It’s been over four years since the Star Wars sequel trilogy concluded. This has led to some severe contention in the Star Wars community regarding what would have happened if moments in this trilogy had happened differently.
The sequel trilogy is a consequence of what happens when you have two directors who have conflicting visions of how the story of this trilogy was supposed to go. Ideally, with other film franchises, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there should be a good amount of collaboration between filmmakers to lay The story out consistently. Instead, J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson took turns directing with completely different ideas of how the story was going to go.
Johnson didn’t follow through with Abrams’ notes, and when he made The Last Jedi [TLJ], creating controversial changes to the overall story, such as Rey’s parentage and killing off Snoke. After TLJ got a divisive reception, Disney hired J.J. Abrams back to retcon those changes. This has proven to be an even worse mistake because it got backlash from both regular Star Wars fans and fans of TLJ. To both fan camps, The Rise of Skywalker [TROS] is considered to be the worst Star Wars movie ever made.
In defense of Johnson and Abrams, however, this is also a consequence of Kathleen Kennedy’s lack of leadership. By refusing to intervene when their visions conflict with one another, it created a story feeling empty and confusing. This is one of the many reasons Kennedy has proven unsuitable for running Lucasfilm.
This is why you have conflicting goals, from Rey’s parentage to Kylo destroying his helmet symbolizing ending his Vader worship only to inexplicably repair it. Stuff like this shakes a lot of character arcs to the point where non of them have any actual development aside from maybe Poe Dameron.
My input probably would not have fixed everything in this sequel trilogy, but it would have gone a long way in adding to the Star Wars mythos. At the very least, it would have made this trilogy a more coherent and respectful conclusion to the Skywalker Saga.
#1: Rey’s Home Should Have Been the New Republic Capital
Rey’s origin being a scrapper living on a desert planet is clearly meant to Emulate Luke’s upbringing, Too much, Having it set in another desert even if it’s a different name seems lazy as there with nothing different on this planet. Rehashing elements from previous movies is one of the central rules of what not to do in a sequel.
So for this change, Ray’s home planet should be set in the exact opposite environment of Luke’s. While Tatooine is a sparsely populated arid planet, the New Republic capital is a dense metropolis with a rotten underbelly. Whether it’s Coruscant or Hosnian Prime making Reys home tied to the capital of the New Republic would add a great deal to the worldbuilding that has been lacking in this trilogy.
We could be getting something similar to Arcane where we see that citizens in the upper or lower levels live entirely different lives thus creating a disconnect between the population, perfectly reflecting the state Of the new republic.
Furthermore, we would have gotten attached to the Hosnian system when the First Order blew the planet up. One common problem in the Star Wars franchise is the tendency to destroy planets that we, as an audience, have no connection with. Let’s be honest, do we really care about Alderaan, Hosnian Prime, or Kijimi? Do you even remember those Planets?
If they actually had the balls To destroy Coruscant, which is reportedly what JJ originally wanted, it would have given so much more weight to the story. And having it be Rey’s hope planet destroyed in front of her very eyes would make it far more heart-wrenching.
#2: The Heroes should be the New Republic, not the Resistance
One of the more confusing elements of The Force Awakens is why was there a “Resistance against the First Order” if the New Republic is still around. Declaring them two separate entities makes things needlessly confusing. Officially in the new lore, the Resistance is a private military created by Leia after she failed to be elected chancellor.
When you get down to it, this army doesn’t make a lot of sense. For a modern political comparison, it’s the equivalent of Senator Bob Dole, after failing his multiple presidential runs, establishing Blackwater to fight the Soviet Union (i.e. Putin) in 2005. Missing context such as this complicates the plot making it hard to be invested in our hero’s struggle.
The Star Wars Aftermath books – printed before the film’s release – explain elements regarding the relationship between the New Republic and the Resistance. The problem is I shouldn’t have to read a companion book to understand the movie’s plot. This isn’t an adaptation from some book – this is an entirely new story that demands context given in the film itself.
