#Leia has a much more positive association with Vader in this universe

[radioactivepeasant]

Star Wars Wednesday’s Doom Vader au is eventually going to get to The Reveal, but I haven’t quite decided how I’m going to pull it off. Excuse me while I throw a couple ideas at y’all to see what sticks.

Scenario 1:

“Th- “ Luke’s voice failed him utterly. Luckily, the princess’s voice was still in fine working order.

“There must be some mistake,” she said firmly. “My parents would not have adopted just one of us and left the other behind.”

Obi-wan massaged his temples and looked as though he’d aged twenty years in a single day. “Not if they’d had a choice, they wouldn’t have,” he agreed. “It was...it was a conspiracy. I confess it freely, it was a conspiracy. But not what you think. Bail Organa was a dear friend of your birth mother. I...well, I suppose I could say I grew up with your birth father. When we thought both were dead, our only thought was to keep the emperor from ever knowing you existed.”

Luke’s hands trembled, and he clenched them into fists. “You should have told us, Ben,” he croaked. “At least you should’ve told Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru!”

Han, having walked back to see what the yelling was about, very slowly backed out of the cabin to return to the cockpit.

Scenario 2:

It was quiet in the hold. The smuggler had offered the use of his cabin to give the princess space and privacy to mourn. Kenobi had gone to meditate in the gun turret -- conspicuously out of the way of any Skywalkers past or present -- and the droids were...well, who knew where the droids were at this point. 

Even if they hadn’t been the only two sentient beings in the hold, even if they hadn’t been strong in the Force, Vader would have known the boy was watching him. For a time, he ignored the stare in favor of cleaning and maintaining his flamethrower. If only fixing families were as simple as fixing machinery.

“Are you familiar with this kind of equipment?” he asked. This was, now that he thought about it, the most he’d spoken aloud in close to three years.

“Not the real thing,” Luke answered after a long pause. “I made a pretty crude one out of scrap metal and a broken droid arm for my uncle’s birthday once. It breaks every other month.” Owen kept it by the door, next to his favorite rifle, anyway.

“That is still...impressive,” Vader said slowly. “Is Owen...are they well?”

Luke grimaced. “Um. I’m...I’m not sure. We um, we’ve been a safehouse for people escaping Jabba for a while. There’s always a risk when you do that.”

Scenario 3:

It was a wonder he’d managed to get into the gun turret at all. But then, the Falcon had been modified with a wookiee in mind. Darth Vader settled into the seat and wondered if that was why Chewbacca had made that sympathetic expression when he’d ducked through the doorway.

Vader stared out into the stars and contemplated the dizzying series of turns his life had taken in the last several hours. Obi-wan was alive, and remorseful. Padme had been carrying twins. Twins.

The girl’s face rose to mind and he suppressed a scoff at the irony. He had crossed paths with his own daughter at least twice, never guessing their true connection. The princess seemed to regard him well enough, given their shared interest in destroying the Empire. If she were willing to stay in some kind of friendly contact with a relative stranger, Vader decided he would be content with that. 

But he would never be able to look the queen and viceroy in the eye and ask them himself why they had chosen to take the risk of raising Amidala’s daughter. What it had been like to see her grow up. He would never have the chance to ask why they’d left Luke. He would never have the chance to thank them for protecting this young Angel. Just as Anakin had once had everything ripped away from him, piece by piece, so had Leia lost everything and everyone she’d ever known and loved. He would have comforted her, if he’d remembered how to comfort.

Scenario 4:

It was a wonder he’d managed to get into the gun turret at all. But then, the Falcon had been modified with a wookiee in mind. Darth Vader settled into the seat and wondered if that was why Chewbacca had made that sympathetic expression when he’d ducked through the doorway.

Vader stared out into the stars and contemplated the dizzying series of turns his life had taken in the last several hours. Obi-wan was alive, and remorseful. Padme had been carrying twins. Twins. How Kenobi planned to break the news to the pair of them Vader did not know, but he didn’t envy him the task. There was enough raw emotion down there to open four holocrons.

The Nemesis had nearly fallen into a light meditation when he sensed a presence at the base of the ladder. He didn’t need to look to see who it was.

“Sir?” Luke asked, sounding a little smaller, a little younger than he was.

After a short internal debate about what he was able to handle at that given moment, Darth Vader swiveled the seat back away from the ladder and made a short motion.

“Come.”

Cautiously, Luke climbed up and sat on the top rung of the ladder. His thunderstorm of emotions was almost physically painful to sense. If the boy was a padawan, he hadn’t been one for long.

“Is...um, Ben told me- Obi-wan, I mean. Obi-wan told me you...um.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck and did his best to steel his nerves. “Is...is it true?”

“Is what true?”

In barely a whisper, Luke asked, “Are you my father?”

#doom vader au #doom vader #scribblings #rough drafts #can't decide which version to go with #luke skywalker #darth vader #leia organa #obi-wan kenobi #poor han did not sign up for this #Leia has a much more positive association with Vader in this universe #she'll eventually come to view him as a mentor/avuncular figure #star wars wednesday #i kind of like scenario 4 but i also like 2 #star wars au #star wars fic

[bettsfic]

tell me more about this fallen knight trope and how my loves jaime lannister and bellamy blake fall into it.

okay so it’s still something i’m thinking about. right now i’m referring to it as falling/standing knights (and queens), and it’s just a theory about character archetypes/dynamics, like red oni/blue oni.

fallen/standing knight dynamics:

jaime lannister/brienne of tarth

anakin skywalker/obi-wan kenobi

bucky barnes/steve rogers

kylo ren/rey

dean winchester/castiel

katniss everdeen/peeta mellark

draco malfoy/harry potter

knight/queen dynamics:

anakin skywalker/padme amidala

jaime lannister/cersei lannister

han solo/leia organa

aragorn/arwen

bellamy blake/clarke griffin*

will turner/elizabeth swan

henry winter/camilla macaulay (the secret history)

david budd/juliet montague (bodyguard)

i started finding this pattern in my shipping interests, the things that plucked my id the hardest, and it all seemed to center around the idea of a fallen knight, which wasn’t made apparent until jaime lannister literally embodied it. 

characteristics of a fallen knight:

begin their “knighthood” with an intrinsic sense of goodness and honor but who by circumstance are forced into positions of moral grey and ultimately do atrocious things, sometimes against their will

may take on a new name/identity centered around their misdeeds

find themselves at some point in a position of leadership or infamy, are widely known/hated/feared in their community/society

is often punished with physical deformity/permanent injury, which distorts identity and may result in increased power if in a universe with cyborg capabilities; regardless, the idea of “object replacement for body part” influences their self-perception. object replacements are often given to them by the villain.

their central conflicts/arcs concern themselves with their fall and redemption

find redemption and acceptance in the insistent love/faith of a standing knight or queen 

if paired with a queen, prioritizes the queen above all else, which may lead to their fall

are never the villain, but may work for/under the villain

characteristics of a standing knight:

possess the same intrinsic moral compass of a fallen knight, but are:

never forced into or commit acts of atrocity, or

stand up for their decisions and therefore are unaffected by them (and any act of atrocity they commit revolves around their fallen knight, therefore, if they fall, it’s at the end of the story, and involves the inability to redeem their knight)

their conflict may concern itself with the redemption of their fallen knight

provide a moral model and inspiration for their fallen knight; inspire their fallen knight to stand back up

may be in positions of leadership, but are perceived as fighters, not royalty 

characteristics of a queen:

similar to standing knights, but their leadership positions do not involve the occupation of protecting others, rather being protected by their knights

can be paired with either a standing or fallen knight

act primarily with logic over emotion, mind over body

they are long-term leaders and well-known/regarded in their communities

like the fallen knight, they may have another name based on their royalty/fame, but associated with their status and not their wrongdoings

unlike the standing knight, who is a positive influence on fallen knights, a queen may be a bad or neutral influence on either a standing or fallen knight; they may be good-aligned, neutral, or evil

some examples:

game of thrones: jaime lannister (fallen knight) is a good man who kills the mad king (his fall) for righteous reasons, but that act is misunderstood and he obtains the title of “kingslayer.” this act distorts his self perception. he has an unhealthy attachment to cersei (his queen) which motivates him to act in ways against his innate moral compass. he meets brienne of tarth (standing knight), who inspires him to redeem himself. he loses his hand which further distorts his identity.

star wars, part i: anakin skywalker (fallen knight) is greatly feared among the jedi for being the most powerful and emotionally sketchy jedi. he falls in love with padme (queen), who he is so afraid of losing, it pushes him to the dark side and he is given the name darth vader. he loses arm, then later his other arm and legs, which are replaced by his vader suit, given to him by darth sidious. his obi-wan (standing knight) tries to bring him back to the light and fails. luke skywalker (standing knight), much later, redeems him. 

mcu: bucky barnes (fallen knight) literally falls from a train. he’s found by hydra and given a cybernetic arm. hydra brain washes him and forces him to do assassination missions. he is given the name “the winter soldier.” steve rogers (standing knight) rescues him repeatedly, brings him back to goodness, and redeems him. 

star wars, part ii: ben solo (fallen knight), like anakin, is greatly feared, which tarnishes his trust in the jedi and pushes him toward the dark side. he works for snoke. he’s given the name kylo ren. rey (standing knight) comes along and puts a wrench in his bad-boy persona and makes him rethink his identity. redemption still pending.

*bellarke is really tough because clarke begins as a queen but then becomes a fallen knight after s2. bellamy, however, is a fallen knight from s1-4, but is now a standing knight in s5-6 (tho 6x02 changes the game because of the eclipse psychosis). i think that’s why i ship it so much tbh. they’re so many different things to each other. 

that’s all i have time for at the moment. i still have a lot of thinking to do. i’d like to turn this into a craft essay at some point, when i have time, because i also have archetypes like the wizard, the mercenary, etc, and how shipping dynamics shift when other such tropes are brought in. 

