I was against ReySky after TFA, because I thought that the movie was too painfully derivative, and ReySky was too obvious. After TLJ, I changed my mind, because my biggest problem with the ST is the utter ruination of everything the OT heroes did and the seeming pointlessness of their struggle. RotJ was my favorite movie, and having all of Luke’s efforts be smashed by the capriciousness of the ST writers was horrible. I don’t care about blood purity and really don’t care about Kylo Ren, but the idea of the Skywalker line dying out in such a banal, depressing story makes the ST worse for me than it already is.

I understand and respect your opinion about how it’s more democratic for Luke’s legacy to be passed down through his non-blood-related students… but I see no reason at all to think that it would last any more than the OT’s successes did. The way the ST is set up has burned all of my goodwill or trust in anything working out in this universe in the future. Everything is built on sand. There is no victory, only war. Even though bloodline is petty, it could be something, perhaps the only thing, that survives between the OT and ST. Without that, everything of the OT heroes dies, and nothing remains to say that the works of the ST heroes won’t die just as ignominiously.

Reply to the submission: Yeah, I’m not in love with the way the ST just smashed the OT’s achievements to hell in order to repeat the OT’s central conflict either, and if I were in charge of the ST I would have done it differently (link). That said, I also think the ST is a very timely story at a time when we’re getting all sorts of déjà vu at the rise of fascism.

Regarding the ST, I think the conclusion is unavoidable that the Skywalker bloodline, specifically the fixation on it as something powerful and special, was a big part of the reason things fell apart so badly. It was why Snoke targeted Ben Solo in an inverse of Palpatine targeting Anakin: Where Palpatine preyed on Anakin’s humble origins and sense of isolation, Snoke targeted Ben for his supposedly exalted lineage and an adult Ben bought into it. In the Bloodline novel, Leia’s blood relationship to Vader was why her political career was derailed and it was one reason for the Resistance’s subsequent troubles.

Could ReySky have pushed back on this repugnant fixation on bloodlines and made the Skywalkers about family again? Absolutely, if there had been positive family ties between Rey and Luke it could have pushed back on the idea that family is about blood. With Luke dying in the absence of such positive familial interactions, though, ReySky at this point simply reinforces the idea that the Skywalker legacy is about blood supremacy. This is just a recipe for more Kylo Rens down the line.

I disagree that nothing about the heroes survives if ReySky is not true. Luke and Leia’s love survived. Leia’s legacy of resistance will survive through Poe and Finn, and many others who took up the cause. Luke will not be the last Jedi, as he said himself. The OT heroes’ actions reverberated throughout the galaxy and inspired new generations of heroes. That can’t die, no matter what darkness may rise again, no matter how many times the same fight might have to be fought.

I would argue the focus on bloodline is the entire point of a delayed Rey Skywalker reveal. It’s only by becoming a hero and champion of the light despite not knowing her true heritage that Rey can demonstrate the future of the family need not and does not lie with Vader or Kylo Ren. It shows the true nature of the family is the heroism of Anakin, Luke and Leia.

Is Han correct that Ben “had too much Vader in him”? Or is Lor San Tekka when he told Kylo he couldn’t deny the truth that was his family?

If Kylo is really the only heir, then perhaps the galaxy was right to fear Leia...

-robotical712

The Skywalker Saga

The central theme of the Sequel Trilogy is that of identity. It drives all of the major characters’ arcs. Rey, Kylo Ren and Finn all wear masks when we first see them. Each grapples with finding who they are and their purpose.

So too with the legacy characters Han and Luke Skywalker in each of their respective movies. Both must remember who they are. I have no doubt that is or would have been Leia’s as well.

The central theme of the ST is the central question of the saga and what Episode IX must answer. The saga isn’t about the individual Skywalkers and its end isn’t tied to their individual stories. The saga comes down to one question:

Who are the Skywalkers and what is their purpose?

-robotical712

More Luke & Rey feels: I think TLJ is actually a really good father-daughter story. I like it more than Galen and Jyn’s but it’s also just a different kind of father-daughter thing, that Star Wars hadn’t explored yet. There’s a potentially regressive way to read Rogue One that’s about Jyn learning to be a good daughter (continuing her father’s work, taking up his cause after she rightfully felt abandoned by both father figures in her life, following a plan he laid out for her, honoring his sacrifice with her own). But the Last Jedi is about Luke learning to be a good father.

If Rey was Luke’s literal daughter, then any story about them would be a father-daughter story. I think it’s a great choice not to make them related by blood, because the story had to show this relationship by, you know, showing a father-daughter relationship. It has to actually have something to say about fatherhood. 

