Chapter 16: Author's Notes
Summary:
There will only be two or three more chapters to this work. Afterwards I'm going to make a sequel in which I'll re-write the Last Jedi. Reasons why are explained below. Feel free to offer suggestions.
Chapter Text
So last night l went with my little sister to see the movie that would decide once and for all if this New Canon was worth erasing all the 'expensive fanfiction' collected by me, my dad and my older brother across the years.
Like everyone else I clapped when the words of our beloved franchise appeared on the screen. Like all hardcore fans I blocked the real world away to fight for a Galaxy far, far away. Immersed myself in the pictorial ink of the movie two years in waiting. I was far from ecstatic with the end result. Don't get me wrong the movie had good stuff besides the fact it wasn't a copy paste of ESB: I marveled at the parallels of Canto Bight to our society, laughed when Luke tickled Rey with a leaf and fangirled when Master Skywalker brushed off cannon fire like it was nothing. But even these moments can't change the fact that this movie was... Disheartening. At least in my opinion. Here are the top reasons why: please note the list goes from least infuriating to most infuriating.
1) Poe stupidly sacrificing the Resistance entire bombing squad in battle: This felt very OOC to me. We're talking about a guy who was raised by ROGUE SQUADRON. Maybe things are different in the New Canon but in Legends Rogue Squadron while reckless and prone to disregard protocol were quick to choose the option that got less people killed. Poe needed to learn leadership? Excuse me Rian Johnson but who was leading Black Squadron in TFA? The Ewoks? Did anyone in your writing crew read the Poe Dameron comics? Also Leia's slapping Poe felt hypocritical to me since she sent an entire Squadron after DARTH VADER in the New Canon and all those men died for nothing whereas Poe actually achieved a military victory, albeit a Pyrrhic one. There should at least have been some acknowledgment of that from Leia's part as well as some sort of funeral procession for Han.
2) Benicio Del Toro: I genuinely thought Del Toro would be Talon Karrde since he'd performed similar roles or Ezra Bridger (I missed Rebels S4 cause of post hurricane Maria conditions so please no spoilers for the show.) His character was given no name or backstory (That's another thing to criticize in this movie: Lack of backstories. Rogue One was more adept in that department, in most departments really.) Waste of a brilliant actor IMO.
3)Amilyn Hondo: This character's ark would have felt much more personal if instead of creating this purple-haired lady in an evening gown who didn't bother to share vital information with one of Leia's protégées they'd just brought Winter Celchu or Wedge Antilles back into the fold which brings to another sore point.
4) Almost complete lack of/excessive killing of characters from previous movies: Maz Kanata had a phone call, R2-D2 had about a minute of screen time, Poe's Black Squadron which had been built up in TFA, Marvel Comics and some of the New Republic books didn't show up at all. They could have at least brought 'Snap' Wexley since he was a protegee of Wedge Antilles or had Jessika Pava stop herself from fan-girling over Luke Skywalker when he shows up. Admiral Ackbar got killed off in a flash, NEITHER LANDO, MON MOTHMA, ROGUE SQUADRON OR ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THE REBELLION IN PREVIOUS MOVIES WERE EVEN MENTIONED. HELL EVEN ANAKIN SKYWALKER'S NAME WAS LEFT OUT, reduced to Vader time and time again.
5) NO POLITICS DISCUSSED AT ALL: Okay the Republic's Capital System is gone; we get it but what about all the other planets aligned to the New Republic? Is the First Order pinning the blame on Leia's Resistance or have they performed a coup d'état on the Republican loyalist worlds? What planets are loyal to the First Order? Are there any members of the Senate left? If so do they regret not listening to Leia when she warmed them about the Rising First Order or do they blame her for what happened? Did any members of the Resistance have family or friends in Hosnian Prime? Was the 'Peaceful Republic' actually that great or was it romanticized and idealized by those who only had the brutal totalitarian Empire to compare it to?
