That Luke Skywalker Theory is wrong. Here’s why

Ever since the trailer came out there has been a question of “Where is Luke Skywalker?” We’ve discussed this before. So we’re not going to go back over that again. However there is an idea that has gained popularity: the “Luke is Evil” theory. Specifically we are talking about the Huffington post article here by Rob Conery. Plain and simple this article is wrong and I’m going to break down why.

“The Cave… Remember Your Failure at the Cave…”

luke_Cave

In the article, Rob Conery quotes the movie and concludes this:

Only a fully trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his emperor. If you end your training now… if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did… you will become an agent of evil.

There it is: Yoda said it point blank. How many times has Yoda been wrong in the first six films? It’s almost like he can see the future sometimes! He knew Luke was on a path to become his father and, by leaving, he failed at preventing it. -Rob Conery

In this point, Conery is missing a key part of Yoda’s meaning. What Yoda is saying is IF Luke quits now AND then chooses the quick and easy path he will become an agent of evil. Quitting now does not mean Luke has chosen the quick and easy path. He must do both. Luke was given the opportunity to choose that path by Vader at the end of their duel. Luke choose to jump to his possible death instead of joining Vader. Yoda wasn’t predicting the future he was providing a warning. Yoda also added this: ” Strong is Vader. Mind what you have learned. Save you it can.”  Luke did mind what he had learned and it did save him.

lukeLeavesDagobah

The Original Ending

Conery first talks about the ideas that were tossed around including Han dying and Luke walking off like Clint Eastwood does in his movies. This ending was never made and it was never even scripted. Gary Kurtz, a producer not a writer, is the one sharing this information that was based off of story discussion during the Production of Empire Strikes Back and was never used in any draft. Oh and Leia wasn’t Luke’s sister, part of the reason he was leaving alone at the end of this idea was to find his sister. They also discussed Luke becoming Vader after Vader’s death. None of these ideas made it to the screen or even script treatment so they are as important to the idea of Luke embracing the Darkside as the now discarded EU “Legends” are to The Force Awakens. He then brings in the idea that Mark Hamill had about making Luke Dark. I’m sure based on how well Mark Hamill plays evil(Joker, Trickster) he would have loved to have done that. But again Mark isn’t a writer, he just liked the idea from an acting point of view, and it never made it into any script so they are not relevant to Luke’s character in the movies.

Conery continues:

“Nevertheless, I’m taking Captain Solo and his friends. You can either profit by this or be destroyed. It’s your choice, but I warn you not to underestimate my power.”

 Was that a threat? A touch of arrogance perhaps? No — Luke would never!

“As a token of my gratitude, I present to you these two droids. Both are hard working, and will serve you well…”

 One second. Hold on here — was that a lie? Why yes, it was. Luke is giving in, he’s drawn to the dark side. Wow… Luke lies. Keep that in mind. -Rob Conery

Was that a threat? Not really, it was an offer to a criminal, give me my friends and I’ll let your criminal enterprise continue. Luke then warned said criminal that if he didn’t take it there would be consequences and not to think that Luke couldn’t enforce those consequences. As for his perceived arrogance, its more calm confidence and we’ve seen Obi-wan, Yoda and Mace Windu all act more arrogant than Luke did in this scene. Next it was not a lie technically. Luke DID give Jabba C3PO and R2D2 and they were hard working. In fact Luke did not claim the droids back until AFTER Jabba failed to accept Luke’s final offer and was subsequently killed (By Leia not Luke). Even if it was a lie, it does not have anything to do with the dark side. Qui-Gon lied to Watto, Obi-wan lied to Taun-We and Lama Su in AotC. He also lied to Luke in ANH. Yoda lied/deceived Luke in ESB. Three of the Jedi who most symbolize the Light, all have lied to achieve positive goals.

Luke Turned, We All Watched It

Conery next says:

The emperor was working Luke pretty hard, and croaked in his guttural monotone

“Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete.”

And guess what? Luke tried.
Not quite. Previous to this exchange the Emperor revealed that the rebel forces on Endor were set up and the shield was operational. Then right before this the Emperor tells then demonstrates that the Death Star is fully functional. So Luke’s friends and allies are doomed, Luke believed walking in he would soon be dead because the attack from the Rebellion and he was WILLING to die.
“Soon I’ll be dead and you along with me”-Luke Skywalker to the Emperor
The only way to save his friends and stop the battle is to destroy the Emperor. Now lets look at Luke’s face right before he grabs his lightsaber.
983SWJ_Mark_Hamill_033
Does that look like anger? Or does it look like concern, worry and face of man that must make a choice to destroy the Emperor himself or hope his outmatched friends can. Conery interprets the end of the lightsaber battle saying:

Later in the sequence Luke loses it completely when Vader finds his soft spot (caring about his friends) and squeezes hard…Saving friends, and now family. Vader has just threatened his sister and Luke gives in. This doesn’t make sense if Luke has been a good guy the whole time. It makes perfect sense if he has indeed failed his training (which he did) and doesn’t have the ability to withstand his dad. Whom he idolized and wanted to be just like, all of his life.