Continuar lendo

I’ve actually read it, and it’s not a bad case – I just have huge ideological beef with the idea of blood inheritance passing on things like merit and status, and one of the first things that I admired TLJ for was how it took a stand against it.

Also I’m a huge sucker for Rey coming from the cultural lineage of Jakku. The planet and its denizens fascinate me. It used to be a forested world that, somehow, became a desert. There’s a location that was “significant a thousand years ago” and becomes the site of a borehole that exposes a “seed of life” in the planet that’s actually like this literal glowing magical energy. It has a local religion with legends about a holy figure called the “Eremite” but little is revealed about them otherwise, and this religion is both Light-affiliated and rather unpleasant, almost reminiscent of the worst of the prequel Jedi. At one point a member of this religion says some cryptic shit about seeds growing in dead ground. An orphan from Jakku founds the First Order, and more Jakku orphans make up the first generation of the Order’s army. So I really want Rey to be from Jakku, an orphan as well, born amid all this strange significance. 

One of the key points of Bloodline is being a Skywalker sucks. When word of who her true father was got out Leia lost everything. As if most of the galaxy being terrified of and hating you wasn’t enough, you have to deal with being the target of people like Snoke and Sidious who will stop at nothing to use you.

Also, regardless of who her parents were, Rey didn’t earn her Force powers. She was born with them; so blood versus merit doesn’t apply.

-robotical712

look up the definition of a parallel because this not a parallel

like the situations are completely different like leia is literally rescuing han and actual loves and cares about han’s well being while kylo is literally the reason why rey is there and is torturing her at the very moment and doesn’t give a damn about rey beyond what she can give him which he would take with or without her consent

also the whole reason why leia and kylo are taking off their helmets are completely different like leia took it off so han could know it’s her while kylo took it off to manipulate rey so he could get he wants from her

Funny enough, know what scene that TFA scene actually parallels?

Rey and Kylo’s first meeting is almost an exact mirror/inversion of this first meeting of Luke and Leia in ANH. Luke enters in a mask to rescue Leia from captivity. Kylo wears a mask while holding Rey captive. Leia, as a prisoner, is calm and collected, while Luke, as her rescuer is nervous and frantic. Kylo as a captor is calm and collected, while Rey, as his prisoner, is nervous and frantic. By inverting this positive moment from ANH, and turning it into something sinister, Abrams is telling us exactly what to expect from the family drama in this trilogy--this won’t be a story of happy reunions between long-lost relatives, it will be one of a generational struggle for who the Skywalker family truly is behind their (literal and metaphorical) masks.

These aren’t scenes of lovers being united. They’re scenes of the two youngest Skywalkers of their generation coming face-to-face for the first time, and in doing so, setting the tone for the central conflict of each chapter of their family’s saga.

The Definitive “The Last Jedi” Case for Rey Skywalker: Conclusion

The conclusion of “The Definitive #TheLastJedi Case for #ReySkywalker: Symbolism”. #StarWars #EpisodeIX #Rey

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This series was a lot of fun to put together, but we’re all excited to discuss other topics again! We hope you enjoyed it and found it insightful even if you don’t agree!

The Definitive “The Last Jedi” Case for Rey Skywalker: Symbolism

Part VI of our #ReySkywalker series looks at the symbolism of #StarWars #TheLastJedi and the story it tells!

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Excerpt:

Reflections:

When Luke recounts the failures of the Jedi in an effort to dissuade Rey from following the path of the Jedi, Rey counters with how Luke saw the good in Vader and turned him from the dark side. Luke scoffs that it made him a legend and misled him into thinking he could teach his nephew to overcome the true nature of his of bloodline. Rey, believing Luke is talking Ben as a student, counters that where Ben failed him, she will not.

At exactly the halfway point of the film, Rey finds the mirror in the dark side cave and asks it to show her parents. To her disappointment, the mirror only shows shadows before showing her own reflection. However, Rey misses the point of what it showed her – being a mirror, it can only show what is placed in front of it. She sought an answer external to herself when the answer already lies inside her. That she sought the answer from the dark side cave further underscores the point being made. By looking for answers to who she is outside herself, Rey is trying to take the quick and easy path.

While Rey misses what the mirror is telling her, the scene subtly to signals the audience that the answer will be found by watching what Rey does. After learning what really happened the night of the massacre, Rey tells Luke there is still good in Kylo – much as Luke saw good in Vader as the film helpfully reminded us – and demands he go confront him. After he refuses, she leaves to do what she feels is right, much as Luke left Yoda to rescue his friends.

