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youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms · 2 years

Text

Revenge Of The Sith (Part 3)

Words: 5267

Warnings: language? typical Star Wars violence, the plot of ROTS (bc yes, that needs it’s own warning)

Star Wars Masterlist Main Masterlist

(THIS IS X READER I PROMISE IF YOU WANT THE NONE X READER VERSION THEN GO TO @imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters)

So I have like…a million OC’s. One of which I have with Anakin Skywalker. Recently (like a few months ago) I decided to rewrite Revenge of the Sith, but instead of Padme, it’s my OC and it becomes an AU near the end bc Obi Wan is able to pull Anakin back to the light. So, I decided to rewrite it (AGAIN) to make it x reader. So yeah, here it is, I hope you enjoy

Also, I did research on different names. Like the kid who speaks RIGHT BEFORE getting killed? Yeah, found his name (it's somewhere down there) and the Clone Trooper that you be taking Rex's place since he was with Ahsoka (And Jesse was too) would most likely be Appo. So yeah. Researching little things like that was fun.

Also, if you can't figure out a name for the brother, just do Dran cause that's what it is for my actual OC

ALSO ALSO, 'Save Y/N' or something similar is said a lot in this, omg

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“Save your energy.” Spoke Obi Wan.

Y/N weakly shook her head, “I can’t.”

“Don’t give up, Y/N.”

Anakin sat the Holopad next to him on the couch. The premonitions were getting worse. He was seeing them even when he wasn’t sleeping. He sighed and looked over as he heard Y/N walking in. She gave him a soft smile as he spoke, “Obi Wan’s been here, hasn’t he?”

She placed a soft hand on his shoulder as she passed him. “He came by the morning. I was going to tell you when I saw you.”

Anakin quickly got up and began to follow her, “What did he want?”

She turned to him slightly. Confused by his sudden question. “He’s worried about you.” She walked into the bedroom and placed her coat on the bed. “He says you’ve been under a lot of stress.”

He sighed, “I feel lost.”

She turned to him fully, “What do you mean by ‘lost’, Ani?”

He slowly walked towards her. “Obi Wan and the council don’t trust me.”

She raised an eyebrow. She wondered what could have happened to make him think this. She kept her voice soft, trying to comfort him. “I thought that they trusted you with their lives?”

He stared out the window, “Something’s happening. I’m not the Jedi I should be.” When he stopped and looked at her, she motioned for him to continue. “I want more. And I know I shouldn’t.” He trailed off and she walked over to him.

Placing a comforting hand on his arm, she knew Anakin. Knew that he was expecting himself to be able to do more than he could. “You’re expecting more of yourself than you have to give at this time.”

He turned to her completely and placed his hands softly on her waist. “I found a way to save you.”

His nightmares. “Save me? How?”

“I found a way. Just please trust me. I can’t lose you.”

She nodded and kissed him softly. “Why don’t you stay here for a while today? Longer than you had originally planned to.”

He smiled at her softly, “I can’t, my love. Obi Wan is going after Grievous and I have to stay at the Temple until he returns.”

She nodded, “If he gets Grievous then this war can end, right?”

He nodded, “And we can raise our kid in peace.”

She smiled and kissed him again. Of course the child(ren) would not know peace for its first 20+ years. But they didn’t know that yet. “Good.”

Anakin stood next to Windu as they were speaking to others. That was until Commander Cody appeared. And when he did, Anakin felt worry reside in him. Worried that something had happened to Obi Wan. “Master Windu, May I interrupt?” Windu nodded lightly, “General Kenobi had made contact with General Grievous and we have begun our attack.”

“Thank you, Commander.” Cody gave a curt nod and cut out of the call. “Anakin.” Anakin turned his head to Windu, “Deliver this report to the Chancellor. His reaction will give us a clue to his intentions.”

He nodded, “Yea, Master.” And turned on his way to inform Palpatine of the new discovery.

If he had stayed for a few moments more, he would have heard Windu’s feelings. And maybe…perhaps he wouldn’t have done everything that he did. And perhaps the next 23ish years wouldn’t have gone the way they will.

When Anakin made it to the Chancellor, he noticed that he was looking at a map of a planet. One he believed was in the Outer Rim. One that had nothing to do with the War. But it seemed that somehow Palpatine sensed Anakin and he turned off the map and turned around.

“Chancellor?” He walked closer. “We just received a report from Master Kenobi. He has engaged General Grievous.”

“We can only hope that Master Kenobi is up to the challenge.”

Anakin realized what Palpatine was doing. It was something he had done to Ashoka to get her to say how she felt. But he hoped that he was wrong. He looked away from the Chancellor, “I should be there with him.”

“It’s upsetting to me to see that the council doesn’t seem to fully appreciate your talents. Don’t you wonder why they won’t make you a Jedi master?”

Anakin began to pace slightly. “I wish I knew.” He sighed, “More and more I get the feeling that I’m being excluded from the council.” He stopped and looked at Palpatine. He noticed that there was something about him that felt off. Something dark surrounded the Chancellor. And so Anakin remembered what Palpatine said. “I know there are things about the Force that they’re not telling me.”

“They don’t trust you, Anakin.” Palpatine stood and walked towards him. “They see your future.” He placed a hand on his back, “They know your power will be too strong to control.” They walked to the doorway, “You must break through the fog of lies the Jedi have created around you.” They walked into the hall, “Let me help you to know the subtleties of the Force.”

“How do you know the ways of the Force?” He was the Chancellor. A former Senator. Why would he know the ways of the Force? He had no reason to know.

“My mentor taught me everything about the Force. Even the nature of the Dark Side.”

Anakin sped up and walked in front of the Chancellor. Suddenly realizing that the Jedi were right to question Palpatine. “You know the Dark Side?”

“Anakin, if one is to understand the great mystery, one must understand all its aspects. Not just the dogmatic narrow view of the Jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise leader, you must embrace a larger view of the Force.” Anakin and Palpatine began to slightly circle one another. “Be careful of the Jedi, Anakin. Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi. Learn to know the Dark Side of the Force and you will be able to save your wife from certain death.”

Anakin stopped as Palpatine gave him a sickly sadistic smile. “What did you say?” He felt himself reaching for his lightsaber.

“Use my knowledge, I beg you.”

He took his saber out of the carrier and lit it. “You’re the Sith Lord!”

They began to circle one another again. “I know what’s been troubling you. Listen to me. Don’t continue to be a pawn of the Jedi Council!” Anakin felt himself feeling more betrayed. “Ever since I've known you, you’ve been searching for a life greater than that of an ordinary Jedi. A life of significance. Of conscience.” Palpatine began to walk away from Anakin, but he still followed with his saber. “Are you going to kill me?“

“I would certainly like to.” But he knew he couldn’t. It wasn’t like the Jedi to kill.

Palpatine’s voice with his next words made the hair on the back of Anakin’s neck stand. “I know you would. I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger.”

Palpatine turned to Anakin and he turned off his lightsaber. And the next words that came from his mouth hadn’t felt voluntary. He was thinking them, but he hadn’t planned to say them. “I’m going to turn you over to the Jedi Council.”

Palpatine nodded, “Of course. You should. But you’re not sure of their intentions, are you?”

“I will quickly discover the truth of all this.”

“You have great wisdom, Anakin. Know the power of the Dark Side. Power to save Y/N.”

He shook his head, “I can do that without your help. Without the Dark Side.”

“You sound so sure of it, Anakin.”

He felt himself grow more angry, “Because I am!”

Palpatine nodded and walked back into his office, “Then go and inform the Council of what you think you’ve discovered and see their reaction.”

Anakin watched as Palpatine walked into his office and for a moment he hesitated. But he knew what he had to do.

And he knew where to find Master Windu.

He ran down to one of the Hangers and slowed down as he got closer to Windu and the other Jedi. “Master Windu. I must talk to you.”

Windu looked at Anakin, “Skywalker, we just received word that Obi Wan has destroyed General Grievous.” Anakin felt a small sense of pride when he heard that. After all, Obi Wan was his friend (brother), and one of the only people he trusted. But then Windu continued talking as he began to walk. “We’re on our way to make sure the chancellor returns emergency power back to the senate.”

And that was when Anakin was reminded of why he was there. “He won’t give up his power. I’ve just learned a terrible truth.” He stopped for a moment, thinking of how to word it. “I think Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord.”

Windu stopped and looked at Anakin. Almost in disbelief it seemed. “A Sith Lord?”

Anakin gave the smallest nod, “Yes. The one we’ve been looking for.”

“How do you know this?”

Anakin tried to keep most of the reasoning out. “He knows the ways of the Force.” He looked away for a moment but did look back at him. “He’s trained to use the Dark Side.”

And for the first time, Anakin saw a look of Windu that he almost only saw him give someone like Yoda. Complete and utter belief. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then our worst fears have been realized.” Windu turned and Anakin followed him, “We must move quickly if the Jedi order is to survive. “

Anakin felt like this could be his last chance to prove that he was worthy to be a Master and to fully be on the Council. “Master, the Chancellor is very powerful. You’ll need my help if you’re going to arrest him.”

Windu shook his head slightly, “For your own good, stay out of this affair.” For his own good? “I sense a great deal of confusion in you, young Skywalker. There is much fear that clouds your judgment.”

Anakin tried to convince him, “I must go, Master.”

But he knew by Windu’s tone that his answer was definite, “No.” They stopped and Windu faced him, “If what you’ve told me is true, you will have gained my trust.” He now stood in front of Anakin, but unlike with Obi Wan, there wasn’t that sense of hope and calmness between them. “But for now, remain here.” Anakin wanted to fight, but he knew he shouldn’t. So he nodded his head slightly, “Wait in the Council Chambers until we return.”

And as Windu stepped onto the carrier with Fisto, Kolar, and Tiin. “Yes, Master.” He watched the carrier fly away. And no matter how much he didn’t want to, Anakin walked to the Temple. And did what he was told.

Anakin sat in his seat and closed his eyes. Focusing on trying to feel for Y/N. something he always did when he was stressed or couldn’t focus on something else. But he was unable to as Palpatine’s voice was echoing through his head, “You do know, don’t you, if the Jedi destroy me, any chance of saving her will be lost.” He opened his eyes and looked around for a moment. He took in another deep breath and tried to focus on her again. If not her, than Ahsoka.

Ahsoka.

He wished he had gotten to tell her how proud of her he was. Especially now that she had taken down Maul and was on her way back. The second she would get there, he would force her to talk to him. Force her to listen to him tell her how proud he was and how much he missed her. And then hope that she would tell him what she had been doing for the past year.

And it seemed that thinking about that helped him focus on finding Y/N.

He saw her standing up, he knew that she felt it, and then her walking over to the window that looked out to the Temple. She had a worried look upon her face.

He got up and walked to where he would see the area where she was. He had a bad feeling about everything. That something was going to go wrong and that he would be needed. But then there was the fact that he knew what he would do. He had to save Y/N. he just...he couldn’t allow her to die. Not when he knew there was a way to save her. And he knew that she felt it. She felt like something bad was going to happen too. He began to tune her our as she turned to DB as he entered and nodded to him.

He left the Chambers and ran down to hop onto his starfighter that he had just signaled Commander Appo to get ready. So when he made it down to the bay, all he did was jump in and go in the direction of the Senate Building to either help stop Palpatine or unfortunately join him.

Quick was Anakin as he jumped out of the starfighter and ran down to Palpatine’s office when he got there, Kolar, Tiin, and Fisto were dead. Windu had Palpatine down, his lightsaber pointed at his head.

“You are under arrest, my lord.”

Anakin noticed Windu motioning for him to stay where he was, and so he did. :”Anakin, I told you it would come to this.” He looked over from Windu to Palpatine and knew that he was faking the weak voice, “I was right. The Jedi are taking over!”

“The oppression of the Sith will never return. You have lost!”

“No. No. No! You will die!” Anakin flinched away when the bright light of lightning glowing in the room. He moved his arm to try and block the light, but still see what was happening. And what he saw was lightning shooting from Palpatine’s hand and Windu’s lightsaber blocking it. “He’s a traitor!”

“He is the traitor!”

Anakin fully looked at Windu. He had all of the intentions to help him. Help the one that he knew he could trust. But Palpatine’s next words pulled him away from doing what was right. Because Palpatine knew one thing. Anakin would be selfish and save Y/N than to do what was right.

“I have the power to save the one you love! You must choose!”

And he knew he shouldn’t. He knew that Windu was right as he said his words. “Don’t listen to him, Anakin!”

But unfortunately, Anakin succumbed to Palpatine’s weak voice. Something he would always do. Succumb to those who know exactly how to manipulate and use him. “Don’t let him kill me. I can’t hold it any long. I-I-I-I can’t. I-I-I’m weak. I’m-I’m too weak.” He stuttered out. “Anakin.” His hand fell and the lightning stopped, “Help me. Help me!” Palpatine groaned and Anakin grew more to help him. “I-I-I can’t hold on any longer.”

“I am going to end this once and for all.”

Anakin shook his head, “You can’t!” Anger from when Ahsoka was forced to stand trial for the crime she didn’t commit came through. He must stand trial!” If Ahsoka had to, then he had to. It wasn’t fair. He wouldn’t allow it to happen. It hurt him to watch her go through it. Watch as they pushed her away from him. And maybe if they hadn't done it, all of this wouldn’t be happening. Because he would have her still. But not just her. He would have Rex. The two people he had known he could always confine to.

“He has control of the Senate and the Courts! He’s too dangerous to be left alive!”

“I’m too weak. Oh. Don’t kill me. Please.”

“It’s not the Jedi way.” He walked towards Windu. He wasn’t going to allow him to break one of the only rules Anakin actually understood. “He must live!”

“Please don’t!” Windu moved his hand and Anakin knew what was going to happen. Even before Palpatine spoke.

“I need him!” He did. He needed Palpatine. He needed him to show him, teach him, how to save Y/N. So when Windu moved his lightsaber to kill Palpatine, Anakin acted irrationally and pulled his own out, cutting Windu’s arm off.

But what Anakin hadn’t expected was what Palpatine did. He wanted to help Windu the second it happened. But he didn’t. He just shut off his lightsaber and stubbled back as Palpatine pushed Windu out of the window with the lightning.

“What have I done?” He continued to stumble until he fell. He felt his lightsaber fall out of his hand and it clink onto the floor.

Palpatine stood and walked over to Anakin. “You’re fulfilling your destiny, Anakin.” No. This isn’t what he was supposed to do. “Become my apprentice.” No. He could still stop it. He could still fight him. He just needed Obi Wan. “Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force.”

But Anakin couldn’t. Obi Wan wouldn’t. He had gone too far. He just had to hope that Y/N would still love him after all this. “I will do whatever you ask.”

“Good.”

He slowly looked up at Palpatine, “Just help me save Y/N's life.” For if he couldn’t do that, then why did he do all of this? All of this would have been for waste if he was unable to save her life. He looked back down, trying not to show any of the emotions he was feeling. “I can’t live without her.”

“To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together, I know we can discover the secret.”

Anakin fell to the floor, unable to keep himself from doing so. “I pledge myself to your teachings.” He tried to hide everything. Hide the fact that he was scared. That he was unsure. That he was worried.

“Good.” But no matter how hard Anakin tried, he couldn’t keep eye contact. He tried hard, but he was unable. Unable because he was scared that Palpatine would realize what he was feeling inside. “The Force is strong with you.” Anakin hated that saying. It was something he had heard many times over again. He lifted his head back up to Palpatine. “A powerful Sith you will become. Henceforth, you shall be known as...Darth...Vader.”

And then that word went back to its old meaning for Anakin. And he once again truly hated to say it. “Thank you, my Master.”

“Rise.” Anakin stood up. “Because the Council did not trust you, my young apprentice, I believe you are the only Jedi with no knowledge of the plot.” Palpatine turned to him, “When the Jedi learn what has transpired here, they will kill us, along with all the Senators. And since you are with me, most likely Y/N as well.”

Anakin knew that Palpatine was right in a sense. “I agree. The Council’s next move will be against the Senate. And they would believe that Y/N knew of all of this and would kill her in order for her to not try and avenge me.”

“Every single Jedi, including your friend Obi Wan Kenobi, is now an enemy of the Republic.” And no matter how much he would wish it wasn’t, Anakin knew it was true. But, he knew that he would be able to convince Ahsoka to join him and that Palpatine wouldn’t, or at least he hoped he wouldn’t, deny that. Especially since she wasn’t a Jedi.

“I understand, Master.”

“We must move quickly. The Jedi are relentless. If they are not all destroyed. It will be a civil war without end. First, I want you to go to the Jedi Temple. We will catch them off-balance” Anakin knew what Palpatine was implying. “Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy. Only then will you be strong enough with the Dark Side to save Y/N.”

“What about the other Jedi spread across the Galaxy?” There were many of them. Mundi. Plo. Ahsoka. Obi Wan. Aayla, Jaro Tapal, Depa and Caleb.

“Their betrayal will be dealt with.” Palpatine sat in his seat, “After you have killed all the Jedi in the Temple, go to the Mustafar system. Wipe out Viceroy Gunray and the other Seperatist leaders.” Anakin gave a small nod, “Once more the Sith will rule the Galaxy! And...we shall have...peace.”

And unknown to him, three people, in various places in the Galaxy, could feel what was happening. And one...one was the one he would have never wanted to hurt like this. And he knew...deep down that this isn’t what was supposed to happen. That all this would do is end in more pain and suffering for the larger half.