#fallen knights #meta #Anonymous

[clairen45]

Who Let the Dogs out? A story of wolves and dogs in Star Wars

This meta was a long-time coming and prompted by @blacklakeinavalley. I always keep my promises, no matter how long it takes me, so here it goes.

Wolves or Dogs?

There have been some awesome metas on wolves in relation with Rey and Kylo more particularly, notably by resident she-wolf extraordinaire @raven-maiden (I am using the term in the most reverent way possible!). I also plead guilty to a meta I did with parallels between the Company of Wolves movie and the ST. I won’t necessarily go back to all the cool theories that have been made about wolf behaviors in Kylo and Rey, but I will draw the following distinctions, though:

in terms of symbolism, per se, there are not so many differences between wolves and dogs. There are both qualities and flaws associated with these particular animals. The qualities and the flaws are, more often than not, interestingly the same from a certain point of view

Qualities: fertility, sexual desire and power, fidelity/loyalty (to partner, pack, or master), fierceness, intelligence

Flaws: debauchery and savagery.

They are both considered chtonian divinities, that is to say linked with the “underground”, or the realm of death and Hell. Think of Cerberus, for instance, the mythical Hell hound, or Anubis in the Egyptian mythology. Which means that, as a symbol, it means both death and the potential for rebirth. The dog can guide the soul back out of Hell , or guide it through its journey into Hell (something usually called a psychopomp creature) . Dogs and wolves are usually associated with elements such as the moon, fire, and the earth. So, water (the moon is considered a watery element), fire, and earth.

So on the one hand heralds or bringers of death through destruction and carnage, and on the other hand, companions, fierce parents, and bringers of life. Life, death, decay that brings new life, peace, violence etc... Very ambivalent creatures that are either loved and revered, or despised and deemed as impure and dangerous.

If there is no huge distinction between wolves and dogs as far as symbolism goes, I would say there is a big one to draw, though. A dog, after all, is a domesticated wolf. What it gains in familiarity and companionship for mankind, it loses in grandeur and nobility. Also, this 4-legged favorite pet moniker is often used to insult people. A “bitch” is not in itself derogatory: after all, originally it just means a female dog. Yet, it is anything but when you apply it to a woman. Same goes with “dogs”. When you call someone a “dog”, except when you are the Snoop, this is usually not to sing their praises. Note that some people will even go as far as sometimes changing the spelling to avoid confusion: “dawg”... And what about “mongrel”, or “cur”? Dawg be darned, what about “rabid cur” for one?

Die, Jedi dogs!

So, in our beloved Galaxy far far away, this is how dogs find their way into the story and the mythos. On the battle of Geonosis, in ROTS, as C3P0 finds himself -as usual- flustered and confused after a mixing up of his body parts with a battle droid, he utters these very lines.

No wonder that the “dogs” get involved in an insult. Dogs are the persisting attribute of all the "wretched hive of scum and villainy”:

The bounty hunter Bossk and his ship called Hound’s tooth

The bounty hunter Embo and his hound called Marrok

That one has got a really interesting story in itself. The species is called Anooba, and is native of Tatooine, which of course will link straight to Anakin and Luke. The name is also full of possibilities: it probably comes from a medieval tale, the tale of Sir Marrok, who was a werewolf.

The vicious Corellian hound used in Solo by Moloch and his gang. BTW, one of the hound was “played” by one of “GOT’s direwolves” ... Funny thing.

Not to mention THIS famous dog in SW lore:

Oh, yea, this is happening. Because, ANH called it right away when Leia served this line to Tarkin about her papa:

Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash.

As mighty as the Dark Lord has become in the SW universe and collective psyche, this awesome and powerful villain is presented as nothing more but a dog. Maybe not quite the poodle, but still a dog. Obedient, trained, who will bite only when his master commands. Gives the word “MASTER” quite another meaning, not just as an apprentice, but literally as seen from a dog’s perspective.

So, no surprise then to see the term re-employed by Snoke to talk about Hux, when he calls him a rabid cur in TLJ. Interesting also that the one using a reference to being “tied at the end of a string”, aka a leash, is also Hux, the rabid cur. Except, that, well, there is indeed an implicit distinction to make. Kylo is also, in many respects, as much a dog to Snoke’s bidding as Hux. Many viewers would even expect Snoke to call Kylo the rabid cur instead, given the tantrums we were privy to in TFA. But he doesn’t call him a rabid cur, and that’s the whole point. In Snoke’s mind, there is nothing rabid about Kylo -though people would have assumed as much- and he is certainly not a cur. A cur, after all, like a mongrel is clearly used to define a mixed breed. The term “rabid cur” is derogatory on two levels.

When referring to Kylo, Snoke is a bit more complicated. There is, on the one hand, the idea that, contrary to Hux, Kylo is valued as “pure breed”, a prized possession cultivated for “the potential of his bloodline”. Purity of blood (damn you midichlorians) being also alluded to, and mocked, by Luke when he talks to Rey about his failure to be a master to Kylo. Yet, at the same time, Snoke keeps on chastising Kylo for being a fraud. He is not the pure breed he expected. He has the feeling he got a mongrel that was tainted by the Solo blood. Hence the insistance of erasing Han Solo of the picture and denying him and his legacy. Yep, Ben Organa Solo is a mixed breed. Snoke wants a pure breed, maybe even a wolf. Pure blood. Untainted, untampered with. Leader of the pack. Well, that’s the project. A wolf and no lapdog.

Or not... Because, this is a little something I found on The astroly Web about the wolf and symbolism, and I will say it is quite interesting:

What I love about this portrait of Kylo as a wolf is that you get some of Kylo and some of what he could have been as Ben Solo. Some of the qualities remain, such as the sense of mystery, exuberance, instinctive and shrewdness. But most of it has been ironically ruined by his lack of self confidence. So as a wolf, he is not complete. The compassion bit really got me because it is the one thing that Snoke reproaches him with... Is he a wolf, or a dog in wolf’s clothing? Or a dog that dreams of being a wolf? Half and half, mayhaps?

Good dog! a rehabilitation

So are there any positive references to dogs in SW yet? Yep.

Anyways, dogs have always been part of the Star Wars mythos, altough not necessarily the obvious way. Take Chewbacca for instance. There would not be Chewbacca as we know him had it not been for George Lucas’s faithful pet, Indiana (who can also be thanked for giving the famous adventurer his moniker). Allegedly, Lucas got the inspiration for Chewie, Han’s copilot, when seeing his wife leave on her car with their huge dog on the copilot seat.

Funny thing is no dog played any part in Chewie’s distinctive sounds, which turn out to be recordings from a bear,a walrus, a badger, a lion, and a seal. The fact remains that Chewie exemplifies the dog’s most praised qualities throughout the saga: as a staunch and loyal friend, as a source of love and comfort (the famous Chewie hugs), and as a protector. Yes, just like dogs, Chewie can be fierce and defend his friends.

You could also argue that there are other examples of companions who exemplify the same doglike qualities in the movies. Droids such as R2D2 and BB8 just fit the model. Loyalty, check; defense, check; huggable, check. The perfect pets and companions. It says a lot that Chewie and R2 are the characters that have endured the longest in the general scope of the saga: R2 appearing in episode 1, and Chewie in episode 3, which make them the only ones that have recurring roles in the three trilogies (Chewie also scores Solo and R2 Rogue One).

There is a subversion of “dogs” as an insult that is quite interesting in the ST. Maybe it starts from this “Die Jedi dogs”, which is quite an oxymoron: the one time it is used as an insult it is to the people that are normally the golden moral standard, and also uttered by someone who is always all too polite and all too diplomatic. Also also, it is not totally incorrect as you could view the Jedi as the guard dogs of the Republic...

But wait, all that was before the ST. In the ST we get brand new examples of dogs and doglike behavior to ponder. Take Rey, for instance. Sitting there, loyally, on Jakku, waiting for her parents to return, a behavior not so different from the countless examples of dogs keeping watch on their dead masters’ graves (like that little famous Scottish from Edinburgh, Greyfriar’s Bobby, who even got his statue to commemorate). After all, this is exactly Rey’s place: Jakku is pictured as a graveyard, a place that is described literally in the novelization as where “technology came to die”. And where does she make a house for herself? As @blacklakeinavalley pointed it out to me in her original ask, in an AT-AT walker which is called non the less: the Hellhound!!!! 

Seriously, like, of all the stupidest dumb names this is the one they picked! An appropriate one, to boot, since the At-AT has always had that distinctive look that made it look like a dog... And I have always been intrigued by this particular rendering with a little girl holding an At-At on a leash...

So, yes, the dog. Here really the corpse of a hound. But symbolism is not lost here... Death that feeds off new life, reborn out of hell... And who could this hellhound be, pray? Well, it gets even better when you know that this particular Hellhound was part of a ship called the Interrogator... Interrogator, mind you, and not something as dreadful as, say, an inquisitor. No, the Interrogator is quite a good one because who is the interrogator since the beginning of TFA? Ummm? Who else but our boy who “interrogates” Lor San Tekka, and Poe, and well... eventually Rey. Rey makes a home for herself there. It’s like Kylo is her home already... ain’t it cute...Also, Kylo as a dog, a “hellhound” is a good one as his job at the beginning is somehow to “hunt down” Luke, sniff his trace throughout the galaxy if you will, and then fetch the information back to Snoke. Good boy Kylo eventually fetches quite another prey... Even though again, Kylo seems more like the wolf at the begining of the story to Rey the dog... Look at the symbolism of the dog from The Astrology Web

Adventure, patience, hardworking!!!! You need to spend more time with your family!!!!!

