Hidden Secrets of Rise of Skywalker

Four years ago I wrote a little post called Episode 7 was secretly a reboot. That article turned out to say what no one else was saying — but I believe many of us were thinking. Within a few months, it would become generally accepted that the force awakens is a “soft reboot”, recycling key elements of the original star wars series with different characters.

Today I want to talk about the Rise of Skywalker.

Right now the internet is full of trolls, troglodytes, and, sadly, a few people of higher character, saying that rise of Skywalker is “real bad”, “makes no sense” or is “bad writing.” I’m not saying these people are wrong. Instead, I’m saying the reviewers are picking up on the what of plot … oddities … but failing to understand the why.

When we last saw our heroes

Epsiode 9, co-written by J.J. Abrahms (who also co-wrote 7), takes off from where “The Last Jedi” ended. In a typical three-part arc, part two would end with the audience “hanging”, with some threads left to tie up. Here’s what we got instead:

• Snoke is dead (with no backstory)
• Luke is dead
• There are something like twelve rebels left