Its not fair to just say “Later in the sequence” here. First Luke turns off his lightsaber twice during the confrontation against Vader attempting to avoid fighting his father. Both times he had gotten the best of Vader, once kicking him down a set of stairs after besting him and the next time deftly avoiding Vader’s attack. Then Luke begins to make Vader question himself by talking about how Vader’s feelings betray him and Luke senses the good in him. Anakin Skywalker the Jedi is still in there fighting internally with Darth Vader the Sith Lord. Luke uses anger but he does not succumb to his anger like Anakin did and that is the difference. Lets not forget Obi-wan used anger in his battle against Darth Maul. Luke stops his attack on Vader, then the Emperor tells Luke to strike his father down and join him and THEN Luke looks at his hand and his father’s. Luke withstood every attack Vader threw at him and attempted to avoid the fight for as long as he could these are the actions of a good guy. He also never failed in his training. When he went to see Yoda earlier in the film Luke required no more training. Luke had only one thing to do to become a Jedi, face his father. Yoda and Obi-wan believed that Vader had to be destroyed for Luke to survive such an encounter and did not think Vader could be turned back to the good side. They were wrong. Yoda also told Luke he would be the last of the Jedi, not something Yoda would tell to a person on the Darkside.
Conery continues:
This, people, is a plot hole. It doesn’t make any sense in terms of the story and also Luke’s character. It doesn’t follow Luke’s motivation at all because he quite clearly doesn’t have any motivation to stay a good guy. He’s just seen what he could do with his dark powers (defeat the bad guys, save people).
This is NOT a plot hole! In fact it makes perfect sense as to the Story and Luke’s character. Luke has shown himself willing to die for his friends and family. His goal was not to kill Vader but to stop him and ulitimately SAVE his father as he told Obi-wan and Leia. Luke knows what the dark side does, it destroyed his family, tried to destroy his friends. He had already taken the upper hand against Vader without the Darkside in their battle. If anything, Luke realized his anger was preventing him from accomplishing his mission of saving his father.
return-of-the-jedi-luke
“Your Hate Has Made You Powerful”
Conery then states:

You can watch what happens next in two very different ways. The first, most obvious, is that Luke looks at his mechanical fist and then at his dad’s severed hand and realizes what could happen — oh no! Let’s make sure we come back from this ledge and stay on the Good side. This makes no sense in terms of Luke’s motivations.

Or, what I think, is that Luke looked at his fist and realized the effectiveness of his new power. Soaked in the revenge (the movie was entitled Revenge of the Jedi originally, I think this is why) and let the hatred indeed fill him… indeed make him powerful.

First Luke didn’t look at his hand and realize what happened. As I’ve pointed out  Luke stopped his attack as soon as Vader was disarmed and on the ground. The hand was yet another reminder to Luke of what the Dark Side does to a person. The Emperor gave Luke a chance to join him. Luke rebuked him by throwing his weapon away, and claimed he was a Jedi like his father before him. So he did become what his father was, the idealized version he held and the man Luke felt was still there. The Emperor then confirms this “So be it, Jedi”. The look on the Emperor’s face tells you all you need to know, Luke will not join him and the Emperor has failed to turn Luke. He is not looking at a threat–he is looking at a failure in his eyes, his voice is full of contempt, not fear or anger. The reason the title was changed was specifically because Jedi do not seek revenge. Lucas stated this about the change in 1983. Instead we have the Jedi returning to fight against the dark side, including Anakin Skywalker who fulfills his destiny and destroys the Sith.
Finally, Conery concludes:

This would seemingly blow a hole in my story. Luke just flatly said he would never turn. He monologs for a bit about why he’ll be a Good Guy, always. He’s also lying through his teeth (like he did to Jabba, above). But why would he lie? Because he has to take out the emperor, and he knows his dad (Vader) is weak and vulnerable.

What happens next is a bit of deja vu. The emperor has realized that he has created just a little bit more than an apprentice — he’s created a rival. Why else would the emperor stop with the taunts right then? The emperor has Luke exactly where he wants him —  it doesn’t make any sense to stop now!

Unless the emperor fears Luke. As he should — he just took Vader out of the equation.
The emperor tries to destroy him with the old shock treatment in the same way we saw in Revenge of the Sith (facing off against Mace Windu). In that scene, Palpatine played on the sympathies of Anakin to cut Windu’s hands off so he could toss Windu out the window.

In this scene, Luke plays his dad in the exact same way to toss the emperor into the abyss. Ahh symbolism.