Unaware that it was similar to Ahsoka walking down the steps, Anakin marched up the steps of the Temple with the half of the 501st that was with him. He didn’t know that clone Commanders across the Galaxy were getting transmissions from Palpatine saying to kill their Jedi. Little did he know that Ahsoka was hiding in a vent and was going to have to find out about Fives. That Plo was getting shot down by Wolffe. After just handing him his lightsaber, Cody ordered the other Troopers to shoot down Obi Wan. That Aayla trusted her troopers so much that she believed they saw something she didn’t. Depa telling her young Padawan to run.

Anakin walked into the Council Chamber room as he had felt a strong presence there. He walked in and the younglings looked up to him. One that he had recognized as the young Sors Bandeam walked over to him. “Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?”

Anakin lit his lightsaber. He knew that these would be the kills that would hurt the most. Afterall, they were young and defenseless kids. But he blocked out any pain that he could feel, and did as he was told.

Then off in the far distance, Y/N stood staring out of the window. She didn’t know what to think. She was worried for Anakin. The Temple was on fire and she wasn’t answering his calls. She had begged DB to contact Padmé to find out if Anakin had ever returned to the Temple.

She turned to look at her droid, “Padmé said that the Chancellor’s office indicated that Anakin had returned to the Jedi Temple.” She felt her heart drop at those words. “Don’t worry. I-I’m sure he’ll be alright.”

She looked back out at the window and was unable to hold back the tears that spilled. She held a hand over her mouth as she sobbed. The chances of Anakin still being alive after that were thin. But she knew she had to hope that he was. But she couldn’t. She wished that she could and she tried as hard as she could, but she was just unable to.

And so when DB told her that Anakin’s starfighter was landing, she ran over to him. She quickly went to hug him. Immediately when she pulled away, she spoke to him quickly. “Are you alright? I heard there was an attack on the Jedi Temple. You can see the smoke from here.”

He placed soft and reassuring hands on her sides. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I came to see if you and the baby are safe.”

She didn’t answer him, “What’s happening?”

He sighed, “The Jedi have tried to overthrow the Republic.” He hated that. Lying. He knew one day it would get back to her and she would hate him for it.

“I can’t believe that.”

“I saw Master Windu attempt to assassinate the Chancellor myself.”

He saw as her surprise turned to worry, “Oh, Anakin. What are you gonna do?”

He knew he had two choices. Tell her the truth or lie. He turned and walked away from her slightly. Lying would be easier. He already had. And besides, it wasn’t a full lie. “I will not betray the Republic.” He turned back to her, “My loyalties lie with the Chancellor and with the Senate and with you.”

“What about Obi Wan?”

No. He didn’t want to hear about him. He didn’t want to imagine him dead. Or imagine what he would think if he knew. Anakin didn’t want to think about Obi Wan being betrayed by Anakin. “I don’t know. Many Jedi have been killed.”

“And Ahsoka?”

Ahsoka. Maker did he hope she was okay. “We can only hope that they, both her and Obi Wan, remained loyal to the Chancellor.”

“Anakin...I’m afraid.”

He placed a loving hand on the side of her face. “Have faith, my love. Everything will soon be set right. The Chancellor has given me a very important mission. The Separatists have gathered on the Mustafar system.” His hand dropped from her face, “ I’m going there to end this war. Wait for me until I return.” She nodded softly, “Things will be different. I promise.” He carefully pulled her in for a kiss. When they pulled away, he kept his hand at the back of her neck, “Please, wait for me.”

She nodded as he walked away. She held her hands tightly together as she watched him fly away. DB walked over to her. “Oh, Y/N, is there anything I might do?”

She shook her head, “No, thank you, DB.”

He began to walk away as he spoke, “Oh…I-I actually feel helpless.”

As Anakin flew onto the small Volcanic moon named Mustafar, he began to wonder why he was doing this. Was it really all just for Y/N? What if what he saw happening to Y/N is because of him doing all of this? He shook his head and ignored those thoughts as he went to land his ship. He hopped out of the ship and walked to where he was told the Separatists would be. He knew R2 was following him, so as he lifted his hood, he gave his droid an order. “R2, stay with the ship.” He heard him beep in protest, but chose to ignore them and continue.

He walked down the hallway to the room where the Separatists were. Gunray was the one who greeted him. “Welcome, Lord Vader. We’ve been expecting you.”

He closed all of the doors so there would be no way for them to get out. He lit his lightsaber and began to kill the Separatists. It was easier than he thought it would be and he wondered why the Jedi hadn’t done this sooner. Of course, unknown to him, his eyes had turned to the sickly yellow that the Sith had been known for.

Gunray and Tambor had tried to hide in a conference room. He quickly killed Tambor before flipping over to kill Gunray who tried to plead. “The war is over. Lord Sidious promised us peace! We only want-” He stopped Gunray from finishing his sentence as he slashed his lightsaber across his body. He turned off his saber and went to send the transmission to Palpatine. Informing him that he did what he was asked to do.

Y/N let out a sigh of relief when Obi Wan showed up just as Anakin had hours previous. After they had greeted he told her that he had to speak with her. And so that’s why they were standing in her and Anakin’s sitting room.

“When was the last time you saw him?”

She walked away from him, “Yesterday.”

He followed her, “And do you know where he is now?”

She wasn’t fully sure if she could trust Obi Wan, so she lied. “No.”

“Y/N, I need your help. He is in grave danger.”

She turned around sharply, “From the Sith?”

“From himself.” Obi Wan tried to swallow anything in his dry mouth. He placed a comforting hand onto her shoulder. He knew that she wasn’t going to like what he was going to tell her. Assuming she would even believe him, “Anakin has turned to the Dark Side.”

“You’re wrong.” He knew this would be her reaction. After all, he didn’t want to believe it either. She moved back from him and his hand fell, “How could you even say that?”

He carefully moved past her. He didn’t want to tell her, but he knew he had to. “I have seen a-a security hologram...of him...killing younglings.” He placed a hand over his mouth to keep himself calm. He felt as if he was going to throw up even saying it.

“Not Anakin. He couldn’t.”

Obi Wan turned to her, she was right. Anakin couldn’t. It was against how he was. But somehow Palpatine had twisted something and convinced Anakin to turn. “He was deceived by a lie. We all were. It appears that the Chancellor is behind everything. Including the war.” He carefully moved towards her, “Palpatine is the Sith Lord we’ve been looking for.” He watched as her face grew more and more in disbelief. “After the death of Count Dooku, he began to train Anakin. And now Anakin has become his new apprentice.”

Y/N turned away from Obi Wan. She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to believe that Anakin, her Anakin, had done all of this. She walked away from him, “I don’t believe you.” She carefully sat on one of the couches. “I can’t.”

Obi Wan came to sit next to her gently, “Y/N...I must find him.”

She turned her head to him and that was when he finally saw the tears gathering in her eyes. But those tears quickly began to go away as she accused Obi Wan of something he would never do. At least not to Anakin. “You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”

But unfortunately, he didn’t deny it. “He has become a very great threat.”

He watched Y/N shake her head, “I can’t.” He knew that she knew where Anakin was. And he knew that since she knew all of this, she was going to go find him. So all he had to do was watch her until she went to find him.

He got up and walked back to his fighter, but he stopped when he was nearly there and looked at her. “Anakin is the father, isn’t he?” He knew it was true. He just needed her to give some recognition that it was true. So when she looked down he knew. He sighed, “I have turned a blind eye in order to keep you both safe. So all that I can do now is say this. I’m so sorry.” He continued and left on his fighter.

Y/N walked to her ship as her brother Y/B/N followed her. “Sister, let me go with you.”

She shook her head, “There’s no danger. The fighting’s over. And this is personal.” There was one thing that she knew, in her family, if it was personal, then you go alone. Unless you ask for help.

“As you wish, but I strongly disagree.”

“I’ll be alright, Dran. This is something I must do myself.” They stopped at the entrance of her ship. “Besides, DB will look after me.”

She turned and walked onto her ship with DB behind her as her brother walked away. And unknown to her, Obi Wan snuck on behind them. She walked over to the cockpit and DB went to the pilot’s seat and she sat there wondering how all of this happened.

#anakin skywalker #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker imagine #star wars #star wars x reader #star wards imagine #revenge of the sith #x reader #imagine

94 notes · View notes

jyndor · 1 year

Note

At this point I'm just convinced that most Star Wars fans are simply not used to thinking of their characters as nuanced, and the sequels and the disney+ stuff before andor didn't really help our case lol.

The fact that the writers retconned Luke-fucking-skywalker, the dude who gave a big F You to all Jedi traditions in the original trilogy, and also used him at Bait for the mandalorian is a true indictment of the current scenario lol.

At this point, I'm just trusting Tony and Diego more than the execs at Disney- it's clear that they want to create a specific story, and don't really give much of a fuck about the fandom which involves guys with 4+ million subscribers who have such AMAZING takes like "star wars doesn't have bricks"

jessie gender has a good video essay on youtube about andor and while i don't necessarily agree with all of it, i think the parts about how disney depoliticized star wars and made the first order almost exclusively reminiscent of nazi germany (to the exclusion of a lot of the references the empire had to us empire) as well as through use of intertextuality (almost exclusively referring to other star wars things instead of referencing to real world things like the original trilogy, the prequels and rogue one did) are 1000000% on point.

as a result fans expect cameos and easter eggs out the ass (easter eggs and cameos are fine imo as long as they make narrative sense - ie: rogue one has good cameos - mothma, saw*, bail, leia, tarkin and vader ALL make sense in the context of the story- and bad cameos - artoo and threepio are just distracting imo and don't really add anything of value except to get audience members to say HEY OMG I KNOW THOSE GUYS) and for everything to directly connect.

which... sometimes again it makes sense (the prequels being about anakin and obi-wan makes total sense, it's the point of the prequels to explain how we got to the point where luke has to fight the empire and anakin has to redeem himself and destroy the emperor) and sometimes it's just absurd and cheap. "somehow palpatine returned" auihiuahduash oh my god it's funny because it's not even like it doesn't make sense for sheev to be so obsessed with living forever and having absolute control over the galaxy, plus legends also had a story about palpatine cloning himself... but it feels absurd because the sequels weren't leading to that, we all know lucasfilm didn't have any plan whatsoever, largely bc disney wanted a fast return on their investment, but rey being a palpatine is... just insulting. rey being a skywalker is less so because of we know the main trilogies are about the skywalkers.

i don't know that i'd call any of what happened with luke in the sequels a retcon unless we're talking about how disney got rid of the entire expanded universe and now it's called legends. i mean i consider it more of a reset (especially because george lucas wasn't really involved directly with legends stories and didn't really care about any of it - not that i care what he cares about, give me my mara jade back lmfao).

but im gonna push back on luke giving the jedi order a middle finger in the OG trilogy. first off, from an out-of-universe perspective, while i'm sure lucas had some idea of what the jedi were about, i doubt he really had the order's practices worked out because lol this is the guy who didn't know that he was going to make luke and leia twins before rotj. sometimes he had his shit worked out, other times he was just figuring stuff out as he went along - and hey i get it, but lol fandom can be a bit too referential about him.

i don't know as much about how he developed the jedi so please correct me if im wrong, but there's no way that luke was intended to be a refutation of jedi practices since... luke was written decades before the prequels came out. before the prequels came out, no one in the fandom even conceived of the jedi having rules against romantic relationships and/or attachments - that's why you've got so many jedi falling in love and being married in the legends 'verse, including and especially luke.

i know my generation is much more okay with the jedi order's practices because we grew up with it and understand it more, but there was a big pushback at the time of aotc because no one had thought of the jedi being celibate or not having attachments or being raised by the order as children. but that wasn't a retcon so much as george lucas going in a direction pro fanfic writers hadn't known he was going to go in. and while he did have a final say over what legends writers could do, those weren't his stories. now i don't care lol the thrawn trilogy is great and losing mara jade as thrawn's foil makes his story less compelling (and frankly it reeks of misogyny to bring him back and not the most important character of that story but whatever). but a lot of fans were annoyed about the direction the jedi took in canon because it didn't jive with decades of pro fic.

i'm sympathetic to that. and of course add into it that the prequels were poorly executed, good intentions and ideas aside.

i don't agree that the jedi were told to fuck off by luke (obi-wan and yoda perhaps to some extent but by then their religious group had been killed off in a genocide. and only because obi-wan and yoda withhold information from luke about his father, not because they are believers in jedi teachings). in universe, remember that luke doesn't know any jedi, he isn't brought up in the order, he doesn't have that cultural context. he doesn't know about them like that. he doesn't even really get into the jedi teachings besides the sparknotes version yoda gives him in empire (and a little bit with obi-wan). he knows very, very little - so he's a new kind of jedi because the jedi were killed off by the sith.

in the time between the originals and the sequels i guess luke does try to rebuild the order but lol idk i cannot even with the story he gets in the sequels because it doesn't work with what i grew up with, it's not the luke i knew and loved as a kid. i mean im not sure how anyone can make the argument that he makes choices that are consistent with who he is at his core but whatever. that's not a retcon though (unless we consider the retconning of legends but i mean that's kind of complicated since legends was pretty inconsistent itself) since it doesn't erase his story. even if he is out of character in the sequels.

god i cannot believe im defending the sequels but yeah they didn't retcon luke's story in the original trilogy. they did retcon legends but i mean again legends was never really as canon as the films or anything that george lucas worked on.

as far as his appearance in the mandalorian, imo it is an example of a cameo done right. it was consistent with who luke is, it made some narrative sense (no reason why luke wouldn't sense grogu reaching out to him, and since he is trying to rebuild the order why not bring in someone who had some experience with the old order?) and it helped establish scale of power (similar to vader massacring the rebels at the end of rogue one) in a story mostly about a character who is an extraordinary ordinary guy (like rogue one). it doesn't take away from the core of the show - the relationship between din and grogu, and din's relationship with his identity as a mandalorian - and helps propel the story forward. similar to how ahsoka is used in mando, there's a point to it. is it fan-service? yes! absolutely, and i would argue it was sorely needed given luke's treatment in the sequels was so polarizing and hurtful to so many fans, myself included. bo-katan also makes sense since she is a literal mandalorian lmfao like it works and helps build on the differences between sects of mandalorians.

HOWEVER. juxtapose that with the book of boba fett. you've got a show about a beloved legacy character who has been a fan-favorite for decades (despite me not really caring about him before his appearance in mando lol i can't deny his popularity) and finally he's getting his story fleshed out in a way that so many fans have wanted for ages.

and not only is the story arc poorly received (imo the best parts are the stuff with the tusken raiders but even that is handled terribly because they just kill them off off-screen) but in the middle of the show, we cut away to... the mandalorian season 2.5 which then goes on to resolve the conflict set up at the end of s2 far too quickly to be as effective as it should have been.

and then as a result of the writers using 2 episodes of an 7 episode season, boba fett's story is not only structured poorly but feels rushed. he gets sidelined. in his own show. as much as din djarin gives pure 'im trying to be a secondary character in my own show' energy, he is still the core of mando. he is centered even if he isn't always the hero or the most powerful guy on screen. with boba, he feels many times to be an afterthought in the show. about him.

and that's because these cameos are really poorly used. luke could easily show up in boba fett's show because it's set on tatooine. luke could be poking around his childhood home. they have history, it's not like it wouldn't be interesting - even if i'm like meh on the idea myself. but luke doesn't show up to further boba's story. he shows up for GROGU, for the mandalorian's story arc. same with ahsoka who has no business being in bobf imo. din i can see because boba showed up in mando and they have ties to each other, but as a CAMEO. as a secondary character. poor guy can't even be the side character in a show about someone else lmfao.

this stuff is not just fan-service done poorly to me, it feels like studio meddling, like the studio was nervous about splitting up din from their cash cow baby yoda. why couldn't that have been part of mando s3? idk there's really no good explanation for it.

cameos, fan-service, even retcons and resets can be used effectively. but it depends on how they are used and why. andor handles its cameos really well because they make sense in the story. rogue one mostly does too. mando does too imo but i get why people would be frustrated with how s2 seems to overemphasize cameos... but again imo they make sense. bobf's cameos are ridiculous and insulting.

*saw gerrera isn't handled as well as the others but i'd say it isn't out of the bounds of reason for saw to be jyn's adoptive father. i think we should have seen jyn as a teenager with him.

#asks #answered #jake-and-amy-are-married #meta #the mandalorian #bobf critical #bobf #star wars #anti-sequel trilogy #star wars andor #rogue one #original trilogy #prequel trilogy

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numbuh-7-knd · 11 months

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I had a dream the other day about Luke and Leia realizing that they are functionally identical save for their hair and (possibly) eye color and just fucking with people by swapping places constantly. The time period was really fuzzy and may-or-may-not have taken place before the original trilogy in some kind of au where the both of them are rebels as teenagers and none of their rebel friends know that Luke and Leia are related, never mind twins. It was basically the two of them giggling while dressing up in each other's clothes to mess with the other rebels. At one point Leia put on a short blonde wig and Luke's clothes and the both of them showed up to a meeting to see if anyone noticed... eventually someone did and basically asked Luke "who's that?" and Luke answered "my twin" so now the rebels think Luke has a twin brother and may even think said twin has been on base for awhile... were there 2 Luke's all along?

All whist the setting was incredibly... blurry? at one point I think Leia may have implied that Naboo was destroyed instead of Alderaan. but the organa's were still dead or not in the picture. Luke and Leia were at least heavily implied to still be teenagers, and at one point made a refence to being raised by Obi-Wan? At one point there was actually a cut to Luke and Leia with obi-wan and an apparently reformed Anakin? like, he was just kind of there, not Darth Vader, and chilling while obi-wan raises his children??? to be fair though, Luke and Leia also referenced remembering the clone wars, so either Ani had an oopsie baby² as a teen, or something sent Luke and Leia to the past during/before the clone wars and Obi-Wan got saddled with raising 3 Skywalkers instead of 1.