6) The Outer Rim's abandoning the Resistance: this felt like a wasted opportunity for me. In all previous films the military bulk were largely composed of Imperial/First Order vs. Rebellion/Resistance forces and Separatists vs. Republic forces so this would have been the first time Outer Rim forces held the bulks of military strength. We could have witnessed the underdogs of the galaxy fight together. Maybe even have somebody in the Outer Rim legions related to Biggs Darklighter or re-introduce Gilad Pellaeon by presenting him as a honorable Former Imperial/early days First Order loyalist who distanced himself to the Outer Rim after becoming disillusioned with politics, but not before playing on his section of the Imperial fleet's absolute loyalty to him to join him in self-imposed exile until they found a cause worth fighting for. Imagine that: GENUINE IMPERIALS fighting the political entity that wants to imitate the Empire. Or if not presenting a entirely different type of warriors, men and women who come to battle not of loyalty to the Republic but to Leia "The Hutt Slayer" and Luke "Breaker of chains." This would have also shown how Luke's achievements went beyond saving Darth Vader or blowing up the Death Star, how his legacy was more than failure if you looked beyond the Jedi and saw the man. It would have been interesting to see Luke as proud to be Outer Rim contrasting with Anakin who constantly tried to forget his heritage and did forget his promise to free the slaves as well as setting up another comparison between Luke and Padme. So much potential world-building cast aside like nothing...
But all these reasons pale in comparison to what I found to be the most unforgivable mistake in recent film history, one that filled me with a fury I hadn't felt since late April ( Don't remember the exact date) of 2014. What am I talking about? Very simple:
THE INEXCUSABLE BUTCHERY OF LUKE SKYWALKER'S CHARACTER : The down to earth aspect of Luke's ark was nice but are we supposed to believe that the same man who couldn't fathom killing Darth Vader: the Sith Lord father who'd cut off his hand, killed his childhood friend, froze Han in Carbonite after torturing him and Leia, etc. suddenly 'followed instinct' and considered killing his nephew, a boy he all but raised, who would have been even more precious to Luke seeing as he had no children of his own!? Did you even watch Return Of The Jedi Rian or did you just read the resumed version they put on National Geographic Kid's version on 2003? (God why I do still remember that?) Ever since I was little Luke Skywalker was my favorite character of Star Wars, whenever I had a particularly bad fight with my family as a kid I'd say to myself "If Luke can forgive and redeem Darth Vader then I can at least try to see things from my father/mother/sibling's point of view." To me Luke along with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padme Amidala were the heart of Star Wars because they never stopped trying even as the world crumbled around them. He was my hope, my reminder to never give up, never surrender. I cant count the number I've admired his unapologetic convictions. For all its flaws Legends understood this about Luke: he got betrayed by people within the Rebellion and the New Republic, students of his turned to the Dark Side, he nearly died a billion times, he felt his wife's murder half a galaxy away and barely had time to grieve before being thrust into the Second Galactic Civil War, nearly lost his only child, was forced to wade through oceans of political bullshit and what does Luke Skywalker do? He keeps trying, he keeps believing in man's better nature despite seeing the worst his galaxy has to offer. So this whole 'I made one mistake and decided to wait for death in the middle of nowhere' mentality? It's Bantha-Fodder, they've turned a hero for the ages into a cowardly wimp. Why did he leave a map if he came here to die? Also did he have to be so rude to Rey at the beginning? Yes you want to be left alone but couldn't you explain that a little more nicely? This girl went through hell to find you, the least you could do is not let her sleep out in the pouring rain. Even worse is the fact that he dies alone, as if saying "Go on save the Galaxy but don't expect anybody to save you".
If anyone in Star Wars deserved a happy ending it was Luke, Disney couldn't even grant him a loved one's hand to hold as death took our favorite Farmboy turned Jedi. And since Darth Mickey, like all Sith Lords think only about himself, the burden of granting these characters what they were due falls to us. I'm going to do my part to help the heroes I grew up: Help me make amends for this travesty fellow Star Wars fans, you're their only hope.