I feel like May the 4th is the day to watch all the fun me exciting Star Wars moments you love and revenge of the 5th is the day to watch the angstiest must hurtful Star Wars moments you love

Luke Skywalker is a hero for people with anxiety

(Contains spoilers from Episodes 4-6).

A lot of people relate to Luke Skywalker. He's down-to-earth, honest, and always strives for the light. Watching Star Wars again for the first time in a while, however, I realized something. When I looked it up on the internet, I was surprised that I couldn't find a lot of discussions about it. What do I mean? That Luke Skywalker suffers from anxiety.

The deleted scene from Tosche station, which I recently saw for the first time, sheds some light on this aspect of Luke's character. In the scene, we learn from Luke's friends that he panics easily. They're all chiding him for ‘again’ thinking that the Empire is coming. Even though he's just seen Princess Leia's ship fighting with Darth Vader's ship, his friends begin gaslighting him.

Someone online pointed out that this scene causes Luke's statement “there's nothing left for me here, now” to be more forceful. Upon finding out that his Aunt and Uncle are dead, Luke doesn't go to his friends for help. You wonder what his friends thought upon hearing that Luke's family had been killed by stormtroopers, right after he'd tried to warn them.

This aspect of Luke's character, and how he is treated by his friends, conditions him to not ask for help. In the ESB, as he's dying on Hoth, he never calls for anyone. If Obi-Wan hadn't shown up, Luke wouldn't have started calling out to him. If he hadn't started shouting, Han Solo wouldn't have seen him. 

This trend continues. Luke panics about things, but doesn't ask for help. Yoda tries to help him, getting him to relax and clear his mind. But, the vision of his friends worries him too much. He makes light of Obi-Wan’s warning that the Empire is after him for his talents. Luke is still holding onto what he told Biggs in the deleted scene from Tosche station–that the Empire will never draft him. 

During the fight on Cloud City, Vader acknowledges that Luke has learned to control his fear. Remember, Luke canonically gets so scared of the Sand People that he faints in the first movie. There's almost a parallel of that first moment, as Vader knocks Luke down and holds his lightsaber to Luke's throat just like the Sand People knocked him down before.

Luke has always gotten through things on his own. But, at this moment, he loses his hand. Losing his hand is symbolic of Luke losing the ability to do everything on his own. His father, who he always idolized and held onto, is evil. He's alone. He realizes that everyone was trying to protect him from this reality. Even his aunt and uncle let him think that his father was a hero, because it helped Luke to hold on. 

He finally reaches out to Leia. He finally forms a real connection with someone, which requires being vulnerable, and overcoming his fear of not being taken seriously. And, Leia rescues him. 

In the ROTJ, Luke tells Obi-Wan that he can't do this alone. He starts working with Han and Leia, and realizing that he is actually important to them. He trusts Leia enough to tell her that she is his sister, and that he has to save their father. 

But, still, Luke is trying to do everything on his own. He goes to face his father, and tries to be calm. He tries to avoid becoming angry. He tries to control the anxiety that got him ridiculed by his friends. The anxiety that led him to destroy Vader in his vision during his training on Degobah. The anxiety that he sees as his greatest flaw. 

But, he panics. He goes after Vader, and cuts off his hand. And, that's when he realizes it. 

All his life, Luke has wanted to be like his father. He praised himself for the positive qualities that are like his father. Being a good pilot. Being a Jedi (before he knew that his father was Vader). But at this moment, Luke looks at Vader's mechanical hand, and realizes that his father is just like him. His father is anxious. His father was scared, and overwhelmed once, just like him. His father didn't have anyone to turn to. 

Luke stands up to the Emperor, but that isn't what causes this scene to be so powerful. It's the fact that, as Luke is dying, he says the words his father once desperately wanted to say to someone.

“Help me.” 

“Please, help me.”

And Anakin, who wished someone would help him, who told Luke that it was too late for him, realizes that he can be that person for someone else. The pain he's gone through his whole life doesn't have to be passed on. He can save his son from the same fate. And he does. 

That's why Luke Skywalker is a hero for people who suffer from anxiety. Because he shows us the importance of accepting ourselves. Of self-compassion. Of reaching out to others. Of not being afraid to ask for help when we need it. And, if we do, we might just be that little spark of hope that someone else needs. 

May the Force be with you, always.

Star Wars: Remnants Masterlist

"Remnants" is a series of one shots (listed in chronological order below, but you don’t have to read them in order to understand the events) about the budding relationship between you  and Luke as he trains you in the ways of the Force. Takes place post-ROTJ.

** = smut

Homecoming --> Although you're skilled in the ways of the Force and use that to your advantage in your medbay job, you always thought Luke Skywalker would be the one rescuing you, not the other way around.

At Ease -->  Luke has a little trouble functioning after seeing you fully relaxed with your natural, curly hair for the first time.  

Nightmares I --> Luke gives you all the touch and comfort you need during a rough night.

Nightmares II --> Aboard the Redeemer, secrets are shared and comfort is given to protect Luke from his demons.

Darkness Calls (part I) --> As the call of space nearly consumes you, Luke reaches for powers forbidden to a Jedi to keep you safe and deals with the consequences.

Temple of You --> After being tortured by an Inquisitor, you and Luke take comfort and solace in each other.

The Edge ** --> After a harrowing ordeal where you and Luke barely escape an   inquisitor's sinister plans, the tension between you and Luke finally   snaps--with the Force acting as his ally (Luke’s POV).

A Crime of A Different Kind --> Your and Luke's undercover mission to investigate imperial dealings in  Tatooine's underworld doesn't go quite according to plan--especially  with the pair of you undercover at Lord Halfoc's party posing as crime  lord and consort.

The Storm --> sequel to A Crime of a Different Kind. After an undercover mission that didn't go quite according to plan, you and Luke wait out a sandstorm in an abandoned farmstead--where Luke's past has been quietly and ominously waiting.

The Conflict Within -->  After you're injured in battle, Luke takes care of you while   you're both  conflicting over whether or not to reveal your feelings for  each other.

The Chasm --> sequel to The Conflict Within.  Luke stays by your side while you recover from a fever in sickbay, both  of you still at odds with your ever-crumbling resolve to keep your  feelings a secret.  

New Shirt --> You and Luke discover he has a thing for off-the-shoulder shirts and v-necks at the same time.

When You Need Me --> Luke provides some much needed comfort, cuddles, and kisses after a rough time.  

The Best View --> Protecting you is always Luke’s first priority.

Reach --> Luke retreats into the memory of you whenever he needs strength and peace (Luke’s POV).

The Right Moment --> You and Luke try to improve your track record with cliffs--and he has a not-so-little surprise in store for you.  

Easy Attachment --> Luke will forever be grateful he has you by his side as his Jedi academy grows.

New Beginnings --> After rescuing Grogu, you and Luke build your Jedi school and a peaceful life together on Yavin IV.

Golden Hour --> The evening light makes you appreciate Luke even more as the two of you relax before bed.

Soft Comforts --> In the depth of night on Yavin IV, you give both Luke and Grogu comfort against their fears.

The Best Thing That’s Ever Happened to Me --> Luke has to face his worst nightmare yet: losing you (MAJOR ANGST, but with a twist that gives it a fluffy ending).

Luke/Leia. I know you ship them, just want to see you talk about why.

Ship It

Luke is totally smitten as soon as he sees the hologram of Leia, and the intent for them to be love interests or to have a love triangle is pretty clear from the beginning, and it absolutely worked on me. Not to mention I somehow managed to avoid that spoiler before seeing ROTJ.

I love how Luke and Leia connect on screen, they have brilliant chemistry, even if you choose to read it as platonic. I love that in ANH he thinks he’s rescuing a Princess, but everything is turned on it’s head once he actually meets her. She’s the one that knows what’s going on, and takes charge of the situation. I think where Han and Leia initially but heads, Luke is utterly devoted even if he’s not her ultimate romantic match.

I’m perfectly okay with this ship as a tragedy. I like when they get to be happy, but I’m not married to that as the only solution.

All right this is ENTIRELY off the top of my head, I assume I’m missing some major ones that I will remember and slap my forehead about later:

Hannibal giving Clarice the file through the cell bars in Silence of the Lambs and his finger brushing hers; in Hannibal (2001), “I came halfway around the world to watch you run, Clarice”

Neil McCauley and Vincent Hanna in the diner. Duh.

Max and Vincent on the train, also Duh

Han and Leia fighting on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back; Leia freeing Han from Jabba in RoTJ

Belle bandaging up the Beast’s arm after the wolf attack/rescue, arguably the most formative of my entire life tbh

Teach trashing Don’s shop in American Buffalo and then asking him if he’s mad at him

Neil and the Protagonist’s farewell at the end of Tenet

Just about every scene between the Ninth Doctor and Rose in Series 1 of Doctor Who lmao

The Hound and Sansa reuniting in Winterfell

“Do not walk away from me, Jorah the Andal. You have not been dismissed.” JEEZ (I have so many for GoT like I don’t even know where to begin but zero of them are for characters that actually canonically fuck)

The scene at the end of The Immigrant AAAGGGHH:

Attack of the Clones rewatch (liveblog & opinions)

This... slapped actually?! I didn’t expect that after TPM.

The premise is so fucked up. The Jedi aren’t enough, so they’re going to need help from... an army? First, that is very enlightening information on what the Jedi are. Somehow I didn’t expect the movies to bluntly confirm that they’re the special ops in service of the government. Also, the Republic didn’t have an army at all? That’s wild. Do they have no neighbors in the galaxy? Does the Outer Rim not count?

Palpatine’s actor is the only one giving his all in this room. Noticeable green screen on him, though.

“So have you. Grown more beautiful, I mean. For a senator, I mean” Omg lmfao. This is even worse than his line in TPM. Good writing, though. I gotta give it to them, they established Anakin’s feelings very clearly and firmly from the get-go. “Ani, you’ll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine.” Girl don’t be so hasty with the friendzone :D

I thought Obi-Wan would chastise Anakin for being overly familiar — it was very awkward of him — and instead they start a public squabble over their orders. The scene is ugly and ends in Obi-Wan bluntly telling Anakin to “know his place”, which is a sign he doesn’t have Anakin’s trust and respect. It’s Obi-Wan who sounds overly aggressive and insecure, not Anakin.

Afterwards, in a very harsh, annoyed tone: “You’re focusing on the negative, Anakin. Be mindful of your thoughts.” And then he bothers to voice agreement with what Jar Jar has already said, and what Anakin actually needs to hear: “She was pleased to see us.”

“She covered the cameras. I don’t think she liked me watching her.” Uhh.....

