them shake just a bit.

This was absurd.

She wouldn’t stand for it. Gathering the darkness around her - it was plentiful here - she caught his gaze. For a flick, they stared at each other. His light eyes didn’t blink, even as she revealed herself to him.

She knew he’d look away. She knew he’d fold the way they all did. No one could beat Leia in a staring contest.

But she was a little sorry when he didn’t.

Without touching the beer, Leia rose from the table. This was a bust. She wasn’t sure what her next move would be, but it was time she made one. For a moment, she felt a shimmer of self-doubt. She’d been so sure of this course of action, so certain that she could prove herself.

Leia straightened her spine as she strode toward the door. She was the daughter of Darth Vader, the prodigy of the Emperor. Whatever course she set her mind to she could achieve.

Without meaning to, she glanced at him one more time. What would it hurt to take a peek?

Ignoring the strange tightness in her chest, Leia extended her force sense. He was nervous, annoyed, questioning himself. Flashes of the inside of a ship, shady dealings with little brown animals. She was about to pull away already bored and slightly disappointed by his mundanity.

“We can pay you two thousand now plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan.”

Leia stopped in her tracks, disbelief pulling her out of her vision, dropping her back to the present. With uncharacteristic clumsiness she dove back into the spacer’s head.

She wanted to see Obi-Wan again. She wanted a look at that boy. But all she got were disjointed images of a ship flying, of a sabacc game, of a little boy wailing in grief and loneliness.

And then her, reflected back by the mirror of his mind. She looked as frightening as she thought. But also sad. Why would she be—?

Leia pulled out before she could complete that thought.

Everything made sense now. She’d been drawn to this man because, as always, the Force had been her guide. She quelled the slight sense of ennui that gripped her. For a flick, she’d thought perhaps…but no, she was a tool of the Force. A sharpened blade ready to strike.

She smiled, willing the it to reach her eyes, and made her way towards the man.

He had no idea what was about to hit him.

“She is gone.”

Darth Vader’s voice rang hollow and metallic through the Emperor’s chamber.

His master made a quiet noise in the back of his throat, the kind of sound he’d made when Leia had been a small child prone to speaking out of turn. Vader knew she had grown to fear that sound more than anything.

“How curious,” The Emperor said, as if he was meditating on the newest starship model rather than the disappearance of the Heir.

Vader felt a phantom surge through his chest. When he was fully human, such heat would have traveled through his limbs, making his hands tingle with power and his feet pound the floor. Anger, hot, powerful, unstoppable. But, now, it only burned for a flick before his stomped it out.

Still, the Emperor quirked his head, causing his heavy hood to sway.

“You are unsettled.”

Vader only stood there, letting his ventilator breath for him. This was the problem with Leia.

“She makes us vulnerable, master.”

The emperor’s lips curled up into a sneer, his voice narrowing to an arrow point.

“She makes you vulnerable, my apprentice.”

Darth Vader lowered his head, not attempting to deny it. Fifteen years had only proven the Emperor’s assertion right time and time again. The heat he had quashed now squirmed under his hold like a bird caught in a net. Try as he might his focus kept flying from the room, searching, searching for his little—

“You won’t find her,” the Emperor chided. “She is my pupil. Her mind is open only to me.”

The Sith Lord’s focus snapped back to the cavernous room. He strangled the bird and stiffened his shoulders.

“What will you have me do, master?”

“Let her be. For now,” the Emperor’s voice took on a melodic quality, almost like a lullaby, “She will lead us to the chink in the rebellion’s armor. And then her training will be complete.”

Vader hated the relief he felt at the Emperor’s words.

“Thank you, my master.”

The Emperor stared at him for a moment, allowing Vader to feel his censure.

“Be careful, my apprentice. This is the time for you to prove yourself as well.”

With that, he turned away from the Sith Lord, ostensibly staring out into the starry sky, more likely staring into the distant reaches of the Force.

Seeing her?

Vader ground his heel into the walkway as he passed the red-cloaked figures who so reminded him of the stories of the seven hells he’d grown up with. They were never happy tales, but they’d thrilled him as a little boy. He cringed under his mask as he entered the elevator, shooting into the bowls of the castle.

