This month, some friends watched our kids while we went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I went in with a few predictions about what would happen in the film. As a Star Wars geek with a history degree, I can't help noticing that history tends to repeat itself in the Star Wars trilogies. For example, in the first movie of all three trilogies, there's a damsel in distress to save, a deadly space station to blow up, and a mentor/father figure who gets killed by a Sith (the bad guys with red light sabers). After reflecting on Episodes 2 and 5 ('cuz that's what geeky history majors do when we're washing the dishes), I had some guesses about things we'd see in Episode 8 (and yes, all the photos are from the original trilogy, 'cuz I like it a whole lot better than the prequels) . . .
1) Somebody's gonna lose a hand.
In Episodes 2 and 5, the headstrong Jedi apprentice rushes into a fight with a Sith, discovers he's totally outclassed, and comes away one hand short. Things don't look good for Rey's right hand in Episode 8, but maybe they'll throw us a curveball, and Kylo Ren will lose a hand instead?
2) Somebody's gonna fall in love.
(Bonus points if the girl resists on principle, then confesses her love
when it looks like one or both of them is about to die).
Leia and Padme both fall in love against their better judgement. Leia prefers NICE men, not scoundrels, and Padme resists Anakin because she's a law-abiding senator and romance with a Jedi is totally illegal (though apparently a Jedi-in-training can flirt like crazy without getting in trouble?). When it looks like the object of their attraction may not survive till the final credits, both girls finally cave in and say, "I love you" (we know). Who will fall in love in Episode 8? Finn and the new character Rose? Rey and Kylo Ren???
3) A new character acts friendly, but betrays the good guys.
In Episode 2, we meet Count Dooku who asks the shackled Obi-Wan Kenobi to help him resist a powerful Sith Lord in the galactic government (who Dooku is secretly working for). Obi-Wan doesn't trust him for a second. Lando Calrissian's approach is more persuasive and charming in Episode 5 (no shackles for you, Princess--yet), but he too turns out to be working with a Sith (though more as a matter of necessity than preference). At least he redeems himself at the end; will the traitor in Episode 8 do the same?
4) A Sith apprentice invites a Jedi apprentice to join forces with him and bring order to the galaxy.
Luke: NOOOOOO! [OK, actually he just let go of the railing and plummeted a mile or two, but that basically means the same thing as, "NOOOOOO!"]
Kylo Ren: Join me, and together we will rule the galaxy!
Rey: Um, I don't think so.
4) A Sith apprentice invites a Jedi apprentice to join forces with him and bring order to the galaxy.
Count Dooku: You must join me, Obi-Wan, and together we will destroy the Sith!
Obi-Wan: I will never join you, Dooku.
Darth Vader: Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son!Obi-Wan: I will never join you, Dooku.
Luke: NOOOOOO! [OK, actually he just let go of the railing and plummeted a mile or two, but that basically means the same thing as, "NOOOOOO!"]
Kylo Ren: Join me, and together we will rule the galaxy!
Rey: Um, I don't think so.
5) An apprentice ignores their mentor's counsel and leaves to help someone they care about, but they don't actually help.
In Episode 5, Luke senses that his friends are in danger and decides to take a break from Jedi lessons to go help them. His mentor Yoda begs him not to go, but Luke takes off anyway and heads to Cloud City, where he gets clobbered by Darth Vader and his friends escape without his help. Anakin actually tries and fails to help someone TWICE in Episode 2. Master Obi-Wan instructs Anakin to keep Padme safe on Naboo, but the pair go to Tatooine to try to save his mom (who dies in his arms), and then they travel to a far more hostile planet to rescue Obi-Wan, only to be captured and scheduled for execution right along with him. They all escape, of course (Obi-Wan managing to do so without any help from Anakin or Padme). In Episode 8, will Rey leave Luke Skywalker to try to help a friend in trouble, only to find that her effort was futile?
6) A Force-sensitive person (not the main protagonist) comes to the rescue when it looks like all is lost.