“My young apprentice” for like a fifth time so far. It’s obvious Obi-Wan is metaphorically puffing out his chest and trying to present himself as an authority over Anakin by constantly reminding him of his youth and the difference between their ages. All without a hint of irony. Dude, I get he’s your first student, but shouldn’t have you been over this shit years ago? You’ve been teaching him for a decade.

Anakin: *has the highest midichlorian count ever, is considered the Chosen One* Anakin: *has constant nightmares about his mother* Obi-Wan: eh it’s probably nothing :)

“I’d much rather dream about Padmé. Just being around her again is intoxicating.” “Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin. They betray you. You’ve made a commitment to the Jedi order, a commitment not easily broken.” Excuse me, having a commitment to the Jedi order means a 19 year old isn’t allowed to be horny????

Why the fuck is Obi-Wan distracting Anakin with his moralizing when he needs to concentrate on watching the fucking room

BWAHAHA OBI-WAN JUST DIVING OUT OF THE WINDOW ONTO THE DRONE that’s an awesome action shot and also very funny

Finally, a good fucking action sequence!!! (Afterwards, looking at the gifs, I realized why I like it so much and what it reminds me of. The rescue from RotJ! A fun, lighthearted scene where a confident Skywalker gets to show off his skills at the beginning of a new movie and there’s just no fear of failure. But also, of course, it’s just a much more thrilling and engaging type of action scene than most.)

And after that exciting chase where they worked seamlessly as a team, Obi-Wan is back to bullshit lecturing. I’ve heard he was nicknamed “the Negotiator”, but from what I’ve seen so far, he’s so bad at using words he needs to stop doing that altogether.

This would have been a great time for Obi-Wan, as Anakin’s mentor, to step in and diplomatically say “How about the two of us swap jobs” without revealing Anakin’s gigantic crush on Padme

Anakin to Palpatine: “Your guidance more than my patience.” Oh so Obi-Wan distrusts Palpatine and yet allowed him to interact with his apprentice to the level of “guidance”? “I have said it many times. You are the most gifted Jedi I have ever met. I see you becoming the greatest of all the Jedi, Anakin, even more powerful than Master Yoda.” Oh so Palpatine knows the value of praise, unlike Some People

“His abilities have made him, well, arrogant” says Mr “Pathetic life-forms” Obi-Wan has the second chance to do what I said above, and completely blows it.

Wh... why is Padme assigning Jar Jar of all people as her representative? He may be a war hero, but surely even in-universe he should be considered a lucky idiot genius at best?

“Sometimes we must let go of our pride and do what is requested of us.” Huh, did he notice that Padme liked Obi-Wan, and tried to copy him?

“Anakin, you’ve grown up.” “Master Obi-Wan manages not to see it.” :( It’s kind of sweet he feels safe enough with Padme to vent at her. On the other hand, that implies he has nobody else :((

“But I am grown up. You said it yourself.” *tries a smouldering look* OH MY GOD BABY NO. Why doesn’t he have someone in his life who’d explain or show him how talk to girls? Obi-Wan should give him some advice, he clearly has no problem being smooth.

Btw, Padme’s wardrobe doesn’t look as copy-pasted from museum pieces in this one, nice. She’s very bad at being inconspicuous, though.

Aaand the party is split! Here we go.

“Well, if droids could think, there’d be none of us here, would there?” Um.

“Or be with the people that I love.” Ani....... Alright, so about this line. I’ve seen it used as defense that the Jedi don’t forbid love, only attachment. But Anakin very clearly says that the Jedi can’t be with the people they love, while being obligated to be compassionate — “So you might say that we are encouraged to love,” he adds clearly as one of his awkward flirty lines.

Yoda is being... cool? What is this

I don’t understand why Padme is hiding on her own home planet

Oh I thought Anakin said “hold on a minute” because she referred to him as a not-Jedi, but it was because she had her own ideas for where to hide... Nice she didn’t tolerate that. Oh look, Amidala’s argument was that she had special knowledge and not that Anakin was too young and unqualified — and he swallowed his pride and didn’t argue. It’s that easy!

Wow, this water looks like jelly. Is this on purpose? The special effects have been good so far.

“We used to come here for school retreat.” What is her background?! Was he super-rich before becoming a politician?

“Here everything is soft” says he, looking at her boobs Really, I get him, but I don’t get her. He’s so damn young! Girl what the fuck are you doing!

Oh, here go the cringe lines again :D Oh kiddo. “Believe me, I wish that I could just wish away my feelings, but I can’t.” Oh. This is genuinely sad. That’s his whole problem, isn’t it. And he’s telling her that by asking him to ignore his feelings, she’s acting like his Jedi mentors. Note how neither of them is saying “Well, we could have a fling or even a romance without Attachment(tm), that wouldn’t be against the Jedi rules”. Because that’s not true.

Why did they shoot the scene of Anakin’s mom begging him for help in a nightmare in such an objectifying way? “Jedi don’t have nightmares.” Baby :(

The staging of this fight was a bit hard to understand.

Oh here goes the antisemitism. This entire sequence proves again and again that 1) Anakin has never contacted Shmi, 2) it wasn’t for the lack of love for her Interesting that Anakin gives Watto a stern look and he obeys immediately. We know the force tricks don’t work on him, so what is it? Being afraid of a Jedi that might have a grudge against him?

I’m enjoying the movie a lot, but it’s really way too long. I’m exactly halfway through, 1:10, and I’m already very tired.

Once again shout out to Padme who knows how to support him. Is this the first hug he’s gotten in years? Especially as a sign of quiet respect for what he must do and for his capability do it?

“The separatists are inherently evil, just look at them! Don’t worry about it.” — George Lucas, probably

Shmi doesn’t even look that badly injured. I’d chalk it up to child-friendly rating, but Anakin’s burns in the next film will be horrifying. And don’t the Jedi have any healing skills? What’s the point of these kinds of “peacekeepers”? “Pain, suffering” oh come on, what we’ve seen on screen was all beheadings. Way more merciful than what they did to Shmi, or what Obi-Wan will leave Anakin to. Oh, they’re talking about Anakin’s pain. Okay. And how about the fact you could have been able to prevent this altogether? “What’s wrong, Ani?” Girl, his mom was tortured to death... Read the room God this Imperial theme playing here is so annoying.

Alright, there’s a lot to unpack here. To start with what’s happening in-universe: 1) Cliegg says: “Those Tuskens walk like men, but they're vicious, mindless monsters.” There are several interpretations: he’s objectively correct, and the Tuskens are a non-human species predisposed to violence and cruelty, which happens in sci-fi; Cliegg is semi-correct: not all Tuskens as a species are like this, but this group objectively is; Cliegg is venting his frustration and grief, and these misdeeds are the responsibility of only several individuals and not representative of the behavior and values of even that specific group; Cliegg is completely wrong and all of this has been a set-up, the Tuskens are actually innocent. 2) Anakin refers to the Tuskens as “men”, “women” and “children”, like humans. 3) Anakin immediately says “They’re like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals!” He is in hysteria, trying to defend his actions. If he had thought of the Tuskens as subhuman by default, he wouldn’t be reaching for this excuse in such desperation. 4) He also immediately says “I hate them” in a very similar tone he will use at the end of ROTS. An immediate reaction to pain, not an expression of his worldview.

On the Doylist level, the whole thing with the Tuskens is racist writing. On the Doylist level, it’s a white man mass-murdering a group of indigenous people in revenge for a white woman, and the writing judges him for the murder but also insists those people truly are inherently cruel and subhuman. I’m returning to this paragraph after completing the movie and reading online that this whole thing was based on The Searchers, the most vile piece of racist garbage I’ve had the misfortune of seeing in my entire life, which makes me even less willing to take this scene at face value. Nevertheless, on the Watsonian level, I don’t think it’s fair to judge Anakin as a person existing within the world as written in the same way we’d judge a real white man committing a similar-looking crime against actual people and not ugly parodies of them. I’ve seen some discourse on this scene on Tumblr, and it seems like some people criticize its writing and others respond with the Watsonian-level reasoning, which just derails both arguments. 

Padme is definitely having an underreaction to his announcement that he has killed children, though. Which brings me back to the previous points. I think we all agree that the correct response here would have been to make Anakin take responsibility for his crime. So why does Padme not do that? Well, here’s a horrible thought. Nobody would recognize it as a crime. Tatooine is a planet outside of the Republic’s jurisdiction. The local community seems to regard the Tuskens as subhuman and wouldn’t bat an eye at what Anakin did. Anakin is the only one who sees the horror in this, to understand the gravity of what he did. His capacity to be horrified by what he has done is the same thing that drove him to do it in the first place: the intensity of the emotion. So, the Jedi council might not find him guilty of murdering innocent people, because they might not see them as people in the first place. But you know what they would definitely judge him for? Losing his temper. To the Jedi, the emotion itself is the problem. In this light, Padme’s reaction and the following exchange make perfect sense. “To be angry is to be human.” “I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this.” She, once again, voices the normal human position that emotions happen sometimes and their mere existence is not a sin; Anakin, once again, recites Jedi dogma at her, knowing how much he doesn’t live up to it.

Oh look, an OT callback. Look at Padme being proactive, hell yeah!

Dooku addresses Obi-Wan as “my young Jedi”. Ha!! Have a taste of your own medicine!

Oh god why was the theory of Jar Jar the supreme Sith never brought to canon... That would make so much sense...

Padme when she hears the news presumably: I tried so hard and got so far and in the end it doesn’t even matter... Kind of incredible not a single person says something like “I think buying a slave army is morally wrong actually” Like remember the arguments that the Jedi couldn’t just buy Shmi because they can’t buy slaves or something? Well...

“Don’t worry. I’ve given up trying to argue with you.” Lol Ani what was that. Why did Padme put on that cape other than “look like a superhero” “For a mechanic, you seem to do an excessive amount of thinking.” Hey, remember that earlier line from Obi-Wan? Speaking of slavery... And the droids also have a lovers’ spat! Damn, does Padme have the force? That’s some impressive timing. Also I bet she’s regretting that cape right now. Oh look, Anakin’s trademark move! Hold on, R2 can fly?! I thought R2 would fly her out just before the metal is poured in, but I guess this makes more sense. “Not again! Obi-Wan’s gonna kill me” How many lightsabers have you destroyed, Ani? This action sequence was too stressful despite the lack of stakes, if that makes sense. Not too bad, but not among the strongest action sequences of the movies either. “I’m not afraid to die. I’ve been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life.” I see Ani doesn’t have the monopoly on awful romance lines! “I love you”? Girl really? You’ve known him for a few days as an adult. “Truly, deeply” too? Damn.