According Mr. Conery Luke Skywalker is deceiving the greatest Sith ever when he couldn’t hide his feelings from Vader during their duel. Luke has just gotten rid of his lone weapon he does not know of the Emperor’s lightning ability that we are aware of and is still defenseless. He has faced his trail and come out of it a Jedi and the Emperor knows it; the Emperor has failed. So the Emperor attacks with lighting and he plays with Luke torturing him slowly. Then says
“If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed! Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side! You have paid the price for your lack of vision!”
At this point Luke is huddled on the ground in the fetal position. Then the Emperor says:
“Now, young Skywalker… you will die.”
Now the Emperor fully unleashes his lighting and Luke, helpless, calls out to his Father. Vader looks at Luke then looks at the Emperor and makes his decision. The Dark side no longer controls Anakin Skywalker and he throws the Emperor down a shaft. Ahhh symbolism: Anakin’s fall and his redemption.
luke-vader-rotj
Watch Those Scenes Again
 I did watch the movie again (I’ll take any reason to watch Star Wars so thanks!) Luke’s primary motivation in Return of the Jedi is stated multiple times.
1) To Obi-wan Luke: There is still good in him.

2) Princess Leia: But, why must you confront him?

Luke: Because, there is good in him. I’ve felt it. He won’t turn me over to the Emperor. I can save him. I can turn him back to the good side. I have to try.

3) Luke: It is the name of your true self. You’ve only forgotten. I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn’t driven it from you fully. [steps off to the side of the passageway, away from Vader] That was why you couldn’t destroy me. That’s why you won’t bring me to your Emperor now.

Vader: [inspects Luke’s lightsaber] I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete. [turns off the lightsaber again] Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen.

Luke: Come with me.

4) Luke: No. You’re coming with me. I’ll not leave you here, I’ve got to save you.

Anakin: You already… have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister… you were right.

His motivation was to bring his father back to the good side. Trying to interpret Luke’s actions otherwise you have to leave out crucial steps and actions, as Mr. Conery has done, or your argument falls apart.

yodaLuke

And another thing! 

There are a couple of important things that we do know about post RotJ Luke Skywalker that need to be addressed. If you’ve avoided spoilers you won’t want to read on.

First, the new comics and books being released are considered canon to the stories of the Movies. In the book “The Weapon of a Jedi”, C3PO confirms that Luke returns Devaron after RotJ to rebuild his Jedi Order. Also in “Shattered Empire 4”, Luke, with the help of Shara Bey(Poe Dameron’s mother), retrieves the last remaining fragments of a force sensitive tree that once was in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. He gives one to Shara and keeps one for his new Jedi training temple.

Second, is the picture of Mark Hamill in his full Luke Skywalker costume. This was originally posted by StarWarsNews.net and Lucasfilm quickly issued a cease and desist so we won’t provide you with the picture however you can find it if you really want to and I will describe it. Luke is dressed exactly like Obi-wan and all the other Jedi from the prequels were. His robes are lighter than we usually see but not unusually so. He is the epitome of what we think a Jedi should look like. If you don’t believe the rest you should believe a photo of Old Luke as a Jedi in The Force Awakens.

Viva la Resistance! Viva la Republic!

We first heard the name Resistance in April at Star Wars Celebration and immediately there were questions. What happened to the New republic? Is the First Order in control of the Galaxy? What is the nature of the Resistance? Well we have some ideas  we’re going to break down using what we know and what we suspect.

new republic

The New Republic

Immediately following the Rebellion’s victory at Endor they restructured themselves into the new Republic. After the death of the Emperor, the Empire spiraled into chaos according to an old report from Making Star Wars. Several former imperials tried to claim the throne of the Emperor, while Mas Amedda tried to hold things together. After this, the Rebel Alliance was able to secure several star systems with little push-back, and ultimately they declared themselves the New Republic.

Their ranks swelled with planets and fighters as the new Republic took the fight to the scattered Empire culminating in the Battle of Jakku. We in fact learned that the new Republic was in effect during the battle of Jakku from some promotional material for Star Wars Battlefront that reads:

 Fans who pre-order Star Wars Battlefront will be among the first players to experience the Battle of Jakku, the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet on the Outer Rim.

From there the Republic planned a massive reduction in military forces and encouraging the planets to have their own defense forces. All of this we know based on the Journey to The Force Awakens novels and comics. So far there has been no information released or teased that says the Republic is not still around. Based on this I believe the Republic is still around and quietly supporting the Resistance as the Republic does not have its own military. The Republic is most likely left the outer rim alone and this allowed the First Order to coalesce., It appears there is an uneasy truce between the Republic and the First Order, one that most likely not survive the events of The Force Awakens.

One question is, will we see any scenes of a new Republic Senate in TFA, or it will it be only alluded to like the senate in ANH? At this point, there is absolutely no evidence of any new Republic Senate scenes, but given that such scenes could be almost entirely CGI, it is hard to rule it out.