He could see her little face pale in the moonlight, facing up at him while she slept. So like her mother. He didn’t speak to her during the day. The Emperor had forbade it and he had agreed. But, these nights. Shame was not something the suit felt, but it crawled up his throat nonetheless. She shook her head and murmured a bit, reaching out a tiny hand to grasp at the air. As always, he battled with himself before allowing her to latch onto his gloved hand.

The ventilator had been a worry. It was not something he could do without. And it echoed through the tiny space. But, she never woke. Whether it was the sheer exhaustion from her vigorous days of training or whether it was just something she’d gotten used to, he would never know. Though in some secret part of him, he held the knowledge as a sort of sacred thing.

“Where did we leave off?” he asked into the night, hating himself just a little bit more.

“When the Jedi Norwiney descended into the fifth level, he found not fire, nor ice, but a garden of the purest delight. The flowers were five metims tall, the plants were like skyscrapers. He suddenly felt so oddly at home, forgetting almost immediately that he was in hell at all…”

#Flick fic #han x leia #star wars #darth vader #Han Solo #Princess Leia

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gracewithducks · 4 years

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“...but there are more of us.” - Faith at the Movies: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (preached 1/12/20)

Warning: there are spoilers here for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Continue at your own risk!

When we started this Faith at the Movies series, I promised that every Sunday in worship we would offer a summary of the movie’s plot for anyone who didn’t have a chance to see it. And I know we didn’t do that yet this morning, but the reason is – when I sat down and tried to figure out how to summarize what happened in The Rise of Skywalker, the main plot points came out sounding like just about every other Star Wars movie: There’s this unseen Force which connects everything in the universe, and which some people are more sensitive to and able to tap into in order to do seemingly impossible things. The main character, a nobody from nowhere, learns that they are descended from evil. The Empire – no matter what it’s called – the Empire is evil; those who hold all the power also control the army, the media, the money, the justice system, and they will abuse those powers in order to stay on top. Everybody in the movie has to wrestle with the fact that they have both good and evil inside of them, and must choose which will define them. There’s an unlikely redemption arc, an epic big-scale battle paralleling the battle happening inside the main character… and against all odds, good wins.

It’s the plot of every good Star Wars story arc – and I mean every good one, because the prequels got so bogged down in trade wars and political maneuvering and blood levels and prophecies and tariffs and suspicion that they lost the thread… the bigger story, about how love includes grief, and we must choose whether that grief will lead us to anger and hatred and fear, or whether we will continue to choose love anyway – that story gets drowned out entirely. It’s a shame; there could have been a great story there, but we don’t get to see it. Instead we find out that trade wars and politics make for pretty lousy movies – even if, truth be told, we’d all be much farther ahead if we learned how politics and economic disparity and abuses of power and prejudice and fear can lead us, as a whole society, down the path to the dark side. Temptation doesn’t always come with a mask and a cloak and a terrifying theme song; the most dangerous temptations are the ones that prey not just on our fears but on our hopes and dreams and best intentions. The devil tempted Jesus in the desert with the kind of power Jesus could use to feed every hungry person, and to end religious debates and persecutions, and to establish the kingdom of God on earth – all good things – but to get there, Jesus would have to betray and compromise the very essence of who he was. And this is the dilemma presented again and again in Star Wars: will we compromise, will we make deals with the devil – or will we choose the harder path, the narrower path; will we choose what is right, even if it means fighting a losing battle, even if it means losing our own lives along the way?

Friends, I grew up with Star Wars. My brother was born the year the original Star Wars film came out, and when the next movie came along three years later, I did, too. We always knew that Vader was Luke’s father, and Leia was Luke’s sister, and Han shot first, because even heroes aren’t perfect, and that’s okay. We grew up stealing the empty wrapping paper tubes every Christmastime so we could reenact our own epic lightsaber battles, and we learned that those cardboard tubes last longer if you wrap them with duct tape first. We grew up with “Luke, I am your father” and “I’ll never join you!” and believing that a few courageous rebels could overthrow an entire empire of violence and evil. Just like we grew up wearing bathrobes every Christmastime and finding our place in the nativity scene, we also kept finding our place in this epic story where good battles evil and good always wins.