This also all inspired some thoughts about a Star Wars Parent Trap AU where both the Organa's and the Lars's choose the same space summer camp to send the twins to. Somehow they realize that they're twins and pull the usual twin swap, only with an added layer that one of them has espionage training and they aren't just doing this to learn about the other half of their family, they're investigating their adoptive parents/families, and at this point questioning everything including "Anakin Skywalker" being Luke's dad, since it seems weird that Luke's Aunt and Uncle would claim that his dad was a pilot on a spice freighter, and yet Anakin Skywalker was the name of a well known War Hero general and Jedi, who presumably died in order 66 along with the other Jedi. So was the twin's father the war hero, a spice freighter pilot with the same name, or someone else entirely?

Then I started giggling and thought of something that would make this whole situation even more chaotic: Ezra Bridger. On top of both twins being sent to the same space summer camp, the lothal rebels send Ezra undercover at the camp. He runs into Luke and Leia and they come to the (Wrong???) conclusion that they are actually triplets, based on Ezra's age, sharing a birthday with the twins, and Ezra's offhanded remark about being adopted (referring to Kanan and Hera, but the twins don't know that)

There's also potential for all 3 to realize that they are force sensitive, and correctly assume there is some significance to that, but still manage to get things very wrong, such as coming to the conclusion that they are actually older than they think they are and were actually already alive and in the crèche at the jedi temple before order 66 as babies and were smuggled out and eventually split up.

This actually gave me more sad idea: what if they were slightly right about being alive pre-order 66 and in the crèche, but not as babies? 3 of the younglings killed by Anakin and the clones were then reborn hours later, 2 as Anakin's own children, the other as Ezra, assuming Ezra's not a Skywalker triplet lol.

sorry for the rambling lol, I wanted to share both the gist of the dream I had and the ideas it inspired. Feel free to add on to any of these ideas.

#star wars #luke skywalker #leia organa #ezra bridger #the parent trap

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sagegarnish · 2 years

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The real tragedy of Anakin is he was the perfect storm of issues + targeted grooming.

BARFING SOME ANAKIN THOUGHTS HERE.

He was a slave child, brought into the temple later than normal, taken from a mother who loved him. He was brought into the Jedi Order, who are basically a totally different culture, and who DID CARE ABOUT HIM but in a way he was very bad at understanding. He'd never had a father and he was left adrift without his mother (even before she died) and he latched on to Palpatine incredibly easily.

And Palpatine was specifically deliberately targeting him, in a way he was uniquely vulnerable to. Like. HE KNEW. Palpatine was playing that kid like an instrument from day one. He specifically knew the weak points. Looking for a parental figure, never having a father, being raised among the Jedi who are very hands off in terms of affection and love, and also strict in forbidding him from "doing what he wants to do". And later, he also viewed them as withholding his rightful status from him.

The council arguing against Anakin being trained, another mark in feeling UNWANTED. UNLOVED. When Qui-Gon chose him, and then died... that's another tick in the trauma column. And then Obi-Wan taking him in likely gave him a feeling of Obi-Wan not choosing him, and resenting him. (If you've read some of the books, it's definitely the case).

Meanwhile Palpatine is full of "Your feelings are totally normal! You are perfectly valid! The actions you took were entirely justified!" and Anakin soaks it up like water. He's desperate for praise. For validation.

He loses himself in Padme, like anyone would, their love burned hot and fiery. Forbidden, hidden, but "I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH TO NOT DISOBEY EVERYTHING I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING". Both Palpatine and Padme were these little islands of praise and validation and visible demonstratable LOVE for Anakin. He was so WEAK TO IT. Padme wasn't targeting him of course, but who could resist his needy adoration and protection? She was giving him the affection he craved his whole life, at all times.

I think the writers did a good job in making his fall seem very realistic, in that he DID have a lot of deep-seated issues that were PERFECT for exploiting. He lost his mother and Palpatine was quick to jump on that and validate his over the top GENOCIDAL reaction, and assure him the Jedi will never understand.

He uses Anakin's fear of losing Padme. And after Palpatine's attempts to remove Obi-Wan by leaving him behind to die fail, he deliberately orchestrates Obi-Wan to be NOWHERE NEARBY when his sets his final act of the plan into motion.

Anakin FEARS losing Padme, to death, or to her affection waning, or tranferring to someone else (that love triangle plot in the original screenplay would've been SO PAINFUL to watch), in the same way he FEARS losing Palpatine by disagreeing with him, by taking sides with the Jedi Order, in the same way he FEARS losing Obi-Wan by being exposed for all the violations of the Jedi Code he's done. He can never tell Obi-Wan he's married or that he killed a whole village of raiders, or that Palpatine encouraged him to kill Dooku and he did even though he was unarmed. Because then Obi-Wan will TAKE THE COUNCIL'S SIDE. Anakin is very focused on "whose side people are on" because Palpatine has subtly, sneakily, slimily taught him that's what the world is.

"If you're not with me, then you're my enemy!"

The guy cannot see in shade of gray because he's been absolutely sculpted by his life and manipulations. It's just so perfect, and GENUINELY BELIEVABLE. THe more I think about it the more I love it.

I love Anakin very much, and his slow tumble into actions that SEEM GENUINELY IRREDEEMABLE, only to gain redemption at the end.

#long post #sagegarnish posts #sagegarnish star wars thoughts

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bearpillowmonster · 2 years

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The Force Unleashed Review

I actually had this game for Wii but I didn't make it very far, I think what ended up happening was that I sold it for my PS2 (I sold a lot for that dang thing) but I thought it had a very interesting story with neat characters that always stuck out in my head. I mentioned this before but I even named by frog "Nion" because Kento Marek (Starkiller's father) was originally Kento Nion (it was changed between the book and game and stuff, last minute decision)

But I bought the Ultimate Sith Edition on Steam for 2-3$. Here's what I have to say about it:

Well the title abbreviates to TFU which is…something, FU2 I suppose, lmao.

From Wii to PC. I really enjoyed the controls on Wii, it made me feel like "One hand is light, one hand is dark". I wasn't sure that I liked the skill tree idea when I was a kid but after playing more games proper with that incorporated, I think it's fine because it shows you just how much more powerful Vader is at the beginning versus how Starkiller is. From a distance it looks like a beat 'em up/hack and slash but I found a lot to it, the force powers alone made this journey worth it, the amount of things you can manipulate is pretty stunning.

I don't remember how it was for the Wii, but for this PC version specifically, sometimes the game would freeze, audio would glitch or the loading could take a while. Makes me wish they still had support for this game.

One of the turn offs for me is the health bars above enemies heads, I know it doesn't bother most people but any game that incorporates that just seems fake to me, I even mentioned how I turned it off in Neo: Twewy. It's not healthbars that I don't like, it's that there are so many of them at one time and directly above their heads.

STORY. We know about the Jedi who escaped Order 66, who gets killed and his son gets found by Vader and taken under his wing. Or at least, I think everybody knows at least that. But I feel it's so much more. Sam Witwer, who also voices Maul now btw, does a great job. He reminds me a lot of Anakin, showing how much his training shines through. But the idea of Vader using him in secret as his personal lackey is pretty cool too, even away from the Emperor. Palpy wouldn't let Vader really go after these Jedi, I assume because the Emperor had his own plans for them so he sent someone to do it in secret.

Starkiller's design alone gives me a lot of information, he has what looks like a restraining bolt on his left, his heart. Which makes him seem cold but also just a puppet to Vader. Nothing more than a droid. A slave. So the slave becomes the slavemaster…maybe I shouldn't talk about that. But like I said, we get to see Starkiller basically live out this life that Vader couldn't, and that just so happens to include love, softening him. You see, one of the main characteristics about Anakin is that he's a good pilot but Starkiller here doesn't get that joy, he has Juno Eclipse fly for him, his personal chauffeur. I could see Vader depriving SK, I mean he gave him the name Starkiller, didn't he? He knows killing, that's it, yet they made him a cool character despite those restraints.

I've always considered this canon above any of the other games and wanted it to make an appearance in mainline Star Wars material or at least the idea of it. I mentioned with Obi-Wan Kenobi that it just always seems like there's another Jedi who escaped Order 66, which at the time this came out wasn't a problem, but the idea of Starkiller hunting them for a living as if there's an endless supply is…questionable. But I also mentioned that I thought Kenobi would've done better as a game and in a game context, this idea works really well. This was also the original bridge between 3 and 4 so this pioneered a lot of the ideas Star Wars has built since then. And even the lost masters have interesting bits to their story despite just being boss battles. Kasdan Paratus for example is overwhelmed with grief of Order 66 and has a makeshift Jedi Council room made of scrap where he made mannequins of the Masters. That's deep for someone who has only a few lines of dialogue.

As far as cosmetics and spectacles, it obviously has some really good setpieces, this is where that scene of bringing down the Star Destroyer came from. The complaint I have about that one in particular is that the scene requires you to fight off waves of TIEs as well and I'm fine with QTEs but the way that specific one was done was kind of shoddy. Each world you visit is unique and very fitting like George had a specific hand in it. Remember that really colorful plant area that Aayla Secura was killed in Order 66? You visit that planet! Felucia. And to top it off, you get a new costume every time. You want to change the color of your lightsaber? You can do that if you find the collectibles.

What, that wasn't enough?

Then aside from the costumes you gain for each mission, you also get skins for different characters throughout the series. I beat Darth Vader with the Ben Kenobi skin from Episode IV and a black lightsaber (I don't think the darksaber officially existed yet). I played a level as a Clone Wars animated style Starkiller. I beat up Luke Skywalker with a Sith C-3PO and Old Ben with a Luke from RoTJ. It's letting me live my fantasies and I think that if it wasn't for gameplay falling a bit short in a few aspects, this would be my favorite Star Wars game but for now it'll just have to settle for second to Lego Star Wars.

I'll probably leave the sequel to the novelization. Yeah, believe it or not, there are novelizations of these two games and comic books that add a little more depth, especially in the case of #2. There's a bit more elaboration to them to which I think would only strengthen the story. One boss in particular just sort of happens in this game and they only briefly explain it afterwards but it kind of comes from out of the blue, a novelization would only expand on this already great game. Even the DLCs that came with the Ultimate Sith Edition are good. I may have only paid around $3 for this but this is worth more than full price to me.

#star wars #video game #game #review #the force unleashed #tfu #sw

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parvulous-writings · 3 years

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Stars //Sith!Obi-Wan x Pregnant!Reader

Request: Heya! First of all, I just want to say, wow!!! I loved wvry word of the Vader x Reader you did, and reading your notes, I really don't mind it as an AU! I've never really read anything to do with Sith Obi-Wan before, though to be fair I only just got into Star Wars again 😅 This isn't really a request, but from what I can see from your posts, you seem to really like Obi-Wan, well, Ewan Mcgregor in general 😂I wanted to ask if you could write another x Reader, but this time a Sith Obi-Wan AU?Thanks for reading! -Red ❤ p.s, @rey-is-not-a-skywalker, you're welcome for requesting the sith x reader, I guess you're obsessed as I am 😂 p.s the second, I'm loving the new pfp!

Requested by: Red

Summary: The reader has some news for Sith Lord Obi-Wan Kenobi

Warnings: The reader is AFAB, pregnancy

Words: 1.7K

Notes: You would be correct in assuming I love Obi-Wan and Ewan McGregor as a whole. Also I’m glad you like the new pfp! I am also in love with it! :) Did I self indulge with this oneshot? I think you know the answer. Leave me alone, I am too much of a simp at this point. I have never been pregnant, so some of this may be inaccurate.

Not my gif

An old Jedi’s fall from grace was a never a pretty sight to see, it was no glorious tale to tell from any side. It was full of hurt, pain, hatred, suffering. This was more than true for the fallen Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. His downfall was the least expected out of those who turned away from the light, he had always been the most loyal of men, the most faithful of soldiers. Perhaps, in part at least, this was what drove him away from his original allegiance. He was an exceptional leader of course, the most fantastic of generals, but besides that, in the larger picture, to the Jedi Order as a whole he was nothing more than a faceless defender of the galaxy. Just another of the tens of thousands Jedi. Another factor that led to the man’s path to the dark side, was you. What you made him feel. The passion, the love. An indescribable feeling, all he could say about it was that it was truly wonderful. He did not mind the fear, or the hatred that came with it, for you made it all worth it. The massive highs compared to the lows outweighed them greatly, and thus he gave it all for and to you. His passion, his loyalty, his love. Everything he had, every fiber of his being, he gave it all to you. If he could turn the worlds on theirs heads, and you gave the word, he’d do it.

You had initially been shocked at the man’s sudden change of life-plans and of loyalty. Though, the more you thought about it, the more you began to convince yourself, perhaps he had made the right choice. He wasn’t so uptight in regards to public affection now- he’d often smother you with kisses in front of company, or hold your arm or hand as you wander about in cities or halls. Despite the Sith being the darker beings of the Force, the life you now lived was almost... Peaceful. After a while, you very much enjoyed it. There weren’t so many rules now, and you both felt free. Though, not everything about your new life was free or peaceful. There were times that Obi-Wan was pulled away from you much like in the way he was during the times of the Republic and the Jedi Order. He’d be wrenched from your embrace for weeks or months at a time, and the holocom conversations you shared were not the same as actual conversations. The comforting presence you both gave to one another were missing, and it was painfully obvious to the pair of you.

One particular night, whilst Obi-Wan had been away, you were staring out at the stars- each of them twinkling from their position on the blanket of the night from their positions thousands of light-years away. They fascinated you every night, though you knew some of the planetary systems by name and had visited a few yourself, you couldn’t help but imagine what could be hiding away on them, what could be awaiting discovery. They also distracted you from something plaguing your mind on this particular night, something you needed to get off of your chest. It had been bothering you more and more over the last few days, ever since you had made the discovery.

You are brought from your train of thought by the bleeping of your comm. You move leisurely to answer it, there was only one person who could be calling you at this time of night, but you knew he wouldn’t mind you taking a moment longer than usual. You answer your lover’s call, and a murmur on the other end of the line hushes- he must have been talking to someone as he awaited your answer. “Ah, my beloved.. I thought you had fallen asleep.” He mused quietly, his smug expression clear even through the blue hologram, and you can’t help but chuckle at him. “No. I was looking out at the stars,” You tell him, plainly. Sunsets and night skies held a special place in both of your hearts; you had spent many nights on Coruscant looking out at them, telling each other the wishes you had made on shooting stars that you rarely saw. You heard Obi-Wan sighed quietly. He knew your habits when he was away, and what they meant. “I should be returning soon, my dear.” He assured you, lowering his voice to nothing more than a whisper. “I am trying to get this done, you know, but it’s not as easy as-” “I know, I know.” You cut him off, wrapping your arms around yourself, looking down at the floor. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Obi-Wan’s brows furrows, clearly he’s noticed your odd behaviour.

“Something’s bothering you.” Obi-Wan notes, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his long robe. “Tell me,” He demanded. Though his tone was soft, it was still very much a command. You start to shake your head at him. “I would rather not... Not over the comm.” You start, looking over to his projection. He looks even more concerned than before- partially because you disobeyed an order from him, and partially because you were willingly withholding information from him. You never did either of those things, not with him. You were both in balance, and trusted each other completely. He knew this had to be incredibly serious for you to say something like this. “Then I shall return immediately.” He no longer cared for his assignment; he would much prefer that he knew you were safe and out of harm’s way. You start to shake your head more frantically. “No, Kenobi- you must finish the task the Emperor has given you, he-” “Can wait.” Obi-Wan finished abruptly. You could tell from the way he stood and held himself- chest out, shoulders back, spine rigid and straight- that he could not be swayed on this. “He can wait.” He repeated, wanting the words to sink in, for you more than himself. “I will be returning, whether you agree with me or not. I will be back by the morning.” And with that, those final harsh words, he ended the call. You sighed quietly, running your hands over your face in exasperation and stress. You hadn’t wanted to pull your lover away from the mission he had been given, you had wanted to wait just a few more days till he returned as had been planned. You sighed deeply, moving away from the comm, heading towards bed as you strip off your clothes. You nestle under the covers, wrapping your arms around yourself for some comfort.

By morning, you were well rested. As your eyes started to crack and flutter open, you became acutely aware of the arm around your waist, and the head buried into the back of your neck. You shuffle slightly to look over your shoulder, smiling slightly at the peaceful expression on the face of the sleeping man behind you. By rights, you didn’t even have to turn over to know that it was Obi-Wan, you knew the feel of his aura and his touch. Still, it provided a sense of comfort, knowing with more certainty that it was him. You shuffle round to face him fully, brushing some of his auburn locks away from his closed eyes. His nose scrunches ever so slightly at the contact; and he too starts to wake up. It’s a slow process for him, and always had been. Even during his time serving the Order; though your mornings together were few and far between, you had noticed this little pattern of his. His eyes crack open like yours had done, and a drowsy smile moves over his lips. “Good morning, darling...” He yawned softly, before pressing a gentle kiss to your jaw. “You look stunning...” He told you, his lips still pressed against your skin as he gave you the compliment- no doubt the first of many that morning. “You flatter me, Obi..” You murmur in reply, and presses kiss after feather-light kiss over your jaw and neck. “I speak only the truth for you, my love...” He trailed off for a moment, as he started to push himself up onto his elbows. “Now... Onto business...” He mused, “You still need to tell me what’s bothering you.” He pointed out, and he was right, as he often was. “So, I would start talking, my dear.”