Resistance

The Resistance

The Resistance is a military organization that opposes the First Order. It is lead by General Leia Organa. They do not appear to be officially part of the Republic and are made up of former Rebel leaders like Ackbar and new fighters that have fought against the First Order. We know this, for example from the junior novel “Moving Target“, where PZ-4CO says:

You are the leader of the Resistance, a critical check on the designs of the First Order. You are a symbol of the Resistance and an inspiration to all soldiers who follow our cause and do their duty in hard times.

So, it appears that the Resistance may have been created to fight the First order. In addition to General Organa, we also have reports of Major Caluan Ematt, who also fought for the rebel alliance. Major Ematt was among the “shrikes”, a special rebel recon team. In fact, Major Ematt was the only surviving shrike after an ambush on Tanaab. Could this be the same battle of Tanaab that Lando referred to in RotJ? What role with Major Ematt play in TFA? Still no hard evidence at this point.

The Resistance has adopted the symbols of the former Rebellion such as the X-Wing and the starbird (see above symbol). So what are they really? It appears they are an independent military that is supported by the Republic and formed for one reason only: Stop the First Order. I think this is why they are searching for Luke, they need a Jedi to help fight against Snoke and the Knights of Ren. After decades of no military force the Republic is not ready or able to fight against the military machine the First Order has built on the outer Rim. The former military leaders of the Rebellion put together their own forces calling upon the many planetary forces in the Republic.

We got a look at the resistance base in the new trailer, and it closely resembles this concept art, but with mountains added in the background, but at this point it is unclear what planet it could be on but there many different reports calling it Yavin IV

resistanceBase

Why are the Republic and Resistance separate? I think there are two reasons in the end. First it is made up of former Rebellion leaders that are better fighters without the interference of the Senate. As we saw in the prequels such large bodies can make running a war next to impossible especially when the dark side can be used to influence members. By having them separate the are free from the influence of certain groups. Second one of the biggest complaints of the prequels was the political scenes and tone. I suspect that JJ is avoiding the Republic and its politics through the Resistance, keeping the Galaxy small and storytelling tight. In the end I suspect we will find out the Resistance is really just another word for Republic “unofficial” Military forces.

Ten things we’d change about the Original Trilogy.

Although we both love the original trilogy (a.k.a. the Holy Trilogy), in this post we’ll discuss the 10 things that we’d change if we had the chance in a perfect world. We did a similar post about the Prequel Trilogy not long ago. There are two of us (mazlow01 and davestrrr) and we don’t always agree on what should be changed! Let’s begin:

5 things that mazlow01 would change about the OT:

1)  Two Special Edition changes- Emperor’s dialog in ESB and Han vs Greedo shoot out in ANH

emperor

Mazlow01: I don’t want to just make this about SE changes and honestly I like most of them., so I am going to mention these two. Han shoots first. We know George knows this, the change was stupid. In ESB they had Ian McDiarmid re-shoot the scene where the emperor speaks to Vader which hey that makes sense lets have them look the same. BUT they changed the original lines which was terrible. Lets compare just the changes:

Original:  EMPEROR:We have a new enemy – Luke Skywalker. VADER:Yes, my master. EMPEROR: He could destroy us. VADER: He’s just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.

SE: Palpatine: We have a new enemy. The young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker.Vader: How is that possible? Palpatine: Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us.

That is the type of dialog that limited the story telling ability throughout the prequels.

davestrrr: I don’t necessarily mind Ian McDiarmid doing the scene in ESB, and I think it is good to have the same actor throughout. For the dialogue, I don’t really have a problem with the new dialog. Actually, in some ways I actually like that new dialogue better! As for Han shooting first, yeah, that shouldn’t have been changed. It makes less sense now with the whole neck twitch thing to dodge the blast. I thought shooting first was actually better for his character. He’s a scoundrel and a smuggler. Somebody comes to claim a bounty that could potentially cost him his life, Han would definitely shoot that punk-ass bounty hunter down.

2) Death Star 2.0

Mazlow01: Seriously another giant planet killing star base super-weapon? They couldn’t come up with better idea? Instead of using a super weapon how about just put the Emperor on Coruscant on the Anniversary of the formation of the Empire and have have a goal of disabling the planetary shield to attack? Or just on a regular space station or anything besides Death Star the sequel: Bigger, better, this time with a force field!

davestrrr: Yeah, I can see this. Maybe having just one Death Star would work better. When to do it? I think just keep the original trench run, since that is classic. RotJ could have just been an epic space battle, and maybe something cool with a Super Star Destroyer with a force field that needed to be blown up from the inside. Lando could still have needed to pilot inside once the shield was down, and navigate inside to blow it up.