When this new trilogy was released, fans like me – who grew up loving these stories and worlds – we were ambivalent. But these movies are smart; they return to the heart of the story, while introducing a new generation of heroes: an orphan girl, a redeemed storm trooper, and a criminal-turned-rebel make up the heart of this story.

And one of the great mysteries of the new trilogy has been: who is Rey? Who is this girl, this orphan from a desert planet, who discovers the Force and joins the resistance? Luke Skywalker started the same way, and he ended up being the son of Darth Vader, the biggest evil of them all. So speculations ran wild: who is Rey? And there were a million theories: perhaps she was a lost Skywalker, perhaps she was a granddaughter of Obi-Won Kenobi, perhaps she and Kylo Ren were siblings separated at birth, perhaps she was a Palpatine, hidden from the shame of her family’s name, perhaps she was another descendant of Shmi, the mother of Darth Vader way back in the prequels – who is Rey? Who could she be?

It’s a question which dominated a great many chatrooms and discussion boards, and a question which haunted Rey herself. But when the second film was released, Rey was taunted with the truth: that her parents were nobodies. Nobody special, nobody important; Rey doesn’t have a famous family, and she doesn’t have a powerful name.

It’s a heartbreaking moment – for all the fans who wanted a different story, but especially for this young woman who’s longed her whole life for a family and a history and a place to belong. But it’s such a powerful moment, too, because we find out that anybody can be the hero of the story. You don’t have to come from a famous family; you don’t have to be a long-lost princess or the daughter of a hero in order to be a hero yourself. Anyone can take up the mantle. Anyone can be a leader. Anyone can be the one who finds the courage to battle against the evil empire and change the universe.

But, sigh. The most recent movie completely undermines that message: and we find out that Rey is in fact – spoiler alert – the granddaughter of the evil emperor Palpatine. She does have a famous name, but it’s not the name she wanted; it’s not a hero’s name. She’s Rey Palpatine, descended from evil, the granddaughter of death, and she’s being tempted to take up his throne.

Rey has to come to terms with this new knowledge; she has to make peace with where she’s come from, and decide who she is going be.

Rey’s story is paralleled by the story of Ben Solo, better known as Kylo Ren, the villain of these films. Ben is the son of Princess - I mean, General Leia, and her husband Han Solo. He’s the son of heroes twice over; he’s the heir to the Skywalker name, and he trains under the great Luke Skywalker himself – but it’s Ben who chooses the dark side, Ben who is seduced by power, Ben who succumbs to the emperor’s temptations and commits unspeakable evils. Ben rejects his parents, violently; he changes his name to Kylo Ren, puts on a mask and a cloak and literally takes up the mantle of his grandfather Darth Vader.

And throughout the movies, Kylo Ren also wrestles to come to terms with himself. He seems to regret and grieve what he’s done, but he laments, “It’s too late for me to go home; I’ve done too many terrible things. I can’t choose good now; my choice is made, and I’m beyond redemption, beyond forgiveness.”

So these two, Rey and Kylo Ren, these are the key figures of the new saga: both trying to come to terms with their pasts, both faced with an opportunity to choose their future. Will they continue to act out the battles of their ancestors – will they make decisions out of their own pain and fear – or will they make a new path? And of course, as a preacher of grace, I can’t help but notice that new beginnings don’t come easily – it’s not a simple task to escape our family stories or our own bad choices – but we can choose a new start all the same. We don’t have to be defined by our parents or our ancestors or our own mistakes. We all have choices we get to make.

Early in the movie, there’s a little scene where Rey and her friends encounter a huge snarling serpent beast. Their first instinct is to fight, to shoot and destroy this terrifying creature – but then Rey notices that the beast is wounded. She puts aside her weapon, comes close, and heals him – and she discovers that this scary monster is in fact just in pain, and his anger comes from that pain, his violence comes from that pain. What Rey learns, when she puts her weapon down, is that healing and mercy and compassion can in fact be much more powerful than violence could ever be.

