WARNING: This post is 100% spoiler, all the time. Don't read any further if that is a problem for you!
There is a lot of fan controversy around The Last Jedi. Some love it, some hate it. This isn't an effort to convince anyone of anything, but I wanted to write down my thoughts on it so that I could re-share this post instead of answering the question every time I get it :)
First, my foundational assumptions:
- The new trilogy is intended to be a reboot of Star Wars for a new generation. Disney was smart enough not to just straight up re-cast Han, Luke and Leia, but they knew the old films don't play as well to younger audiences as they would like.
- The Hero Journey is a cyclical thing... there are always new heroes. To paraphrase another franchise: All of this has happened before and will happen again.
- The Expanded Universe / Legends era stuff was never intended to be "real". I LOVED the Thrawn Series. It gave me more Star Wars when there was none. But I always knew it could be nuked at any time, so I didn't get really attached.
One of the complaints about The Force Awakens was that it was just a rehashing of A New Hope. As I said above, I think that was intentional. Given that, I think The Last Jedi was both ESB and RotJ rolled up into one. My take is that these two movies were setup: Episode IX will be the first one where the new characters are on their own.
This movie is about saying goodbye to the past, and stepping out from the shadows of those Legends that loom over you.
This is true both for the characters in the movie and the fans: If you are going to continue to enjoy new Star Wars movies, you have to be prepared to let go of the EU and the characters you grew up with.
Luke Skywalker
I'm going to start with Luke, because he was the part I was most interested in. I think this is largely his story, and its a very complex one that truly did not go how we expected it to.
In this story, Luke plays the parts of his father and his mentors: He is Anakin, Yoda and Obi-wan all in one.
...as Anakin
Like his father, he failed miserably at what he set out to do. Anakin was supposed to be the hero that would save the Jedi order and bring balance to the force. Instead he slaughtered a temple full of children, tried to kill his best friend, and eventually turned into the most feared monster in the galaxy.
Luke didn't slaughter a bunch of padawans, but he thought about it. He got as far as igniting the saber while looking at his sleeping nephew. "Killing him is the right thing to do", he thought. "I need to kill my sleeping nephew."
Where Anakin swung the blade, Luke snapped out of it at the last moment. Realizing what he nearly did destroyed him.
At that point he didn't need the roof to come down on him: Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master was already dead. The roof was really just the punctuation at the end of the sentence.
But what would have driven Luke to that place? I have a theory...
We saw in the movie that Snoke was able to introduce ideas and connections into the heads of other force sensitive people. He established the connection between Kylo and Rey. He read Kylo's thoughts. What if he was not only influencing Ben, but also Luke? What if he was playing to Luke's anxiety? Perhaps in a very Palpatine like way, Snoke was manipulating things all along?
As Luke says himself: At the height of the order, the Jedi were collectively manipulated by a single Sith lord. Why would it be hard to believe that the same could happen to Luke? Anakin was twisted by his fear of losing Padme. Luke was twisted by his fear of failing Yoda, Ben and the Jedi.
Snoke feeding the darkness in Ben and the fear in Luke. A perfect Sith Strategy right there!
...as Yoda
But how could Luke just turn his back on everything? He's a great Jedi master, he can't just run away and hide! He needs to fight the Empire! He needs to train new Jedi! A true Jedi Master could never turn his back on the galaxy! What would Master Yoda have done... in the... oh... uh...
When Luke finds Yoda, he's alone on a distant, deserted planet. The planet itself exudes force energy, masking his presence. Yoda refuses to train Luke. He's gone a bit mad from the isolation. He screws with Luke just for the sake of screwing with him.
Eventually, grudgingly, he does train Luke. He doesn't complete the training because Luke needs to rush off to save his friends.
Yoda never leaves Dagobah to join the fight, but he does what he can in a short time to set Luke on his own path.
Familiar?
...as Obi-Wan
After talking with Yoda again, Luke finds some sort of peace. Where he was closed off from the force before, he is now connected to the world again. But he's still an old hermit in the middle of nowhere.
Then he hears Leia's cry for help. It is her most desperate hour...
Unlike Ben Kenobi, Luke has no way to leave Ach-To. His X-wing has been in the ocean for so many years now that it couldn't possibly fly again, and he'd never reach her in time even if it could.
Summoning all of the power within him, he projects himself on Crait. He presents himself not as the broken old man he is, but as the person he was when last they saw him. His final stand as Luke Skywalker: Jedi Master! His presence inspires a feeling of hope in the Resistance. The spark re-ignites!
His confrontation with Kylo was much like when Obi-Wan fought Vader: He can't win and he knows it. Just like Obi-wan, he knows that he doesn't need to win, he just needs to stall them for long enough that the last hope of the Jedi can get her friends to the Falcon and escape.
At the end of the fight, just like Obi-Wan, Luke's body disappears; one with the force. And just like Obi-wan he is now more powerful than Kylo can possibly imagine. He can continue to train Rey. He can find other force-powerful people and steer them in the right direction. He's no longer confined in the body of a weak, tired old man.