3) Leia being Luke’s sister.

luke-leia-star-wars

Mazlow01: I know what some of you are thinking: sacrilege! Hear me out though. When Empire was written the idea was Luke had a twin but it wasn’t Leia. He was going to have to go find his brother or sister after Return of the Jedi to restart the Jedi order. Making Leia his sister is just cheap. Vader and Palpatine both interacted with her face to face (I am assuming as a senator she dealt with the Emperor though maybe not still they had to have had SOME proximity) and they couldn’t tell she was Force sensitive? Or hey you bear a striking resemblance to my dead wife and you are the adopted daughter of one her allies in the senate that just happened to be born around when she died. Really?

davestrrr: Yeah, having Leia be adopted by the Bail Organa when they needed to be hidden from the Emperor doesn’t make sense. Her becoming a Senator when she needed to be hidden from the Emperor didn’t make a lot of sense either. Luke going to Tatooine to Anakin’s stepfather’s old house doesn’t make a lot of sense either for that matter, but people have argued why it does (Anakin was traumatized by that place). That’s another story though.

Anyway, with Luke and Leia being twins, I always thought it was hinted at from the get-go with them both having 4-letter names starting with L. Maybe it wasn’t planned all along, but to me it kind of made sense. Just the explanation that Leia needs to be adopted by one of the most high-profile families in the galaxy in order to hide from the Emperor doesn’t make sense.

4) Ewoks. Why’d it have to be Ewoks.

Mazlow01: So this is where I am supposed to say it was dumb they were able to beat the Storm troopers etc. That’s not my problem with the Ewoks. I don’t care that they are cute lil teddy bears. I don’t find it that hard to believe that with superior numbers, knowledge of the terrain and the obvious planning they had done, that they could beat the Storm troopers.  My problem is they should have been Wookiees. The Ewok attack was based off of one of the early drafts of ANH and they were wookiees then. Replace all those ewoks with wookies and how bad ass is that! It would have been SO much cooler and wookiees are just as loved by children as Ewoks are.

davestrrr: Well, we got that scene in RotS, so it’s all good. I don’t know about the Ewoks. I don’t hate them, I don’t love them. I definitely loved the Ewoks when I was 8 years old, so I’d keep them around. I have a distinct memory when I was a little kid I liked RotJ best because it had both Yoda and Ewoks.

5) Diversity

Mazlow01: Total of what 4 female characters with any type of lines? Two die with in minutes (Slave dancer and Aunt Beru) Mon Mothma is in one movie has 3 lines and isn’t seen again. Then there is Leia. Yeah she’s awesome but she’s the only female character in all three movies and she doesn’t speak to the other female characters. Then minorities. In ANH the only one I remember is the voice of Vader James Earl Jones. Then we get one supporting character Lando in Empire. Finally in RotJ we have a couple of more but still its pretty whitewashed. That is a damn shame, not because diversity is needed for diversity’s sake but in a wide galaxy of diverse aliens we get not much diversity in the humans.

davestrrr: Yeah, it is hard to argue with this. We need more strong female characters. I think ANH, in terms of the number of non-white actors on screen is a bit embarrassing. Yeah, James Earl Jones did voice work, but there should have been at least one actor on set. I guess it was filmed in England and maybe back then the vast majority of actors in England were white? Not sure, but I’m guessing that was part of it.

5 things that davestrrr would change about the OT:

1) In terms of the Special Edition, I wouldn’t have introduced Jabba the Hut in ANH.

jabba han

davestrrr: The CGI was terrible in the first version, and the second version was a little better, but still pretty bad. I thought it was better when Jabba was left more mysterious and not introduced until RotJ. It was cool to have the character mentioned, and not seen until much later.

Mazlow01: OK I can see this. I never liked the idea of Han stepping on his tail or the introduction of Boba Fett in that scene. It was just more of a hey look here’s a fan favorite!

2) Use a practical Millennium Falcon in RotJ

davestrrr: There is a scene with Han and Lando talking by the Millennium Falcon, and the ship is a painting. There are other matte paintings in the OT that work a little better, but this one sticks out. A lot of people that complain about the PT and its over-reliance on CGI, need to take a look at this:

mattePainting
Doesn’t look 3D enough and totally looks like a green screen, especially when Lando walks toward the Falcon.

Maybe some old school fans like this better than CGI, but I don’t think it is any better. It still lacks some depth to me, and looks like a “green screen” shot. I wish there was a way to make the ship practical, and/or do the shot next to it or at least next to a practical ramp.

Mazlow01: OK I have to be honest I do remember seeing this but it never bothered me. I always chalked it up to effects of the time kind of thing.

3) Improve the lightsaber fight between Obi Wan and Vader in ANH

davestrrr: This fight was a bit weak. I mean, it was explained by the fact that Obi Wan was old, and Vader was half robot, but I think it could have been better. Maybe some Force pushes, maybe some Force-thrown objects. Maybe some stunt doubles doing a few better moves. Maybe using some of the same face-swapping CGI tech that made Dooku more dynamic in the PT. Something. I remember watching ANH with a friend that hadn’t seen Star Wars before, and she was yawning and frustrated during this scene.

Mazlow01: OK so here’s an unpopular opinion, I’d say slow down the fights in the PT. Lightsabers were supposed to be heavy and only a Jedi could weld one because the force was needed. I like the simplicity of the OT fights.