In Greek drama, there was a term "deus ex machina" (literally "God in the machine") for when a playwright wrote their characters into a corner and then had a god come and fix everything at the end. You might say that happens at the end of Episodes 2 and 5, when it looks like all is lost for the would-be Jedi until another character unexpectedly uses the Force to come to their rescue. In Episode 2, after a brief lightsaber duel, Anakin is unconscious and at the mercy of Count Dooku until Yoda hobbles in, turns on his mini lightsaber, and shows the Count who's boss (er, master). Near the end of Episode 5, Luke is clinging weakly to an antennae on the bottom of Cloud City, with no possible help or escape route in sight. He uses the Force to call to Leia, who tells Chewie to turn the Millennium Falcon around and go back to Cloud City to rescue Luke. Who will be the "Jedi ex machina" in Episode 8? Luke? Leia? Finn???
In Episode 2, Anakin is confronted with his worst fear: the death of his mother. He responds by vengefully slaughtering the sandpeople who killed her, foreshadowing the future when he turns to the dark side in a vain attempt to save the life of someone he loves. In Episode 5, Luke enters a cave filled with the dark side of the Force and confronts the image of his greatest fear: Darth Vader. When he cuts the simulated Vader's head off, the helmet's face mask disappears revealing Luke's own face, warning him that if he kills Darth Vader he will really be destroying himself. Luke takes the message to heart in Episode 6, choosing to spare his defeated father instead of killing him out of anger and fear. What is Rey's greatest fear, and how will she respond to it?
If you're still reading this post, you're probably geeky enough to care whether and how history repeated itself in Episode 8. I'll share what I guessed right (and wrong) in the comments section. Feel free to add your own geeky thoughts, if you like.
P.S. I thought of calling this post "Somebody's Gonna Lose a Hand," but most people who read this blog are family members who just want to see what my kids are up to, and I didn't want anyone to freak out when they saw the title.
7) The Jedi apprentice faces their worst fear, and the result foreshadows their destiny.
In Episode 2, Anakin is confronted with his worst fear: the death of his mother. He responds by vengefully slaughtering the sandpeople who killed her, foreshadowing the future when he turns to the dark side in a vain attempt to save the life of someone he loves. In Episode 5, Luke enters a cave filled with the dark side of the Force and confronts the image of his greatest fear: Darth Vader. When he cuts the simulated Vader's head off, the helmet's face mask disappears revealing Luke's own face, warning him that if he kills Darth Vader he will really be destroying himself. Luke takes the message to heart in Episode 6, choosing to spare his defeated father instead of killing him out of anger and fear. What is Rey's greatest fear, and how will she respond to it?
If you're still reading this post, you're probably geeky enough to care whether and how history repeated itself in Episode 8. I'll share what I guessed right (and wrong) in the comments section. Feel free to add your own geeky thoughts, if you like.
P.S. I thought of calling this post "Somebody's Gonna Lose a Hand," but most people who read this blog are family members who just want to see what my kids are up to, and I didn't want anyone to freak out when they saw the title.
3 comments:
What I guessed right (and wrong):
1) Somebody's gonna lose a hand - WRONG!
What the heck??? I was certain that at least my first two guesses would be right. Oh well. I'm sure Rey's grateful.
2) Somebody's gonna fall in love (bonus if the girl resists on principle, then admits her love when things look grim) - RIGHT!
Rose starts off thinking Finn is a spineless, self-centered deserter, but as she helps him try to save the fleet she discovers he really is a selfless hero. When she's injured saving him and it looks like she (and the rest of the Resistance) are about to die, she confesses she loves him.
But wait, that's not all. While neither of them say it outright, Kylo Ren and Rey have a total crush on each other, and to say that she originally "objected to him on principle" would be the understatement of the year.
3) A new character acts friendly, but betrays the good guys - RIGHT!
The shady, quirky codebreaker Finn and Rose enlist to help them seems friendly enough, but like Lando, he's hard to read. Unlike Lando and Count Dooku, he wasn't working with the bad guys from the moment we met him; just switched sides when things got dicey. Lando and Dooku both appeared in the third film of their trilogies, so maybe we'll see DJ the codebreaker again. Will he redeem himself? In DJ's own words, "Maybe."
4) A Sith apprentice invites a Jedi apprentice to join forces with him and bring order to the galaxy - RIGHT!
