SEQUEL TRILOGY

DEFENDING THE STAR WARS SEQUEL TRILOGY

Many people hate them just because they are a "Disney product", meanwhile others have quite understandable reasons in terms of plot and characters to dislike these films.

But I, as a fan of this trilogy (although that doesn't mean it's my favorite) and seeing how it's usually treated, have decided to analyze it in detail to show that it's not as bad as many people say.

I have divided this article into 5 parts: I will dedicate the first three to each of the films, the fourth to the characters and the fifth and last to a vision of the trilogy as a whole and its place within Star Wars. So may the Force be with us.

THE FORCE AWAKENS

It all begins here. Luke Skywalker has vanished, and in his absence the First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire with the intention of subduing the galaxy under its yoke and bringing down the last Jedi. General Leia Organa leads a small group of rebels called the Resistance who are trying to confront the First Order and find Luke to help them in their struggle. The young junkyard Rey  and the storm trooper FN2187 (aka Finn) get unexpectedly involved in this story.

With this story we are introduced to the characters of this new trilogy while bringing back the heroes of the original trilogy. Regardless of the reasonable resemblance that the film in general has with A New Hope, the reality is that the formula used to introduce us to the new characters and to this trilogy works. It is a good first chapter in the sense that there is nothing that can be considered controversial. Things get complicated in the next one.

THE LAST JEDI

Episode VIII was meant to solve the doubts left by the previous one: Snoke, why was Luke in exile... but Rian Johnson's way of solving those doubts did not please everyone. But that doesn't mean he didn't do it in a coherent way.

Let's start with Luke Skywalker. To understand his exile you have to go back in some ways to (attention) the TV series The Clone Wars and analyze some Jedi to realize that these peacekeepers are not perfect heroes, they have their weaknesses. Obi-Wan Kenobi's weakness is his love for Satine Kryze. But he manages to overcome it. Master Yoda's is the fear to the fall of the Jedi, but he overcomes it by assuming that it is something that will happen because it is the will of the Force. Luke Skywalker's weakness is the fear of failing as a master and creating a monster, so he goes into exile. But in the end he overcomes that fear. Luke has a beautiful arch of fall and redemption in The Last Jedi, but not everyone appreciates it.

Rey has identity issues. Her connection to Kylo Ren and her training at Ahch To have an impact. But she manages to overcome them, realizing that her past does not to determine her future. However, that doesn't mean she assumes been a nobody. On the other hand, Kylo Ren is free of her ties to Snoke and Darth Vader. He breaks his mask because in reality, that mask was not meant to intimidate, but to hide. It takes him to kill his father, to be defeated by Rey and humiliated by Snoke to realize it. Speaking of Snoke. Maybe the aura of mystery surrounding him in the previous movie was too much, because his easy death here makes it clear that he's just a pawn of someone more powerful. So let’s talk about that someone.

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Palpatine! He's alive! That famous line from Revenge of the Sith about the unnatural abilities of the dark side was not a lie to lure Anakin to the dark side. It is true that the Sith can cheat death. Not much more explanation is needed.

His constant change of mind (first he wants Rey to die, then he does not, then he does) also has its explanation: the Emperor only cares about his plans and nothing else.

As for Anakin and his redemption, they are intact. Because the Prophecy said that only the Chosen One could destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. And Anakin did it! Whether Palpatine found a way to resurrect himself has nothing to do with it. Anakin brought balance to the Force, but no one said that balance would last forever. Rey, aided by all the Jedi including Anakin, restored the balance Anakin had already established and Palpatine had broken.

I find the creation of the Final Order perfectly credible. The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels showed us that Palpatine was usually more concerned with other matters than the Empire he was forming or ruling, so it could be that the construction of that army began before the fall of the Empire. And even if that was not the case, it is still 31 years that separate the events of Return of the Jedi from those of The Rise of Skywalker. Plenty of time to build a new Empire.

The relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren is the definitive proof that episode IX doesn’t ratckon the VIII, since it deepens and expands that relationship more (I talk more about it in the characters section).