There was yet another girl that exhibited some interesting doglike behavior in the ST, in a positive way. Unfortunately the scene got cut out. But when Rose bites the finger of Hux on the Supremacy as he mocks her and her system, this is an interesting one. Dog fight, right? What better way to get back at the rabid cur than bite him back?

Wolves will show the way

And then there are wolves in SW Rebels. When I did a piece on birds in SW, I mentioned the convor but as I hadn’t watched any of the Clone Wars or SW Rebels episodes yet, so I had no idea how truly symbolic these specific creatures could be. Careful not to make the same mistake again, and time to tie it in. Wolves (and thus in a way dogs) play quite an important part in these two series. Time to focus on Mortis then, and the World between worlds, introduced to us in SW Rebels. I think it is obvious that this is a very important addition to the SW universe. How they will eventually exploit it in ix is hard to say, yet, but the possibilities are huge in the expanded universe that Disney is preparing between the new shows and comics, and possibly future movies.

Ok, so, I don’t want to get too much into a detailed explanation (too long and complicated and some have done a good job on that already), but, as a reminder, Mortis is introduced in season 3 of Clone Wars to Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan as a mythical/mystical realm of the Force, dominated by three figures: the Father (the balance), the daughter (the light side), and the son (the dark side). Cool thing, even though we don’t get the convor and the wolf but rather a griffin and a bat, there is a moment when a wolf is plainly visible on the right next to the father:

And then, years later, comes SW Rebels. And so we get Ahsoka followed by a convor, which turns out to be the totem spirit of the daughter. Birds are therefore linked with the light side of the Force, the Eros, the life force, the one that points to protection and life. Which is really the whole point I made in my bird meta anyways (especially with porgs). So one would naturally assume that the wolf, as the creature associated with  the son, the dark side of the Force, represents death, Thanatos, the impulse for destruction, the symbolic triad of the Force being the convor, the snake, and the wolf as depicted on the mural uncovered in SW Rebels in quite an Indiana Jonesque formula (evil guy covets mystical artefact that will give him superhuman powers):

But then, there is more than meets the eye... Because the wolves we actually get in the SW universe are not pictured as merely destructive powers. Quite the opposite. In SW Rebels, the wolves give access to a portal, the world between worlds, with a potential to alter past, present, and future. They truly are psychopomp creatures that guide a lost soul (here Ezra) through a world that can be at best described as a vacuum...

And there are the other wolves to reckon with.

Wolffe, the clone trooper commander, linked to Ahsoka and Anakin, one of the few who refused to be part of the code 66 protocol and became rogue, the one who lost an eye (a very symbolic type of mutilation), and lives like Rey in a modified AT-AT. which thus makes Wolffe a link of continuity between the different generations and arcs within the SW universe and saga.

The Loth-Wolves which are featured on the mural of Mortis and frame the portal to the world between worlds. Loth wolves have the ability to communicate with humans, are strongly connected with the Force, and seem to become a vessel for the soul of Kanan Jarrus after his death. Again, the psychopomp.

What to make of it eventually... well... it all depends on what type of creatures we get in IX. Keep you eyes peeled out for birds, wolves, and dogs. But mostly keep your eyes open for Porgs. Always.

To conclude, for your appreciation, this is from a photoshoot Daisy Ridley did for Vogue in 2017 .... The girl that walks with wolves... one black, one white, no less..

#star wars symbolism #wolves and dogs in star wars #star wars meta #reylo fandom #star wars parallels

[maryellencarter]

memed from @camshaft22 , originally an askbox meme but it's short enough that i can just have opinions at all of it rather than waiting to have the free time to get out of the house and answer asks. (i still have at least a few askmeme questions sitting in my inbox from like a month or two ago... :P)

1. do you find force users or non-force users more interesting? -- non-force users by a mile. there could theoretically be exceptions, like if anybody really got deeply into alternate perceptions / interpretations of the force rather than just kind of toeing the jedi party line as established in the movies, but i haven't seen any that really grab me.

2. which character do you want to be most like? -- oh, now there's a hell of a question. both this and the next one, really. see, let's start at the beginning: when i was a very smol tortoise watching a star war, and by smol i mean like eighteen because that's when i first saw a star war... when i was a smol, i wanted to be han solo (not least because he was hot in a very conventionally masculine way, do not underestimate the importance of that to a smol afab tortoise programmed with much body-loathing ;P), but i identified a lot more with chewbacca. i mean, let's be honest, i was not in great psychological shape as a tiny, and this particular oddment is something i'm still very much sorting out, but: from tiny!jt's perspective, at least, han+chewie is a nonromantic primary relationship that gets displaced by the han/leia primary romantic relationship. but it's still (from anything you see onscreen in the ot) primary *to chewie* even after it becomes secondary to han. that kind of nonreciprocal primary relationship, tagging around after someone who would let me express that kind of devotion and not find it creepy even after they inevitably found a "real", romantic relationship that would be more important to them than me, was the best endgame i could imagine for myself, and frankly i felt like it was way too much to hope for within my own species. i may have spent rather a while wishing i was a dog or something, so that it would be acceptable and appropriate for me to want the most important relationship in my life to be nonromantic. tiny!jt was a *mess*. this was way before i got into fandom, so i didn't really work through it at all or write it down anywhere, either.

uh. that got long. continued under the next question.

3. which character are you actually most like? -- so anyway. yeah. to continue. then i found my way into legends (then still the eu but yanno) and the x-wing books. and then there was wes. ^_^ it would be several more years before i even figured out i *had* ptsd, but here was somebody who had ptsd that presented almost exactly like mine but was also stable and functional and not-depressed and in fact actually cheerful. not to mention he was *also* hot and male and most importantly human, but still showed the kind of undemanding loyalty i was aiming towards, and had it accepted.

(which last is partly because wedge is an oblivious noodle, but still. ^_^ honestly that's probably something to analyze when i'm not one-finger typing on my phone: how much of that kind of relationship being a goal for me is just me being wired kind of subby, and how much is the abuse thing where asking for any kind of emotional reciprocation is Wrong and Too Much. :P)

uh. i had a point here somewhere. um. so i wanted to grow up to be wes, but i didn't think that was an attainable goal. i felt sort of more like wedge with the duty and guilt and everything, but wedge is also way more of a leader than i am, so that's a thing. honestly there was a point there where i felt most like cheriss, just kind of... trying to grow up and dealing with a whole bunch of life shit and intermittently wanting to die a lot. ;P

and now apparently i *am* growing up to be wes and i'm still not sure what to do with that, besides writing a lot of fanfic (which is what i am doing). and trying to figure out the whole subby brain thing. and the executive dysfunction thing. and the not wanting leadership positions thing. and still working on the ptsd thing. and the self-esteem thing. there's a lot.

i'm less wedge, though. which is good. less catholic guilt is always nice.

4. what headcanon will you defend to the death? -- er. i'm not really sure i have any of those. as opposed to just canon things i will make sure people remember and acknowledge. maybe the hoth cuddle pile? you will never convince me the rogues on hoth did not sleep in a giant cuddle pile.

5. what planet would you most like to visit? -- i frankly don't know enough about star wars planets to give a shit.

6. what planet would you most like to live on? -- ditto. not taanab, for sure. mini rancors (and possibly 46-hour days if you don't just disdain that as illogical made-up numbers they threw into the planet guide for variety's sake... ;P I have opinions)

7. who do you hope you never meet? -- of the characters? pretty much any of the bad guys, but my first thought is vader.

8. what is one thing you would change about any movie, show, book, etc? -- ahahahahaaaaaaa. just one? i can't pick. can i say fix all the things about tlj that made me go "okay never watching that"? because there were at least four or five just among the spoilers that i heard. like if it had to be just one i'd make it so poe doesn't disregard chain of command, because that's the one that's making it so i can't rewatch tfa *either*, but from everything i hear, that movie was a hot mess. (alternatively, can i just change the fandom so that people stop saying "if you don't love tlj unquestioningly you're a reddit douchebro!"? because i don't want to unfollow roguepod on twitter but unless i block literally everyone *they* follow there's no way for me to keep that particular Hot Take off my dash and it's consistently re-infuriating me. :P)

uh. i have feelings, apparently. ;P

9. have you ever made fanart or fanfic? do you make edits or any other fan content? -- so much fanfic. so much. i counted last night and just the fics i haven't published yet add up to somewhere around 80k words.

10. do you think the jedi were right or wrong? -- i think the jedi were self-important douchenozzles with a habit of being wrong whenever the plot demanded it. is this a reference to something specific they were right or wrong about? i don't think they have the one true view of the force, and i think they're obnoxious about thinking they do, much like many other religions, so there's that.

11. who is the most underrated character? -- new canon, finn. or rose, possibly, not that i've seen her, because see above re hot mess. old canon, hobbie.

12. do you care who rey’s parents are? -- honestly, i'm at the point in dealing with an open canon where i cannot give fuck about any of the unanswered questions, the upcoming releases, or anything that might happen in the future at all. i haven't even read thrawn alliances. i am Over It, and that is about 99% the fault of the people who keep calling me a reddit douchebro by association. i probably won't see epIX unless kat or sophia tells me i absolutely have to. i'm a legends-only fan at this point. i didn't want to be, i like getting excited about new things, but every time i try it, people are douchewaffles and it's depressing. :P

13. if you could resurrect one dead character, or prevent them from dying, who would it be? -- new canon, hobbie. old canon, there are so damn many options, but probably mara or pellaeon.