I know we all love Obi-Wan’s sarcastic “Good job”, but the comedy of Anakin’s deadpan “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” with Padme actively getting out of her handcuffs in the background should not be so underrated. If we have to give the main female character a revealing outfit for a rescue action sequence on a sand planet, I’d take a neat crop top over a slave bikini any day.

Alright this has dragged on for way too long. Why are we going straight from one action scene to another?

The golden ring bracelets on the evil fly guy...  

It’s very funny how Anakin wants to stop to pick up Padme and Obi-Wan chastises him with the line “Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way”. Protecting Padme has been his mission this entire movie! His number one job right now is to be her bodyguard, and as far as I know the instructions haven’t changed!

Charging Dooku alone: dumb move on Anakin’s part for no reason. Creating cinematic darkness I see :D “My old padawan” is a fun twist on the phrase Did Padme really kiss him in front of everyone? So much for the secrecy...

---

This film was way too long and I also had to take a lot of breaks, which means by the end I was completely out of steam! Nevertheless, this was a much better experience than I vaguely remembered from the previous viewings and the fandom osmosis, or expected after the trainwreck of The Phantom Menace. The plot is interesting, the CGI is serviceable (even if dated — happy 20th anniversary!), and I’m old enough to see Anakin’s awkward moves as endearing cringe comedy. No, he’s not a dreamy romantic hero, he’s a poorly socialized, unloved teenager who can’t stop putting his foot in his mouth in front of a crush he’s been yearning for for a decade, who also happens to be the only person in his life to treat him as an equal.  

Speaking of Anakin being unloved: Obi-Wan’s behavior in this film is fucking bizarre. I was just thinking how messed up it was that his entire adult life revolved after Anakin. He was entrusted with an unwanted child in his twenties, had to jump from being an apprentice straight to teaching his own apprentice, wasted the rest of his youth on raising that child, had his heart broken by him, spent another decade mourning him, rescued one of his children, spent another decade watching the other, then died to protect both. And yet. For all that effort. What we see as a result of the biggest period of time they’ve spent together is a fucking disaster. Obi-Wan keeps repeating the same boring lecture over and over. No positive reinforcement, no praise. Not a smidge of physical affection for someone who at this point is essentially his son. As one reviewer on LB put it, “so much of what we know to come in the future of this series can be traced back to Obi Wan’s catastrophic ignorance of Anakin’s need for more hugs”. When Padme hugged Anakin I was shocked because I didn’t realize it was, like, possible in this world. Are we supposed to see Anakin’s complaints as unreasonable after watching this trainwreck? Their scenes together are so painful I felt relief when they separated. The only times they actually work in harmony are during action sequences, when Obi-Wan is too busy to be patronizing. No wonder this kid has psychological problems. Give Obi-Wan a “you tried” star. I understand, this is his first mentorship experience, but he must have learned something by year ten! Watching this, I was impressed with how well the pseudo-flashback in the OWK TV show recreated the dynamic; I was just as angry with Obi-Wan during the movie as I was in reaction to those scenes, and for the same reasons.

Back to the romance. After my previous viewing, I made an annoyed post about Anakin’s sleaziness. This time I am focusing on the actions and customs of the Jedi as an order, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that his inappropriate behavior is at least as much the fault of the upbringing as a product his personal flaws. Obi-Wan launches an unhelpful lecture at the drop of a hat, yet gives no advice on how to successfully navigate a social situation. He has ample opportunity to nip the affair in the bud, which he doesn’t. By the time the lovebirds leave for Naboo, Obi-Wan is fully aware of how Anakin feels and, worse, how he goes about it, and offers no comment to Anakin (but does so to Padme’s guard, wow, so helpful of him). He has no problem having an argument in public, but when Anakin says something that sounds fishy even in private, like “She covered the cameras. I don’t think she liked me watching her”, he doesn’t take a second to explain why that sounds bad?! He’s not just a teacher in force and sword techniques, he’s Anakin’s mentor in life, which he never fails to remind Anakin of — so he should act like it!

Secondly, if we’re blaming the characters... Padme’s the adult here. She’s 24, he’s 19. What is a grown woman like her doing with a teenager who is immature even for his age? She is a politician who has ruled a planet for two terms and currently represents it in the galactic government, he went from slavery straight into a conservative religious order where he’s currently an apprentice with no social standing. She is unquestionably the party with more social power. At any point she could have told him to knock it off fully and forever, and even asked for a different bodyguard. She should have! It’s the adult’s responsibility to recognize when the situation is inappropriate and reject a younger person who doesn’t understand what they’re doing! And yet she didn’t. Because on a Watsonian level, they’re both in love and they’re both making a mistake. And on a Doylist level, George Lucas can’t write romance. Come on, we’ve seen the original trilogy, right? Anidala: still a better love story than that.

To continue with my Anakin apologism. His naive and abstract belief that a strong authoritarian leader could save the state is viewed as a unique personal failing of his... Except the plot of the entire trilogy and this movie, too, is that not only the Senate but also the Jedi Council are perfectly fine with putting this into practice! Anakin has this argument with Padme because Padme is the only one among the major characters who actually disagrees! Hm, I wonder where Anakin could have gotten these ideas, must be his inherently evil nature speaking.

I continue not to see what everyone finds so wrong about Christensen’s performance. Are you sure you don’t just hate the character he chose to play? If anything, it’s Padme, Windu and Dooku whose delivery I found flat at times; as I’ve said in the liveblog, Christensen sells his side of the romance right from the beginning, it’s Portman who doesn’t pull her weight.

All of the reasons I see for why this is supposed to be the Worst Movie Ever drive me up the wall. “Ugly and distracting CGI”? No worse than the practical effects in the OT. “Anakin is unlikeable” — sounds like a you problem, I like him just fine. “Unnaturally written and delivered dialogue” — this is Star Wars; do you think the dialogue of the “I am your father” scene in ESB sounds natural? “Anakin comes on too strong” — I won’t hear a word of this from the same fandom that worships H@n/Leia and insists H@n is not a misogynist. “He even talks over Padme in that one scene” — yes, impatience and lack of self-restraint are supposed to be his major character flaws, glad you noticed! also he shuts up as soon as she explains she’s not just pulling rank like everybody else does. “Anakin/Padme is a rushed and flawed relationship” — once again, this is on purpose; what’s next, are you going to point out “the Jedi Council and the Senate are not functioning well” as a flaw of this film?

So, I guess I’m officially a prequel apologist now. In a way it’s validating — my previous opinions mostly hold up! — but it’s also kind of alienating when most of the fandom views them very differently.

How the “Obi-Wan failed Anakin” subplot was retconned by George Lucas.

So an argument I see a lot in some “Obi-Wan failed Anakin” posts is saying “Ben failed Luke’s father, he said it himself in ROTJ”.

Now, while I could simply quote LucasFilm creative executive Pablo Hidalgo, who tweeted in 2017...

“If a fictional character thinks something, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re right.”

... and leave it at that, I think it’s interesting to see just how far the “Obi-Wan failed Anakin” subplot went with Lucas, before he retconned it into something else entirely.

The original subplot:

In a story conference for Episode VI that was first transcribed in 1981 and later collected in The Making of Return of the Jedi (2013), Lucas discussed this with Lawrence Kasdan and Richard Marquand:

“Ben [takes] the blame for Vader. “I should have given him more training. I should have sent him to Yoda, but I thought I could do it myself. It was my own pride in thinking that I could be as good a teacher as Yoda. I wish that I could stop the pestilence that I’ve unleashed on the galaxy.” His burden is that he feels responsible for everything that Vader has done.”

And in an interview done with in 1996, collected in the book The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005 (which I highly recommend getting, so insightful) Lucas discussed how he planned on portraying Obi-Wan in one of the earliest screenplay drafts for The Phantom Menace:   

“The story has Obi-Wan as a young Jedi in his mid-twenties. He’s ambitious and takes on the mentorship of this kid who starts out about eight or nine years old. […] Even though he’s too old to start the training of a Jedi, Obi-Wan feels the Force is so strong with him that he has to train him as a Jedi. […] Obi-Wan begins as this strong Jedi character but when you see all six movies, you’ll see that what Ben is doing with Luke is very close to the same mistake he made with Anakin.”

So Obi-Wan was the only Jedi we saw for the first half of the script.

And, by the way... he wasn’t always in his mid-twenties. As concept artist Ian McCaig puts it:

“Obi-Wan’s age changed all over the place — at one point he was substantially older, like a youngish 50. For a long time we had a character who was samurai-like, with a ponytail and long sideburns.”

So hey, bottom line (and as illustrated below by artist Doug Chiang):

Obi-Wan, alone, comes to negotiate with the Trade Federation. Just like he and Qui-Gon did in the final cut, he fights his way off the ship, he rescues the Queen...

... and he finds Anakin. 

He is impressed by his skills with the Force. He decides to bring him to the Jedi and he insists that Anakin should be trained.

So far, this is consistent with what is mentioned in Return of the Jedi, and it’s clear that, at this point in time, the narrative Lucas was originally going for was the notion that: “In his ambition and arrogance, Obi-Wan trained Anakin but overestimated his own abilities as a teacher, which ultimately resulted in the creation of Darth Vader.”  

Bringing in Qui-Gon:

But months later, when tackling a newer draft of the script, Lucas decided to split Obi-Wan’s impact on the story into two… and that’s when he made the decision to give a bigger role to another Jedi who originally appeared much later in the film. 

Thus was created a Jedi mentor for Obi-Wan called Qui-Gon Jinn.

“I wasn’t able to develop Obi-Wan’s character fast enough. When I got through the rough draft I realized that I had a second Jedi that comes in about halfway through the script who is an interesting character and the more I thought about it the more I thought of things I could do with these two Jedi together because one alone didn’t have much to react to.”

And when I looked further into it... this isn’t actually new information!

This was also mentioned in the old Databank on earlier versions of StarWars.com, and in The Art of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, in which they also explain that they briefly considered making Qui-Gon be Obi-Wan’s Padwan, and having Ewan McGregor playing “Padawan Qui-Gon”, before they finally settled on having Obi-Wan be the apprentice instead.

Other fun fact: there’s a scanned copy of the 1997 shooting script online (you can download it here)... and in it, you’ll notice that in the scene where they have dinner at Shmi’s house, some of the character description still reads “OBI-WAN” instead of “QUI-GON”, because they forgot to replace some of them :D

But as a result of bringing in Qui-Gon and shifting around the character dynamics, the decision of ambitiously taking Anakin in no longer falls on Obi-Wan… but on Qui-Gon.