The story repeats itself later in the film when Rey and Kylo Ren battle one another. Rey tells Kylo, “I can see through the cracks in your mask; you’re haunted by what you’ve done” – she can see his grief and guilt, and she acknowledges his pain. When they fight, Rey fatally wounds Kylo – but then she chooses to heal him.

In the theater, when that moment came, when we realized Rey was going to heal Kylo Ren, there were audible gasps – my own husband even said, “No, don’t heal him!” My husband the pastor, my husband who believes in loving your enemies and blessing those who persecute you and turning the other cheek – my own husband wanted Rey to let her enemy die.

But she doesn’t. Because she’s learning that anger and fear and a thirst for revenge are in all of us, but they don’t have to control us. Rey is learning that mercy and compassion and forgiveness are the most powerful tools of all.

Rey shows mercy – and because she does, not only is Kylo changed, but Rey doesn’t have to face the Emperor alone. Alone, she would have fallen; alone, she would have given in or died… but because she’s not alone, because she spared an enemy and cared for him, together, they succeed where one alone never could.

And this perhaps is one of the other great themes of this movie – oh, I wish I could preach more than one sermon on it! – because early on, one character tells another, “The [Empire] wins by convincing us that we are alone.” Isn’t that the truth? It’s why so many people don’t vote, because we think one vote alone won’t matter; it’s why we don’t do the little things in our power, because little things can’t possibly make a difference; it’s why we give in to despair, why we give up, because we feel like we’re trying to go this thing alone. I am reminded of the prophet Elijah, who faces his own evil empire and ends up running away and moping in the mountains, because he thinks he’s the only faithful person left in the whole world. But God reminds Elijah that he’s not alone – and he finds strength in an apprentice and in a whole movement of faithful people. It’s why Jesus sends his disciples out two by two; it’s why he created a church, a community; it’s why the Teacher in Ecclesiastes says woe to the one who falls and is alone, but blessed are those who can share their strength; because a chord of three strands is not easily broken.

When we feel alone, it’s hard to keep standing. But we are not alone. And together, we are stronger; together we can stand. Star Wars tells us, “Evil wins by convincing us that we are alone. But we’re not alone. And there are more of us.”

When one of the members of this new generation wonders how the old heroes – Luke and Leia, Han and Chewie and Lando – how they defeated an empire with nothing, Lando just says, “We had each other.” And in her darkest hour, Rey hears the voices of those who’ve gone before, telling her: You are not alone. You never have been alone. We are with you.

When the battle seems to be lost, help appears – help appears in the voices of those who’ve gone before, and help appears in a multitude of ordinary people who claim their power, who stand together and refuse to let evil win.

Rey and Kylo are the heroes, but this isn’t just their story. This story, this battle, belongs to the nameless faceless workers, pilots and smugglers and mutinied storm troopers, who choose to reject the empire and take their power into their own hands. We don’t have to be heroes alone; our real power is when we stand together.

As they say in the movie, “Thousands of generations live in you now, but this is your battle, this is your moment… The things our fathers and mothers fought and died for will not die with us.” We are not alone, and never have been. We are the product of thousands of generations of prayer and longing; we are the hopes and dreams of our ancestors – and they live in us, and the choices we make will shape the universe for those who are yet to come.

We are not alone. But this is our moment, this is our time – our time to choose who we will be, to choose who we will serve, to choose whether our fear or our anger or our hatred or our mercy and compassion and love will win.

In the end, Rey chooses who she will be: she chooses her family, and she chooses her identity. She chooses grace. She chooses compassion. She chooses a new name: she chooses to be a Skywalker.

May we choose mercy. May we believe in forgiveness. May we choose to be known and named by the best parts of ourselves. And may we know that we are never alone.

God of light and darkness, God of love and pain, God of grief and joy, God of mercy and God of wrath, you know us as we are. You love us as we are, and you invite us to be something more. God, you know the struggles we face. You know the temptations within and without, which lure us into despair. You know how often we struggle under the weight of our family’s flaws and our own failures. You know the evil empires which overwhelm us, the evils we thought were defeated generations ago which have emerged again. You know how often we feel like we are alone. Remind us today that we are not alone, and we never have been – and give us the courage to choose to live with compassion and with grace. In the name of Jesus the Christ we pray; amen.