14. what is your favorite alien species? -- i'm not sure i actually have an opinion. i have lots of favorite alien characters but like... idek. star wars has a bunch of really well designed alien species and they're all cool.

15. who would you like to bang? -- honestly i don't really care about banging any of the characters. shipping them is more fun. although i would let princess general leia step on me, whether in a sexy way or not.

16. which movie/episode have you watched the most? -- probably anh. the falcon's flying sfx aren't as good as in esb, but if you watch esb without rotj it's just a downer, and i don't really enjoy rotj. like it just doesn't click with me.

17. what is your favorite line? -- uh. from the movies, or from all the star war? uh. either way that's a hell of a question. the one i quote the most from the movies is definitely "we're all fine here, how are you?", but that's more just... versatile. from the books, my favorite is obviously one of allston's, but i'm not sure i could *pick*.

18. what is your favorite star wars book or comic? -- starfighters of adumar. because it is the best one. objectively. ^_^

19. what’s your opinion on legends/expanded universe? -- i'm extremely glad it isn't canon anymore (see also my issues with open canons, but also a significant amount of it was just trash) and extremely glad it's still around.

20. what do you hope will happen in future movies? -- i have no hope. hope is dead. i am, as previously mentioned, Over It. (let oscar isaac kiss john boyega onscreen)

21. if you could switch any character’s gender, who would it be and why? -- in canon? no. there's no point in turning a lady character into a dude, and neither the creators nor the fans are capable of handling anyone who's currently a dude being written as a lady or nb type, even if it was retroactive and they'd always been written that way. just no. it would go Badly. :P

that said. in fanfic? and i am so not capable of writing this yet but i want to. in like five years when we're all living in caves scratching our fanfics on bone. i want to see a cis afab wes janson who just hasn't internalized any of those lessons about not taking up space. who's still brash and loud and enthusiastic and flirtatious and just... female. who doesn't feel any need to explain that she doesn't (or does) want kids, or acknowledge anybody else's opinion about how she dresses or who she fucks. who's smart and badass and competent and out to have fun. and like... *pulls hair* i mean you know the trope. a sexy lady character who knows she's sexy will pretty much always at least consider sleeping her way to the top or whatever. (tim zahn, seriously, stop using that trope. it's not edgy.) i want to see lady!wes dressing up all fancy because it's fun and she enjoys having people admire her body, and like just... not even considering ever having sex for any other reason than "i am attracted to that person, i wonder if they'd like to bang". like it's hard to demonstrate a negative but you know if you read a story like that, where it wasn't called out but just there, your brain would go all fidgety and "what the fuck something is not normal here". or at least mine would. but you know? :S apparently i have a lot of feelings about this too. like trying to portray a lady who's that confident and... and undamaged by misogyny, would be a hell of a thing.

22. favorite droid? -- bb-8. the cutest smol. target has a kit to turn a pumpkin into a bb-8 and i swear i'm thinking about getting a funkin to do that to. even though i already have a bb-8 penny bank and a bb-8 lanyard in storage.

23. what’s your favorite star wars musical piece or theme? -- i'm not great at identifying pieces of music so i'm just gonna go with the opening crawl music.

24. how do you pronounce twi’lek? -- i don't. ^_^ more specifically, i do kind of pronounce it in my head when i read, but it's sort of... neither twee-lek nor twye-lek, but something sort of in between that isn't quite a schwa and might involve an umlaut. Sort of Twülek, if you said it with an Austrian accent. That probably doesn't help at all. XD

25. which character do you have a love/hate relationship with? -- This keeps being a question. I'm honestly not sure I *do* love-hate relationships. I'm like Tinkerbell, I only have room for one emotion at a time. ^_^ Especially with fictional characters, I either love them or hate them. (Unless they're completely meh and I just forget about them, that happens sometimes.)

#star wars #rogue squadron #wes janson #i have a lot of feelings #im not sure if i should tag this as tlj critical or not #like it is but i dont want to draw the people who lurk in that sort of tag

[motionpictures-movingwords-blog]

Thoughts on Star Wars: The Last Jedi

(Assume that anything and everything will be spoiled ahead)

Overcoming the Star Wars Cult

At a certain point, the insistence on focusing on lore begins to inhibit the possibility for a film to be made and not leave privileged fans (the expanded universe seems to offer answers to just about any question regarding any character, no matter how trivial) disappointed.  I’ve come across many debates concerning the identity of Snoke and the identities of Rey’s parents since the release of The Force Awakens.  I imagine those who had placed a great deal of weight into those plot points will have been terribly disappointed, though I am pretty damn satisfied with how the film handled these issues.

1. Snoke not being given much of a backstory or identity

Does it really matter?  I don’t believe so and for a couple of reasons.  The first is that his key characteristics are made plenty clear enough from what we are shown, therefore eliminating the need for exposition about his past.  His similarity to the Emperor from the original trilogy is great enough that I would think many viewers would be able to apply the same legacy and associations to Snoke.  I already heard plenty of similar connections made between the new films and the old following The Force Awakens: “Poe is kinda like Han, right?”, “Han is the new Ben Kenobi”, etc.  There isn’t a great deal of mental gymnastics required to arrive at a similar conclusion with Snoke being the new version of the Emperor.  Both:

Have a strange power over a conflicted member of the dark side who is perceived by the rest of the film’s character

Hold a great deal of power with the force themselves., though they use it sparingly

Appear as holograms at first, only to later appear physically in their throne rooms

Are old and wrinkled

Are eventually killed by their conflicted apprentice

That’s enough evidence for me as a viewer.

One might wonder what his path to power was and how it differed from the Emperor’s, but the truth is that we didn’t know much about how the Emperor had gained power until the prequels were released.  That gap in the audience’s knowledge didn’t prevent the original trilogy from being beloved.  It was mostly through the release of the prequels that the development of backstories for many characters occurred.  It feels a bit spoiled to require in-depth knowledge about each character.  Development of his backstory would be a divergence from what this film (or its predecessor) is otherwise about and would therefore be a distraction.  One might argue that it would make his death more impactful if we knew more about him.  I will admit that this is true, but I would also argue that his death isn’t supposed to impact us.  Killing him serves to imbue Ren with absolute power over the Empire and is the result of Ren deciding not to kill Rey – the relationship between Rey and Ren had been focused on far more than any other throughout the film.

2. Rey’s parents (being insignificant) This could easily change since the only “proof” is a conversation between Ben (I’ll probably never pick a name that I feel like sticking with for him) and Rey, but I’d be happy if they stuck with it.  It would be refreshing to see a character that doesn’t have some tie to some prior character.  Making her the daughter of a significant character would feel a bit excessive and making her the daughter of an insignificant character would be little more than fan service.  Keeping her current heritage would also be consistent with the film’s theme that greatness does not need to come from prior greatness (see the humble beginnings of Rose and Finn).

Managing Dialectical Tensions There is a scene in the film in which Rey and Luke collectively describe the force as being the balance between basically everything.  While the listing off of each thing she sees and the blatant juxtapositions in this listing are a bit much, I like this description of the force.  The film also investigates a lot of tensions and some balances.  I like how the idea of the force enters into the film’s story more in this way.

Light Side vs. Dark Side (duh)

Epitome: Kylo Ren vs. Rey/Luke

Legacy-focused heroism vs. Unselfish heroism

Epitome: Poe vs. those who sacrifice themselves

Glamour vs. Concerns about exploitation

Epitome: Canto Bight (Finn’s excitement vs. Rose’s harsh memories of the city)

Class Tensions (maybe racial?)

Epitome: Canto Bight, again

I want to check to see how many different species we see in its casino.  In a conversation I had after the movie, it was mentioned that there didn’t seem to be as many new alien races in this film and I wonder if that’s tied to the classes being presented in the film.  The Empire is completely human while the resistance features other alien species in addition to the humans.

Paving one’s own path vs. Focusing on what came before

Epitome: Rey’s conflicting needs to work with Luke and help the resistance

Also seen with Luke and the destruction of the Jedi tree and books

Humble/Insignificant Beginnings vs. “Heirs”

Epitome: Rey, Finn, Poe(?) vs. Luke, Leia, Kylo Ren

Despite the split, it seems like both Ben and Rey feel like they have something to prove because of their backgrounds.  Rey seems to need to overcome the heritage which she seems a bit ashamed of, meanwhile Ben has to separate from his notable background in order to solidify his place on the dark side and pursue the legacy left by Vader.

It would have been nice if some of these went unspoken, but I’ll take what I can get.

But why that final scene?

The final scene felt a bit heavy-handed while also being unnecessary.  On its own the scene could say a few things:

There are other force-sensitive individuals

There are individuals wanting to help/join the resistance

These individuals may be restrained/hidden by their position in society

But we have already seen all of this throughout the movie.  The film features three key characters who were restrained/hidden by their place in society, one of them being force-sensitive.  Inevitably the next film will involve the resistance trying to gather enough support to overcome the Empire and First Order, so if that’s the purpose of this final scene, it’s superfluous considering what will happen anyways.  You don’t need to open that door now.  And if that’s not a part of the next film, then the scene doesn’t need to say it, eliminating a reason for it to stay in the film.

Some Other Lingering Thoughts

The direction style resembles The Force Awakens much more than it does the original trilogy.  Biggest difference is the camera movement.  The original trilogy had pretty limited movement, mostly using pans and tilts when the camera did move (probably modeled after Kurosawa considering his other influences on Lucas in making Star Wars) while the newer films have kept the camera moving in just about every way, but pushes are the most prominent in my mind.  Also the pace of editing , though that’s reflective of greater trends in filmmaking.  There is no objectively superior method of filmmaking, but I believe the older style allowed more individual images to be cemented into our minds.  I can’t think of a shot that is remotely similar to the static, 15-second long shot of Luke looking at the “Binary Sunset” and I also can’t think of a shot that sticks with me like that one.  It’s a shot that requires some patience, but not all that much.  Not too much for 2017 anyways.  Not too much for an audience that will sit through literally anything Star Wars related.