How the addition of Qui-Gon changed the subplot:

If we look at things objectively, Qui-Gon saw a boy with an enormous M-count and massive potential in the Force, and figured “this kid must be the Chosen One”. And part of Qui-Gon’s character is that he feels, instead of thinking… he uses his instincts. And his instincts are never wrong (or so he thinks).

But while Qui-Gon’s instincts are correct (Anakin is indeed the Chosen One, no question there), he’s going about it the wrong way.

“So here we’re having Qui-Gon wanting to skip the early training and jump right to taking him on as his Padawan learner, which is controversial, and ultimately, the source of much of the problems that develop later on.”
 - The Phantom Menace, Director’s Commentary, 1999

“I think it is obvious that [Qui-Gon] was wrong in Episode I and made a dangerous decision, but ultimately this decision may be correct.”
 - Cut Magazine, 1999

He’s insisting this kid become a Padawan at once, without having him spend some time with the younglings to adjust… and everyone else is saying that that’s crazy. Cuz it is. But he is unable to consider the fact that he’s mistaken. 
His instincts are never wrong, right? So he just keeps pushing for it.

Then he gets killed and with his dying breath, he forces the task of training Anakin onto Obi-Wan, who hasn’t even gone through the Trials, yet.

So right here, the original subplot has been retconned:

Obi-Wan no longer takes Anakin on because he’s an ambitious big-shot Jedi who arrogantly goes ‘pfft, if Yoda can do it, I can too’.

Instead, at the start, he takes Anakin on reluctantly... not because Anakin’s a problem, but because Obi-Wan feels that he, as a Master, won’t be up to the task. 

Still, he steps up and takes on the responsibility. And while the task itself is ambitious, Obi-Wan doesn’t do it for the “glory of training the Chosen One”. He’s just keeping a promise, by being there for a 9-year-old kid who was taken away from his mother and whose paternal figure just died.

He decides to train the boy, honoring Qui-Gon’s memory. 

The new subplot:

Now, while Obi-Wan’s fear that he may be inexperienced may be accurate in some areas...  it isn’t in others. Namely, Obi-Wan’s ability to deal with a personality like Anakin’s.

Anakin had many character traits in common with Qui-Gon, including the following flaws:

They’re both headstrong, unruly mavericks.

Neither is very forthcoming about their own emotions.

Some people are outgoing, and need someone who will listen. Others are not, and need someone who will ask them and get them to talk. Anakin and Qui-Gon are examples of the latter. They get lost in their own thoughts and don’t open up unless they are pressed.

But this means that Obi-Wan already had experience dealing with this sort of personality before taking on Anakin. So he knows exactly what to do.

Whether Anakin is stressed...

... or is just bottling up his feelings...

... most of the time, Obi-Wan will get Anakin to open up.

(credit to @ashleyeckstein​ for that last GIF)

As Lucas said:

“One of the primary issues between this relationship between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon is that this is establishing Obi-Wan as the kind of straight arrow, the center of the movie, and Qui-Gon as the rebel, as the one who’s constantly sort of pushing the envelope. Which will switch itself in the next movie when, rather than having his master be the rebel, he has his Padawan learner become the rebel. I’m using Obi-Wan as sort of this centering device through all these movies, even as we get in with Luke and everybody else later on.” - The Phantom Menace, Director’s Commentary, 1999

Obi-Wan is a centering device.

He’s not so dogmatic that he will do anything the Jedi Council says, though he will try to stay within the lines. That said, you can change his mind, if your point is valid, unlike Qui-Gon who will hunker down on his own stance. 

Obi-Wan is the middle ground (despite what the memes say 😃).

He’s the stable Yin to chaotic Yangs like Qui-Gon or Anakin.

So it turns out that pairing Anakin with a master like Obi-Wan... is actually a great fit! They complement each other, there’s a symbiosis.

And so he trains and practically raises Anakin as a paternal/fraternal figure, they become friends. Then, when Anakin is knighted, they become equals.

Anakin becomes an almost-perfect Jedi Knight, despite the terrible odds he faced. He is brave, kind, generous, powerful, loyal, he’s the best fighter pilot in the galaxy. He is more street-smart than your average Jedi, he has political connections like Bail or Padmé. He’s training a Padawan mere months after being knighted. By the end of the Clone War, this guy’s in the Top 3 fighters of the Jedi Order.

Anakin becomes a goddamn superstar, in the Jedi Order. And Obi-Wan is very proud of the man he’s grown up to be, despite the odds he was facing.

So eventually, Obi-Wan leaves for a mission which could turn out to be just a wild Bantha chase... he imparts one last lesson, says his goodbyes to Anakin...

... and comes back to this.

He is understandably devastated... and, of course, in true Jedi fashion, he blames himself:

But here’s the thing. 

Forget that Obi-Wan is the ultimate selfless Jedi. Let’s put that aside.

Any parent would blame themselves for how their kid turned out. And sometimes? They’d be right to do so. 

This isn’t one of those times. 

Obi-Wan did his best; and Anakin’s choices - influenced though they may have been - were his own.

And that’s the new moral of Obi-Wan’s story, in the Prequels, according to Lucas.

“When you’re in this position as a mentor, whether you’re an actual father or not, this person is your charge, but you have no control over how they’re going to use that knowledge. [...] You hope they’ll turn out okay, you hope they do the right things, you hope you raised them right, and all that stuff. But there’s no guarantee or anything. You never know what’s going to happen. That’s the challenge.”

Obi-Wan will never stop thinking he shares some blame in his boy’s downfall. We see that he eventually is able to see things more objectively in From A Certain Point Of View, though, clearly, in Return of the Jedi part of him still feels he is somewhat at fault.

But we, the audience, know: he did his best.

And if his teachings hadn’t been regularly sabotaged by Palpatine for 13 years, if the Devil himself hadn’t manipulated Anakin and turned his own fears against him... Obi-Wan’s best would’ve been enough.

Do you have any WIPS with Luke?

Last 5 i opened:

1. Boba/Luke - Boba and Luke post-RotJ are both chucked back into the beginning of the Clone Wars, and proceed to troll the rest of the galaxy while saving Jango, tormenting Dooku, and beating up Sith Lords. 

2. Kix/Luke, where Luke finds and frees Kix from the carbonite right after RotJ, only for them to get in over their heads with an Inquisitor and trip back in time. 

3. Kix/Luke, where Luke starts dreaming of a man in carbonite while he’s trying to rescue Han. Eventually the pull is so strong that he goes to find him, and the search leads him right to a downed Separatist ship.

4. Fives/Luke, where an unfamiliar pair of Jedi save Fives and Echo from a mission gone wrong. Leia is there to punch Anakin, while Luke mostly just wants to meet Padme and keep his sister from starting another war. 

5. An AU where it’s not Yoda that Luke goes to for training, but Agen Kolar. 

[smashes down door] who is Bail and why do you like him? I could look it up but I'd rather you gush over him

OH BOY.

So first off, a quick (canon) history lesson: Bail Organa was the Senator and Viceroy (aka Prince Consort) of Alderaan. If you don't know what that means (because old titles are Weird - I'm not judging the only reason I know this is because of this very character), it means that Breha, Bail's wife, is ruling Queen of Alderaan and was the heir to the throne. She married Bail, making him a ruler by marriage, though technically she still held the crown. He, at some point, was also elected Senator of Alderaan, and was Senator leading up to and during The Clone Wars (and after, but we're getting to that).

So Bail, we come to find out, became (best) friends with Padmé Amidala. We see him in a couple of scenes in Attack of the Clones with Padmé, just kinda vibing and making the occasional commentary. We know he stood with her on the Opposition bill (the bill Padmé was nearly killed over at the beginning of AOTC, which was against the formation of a Republic military), though we don't learn much about the rest of his politics until later.

So he's kinda...there, but obvs isn't the focus of the story, and is really just a minor background character. The first real insight we get into Bail is, actually, a really tiny character moment right at the end of AOTC, when Palpatine and some of the Senators are looking down at the Clone troops loading up onto the ship, watching their new military gear up for war.

Bail looks away. While everyone else is staring down at the (slave) army, some of them smiling (like Sheev), some of them just serious, Bail looks away from them and makes this tiny little hand gesture: a simple, closed fist knocking against the banister of the balcony.

It's this, I think, that first piqued my interest in this character. He was the only one not triumphant in that situation. He was the only one who saw things for what they were: a tragedy, and a horror, and that this wasn't something to celebrate but to mourn.

Then we come to Revenge of the Sith, and boy howdy. The man may have like 10 minutes of screen time, but does he make those 10 minutes count!

A quick bullet point of the Important Things Bail Does in ROTS:

When the Jedi Temple is burning, what does Bail do? He flies to it to figure out what's going on and see if he can save anyone. He then watches as a youngling is shot and killed by Clone Troopers, and manages to escape because he's a fucking badass.

Please note, to our knowledge, Bail is the only one who actually goes to check on the Jedi Temple.

As soon as he escapes the Temple, Bail immediately - like immediately - takes his ship and goes to find any surviving Jedi. He is almost certainly the reason both Yoda and Obi-Wan don't walk into the trap that is the Jedi Temple, or are captured - and even if that's not true, he most definitely is the reason they manage to sneak safely onto Coruscant and figure out what happened.

He's the one who rescues Yoda (again) after Yoda's failed duel with Palpatine in the Senate. Which, let me rant about the SYMBOLISM of that for a second please. Because holy shit, the entire duel between Yoda and Palpatine takes place in the Senate, with the Senate building and pods. Here Palpatine proves to Yoda that yes, he is the Senate, he controls it, the new Empire is under his control and no one can stop him. But then - but then - Yoda escapes, and who saves him? Bail. Bail sneaks in with a speeder, saves Yoda, and gets him back to safety. Which is such a huge fucking metaphor for the fact that Bail will be the one who, ultimately, is responsible for Palpatine's defeat. But, more on that later.

Bail is there when Padmé (remember, his best friend) gives birth to Luke and Leia. Bail is literally one of 3 sentients in the galaxy who canonically knows about both Luke and Leia.

Bail instantly offers to adopt one of the children, saying "She will be loved with us." (And then she absolutely is.)

And he does all of that in line 10 minutes of screen time.

He shows up again briefly in Star Wars Rebels, and again in Rogue One, but I'm going to take a trip down a side alley here into a territory that is grossly unused in the SW EU: the founding of the Rebellion.