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sandpapersnowman · 7 years

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'your boy' kyle is gonna die lmao he's gonna die like the pampered spoiled pretentious murderous space nazi brat he is

oh jeez, lemme get you some links, hang on

he’s been groomed, abused, and manipulated since he was at least ten, and is still reliant on the groomer, abuser, and manipulator (snoke) now. valiant as you are, sending anon hate and all, if you had to choose between living and doing bad things or killing yourself (escape isn’t an option, snoke would kill him first), you’d probably keep up with the shitty stuff

because of that stuff, he’s traumatized (obviously) and mentally ill (also obviously). this post does pretty well addressing the fact that he, as a Bad Trauma Survivor(TM), is continuously shit on because he isn’t able to suck it up and cope as well as rey or finn (who have respectively begun to accept their abandonment and escaped their child slave institution)

and speaking of the ‘bad survivor’ thing, if you’ve thought before that if finn can get over it, kylo can too, maybe check out this post? which talks about how their trauma can’t be compared very well and shouldnt be for both of their sakes

oh, and this post! it covers how people love darth vader (who went through similar things but also suffered physical trauma that causes him chronic physical pain rather than ‘just’ emotional pain), people are unwilling to like kylo in general because they idolize leia and han, the idea of him not deserving help or good things because he’s caused pain, and the fact that despite being a huge dude with a deep voice and an intimidating look, he’s been shown as emotionally vulnerable in a way that very few men in media are

wanting a redemption arc isn’t necessarily so people can pat themselves on the back for liking a character. theres lots of reasons to, including the reasons in this post about it!

and a lot of people dont want a redemption arc for him that forgives what he’s done! a lot of people want one where he works to make himself better and tries his hardest to make things right

AND, all that aside, he can very much be read as bpd, as could anakin skywalker! which, besides making trauma and abuse even harder to deal with, is something i also have! (that means i care a lot about kylo ren even if others dont like him much)

but, if things like logic, common sense, and the ability to chill out arent really your style, let me put it this way:

fuck off

you weird purist

goodbye

#kylo ren #can yall believe ive been on this website for like 7 years and this is my first legitimate hate mail i think #amazing!#nazi word /#which btw he isnt part of the first order? i havent defended hux in a long time idk why that got included #god all that pampering and spoiling tho #the way snoke just *clenches fist* totally doesnt abuse the fuck out of him #i have a couple guesses on who this might be but it could be a rando hmm #long post /#star wars #anyway heres your daily reminder to not follow me if you dont believe in kylo ren #besides yknow it being in my byf/dfi #Anonymous

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psy-kylo-gy · 7 years

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Dear Antis & Pablo Hidalgo: We're not stupid. We KNOW Kylo is the villain.

No one is saying (or should be saying) he’s not a villain. If they are saying that, they’re analyzing the information incorrectly. TFA makes his villainy ABUNDANTLY clear. They don’t sugarcoat anything, we are told outright that he destroyed his Parents’ and Uncle’s lives, they don’t brush Lor San Tekka or Han under the rug, they don’t downplay his torturing Poe or Rey or hurting Finn. JJ flat out calls him a coward, which he is. Kylo Ren is a persona, someone who WANTS to be like Vader and who WANTS to deny the light exists. He thinks Ben Solo was weak and foolish. This inner conflict is one of his key defining characteristics, the other is that he is NOT HAPPY with this path he chose–this path he supposedly wants so badly–whether he admits it or not.