Not a complaint, but I’ve realized that the main two ships basically stay in the same place for the 90% of the film.  It kind of cockteases us with the suggestion of a bunch of light speed jumps, then only one happens for the rest of the film between the two main ships.

Leia’s Poppins-esque flight back to the cruiser seemed a bit ridiculous.  I’m happy to have her begin to use the force.  I’m happy to accept that she isn’t dead after that explosion.  Felt bizarre to have her suddenly wake up and use the force in that substantial of a way.

In Summary I was surprised and pleased by Star Wars: The Last Jedi because it was willing to sacrifice pandering to the desires of fandom in order to center on the film’s ongoing conflicts.

#star wars #the last jedi #film #movies #rian johnson #rey #kylo ren #luke skywalker

[jhwdrawsthings]

The Last Jedi Teaser Poster Anyalsis

Worth a Thousand Words

An Analysis of The Last Jedi Teaser Poster

Having just returned home from Star Wars Celebration: Orlando, I am filled with emotions, excitement and anticipation for the next installment of the Skywalker family saga. I was fortunately enough sit in the The Last Jedi panel, after 20 hours of sitting on a concrete floor, and an additional 10 hours before hand, queueing outside. However, that panel was worth every second of the wait time. And while most people will say the long anticipated teaser trailer stole the show, as an artist and illustrator, for me, the star of the show was the teaser poster, that was also revealed.

My jaw literally dropped as I stood in stunned silence as the crowd cheered around me. In fact, my line buddy, a member of the 501st by the name of Matt, repeatedly asked if I was okay as stood agape at the poster, amazed in it’s brilliant design as well as very clear and intentional use of visual story telling. I was flabbergasted at the bold choices made by Lucasfilm in this teaser poster, and I do believe that this is more of an indicator of the film’s story, rather than the trailer. This poster tells us, the viewer, everything we need to know about the direction of the upcoming movie, as well as helps dispel the rumors that The Last Jedi will be nothing more than a carbon clone of The Empire Strikes Back.

Before I go into detail I just want to say that it’s no secret that I ship reylo, however, for the purposes of this discussion, I am setting aside my implicit biases and talking about the facts stated in this poster, rather than fan speculation and conjecture.

First and foremost, what stood out to me is the simplicity in the poster’s design. We see only three characters, Rey, Luke and Kylo Ren. After doing extensive research, I found that this is the ONLY poster with just three characters. All previous Star Wars posters depict the main ensemble of cast members, as far back as 1979’s A New Hope. Never before has a Star Wars poster depicted only three members of the cast, and it is a clear statement that these three characters are the most important in relation to the story. There is also a not so subtle nod to Luke Skywalker in the original promotional theatrical poster for A New Hope. Both Rey and Luke are positioned in almost the same spacial area, in the same pose, with an ignited light saber raised up. For Luke, this symbolized his acceptance of his heroic journey, and the inherent power he possessed. For Rey, however, the meaning is vastly different. The sequel trilogy is very much about passing the torch from the old generation to the new, and unlike in The Force Awakens, Rey is present and accepting of that power, physically and metaphorically, in The Last Jedi, the second installment, rather than the first. Rey is our new hero, now heroine, embarking on her own heroine’s journey.

Now I know not many fans like Kylo Ren, and in fact they perceive him as a whiny emo cry baby, trying his best (and failing) to emulate Grandpa Vader, but his importance in the story cannot be overstated! He is the descendent of Darth Vader, and Leia Organa, and as much as most fans dislike him, that’s just simply a fact! The Star Wars trilogy movies are about the Skywalker family, and he is the new Skywalker of the trilogy. He is important to the cinematic universe as a whole, and characters from the The Force Awakens who easily had double the amount of screen time as him, such as Finn, were purposefully omitted from the poster in lieu of Kylo Ren. Regardless of how much fans like his character, he is going to play a very impactful role in the film to come. I know that he is not the most important character or the focal point of the poster, however, given the overly negative response he solicits from fans, I felt that it is important and necessary to make my position, and the poster’s narrative clear; even if you don’t like his character, Kylo Ren is a key player in the Skywalker family saga, and the cinematic universe as a whole.

When analyzing any piece of artwork, regardless of the the medium, the best jumping off point is the focal point. In The Last Jedi teaser poster, the viewer’s eye is immediately drawn to Rey, brought forth by the strong contrast of the blue halo of light emitting from her lightsaber. In terms of visual hierarchy and storytelling, she is the most important element to not only the poster, but in the movie it represents. Her position, in the lower center of the foreground suggests that she is the most grounded of the three characters, and thus the one that we, as the viewer, is meant to relate to the most. However, she is removed from both Luke and Kylo, positioned below them, which indicates that she was not a initially part of their conflict. And originally, she wasn’t. Rey was just a scavenger, abandoned by her parents on Jakku, struggling each day to survive. At that point, Rey didn’t know or care about the Force, Resistance or the First Order. Her primary goals and motivations were pure and simple, survival.

This coincides with the backstory indicated in not only The Force Awakens but also in Claudia Grey’s novel, Bloodline. There are no indication that either men knew who Rey was or her origins until she found BB-8 and became tangled in fight with the First Order. Luke and Kylo have a contentious and tumultuous past, filled with conflict and anger, as they stand on opposite sides of Rey’s light saber. This is a visual metaphor for the Force, and where Luke and Kylo represent the Light side, and Dark side respectively. Separating them is Rey, and the light of her saber. Although she is removed from their history, Rey has been flung into the foreground of the struggle between opposing sides of the Force. She is part of their present, and thus their future. In short, the resolution of Luke and Kylo’s conflict rests on Rey’s shoulders, both metaphorically and visually in the poster.

The struggle been Kylo Ren and Luke is an interesting and important to the story, but what is more important is what it represents! At its core, Star Wars is a fairy tail, and was intended to tell stories and teach children about the human condition and morality. Understanding every detail of Luke and Kylo’s past is less important as what their struggle represents. It is the timeless struggle of good vs. evil. If the timeline in Bloodline is to be trusted completely, and there are no extra twists and turns in the interum, Kylo Ren turned to the Dark side of the Force approximately six years prior, and has been unable to locate or confront Luke since his disappearance. What has changed in that time? Why will Kylo suddenly be able to locate his former master on Ahch-to? The answer is right in the poster, Rey!

This of course opens the doors to a whole new set of theories, such as a Force Bond, or Snoke obtains a copy of the map and so on. But there is practically no solid evidence to substantiate any of these claims, and at this point, they are pure conjecture.

I also find Rey’s placement in the middle quite interesting in the wider context of the history of the Force itself. One of the central themes Star Wars has always been finding balance. In the prequel trilogy we saw this through Anakin’s development from the heroic Jedi knight, to the Sith Lord, Darth Vader. And yes, Anakin is responsible for choosing his actions and must therefor accept the consequences of such actions, however, the biggest contributing factor to his descent into darkness was the Jedi Order and their absolute refusal to acquiesce to the basic human nature of love and attachment. In fact, one can argue that the Jedi Order is even more barbaric and cruel than the Sith. Companionship and attachment is one of the hallmarks of humanity, and by denying them, they are essentially denying being human. But the Jedi Order in both the prequel and and original trilogy was the personification of the Light side of the Force, while the Sith representing Darkness. Too much of either side’s influence causes the Force to spiral out of balance, and thus the galaxy is thrown into chaos again. This was demonstrated numerous times on both sides, such as Anakin’s betrayal, or the New Republic unknowingly creating the groundwork for the First Order.

In short, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. Both light and dark must be present in order to achieve balance, and Rey’s placement, directly between the light and dark, makes her the fulcrum, or the point of equilibrium. In essence, it is Rey who is who is going to bring about that balance.

Another interesting observation I made was that all three characters, Luke, Rey and Kylo Ren are all colored in red. I cannot stress this enough, the psychology of color is important! Specific colors invoke particular and subconscious imagery and responses. Color theory and its use in marketing and illustration is a universal language. In fact, color tells just as much, if not more, of a story as the composition! There are two primary colors in the poster, red and blue. Red is the color of darkness, evil and passion. Blue on the other hand conveys serenity and tranquility. Why is Kylo’s lightsaber red? Not because he uses the Dark side of the Force, but because the color red has a strong visual impact and the human brain automatically associates red with darkness and power. It’s no coincidence that the color red is associated with the Sith, while blue is attributed to the Jedi! Everything you see on screen or in print was designed to create a specific response from the viewer and convey as much information as possible with no words.

Further more, in both The Force Awakens and the teaser trailer for The Last Jedi, it’s made quite clear that our heroes and villain are all experiencing a crisis of faith in the Force. Rey had her entire existence turned up on its head looking for guidance and training. Luke, it is suggested, fell into despair and solitude after the death of his acolytes because his teachings and philosophies failed to save his own nephew. Kylo, who just recently murdered his own father in hopes of committing himself entirely to the darkness, felt more weak and confused than ever before (this is said nearly word for work in The Force Awakens novelization). Because the color red is frequently associated with the dark side of the Force, and I find it quite compelling that all three figures are bathed in red. To me, this suggests that the trio are all going to be struggling with their inner demons, which often implies the temptation of the dark side. In fact, the only beacon of light and hope comes from Rey’s light saber. Some have argued that the light comes from Rey herself, but when you compare her upper body to her lower body, you can observe that just like the figures above her, Rey’s form is red, and the blue reflected in her face is emanating from the lightsaber, rather than Rey herself. This coincides with Rian Johnson’s choice to make the Episode VIII title font red, and maintains visual continuity. The most logical conclusion one can extrapolate is in The Last Jedi is going to delve into much deeper and darker overtones and story lines than it’s predecessors.