Though his demeanour is playful, you know you shouldn’t argue this time around. You sit up, leaning against your pillows as your try to think of how to start talking about your recent discovery- despite it’s wonderful connotations, it was not as easy as one might think. “Obi...” You begin. “Darling.” He replied, hardly missing a beat. “I have some... Rather pleasing news.” He nods, prompting you to continue. “You... Are going to be a father.” It takes him a moment to actually register your words, for their meaning to sink in. He practically tackles you back into the bed when it clicks somewhere in his mind, the widest smile on his face. He’s laughing breathlessly, hardly able to believe the news or contain his excitement because of it. “Is it so?” He asked, his hand splaying over your stomach as he spoke. “My, my...” He mumbled- and it was moments like this that showed how much he had changed from his old ways. Had you given such news to him whilst he was still a Jedi- he would have panicked at first, asked if you wished to keep the child, and if you had done he would have likely asked you to leave to a slightly more rural planetary system. He had no fear now, and so didn’t need to ask you. He accepts it with ease in these times, and is more than happy to receive such news. He had no fear in rearing a child now, so long as you wished for it too. He paused as this thought washed over him, then gave you a curious look. “Are we... Keeping the child?” He asked, and you couldn’t help but chuckle. “I think we could be wonderful parents... If you’re not away so much.” You poke your finger into his chest. “Alright... I will discuss it...” He mused, resting his head near you abdomen, gazing at it in wonder. He could hardly believe that your child- the fruits of both of you- was growing there, and he was more than just excited to meet his child. He pulled you close again, whispering sweet nothings and reassurances as the morning wound on, till you eventually fell asleep again in his arms, comforted by his presence.

#sith x reader #star wars sith #kenobi x reader #obi wan kenobi #kenobi #obi wan x reader #obi wan imagine #sith obi wan #sith obi wan x reader

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padme-amitabha · 3 years

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Anidala Week 2021

Day 1: Missing Scene or Favorite Scene(s)

Anakin Skywalker could not take his eyes off the girl. He noticed her the moment he entered Watto’s shop, even before Watto said anything, and he hadn’t been able to stop looking at her since. He barely heard what Watto said to him about watching the shop. He barely noticed the strange-looking creature that had come in with her and was poking around in the shelves and bins. Even after she noticed he was staring at her, he could not help himself. He moved now to an open space on the counter, hoisted himself up, and sat watching her while pretending to clean a transmitter cell. She was looking back at him now, embarrassment turning to curiosity. She was small and slender with long, braided brown hair, brown eyes, and a face he found so beautiful that he had nothing to which he could compare it. She was dressed in rough peasant’s clothing, but she seemed very self-possessed. She gave him an amused smile, and he felt himself melting in confusion and wonder. He took a deep breath.

“Are you an angel?” he asked quietly. The girl stared. “What?”

“An angel.” Anakin straightened a bit. “They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They are good and kind, and so pretty they make even the most hardened space pirates cry like small children.”

She gave him a confused look. “I’ve never heard of angels,” she said. “You must be one of them,” Anakin insisted. “Maybe you just don’t know it.” “You’re a funny little boy.” The amused smile returned.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, looking upset and embarrassed. “I don’t fully understand, I guess. This is a strange world to me.” He studied her intently for a moment, thinking of other things, wanting to tell her of them. “You are a strange girl to me,” he said instead. He swung his legs out from the counter. “My name is Anakin Skywalker.” She brushed at her hair. “Padmé Naberrie.”

Both Anakin and Padmé were laughing now, and their laughter increased as they saw the look on the unfortunate creature’s long billed face. Anakin looked at Padmé and the girl at him. Their laughter died away. The girl reached up to touch her hair self-consciously, but she did not divert her gaze. “I’m going to marry you,” the boy said suddenly. There was a moment of silence, and she began laughing again, a sweet musical sound he didn’t mind at all. “I mean it,” he insisted. “You are an odd one,” she said, her laughter dying away. “Why do you say that?” He hesitated. ” I guess because it’s what I believe…” Her smile was dazzling. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t marry you..” She paused, searching her memory for his name. “Anakin,” he said. “Anakin.” She cocked her head. “You’re just a little boy.” His gaze was intense as he faced her. “I won’t always be…” he said quietly.”

— Terry Brooks, Star Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menace

This is one of my favorite Anidala scenes ever because their story starts so sweetly. This scene is so unique to them and after watching the OT, it’s fascinating to see a young Darth Vader as a sweet and innocent child. His interactions as a slave boy with a young queen in disguise is also fits with the fairytale-ish tone and themes in Star Wars. Anakin and Padmé’s first meeting is just precious.

This is probably the only time, Anakin and Padmé can be themselves without older figures telling them what to do. This is one of the few times Padmé is Padmé Naberrie - not Queen Amidala or Padmé Amidala. It’s interesting to see two young people from different social classes and vastly different cultures and worlds sharing a genuine moment of connection.

I can add very little to this scene but Anakin proves he has enough clairvoyance (as Admiral Motti mocks him in ANH) to be certain he has met the girl he would marry someday. Even in TPM, little Anakin Skywalker is just as much a slave to Watto as he is to the Emperor in ANH.

Even Padmé is somewhat surprised by his intensity at such an young age. Anakin also emphasizes on his identity as a person so this scene has dark undertones and references to Darth Vader.

Another scene I love is the chilling visual parallels with Vader and Padmé in ROTS. The stark contrast between their “deaths” but also the similarities show that they are still connected even while their lives hang in balance.

Padmé gives birth to life and Anakin loses his humanity. She is in a well-lit medical facility and he is in a cold, dark one. Even their heartbeats are in sync as if they are connected via the Force (which could very well be true, since she was slightly force-sensitive from carrying the twins).

As the mask lowers on Vader, he whispers (since his vocal cords are badly burnt), “Padmé, help me” and Padmé, always on Anakin’s side, hears his plea and tries to tell that to Obi-Wan with her dying breath. It’s very likely that she heard him through the connection they shared like their connection during the ruminations scene and how Leia felt Luke in ESB and but she was unable to respond as she had given birth and probably lost the temporary force sensitivity.

As Anakin takes his first breath as Vader, Padmé takes her last.

Vader rises like Frankenstein’s monster and Sidious marvels at his new “creation”. Padmé dies all in white, like the angel Anakin believed her to be. The parallels are also reminiscent of the “Death and the Maiden” motif.

Anakin has always felt connected to Padmé since he met her and this is the last time he feels their connection. And that’s how he knows Padmé is truly dead and he has lost her forever.

Even the chorus “I am a Sith Lord but I could not save her” (even though the lyrics are actually Sanskrit) is haunting. This is where the colors of the republic fade and the black and white symbolism of the empire begins.

Anakin is now Vader - more machine than man - and stands beside Sidious to assist him in building a tyrannical empire while Padmé dies and takes with her all the colors, love, laughter, cultural beauty, and freedom of the Republic era. Padmé was the personification of the Republic - a flawed but well-intended system and her death represents the democracy whereas Vader represents the Empire.

Her funeral arrangement makes it seem like she’s drowning like Ophelia - implying that she’s returning to where she belongs. (Her planet Naboo is mostly associated with water and Padmé has often expressed her love for water and lakes in AOTC).

Padmé dying of a broken heart is also fits in with the fairytale whereas Anakin finds himself in a very different world after he wakes up - a world where most of the Jedi had been slaughtered and the survivors were declared traitors, a world where democracy doesn’t exist anymore. And he finds himself kept alive my machinery and he cannot die like his beloved, even if he wishes to. He is now very much a part of the new empire - with his humanity and limbs lost - and he gradually accepts his role as the imperial enforcer.

Anakin and Padme’s story comes to a conclusion here as their reverse arcs are completed. They have both come a long way since TPM and Padme’s experiences mold her into becoming more emotional and in touch with her feelings from the stoic, reserved Queen Amidala whereas Anakin’s dreams, compassion and search for his identity are lost as he becomes his master’s servant and becomes colder and more stoic. Padmé’s journey was to become more human and learning to put love and family over duty and transition from Amidala to Padmé as Anakin’s unfortunately was to become more inhuman and machine-like, from Anakin to Vader.

These scenes are where the prequel trilogy ends and the originals begin.

#anidalaweek2021 #anidalaweek #anidala #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #darth vader #vaderdala #anakin x padme #vader x padme #the phantom menace #tpm #novelization

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inkformyblood · 3 years

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You Speak Of Grace

Commander Cody Week Day 02 Origins [ @commandercodyweek ]

Pairing: Codywan

Summary: Cody is about to meet his new Jedi, but he will make sure his men are as prepared as they can be. Little does he know that Obi-Wan is anything but what he was expecting.

“Once more.” Cody’s voice rang out as the test alarms died away, eliciting a fresh wave of groans from the assembled clones. From behind his helmet, Cody glanced over the group, running through the list in his mind once again. The heavy gloves hid the faint trembling of his hands as his fingers danced over the datapad, drawing up another scenario. “Test Scenario 00726. Oya!”

Distantly, Cody could almost hear Alpha-17’s low rumbling laugh echo forth from his memory at their displays of grumbling compliance. He carefully ignored the brother at the back — Crys, he thought, judging from the bright yellow daubed over his pauldrons and the dark hair growing up through the unnatural yellow dye — who ducked behind a console and emerged after swallowing down the last dregs of his caf.

The consoles rang shrilly as they ran through the necessary checks once more, heads lowered as the other clones focused on their own work. Cody sensed movement just behind him, but didn’t turn, watching the grey painted shape of Helix, their medic, move up behind him in the reflection of a console.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

Helix’s voice was soft but no less filled with purpose, expecting to be heard and understood. Cody was the Commander of the Battalion, but Helix was the medic, and that was something entirely different.

“Granted.”

Helix tapped the comm on his wrist, shifting to a private channel, and Cody stifled the reflexive twinge of fear that rattled down his spine. Fear was useful, Alpha-17 had barked at the younger clones in the Command Track, echoing the words of the trainers before him, but it was also dangerous. Drawing in a deep breath, letting it flow through him rather than rule his thoughts, Cody switched to the private channel as well.

“You are doing a good job,” Helix murmured, his voice slightly distorted over the comm. “You are already a good commander, and having a Jedi won’t change that.”

Cody didn’t respond, didn’t want to think about what Helix could read in the sudden stillness of his hands or the lines of tension that flickered into life along his shoulders, but merely nodded, his throat tight.

Helix lightly tapped the back of his wrist guard against Cody’s hip in a silent benediction. “I’m going to head down to medical. Over the next few days, I’ll need to check on the troopers and the Jedi to get a baseline.”

“I’ll draw up a rota,” Cody promised, adding yet another item onto his mental checklist. Dimly, he spared a thought for how his brothers in the command track were faring. Their own comms channel had been eerily quiet since they had received their battalion allocations and left in the early hours of the morning with one final message each of “Oya”.

“Appreciate it,” Helix said with an inclination of his head and stepped away. The other medics, Border and Patience, shadowed him like ghosts, barely half a step behind in a haunting unison that would have made the trainers proud.

Cody turned back to the men, tracking their progress as they worked through the machines, feeling a warm glow of pride settle in his chest. This would work. This had to work.

A warning prickled at the base of his skull, and Cody was already turning to face the doorway by the time his mind had drawn the context clues together.

As Helix left, his pace had slowed slightly, and the soft whoosh of the doors closing took longer than it should have. One of the troopers had raised his head, gaze fixed at something over Cody’s shoulder as one of his hands formed the beginning of the symbol for ‘Mother’, a warning of being watched back on Kamino. But the critical clue was the message flashing from the Command Track Chat from Bly that only read ‘oh no my Jedi’s hot.’

“Hello there.”

“Hello, sir,” Cody said, running on instinct as the rest of his mind went blissfully blank. The only information he had been given was a name and a grainy holo picture to recognise his Jedi by. A small thrill ran down his spine at that thought. Possession was still something all the clones were getting used to, and the knowledge that this man was his, was theirs, was more than Cody could have thought possible.

“Jetti on bridge,” Cody barked over his shoulder to the others, feeling the weight of their eyes on his back.

Obi-Wan smiled, the edges of his eyes — so unbelievably blue, like the point where the ocean met the sky — crinkling. “Please, Commander, call me Obi-Wan.”

“Obi-Wan,” Cody repeated with a nod, further committing it to memory. He was grateful for the helmet that was still covering his head as he felt the heat settle in his cheeks. Full armour was cumbersome for now, but it had been better to be safe than sorry.

“From what I understand, you have names as well?” Obi-Wan’s gaze darted around the room; his voice pitched low. “I don’t wish to cause any offence; this situation is very new to me.” He tucked his hands into his sleeves, clasping them in front of him.

“CC-2224 is my designation. But my name is Cody, sir.”

It was as if Cody’s words ripped the oxygen from the room, every trooper freezing in place in perfect military rest. Obi-Wan had to feel the pressure lowering onto his shoulders, but he merely grinned once more.

“Cody. That’s an excellent name and a good choice.” Obi-Wan paused, glancing around the room and meeting the gaze of every trooper who quickly lowered their heads back to their consoles at Cody’s signal.

“I trust I can count on you to keep me right, Cody? I will defer to your expertise.” Obi-Wan’s grin was as warm as sunlight, intoxicating when it was directed at just Cody, and he felt his cheeks burst with heat once more.

“Yessir,” Cody said, snapping back into parade rest out of habit.

“I’m not sure what the Kamioans have told you, but if you’re amenable, full armour outside of active combat isn’t required.” Obi-Wan paused with a heavy sigh, looking far older than he was for a moment before he pushed whatever memory it was away. “This isn’t my first war, but no need to make it harder than it needs to be.”

“So,” Cody swallowed, turning his head slightly to track Boil and Waxer’s whispering, their heads pressed together out of the corner of his eye, “Permission to dismiss the men to store their extras?”

“Permission more than granted, Commander.”

If Cody had thought that his mind went blank before, it was nothing compared to being alone on the bridge with Obi-Wan. In every scenario, every training simulation or exercise, nothing could have prepared him for this moment. Alpha-17 and the others took after Prime almost perfectly, and that applied to his lack of attraction as well, at best able to offer rough support to a heartbroken trooper in basic training.

Obi-Wan began to move around the bridge, glancing over the simulated manoeuvres that had been programmed in with a gleam of interest in his eyes. “If you want, Cody, you can store your belongings as well. We’re going to be working together for a while, and I see no reason to start out with extreme formality.”

Cody’s hands were steady as he reached up to remove his helmet, subtly pressing at the itch that had erupted two hours ago at the nape of his skull as he did so. Obi-Wan’s face softened as he watched him, unable to hide the obvious curiosity in his eyes.

“I can definitely see the resemblance.”

Cody laughed, the noise startled out of him, jaw snapping shut with a click.

“I’m sorry, sir,” he began, but Obi-Wan cut him off with a wave of his hand, his shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

“Please, don’t apologise, Cody. If there is anyone at fault, then it is me.”

“No, sir.” Cody paused to find the correct words, tapping his fingers against the edge of the datapad as he thought. This wasn’t what he had been expecting, Obi-Wan wasn’t what he had been expecting, but he always had been quick on his feet. “As you said, no reason to start out with extreme formality. No fault here.”

Obi-Wan hummed quietly as he thought, and Cody took a moment to inspect the Jedi he would be serving under. The robes hid much of his frame, but Obi-Wan had moved with confidence, despite the fact that the fabric wouldn’t give much protection or possibly act as a hindrance. Cody made another note on his mental list, needing to confer with the other Commanders once everyone had settled again.

“I think this is going to be an excellent partnership, Cody,” Obi-Wan said at last. “With that in mind, with the full reassurance that you can tell me no at any time for whatever reason, would you like to join me for a cup of tea? I believe there is some final paperwork to go over.”

“Yessir,” Cody answered before the full implication hit him. Obi-Wan would be sharing, even serving most likely, something precious of his, something he had deliberately chosen to bring aboard a battleship, knowing the cargo restrictions. “I’d be honoured.”

“Excellent! Anakin, my padawan—” Obi-Wan paused, and Cody wordlessly fell into pace at his side, a few inches shorter than the other man as he titled his head to continue watching him, “—he never quite got the taste for it, unfortunately.”

“I am looking forward to it, sir.”

Obi-Wan gave him a look, his grin all fond curled edges.

“Obi-Wan,” Cody corrected himself. He felt like a fool to hope, but it was a hope he held onto tightly.

Out of sight, Cody tapped a message into the Command Chat before silencing it, knowing the explosions it would spawn. ‘Mine’s better, vod.’

#codyweek2021 #codywan #commander cody #obi wan kenobi #star wars #clone medic helix #my writing

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qqueenofhades · 3 years

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so…now that we all know what you DISLIKE about star wars (and 400% fairly so, you have my full support here)…

what drew you into the universe, what keeps you around?

favorite characters, ships (OTPs or actual spaceships lol), overall themes, do you have a favorite random weird creature or robot that you adore? whatever you wanna talk about!

go off honey (again, but supportively 💖💖💖)

tax paid: the very nerdy star wars punk vest i made and the even nerdier matching vest i made for starsky

Lmaooo, entirely valid. You were like "star wars?" and I was like the drunk person at the bar who can't stop shouting about how much their ex sucks. But now that I have gotten all that off my chest, let's talk about why I love it (since if I didn't love it, I wouldn't have such strong opinions). Basically my feelings on the OG SW trilogy are similar to my feelings on the OG LOTR trilogy, as that tumblr post floating around somewhere put it: sure, they have flaws, but also, they're perfect. I have a complicated relationship with the prequels, as do we all, since George Lucas cannot write dialogue or direct actors to save his life (stick to what you're good at, George, hire other people to do the rest), but even they have their moments. Like. Hit me with that "Across the Stars" love theme, John Williams. Gahh. Just like that.