Since Pablo likes to apparently mock men who show emotion or people who deal poorly with their “manpain” (which is another way of saying “LOL, this guy could be coded as mentally ill but really he’s just a pathetic pussy and a crappy whiny entitled anti-hero that I can’t stand and I want everyone to know that his parents were PERFECT and Snoke manipulating him was a JOKE we threw in at the last minute because Leia is just a hopeful mom who doesn’t really know anything about her own child–Ben Solo was BORN BAD and you should all hate him cuz I sure do, LULZ!”) Pablo is, to me, just another useless unhelpful derogatory petty black-and-white only! asshole fanboy I can’t ever take seriously. And if he wrote these movies and wrote Kylo like he apparently wanted then I know many people besides myself who would have been *sorely* disappointed. This writing team wrote three heroes AND A VILLAIN that I’m invested in now. Suck a dick, Pablo.

Since Kylo is NOT written like other Star Wars villains I can’t really bring myself to have a set standard of expectations for him as I do other Star Wars villains–which includes:

• death by the hero’s hands, or • redemption by death

Perhaps another option is available now because Kylo makes me **gasp** question a lot of things, especially when it concerns Rey and their “interesting relationship going forward”!!! So, my dear Antis & Pablo, I guess I should apologize for… what exactly? For being interested in this unique villain’s fate? How his role as a villain might change later based on the multitude of conflict in his character? For the canon compassion he has strangely shown to a prisoner of war? For looking deeper into things–for speculating beyond what few details we are explicitly told? No, I can’t (and won’t) just overlook that Kylo has done horrible things but I also can’t (and won’t) overlook that he is ALSO written in the script, the film, and both novels (and blatantly I might add) as a character with Byronic traits and sympathetic qualities:

• He has a “Bottomless well of pain” • He has been taught by Snoke to think that Vader only “failed” because of sentiment. Vader *choosing* to return to the light was not discussed, rather it was Luke’s sole desire to “tempt” his father into death from compassion • He is pleased when his own people fear him, which feeds into his obsession with Darth Vader, who he wants so badly to emulate because he fears that he himself will never be strong enough • Is told “you are my favorite, you are so special” by his father figure only to be told the next minute “I don’t think you’re strong enough to do this one thing I need you to do though.” I mean… they can’t make it any clearer. That is textbook abuser/groomer lingo. • Is shown to be very passionate and emotional (of all shades) and openly forthcoming with those emotions. Still very capable of attachment though he stubbornly denies it. • So isolated that the only support system he has to console him in any time of need is the charred mask of his dead grandfather • A man who has “shirked the sun” • “A student who took no joy in his studies. One who perceived only the great problems of the galaxy and not its simple pleasures.” • “His mind was a turbulent ocean of fear” • Han did not understand nor have faith in his son, in his eyes Ben “was always drawn to the dark side… he had too much Vader in him” and Han “would’ve given anything for his son to be ordinary–like him.” Daddy issues are very much a thing for Kylo Ren • Is directly berated by Snoke for being weak (“You have compassion for her.”) • “Starved himself of nourishment” • “His eyes were dim and dark and terribly sad.” • At the mere mention of Leia both by Snoke and by Han, Kylo Ren shows intense emotion. There is still a strong link there. • “In his last few seconds of life Han saw only his son. The darkness in his eyes. And the sadness. Han forgave his son for what he had done and prayed that his son could forgive him in return.”

With defining characteristics like that, Kylo’s character has choices in his story arc if only for the simple fact *because* he is written as multi-dimensional and occasionally sympathetic. This all points to what I said before–Kylo Ren is unlike the usual Star Wars villain… he is actually suffering intensely for his craft and letting himself be Snoke’s puppet because he has so little self worth besides his Force abilities. He doesn’t know anything else. I went into TFA fully expecting to hate Kylo with my entire soul but, like Han, I saw sadness there and a huge absence of joy in being the villain. Now, I personally enjoy Kylo’s villainy, I love his Skywalker sass and his melodrama, I love that he can be completely calm or completely unhinged, I love that he’s not completely consumed by the dark yet but he WANTS to be so badly, I love that the light in him refuses to go away, and I love that he’s not pure evil incarnate for the sake of evil such as Tarkin, Palpatine, Vader, Boba Fett, Jabba, etc. He is a *really* interesting villain and I don’t understand why Pablo despises him so much except that he resents the fact that so many fans have taken to Kylo Ren. Maybe don’t make such a relatable human villain next time, kay?