The positioning of Luke and Kylo in relation to each other is another aspect to this poster that I find intriguing. Luke and Kylo’s heads are above Rey; in this poster they are literally watching over her, and her choice to accept the Skywalker lightsaber. However, they are on opposing sides of the saber, as described above, representing the light and the dark. As a viewer, this design illustrates a sense of tension and conflict in both Luke and Kylo, but also in how they view Rey, and her choices. This image is clearly setting up the overtone that Rey has to struggle between choosing accepting either Luke or Kylo. In other words, it’s another iteration of the never ending struggle between the light and the dark.

Looking back in The Force Awakens for a moment, we remember that Kylo Ren extended the offer to teach Rey, “You need a teacher. I can show you the ways of the Force!” We all know the choice Rey makes at the end of the movie, but what about Luke? Will Luke even want to teach Rey after his previous failings at reviving the old Jedi Order? The following does begin to tread into the territory of conjecture and theorizing, however I do believe there is solid evidence to back up what I am about to speculate, or else I would have omitted it form this analysis. At The Last Jedi panel, Daisy Ridley, under the watchful eye and ear of Kathleen Kennedy, did reveal some very interesting information. We, as the audience were MEANT to know this information prior to viewing the poster, or else the CEO of Lucasfilm would never have permitted that information be divulged (like the Rogue One mishap at Celebration Europe 2016). Summarized, Daisy stated that Rey indeed does meet her hero, Luke Skywalker, and like in real life, how we  (Rey) envision our heroes does not always coincide with the reality of our heroes. This very clearly sets up the idea that Rey and Luke are going to have a less than harmonious relationship in The Last Jedi. This is also backed up by some previous leaks and spoilers from MakingStarWars.net, however until we know the veracity of those rumors, I do not treat them as fact, like I do the things said directly from the people at Lucasfilm. The statements from Daisy Ridley at the panel, however, were purposeful in sparking ideas and igniting the flame of this idea that Luke and Rey will not have a peaceful mentor/mentee relationship in the same light as Yoda and Luke’s relationship.

Mentorship has always been another key themes throughout the Star Wars saga, from Anakin’s tutelage under Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, to Luke studying with Yoda. There is every indication that those reoccurring themes will continue, but in a different fashion. It’s been made pretty clear that Rey is going to struggle with Luke’s training, and we already know of Kylo Ren’s unrelenting conflict within himself, stemming from the teachings of Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke ordered Kylo to kill his own father, an act that he did follow through with, but the novelization has proven that that act made him more conflicted than ever before. Where it should have brought him strength, instead he found weakness and doubt.

And all of this ties back to Kylo Ren’s original offer to Rey to teach her. It is my belief, based on the evidence above, that Rey is going to struggle between the teachings of Kylo Ren and Luke. You may ask “how will Rey learn from Kylo? They aren’t on the same planet?” Well even that is partially answered in Episode VII, and confirmed in tweets made by Pablo Hidalgo. Pablo definitively said that Rey learned so much so quickly at Starkiller Base because she extracted the information from Kylo Ren’s mind during the infamous interrogation scene. So in a way, Kylo has already become her first mentor.

Both the Light and the Dark are justified in their beliefs and teachings. Adam Driver previously stated in an interview that Kylo Ren vehemently believes he is and was justified in his actions, and it’s quite clear that Luke fully intended to disappear into the galaxy as a frizzled old hermit. What will happen if Luke does not agree to initially train Rey? She has all of these newly awakens powers, and no way to control them. Just like Kylo stated, she really does need a teacher. But which teacher? The Light or the Dark? Or, at what this poster suggests, something in the middle!

By placing both of Rey’s mentors above her, two Force users who are much more skilled and honed than she is, it indicates that both mentors are going to be fighting within Rey’s psyche. Luke will be teaching her one method, while Kylo and his Dark side influence will be pulling Rey in the opposite direction. This is wiring and character growth done right! The setting and characters have been established in the first film of the sequel trilogy, while the second installment places challenges and obstacles in their path. Without those challenges, characters will not grow or develop. Even more evidence for this is Rian Johnson’s prior statements that the characters in The Last Jedi are going to be tested and pushed beyond their limits. What would challenge Rey more than knowing she is can identify and relate to the person she hates the most, Kylo Ren? That would force the characters into a position where they have no choice but to adapt and evolve into something that spans beyond the juxtaposition of the Light and Dark side of the Force.

In other words, Grey Jedi!

Most likely it won’t be in so many words, but the concept behind it will remain the same. A world of Force users that are not bound by the narrow dogmatic codes of the Jedi or Sith! And while I do find both of their ideologies absolutely fascinating an an integral part of the Star Wars canonical universe, by constricting Force sensitives to Jedi/Sith, Good/Evil, Light/Dark is extremely limiting and grossly inhibits the idea of character depth, subtlety, progression and nuance. Maz Kanata and Ahsoka Tano are prime examples of Force sensitive individuals in the Star Wars universe who are canon and are Force sensitive, but do not fall into the dichotomy of Jedi and Sith. There has never been a main hero character in the films (which are the primary story telling means in the entire franchise that reaches the most viewers and has the biggest impact on mainstream pop culture). Luke Skywalker was seen as universal good, the epitome of the Joseph Campbell’s hero, who embarks on heroic journey on behalf of goodness and justice. The passing of the torch from Luke to Rey indicates a paradigm shift in the understanding of the Force for not only the characters but the viewers and fans as well.

The light saber in the poster is another piece of evidence for this! There is no partition between red (Darkness) and blue (Light). Instead there is a gradient emanating from both ends of the lightsaber, further emphasizing that this story will not be so simply as “kill the monster, save the world” but instead of dimensionality and gradation. There is middle ground to be found in the Force between the Light and the Dark, and Rey is the key to unlocking it. Or as Rey quite simply puts it in the trailer “balance.”

                                                        ********

On a personal side note, I do believe this teaser poster does further add fuel to the Reylo fire, and it makes be believe even more fervently that Reylo will eventually become canon in some iteration, but I wanted to keep my personal biases and theories out of this analysis. If anyone enjoyed reading this and would like to read my views on The Last Jedi teaser trailer and how it relates to Reylo, I’d be more than happy to comply. But I wanted and needed to get this poster off my chest first. My mind has been boiling over, wanted to put these thoughts down in some sort of organized fashion because as someone who is fluent in the language of illustrations as a medium for visual story telling, this poster blew my mind. I stood just flabbergasted at how blatantly the story implications were, but when I asked people about their thoughts they all came to different conclusions. And yes, that is the point of this poster, to get people talking and theorizing about what it all means, however visual story telling generally complies with a set of rules that are universally, albeit often subconsciously, understood by the viewer.

 Whew! I wrote this entire analysis in a single sitting. I apologize if there are any immediate grammatical errors, but I proof read this a number of times, so I am pretty sure that it’s correct.  EDIT: Thank you to @sleemo who helped me fix the grammatical errors in this!

#the last jedi #star wars #meta #reylo #episodeviii

[itsfinancethings]

November 21, 2019 at 09:11PM

Will Rey (Daisy Ridley) turn to the Dark Side? What’s the deal with Emperor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) return? How are we supposed to cope with Princess Leia’s (Carrie Fisher) final scenes?

As fans wait for The Rise of Skywalker, the third and final chapter in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, to hit theaters on Dec. 20, there’s been ample time to discuss these questions and conjure up theories about what’s to come in Episode IX.

The J.J. Abrams-helmed Rise of Skywalker will bring closure to the saga’s new generation of heroes. But don’t worry—from Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian to Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s upcoming film trilogy, there are plenty more Star Wars projects in the works.

Here are five of the most compelling theories about what we can expect from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Rey will turn to the Dark Side

Lucasfilm

Thanks to the shot of Jedi-in-training Rey rocking a Sith-style hooded cloak and wielding a red double-sided lightsaber that was featured in the Rise of Skywalker trailer from Disney’s annual D23 Conference, some fans are more convinced than ever that Rey is fated to turn to the Dark Side.

When we last saw Rey in The Last Jedi (2017), she rejected Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) proposal to rule together without allegiance to either the Dark Side or the Light before rescuing the Resistance’s severely depleted forces from Crait. But that doesn’t mean she can’t still be swayed.

Whether or not it’s actually true, Rey was clearly disturbed by Kylo Ren’s revelation that her parents were nobodies who sold her for drinking money on Jakku and are buried in a desert grave there. Now she’s in a vulnerable place.

And with the return of Emperor Palpatine confirmed by Abrams, Rey could be a prime target for an Anakin-esque fall from grace.

There will be more Force ghosts

Lucasfilm

In the wake of Yoda reappearing to offer Luke some cheeky guidance in The Last Jedi, some fans are convinced that Emperor Palpatine and Luke’s roles in The Rise of Skywalker — both Ian McDiarmid and Mark Hamill are confirmed players in Episode IX — will be that of Force ghosts. When we last saw Palpatine in Return of the Jedi, he was hurtling down the Death Star’s reactor shaft (seemingly to his death) after a timely change of heart by Darth Vader.

As for Luke, he became one with the Force in Last Jedi after projecting a manifestation of himself to the site of the Resistance’s stand-off with the First Order on Crait. This manner of death in the Star Wars universe usually signals that the character has the ability to reappear in the world of the living as a Force ghost. Not to mention that Hamill himself has basically already confirmed that Force ghost Luke is a go.