So we don't actually know much about how the Rebellion got started. What we do know is that Bail was one of the (if not the main) Founders. Bail was the mastermind behind the Rebellion, by all accounts knowing...everything about it: who was who, who did what, where they were located, etc. He knows (and controls) Fulcrum in Rebels, as just one example, and Fulcrum is considered by that text to be one of the most powerful Rebel operatives at the time. In Rogue One (regardless of whether you liked what they did with the Rebellion which, side note, I did not), we see he certainly has a position of great authority and power. People respect him, and listen to him, and he's on an even footing with Mon Mothma (or Mom Mothma as my autocorrect tried to say) who is canonically one of the most powerful people in the Rebellion, according to ROTJ.

More than what he did, though, we can look to his character as a reason I love him. He is a good, kind, honorable man who does (or at least tries) his best. We see again and again, throughout all of SW media he's in, that he consistently chooses the right path, regardless of whether or not it's the easy one. He fights corruption, fights for justice, fights for freedom, fights against tyranny.

He is also, canonically, an amazing father and (according to EU content, since Breha literally doesn't have a spoken line in any media content) an incredible husband. We know he's well-loved by his people, and by the Rebellion, by the extraneous texts and mentions about him in the wake of his death on Alderaan. He's also respected by many Senators during his time in the Clone Wars (Padmé makes a comment in a TCW episode about how he's the best and most respected speaker and Senator she knows), and regardless of how people felt about him after the Rise of the Empire (which is, unfortunately - or fortunately maybe, because I don't trust Disney to do it right - up to headcanon), the fact remains that Bail played an incredibly tricky position as an Imperial Senator, having to balance fighting for his people, the people of the galaxy, and setting up the Rebellion, with not making himself too much of a nuisance, or too much of a traitor, that Palpatine straight up had him executed.

Which, speaking of that, can we also take a moment to appreciate the fact that Bail knew almost every single secret that Palpatine and Vader wanted??? He knew where Obi-Wan was, and possibly where Yoda was. He knew where both of Anakin and Padmé's children were. He knew everything about the fledgling Rebellion. Like...that man, had he been captured and interrogated (and had he broken) would have damned the entire galaxy. Yet he never was. He played his cards perfectly, and was either never suspected, or was able to somehow hide all of the information they wanted to know from being found. Personally, I suspect a mixture of the two.

Furthermore, Bail Organa is a great father and husband. He is directly responsible for Leia being the amazing woman we know and love. The one shot we get of Breha, you can practically see and feel the love and adoration Bail has for her radiating off of him through the screen. Literally the most unproblematic ship in Star Wars. I have never seen a single person say they aren't amazing (unless they just want to break them up to make Bail gay? Which, come on, bisexual and polyamorous people exist, y'all. But that's a talk for another time).

If you're still not convinced, the only thing left that I can say is: I'm a raging lesbian and like, while I definitely wouldn't fuck him, Bail/Jimmy Smits (his actor) is handsome. Have some pictures that I have saved on my phone for when I'm feeling sad.

Tl;dr: Bail Organa is singlehandedly responsible for putting into motion the events that secure the galaxy's freedom, not only by being one of the founding fathers of the Rebellion, but also by reaching Yoda and Obi-Wan before the new Empire can, and getting them safely to Coruscant. He is a good, kind, and noble man who does his best in shitty times, and even if he has to make hard choices, he always makes them for the right reasons. He is a loving father, husband, and ruler, who does right by his people and his family. He fights for what's right, even when that fight is nearly impossible. He's a badass, and arguably a literal genius (you'd have to be, to do the kinds of things he does in canon).

Anyway, Bail Organa is great and I love him - and you should too.

Hey! I literally love your last post so much but I'm confused about the rebels bit (never watched it). How does Rebels criticize the jedi? Thanks!

Aw, thank you! (Lol, this is such an old ask I don’t remember what that post was, but here goes).

Well in s2 Ahsoka, Kanan (a survivor from Order 66) and Ezra (his Padawan) all go to an old Jedi Temple to talk to Yoda about Vader and his Inquisitors (Darksiders who hunt the few remaining Jedi and kidnap Force sensitive kids). Yoda is only there spiritually and the three of them get different visions. Ahsoka sees Anakin as Vader, and Kanan has to fight several enemies and eventually admit he can't protect his Padawan from the world, only guide him (which prompts the vision to finally make him a Jedi Knight, as he survived Order 66 as a Padawan.)

And Ezra... Ugh. Ezra had a previous encounter with Yoda, in which he got his lightsaber crystal. Basically Yoda asked him why he wanted to be a Jedi, and Ezra had to do some self-examination and eventually realized that helping and protecting people made him feel alive, which greatly pleased Yoda who told him he might become a Jedi after all. That's a really great exchange and I love the character development Ezra gets, as he starts by saying he wants never to feel powerless and eventually realizes that's not the right answer.

But in this second encounter, as Ezra asks how they can defeat the Inquisitors, Yoda basically says that fighting is rarely the right path. And to illustrate that, he says that line about the Jedi being arrogant and joining the war swiftly "in their arrogance," which really bothers me. He also says they were "consumed by the Dark Side", which is why they're now gone. In all fairness, he also mentions that they were motivated by fear, which is partially true. 

Now, I write analyses and I try to be intellectually honest about them, because ignoring contradicting stuff weakens your argument instead of helping you. Except this time, I really can't accept this quote. I have an excuse, Lucas wasn't involved in Rebels so it's not the highest canon in my opinion (the 6 movies + TCW are, here are the quotes justifying my position), and I feel like that assertion is out of character for Yoda, ignoring his ST ghost appearances, and also plainly factually incorrect.

I understand that Ezra really needed to be taught not to always seek to fight. At this point, he's still an emotional kid who occasionally struggles with the Dark Side. Not fighting is important to a Jedi's path, so I can understand Yoda's intention. But the example he uses? According to Lucas, the Jedi were drafted in the war. That's not jumping into a conflict out of arrogance, that's literally being dragged there against your will. And sure, there’s Geonosis, but how exactly is rescuing a bunch of your people that’s getting slaughtered by a Sith Lord the same thing as arrogantly jumping into a fight? Like, what’s the option here? Not go, and let an innocent Senator and a bunch of Jedi be murdered?

It's like Rebels!Yoda isn't acknowledging that the war was fake and that a Sith Lord engineered it as the perfect trap (which is recurring problem in Rebels; at one point Ezra, Kanan and Rex have to fight an old Separatist tactical droid and Ezra "solves" the Clone Wars by pointing out that nobody won except the Empire, so really they were on the same side all along, and he gets praised for doing what "a bunch of Jedi, senators and Clones couldn't do," ie getting both sides to talk to each other – except wtf??? setting aside that the Jedi and Rex were aware of the war being fake by the end of it, and that the Separatists were openly led by a Sith Lord and attempted to commit genocide several times in TCW and did commit mass murder, and reduced like several worlds to slavery or starvation and were backed by the worst big corporations you could imagine, the war would NOT have ended if the two sides had tried talking it out. 1) The Senate made it illegal 2) the big corporations arranged for terrorist attacks on both sides the one time they tried to negotiate so the war would drag on and they'd get more money out of it 3) Sidious. Was. Controlling. Everything. What. The. Heck. Would. Have. Been. Accomplished. By. Negotiating.)  Plus the question of whether or not the Jedi should even fight is like... constantly raised by the Jedi during TCW, so I really can’t see it as “oh wow we didn’t even take the time to think and we got killed because of it, we really sucked.” 

Seriously, there’s this S6 quote: 

MACE: Are you sure we are taking the right path? YODA: The right path, no. The only path, yes. Designed by the Dark Lord of the Sith, this web is. For now, play his game, we must.

Like yeah, totally rushing in and being eager to fight lol. Nothing to do with being boxed in and having no alternatives. 

So yeah that's bothers me and I don't think it jibes with the rest of canon. I don't remember Yoda telling Luke (who, in the beginning, is as eager to fight as Ezra is) that the Jedi "disappeared" because of some fault of their own, or because of an eagerness to fight. (Seriously, pussyfooting around the fact that the Jedi were slaughtered grates me.) The OT never, ever, ever implies that the destruction of the Jedi Order was their fault - and unless you assume that the OT is “pro-Jedi propaganda” (*laughs in dumb youtube comments*) then I don’t see Rebels weaving it into its narrative as legitimate.

Again, choosing alternatives to fighting is a great lesson on a personal level, but it doesn't work on the scale of the Rebels/Empire conflict - or the Jedi/Sith one. Ezra should often choose not to fight because of what it'll do to his soul. The Rebels should not stop fighting because there is no cohabitation with something as evil as the Empire. Imo Yoda is always presented as wise enough to know the difference. 

The last thing that makes me think it's out of character is Yoda's spiritual journey in TCW s6. He gets all of his flaws thrown into his face and has to conquer them – he has to face his literal Dark Side and he wins. And yet at no point during that arc is he ever made to conquer his ‘Jedi arrogance’ or whatever. He has to face his worst fear (first vision, all the Jedi dying), let go of his attachments (second vision, him having to accept that he can’t live in a perfect world where everything is beautiful and no one is dead), and reaffirm who he is as a Jedi (third vision, refusing to give up on Anakin and trying to save him rather than to kill Sidious) but at no point is he ever made to recognize that wow, the Jedi are the worst for fighting. 

I’d argue that the very purpose of the visions showing him Order 66 and Anakin falling are to make him accept that these things are completely beyond his control - and as such, not his fault. He doesn’t get to fix things, because the fate of the Order is not in their own hands. It is, in fact, in Anakin’s (from a thematical/narrative standpoint). Yoda has a hard time with it (actually he almost shuts down when he first sees everybody dead and his first reaction is to say that he failed them, so I can’t accept Yoda blaming his grandkids for dying) but he accepts it in the end, when he tells Mace and Obi-Wan he’s not certain one ever wins a war, but they might still find ‘victory for all time’ (referring to balance aka Sidious’ death in RotJ). 

So anyway that’s my beef with Rebels!Yoda. Not hate on Rebels though, there are many parts of it that I really, really love - but some of them kinda infuriate me, and this is one of them. 

I’m optimistic after ‘The Mandalorian’ S2 Finale

I’m honestly surprised by this strain in fandom that’s depressed that “The Mandalorian has fundamentally changed” or “this is the end of Din’s arc“ or “we won’t see Grogu again.” Or people thinking the Book of Boba is going to replace Din/Grogu’s story?

Uh...no. Emphatically no! The season finale set up some pretty neat plot lines that all converge on Grogu and Din being both the focus of the show, and eventually being reunited.

The following things personally make me quite optimistic.

Let’s not forget who is actually ‘The Mandalorian’

It’s not between Din or Boba.

Din Djarin and Grogu are the titular character(s). Grogu is just as much ‘the Mandalorian’ as we’ve seen it defined by The Children of the Watch as Din is - he’s a foundling equally as he is a potential Jedi.