Rey
Rey is the desert dwelling orphan who finds her future as the Last Hope of the Jedi Order. She is sent on a seemingly impossible mission: Find the last surviving Jedi Master and learn the ways of the force.
Like Luke before her, she doesn't find what she expects. Instead of a great warrior she finds a crazy old hermit. At least Luke just hits her with a stick rather than making her carry him around on her back!
While the experience isn't perfect, she does learn how to connect to the force. Where Luke left Dagobah with more thorough training, Rey leaves Ach-To with the full history and texts of the Jedi order to interpret as she sees fit.
Everyone expected a big "no, I am your father" reveal for Rey, but instead we were told that she was a nobody from the desert... A child of drunks that sold her off.
Of course we believe this whole heartedly because Kylo Ren is a trustworthy source of information!
I think there's a lot more to that story still.
Snoke
In TFA we see a projected image of the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke. We know nothing about him other than that everyone is pretty scared of him. He must be something pretty important! This echoes how we meet the Emperor in ESB. He's just a big blue head, but if Vader kneels before him he must be serious business!
In the Last Jedi we expected to learn who he was, how he came to power, etc...
In Return of the Jedi, Palpatine did little more than sit in a chair. Eventually he shot lightning out of his hands before being unceremoniously killed by his own apprentice. You would think a Sith Lord as powerful as Palpatine would have seen that coming, right????
Decades passed before we learned who Palpatine was or how he came to power. Hopefully we don't wait as long for Snoke, but I'm sure we'll learn.
Kylo Ren
Kylo is the Vader of the story. He starts off as a Jedi apprentice, becomes corrupted by the dark side, and betrays the ones he used to love.
In the big Throne Room Battle he has his moment where he turns from the Dark, saving Rey and killing Snoke. But when he's free from the shadow of the Supreme Leader he doesn't renounce his past deeds and join the resistance. He takes over, becoming Supreme Leader himself.
We now see what Vader could have been: Fully committed to the Dark, running the show himself.
We also see Kylo getting rid of the mask and being himself. He is no longer pretending to be his grandfather.
Yoda
Possibly my favorite part of the movie: We see the Yoda we originally knew for the first time since ROTJ.
He comes to Luke just a Luke is about to burn the last remnant of the Jedi order. He knows what it's like... he's been there himself!
Sitting in a hut on Dagobah, thinking about how many Jedi died while he was supposed to be the Great Master.
Wondering how such a powerful Jedi could have failed so completely.
But after nearly 1000 years, Yoda gets it: A powerful connection to the force doesn't make you perfect. Humans (and whatever Yoda is!) have flaws. They do great things. They fail. They keep trying.
Yoda agrees with Luke: The Jedi Order is done. He calls down lightning and burns the tree himself.
Yoda tells Luke that there was nothing in the tree that Rey didn't already have. Now that the history of the Jedi is gone, Luke is all that remains. He feels free now, no longer being the caretaker of this legacy.
I think this is the greatest bit in the movie: Yoda knew that she took the books, and didn't want Luke to know! He set fire to the tree to keep Rey's secret / keep Luke out.
Poe
I think of Poe as part Han and part Leia in this new series.
He's the handsome, cocky pilot that does what he wants, when he wants, and how he wants to do it. He's no military leader, he's just a flyboy that likes action.
But the Rebellion... er... Resistance... needs a leader. Someone needs to inspire and protect people.
Like Leia's rise from Princess and Senator to General, Poe has to rise up.
After witnessing the impact of his decisions, he finally understands what it means to be a leader. Rather than rushing out to help Luke he sees the fight for what it is: A distraction to give them a way out.
In the end we find him positioned to lead the Resistance effectively.
Finn, Rose, Phasma
Unfortunately I see all of these characters as disposable. I don't see anything in this movie at all that justifies their existence. You could cut their scenes entirely and not change the overall story.
Leia
I did not like the space scene. I thought the execution was awkward, and I think it gave false hope for the character we've loved for decades. Leia lives! Except we all know that she doesn't... I sort of wish there was closure for the character in the movie.
That scene should have played a pivotal role in Kylo's development: He had the shot! He could have completed his effort to kill his past by killing his mother. He hesitated, and his wingman took the shot instead.
Now the choice is gone. His mother is dead and there is nothing of his past left. No longer is there any reason to even consider being Ben Solo again.
Bringing her back at that point just to drag her along for the ride felt unnecessary to me, knowing that she can't be in Episode IX.
Star Wars: Fury Road
I thought the slow space chase was dumb. That's really all there is to say there.
Episode IX
This is where I am most excited. We are now in a place where Episode IX doesn't need to be in the shadow of the original trilogy. For the first time in the third part of this great saga, we can see what the new kids do on their own.
My thoughts:
- Rey will become the Great Jedi that we wanted to see in Luke.
- Rey will find that the concepts of light and dark side are flawed.
- Poe will rebuild the resistance and lead the defeat of the First Order
- Kylo will eventually fall. I don't think he will be redeemed.
- We will learn that Rey is something more than the daughter of a space drunk.
- Finn will continue to just be Finn.
- Snoke's story will come in book form. I'm leaning toward Palpatine Clone of some sort.