4) Why didn’t Chewbacca get a medal?

nomedal
Wait, where is my medal? What gives?

davestrrr: This seemed weird. Wasn’t he just as much a part of the whole ending as Han? I mean, he was the co-pilot, and played a big role in rescuing Leia. When they turn around, and he gives that roar, you know he’s pissed that he didn’t get a medal.

Mazlow01: Dude I just argued for more Wookiees so I am on board with this all day long.

5) Boba Fett’s death is too simple

davestrrr: I think Boba Fett was kind of played up as being a bit of a badass. His death falling into the sarlac pit was a bit lame. It was an accidental hit to his jetpack. I think a more epic showdown would have been more fitting. He should have been harder to kill.

Mazlow01: OK so here is ANOTHER unpopular opinion. I don’t think Boba did anything to earn his “Badass” rep in the movies. He just looked cool and was smart enough to think “hey maybe this smuggler will use a smuggler’s trick” and then followed Han to cloud city. I mean why would we think he was awesome at anything?

Who owns the Millennium Falcon?

After they team up, the heroes Rey and Finn get chased down by TIE fighters. As Rey leads Finn and they run across the dessert, they end up to a ship with an open door and platform. It’s the Millennium Falcon, and the run in and take off. The Falcon is on Jakku, and Rey runs straight to it. Let’s try and navigate through the confirmed and rumored info, including spoilers, about the Millennium Falcon.

more “Who owns the Millennium Falcon?”

Let’s give them some Finn to talk about…

Spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the world wide web to bring you the latest news about the Force Awakens character Finn. He is one of those characters that we think we know a lot about, but somehow it seems like there is still quite a bit to know. 

fin

The big question that everyone wants to know…Does Finn become a Jedi? I had assumed that he would for a long time, and then these cards showed up saying that he wasn’t. However, we don’t know how seriously to take these cards. In fact, there is good reason to not take them seriously at all because it also says R2 is a Jedi! So, we’re back to the drawing board. We do know that he is carrying the lightsaber for most of the movie from the concept art:

finnConcept

but that could be just carrying it because he thinks it’s cool. The MSW plot synopsis suggests he is attracted to it, while Rey is repulsed by it. Therefore, that would make Finn the best person to carry it to bring it to Luke (until Rey takes it, as is rumored).

In a recent interview with V magazine, we get this suggestion:

Boyega plays the character of Finn, who he describes as being “in conflict, mostly with himself and also with the powers” but is tight-lipped about why this conflict exists, or which powers he means for that matter—the Force?

And when confronted with this point, most of the readers of SWNN (49%) voted that they thought that he was a Jedi, and the lightsaber is no coincidence.

Still, even Han wielded a lightsaber in ESB, so in my mind the lightsaber doesn’t guarantee anything. Or does it? To cut the guts out of a Tauntaun is one thing, but to use it in fighting? According to Wookieepedia, you need a certain strength dexterity to wield one. Perhaps even only the strength of a Jedi. The idea that Finn is in a lightsaber fight with Kylo goes way back, to a post by Jimjamjim on the Jedi Council Forums. A lot of what he posted has held up, and this was the first mention of Kylo’s crossguarded lightsaber (way back Sept 2014). So we can likely expect him to fight with the saber. However, we’re left then wondering with what skill does he use the lightsaber? Does he fumble around with it for a little bit and then just get taken down, or does he actually use it well enough? The synopsis says he is quickly taken down and then saved by Rey. Therefore, my money is on Rey being a Jedi. In the end, I don’t know if there is any solid evidence that he will become a Jedi, and I’m starting to think he just tried to use the saber, but couldn’t hack it. Could absolutely be wrong, but so far I’m struggling to find anything solid that he shows signs of being Force-sensitive. Please let me know if you’ve heard of anything!

There are some recent rumblings around the web that Finn’s story is loosely based on the Legends character “Finn Galfridian”. It’s interesting that this character interacted with the Solo twins and rode in the Millennium Falcon. In many ways, Finn Galfridian’s story has a couple similarities to Finn, but still pretty different. Finn Galfridian was a Jedi sent to help the Solo’s from none other than Luke Skywalker. Frankly, I’m not going to defend this theory, but it could be an interesting idea to look into, hence pointing it out.finn1

In a the same article from V Magazine mentioned above, John Boyega basically stated that the fan theories are wrong. We’ve always thought that Finn is a stormtrooper, with number FN2187. There are some rumors that suggest that he might be just posing as a stormtrooper.

“We’ve seen him in the Stormtrooper outfit and his own clothes. Why is that?” The answer, he says, is “very surprising.” And if you think you’ve worked it out, the chances are you’re wrong. “J.J. will send me YouTube clips of fans reacting to things online and it’s funny. The fans have no idea. It’s great they are talking, but nobody has a clue.”