Because... Star Wars wasn't actually this omnipresent corporate global entertainment monolith when it started out. It was a dorky low-budget indie sci-fi film in the 1970s which everyone thought was going to bomb. But it told a simple and compelling story in an interesting way, everyone agrees that ESB is one of the best films/sequels ever made, and then ROTJ gave it a happy ending while it was still okay to do that. My main thematic gripe with the Disney trilogy (I will try to keep those to a minimum, lol, but I have to bring it up to compare) is that it very clearly fell into the "actual happy endings are naive and unrealistic and a cynical postmodern audience won't accept anything less than things being Bad" trap that, yet again, we have GOT to thank for. It obviously existed to some degree before that, but GOT blew it up to huge levels, where the only valid situation or character is that which is Grimdark and Depressing. Which, in my view, misses the heart and soul of what SW is all about??

Like. ESB is genuinely dark. ANH was this fun plucky little sci-fi film where the scrappy good guys won the day against the Nazi stand-ins, as they were supposed to, and then ESB comes along (speaking of John Williams, let us all chant together, DUH DUH DUH DUHDUHDUH DUHDUHDUH, DUH DUH DUH DUHHHH DUHHH DUHHH DUHHHH) and things go... wrong. Leia and Han are on the run for most of the movie, then get captured and tortured by the Empire and and betrayed (however unwillingly) by Lando. The Rebellion is attacked on Hoth (I tell you, those fuckin AT-AT walkers were SCARY when you see it as a young kid for the first time), and forced into hiding. Luke loses his hand, doubts Obi-Wan and Yoda and realizes that his mentors are fallible, makes dumb mistakes, and of course gets hit with The Most Famous Line In Movie History. But it's also just adrenaline and excitement. THE ASTEROID FIELD! THE HAN-LEIA BANTER! THE FIRST LUKE-VADER DUEL! THE FACT THAT YOU HEAR TWO FRICKING NOTES OF THE IMPERIAL MARCH AND YOU'RE JUST LIKE OH YEAH OH YEAH OH YEAHHHH!

But also then... Return of the Jedi. It gets shat upon for the Ewoks and reusing the Death Star as the Big Bad and being supposedly cheesy and not as Thematically Dark as ESB. Which is all kinda silly, in my opinion, but also, can we talk about Luke Skywalker's character arc and how he chooses possibly the most radical compassion ever demonstrated by a hero in an action movie, let alone a space opera. He insists that Anakin Skywalker is still in there somewhere and puts his own neck on the line to prove it. Luke doesn't save the galaxy by being a Badass Jedi. He saves it by throwing away his lightsaber and saying "I will not fight you, Father." He saves it by trusting that even in the depths of darkness, Anakin can come back from the charred ruins of Darth Vader and finally do what he was supposed to do all along. He can end Palpatine for good and all (we don't talk about "Somehow Palpatine has returned" because it's nonsense, obviously). Anakin can avenge the Jedi and what was done to him and all the lies he believed and the pain he wreaked on the galaxy, even then. It's not too late. It's not too late. Like. I don't care if this is Lightweight or Childish or whatever. It makes me CRY every time I watch it. Especially the moment where Luke takes off Anakin’s helmet and sees how ruined he actually is under there, and yet the downfall and death of the trilogy’s chief villain is not triumphant at all but instead utterly heartbreaking. “You were right about me Luke... tell your sister... you were right.”

Excuse me, I need to just /CRIES INTENSELY/

Luke won't be tempted to the dark side for his own sake, but Leia's ("If you will not join me, then perhaps she will"). I likewise hold firmly that Anakin/Vader is one of the best movie villains/antiheroes of all time and likewise have many feelings and Strong Opinions about his arc, prequel writing clumsiness and eye-rollingly tepid love story aside. (See: he and Obi-Wan were deeply in love and in a way they still are, don't @ me. I have no problems with Padme and obviously stan Natalie Portman at all times, but Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship is the real love story, the heart of the prequels, and in some ways even the subsequent movies, the end.) And “so this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause” is... raw af as a line. For being in a Star Wars prequel movie. What?? (Also, the Revenge of the Sith novelization had no business being as good as it was. If only that dude had also written the movie.)

Anyway, my point is: the OG trilogy had plenty of moments of staggering emotional weight and where things genuinely sucked for the good guys and the outcome wasn’t entirely clear. The difference is that it didn’t choose to dwell on them, and it allowed for a transformative fictional space where a happy ending, fiercely fought for and squarely earned, was the right outcome. We didn’t need to go back thirty years later and make everything suck for fear that a cynical modern audience couldn’t connect with it otherwise. (Like I said, we didn’t need the new movies at all, but Disney heard that Cha-Ching of the Almighty Dollar). Star Wars was sci-fi, sure, but it also had the fantasy elements that allowed a happy ending to be the right choice for what we saw the characters go through and the philosophy that carried us through the original trilogy.

Likewise it’s just... Peak as far as dynamics go. C-3PO the fussy metal butler who worries about Everything and R2-D2 who is the droid embodiment of YOLO? Flawless. Sassy scruffy space pirate and badass politician warrior princess bicker constantly, butt heads, drive each other crazy, and then fall in love? Iconic. (And has shaped my ship tastes for... all of eternity, oops.) The above-discussed transformation of Luke Skywalker, whiny ordinary teenage kid, to the truly great man who fulfills what Obi-Wan, Yoda, AND the rest of the entire Jedi order couldn’t manage to do, because of their own flaws and blind spots and black-and-white moral views that didn’t know what to do with a man who loved as passionately as Anakin Skywalker, for better or for worse? The guy who managed to save the galaxy with love? STAN.

So... what? The Disney trilogy decides to retcon all that, throw everything that they’ve fought for out the window, make Han, Leia, and Luke miserable and rejecting the roles they grew into in the original trilogy, and die without ever really reuniting or seeing each other again as a trio? The underlying message was that “these happy endings aren’t satisfactory/realistic/sophisticated enough” and idk, maybe it’s just the shitshow of the last few years, but I’d like to see some entertainment that had the cojones to tell me that despite all the darkness and despair, maybe there’s a chance for hope. (”Rebellions are built on hope,” thank you Only Valid New Star Wars Movie Rogue One.) And Rogue One worked so well, despite being utterly GUTTING as all the heroes died one by one, because we knew what was coming next (A New Hope) and that their sacrifice was going to be worth it. I don’t care if that’s “realistic” or not. As I’ve said before, that’s what stories are for, and if I only wanted things that were Real Life, I would only read the news. Besides, the idea that happy endings never happen in reality is equally bullshit. We as a culture need to accept that more, instead of finding reasons to tear everything down.

So just... yes. The original trilogy might have flaws, but also, it’s perfect. And do I want to rewatch it all now? Kinda.

(Anyway. I warned you this was gonna be long. Oh look, it’s long, and I’m sure there is even more I could say, but still. Ahem.)

sleepover weekend asks

#buffaluff #ask #star wars #long post

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skywalkerfanatic · 3 years

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Skywalkers on the Run AU

Luke blows their cover part 1/2

Part 1/2 of the “Luke blows their cover” Skywalkers on the Run AU.

This was originally suppose to be a one-shot for my Skywalkers on the Run AU but it ended up being a lot more lengthy than I intended so I split it up. The second part will be posted shortly however, I’ve already written it and just need to finalize the draft!

Skywalkers on the Run ideology: Skywalkers on the Run is an AU that takes place following ROTS. In this AU Anakin flee’s with Padme and never has his confrontation with Obi-Wan. This story covers the time-line adventures of the Skywalker’s as they go on the run from the empire.

Summary: Eight years after the fall of the Republic, Anakin Skywalker finds himself hiding out on Jakku with his family. With a sick Leia at home, Padme sends Anakin and Luke out to run errands and buy medical herbs. Things are going rather smoothly until Anakin gets word that the empire is making a surprise visit to the planet, and Luke comes head-to-head with the empire itself.

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Hood up, head down. That was the first rule of how to go unnoticed when your a well-known fugitive on the run.

He'd bounced from planet-to-planet in the eight years that the republic had fallen. He'd been all across the galaxy. No matter where he went, no matter how far he ran, the empire always found him. In the beginning it'd been his own fault for their frequent run-ins. He'd never been a fugitive before, he didn't understand how careful you had to be to live life as a criminal.

He learned, eventually. Learned how to cover his tracks and blend into crowds. Before all of this, he was the type who's presence immediately demanded attention when he walked into a room. Now, he had learned to mask all of that.

Now their run-ins were mostly his wife's fault. She was helping to start a rebellion. Sometimes her ship got tracked. It worried him for her safety and the safety of their children, but he would never tell her to stop. She had given up everything to be with him. She lived a life on the run because of him. He could see that this rebellion brought that fire and passion that she held so strongly in her time in the senate. He could not take that from her too.

Where were they now anyways, another backwater planet in the outer rim? Jakku, maybe. It didn't matter much anymore. All these planets were the same in the only thing that mattered to him.

Lawlessness.

It wasn't so much that the empire had no control over planets like Jakku, they had the entire galaxy gridlocked. It was more that planets like Jakku were so insignificant to the empire that fugitives like him ran rampant here. Jakku had no resources or power that the empire saw beneficial. Outside of their periodic "wellness" checks, they basically left them alone.

"Dad, slow down!"

Anakin slowed his pace to a stop and turned to the boy behind him, watching as he ran to catch up. Lost in his own thoughts about the empire he'd nearly forgotten about the boy's presence entirely. He knew better than to let himself get distracted when he had his son with him. Though he was admittedly better at staying out of trouble than his sister, he was still just a child. The Skywalker's couldn't afford any type of trouble in this galaxy.

When Luke's small legs caught up to his father Anakin rustle's his shaggy blonde hair. Padmé had been begging Luke for an entire week to let her cut it. "You've got to keep up if you want to keep going on big-boy excursions with me, Luke."

"It's not my fault you have acklay-long legs, Dad!" Luke retorted back, grabbing hold of his father's hand so that he could keep up with him. Despite his father's slowed-pace Luke still struggled to keep up with him, having to give the occasional step-jog to maintain his pace. Luke didn't dare complain though, afraid his father would leave him out of the next big-boy excursion.

Anakin chuckled at his son. Though his legs might not have exactly been acklay-long, there was no denying the fact that their long length made it difficult for most others to keep up with. He had heard Padmé tell him enough to know its truth.

Anakin's grip tightened on his son's small hand as they made their way into the bustling Niima Outpost. It was especially packed today, and with the blazing sun baring down on him the extra body heat that the crowd provided was not welcomed.

Behind him he could hear Luke's feet shuffling after him. He could sense his frustration and stress everytime someone bumped into his small frame. Anakin could scoop the boy up and carry him, taking him out of what he was sure was an unpleasant situation to be in for someone who's head didn't reach past anyone's hips. He didn't see that as having long-term benefits to the boy, however.

Luke was eight now, only a year younger than himself when he was taken by the jedi. Five years older than he was when he was first sold into slavery. Part of their father/son big-boy excursions was teaching Luke how to be a big-boy, and part of being a big-boy was learning to maneuver through tight crowds filled with rude creatures.

It wasn't like Anakin had just cut him loose in the crowd either. He still had a tight hold on the boy to assure his safety.

"Finally," Anakin breathed when they came to a stop at the herbal booth he had been searching for. He gave Luke's hand a final squeeze before dropping it and looking towards the lasat on the opposite site of the herbal booth. "I'm looking for a batch of nysillin."

"Nysillin, eh? Quite the expensive medical herb you're in search of." The lasat's purple mouth curved upward as she coo'd at the former sith lord. Anakin caught sight of the slight twitch of her pointed ears as she no doubt was ready to swindle the hooded man that stood before her. "what's wrong honey, you comin' down with a nasty sickness?"

"Not me." He said.

It was then that he felt Luke tugging at his belt. He looked down at the blonde boy who resembled Anakin's own child-self in a striking manner. Anakin raised an eyebrow at his son. "Can I go play?"

"Play?" Anakin looked past Luke in confusion. In the distance he spotted a group of boys kicking ball in the sand-dunes. Anakin had to roll his eyes at the request. The last thing that he wanted was to carry a sand-covered Luke home after he wore himself out. Nevertheless, he replied with "Okay, but don't go far. I have a few more errands to run and then we're leaving."

Anakin didn't have to watch Luke run into the distance, he could feel him as easy as he could see him. As long as they stayed near enough he could sense his son's force presence to know exactly where to find him if they needed to leave at a moment's notice.

Anakin turned back to the lasat who was watching his son curiously. "The boy doesn't seem very sick either." She mused.

"It's for my daughter," He replied, a hint of annoyance lacing his tone as he fished through his pockets for credits. He tossed what was in his hand onto the table saying, "for the nysillin."

The lasat had the nerve to look offended by his actions. She individually picked up each credit and placed it into her palm, holding her hand out flat. "I don't remember discussing a price with you, young man."

Anakin scoffed, he hadn't been a young man in years. He had just broken into his thirties - far from young in his book. He hadn't even felt youthful in years, not since that first night that dreams of Padmé’s death began plaguing his sleep. He didn't know it then, but they were a result of Sidious' force manipulation on him. It would consequently be the downfall of the ever-so noble life that he led, as well as the fall of the entire civilization that he grew up in.

He couldn't say that it was the end of his life, however. That he had no positive's left. He might not have everything that he had when he was a jedi, or everything that he desired when he was a sith, but he did have his family. The only thing that had outweighed everything else in the galaxy to him. Even when he had been blinded by the dark side. Then it had been all about saving Padmé - now it was all about keeping his family together.

"I know the price that nysillin sells for." His voice was low when he spoke, dipping ever-so-slightly into that darkness he always held at bay. Anakin was in no mood to banter over the price of his daughter's medicine. "You won't get anymore out of me than what I've already given you."

The lasat tried to meet his gaze under the hood, peering up curiously as to see the face inside. "Very well." She stuff the credits into her pocket and began rummaging through the herbs. Anakin stood with hands behind his back as he waited. "say you're a family man, eh? What you doing out on Jakku? Hardly a place to raise children."

If it had been a different time Anakin's eye's would have gone yellow. If it had been in the beginning he would have reached his hand up and choked her for whatever disrespect she implied. Now he just stood there, entertaining the shopkeeper enough to get his herbs. "I see plenty of children here."

"Slaves, mostly." She frowned as she finished up her batch of nysillin, tying the bag that held it in a knot. He did not see any fault in her statement. "I hear the empire is making a surprise visit to the village tonight." Anakin's head jerked up fast enough to make his hood fall back on his head, resting now at the end of his forehead instead of covering his face. "They've got a hit that some hot-shot fugitive is hiding out somewhere on Jakku. Now I don't know who exactly they're looking for, but I do know that most people who end up on Jakku are hiding from something. I also know that I hate seeing families torn apart. You seem like you're an okay dad, I'd keep your family away from Niima if I was you."

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kenobiapologist · 3 years

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Star Wars Novel Rankings

In celebration of the end of this year, I made a tier list of all of the Star Wars novels I’ve read since I joined this fandom in 2017 (which you can use to rank these books too). And I named all the tiers in a dorky but appropriate fashion. I would love to hear your thoughts on my rankings, as well as how you’d rank the books yourself! I’ve had a blast reading Star Wars novels from both Disney’s canon and the Legends extended universe over these past 3 years. Here’s to many more years of reading stories from the galaxy far far away!

I put longer (but not more coherent) thoughts below the cut.

The Chosen One: Bringing Balance to the Force and My Depressed Soul

1. The first spot of top tier had to go to Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization for obvious reasons. You simply cannot beat it. It’s a masterpiece. I literally had to put the book down to scream when I read the prose associated with the opening battle over Coruscant. It gave a whole new meaning to the triumphant music and the synchronous twirling of Obi-Wan and Anakin’s starfighters as they weave through blaster-fire in the battle over Coruscant. The rest of the book is the same way. You can’t put it down. I have wAyyYyYy too many feelings about this book oh my god.

2. Thrawn was a surprising book for me. For being centered on an admiral of the Empire’s navy, it had so much heart in it! I loved reading from Eli Vanto’s perspective too. god dammit I love that freaking Wild Space hillbilly dweeb with all my heart. I think his experiences getting to know Thrawn and learning from him guides the reader to feel much the same way as Eli by the end. Thrawn is a trusted friend, not the enemy you expect him to be. I could have done without Arihnda Pryce but she’s supposed to be unlikeable so I won’t blame Timothy Zahn this time.

3. The Clone Wars Gambit duology is basically Karen Miller writing fanfic and I’m HERE FOR IT. As is tradition with Karen Miller’s Star Wars novels, the emotions are dialed up the eleven. Our favorite dumbass Jedi team is back at it again with a mission to save the galaxy and this time they end up going undercover as two lumberjacks from the boonies. Anakin holds an energy shield back from collapsing with his bare hands like a total badass. Obi-Wan is in love with another woman despite it always ending in tragedy, while also bickering like a married couple with Anakin every ten seconds. get a fucking room, you two. These two books inspired one of my fics so they’re near and dear to my heart.

Jedi Master: These Books Have A Seat On The Council Too

4. Wild Space was appropriately named, I’ll tell you that. It’s a wild ride from start to finish. *slaps the front cover* this book can fit so much of Obi-Wan’s suffering in it! @forcearama has elaborated on the many reasons why this book is a gem in Snark Wars blog posts (linked here). It’s also the beginning of the best team-up since Anakin and Obi-Wan...Bail and Obi-Wan! These two bastards get under each other’s skin but it makes for the perfect character development. This book is the reason I screech with delight whenever Bail Organa appears on screen, or is mentioned in conversation. Bail gets a mysterious tip about trouble on a planet, and Obi-Wan decides to go with him to investigate. Cue Sith-induced suffering. It’s cool to see a normal person experiencing the weirdness of Force sensitives and how the world has this extra level of sensory information in it. Plotwise this one isn’t the best, but I think the interactions between characters really shine in this novel. Karen Miller’s writing is like a cup of hot chocolate to me. Indulgent character insight, full of sweet moments, has a bunch of extra marshmallowy dialogue, you’re reading it to have a good time but not to be satisfied with plot. You get me?