My guess is that the reason for this change was out of a desire to bring star wars back to the status quo with rebels fighting against the empire. Making it all the more evident that The Force Awakens [TFA] is just a rehash of new hope. It’s also likely that Disney wanted to distance its new star wars from the political stuff the prequels were criticized for. What it did instead was make this new galaxy hard to follow.
In this change, all forces of the allies that Poe Dameron, and Leia command should be called the New Republic fleet. It doesn’t make sense that the entire Republic fleet would just be assembled on Hosninan Prime. There is such a thing as Bases, right?
If they do call themselves “The Resistance”, it would make more sense to take on the name after the New Republic capital has been wiped out and the First Order takes over the galaxy. The Resistance will comprise the bulk of Republic fleets that survived the initial onslaught, similar to Battlestar Galactica.
#3: Give Rey a Double-Bladed Saber from the Start
One major missed opportunity is seeing Ray actually develop her own lightsaber instead of just carrying Luke’s. Nothing about her overall arc really changes, even her outfit. Giving Ray her double-bladed lightsaber would add so much more to these fight scenes, which have become generic in these movies.
What’s so strange was in the original scripts as well as concept art for Episode 9, Rey does possesses a double blade with a piece of her staff on one half and Skywalker’s saber on another. This progression makes perfect sense for her character as she prefers to use her quarterstaff. The reason Rey just keeps using a single blade just baffles me like it’s being restricted by a committee for the sake of marketing.
With the announcement of a Ray spinoff in the works, perhaps it’s the best time to bring this concept back.
#4: Show us Kylo Ren’s Fall to the Dark Side
In addition to seeing the New Republic get destroyed, we could also have seen the Attack on Lukes’s Jedi order as part of the climax. Instead of having Ben Solo’s betrayal portrayed in flashbacks, this would be a major plot point in episode 7.
Another serious problem with the force wakens is that there is so much crucial plot that was done completely offscreen. From the first order rising out of nowhere to Lukes’s disappearance. Imagine what kind of an impact it would be in the first movie not only is the republic under attack, but Lukes’s Jedi order is under siege and betrayed by Lukes’s prized student.
Furthermore, it would have been more interesting if Kylo remained a villain throughout the entire trilogy. there’s no moment of Kylo redeeming himself to the light side and he remains an irredeemable villain, as he had several chances in TFA and TLJ to come back to the good side and rejected them both, this is a sign that not all complex villains can be redeemed.
#5: Palpatine Stays Dead
This is better for another article, but The moment the sequel trilogy’s narrative fell apart entirely was the resurrection of the Emperor.
Palpatine literally exploded in front of our eyes and he “somehow returned” without any explanation. A handwaved line about dark science and cloning is not enough to hide the fact that Palpatine’s return is out of nowhere. The movie doesn’t even explain how he comes back, and additional material provided by the novel and subsequent comics are so convoluted that they raise more questions than answers.
It’s clear that the Emperor return wasn’t planned out by JJ Abrams or Kathleen Kenndy when they initially started this trilogy, The only reason this was done came to them after the supposed finale boss Snoke was unceremoniously killed off in TLJ by Johnson. Because there is no perceived final boss is now gone in their infinite wisdom decided to bring Palpatine back no matter how much sense it would make.
The big problem however is that there was no reason to bring Palpatine back from the dead when they could have focused on Kylo and his inner turmoil. Kylo was very clearly set up to be the final boss when he betrayed Snoke to become supreme leader.
Some have argued that because he’s the bad guy in the entire saga then it makes sense to end with him. My response is that Palpatine demise was important to the overall story in redeeming Anakin Skywalker and restoring balance.
The absolutely worse thing about Palpatine returning is it rendered the entire Skywalker Saga meaningless. Even if it was up to Luke to restore balance by redeeming his father, they would both still die without any knowledge of the Emperor’s return.
#6: Actually Showing Luke’s New Jedi Order in its Prime
One of the most missed opportunities in the Sequel trilogy was getting to see Lukes’s New Jedi Order. We could have seen the fledgling new order training, obviously, they don’t have to be the number they were in the prequels, but the numbers below a hundred seem reasonable.