So it makes you wonder how the rumors could be wrong. It would be a nice surprise if he was in fact not a stormtrooper, and wearing the outfit as a disguise. If so, I guess he might be a Resistance fighter or spy trying to infiltrate the First Order. That would explain why he is shorter than all the other stormtroopers. That’s him in the middle:

Short_Stormtrooper

Would someone that short make it into the StormTroopers? According the Leia in ANH, there are height requirements.

I’ve definitely all this time thought that he was a stormtrooper and I assumed that his name “Finn” was based off his stormtrooper id number “FN2187”. But what if it’s the other way around? What if he is a Resistance spy, infiltrating the First order, and when asked his number, he made one up, using “FN” as the characters based on his name? For example, this idea would explain why he was repulsed by the actions of the stormtroopers. Wouldn’t someone trained in the First Order be sort desensitized to the kind of violence that they do? Again, this is just entertaining a wild idea here, and I still think that the evidence points to him being an actual stormtrooper, but nevertheless again worth contemplating. What do you think? Share your comments below.

Follow me on twitter for more updates! @davestrrr

P.S. – John Boyega, is as excited to hear about the trailer as we are!

10 things that we’d change about the Prequels if we could.

I know what you are thinking–more prequel bashing. Not here! Although we enjoy the prequels, in this post we’ll discuss the 10 things that we’d change if we had the chance. We will do a similar post about the Orginal Trilogy soon too. Not ony that, there are two of us (mazlow01 and davestrrr) and we don’t even agree on what should be changed! Let’s begin:

Things that would be changed by mazlow01:

quigon

1) No Qui-Gon Jinn. Merge his character and Obi-Wan in TPM.

davestrrr: I have to disagree about #1 with Qui-Gon! He is essential. He is the guy that had the view about the Living Force before anyone else, and ultimately who discovered retaining awareness after death. Maybe it could work if everything was shifted around. Also, you have the parallels between Obi Wan’s “death” in ANH and Qui-Gon’s death in TPM.

Mazlow01: See I would merge those qualities into Obi-wan, he’d be the outcast Jedi Knight not yet made a master, though with his ability alone should have already. TPM would end with him becoming a Master and being able to choose Anakin as his Padawan. As far as learning to live on after death that could be something he figures out with Anakin. Anakin’s obsession with keeping people alive after losing his mother and Obi-wan working with him tempering his ambition.

2) No Darth Maul! Merge him and Dooku together- Show Dooku on the Council mention him leaving after the duel on Naboo

davestrrr:  On #2,  it may work as you have it. Depends on how it is done. It does seem a little weird that there are so many bad guys in the prequels and so few in the OT, so maybe merging a couple would be better.

Mazlow01: That was my goal. I’d also add in Grievous to TPM. Make him the general in control of the droid army control ship. He becomes the cyborg we see in ROTS because of his injuries escaping the droid control ship when Anakin blows it up. You could also show Dooku as the one objecting to Anakin becoming a Jedi instead of Mace looking like the bad guy.

3) Have Anakin Build R2 not C3PO- A mechanic would like an astromech more than a protocol droid. A queen would need a protocol droid

davestrrr:  I like #3, that does make some sense. Maybe because of all the gadgets that R2 has makes it impractical to be built by a kid, and after all, Anakin built C3P0 for his mom.

Mazlow01: I don’t know why a Protocol droid would be of any help to his mom anyway. I think R2 being built by Anakin would explain his personality and why he has so many cool things.

anakinC3P0

4) Have Anakin made a Knight at the end of AOTC and given the choice by the council of marrying Padme or staying with the Jedi to one day be a Master. Anakin chooses Padme, Palpatine asks him to be his liaison to the Jedi.

davestrrr: With #4, I don’t have a problem with your idea, but I also don’t consider this a flaw in the prequels. I thought it that sequence of the marriage and joining the council in RotS worked for me.

Mazlow01: The idea here is give Anakin more reason to not trust the Council and to resent them. Also it allows Palpatine to influence him more. I think people have a problem buying into why Anakin turns so quickly. This gives us reasons for distrust of the Jedi and trust in Palpatine

5) Have the Sith lighting show Palpatine’s true age… he is 200 plus that is why Anakin believes he can save Padme.

davestrrr: For #5 that is an interesting idea. One thing that people complain about with RotS is how quickly Anakin turns to the darkside. Maybe if he had confidence that he could save Padme because he sees that Palpatine is really old, then that might have been more believable.

Mazlow01: Thank you! This plus number 4 gives us reasons why Anakin would turn. It would help prove that Plagueis COULD keep people alive through the force and give us a good reason for the emperor’s appearance.

 

Things that would be changed by davestrrr:

1) Introduce the villains briefly an episode earlier (introduce Dooku in TPM, and Greivous in AotC). This way the trilogy holds together a little better.