5. Do I even have to explain myself here? Kenobi by John Jackson Miller is both an interesting western-style tale set on Tatooine, and a beautiful character study of a man stricken with grief he keeps suppressed. How does one continue on when their whole family was murdered and their whole culture burnt to ash? I wanted to give Obi-Wan a hug the entire time I read this. The characterization was spot-on, from the way he wrangled animals to the way he severed a man’s arm off in a bar with his lightsaber. And when he meets a woman named Annileen Calwell, or Annie for short, Obi-Wan can’t bring himself to call her by her nickname ever and if that doesn’t just break your damn heart fucking fuck.

6. Ahsoka was the first Disney canon book I ever read and it kickstarted my love for E.K. Johnston. The writing is simplistic, but that makes it easy to jump into. Overall, it’s a quick and enjoyable read. By far the best parts are the flashbacks that mull over memories Ahsoka has of the time before Order 66. That shit hits you right in the heart, man. And the part where Ahsoka equates Obi-Wan and Anakin to her adoptive family ohhhhhhh god the tears they flow like a river. There are scenes that allude to Ahsoka becoming the vital part of the Rebellion we know her to be from Rebels, balanced with her current struggles to survive and find herself. Despite having cast away her identity as a Jedi and having any remaining bits of her culture destroyed by Palpatine, Ahsoka shows us all how bright a hero can shine in the darkest of times. AND SHE WAS WRITTEN AS QUEER! finally some good fucking food.

7. Oh shit, another E.K. Johnston book? Don’t be surprised. She’s a prequel fan and so am I, hence why Queen’s Shadow is so high on the list. E.K. Johnston pays homage to our favorite queen and badass senator Padme Amidala. There’s politics, there’s solidarity between female characters, and Bail Organa is in it so you KNOW I simply must give it a high rating. All jokes aside, I thought the story added lots of little details to the world of Star Wars without it being all stereotypical sci-fi nerdy language. You know how people want to describe something beyond our technological capabilities so they throw a bunch of nonsense together like “pre-praxis crystal bio-anode circuitry”? I’m looking at you, Karen Miller, I love you but please. There is none of that in this book. It makes sense, it adds color and culture and life to the worlds of Star Wars. Most of all, it devotes time and love to developing Padme outside of her place in canon as Anakin’s wife, Queen of Naboo, and Senator. She is all of these things, but she’s human too. I do agree that the pacing is slow, but it’s something meant to be savored, I think. E.K. Johnston really shines when she’s writing dialogue because she gets these characters. That’s something to appreciate, because not all canon books agree with the way we’ve perceived the characters as an audience.

8. Rogue Planet chewed me up, spit me out, and declared me an even bigger stan for The Team. People who say Qui-Gon would have been a better master for Anakin can ~get out~ because I could read about these two hooligans getting neck deep in space shenanigans all damn day. Anakin is like twelve, which is a time in his training that we don’t get a lot of in canon. Personally, I think it was equal parts heartwarming and funny to read about their adventures. There is some angst sprinkled in there because hey, we’re reading about Anakin here, let’s not forget the emotional trainwreck that is Anakin Skywalker. The duo is sent to a planet that makes super fast ships that are ?sentient? or at least biologically active. They bond with the pilot, which makes Anakin perfect for this mission. There’s a scene where these little floof things attach all over tiny Anakin because he’s so strong in the Force and it’s god damn adorable how dare he?? I’d probably rate this one even higher if I read it again, but it’s been awhile. Characterization is spot on and reminiscent of Matthew Stover’s writing in how it highlights the strong bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin, how they’re fated to know each other. I’m a sucker for soulmates, what can I say?

9. Lost Stars reads like a movie. Not a script, but just the perfect amount of detail that you can imagine the scenes but the pacing is still quick, the dialogue smooth and natural. I couldn’t help wishing this was a film because the story was so all-encompassing. The highs and lows of the emotions of both protagonists, their relationship developing, the differences in culture. Folks, this book has it all! It’s a totally different perspective on the events of the original trilogy, seen from the side of Imperial cadets training to become pilots. Eventually, one splits off and joins the Rebellion while the other perseveres in the Empire. It’s like star-crossed lovers, but covers so much more ground than that. And the characters are fully developed. These original characters knocked my socks off, and that’s hard to do since I’m usually an Obi-Wan stan through and through. For anyone uncertain of reading Star Wars novels, this book is a great place to start. Action-packed, emotion-filled, and stands on its own despite weaving perfectly into the established universe. What more could you want?

10. Back at it again with the prequel shit, amiright? Queen’s Peril is E.K. Johnston’s most recent Padme-centric novel and it does not disappoint fans that wanted a taste of the Queen’s side of the story. Set during the events of The Phantom Menace, we get a “behind the curtain” look at how all of the handmaidens came to be more than their title suggests. There’s teenage girls getting stuff done! It makes more sense why Padme was elected ruler of her home-world, and you come to appreciate that a royal leader is not alone; there’s actually a whole team at her side to help her overcome everything from the drudgery of daily governing to Trade Federation blockades that threaten to starve her people. I think if you enjoyed Queen’s Shadow, you’ll enjoy this book a lot. For those that are unfamiliar with Johnston’s work, I wouldn’t recommend this one first because it does cover events you’ve already seen in movies and therefore is a less suspenseful companion to them. On the other hand, because it does tie in with TPM, it doesn’t suffer from the pacing issues of Queen’s Shadow to the same degree. I read this all in one sitting, so it’s definitely fun, but wasn’t compelling enough in its character development to elevate the book past some of the others I’ve listed already.

11. Thrawn: Treason was a refreshing return to the Grand Admiral we all know and love after the second installment in this series slowed things down a bit. Although it wasn’t as character-driven as the first book (which I love with all of my heart), there were still many moments that had me cackling at the disparity between Thrawn’s immense intellect and the other Imperials’ sheer stupidity, and that’s what we’re here for in a book about the Empire, right? There’s a lot of pressure on Thrawn, as his TIE Defender project has been pitted against Director Krennic’s Project Stardust. Who will get the funds? We just don’t know?? Tarkin sits in between the two and as usual, manipulates everything to his advantage. Palpatine questions Thrawn’s allegiance to the Empire after some of the choices he has made, leaving him in even more of a pickle. Thrawn is sent on a wild goose chase task that should definitely end in failure (on purpose because Imperials all want to watch each other burn as much as they want to watch the Rebellion burn), but you know Thrawn will find a way. My main squeeze Eli Vanto makes his return after being absent from book 2. Missed you, my sweet sweet country boy. He doesn’t have a leading role in this novel, but every scene he’s in makes the story better. Thrawn says “perhaps” way too often for my taste, but if you can ignore that, this book is a solid read. Equal parts action and deductive reasoning, as any Thrawn book should be.

12. Most of Dark Disciple had me thinking this was going to be a top tier book, and damn do I wish we could have gotten this animated. We follow Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress on a mission to assassinate Count Dooku. Why the Jedi thought this was a good idea, I don’t know. But I’m here for it all the same. 3/4 of the adventure were intriguing, but the ending didn’t do it for me. I won’t spoil things for anyone who hasn’t read this yet, but after all of the character development, to have it squandered so quickly just left me disappointed? I got really attached to everyone in this novel, and I’m sure you will to. I’ve read this and listened to it as an audiobook, and actually I think it’s more memorable as an audiobook. Would recommend, except for Mace Windu’s voice being exceptionally southern for no reason. Weird. I think this novel captures all of the great things about The Clone Wars show; time to really get to know each character and their motivations, action and adventure with the darkness of impending doom tinting everything, and lightsaber fights! Plus, Obi-Wan and Anakin make appearances in this book and it just adds that extra bit of spice. Worth the read, even if you know they aren’t going to get Dooku in the end (which I am still mad about, screw that guy).

Jedi Knight: Passed the Trials but There’s Room for Improvement

13. Few books in the Star Wars universe are centered around characters with no use of the Force, but in Most Wanted, we see a young Han Solo and Qi’ra struggling to survive on Corellia and it provides a humorous but compelling backstory to both characters in the Disney canon. Han is his usual lucky goofball self, and Qi’ra is smart and cunning. You can see how they grew into the versions of themselves in Solo. While the book stays on the lighter side of things (typical of stories written for a younger audience), there are still moments of depth on droid rights, viewing the Force as a religion, and what life is like in a crime syndicate. Addressing these heavier topics without it killing the pace of the story is hard to do, but Rae Carson pulls it off flawlessly. I went into this book with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had. Han and Qi’ra start off as competitors, but eventually have to learn to work together to survive as more and more people start hunting them down. They’re honestly so cute together, I loved their dynamic. It makes Solo a better movie, and although I liked it on its own, characters like Qi’ra needed a little more time to get to know, which you can get here!

14. Thrawn Alliances was not what I expected at all, and it took me a lot longer to get through. Hell, it has Thrawn, Anakin/Vader, and Padme in it! What’s not to love? Apparently, a lot. The different timepoints and perspectives in this were more jarring than anything else. Although the interactions between Thrawn and Anakin/Vader were enjoyable, it was not enough to elevate this book into the Jedi Master tier. Things felt dry, the characters didn’t grip me like in the first Thrawn, and it all felt like a ploy to introduce Batuu into canon before the launch of Galaxy’s Edge.

15. Leia: Princess of Alderaan was a dive into young Leia’s life before we see her in A New Hope even though this was marketed as a journey to The Last Jedi book, which I disagree with. We really haven’t seen any content about Leia in this time period before, and although I can’t say I was looking for this, I did enjoy it. The book was a little long, but there was adventure and the seeds are planted for Leia to be a bigger part of the Rebellion. The romance wasn’t too memorable, but Holdo wasn’t pointless in this (a stark contrast to her brief appearance in TLJ just to sacrifice herself). There’s a hint about Leia being Force-sensitive but it’s not in-your-face. It’s a typical coming-of-age story but in the gffa. The best part about this is seeing Bail and Breha as parents. I’m forever in pain that we didn’t get to see more of this in movies because it’s so so sweet. Leia must choose what kind of person she is going to be--and what kind of princess she will become. It won’t be for everyone, but I liked it.

16. Master and Apprentice was a typical Star Wars novel, which means it’s full of original characters that are strange and outlandish to serve the plot, a new world full of beautiful landscapes, and Obi-Wan suffering. I want to make it clear that this book is 80% Qui-Gon, 10% Rael Averross, and 10% Obi-Wan. I was expecting it to be 50% Qui-Gon, 50% Obi-Wan, as the cover suggested. Although I was disappointed by that, the story overall was okay. Qui-Gon is kind of an asshole in this? When is he not, though. We really get to sink our teeth into the way he and Obi-Wan fundamentally disagree with each other, so much so that their teacher-student relationship is falling apart. Tragic! They go on one last mission before calling it quits. Qui-Gon is in over his head with prophecies, Obi-Wan just wants to follow the rules, and Rael Averross is Dooku’s previous apprentice that is living his best life as a regent until Pijal’s princess comes of age. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid book. I just don’t vibe with Qui-Gon and want to whack him upside the head every time he avoids confrontation with his own student. My protectiveness for Obi-Wan is showing again, isn’t it? Yikes.

17. James Luceno is one of the most analytical authors I’ve ever read anything from, but it seems to always work? Tarkin is all about...well, Moff Tarkin. He’s ruthless, intelligent, and just downright evil. His backstory was compelling and I found myself drawn into the story by the details, although it is dense and took awhile to finish. I’m not interested in him as a character, but despite that, I enjoyed this story. The plot wasn’t memorable enough for me to recall after 3 years, but it’s similar to how Thrawn rose through the ranks of the Navy, just in a different part of the Empire’s governing body. We don’t get many books completely focused on a villain (I don’t count Vader ones because we know who he was before and the whole damn saga is about him), but this one is good! Don’t be fooled by it only being in the Knight tier. I think people who read a lot of sci-fi will like this book a lot. This is like the opposite of Queen’s Shadow, basically. If you had gripes about that book, you might like this one instead.

18. Battlefront II: Inferno Squad was a worthwhile read for anyone who played Battlefront II. Iden Versio is a great protagonist in the game, and I think Christie Golden totally gets her character. She’s nuanced and relatable. The whole team is interesting and getting introduced to each member before the events of the game makes everything mean more. That’s the real goal of any prequel story, I think. Accomplished! The action scenes are on point, the plot served to highlight what makes Inferno Squad special, and you get a sense for the morally grey area anyone must function in as an operative for the Empire. Although not necessary for the greater canon, it’s a great adventure. Iden and her squad members infiltrate the remains of Saw Gerrara’s group (they’ve become a bit of extremist) and destroy them from the inside. It’s got the suspense of a spy thriller and all of the nerdy space opera elements you expect from Star Wars. Although it’s weird to jump into a story not knowing any of the characters, you’ll get attached to Inferno Squad fast. Well, except for Gideon Hask maybe. He’s kind of a dick.

19. If you’re craving some Dark Side action, Lords of the Sith will give you what you’re looking for. Sidious and Vader crash-land on Ryloth and have to work together to survive, and also defeat the Free Ryloth Movement led by Cham Syndulla. It’s all fucking connected, guys. I love when people weave together stories that fit into the canon timeline like this, bringing in side characters and allowing them to develop some depth. And a chance to sink into the mind of a Sith Lord is always fun, if you’re in the mood to read about destruction and anger. It’s cathartic sometimes. If you’re always wondering, why didn’t Vader just stab Palps when he had the chance, this book explains their dynamic more. It didn’t really change my opinion of any of the characters, which is why it’s not higher on the list.

20. Catalyst suffered from being in a really boring part of galactic history. Despite that, Galen Erso and Orson Krennic have a hilarious relationship that I would have loved to see on-screen. This book really develops Krennic to become more than just the whiny entitled evil man we saw in Rogue One. He’s ten times worse now! But I mean that in the best way, I laugh whenever he’s in a scene, that sassy man just brings me joy. James Luceno is at it again, making things as detailed and dry as possible. I read so many of his stories right at the beginning of my journey through Star Wars canon and it’s a wonder I didn’t quit. Some of them are dark as fuck. And also slow as hell. With this one, I think it all comes down to what you want out of a Star Wars novel. Some people will really enjoy the plot. I think seeing how Galen became a part of Project Stardust was interesting and every time something about the Death Star became more clear, I screeched because I knew what it would eventually become. This book may not hold your interest though, which is why I put it lower on this list.

21. Star Wars: Clone Wars was a decent retelling of the Clone Wars movie. I liked it because I liked the movie, but you have to be able to sit back and enjoy the ride, not thinking too much about the silly parts. For that reason, it’s pretty far down in the rankings. Ahsoka is young and liable to get on your nerves. I certainly wasn’t her biggest fan at this point in the series. The biggest problem is that Karen Traviss is very anti-Jedi. Some authors for Star Wars tend to do this? To me, it’s weird. I didn’t notice it too much because it was one of the first Star Wars books I read, but it contrasts starkly with the truth of the prequel trilogy and some of the other entries in the Clone Wars Novel timeline, like Karen Miller’s books. Needless to say, although this book wasn’t super memorable aside from the familiar plot, it kept me reading Star Wars books, and so it is at least an average book. Plus, any content with Anakin and the clones is worth it for me. I love them.

22. A New Hope was good, for Alan Dean Foster. I’m not a fan, I’ll be honest. But this novelization stands on it’s own. I’m going to have to do a re-read to really go in depth on why this isn’t farther up on the tier list, but the movie is always going to be better to me. If you want to re-live the great beginning of the Original Trilogy, it’s worth your time. I mean, the story is full of adventure and mystery and lovable characters. What’s not to love? I just feel like the movie really elevates the narrative with a great score and fun character design/costumes/sets.

Padawan: These Books Have Much to Learn

23. Attack of the Clones was more entertaining than The Phantom Menace because the characters are in funnier situations. Obi-Wan and Anakin chasing Zam Wesell through the levels of Coruscant? Hilarious, just like the movie. Anakin and Padme falling in love as they spend time together? Holy fuck it’s so much better than the movie. Please read it for that alone. Outside of that, the writing style didn’t really impress me. And my experience with it wasn’t super memorable. There was potential to really make the inner dialogue of these characters impactful, to really develop the story of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme beyond what we could get from the movie scenes alone. I didn’t think it went above and beyond there. Not a bad story at all, but you don’t get to look at Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, or Ewan McGregor the whole time either, so therefore I must rank it lower. So many beautiful people in that movie, holy shit. You can understand my, dilemma, yes?

24. I enjoyed parts of The Phantom Menace book, like deleted scenes with Anakin living on Tatooine before Qui-Gon and Padme meet him. The additional depth is lovely, but I think a story like Queen’s Peril adds more to TPM than this book does. The story overall is still fun. I love this movie so much, it’s hard for me to be critical. I did put a lot of post-it flags in my copy, so it does develop the characters and get you thinking beyond your expectations from the movie. What more could you ask for from a movie novelization? I’d say not much, if I hadn’t read Revenge of the Sith and had my fucking mind blown. In comparison to that, this one is just okay.

25. The Last Jedi novelization wasn’t bad, necessarily. It tried its best to bring this story up to par with some of the interesting novels that don’t have movie counterparts. But still, the plot suffers because of how this movie was made. It’s very focused on Rey and Kylo, and Finn’s little adventure with Rose seems pointless in the grand scheme of things. I’d rather read this again versus watching the film, but that’s all I’ll say on this because I’m trying to keep my opinions on this movie to myself to avoid digging up old arguments. Jason Fry did well, and of the two Sequel Trilogy books I’ve read, I would recommend this one over Ep. 7.