So let’s dispel with the notion that anything is happening to Grogu. He ain’t getting offed by Kyle Ron. He’s not disappearing from the show. Grogu is Disney and Star Wars most valuable intellectual property right now. He represents a species that lives for millennia and is a magic user who is portrayed by a puppet and whose image Disney/SW can milk for years to come without needing to pay actors, worry about aging out of stories, or ANY of the traditional challenges that come with live action. I saw on Twitter a comment that ‘well, Disney didn’t expect Grogu to so popular so they didn’t intend to have him stick around.” lol whut. Werner Herzog was obsessed with Grogu. Literally everyone who interacted with The Child fell in love. Disney/Favreau & Filoni know exactly what they’re doing and are planning on banking on Grogu’s marketability for years to come.

Grogu’s Training

Why did Grogu go with Luke? Two reasons.

Within the narrative, we can see Grogu feel/be awed by Luke’s presence in the force and his skill in saving their lives. The camera lingers on him feeling Luke’s presence multiple times. That’s purposeful! By showing us that, Favreau and Filoni are signaling why Grogu chooses to leave - he knows that he needs to become stronger so he can protect his Dad!

On a meta level, F/F knows pairing him with Luke gives us a direct connection to Yoda, the Temple, Grogu’s past - it’s a chance to give backstory. Not to mention it certainly seems like R2 knows Grogu! I predict we’ll get to see a montage of Luke training Grogu as a call out to ESB/RoTJ, and we’ll learn about what actually happened the night the Temple was attacked.

Now, I don’t think they’ll make Luke stick around for too long/many scenes, but with R2 there is a natural vehicle to explore Grogu’s past. I think with Grogu learning to better use his abilities, we’ll see an inverse of this season, with Grogu coming to Din’s rescue at some point.

Din Djarin is Mand’alor, and Bo-Katan is Not Happy

Din Djarin’s arc is over? lol

Din Djarin’s arc is only just beginning. Now, Din has to come to terms with what it means to be Mandalorian - in every sense. He’s given up his foundling, but he’s not alone - there’s a room full of people who have seen his face, which goes against his code but not others. He’s Mand’alor, but he has no idea what that means.

Unfortunately for him, he’s about to face questions from every side about who a true Mandalorian is (as foreshadowed by the dialogue between Boba and Bo-Katan). AND he’s going to have to deal with two antagonists: Gideon and Bo-Katan.

Bo-Katan is a mess; she’s supposed to be. She was a villain the majority of her time in The Clone Wars. She’s at best been an anti-hero. Rebels was the only show she was shown to be more explicitly on the side of the heroes, but a driving force of her character has consistently been her own selfish views of Mandalore and her role within it. And next season, she’s going to be a driving antagonist for Din.

But where I think this all leads is that Din is going to come to terms with claiming the Darksaber - not to be Mand’alor, but to break the tradition of the sword by ultimately gifting it to his son, Grogu (which would parallel Jango giving Boba his armor).

Basically, Grogu’s gonna be the second Mandalorian Jedi and wield the Darksaber to protect his Dad, the Mand’alor.

Gideon, Pershing, and Cloning

I don’t think it’s accidental that Bo-Katan explicitly linked Boba to his clone lineage in the finale. Meanwhile, we also see Imperials explain that Pershing is a “high value” target of the New Republic. With both Gideon and Pershing alive, the exact nature of the experimentation on Grogu and to what end is a story line that reunites both Din and Grogu’s paths.

In fact, both potential plot lines (the nature of the cloning experiments and the Rulership of Mandalore) also potentially converge with the other announced shows Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic, which falls in line with what was reported at Investor Day that the finale of S3 would be a major cross-over event. (Ahsoka is connected to both Clones and Mandalore, and the New Republic is probably super interested in what’s happening with cloning and also probably gonna be a bit surprised when Bo-Katan decides to start flexing her small fleet of IMPERIAL SHIPS).

Why did the finale have to be so bittersweet?

For the same reason Aang died in the Crystal Catacombs and the S2 finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender ended with the line “The Earth Kingdom has fallen.” Because it sets up the central character conflicts for the next season.

Yes, it’s so bittersweet how Din and Grogu are apart. But Din said himself - they’ll see each other again! This is a necessary step to give both characters space to grow more before reuniting them. It seems clear everyone working on the show knows how central that relationship is to it. They aren’t scrapping that next season.

so tl;dr Grogu and Din aren’t going anywhere, and they’ll be reunited soon. Keep the faith, may the force be with you!

Can someone please explain why ‘Claud’ the mechanic was on board the Millennium Falcon at the beginning of aTROSity...when it could have, should have...been Rose?

That to me, is the biggest insult. They tried to cook up all kinds of excuses for reducing Loan’s character to one line, but there was NO EXCUSE for introducing what appeared to be a bipedal sea cucumber as a substitute for her. She’s a bloody mechanic, for crying out loud. It would have been a perfect role for her, and introduced her as a member of ‘the gang’. If, as his behaviour indicated, the spoilt brat John Boyega has turned out to be didn’t think an Asian actress was good enough for him, so what? Rose didn’t need to be his love interest to have a major role in the series. Lots of other sexy guys around for her.

When Lando was introduced in ESB, he was an established part of the team in ROTJ. He participated in the rescue of Han Solo. He led the assault on Death Star 2. He wasn’t practically written out of the film. 

How dare Abrams and Terrio use Carrie Fisher’s death as an excuse to write a character with plenty of potential, and a damn good actress playing her, out of her rightful role as a major player.

Why? Because of the toxic internet brigade? Because Boyega didn’t like Finn/Rose? Because Goddess Rey had to be the ‘only girl’ in the group? I don’t know, and frankly I don’t care.

Boyega’s fans...primarily white females, I’ve noticed, have droned on endlessly about how ‘reylo’ robbed John Boyega of his ‘rightful’ role of black male lead. Yet I haven’t seen similar hatred from Asian men and women regarding Rose’s removal from TROS. A couple have expressed their understandable hurt and disappointment on tumblr, but there has been none of the kind of fanatical support Boyega has gotten. 

The sheer hypocrisy of Boyega playing the ‘race’ card is exposed by DLF’s treatment of Loan Tran. Boyega thinks he’s hard done by...yet he has more screentime than Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson and Loan Tran throughout the whole of TROS.

And ironically.....all three of them have shown nothing but dignity and class post TROS...when if I had been any one of them, I would be adopting Boyega’s attitude and ranting on twitter. Unlike him, they have the right to be pissed off.

Do you think Rey Palpatine could have worked if they set it up from the beginning? What do you think of fanfic AUs where Rey is a Palpatine and on the Dark Side instead of Ben?

No. It drastically alters the narrative landscape and themes to make sw into a dynastic power struggle rather than the personal journey of one family as a metaphor for how to grow up into ethical adulthood. It’s not a story about duelling lineages and it severely cheapens it to make it one. Palpatine shouldn’t have offspring at all, that’s deeply symbolically wrong in the fairy tale logic of sw.

Making Rey any kind of legacy or heiress makes her a completely different character and totally defeats her arc. Her foundational dilemma is that she is in denial about her aloneness and will have to forge her own identity because no one is going to hand her one; as soon as you change that it’s no longer possible to pretend she has a coherent characterisation.

It’s obviously fine for fanfic because it doesn’t have to play by the rules, but role reversal for reylo doesn’t work in canon because the entire justification for Rey’s position in the narrative is that she will rescue the fallen Skywalker scion. The ST was, pre-tros, about ‘loose ends’ and the unresolved trauma the Skywalker family hadn’t dealt with resurfacing in the next generation. If it’s not about that, it shouldn’t be part of the saga and RotJ should remain the ending.