Kylo Ren inviting Rey to join him and rule the galaxy was reminiscent of Vader's invitation to Luke in so many ways. Kylo Ren reaching out a black gloved hand was a clear reference to the iconic image I included in my post, and like Vader, he had left Rey nowhere else to go. Luke was trapped on a ledge over a yawning chasm. Rey, who craved a family and sense of connection, had just been forced to acknowledge that her parents abandoned her and were dead, and that her friends in the Resistance were about to be destroyed; all she seemed to have left was Kylo Ren, who insisted that he cared about her and thought she was someone special. Kylo and Vader both wanted the power of being a Sith Lord commanding legions of stormtroopers, but they both had come to realize that that power was empty if they couldn't share it with someone they cared about. They can't have it both ways, though, and both Jedi apprentices turn their offers down without hesitation.
5) An apprentice ignores their mentor's counsel and leaves to help someone they care about, but they don't actually help - RIGHT!
Like those impulsive Skywalker apprentices in Episodes 2 and 5, Rey is having visions that convince her that someone she cares about needs her help. Specifically, she feels believes the Force has shown her that if she goes to meet Kylo Ren he will turn to the light side and help the good guys defeat the bad guys. Like Yoda before him, Luke warns his apprentice not to rush off to face a Sith--"This isn't going to go the way you think!" He's right, and Rey doesn't achieve her goal of turning Kylo to the light (yet), but she emerges from the encounter victorious and unhurt, instead of defeated and maimed like her predecessors. Perhaps it was because she was more mature and stronger with the light side of the Force than they were at the time.
6) A Force-sensitive person (not the main protagonist) comes to the rescue when it looks like all is lost - RIGHT!
Luke Skywalker distracting Kylo Ren from half a galaxy away while the good guys escape. Total Jedi ex machina.
7) The Jedi apprentice faces their worst fear, and the result foreshadows later events - RIGHT!
Like Luke in Episode 5, Rey ventured into a cave filled with the dark side of the Force. Unlike Luke, Rey went in with a specific goal: to learn what, if anything, the dark side might be able to teach her. Her experience in the cave was a visual metaphor for her greatest fear: being alone. Rey craves relationships, family, a sense of connection. She spent years waiting on a desolate planet for parents she knew would probably never come back. She was devastated when Han Solo, "the father she never had," was killed. Down in the cave, she see images of herself alone, endlessly into the past and far into the future until she comes to a hazy crystal wall. A figure approaches on the other side of the wall who she hopes will have answers for her. At first she thinks it might be her parents, but the silhouette starts to look more like Kylo Ren's. When she finally sees the person's face clearly, it is her own. I believe that experience shows she has let go of any hope that her parents will return, and that she will later reach out to Kylo Ren hoping to form a connection (friendship? love?) with someone who cares about her and relates to her. However, he still loves the dark side more than her, and she comes away from that encounter just as alone as she went in.
I think the cave is also teaching a general lesson that you don't tend to find true friends among power-hungry people. Rey's lonely experience in the dark cave stands as a sharp contrast to the scene of camaraderie at the end of the film, when all of the surviving good guys (and girls) escape together aboard the Millennium Falcon. Finn hugs her, Leia comforts her, and even Po (who she's never spoken to before) knows her name and respects her. Ironically, Kylo Ren, who craves human connection as much as Rey but refuses to admit it, is still miserably looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places.
BONUS: We got the climax of Episode 6 one film early!
If Kylo Ren reaching out a gloved hand to Rey was reminiscent of Darth Vader's invitation in Episode 5, his escorting her into Snoke's throne room in handcuffs was a flashback to Episode 6 when Vader brings Luke to meet the Emperor. As Kylo and Rey approached Snoke, I thought, "Wait! This scene isn't supposed to happen until the next movie!" Sure enough, history repeated itself again--the Sith master completely dominated the Jedi apprentice with the Force, but was blindsided when his own apprentice killed him. And then a good guy dealt the ship a death blow, so the Jedi apprentice (and the friends she didn't know were also on the ship) had to get off fast.
So now what? I'm guessing the next film will start with a rescue (since Episode 3 and 6 did), and Rey will redeem Kylo Ren, though I don't pretend to know how. I'm guessing Force Ghost Luke will have some counsel for Rey at some point, but I have no clue how the rest of the film will shake out.
May the Force be with you. :)
Post a Comment