“I had closure in the last one, you know?” he told the Associated Press when asked if Rise of Skywalker would be his last Star Wars movie. “The fact that I’m involved in any capacity is only because of that peculiar aspect of the Star Wars mythology where if you’re a Jedi you get to come back [and] make a curtain call as a Force ghost.”

However, since Palpatine was a Sith Lord not a Jedi and we also didn’t see the exact moment that he met his end (or didn’t), his inclusion as a Force ghost remains a little more ambiguous.

Rey is a clone

Lucasfilm

Kylo Ren straight up told Rey that her parents were nobodies, deadbeats who traded her for drinking money, in The Last Jedi. But some fans have since grown convinced that Rey’s parents may quite literally be nobody — because she’s a clone. Clones have played an integral part in the Star Wars universe since the prequel trilogy revealed that the original Stormtroopers were all clones. The Rey-is-a-clone theory, however, rests on the idea that Emperor Palpatine recovered the hand that Darth Vader cut off Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back and used his DNA to make Rey in a secret lab on Jakku.

“Rey is a clone of Luke made from his hand that got cut off in Empire Strikes Back,” Reddit user vadrr21 posited earlier this year. “The clone was made by Palpatine in one of his labs in Jakku. Two Junk traders found Palpatine’s lab and were scavenging for goods they could have sold off for ‘drinking money.’ They found Rey and sold her off to Unkar Plutt.”

That all might seem far-fetched if it weren’t for the fact that in Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, a novel series that’s considered canon in the Star Wars universe, Palpatine does in fact have a secret lab on Jakku. And it’s located under a plateau known as the Plaintive Hand. J.J. Abrams has also said “there’s more to the story” of Rey’s parents and confirmed that Palpatine is returning, in some capacity, in Episode IX.

Rey being a product of Luke’s DNA would also explain the connection she has with both him and the Force as well as, potentially, the title The Rise of Skywalker.

The Skywalker in question isn’t one person

Lucasfilm

When Lucasfilm announced that Episode IX would be called The Rise of Skywalker, fans immediately started theorizing about the identity of the titular Skywalker. But while some think that Rey will somehow still turn out to be a member of the Skywalker family, others believe that the name Skywalker will come to signify a new order of Force-users who walk the line between light and dark — a.k.a. the so-called Gray Jedi.

Since famous Skywalkers have led both the Dark (Anakin) and Light Sides (Luke and Leia) at different points in time, it would make sense for the family name to be chosen to represent those who occupy the middle ground between Jedi and Sith. However, since the true mark of a Gray Jedi is possessing both light and dark abilities without surrendering to the stronger pull of the dark, it remains to be seen which of our heroes will be able to be counted among their ranks.

Balance will finally be brought to the Force

Lucasfilm

Before the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, Jedi prophecy foretold that a Chosen One, “born of no father,” would be the one to bring ultimate balance to the Force. When Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) discovered Anakin, a young slave boy who both possessed extraordinary Force abilities and was a child of immaculate conception, he came to believe that Anakin was the Chosen One and presented him as such to the Jedi High Council.

As we all know, Anakin was later seduced by the Dark Side and became Darth Vader before redeeming himself in his final moments by tossing Palpatine down the Death Star’s reactor shaft to save Luke, an act that some viewed as fulfilling the prophecy.

However, thanks to the first two movies in the sequel trilogy, we know that the Light and Dark Sides of the Force have yet to reach an ultimate equilibrium. And as actor Freddie Prinze Jr., who voiced the Jedi character Kanan Jarrus in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels, aptly explained during an appearance on Jeff Dye’s Friendship Podcast earlier this year, it’s not people who bring balance to the Force, it’s the Force itself.

“Luke’s skill doesn’t dictate whether he wins or loses. The Emperor doesn’t dictate whether he wins or loses. The Force dictates who wins and loses based on balance,” Prinze Jr. said.

Now, how exactly the Force will go about instilling balance in itself with the remaining players on the board is still up in the air, but considering Episode IX is slated to be the final installment in the Skywalker saga, balance finally being achieved pretty much seems like a foregone conclusion.

#IFTTT #Blogger

[maxwellyjordan]

A “view” from the courtroom: A search for the elusive end of the term

The end of the term is in sight, though with 24 decisions in argued cases remaining this morning, much work is left to do.

Yet there is still time for short seasonal diversions for those who work in the court building and those who cover the court. Last Wednesday, according to the court’s newsletter, was the annual employee awards ceremony, followed by a cookout. (The grilling occurs in one of the court building’s interior courtyards.) And this coming Thursday, the annual end-of-term party, when the justices’ law clerks typically put on satirical skits, will be held in the East and West Conference Rooms.

The Supreme Court press corps is not invited to those events, but we did have our annual group outing to the Washington Nationals baseball game this past Saturday. The game against the Arizona Diamondbacks was also promoted as Star Wars Day. Several of us who arrived more than an hour before game time were disappointed that all 10,000 bobbleheads featuring Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle in an Obi “Sean” Kenobi costume had already been distributed to early arrivals. The promotion also featured actors dressed up as Star Wars characters walking the concourses (including an impressively realistic Chewbacca), as well as children charmingly decked out as Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and at least one out-of-place Harry Potter.

The bobblehead disappointment did give me a promotional idea. Perhaps the baseball team’s marketing department could join forces with the Green Bag law journal, known for its bobbleheads of Supreme Court justices, and SCOTUSblog’s artist, Art Lien, who in 2015 drew a banner featuring the justices as baseball players (well, most of them as baseball players, and Chief Justice John Roberts as the umpire, of course). It would be “Supreme Court Justices in Baseball Uniforms Bobblehead Day.”

The courtroom is full today, with some typical seasonal visitors. Participants in the Supreme Court Summer Institute for Teachers, the training session for high-school teachers who teach about the court, are here with Lee Arbetman, the executive director of Streetlaw, which is a co-sponsor of the institute along with the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Every year, the institute participants hold a moot court about a big case from the current term. This year, the institute mooted The American Legion v. American Humanist Association, about whether the Bladensburg Peace Cross, on public land in Bladensburg, Md., violates the establishment clause.

The bar section is packed this morning because it is the last day for courtroom bar admissions this term. Among those who will be sworn in at the end of today’s session are groups from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Georgetown University Law Center and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives.

When the justices take the bench, all are present for the first time in a few weeks. The chief justice announces that Justice Brett Kavanaugh has the opinion in Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck.

Justice Kavanaugh with opinion in Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck (Art Lien)

This is one of the cases this term about cutting-edge technology of an earlier era, because it involves whether a cable-television provider of public-access channels is a state actor subject to the First Amendment. (The other cases along that cutting-edge line included one about technology to speed along misdelivered mail and one about fax machines.)

The Manhattan Community Access case also provided a lively oral argument, with Justice Stephen Breyer posing hypotheticals about a public-access TV series about New York hot dogs.

Kavanaugh, in summarizing his opinion, notes that “since the 1970s,” when public-access channels became a feature of cable systems, both private and public actors have operated such channels.

He says that when a private entity provides a forum for speech, the private entity “is not ordinarily constrained by the First Amendment,” and he mentions that the court held “in an important 1976 decision” — Hudgens v. National Labor Relations Board — “that a shopping center owner was not a state actor subject to First Amendment constraints.”

Private property owners often open up their property for speech, he notes, citing grocery stores putting up community bulletin boards, comedy clubs hosting open mic nights and bookstores holding author events.

“If the rule were otherwise, … private property owners would face the unappetizing choice of allowing all comers or closing the platform altogether,” Kavanaugh says. “Benjamin Franklin once said that he did not have to operate his newspaper as ‘a stagecoach, with seats for everyone.’ That is still true.”

It seems like a bit of a mixed metaphor, but who are we to question Ben Franklin?

Kavanaugh quickly dispenses with an alternative argument of the respondents in this case, some filmmakers who were denied access to the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the public-access channel. He announces that Justice Sonia Sotomayor has the dissent, joined by Breyer and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. Sotomayor has a snappy opening to her dissent, but she doesn’t read it from the bench.

Justice Neil Gorsuch is up next with the announcement in Virginia Uranium Inc. v. Warren, which was argued Nov. 5 and is the second-longest pending case of the term, after Gundy v. United States from the October sitting.

Justice Gorsuch with opinion in Virginia Uranium Inc. v. Warren (Art Lien)

Gorsuch has only a plurality opinion, though he masks that fact somewhat as he announces that the court rejects Virginia Uranium’s arguments that the federal Atomic Energy Act pre-empts a Virginia law that prohibits the mining of uranium within the state’s borders.

U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, who had argued as an amicus in support of Virginia Uranium, is not here today. His office’s delegation is led by Principal Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, along with deputies Edwin Kneedler and Malcolm Stewart.

Gorsuch announces that Justices Clarence Thomas and Kavanaugh join his opinion, while Ginsburg has filed an opinion concurring in the judgment joined by Sotomayor and Kagan. Roberts has filed a dissent, joined by Breyer and Justice Samuel Alito.

The chief justice announces that Alito has the opinion in Gamble v. United States, about whether the double-jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment bars separate prosecutions by separate sovereigns for the same crime.

Justice Alito with opinion in Gamble v. U.S. (Art Lien)

As Alito begins, Gorsuch receives a note, evidently from the chief justice. Gorsuch reads the note and smiles, then turns toward Roberts, who gives a nod of acknowledgement.

Alito is typically given to very brief summaries of his majority opinions except in major cases. Today, he will still be relatively brief, but he will also have the courtroom in stitches, however briefly, and that is not something you can say every day.