While this isn’t directly for Obitine Week 2020 in STAR WARS fandom, it’s not precisely to one of their themes, it’s certainly inspired by the wonderful event and how much amazing content that’s been generated and reminding me how much I really do love this pairing a ton. I am such a sucker for A Knight And His Lady Love type dynamics when done well, that for all their snapping and arguing and banter, they exemplify so well. I even love that they both chose other things over their potential romance, because those things are fulfilling to them and so very important to them. While at the same time! I can enjoy the tension between them and want another life where they were together! And fandom has absolutely fed that really well, both this week and in the past, so here’s a collection of fics for the Obitine ship that I’ve loved! THANK YOU FANDOM, SOMETIMES YOU’RE PRETTY GREAT. STAR WARS FIC RECS: OBI-WAN/SATINE RECS: ✦ Trying to Connect by skygawker, obi-wan & anakin + mentions of obi-wan/satine, 2.7k    Anakin tries to talk to Obi-Wan in the aftermath of Satine Kryze’s death. It goes about as well as you might expect. ✦ The Duchess and the General by Gabri Jade, obi-wan/satine & anakin, 1k    Obi-Wan’s life never fails to surprise. ✦ Passion, Wit & Bravery, True Love & Duty by truthtruthlie, obi-wan/satine & cast, 1k    It had been seventeen years since Obi-Wan Kenobi’s death at the hands of his troopers on Utapau. ✦ headcanon fic: luke kryze, prince of mandelore part 1, part 2, and part 3by luckyjak, obi-wan/satine & luke & leia & anakin & cast, 2k    After Mustafar and the twins are born, everything happens exactly like in canon: Obi-Wan intends to go to Tatooine. But look, it has been A Day, the worst kind of day, and he could use a friend. And Satine is nothing if not his oldest and most precious friend. ✦ The Question, Twenty Years Late by Eirian Erisdar, obi-wan/satine & luke, 1.2k    Set just post-ROTJ in a timeline where Satine survived. Waiting alone for an emissary from the newly-formed Imperial Senate to demand Mandalore’s fealty to the Empire, Satine is surprised by an unexpected guest, holding a very precious bundle. ✦ and gravity, scientists say, is weak by victoria_p (musesfool), obi-wan & anakin + referenced obi-wan/satine, 3.2k    “You’re not the only one who’s ever been in love, Anakin.” ✦ The Butterfly Effect by zukoslover, obi-wan & anakin + qui-gon + obi-wan/satine, 2.9k wip    What if Satine had asked Obi-Wan to stay, all those years ago on Mandalore? And what if he had said yes? What consequences would the change in the fate of one man have for the rest of the galaxy? ✦ where war is no more by silveronthetree, obi-wan/satine & luke, ~1k wip    Obi-Wan needs a disguise and Satine just wishes he would smile again. ✦ Failures of Rhetoric by Mithrigil, obi-wan/satine, nsfw, 4.1k wip    Diplomacy is an art that requires years of refinement. Satine doesn’t appreciate Ben’s many failures. Or, five times Obi-Wan Kenobi should’ve kept his trap shut. And once he should have said something, anything, anything at all. ✦ Fire by EwanMcGregorIsMyHomeboy12, obi-wan/satine, NSFW, 1.7k    Between the incident with Tal Merrick on the Coronet and the long ride back to Coruscant, there are plenty of things that a certain Jedi Master and Duchess can get into… ✦ Rewind, Repeat by tulomne, obi-wan/satine & qui-gon & cast, time travel, 23k    And just like that, Obi-Wan Kenobi dies. But death is just the beginning, he realizes as he wakes as he once was, Padawan braid and all, alongside Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Satine Kryze. Visions of the future, just out of his grasp, plague the young Jedi as the three traverse the galaxy, avoiding the dangers that follow the Duchess of Mandalore. ✦ a choice made and made again by Sweven, obi-wan/satine & qui-gon & cast, 4.1k    A glimpse into the year on the run ✦ A Passing Evening by belldreams, obi-wan/satine & anakin & cast, 2.9k    With Qui-Gon’s passing and a brand new Padawan in tow, Obi-Wan finds himself at a loss. An old companion helps him find his way again. ✦ if the sky comes falling down, for you (there’s nothing in this world i wouldn’t do) by skywalking-across-the-galaxy (BadWolfGirl01), obi-wan/satine & anakin & cody & maul & cast, 6.2k    [or: The Lawless, but Obi-Wan’s not alone.] ✦ where war is no more by silveronthetree, obi-wan/satine, 3k wip    AU where Satine survives and Obi-Wan goes on the run with her and Luke after Order 66. ✦ One Drink Too Many and a Joke Gone Too Far by victoria_p (musesfool), obi-wan/satine & anakin/padme, nsfw, 7.2k    Obi-Wan and Satine wake up married. Obi-Wan intends to file for divorce. Really he does. ✦ The Lawful by Raven_Knight, obi-wan/satine & bo-katan & cast, NSFW, 4.2k    With the help of Bo-Katan, certain things go a little differently after Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives to rescue Satine from Darth Maul’s clutches. ✦ Villain of a Different Story by HiNerdsItsCat (HiLarpItsCat), obi-wan/satine & anakin & cast, 73.2k wip    It turns out that there are some perks to being the Chosen One: Anakin finds himself transported five years into the past—only to discover that it isn’t his past, but a completely different one. One where Obi-Wan Kenobi left the Jedi Order, where Qui-Gon Jinn survived… and where Anakin Skywalker is the galaxy’s greatest villain. ✦ Obitine Week 2019 by sunshineisdelicious, obi-wan/satine & anakin & ahsoka & qui-gon & korkie, 12.6k    A little celebration of Obi-Wan and Satine. ✦ Split the Night by Zinga763, obi-wan/satine & anakin/padme & ahsoka & maul & cast, 43.8k wip    Darth Maul knows exactly how to break Kenobi. In which Maul targets someone other than Satine, and it changes Obi-Wan and Anakin’s lives, along with the galaxy’s. ✦ eight letters by katierosefun, obi-wan/satine, 2.2k    Five times Obi-Wan Kenobi almost says “I love you” to Satine, and the one time he actually does. ✦ ignore by katierosefun, obi-wan/satine & anakin, 2.1k    …or the time Anakin Skywalker accidentally on purpose locks Obi-Wan and Satine in a room after the events of the Coronet in hopes that they’ll actually talk to each other. (They don’t. But at least they crawled around an air vent together.) ✦ Lost to Time by tulomne, obi-wan/satine, 2k    A series of recordings, messages, and the like, surrounding Master Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Duchess of Mandalore Satine Kryze, discovered with the rebuilding of the New Republic. ✦ known by katierosefun, obi-wan/satine & maul, read the warnings, 2.2k    The events of Lawless, only Satine lives. But at a cost. ✦ Eternally Dancing Around You by mytardisisparked, obi-wan/satine, 2.9k wip    A collection of ficlets from Obitine Week 2020 and its prompts. ✦ back to you, always by katierosefun, obi-wan/satine, 1.2k    The time Obi-Wan fended off a member of the Death Watch and collapsed at Satine’s doorstep. ✦ Obitine Week 2020 by sunshineisdelicious, obi-wan/satine & cast, 1.9k wip    Day 1: Seven Deadly Sins + Day 2: Role Swap (AU) + Day 3: Angst/Soft (AU) ✦ because it’s morning now by katierosefun, obi-wan/satine, ~1k    Obi-Wan is usually a morning person. Usually. ✦ behind closed doors by katierosefun, obi-wan/satine, 1k    After the events on Concordia, Satine leads Obi-Wan to the guest rooms. ✦ Beyond the Last Illusion + On Distant Shores + Before the Throne by ruth baulding, obi-wan/satine & qui-gon & cast, 108.2k FULL DETAILS + RECS HERE!

hi! I was curious as to what are both your fav and least fav versions of anakin? (like aotc, rots, old force ghost, clone wars, etc)

This is such an exciting question, but I'll try to be succinct instead of long-winded and boring. (My stories are already there for that.) Here's a quick rundown of a few different Anakins, from my most treasured to the one (and only one) I tend to side-eye: 

ROTJ Anakin / Force Ghost Anakin - I'm grouping these guys together, because I love them all for the same reason, and that reason is that they DID it. ROTJ Anakin is the Anakin who finds himself again; who takes responsibility for his family, and a huge step toward atoning for the things he's done. He spends ROTJ slowly changing; we see it in how he regards the Emperor, and the way he regards Luke. The closest thing he’s ever going to do to getting his wife back, realistically, is saving his son and finally openly defying Palpatine. It doesn’t matter that anyone else knows Vader has been rescued from himself, or that he was really a good man all along. Luke knows, and that’s enough; it’s part of why their relationship is so special to me. Luke is the only living person who says a proper goodbye to Anakin: He knew all along that it was worth it to try to know him. That’s beautiful.

His journey isn't finished at this stage, exactly, but his he's in a better place than he's ever been, and I love him for it. He's hope personified, even for the very worst of us.

As an aside— physicality isn't a barrier to any of this; I love him all busted up and dying, I love him as a fully-healed Sebastian Shaw, and as a pretty, young Hayden Christensen.

Padawan Anakin / AOTC Anakin / Jedi Quest Anakin - In second place is a much younger iteration of him— a sad, lonely kid who's easily excitable, and dangerous, somehow, without being at all frightening. He's a mixed-up kid who's had a less-than-ideal upbringing, bound to an ancient prophecy no one knows enough about. He cries out constantly to be held and loved; he's got his heart in his hand, and he's always ready to give it away to the next person who shows him kindness— or who even just needs him. 

He's still so compassionate and well-intentioned at this point in his life, even when it doesn't benefit him. He can be petty and sensitive, although anyone would be, if they had to bear the kind of weight Anakin carries on his own shoulders at that age. His emotions sometimes run amok, but his heart is still so good... and more importantly than that, he knows it. He still has hope, for himself and for others, despite the overwhelming sense of 'otherness' he tends to feel. That's what sets him apart from Vader for me, even though I think AOTC Ani resembles the ultimate, 'suited' Darth Vader a lot more than the Anakin we meet at the beginning of ROTS. 

Plus— although this is fairly irrelevant— AOTC Anakin happens to be Anakin at peak hotness. No damn wig is going to change that, nor is the sad fact of my own rapidly-advancing age. :) 

Little Kid Anakin / TPM Anakin - The sweet baby version of Anakin comes in next for me. The altruism he struggles to hang onto until he finally falls is front-and-centre at this stage. He's tough by necessity (obviously, he's a fucking slave), but he isn't jaded yet— largely owing to his mother. Even when he loses Qui-Gon and gets to the Temple and struggles to integrate, his heart just stays enormous. God knows what he's already been through, but he never stops trying, and there's nothing fake about his confidence at this stage in his life. I love that; I think we could all stand to be a bit more like nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker.

There's an Anakin & Reader story on ao3 by @itohan called 'Kuebiko', and it's a beautiful depiction of what it might be like to be a caregiver for a very young Anakin. It's headed for some pretty sad places, to be sure, but there's a lot of sweetness and lovely (sometimes chilling) little insights into his character that I don't otherwise get to see very often. Anyone else with a soft spot for child Ani should go and read it.

'Classic' Vader, between the end of ROTS and the end of ANH - This is an enormous chunk of time, but again, I think it's more helpful than not if I just group these iterations of him together, at least for the purpose of compiling this list. It's horrific and tragic and a devastating waste of potential, but Anakin really does spend a huge amount of time mired in a thick, dark cloud of grief and anger. He convinces himself of a lot of stupid shit during this period in his life: 'Anakin is dead, I'm fulfilling my destiny, I can get Padmé back, she'd love all this ORDER I'm bringing, blah blah blah'. Every ounce of his extraordinary control is purely surface-level; he's a raging wildfire inside for a longer period of time than I think nearly anyone else could realistically sustain (as in, Kylo Ren was always going to die at 30, and I'm surprised I didn't, too lol).

He's empowered by his shitstain of a 'Master' to hurt and kill people against everything that once made him who he was, and no one can know he suffers for it (or for the loss of his wife, or the family he wishes he could have raised with her). No one can know anything about him; he's a man playing a part who can't ever take off his costume. Everything hurts him, and the only places he can turn to for comfort are the battlefield, and the inside of his own head. He has profound disabilities of every imaginable nature, and receives no more than the most cursory physical maintenance to remedy them. He escapes into his missions, but every one of those is a slight against his own better nature. His personal pursuits don't benefit him either; for basically twenty years of his life, he's living in an emotional storm— it ebbs and flows, but it never lets up, and his entire existence is set up specifically to reward the most despicable of his behaviour.

He doesn't make very many genuine emotional breakthroughs, because he's not allowed— just tricked and lied to and manipulated and taken advantage of, even when he's the one ostensibly in 'control'. His life only starts again when Luke comes into it; again, one more reason their connection is so special to me.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend another Anakin/Reader story by a different author; it's called 'mrfiveohone' by DarthDoritos, and it's on ao3. It's a brilliant exploration of what a strange, budding relationship with a youngish Vader might look like, and just an overall beautiful portrait of escalating intimacy on top of that. Another one I would highly recommend (completion status notwithstanding) is called 'Afterimage', and it is by garnettrees, also on ao3. It's a very dark Vaderdala story that gets right inside Anakin's head in the most wonderful ways. He never stops loving Padmé, and in that, he never truly stops being who he is. 