I also want to add that I don’t think Kylo was brainwashed at all. I don’t get that vibe. Kylo isn’t stupid by any means… but he has definitely been coaxed from a very young age by a predator to think in a way he wouldn’t normally think. Pablo is so confusing because he doesn’t always correlate to what the film and the novels tell us. He makes it sound like he was “born bad” but that’s not what the story is saying to me at all. A powerful Force-sensitive being took advantage of this child’s innocence and twisted it into fear, obedience, and insecurity. I’m not sorry for having sympathy for Kylo, at least for that much. Pablo also says that Kylo blames everyone else? I’m sure he blames his parents for not being there and blames Luke for something as well. But as far as we can see he *wanted* to be with Snoke and wouldn’t blame his fall–something he wanted–on anyone else. He doesn’t blame Snoke for a DAMN THING and even defends him to Han.

What happens to Kylo from now on lingers on Kylo NOT being the coward anymore. He is so powerful but so afraid, and so alone. The dark doesn’t have to be his destiny, and I hope it isn’t. Some people can’t seem to accept that we’re not excusing actions or making him blameless. We’re saying he can change, the way he has been written thus far supports that. Also… this is Star Wars. Darth Vader became a freaking light side Force ghost after killing perhaps millions of innocent people. I’m not saying Kylo will get a redemption, I’m not saying he *deserves* a redemption, I’m saying he is the type of character who could make a redemption arc work in a really powerful way. You don’t know what’s going to happen… don’t knock us for something you don’t know about either.

I expect him to be very villainous in Episode VIII… but as a character I also expect growth because he is a focus of this trilogy just like Finn and Rey. Killing Han weakened him, being defeated (and turned down) by Rey appalled him, he’s going to have to prove himself even more to Snoke now because he did a huge chain of fuck-ups during TFA, including the huge one that Snoke blatantly warned him about: that nasty ol’ compassion. I’m really excited for Episode VIII and I won’t let antis or Pablo bring me down. I’m giving Rian Johnson my full attention.

#anti kylo bs #kylo ren meta #pablo hidalgo #kylo psychology

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wellsbering · 6 years

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here’s an essay about darth vader i wrote for my english class

The Path to the Dark Side

A man trained from childhood to be a guardian of peace and justice, trusted by the most noble warriors in the galaxy, suddenly leads a massacre of those warriors and becomes the right-hand man of a cruel dictator. For many, the Star Wars prequels, intended to provide Darth Vader’s backstory, raised more questions than they answered. In the first two movies, Vader is the protagonist, but in Revenge of the Sith his allegiance suddenly does a complete 180 and he becomes the most feared person in the galaxy. The story is not believable on its own. How can a series of premonitions about his wife’s death cause him to turn his back on the entire Jedi Order? The events shown in Revenge of the Sith are not the only factors--his path to evil really began the day he joined the Jedi Order. Darth Vader’s fall to the Dark Side was caused by his traumatic childhood, the toxic influence of the Jedi, and his experiences during the Clone Wars.

Darth Vader was born Anakin Skywalker on the desert planet of Tatooine. His mother was Shmi Skywalker, a slave with no other family besides him. Anakin grew up without a father or siblings, and as such he became very attached to his mother. At age nine, Anakin was discovered by the Jedi and freed from slavery to learn the ways of the Force. However, this came at the expense of leaving his mother, the only family he had ever known, back on Tatooine in bondage. As expected, Anakin had his doubts about his decision. But when he confessed to the Jedi Council that he missed his mother, he was told that his feelings were the path to evil. Anakin learned in that moment that speaking to any of the Jedi about his emotions would result in condemnation and suspicion, and so he began internalizing all that he felt.