Mazlow01: I like this idea… the villains just seem one note the way they were in the PT. Sure Dooku survives AotC but then he turns around and dies in the first 15 min of RotS. It was just a waste of good potential.

davestrrr: I agree on the wasted potential on Dooku. Given that he was probably ordering the clones during TPM, including him in a scene could have gone a long way.

Grand_army_formation

2) Make the clone troopers in AotC, and maybe RotS, practical costumes. The CGI on them got better in RotS, but with AotC, they just don’t look real. I would have done all the clones practical, and then digitally copy them for the big scenes.

Mazlow01: GOOD LORD YES! I tend to fall into the trap of fixing story elements because I want to avoid the idea of blaming the green screen but this is one place where the movie suffered.

davestrrr: Yeah, I think this was a sore thumb in AotC. Scenes like when they were boarding the Republic Star Cruiser at the end of AotC just didn’t seem lifelike enough for me.

3) Have an older Anakin in TPM. I think having a 10 year old and different actor was a bit rocky. It may have flowed better if they used the same actor throughout. It could have paralleled the OT better if it was the same actor.

Mazlow01: Again I agree here. Starting him as say a 14-16 year old vs a 10  year old just gives certain story elements more heft.

davestrrr: Yeah, I think that’s it. However, I can also see that Anakin needed to be a certain height, and the timing makes the growth spurt that the actor may or may not have difficult to predict. I’m guessing that might be part of the decision.

4) I would have titled AotC something like “The Clones Retaliate!” to make the grammar more similar to ESB.

Mazlow01: On this one I disagree completely. I love the title Attack of the Clones. I can’t explain why it just hits me.

davestrrr: Interesting. Yeah, it is kind of an interesting title. My biggest thing is that too many titles are “blank of the blank”, so one less might be good.

dookuClones

5) I think it would have been cool it have a scene with the ordering of the clones in TPM. This would tie the trilogy together I think.

Mazlow01: See I don’t think its needed. Having them be an unexplained doesn’t hurt anything. At best a closing scene with Sidious and lets say Dooku with a “You’ve seen to our friends on Kamino?” “Yes my master the next stage has begun as you have foreseen” it would give us a view but nothing direct.

davestrrr: Maybe you’re right. The mystery might have been lost if a scene preceded AotC. Tough to tell.

In closing…

Mazlow01: As a close out I would like to point out neither of us mentioned Jar-Jar and I want to now. I don’t necessarily like him BUT I know tons of kids that thought he was great. I could see making him a Han Solo type- Gungan smuggler bringing in Naboo stuff that is against the law and that’s why he was banished. But I honestly don’t think he needed to be fixed.

davestrrr: Yeah, I actually don’t have many major problems with Jar Jar. We are probably different in that respect. The thing is, Jar Jar was annoying in a way because his character was supposed to be annoying. The other characters even verbalized it, for example Obi Wan saying “Why do I get the feeling we’ve picked up another pathetic life form”.  It was Qui-Gon that saw Jar Jar’s value and brought him along. In the end, it paid off. Part of being a Jedi is seeing the inherent value in someone that goes beyond clumsiness or behavior that could be seen as annoying.

Weekly Recap #9

Were are now only 11 weeks away from The Force Awakens! After a period of slim pickings, some new rumors are starting to trickle in. Seems like things are being kept locked down pretty good at LFL. Let’s take a moment to recap the past weeks news and rumors with Weekly Recap #9:

more “Weekly Recap #9”

Rebels: What is the Endgame?

Rebels tells the canon story of how the Rebellion against the Empire developed until A New Hope. This leaves us with a bit of a problem though, three problems actually, Ezra, Kanan, and Ahsoka. It would seem that they would be present at the Battle of Yavin though I could see them skipping that, however by the time ESB rolls around Luke and Yoda are all that is left of the Jedi according Yoda. So what what happens to the heroes of Rebels? This is going to be pure speculation, there is nothing to back this up so far except the known canon.

more “Rebels: What is the Endgame?”

Weekly Recap #8

Is it Monday already? Well last week had quite a few new character bits and pieces come out. Various rumors that seem to back up several of our previously posted theories. Lets not waste anytime and jump right in. And remember as always spoilers abound.

more “Weekly Recap #8”

Ring Theory, Parallels, and Rhyming in The Force Awakens

A revolutionary new idea called “Star Wars Ring Theory” has taken the internet by storm, and even inspired a forthcoming documentary. The ring theory proposes that the Star Wars saga is set up to mirror itself using “ring compostion” in a ABC-CBA pattern. The mirroring is set up through parallels and common recurring themes. More basic than the ring theory is the idea that the different movies of the trilogies “rhyme”, with parallel themes and scenes that compare and contrast for added impact.The real question is, are the makers of the new sequel trilogy (ST) aware of this structure to the Star Wars saga, and do they have intentions of continuing it? How many glasses of wine into the conversation would it take for Lucas and Abrams to start talking about stuff like this?

more “Ring Theory, Parallels, and Rhyming in The Force Awakens”