We even could have seen the gradual rift between Luke and Ben.
Perhaps Rey gets discovered and taken to the temple, perhaps she witnesses Luke takes her to his new temple. We see several Jedi including Ben Solo oppose Lukes’ teachings and plot its overthrow. Even then not all of the New Jedi Order would be destroyed, with at least a dozen surviving to fight in the battles ahead.
To see Lukes’s Jedi Order obliterated before it even appears is one of the bigger mistakes of the sequel trilogy because Luke was meant to be the New Hope (heh) built up over the past two sagas. Now It all means nothing.
#7: Revealing Snoke’s Identity as Darth Plagueis (or literally anyone else than Palpatine)
From the instant Snoke was teased back in The Force Awakens fans debated as to what person Snoke could be. However his unexpected kill-off without any backstory on who he is left so many questions about what now since he was the presumed main villain. This was made even worse in the following film where it’s revealed that he was just a failed clone made by Palpatine’s scientists.
By making Snoke a simple clone vessel/skin-puppet for Palpatine the films shatter the agency of his character by claiming this villain that the franchise has been building to for 2 movies was never real. Further details from subsequent books and comics left more questions than answers.
This is why the fan theory that Snoke was Darth Plagueis reincarnated stuck with so many fans. It would make this would be the perfect way to tie this entire saga together. Plagueis was Palpatines teacher until he was betrayed and murdered in his sleep – or at least that’s what Palpatine believed. What if Plagueis mastered immortality in a way he refused to tell his apprentice?
However, anyone who has read the Darth Plagueis novel will know that Plagueis were obsessed with immortality and cheating death. Imagine the original mastermind behind Palpatine’s rise to power retired and build a new order in the wake of his apprentice’s death.
#7: Re-exploring the Force Without the Same Old “Jedi” or the “Sith” Ideologies
One of the Jedi teachings that some may be considered flawed is the belief that the light side destroys the dark balance is restored. This should have been the conflict in the sequel trilogy
The fact of the matter is that the force has always been an abstract power in the galaxy. It is a power that has only really been interpreted. This issue is that the Jedi order has always had a narrow interpretation of what leads to the dark side. Flawed teachings, such as love, have pushed powerful-minded people such as Anakin to embrace the dark. This has caused the Jedi and Sith to war with each other for thousands of years.
In order for this cycle to be broken, Rey would have to accept the dark side but not embrace it. It’s why EU characters like Darth Revan Are so engaging because they found solutions to balance the dark and light sides of the force to become more powerful and wise.
In a way, the sequel trilogy should have ended with the total end of both the Jedi and Sith orders in order to create true balance in the force. This may have been what Rian Johnson was trying to do with Kylo Ren taking power with his line “Let the past die”, but they never went all in with that concept, and it was all abandoned in TROS, where it becomes the generic light versus dark again.
The very idea that balance is removed by eliminating the dark is arrogance. Life is not based on absolute morals.
It would have been so powerful if Kylo and Rey discovered this revelation together as foes. Instead of Kylo turning good or Rey turning evil, they learn the lesson that the light and dark are one and the same, and there is wisdom in both sides of the force.
Conclusion
None of these changes would completely fix the sequel trilogy but they would have gone a long way to help the overall story of the sequel trilogy. What hurts more than a bad film series is the massive lost potential. The possibilities were endless back in 2015, but now Disney/Lucusfilm is struggling on all fronts to keep Star Wars relevant in the public consciousness. Despite some successes on TV chances for future films have been.
Honestly, if The Rise of Skywalker wasn’t such a contrived mess I would have been much more lenient with this trilogy, but the fact that it went out of its way to retcon the whole sage is unforgivable no matter what future books and shows will say. The worst however is that we were very close to an ending that would have been satisfying.
This is a webcomic that was based on scripts written by Colin Trevorrow, it’s not perfect but would have been much closer to the ending that many fans would have envisioned.