26. The Force Awakens falls short and I think it’s because of Alan Dean Foster’s writing style on this one? It didn’t really expand on anything from the movie, while taking away the beautiful music and visuals. This novel is the antithesis of Revenge of the Sith’s novelization, and for that reason I ranked it fairly low. I wouldn’t read this one unless you really really love the Sequel Trilogy.

27. To be fair, I read the new Thrawn book before I went back and read this one. Even so, Heir to the Empire didn’t impress me at all. Thrawn didn’t seem like a thrilling villain with lots of depth like he did in Timothy Zahn’s reimagined Thrawn novel. We barely saw him. A lot of time was spent on the Original Triology’s trio, which waasn’t bad. I thought Luke, Leia, and Han were all written fairly well. The latter part of the story was redeemed by the interactions between Mara Jade and Luke, for sure. Enemies to lovers, anyone?? Without Thrawn, this book would have been an entertaining story, but for all of the praise it has received from long-time Star Wars fans, I was expecting to be blown away and I wasn’t. Maybe I have to continue the triology to figure out what all of the fuss is about, but after this one, I’m not super motivated to read more. Change my mind?

28. Cloak of Deception really shines when you’re following Palpatine’s perspective because you can feel the undercurrents of his master plan to destroy the Republic underneath his calm persona as a Senator. Other than that, it’s a forgettable plot. This is all about galactic politics and some terrorist group trying to blow up some government officials. Basically the most boring parts of the prequel trilogy. I listened to the audiobook of this at the beginning of this year and I already forget what it’s about. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan should have been able to bring some humor and energy to get you rooting for the good guys, but there was barely any of that. I was disappointed in all of the characters. Everything felt distant, removed from the heart of the characters. Some people in reviews have argued that the events of The Phantom Menace really pinned this novel in a corner because you already know what happens, but I disagree, because we know how Revenge of the Sith goes and The Clone Wars show is that much more tragic and heartbreakingly beautiful because of it. Prequels can be done right. This ain’t it, Luceno. Sorry.

29. Star Wars: The Old Republic, Fatal Alliance needs to go home and rethink it’s life. I’m a huge fan of the Old Republic and I’ve put like 200 hours of my life into playing that game, so I was hoping for some fun content in this part of the timeline. Sadly, this book captured the worst parts of the game, like the fact that there’s way too many factions at war with each other. Jedi, Sith, Empire, Republic, Mandalorians. They’re all here. They’re all ready to throw down. And I’m tired. As with many of the books in this lower tier, I felt there wasn’t enough description of the world or the people in the story. We’re in the gffa, be a little weird and wacky. Be big and bold! Make things terrifying, or beautiful, or both. But give my mind something to work with. The number of characters made the plot messier than it could have been, and it definitely isn’t worth the read. I can’t speak for all Old Republic books, but this one didn’t impress me.

A Sith Lord?! On My Bookshelf? It’s More Likely Than You’d Think

30. So underwhelming, you might as well just read the first half and then stop. Last Shot is absolutely terrible, except for Lando Calrissian’s characterization, which was spot-on. If the whole story had been from his perspective, I probably would have a much difference opinion on the novel as a whole. Sadly, this is not the case. Han was boring, he bottled up his emotions, and seemed drastically different from the badass he was in the original trilogy. There are different timepoints in this novel, and in all of them, Han is unrecognizable. Don’t nerf one of your main characters like that. Daniel Jose Older and I might just not get along. I thought his writing style didn’t fit Star Wars at all. It was like breaking the fourth wall, totally pulling me out of the story constantly. Also, there were little to no descriptions of body language, locations, or movement. It left me feeling disoriented the whole time I was reading. I thought one of the most interesting things would have been seeing Han, Leia, and baby Ben being a family at this point in time, but Han’s family was there as a prop, nothing more. There was a big bad item that was going to cause galactic destruction and our heroes had to go save the day. There was barely any tension and no one lost an arm so I’m pretty pissed off. Is it Star Wars if no one gets their appendage removed? I can’t tell you how much I disliked this book. Which is sad because I was hoping to enjoy it. I like Han. I like Lando. I like space adventures. I’m not that hard to please, or at least I don’t think so.

#Star Wars Novels #tier ranking #long post #i worked hard to put my thoughts into words for you guys #i read these books over a long period of time but I thought I'd encompass all of it in one post #sw lit #i've had so much fun becoming a part of this fandom #and I love the conversations about the books and the gffa in general #hopefully this will inspire some discussion!#i would love you guys to make tier rankings as well #they're always my favorite youtube videos to watch

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ariainstars · 4 years

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Thank You, Disney Lucasfilm… For Destroying My Dreams

Warning: longer post.

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So… I watched The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ a few weeks ago. Again.

Sigh.

I guess it has its good sides. But professional critics tend to dislike it and even the general audience doesn’t go crazy for it. I wonder why?

The Fantasy

When his saga became a groundbreaking pop phenomenon in the 1970es, George Lucas reportedly said that he wanted to tell fairy tales again in world that no longer seemed to offer young people a chance to grow up with them. The fact that his saga was met with such unabashed, international enthusiasm proves that he was right: people long for fairy tales no matter how old they are and what culture they belong to.

“Young people today don’t have a fantasy life anymore, not the way we did… All they’ve got is Kojak and Dirty Harry. All the films they see are movies of disasters and insecurity and realistic violence.” (George Lucas)

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for more than thirty years. I love the Original Trilogy but honestly it did not make me dream much, perhaps because when I saw it the trilogy was already complete. The Prequel Trilogy also did not inspire my fantasy.

The Last Jedi accomplished something that no TV show, book or film had managed in years: it made me dream. The richness of colorful characters, multifaceted themes, unexpected developments, intriguing relationships was something I had not come across in a long time: it fascinated me. I felt like a giddy teenager reading up meta’s, writing my own and imagining all sorts of beautiful endings for the saga for almost two years.

So if there’s something The Rise of Skywalker can pride itself on for me, it’s that it crushed almost every dream I had about it. The few things I had figured out – Rey’s fall to the Dark, Ben Solo’s redemption, the connection between them - did not even make me happy because they were tainted by the flatness of the storytelling reducing the Force to a superpower again (like the general audience seems to believe it is), and its deliberate ignoring of almost all messages of The Last Jedi.

Many fans of the Original Trilogy also were disillusioned by the saga over the decades and ranted at the studios for “destroying their childhood”. Now we, the fans of the sequels and in particular of The Last Jedi, are in the same situation… but the thought doesn’t make the pill much easier to swallow. What grates on my nerves is the feeling that someone trampled on my just newly found dreams like a naughty child kicking a doll’s house apart. Why give us something to dream of in the first place, then? To a certain extent I can understand that many fans would angrily assume that Disney Lucasfilm made the Sequel Trilogy for the purpose of destroying their idea of the saga. The point is that they had their happy ending, while every dream the fans of the Sequel Trilogy may have had was shattered with this unexpectedly flat and hollow final note.

I know many fans who dislike the Prequel Trilogy heartily. I also prefer the Original Trilogy, but I find the prequels all right in their own way, also since I gave them some thought. However, it can’t be denied that they lack the magic spark which made the Original Trilogy so special. Which makes sense since they are not a fairy tale but ultimately a tragedy, but in my opinion it’s the one of the main reasons why the Prequel Trilogy never was quite so successful, or so beloved.

Same goes for Rogue One, Solo, or Clone Wars. They’re ok in their way, but not magical.

The sequel trilogy started quite satisfyingly with The Force Awakens, but for me, the actual bomb dropped with The Last Jedi. Reason? It was a magical story. It had the spark again that I had missed in the new Star Wars stories for decades! And it was packed full of beautiful messages and promises.

The Force is not a superpower belonging solely to the Jedi Anyone can be a hero. Even the greatest heroes can fail, but they will still be heroes. Hope is like the sun: if you only believe in it when you see it you’ll never make it through the night. Failure is the greatest teacher. It’s more important to save the light than to seem a hero. No one is never truly gone. War is only a machine. Dark Side and Light Side can be unbeatable if they are allies. Save what you love instead of destroying what you hate.

Naively, I assumed the trilogy would continue and end in that same magical way. And then came The Rise of Skywalker… which looks and feels like a Marvel superhero story at best and an over-long videogame at worst.

Chekov’s Gun

“Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”

(Anton Chekov, 1860 - 1904)

If you show an important looking prop and don’t put it to use, it leaves the audience feeling baffled. There is a huge difference between a story’s setup, and the audience’s feeling of entitlement. E.g. many viewers expected Luke to jump right back into the fray in Episode VIII, because that’s what a hero does, isn’t it? The cavalry comes and saves the day. And instead, we met a disillusioned elderly hermit who is tired of the ways of the Jedi. But there was no actual reason for disappointment: in Episode VII it was very clearly said (through Han, his best friend) that Luke had gone into exile on purpose, feeling responsible for his failure in teaching a new generation of Jedi. It would have been more than stupid to show him as an all-powerful and all-knowing man who kills the bad guys. Sorry but who expected that was a victim to his own prejudice.

A promise left unfulfilled is a different story. The Last Jedi set up a lot of promises that didn’t come true in The Rise of Skywalker: Balance as announced by the Jedi temple mosaic, a new Jedi Order hinted at by Luke on Crait, a good ending for Ben and Rey set up by the hand-touching scene which was opposite to Anakin’s and Padmés wedding scene. Many fans were annoyed about the Canto Bight sequence. I liked it because it felt like the set-up for a lot of important stuff: partnership between Finn and Rose whom we see working together excellently, freedom for the enslaved children (one of whom is Force-sensitive), DJ and Rose expressing what makes wars in general foolish and beside the point. So if we, the fans of Episode VIII, now feel angry and let down, I daresay it’s not due to entitlement. We were announced magical outcomes and not just pew-pew.

The Star Wars saga never repeated itself but always developed and enlarged its themes, so it was to be expected that delving deeper, uncomfortable truths would come out: wars don’t start out of nowhere, and they don’t flare up and continue for decades for the same reason. In order to find Balance, the Jedi’s and the Skywalker family’s myths needed to be dismantled. Which is not necessarily bad as long it is explained how things came to this, and a better alternative is offered. The prequels explained the old political order and the beginnings of the Skywalker family, and announced that the next generation would do better. The sequels hardly explained anything about the 30 years that passed since our heroes won the battle against the Empire, and while The Last Jedi hinted at the future a lot, The Rise of Skywalker seemed to make a point of ignoring all of it.

The Skywalker Family Is Obliterated. Why?

Luke was proven right that his nephew would mean the end of everything he loved. The lineage of the Chosen One is gone. His grandson had begun where Vader had ended - tormented, pale and with sad eyes - and he met the same fate. Luke, Han, Leia, all sacrificed themselves to bring Ben Solo back for nothing. Him being the reincarnation of the Chosen One and getting a new chance should have been meaningful for all of them; instead, he literally left the scepter to Rey who did nothing to deserve it: merely because she killed the Bad Guy does not mean she will do a better job than the family whose name and legacy she proudly takes over.

I do hope there was a good reason if the sequels did not tell “The New Adventures of Luke, Leia and Han” and instead showed us a broken family on the eve of its wipeout. It would have been much easier, and more fun for the audience, to bring the trio back again after a few years and pick up where they had left. Instead we had to watch their son, nephew and heir go his grandfather’s way - born with huge power, branded as Meant to Be Dangerous from the start, tried his best to be a Jedi although he wanted to be a pilot, never felt accepted, abandoned in the moment of his greatest need, went to his abuser because he was the only one to turn to, became a criminal, his own family (in Anakin’s case: Obi-Wan and Yoda) trained the person who was closest to him to kill him, sacrificed himself for this person and died. And in his case, it’s particularly frustrating because Kylo Ren wasn’t half as impressive a villain as Vader, and Ben Solo had a very limited time of heroism and personal fulfilment, contrarily to Anakin when he was young.

The impact of The Rise of Skywalker was traumatic for some viewers. I know of adolescents and adults, victims of family abandonment and abuse, who identified with Ben: they were told that you can never be more than the sum of your abuse and abandonment, and that they’re replaceable if they’re not “good”. Children identifying with Rey were told that their parents might sell them away for “protection”. Rey was not conflicted, she had a few doubts but overall, she was cool about everything she did, so she got everything on a silver platter; that’s why as a viewer, after a while you stopped caring for her. Her antagonist was doomed from birth because he dared to question the choices other people made for him. It seems that in the Star Wars universe, you can only “rise” if you’re either a criminal but cool because you’ve always got a bucket over your head (Vader / the Mandalorian) or are a saint-like figure (Luke / Rey).

One of Obi-Wan’s first actions in A New Hope is cutting off someone’s arm who was only annoying him; Han Solo, ditto. These were no acts of self-defense. The Mandalorian is an outlaw. Yet they are highly popular. Why? Because they always keep their cool, so anything they do seems justified. Young Anakin was hated, Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen attacked for his portrayal. For the same reason many fans feel that Luke is the least important of the original trio although basically the Original Trilogy is his story: it seems the general audience hates nothing more than emotionality in a guy. They want James Bond, Batman or Indiana Jones as the lead. Padmé loved Anakin because she always saw the good little boy he once was in him; his attempts at impressing her with his flirting or his masculinity failed. Kylo tried to impress Rey with his knowledge and power, but she fled from him - she wanted the gentle, emphatic young man who had listened to her when she felt alone. Good message. But both died miserably, and Ben didn’t even get anything but a kiss. Realizing that his “not being as strong as Darth Vader” might actually be a strength of its own would have meant much more.

The heroes of the Original Trilogy had their adventures together and their happy ending; the heroes of the Prequel Trilogy also had good times and accomplishments in their youth, before everything went awry. Rey, Finn and Poe feel like their friendship hardly got started; Rose was almost obliterated from the narrative; and Ben Solo seems to have had only one happy moment in his entire life. Of course it’s terrible that he committed patricide (even if it was under coercion), but Anakin / Vader himself had two happy endings in the Prequel Trilogy before he became the monster we know so well. Not to mention Clone Wars, where he has heroic moments unnumbered.

The Skywalker family is obliterated without Balance in the Force, and the young woman who inherited all doesn’t seem to have learned any lesson from all this. The Original Trilogy became a part of pop culture among other things because its ending was satisfying. We can hardly be expected to be satisfied with an ending where our heroes are all dead and the heir of their worst enemy takes over. What good was the happy ending of the Original Trilogy for if they didn’t learn enough from their misadventures to learn how to protect one single person - their son and nephew, their future?

For a long time, I also thought that the saga was about Good vs. Evil. Watching the prequels again, I came to the conclusion that it is rather about Love vs. War. And now, considering as a whole, I believe it to be essentially Jedi against Skywalker. The ending, as it is now, says that both fractions lost: they annihilated one another, leaving a third party in charge, who believes to be both but actually knows very little about them.

Star Wars and Morality

After 9 films and 42 years, it still is not possible to make the general audience accept that it is wrong to divide people between Good and Evil in the first place. The massive rejection of both prequels and sequels, which have moral grey zones galore, shows it.

It is also not possible without being accused of actual blasphemy in the same fandom, to say the plain truth that no Skywalker ever was a Jedi at heart. As their name says, they’re pilots. Luke was the last and strongest of all Jedi because he always was first and foremost himself. Anakin was crushed by the Jedi’s attempts to stifle his feelings. His grandson, too. A Force-sensitive person ought to have the choice whether they want to be a Jedi or not; they ought not to be taught to suppress their emotions and live only on duty, without really caring for other people; and they ought to grow up feeling in a safe and loving environment, not torn away from their families in infancy, indoctrinated and provided with a light sabre (a deadly weapon) while they’re still small. A Jedi order composed of child soldiers or know-it-all’s does not really help anybody.

The original Star Wars saga was about love and friendship; although many viewers did not want to understand that message. The prequels portrayed the Jedi as detached and arrogant and Anakin Skywalker sympathetically, a huge disappointment for who only accepts stories of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. The Last Jedi was so hated that The Rise of Skywalker backpedaled: sorry, of course you’re right, here you have your “hero who knows everything better and fixes everything for you on a silver platter”. The embarrassing antihero, who saves the girl who was the only person showing him some human compassion, can die miserably in the process and is not even mourned.

Honestly: I was doubtful whether it would be adequate to give Ben Solo a happy ending after the patricide. I guess letting him die was the easiest way out for the authors to escape censorship. (I even wrote this in a review on amazon about The Last Jedi, before I delved deeper into the saga’s themes.) The messages we got now are even worse.

Kylo Ren / Ben Solo

A parent can replace a child if they’re not the way they expect them to be. A victim of lifelong psychical and physical abuse can only find escape in death, whether he damns or redeems himself. An introspective, sensitive young man is a loser no matter how hard he tries either way. A whole family can sacrifice itself to save their heir, he dies anyway.

Rey

Self-righteousness is acceptable as long as you find a scapegoat for your own failings. Overconfidence justifies anything you do. You can’t carve your way as a female child of “nobodies”, you have to descend from someone male and powerful even if that someone is the devil incarnate. You are a “strong female” if you choose to be lonely; you need neither a partner nor friends.

In General

Star Wars is not about individual choices, loyalty, friendship and love, it is a classic Western story with a lonesome cowboy (in this case: cowgirl) at its centre. Satisfied?

The father-son-relationship between Vader and Luke mirrors the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, saying that whoever we may want to kill is, in truth, our kin, which makes a clear separation in Good and Evil impossible. The “I am your father” scene is so infamous by now that even non-fans are aware of it; but this relationship between evil guy and good guy, as well as the plot turns where the villain saves the hero and that the hero discards his weapon are looked upon rather as weird narrative quirks instead of a moral.

