Hello and thanks for reading. Here are a few short thoughts on Part 3.
In this story, through the characters of Rey and Kylo, I am trying to explore what it means to be Rey at the end of the canon Episode 9: what it feels like to be the last one standing, how to bear the burden of the Force when everyone gone before has failed and is dead, how hard it is to know if you are doing the right thing, how heavy is the legacy of those who have come before you, how hard it is to be a hero, what it means to fear failure. Both Kylo and Rey, from their respective perspectives, are grasping towards the same goal. At least at the beginning of the story, they did so independently. But even allied at this point, they are struggling. This is not easy. At times, both Rey and Kylo have doubts. They are far from confident of success. They make mistakes.
There's a line in one of the prequel opening crawls about the Clone Wars that says 'there are heroes on both sides.' Now, the films don't actually support this—I can't remember a heroic Separatist depicted. But I honor the sentiment that there might be heroism amid the enemy. My biggest beef about the sequel trilogy (and I have MANY) is that it robbed Kylo of the chance to be a hero. Because if the Skywalkers are anything, they are heroes. I wanted to show Kylo/Ben being his own kind of hero. It's not necessarily something that his mother and uncle would approve of, but it's heroic nonetheless. And if you look closely enough, you will see the influence of his parents at work. Like it or not, there is plenty of Han Solo and Leia Organa in Kylo Ren.
For her part, Rey is attempting to fill the hero shoes of Luke Skywalker and the Old Republic Jedi Order. But she's uncertain what that means from a day-to-day perspective. What is the role of a Jedi in the Republic at this point? Different people want Rey to do different things. She ends up deciding that peace and balance are her priorities, and that's how she ends up charged with treason. Her defense is very Revan—'I broke the Republic's rules in order to save the Republic.' It's not the most compelling case, as you might imagine. But I think it is very authentic to Rey. The scavenger girl from Jakku wouldn't quibble with legalisms—she would do what she thought was right in the circumstances. Stubborn independence is, after all, a hallmark of her character.
While she's an integral part of the Resistance, Rey actually spends much of the sequel trilogy off on her own. Lonely Rey is very much a loner. Her otherness comes from her Force but also from herself. ("People keep telling me they know me . . . I'm afraid no one does.") That detachment finds its way into this story as well. Belonging is what Rey seeks. In Part 3, she comes to find more belonging with Kylo/Ben than with her Resistance friends. That is a natural outgrowth of their dyad—it's the ultimate in belonging. It's a big step for Rey to admit to loving Ben and, unfortunately, her declaration is to the wrong man.
Writ large, Epilogue is about the struggle for unity and peace. We haven't gotten there yet, readers. The Republic, in its own way, is as much stuck in the idealism of the past as is their counterpart the Empire-loving First Order. That means peace is hard. And peace, in this case, so far does not equate to unity. There is no harmony achieved, no moment of consensus and mutual respect when the ceasefire is agreed. Instead, the two sides disengage and walk away mad. Feelings run strong on both sides, and for good reasons. There is a lot of wrong to go around.
As always, I have written my own political backstory and that's intentionally designed to add complexity. One thing that's often missing from Star Wars conflicts is the notion that people on both sides think they're doing the right things (or justifiable things) for the right reasons—even if those good intentions go awry or simply turn out to be wrong. Star Wars rarely questions the use of violence by the good guys—it's sort of assumed. But creeping into the good guy ethos is the idea that anything is okay since the bad guys are worse (see ex, Episode 7 jumping to lightspeed into Snoke's ship which surely breaks some kind of rules of engagement; or see ex, how cloning slave soldiers for the Republic is totally fine in the prequels and no one even questions their status amid all the high-minded talk about democracy and freedom). Well, I'm willing to posit that not everything the Republic does is good and not all of their priorities and motives are pure. And I'm willing to understand the First Order as an extremist group that is explained partly by Dark Side influence but also by Light Side missteps. Not everything the First Order does is bad in my little universe and not all of the people who support it are bad either. There is wrong (and violence, and unfairness, and mistakes) on both sides.
That doesn't make me an apologist for evil. I am trying to present a depiction of complex, nuanced and longstanding real world type conflict. Go read up on the Middle East, for example, and see provocation and blame on both sides. That conflict is cultural, political, and highly personal, and therefore very difficult to solve.
There are plenty of allusions to real-time US political tensions in this fic, as always. I can never resist those.
There's a line the appears in many of my stories about how the personal is political for the Skywalker clan, meaning that their personal ambitions and decisions have far reaching implications. Well, there is a flavor of that concept in this story as well, for the personal ambitions and views of Finn and Poe create a backdrop against which Rey and Kylo act. Poe, in particular, is not afraid to take action when he feels strongly (as shown in his mutiny in Episode 7). Poe's a black-and-white kind of guy who lets his convictions cloud his better judgement at times. New Chancellor Dameron and Kylo are going to have an interesting relationship going forward.
So, what's next? I still need to figure that out. But expect Kylo to be making overtures to the Republic looking for allies. And expect Rey to get the hard sell from Darth Sidious. Rey hasn't completed her process of figuring out who she is and where she came from yet. Family is about to take on a new importance for her. We're going to learn more about what it means to be a Child of the Force as well. This Palpatine is not the creepy grim reaper version who chews the scenery in Episodes 6 and 9. He's in a young clone body ready to go head-to-head with Kylo in a fight for the future of the galaxy—which includes Rey and their unborn children. Also, witness the return of Darth Plagueis the Wise who will no longer be content to make trouble from the sidelines in exile. Snoke is on the loose and he's looking for revenge. Readers of Twilight of the Gods will know that Darth Plagueis has plotted against Darth Sidious before and lost. Plagueis won't be willing to lose this time around.
How do you unify a war-torn galaxy? Will the past finally die? Stay tuned for Part 4.