Once she arrives on the Supremacy, the movie shows a condensed version of Luke’s confrontation with his father. The elevator scene corresponds to Luke and Vader’s conversation on the catwalk on Endor. Snoke welcomes Rey and removes her restraints in the same way the Emperor removed Luke’s. Snoke places the lightsaber on the same side in the same orientation. The flow of the dialog mirrors that on the Death Star and Snoke even uses some of the same wording:

Finally, Snoke forces Rey to watch as the Supremacy destroys the Resistance transports just as Luke watched the Death Star destroy the Rebel ships in Return of the Jedi. Also like RotJ, the apprentice turns on his master, but Kylo does it for his own ends. Following Kylo’s refusal, Rey heads to Crait to join her friends. It is in the final segment of the film, Luke and Rey rescue the Resistance. Luke distracts the Kylo and the First Order while Rey removes the rocks preventing the survivors from escaping – completing the mirror in spectacular fashion..

The mirror tells us the true answer to who Rey’s parents are will be reflected in her and she then spends the entire last half of the film mirroring Luke’s arc from the Original Trilogy. Finally, she unknowingly joins her father in saving those they love.

The Definitive “The Last Jedi” Case for Rey Skywalker: Symbolism

Part VI of our #ReySkywalker series looks at the symbolism of #StarWars #TheLastJedi and the story it tells!

View On WordPress

Excerpt:

Reflections:

When Luke recounts the failures of the Jedi in an effort to dissuade Rey from following the path of the Jedi, Rey counters with how Luke saw the good in Vader and turned him from the dark side. Luke scoffs that it made him a legend and misled him into thinking he could teach his nephew to overcome the true nature of his of bloodline. Rey, believing Luke is talking Ben as a student, counters that where Ben failed him, she will not.

At exactly the halfway point of the film, Rey finds the mirror in the dark side cave and asks it to show her parents. To her disappointment, the mirror only shows shadows before showing her own reflection. However, Rey misses the point of what it showed her – being a mirror, it can only show what is placed in front of it. She sought an answer external to herself when the answer already lies inside her. That she sought the answer from the dark side cave further underscores the point being made. By looking for answers to who she is outside herself, Rey is trying to take the quick and easy path.

While Rey misses what the mirror is telling her, the scene subtly to signals the audience that the answer will be found by watching what Rey does. After learning what really happened the night of the massacre, Rey tells Luke there is still good in Kylo – much as Luke saw good in Vader as the film helpfully reminded us – and demands he go confront him. After he refuses, she leaves to do what she feels is right, much as Luke left Yoda to rescue his friends.

Once she arrives on the Supremacy, the movie shows a condensed version of Luke’s confrontation with his father. The elevator scene corresponds to Luke and Vader’s conversation on the catwalk on Endor. Snoke welcomes Rey and removes her restraints in the same way the Emperor removed Luke’s. Snoke places the lightsaber on the same side in the same orientation. The flow of the dialog mirrors that on the Death Star and Snoke even uses some of the same wording:

Finally, Snoke forces Rey to watch as the Supremacy destroys the Resistance transports just as Luke watched the Death Star destroy the Rebel ships in Return of the Jedi. Also like RotJ, the apprentice turns on his master, but Kylo does it for his own ends. Following Kylo’s refusal, Rey heads to Crait to join her friends. It is in the final segment of the film, Luke and Rey rescue the Resistance. Luke distracts the Kylo and the First Order while Rey removes the rocks preventing the survivors from escaping – completing the mirror in spectacular fashion..

The mirror tells us the true answer to who Rey’s parents are will be reflected in her and she then spends the entire last half of the film mirroring Luke’s arc from the Original Trilogy. Finally, she unknowingly joins her father in saving those they love.

The TL:DR Case for Rey Skywalker in The Last Jedi

The case for Rey Skywalker can be summed up in a few lines from TLJ:

Luke thinks Ben fell because of his heritage and Luke failed to help him overcome it as he did. Now he’s terrified it will doom Rey as well (first quote). The fact Luke never actually trained Rey in The Last Jedi is a very important plot point. By attempting what Luke did for Vader and then refusing Kylo’s offer to join him, Rey showed Luke the Skywalker bloodline wasn’t predisposed to the dark, but the light. He didn’t need to pass on his strengths to her, she already had them.

Here is the full case on the Star Wars Shadow Council weblog.