In an action movie fan, things are simple: good guy vs. bad guy, the good guy (e.g. James Bond may be a murderer and a misogynist, but that’s ok because he’s cool about it) kills the bad guy, ka-boom, end of story. But Star Wars is a parable, an ambitious project told over decades of cinema, and a multilayered story with recurring themes.

A fairy tale ought to have a moral. The moral of both Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy was compassionate love - choose it and you can end a raging conflict, reject it and you will cause it. What was the moral of the Sequel Trilogy? You can be the offspring of the galaxy’s worst terror and display a similar attitude, but pose as a Jedi and kill unnecessarily, and it’s all right; descend from Darth Vader (who himself was a victim long before he became a culprit) and whether you try to become a Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker or a Sith trained by his worst enemy, you will end badly?

Both original and prequel trilogy often showed “good” people making bad choices and the “bad ones” making the right choices. To ensure lasting peace, no Force user ought to be believe that he must choose one side and then stick to it for the rest of his life: both sides need one another. The prequels took 3 films to convey this message, though not saying so openly. The Last Jedi said it out clearly - and the authors almost had their heads ripped off by affronted fans, resulting in The Rise of Skywalker’s fan service. It’s not like Luke, Han and Leia were less heroic in the Sequel Trilogy, on the contrary, they gave everything they had to their respective cause. They were not united, and they were more human than they had once been. Apparently, that’s an affront.

The Jedi are no perfect heroes and know-it-all’s and they never were, the facts are there for everyone to see. Padmé went alone and pregnant to get her husband out of Mustafar - and she almost succeeded - although she knew what he had done and that he was perfectly capable of it (he had told her of the Tusken village massacre himself) because she still saw the good little boy he had been in him; Obi-Wan left him amputated and burning in the lava, although he had raised Anakin like a small brother and the latter had repeatedly saved his life. But Padmé was not a Jedi, so I guess she still had some human decency. Neither Obi-Wan nor Yoda lifted a finger for the oppressed populations of the galaxy during the Empire, waiting instead for Anakin’s son to grow up so they could trick him into committing patricide. Neither Luke nor Leia did anything for their own son and nephew while he became the scourge of the galaxy, damning his soul by committing crime after crime. On Exegol, Rey heard the voices of all Jedi encouraging her to fight Palpatine to death. After that, they left her to die alone, and the alleged “bad guy”, who had already saved her soul from giving in to Palpatine’s lures, had to save her life by giving her his own. The Jedi merely know that “their side” has to win, no matter the cost for anyone’s life, sanity, integrity or happiness.

Excuse me, these are simple facts. How anyone can still believe that the Jedi were super-powerful heroes who always win or all-knowing wizards who are always right is beyond me. Luke, the last and strongest of them, like a bright flickering of light before the ultimate end, showed us that the best of men can fail. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. But it is wrong and utterly frustrating when all of the failure never leads to anything better. If Rey means to rebuild the Jedi order to something better than it was, there was no hint at that whatsoever.

And What Now?

The Last Jedi hit theatres only 2 years before The Rise of Skywalker, and I can’t imagine that the responsible authors all have forgotten how to make competent work in the meantime; more so considering that Solo or The Mandalorian are solid work. Episode IX is thematically so painfully flat it seems like they wanted us to give up on the saga on purpose. The last instalment of a 42-year-old saga ought to have been the best and most meaningful. I had heard already decades ago that the saga was supposed to have 9 chapters, so I was not among who protested against the sequels thinking that they had been thought up to make what had come before invalid. I naively assumed a larger purpose. But Episode IX only seems to prove these critics perfectly right.

The last of the flesh and blood of the Chosen One is dead without having “finished what his grandfather started”?

Still no Balance in the Force?

And worst of all, Palpatine’s granddaughter taking over, having proven repeatedly that she is not suited for the task?

Sorry, this “ending” is absurd. I have read fanfiction that was better written and more interesting. And, most of all, less depressing. I was counting on a conclusion that showed that the Force has all colours and nuances, and that it’s not limited to the black-and-white view “we against them”. That’s the ending all of us fans would have deserved, instead of catering the daddy issues of the part of the audience who doesn’t want stories other than those of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. I myself grew up on Japanese anime, maybe that’s one of the reasons why I can’t stand guys like James Bond or Batman and why I think you don’t need “a great hero who fixes the situation” but that group spirit and communication are way more important.

It was absolutely unexpected that Disney, the production company whose trademark are happy endings and family stories, would end this beloved and successful saga after almost half a century on such a hollow note. Why tell first a beautiful fairy tale and then leave the audience on a hook for 35 years to continue first with a tragedy (which at least was expected) and then with another (unexpected one)? And this story is supposed to be for children? Like children would understand all of the subtext, and love sad, cautionary tales. Children, as well as the general audience, first of all want to be entertained! No one wants to watch the legendary Skywalker family be obliterated and a Palpatine take over. The sequels were no fun anymore; we’ve been left with another open ending and hardly an explanation about what happened in the 30 years in between. If you want to tell a cautionary tale, you should better warn the general audience beforehand.

The Original Trilogy is so good because it’s entertaining and offers room for thought for who wants to think about its deeper themes, and also leaves enough space for dreams. Same goes for the first two films of the Sequel Trilogy; but precisely the last, which should have wrapped up the saga, leaves us with a bitter aftertaste and dozens of questions marks.

We as the audience believe that a story, despite the tragic things that happen, must go somewhere; we get invested into the characters, we root for them, we want to see them happy in the end. (The authors of series like Girls, How I Met Your Mother or Game of Thrones ought to be reminded of that, too.) I was in contact with children and teenagers saying that the Sequel Trilogy are “boring”; and many, children or adults, who were devastated by its concluson. There is a difference between wanting to tell a cautionary tale and playing the audience for fools. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. Who watches a family or fantasy story or a romantic / comedic sitcom wants to escape into another world, not to be hit over his head with a mirror to his own failings, and the ones of the society he’s living in. Messages are all right, but they ought not to go at the cost of the audience’s satisfaction about the about the people and narrative threads they have invested in for years.

This isn’t a family story: but children probably didn’t pester the studios with angry e-mails and twitter messages etc. They simply counted on a redemption arc and happy ending, and they were right, because they’re not as stupid as adults are. I have read and watched many a comment from fans who hate The Last Jedi. Many of these fans couldn’t even pinpoint what their rage was all about, they only proved to be stuck with the original trilogy and unwilling to widen their horizon. But at least their heroes had had their happy ending: The Rise of Skywalker obliterated the successes of all three generations of Skywalkers.

If the film studios wanted to tease us, they’ve excelled. If they expect the general audience to break their heads over the sequels’ metaphysics, they have not learned from the reactions to the prequels that most viewers take these films at face value. Not everybody is elbows-deep in the saga, or willing to research about it for months, and / or insightful enough to see the story’s connections. Which is why many viewers frown at the narrative and believe the Sequel Trilogy was just badly written. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. As it is now, the whole trilogy is hanging somewhere in the air, with neither a past nor a future to be tied in with.

The prequels already had the flaw of remaining too obscure: most fans are not aware that Anakin had unwillingly killed his wife during the terrible operation that turned him into Darth Vader, sucking her life out of her through the Force: most go by “she died of a broken heart”. So although one scene mirrors the other, it is not likely that most viewers will understand what Rey’s resurrection meant. And: Why did Darth Maul kill Qui-Gon Jinn? What did the Sith want revenge for? Who was behind Shmi’s abduction and torture? Who had placed the order for the production of the clones, and to what purpose? We can imagine or try to reconstruct the answers, but nothing is confirmed by the story itself.

The sequels remained even more in the dark, obfuscating what little explanation we got in The Rise of Skywalker with quick pacing and mind-numbing effects.

Kylo Ren had promised his grandfather that “he would finish what he started”: he did not. Whatever one can say of this last film, it did not bring Balance in the Force. What’s worse, the subject was not even breached. It was hinted at by the mosaic on the floor of the Prime Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, but although Luke and Rey were sitting on its border, they never seemed to see what was right under their noses. It remains inexplicable why it was there for everyone to see in the first place.

We might argue that Ben finished what his grandfather started by killing (or better, causing the death of) the last Jedi, who this one couldn’t kill because he was his own son; but leaving Rey in charge, he helped her finish what her grandfather had started. The irony could hardly be worse.

Episode IX looks like J.J. Abrams simply completed what they started with Episode VII, largely ignoring the next film as if it was always planned to do so. We, the angry and disappointed fans of The Last Jedi, may believe it was due to some of the general audience’s angry backlash, but honestly: the studios aren’t that dumb. They had to know that Episode VIII would be controversial and that many fans would hate it. The furious reactions were largely a disgrace, but no one can make me believe that they were totally unexpected. Nor can anyone convince me that The Rise of Skywalker was merely an answer to the small but very loud part of the audience who hated The Last Jedi: a company with the power and the returns of Disney Lucasfilm does not need to buckle down before some fan’s entitlement and narrowmindedness out of fear of losing money. And if they do, it was foolish to make Rey so perfect that she becomes almost odious, and to let the last of the Skywalker blood die a meaningless death. (Had he saved the Canto Bight children and left them with Rey, at least he would have died with honor; and she, the child left behind by her parents, would have had a task to dedicate herself to.)

The only reason I can find for this odd ending is that it’s meant to prepare the way for Rian Johnson’s new trilogy, which - hopefully - will finally be about Balance. We as the audience don’t know what’s going on behind the doors. Filmmaking is a business like any other, i.e. based on contracts; and I first heard that Rian Johnson had negotiated a trilogy of his own since before Episode VIII hit theatres. Maybe he kept all the rights of intellectual property to his own film, including that he would finish the threads he picked up and close the narrative circles he opened, and only he; and that his alleged working on “something completely different” is deliberately misleading.

Some viewers love the original trilogy, some love the prequels, some like both; but I hardly expect anyone to love the sequel trilogy as a whole. What with the first instalment “letting the past die, killing it if they had to”, the second hinting at a promising future and the third patched on at the very last like some sort of band-aid, it was not coherent. I heard the responsible team for Game of Thrones even dropped their work, producing a dissatisfying, quickly sewn together last season, for this new Star Wars project and thereby disappointing millions of GoT fans; I hope they are aware of the expectations they have loaded upon them. George Lucas’ original trilogy had its faults, but but though there was no social media yet in his time, at least he was still close enough to the audience to give them what they needed, if not necessarily wanted. (Some fans can’t accept that Luke and Leia are siblings to this day, even if honestly, it was the very best plot twist to finish their story in a satisfying way.)

I’m hoping for now that The Last Jedi was not some love bombing directed at the more sentimental viewers but a promise that will be fulfilled. “Wrapping up” a saga by keeping the flattest, least convincing chapter for last is bad form. Star Wars did not become a pop phenomenon by accident, but because the original story was convincing and satisfying. Endings like these will hardly make anyone remember a story fondly, on the contrary, the audience will move to another fandom to forget their disappointment.

On a side note, I like The Mandalorian, exactly for the reason that that is a magical story; not as much as the original trilogy, but at least a little. Of course, I’m glad it was produced. But it’s a small consolation prize after the mess that supposedly wrapped up the original saga after 9 films.

We’re Not Blind, You Know…

- Though Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) has Darth Vader’s stature, his facial features are practically opposite to Vader’s creepy mask. This should have foreshadowed that his life should have gone the other way, instead of more or less repeating itself. - As a villain Kylo was often unconvincing; by all logic he should have been a good father figure. (Besides, Star Wars films or series never work unless there is a strong father or father figure at their center.)

- Like Vader, Kylo Ren was redeemed, but not rehabilitated. Who knows who may find his broken mask somewhere now and, not knowing the truth, promise “I will finish what you started”. - The hand-touching scene on Ahch-To which was visually opposite to Anakin’s and Padmé’s should not have predicted another tragedy but a happy ending for them. - The Canto Bight sequence was announcing reckoning for the weapon industry and freedom for the enslaved children. It also showed how well Finn and Rose fit together. - Rey was a good girl before she started on her adventures. Like Anakin or Luke, she did not need to become a Jedi to be strong or generous or heroic. - Rey summons Palpatine after one year of training. Kylo practically begged for his grandfather’s assistance for years, to no avail. Her potential for darkness is obviously much stronger. - Dark Rey’s light sabre looked like a fork, Kylo’s like a cross. - The last time all Jedi and Sith were obliterated leaving only Luke in charge, things went awry. Now we have a Palpatine masquerading as a Skywalker and believing she’s a Jedi. Rey is a usurper and universally cheered after years of war, like her grandfather. - The broom boy of Canto Bight looked like he was sweeping a stage and announcing “Free the stage, it’s time for us, the children.”

Rey failed in all instances where Luke had proved himself (so much for feminism and her being a Mary Sue): - Luke had forgiven his father despite all the pain he had inflicted on him. She stabbed the „bad guy”, who had repeatedly protected and comforted her, to death. - Luke never asked Vader to help the Rebellion or to turn to the Light Side, he only wanted him back as his father. She assumed that you could make Ben Solo turn, give up the First Order and join the Resistance for her. She thought of her friends and of her own validation, not of him. - Luke had made peace by choosing peace. Rey fought until the bitter end. - Luke had thrown his weapon away before Palpatine. Rey picked up a second weapon. (And both of them weren’t even her own.) - Luke had mourned his dead father. Rey didn’t shed a tear for the man she is bonded to by the Force. - Luke went back to his friends to celebrate the new peace with them. Rey went back letting everyone celebrate her like the one who saved the galaxy on her own, she who were tempted to become the new evil ruler of the galaxy and had to rely on the alleged Bad Guy to save both her soul and her body. - Luke had embodied compassion when Palpatine was all about hatred. Where he chose love and faith in his father, she chose violence and fear. - Luke had briefly fallen prey to the Dark Side but it made him realize that he had no right to judge his father. Rey’s fall to the Dark Side did not make her wiser. - Rey has no change of mind on finding out that she’s Palpatine’s flesh and blood, nor after she has stabbed Kylo. Luke had to face himself on learning that he had almost become a patricide. Rey does not have to face herself: the revelation of her ancestry is cushioned by Luke’s and Leia’s support. Rey is and remains an uncompromising person who hardly learns from her faults.

This is cheating on the audience. And it's not due to feminism or Rey being some sort of “Mary Sue” the way many affronted fans claim. Kylo never was truly a villain, Rey is not a heroine, and this is not a happy ending. The Jedi, with their stuck-up conviction “only we must win”, have failed all over again. The Skywalker family was obliterated leaving their worst enemy in charge. Rey is supposed to be a “modern” heroine which young girls can take as an example? No, thank you. Not after this last film has made of her. Padmé was a much better role model, combining intelligence with strength and goodness and also female grace. The world does not need entitled female brats.

Bonus: What Made The Rise of Skywalker a Farce

- The Force Awakens was an ok film and The Last Jedi (almost) a masterpiece. The Rise of Skywalker was a cartoon. No wonder a lot of the acting felt and looked wooden. - “I will earn your brother’s light sabre.” She’s holding his father’s sabre. - Kylo in The Last Jedi: “Let the past die. Kill it if, you have to.” Beginning with me? - Rey ends up on Tatooine. - The planet both Anakin and Luke ardently wanted to leave. - Luke had promised his nephew that he would be around for him. - Nope. - Rey had told Ben that she had seen his future. What future was that - “you will be a hero for ten minutes, get a kiss and then die? (And they didn’t even get a love theme.) - “The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.” On a desert planet with a few ghosts. What of the ocean she used to dream about? - Ben and Rey were both introduced as two intensely lonely people searching for belonging. We learn they are a Force dyad, and then they are torn apart again. - Why was Ben named for Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first place, if they have absolutely nothing in common? - The Throne Room battle scene in The Last Jedi was clearly showing that when they are in balance, Light Side and Dark Side are unbeatable. Why did the so-called “Light Side” have to win again, in The Rise of Skywalker, instead of finding balance? - Luke’s scene on Ahch-To was so ridiculously opposite to his attitude in The Last Jedi that by now I believe he was a fantasy conjectured by her. (Like Ben’s vision of his father.) - Anakin’s voice among the other Jedi’s. - He was a renegade, for Force’s sake. - The kiss between two females. - More fan service, to appease those who pretended that not making Poe and Finn a couple was a sign of homophobia. - We see the Knights of Ren, but we learn absolutely nothing about them or Kylo’s connection with them. - Rose Tico’s invalidation. - A shame after what the actress had gone through because for the fans she was “not Star-Wars-y” (chubby and lively instead of wiry and spitfire). - Finn’s and Rose’s relationship. - Ignored without any explanation. - Finn may or may not be Force-sensitive. - If he is: did he abandon the First Order not due to his own free will but because of some higher willpower? Great. - General Hux was simply obliterated. - In The Force Awakens he was an excellent foil to Kylo Ren; no background story, no humanization for him. - Chewie’s and 3PO’s faked deaths. - Useless additional drama. - The Force Awakens was a bow before the classic trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker kicked its remainders to pieces. - The Prequel Trilogy ended with hope, the Original Trilogy with love. The Sequel Trilogy ends on a blank slate. - “We are what they grow beyond.” The characters of the Sequel Trilogy did not grow beyond the heroes of the Original Trilogy. - The Jedi did not learn from their mistakes and were obliterated. The Skywalker family understood the mistakes they had made too late. Now they’re gone, too.

P.S. While I was watching The Rise of Skywalker my husband came in asked me since when I like Marvel movies. I said “That’s not a Marvel movie, it’s Star Wars.” I guess that says enough.

P.P.S. For the next trilogy, please at least let the movies hit theatres in May again instead of December. a) It’s tradition for Star Wars films, b) Whatever happens, at least you won’t ruin anyone’s Christmases. Thank you.

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