This is the Vader I (admittedly somewhat dramatically) see the most of myself in. It puts us at-odds sometimes, but my urge to get up underneath that mask and make him feel worthy of his own name is insurmountable. I love him because if I didn't, I'd be in trouble. 

Which brings us to TCW Anakin… who is, perhaps, the only version of Anakin I can honestly say I don't care for. Which is fine, because the show itself really isn't my kind of thing. Suffice to say, that particular depiction of him departs so dramatically from any of the other ones I've known (or listed here) that I just can't get into it, no matter how hard I try. 

I'm going to end this with a shout-out to Lego Anakin! I've never seen a shitty version of Lego Anakin, whether in a cartoon or on my desk at home. :)

Thank you for asking, anon. That was fun to write out!

Strap in, kids, this is going to be a long one...

So, I’ve been thinking about The Rise of Skywalker.

I didn’t watch it during my SW marathon last week...I haven’t even seen it since I saw it in the theaters back in 2019.

But I watched a few vids on it last night and listened to an episode of the What the Force podcast today while I was working, and I got to thinking about the story and if there was a way to fix it.

And I’ve played script doctor, and there are a few things that I was able to fix.  Sort of.  These changes might not necessarily make the movie good, but I believe that they are at least improvements in some ways.  And this isn’t about the entire movie, or I’d be writing this all night.  This mostly focuses on the final third, and includes a few moments from earlier.

1. Get rid of Rey Palpatine.  That was a totally unnecessary addition, and was probably only done because some fans didn’t like that Rey wasn’t related to any one.  But you can still bring back Palpatine, if you must....maybe it’s more his soul or spirit inside a clone instead of the physical Emperor that Vader threw down the shaft in ROTJ.  

2. Don’t reveal to the audience that Chewie is still alive as early as they did....I’ll get into why in a bit.

3. Don’t have Leia training Rey.  When I listened to the What the Force podcast today, they talked about how in the EU (I know it’s not canon anymore), Leia never truly embraced the Force.  She never really came to terms with being Vader’s daughter.  And they pointed out a very obvious point that Leia was a pretty strong character to begin with, she didn’t need to train as a Jedi.  I like that she shows glimmers of the Force, but she didn’t need to train with Luke or train Rey.  I think Leia’s few scenes in the film should have been with Poe.  He was the character who had the closest relationship with her in the first two films.  Rey just hugs her at the end of TFA and has a short conversation with her at the end of TLJ.  I know they had very little footage to work with, but they might have been able to work something out when she and Poe could talk about him leading and eventually taking over for her...something... I’m also going to change how the character dies, but I’ll explain that later.

4. Lando didn’t really need to be in the movie.  I feel like he was mostly there because he was someone the audience recognizes.  Or if he was there, they should have limited him to one scene.  Maybe just the scene where he helps them out on Pasaana...though that might not work if the droids and Chewie are there.  But if he just helped out the new characters, he could just be a guy who helps them out and the audience knows it’s Lando, but the characters don’t.  But I may swing back to this... :)

5.  Ben’s redemption needs to be bigger.  Just him helping and saving Rey isn’t enough for me.  And it doesn’t help that no one else in the movie knows about this...so he died with everyone thinking he was a monster.

6.  Hux is not the spy.  More on that later.

OK.

So, now I’m going to try and outline a narrative...I hope this makes sense!

And forgive me if I mess up the order of certain scenes or forget something...I haven’t watched this movie in 18 months and all my knowledge comes from other people’s analysis’ of it.

So after Rey thinks she kills Chewie, she starts isolating herself from the other two...she’s still with them, but is quieter, more withdrawn.  They go to the planet to get the translation, and instead of going to rescue Chewie (because the characters and the audience don’t know he’s alive), she sneaks away from Finn and Poe, steals a ship and goes to the Endor moon without them.  Poe and Finn are going to follow, but discover something important...I don’t know what...maybe this is how they learn about Palpatine and they decide it’s more important to go back to the base and figure out what to do.  *And maybe on the ride back is when we get the Finn/Poe scenes so many of us wanted*.  

Rey goes to the wrecked Star Destroyer and the discovery of the Sith Wayfinder and conflict with Kylo goes mostly the same.  

Meanwhile, the Falcon arrives at the Resistance Base and they share what they found and maybe there’s something that needs to be translated or decoded...mostly thinking of something for Rose to do, because she deserved better.  

But *somehow* Leia is killed...not her just randomly going to die...but actually killed.  I thought about instead of them finding Ochi’s body on Pasaana, maybe he is still alive and ends up assassinating Leia, on Palpatine’s orders.  Kylo feels Leia’s death through the Force and that’s the moment when Rey stabs him.  She feels Leia’s death immediately after...and out of guilt and love for him, she decides to heal him.  She takes the ship she stole from earlier and leaves.  The scene between Kylo/Ben and Han happens exactly the same, because it was the one scene I genuinely loved from TROS.  

*Side note: I realized that when Leia felt Han’s death through the Force, maybe it wasn’t her connection to Han, necessarily...but what if it was her connection Ben?  She felt Ben kill Han, rather than feeling Han die...because we see her connection to Ben in TLJ...so maybe she and Han weren’t connected through the Force, but she and Ben were...just random thought that popped in my head this afternoon.*

The What the Force podcast floated the idea of him keeping his lightsaber, but it no longer sparked and was “whole”, but I agree that he probably has to toss it to show that he is now officially Ben.  But then I remembered that in TLJ, Ben had a light blue lightsaber!  So, after he has turned, what if he goes back to the ship where his quarters are, and gets his old lightsaber, that he had hidden away in the bottom of a drawer.  And when he goes back, he has to wear the helmet to hide that he no longer has his face scar (and maybe to seem more intimidating, since he’s not on the Dark Side anymore), and at least then him having his helmet again pays off.  While there, an officer asks if he would like to be present while they interrogate the Wookie.  And he’s like “what Wookie?” “Our Resistance prisoner from Pasaana”.  So Ben says that he will interrogate him alone and goes to Chewie’s cell.  It takes some convincing, but Chewie finally believes that Ben is no longer Kylo.  They escape the ship with Ben using the mind trick to get the guards to leave and ignore them (showing that he’s still just as powerful but in a different way) and they fly off.  But Hux witnesses this and realizes what is happening...there’s a brief skirmish, but Chewie and Ben get away.  

And now Hux is in charge...just what he’s always wanted, lol.

They land at the Resistance Base, where there’s a bit of an uproar over Ben.  Maybe Finn goes to attack him because he thinks Ben killed Rey...but Chewie stops him, proving to everyone that Ben can be trusted.

Ben has a moment at the bedside of his mother...and if she was going to become one with the Force, this would be the moment for it to happen.  Like she was holding on for him....waiting until he got there.

They go over what Poe and Finn found and Ben fills in the blanks about Palpatine...explaining that he wants Rey.  He wants her for her power and plans to essentially posses her.  The difference here is that Rey won’t know about it until it’s to late.  Basically, if she kills Palpatine, he gets her body.  Maybe it could have something to do with where he is, I don’t know.  *Because I will say, Palpatine’s plan in TROS is so weird...he tells her to kill him so that he can use her body....no?*

Finn, of course wants to rescue her, but Ben says that he can’t, that the Emperor is too strong...Ben is the only one who can help.  But there is something Finn can do...he can get onto the Star Destroyer where the spy is and lead a mutiny from inside.  Long story short, the spy is a Storm Trooper...basically, this is where we meet Janna.  She has been helping the Resistance because she has broken through her brainwashing.  And if Finn can get there and find her, they could work to convince other Storm Troopers to rebel and get them to fight the war from the inside, essentially.  Turning a Star Destroyer into an ally, rather than an enemy.  *This would give Finn something to do other than yell Rey...he can have a rousing speech instead!*

So Finn is taking Ben’s imperial ship to the Star Destroyer, Poe is leading the army on the offensive and Ben and Chewie are going to help Rey.  And before they leave, they send one last message to their allies for help.  They tell them of Leia’s death, and that this will be their last message to them.  Basically, they tell them “You can fight for what Leia stood for or let that hope die with her, it’s up to you”.  I think this is something else Rose can do, too, as that totally fits with her character and I think could show her potentially growing into a leadership role.

Ben and Chewie take the Falcon to where Rey and the Emperor are...as much fun as it would be to see Ben fly his father’s ship, it would be equally funny if he sits in the pilot’s seat and Chewie is like “yeah, no way kid, move it or lose it”.

Rey has arrived to face the Emperor and thinks she’s going to kill him, but for some reason doesn’t (I don’t know why), but he essentially goads her into doing what he wants.  Maybe he mentions something horrifying about her parents that causes her to snap.  

Ben and Chewie fight the knights of Ren....Chewie is wounded, but not fatally (mostly as a reason as to why Chewie doesn’t end up in the throne room).

Ben makes it there just as Rey strikes the fatal blow.  He’s too late.

Rey becomes possessed by Palpatine and it now fully Dark Side, and Ben realizes that the only way to save the galaxy is to face her. (so we sort of get Rey Palpatine without her being his actual granddaughter)  And it would be interesting to see them fight with the roles reversed.  This is where I thought the characters were going to go going into The Last Jedi, that they were essentially going to switch places...

The space battle is still happening above...Finn has managed to convince the Storm Troopers to rebel.  And the Resistance’s call has been answered by several ships (not nearly as many as we saw in the movie, that was a bit much), and maybe that’s where we see Lando (and Wedge).  The tables turn and the battle is won.

Rey and Ben fight and Ben eventually kills her...and killing her kills all the acolytes that stood around doing nothing as well.  So Palpatine and the Sith are gone for good.

He’s holding her and remembers that there is a way he may be able to save her.  He puts his hand on her wound and heals her.  She wakes up, and is “just Rey” again...but in saving her, Ben dies and becomes one with the Force.

The ending is essentially the same, but then at least there was more work put towards Ben’s redemption and more people that just Rey know about it.

And Rey would not end up on Tatooine alone.  You could just end it with her being reunited with her friends and them celebrating...and she looks off and sees Luke and Ben (and maybe Leia) before rejoining the celebration a la Return of the Jedi.  And no Rey Skywalker!

Now, does this fix everything?  Not by a long shot.  But I think changes like these would have at least made certain moments more emotionally impactful, rather than characters just doing things and quickly moving on to the next.  The only issue is doing the whole “dark union” thing like this, you can argue that Rey loses her agency, because her choice is taken away, and she needs her man to save her.  But it’s better than having her be related to Palpatine, imo, and having all of her previous achievements mean less...because she only has the power because of her bloodline.  Give me a break.

I really hope this makes sense to everyone who made it this far!

Thanks for reading!