The final confrontation between Rey and Palpatine, may seem simple, but it is loaded with symbolism. Rey crossing those two lightsabers is Rey helped and supported by all the Jedi, and Palpatine is, as he says, all the Sith. Furthermore, the two sabers she uses are those of Leia and Luke, the sons of the Chosen One. Well, and Luke's sword is also Anakin's.

CHARACTERS

-Rey: As I said, the character of Rey suffers from a lack of identity. Everything that happens to her affects her, and it's not until the last moment, when she answers "Rey Skywalker", that she finally finds herself.      

And the truth is that both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi give us "clues" that Rey is a Palpatine. She has several approaches to the dark side (which even Luke Skywalker can see) and her lightsaber fighting style is almost identical to her grandfather's.

In the end, on Tatooine, she calls herself a Skywalker because she realizes that the Skywalkers have been her real family. And we are not defined by our past.

-Kylo Ren: Ben Solo is unbalanced during The Force Awakens and much of The Last Jedi. It is when he assumes the identity of supreme leader that he finally feels free, as I have explained in the section on The Last Jedi.

As for his actions in The Rise of Skywalker, he rebuilds his mask because he no longer hides behind it, now it’s a complement that makes him truly intimidating.

He redeems himself when his mother and father forgive him and when he realizes that although he is the natural heir to Darth Vader, just like his grandfather he has to end the conflict within him by turning to the light side. And his relationship with Rey is influential. On that dyad:

-A Jedi cannot take lightsabers from all parts of the universe. Rey and Kylo Ren share a unique connection that allows them to do that. Rian Johnson teased it in The Last Jedi with a few drops of water, and in Episode 9 that is taken further. And about them being able to heal, well, "The Child" (better known as Baby Yoda) proved before the arrival of The Rise of Skywalker that doing that through the Force was possible in The Mandalorian. And no one complained, right?

-Other controversial characters:

            -Finn: Finn seems to play at being a Jedi in Episode VII, yet in the end he turns out to be just another rebel. But his connection to the Force remains there, and it shows that indeed, anyone can feel the Force. Rian Johnson showed it again through the broom boy, and J.J. with the character of Jannah (Naomie Ackie) and his battalion of soldiers who rebelled. As for his romantic interests, he can't decide between Rey, Rose and Jannah, and there's nothing we can do about it.

            -Hux: This officer of the First Order has an interesting journey throughout the trilogy. In episode seven, he's an intimidating and powerful high-ranking officer. But everyone humiliates him in The Last Jedi, and Snoke's death and Kylo Ren's rise end his career. His hate for Kylo Ren, the main culprit in his downfall, is so intense that he no longer cares about the fate of the galaxy. All he cares about is that he loses. Totally comprehensible.

            -Luke Skywalker: I've talked about him before but I was missing his little intervention in The Rise of Skywalker. This scene is the ultimate proof that Luke has assumed his mistake, and he's trying to stop Rey from making that same mistake.

GENERAL OVERVIEW AND CONCLUSION

Therefore, in the end it turns out that the sequel trilogy is not as incoherent as it seems. It may seem so if you look at it from above, but if you analyze it well, you realize that it is not. In my opinion, the main problem with the sequels is how little time they cover. The Last Jedi is a very straightforward sequel to The Force Awakens, and a year goes by between episode eight and The Rise of Skywalker. While in the prequels, for example, ten years pass between episodes I and II and three years between episodes II and III. The short time that the sequels cover helps to increase the confusion about the evolution of the facts and the characters, but it has been demonstrated that this doesn’t mean that there is no evolution or that it is inconsistent. And it does not undo the previous episodes. Rey and Kylo Ren are heirs of Anakin Skywalker in one way or another.

In the end, I know that the opinion of those of you who don't like it probably won't change after reading this, but at least I hope that it will make you see it with different eyes. And for those of you who already like it, I know that you'll love it even more now; in any case, I hope that my goal of enhancing the name of this trilogy has been achieved.

And remember, the Force will be with you... always.