The case is a challenge to the court’s longstanding interpretation of the double-jeopardy clause as not barring separate-sovereign prosecutions for the same crime by Terance Martez Gamble, who pleaded guilty to violating Alabama’s felon-in-possession-of-a-firearm statute, and now faces a separate prosecution for the same offense under the federal felon-in-possession law.

Gamble’s arguments rest on the idea that the double-jeopardy clause forbids successive prosecutions by different sovereigns because that is what founding-era common law provided.

But from the bench, Alito says, “[W]e have painstakingly researched the text of the Fifth Amendment” and other evidence. “We adhere to the position that we have taken for well over a century.”

In response to Gamble’s originalist arguments, Alito says, “we have looked high and low” and “dusted off 16th and 17th century” law treatises to examine Gamble’s arguments.

As the written opinion points out, these include English cases before such ancient forums as the Court of King’s Bench and the High Court of Chivalry.

“This search has turned out to be very much like the search for the Yeti,” Alito says in reference to the figure also known as the Abominable Snowman or the Sasquatch.

The courtroom has already perked up over Alito’s enthusiastic delivery, and the Yeti reference generates laughs.

He continues in this vein, suggesting that Gamble’s arguments for originalist support amount to a “grainy photo” and “muddy footprints,” but no convincing evidence. (There is no trace of Alito’s references to the Yeti — not even a muddy footprint — in his written opinion.)

“It takes a lot more than that to overturn” 170 years of precedent, Alito says. The precedent, and the decision below, are affirmed, with Thomas filing a concurring opinion and Ginsburg and Gorsuch filing separate dissents.

Next up is Ginsburg, with the decision in Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill.

Justice Ginsburg announces opinion in Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill (Art Lien)

She is not wearing the jabot she usually wears when delivering a majority opinion. That is not the only thing that is amiss.

When she starts speaking about this racial-gerrymandering case, her voice is quite hoarse. The court’s public information office will later confirm that she is suffering from a cold and laryngitis.

She presses on with the opinion in a case that has been here before, in which a federal district court found that 11 state legislative districts were racially gerrymandered in a map drawn up after the 2010 census. The Virginia House of Delegates intervened to defend the map after the state’s attorney general declined to appeal.

The court has found that the House of Delegates lacks standing to carry on the appeal.

“In short, Virginia would rather stop than fight on,” Ginsburg says. “One house of its bicameral legislature cannot alone continue the litigation against the will of its partners in the legislative process.”

At times, her voice gains a bit of strength, but at other times it weakens to a whisper, and even some of her colleagues turn toward her as if to will her some vocal strength.

After several strained minutes, Ginsburg says, “For the reasons just summarized and explained more completely in the court’s opinion, we dismiss the House of Delegates’ appeal for want of jurisdiction.”

She announces the unusual lineup. Alito has written the dissent, joined by Roberts, Breyer and Kavanaugh. She then leans back, grabs her tall to-go mug and takes several extra-long sips of whatever beverage it contains.

After the bar admissions, all eyes turn to Marshal Pamela Talkin, who announces that court is in recess until Thursday. It will be the first extra opinion day of the term, and with 20 opinions remaining, we all may need a big gulp of something to be ready for it.

The post A “view” from the courtroom: A search for the elusive end of the term appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

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#law #justice

[itsfinancethings]

Will Rey (Daisy Ridley) turn to the Dark Side? What’s the deal with Emperor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) return? How are we supposed to cope with Princess Leia’s (Carrie Fisher) final scenes?

As fans wait for The Rise of Skywalker, the third and final chapter in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, to hit theaters on Dec. 20, there’s been ample time to discuss these questions and conjure up theories about what’s to come in Episode IX.

The J.J. Abrams-helmed Rise of Skywalker will bring closure to the saga’s new generation of heroes. But don’t worry—from Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian to Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s upcoming film trilogy, there are plenty more Star Wars projects in the works.

Here are five of the most compelling theories about what we can expect from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Rey will turn to the Dark Side

Lucasfilm

Thanks to the shot of Jedi-in-training Rey rocking a Sith-style hooded cloak and wielding a red double-sided lightsaber that was featured in the Rise of Skywalker trailer from Disney’s annual D23 Conference, some fans are more convinced than ever that Rey is fated to turn to the Dark Side.

When we last saw Rey in The Last Jedi (2017), she rejected Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) proposal to rule together without allegiance to either the Dark Side or the Light before rescuing the Resistance’s severely depleted forces from Crait. But that doesn’t mean she can’t still be swayed.

Whether or not it’s actually true, Rey was clearly disturbed by Kylo Ren’s revelation that her parents were nobodies who sold her for drinking money on Jakku and are buried in a desert grave there. Now she’s in a vulnerable place.

And with the return of Emperor Palpatine confirmed by Abrams, Rey could be a prime target for an Anakin-esque fall from grace.

There will be more Force ghosts

Lucasfilm

In the wake of Yoda reappearing to offer Luke some cheeky guidance in The Last Jedi, some fans are convinced that Emperor Palpatine and Luke’s roles in The Rise of Skywalker — both Ian McDiarmid and Mark Hamill are confirmed players in Episode IX — will be that of Force ghosts. When we last saw Palpatine in Return of the Jedi, he was hurtling down the Death Star’s reactor shaft (seemingly to his death) after a timely change of heart by Darth Vader.

As for Luke, he became one with the Force in Last Jedi after projecting a manifestation of himself to the site of the Resistance’s stand-off with the First Order on Crait. This manner of death in the Star Wars universe usually signals that the character has the ability to reappear in the world of the living as a Force ghost. Not to mention that Hamill himself has basically already confirmed that Force ghost Luke is a go.

“I had closure in the last one, you know?” he told the Associated Press when asked if Rise of Skywalker would be his last Star Wars movie. “The fact that I’m involved in any capacity is only because of that peculiar aspect of the Star Wars mythology where if you’re a Jedi you get to come back [and] make a curtain call as a Force ghost.”

However, since Palpatine was a Sith Lord not a Jedi and we also didn’t see the exact moment that he met his end (or didn’t), his inclusion as a Force ghost remains a little more ambiguous.

Rey is a clone

Lucasfilm

Kylo Ren straight up told Rey that her parents were nobodies, deadbeats who traded her for drinking money, in The Last Jedi. But some fans have since grown convinced that Rey’s parents may quite literally be nobody — because she’s a clone. Clones have played an integral part in the Star Wars universe since the prequel trilogy revealed that the original Stormtroopers were all clones. The Rey-is-a-clone theory, however, rests on the idea that Emperor Palpatine recovered the hand that Darth Vader cut off Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back and used his DNA to make Rey in a secret lab on Jakku.

“Rey is a clone of Luke made from his hand that got cut off in Empire Strikes Back,” Reddit user vadrr21 posited earlier this year. “The clone was made by Palpatine in one of his labs in Jakku. Two Junk traders found Palpatine’s lab and were scavenging for goods they could have sold off for ‘drinking money.’ They found Rey and sold her off to Unkar Plutt.”

That all might seem far-fetched if it weren’t for the fact that in Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, a novel series that’s considered canon in the Star Wars universe, Palpatine does in fact have a secret lab on Jakku. And it’s located under a plateau known as the Plaintive Hand. J.J. Abrams has also said “there’s more to the story” of Rey’s parents and confirmed that Palpatine is returning, in some capacity, in Episode IX.

Rey being a product of Luke’s DNA would also explain the connection she has with both him and the Force as well as, potentially, the title The Rise of Skywalker.

The Skywalker in question isn’t one person

Lucasfilm

When Lucasfilm announced that Episode IX would be called The Rise of Skywalker, fans immediately started theorizing about the identity of the titular Skywalker. But while some think that Rey will somehow still turn out to be a member of the Skywalker family, others believe that the name Skywalker will come to signify a new order of Force-users who walk the line between light and dark — a.k.a. the so-called Gray Jedi.

Since famous Skywalkers have led both the Dark (Anakin) and Light Sides (Luke and Leia) at different points in time, it would make sense for the family name to be chosen to represent those who occupy the middle ground between Jedi and Sith. However, since the true mark of a Gray Jedi is possessing both light and dark abilities without surrendering to the stronger pull of the dark, it remains to be seen which of our heroes will be able to be counted among their ranks.

Balance will finally be brought to the Force

Lucasfilm

Before the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, Jedi prophecy foretold that a Chosen One, “born of no father,” would be the one to bring ultimate balance to the Force. When Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) discovered Anakin, a young slave boy who both possessed extraordinary Force abilities and was a child of immaculate conception, he came to believe that Anakin was the Chosen One and presented him as such to the Jedi High Council.

As we all know, Anakin was later seduced by the Dark Side and became Darth Vader before redeeming himself in his final moments by tossing Palpatine down the Death Star’s reactor shaft to save Luke, an act that some viewed as fulfilling the prophecy.

However, thanks to the first two movies in the sequel trilogy, we know that the Light and Dark Sides of the Force have yet to reach an ultimate equilibrium. And as actor Freddie Prinze Jr., who voiced the Jedi character Kanan Jarrus in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels, aptly explained during an appearance on Jeff Dye’s Friendship Podcast earlier this year, it’s not people who bring balance to the Force, it’s the Force itself.

“Luke’s skill doesn’t dictate whether he wins or loses. The Emperor doesn’t dictate whether he wins or loses. The Force dictates who wins and loses based on balance,” Prinze Jr. said.

Now, how exactly the Force will go about instilling balance in itself with the remaining players on the board is still up in the air, but considering Episode IX is slated to be the final installment in the Skywalker saga, balance finally being achieved pretty much seems like a foregone conclusion.

#IFTTT #Blogger