Not to stir the pot, but The Clone Wars finale makes the Rise of Skywalker so much worse. I didn’t hate the film at first; in fact, I tried so hard to see the good in it and appreciate some of the technical aspects (visual effects, cinematography, music, etc.). Yet as time went passed, I kept realizing the same ugly truth: Anakin’s story doesn’t even matter now.
With the Clone Wars finale behind us, we now have the full extent of Anakin’s story, ranging from The Phantom Menace all the way to the Return of the Jedi. We saw him lose Qui-Gonn, the first real father figure he ever had, as well as his mother. We saw him lose his relationship with Ahsoka when she left the Jedi Order. We saw the manipulation, the deceit, the distrust, the doubt that clouded his mind from both sides of the Clone Wars and how that led to his emotional spiral and eventual downfall. We saw the horrors of Order 66 and how Anakin’s betrayal affected those closest to him. We saw him fall to the dark side and make terrible, heart-breaking decisions that cost him Padme’s life and his relationship with Obi-Wan. We saw the end of Anakin Skywalker and the birth of Darth Vader. We saw his regret at the end of TCW as he realized he’d lost everyone, and now he’s trapped as Darth Vader under the rule of the Emperor. We saw him terrorize the galaxy. We saw him murder innocent lives, destroy entire planets, and try to turn his own children to the dark side.
But then, when all hope seemed to be lost and the Emperor seemed to have won, we saw one of the most powerful moments in cinematic history: Anakin Skywalker’s return and the defeat of Darth Sideous. The Chosen One had fulfilled the prophecy, defeated the Emperor, restored peace and balance to the Force, and saved the life of his son.
Before TROS, watching the pain and suffering of the prequels and The Clone Wars was bearable, because we knew how it ended. Not only did we understand why Anakin fell, but we saw how his return and his victory were so much more powerful and poignant because of how much suffering he had endured. We understood that, looking at both trilogies as a whole (and The Clone Wars), the story of Star Wars was always the story of Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One. Luke didn’t save the galaxy, he was simply a catalyst for Anakin’s return.
Anakin was always the hero.
And that’s where the Rise of Skywalker failed. They made Anakin’s story, his suffering, his fall, his redemption, and his sacrifice completely irrelevant. None of it mattered because Palpatine lived and every member of his family died. All of it was for nothing. I can forgive some things about the sequel trilogy, but nothing will forgive how they disrespected the entire point of Anakin Skywalker’s story by bringing back Palpatine and eradicating the entire Skywalker family. After everything he suffered and strove to overcome, Anakin died to defeat the Emperor and save his family, and now we have to live with the fact that he failed in both areas.
Thanks Kathleen.
This is important.
You can like the sequels, you can like Rey’s and Kylo’s relationship, you can even like Luke, Leia and Han in those episodes, but can you really like Palpatine’s return?
What’s even worse, we know why this decision, to make Palpatine come back, was made. It would attract more viewers, simply because Sidious returning would have been a shock for the fans. More viewers => more money.
Kathleen Kennedy absolutely betrayed everything Lucas put into Star Wars. For what? For money.
Fuck Kathleen Kennedy.