Ten years later, Anakin began having nightmares about his mother dying. In a rare moment of honesty, he told his friend and future wife Padmé Amidala about them. (As a senator, not a Jedi, Padmé had much less conservative views on emotion.) Padmé advised him to return home and visit his mother, to ease his anxiety. Upon his arrival on Tatooine, Anakin learned that his mother had been kidnapped by nomads known as Tusken Raiders. Enough time had passed since her disappearance for everyone close to her to assume she was dead. Anakin refused to accept this and went out looking for her. He found Shmi on the brink of death, and held her in his arms as she died. In a rage, Anakin murdered the entire village of Tusken Raiders as revenge. For years, Anakin was tormented by the loss of his mother. What if he had arrived only a few days earlier--would he have gotten there in time to save her? If he had never left Tatooine, would she have been kidnapped in the first place? He responded to his own guilt by lashing out in anger. Violence became Anakin’s sole coping mechanism for the next few years, until everything boiled over and he became the most feared mass murderer in the galaxy.

Within hours of witnessing his mother’s death, Anakin found himself in the middle of a massive battle which launched a three-year galactic conflict. Shortly thereafter, he was made a full Jedi Knight and was placed in charge of a legion of soldiers. Coming of age during a war had a huge effect on Anakin. He came to value human life less, because to the Jedi, the soldiers under their command were at best inferior and at worst worthless. Anakin had no military training and was forced to learn by watching his men die every time he made a mistake -- and even when he didn’t, for that matter. He became accustomed to death, and this trait evolved into Vader’s complete disregard for human life in the Original Trilogy.

Towards the start of the war, Anakin was also given the responsibility of training a fourteen-year-old named Ahsoka Tano to be a Jedi. It is worth noting that the Jedi Council did not make this decision based on Anakin’s skills as a Jedi. They gave him an apprentice because they knew that apprentice would eventually complete her training, and Anakin would have to let her go. As it happened, Anakin did have to face this, though in a more severe way than expected.

Near the end of the war, Ahsoka was framed for a crime she did not commit. She and Anakin insisted that she was innocent, but the Jedi Council refused to believe her and a warrant was put out for her arrest. Anakin was given orders to apprehend his own student and friend, and Ahsoka ended up running away from the Order (and by extension, Anakin). Eventually, the real criminal was apprehended, proving that Ahsoka was innocent. The Jedi Council then attempted to smooth over the whole incident by telling Ahsoka that if she returned, her training would be considered complete and she would be a full Jedi. Ahsoka turned down the offer. She officially left the Jedi Order, saying that the experience had taught her that her place was not with the Jedi. Ahsoka’s treatment proved to both her and Anakin that the Jedi were corrupt, and it permanently altered Anakin’s view of the Council. In his eyes, both he and the Jedi as a whole had failed Ahsoka. He carried this guilt and resentfulness with him into Episode III.

In the end, of course, Anakin is the one who made the decision to turn to the Dark Side. Nothing the Jedi did can excuse him leading a massacre against the entire Jedi Order, slaughtering children, attacking his pregnant wife, murdering his former best friend and mentor, destroying an entire planet, or any of the other unforgivable things Vader did in the years between his fall and redemption. This is true -- but the actions of the Jedi do explain how Vader got to that point. As with any villain’s backstory, the prequels do not justify Vader’s behavior, but they provide an explanation as to how he went from a guardian of peace to possibly the single most terrible war criminal in galactic history.

There were many events in Vader’s life that, had they gone differently, would not have lead to his fall. Perhaps if he had stayed on Tatooine and never joined the Jedi, he would have learned to deal with his emotions in a more healthy way. Maybe if his mother had lived, he wouldn’t have had to deal with the pain and guilt every day since. Maybe if he had lived at another time, and the galaxy was at peace, Anakin wouldn’t have come to view life as something that could be thrown away casually. Perhaps if Ahsoka had been assigned another teacher, he wouldn’t have grown so attached to her and taken her departure so hard--then he would have trusted the Council more when he started having premonitions about Padmé’s death in Revenge of the Sith. All of these factors -- his childhood, the teachings of the Jedi, his experiences during the war, and Ahsoka being forced to leave the Jedi -- lead to Anakin breaking down in Episode III and becoming Darth Vader. His fall was the result of a perfect storm of hardship and bad influences where everything that could go wrong went wrong. This is the true tragedy of Darth Vader -- there were so many opportunities for him to be saved.

#she's not grading us on these but i can't believe i was actually given the opportunity to write this for a college-level course #star wars #my posts #sw #sw prequels

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