Friday, December 29, 2017

My predictions for Star Wars Episode 9- SPOILERS!

After seeing the Last Jedi a few times, I have some ideas. Safe to say, spoilers ahead, you have been warned!

Next big bad: General Hux
Eventhough the movie ended with Kylo Ren being the Supreme Leader, I feel it will be General Hux in the end.
Why? He didn't hesitate to draw his weapon when Ren was unconscious on the floor. He didn't have the time to kill Kylo Ren, as he just came to.
Also, you could see he barely believed the story that Rey was able to kill Snoke, the entire pretorian guard and knock Ren out.
The First Order doesn't work the way the Sith did. There it was expected for the apprentice to kill the master at a certain point and take control, no questions asked.
It doesn't work that way with the first order, cause when you look closely you can see they are Hux's army, before they are Ren's.
Hux will find out Ren had to do with Snoke's death and Ren will be removed in some way.


Identity crisis: Kylo Ren 
Obviously. This man is a vat of anger and hurt, being torn between Ben Solo and his created persona Kylo Ren, whom serves as a convoluted coping mechanism. Mom and dad were hands-off and shipped him to train with Luke, who betrayed him. As much as Rey, he seeks to belong. He will either run into increased hostility by General Hux, or come to the realization that the First Order isn't the way to restore order to the galaxy. Either way, he will strike out on his own first, going through some kind of process and find his true self. First, there will be a lot of pain.

The Resistance. 
The Resistance has been decimated, but as General Organa states in the end: "We have everything we need." And I believe she's right. Poe Dameron has come to see that a victory at any cost is no victory at all and he gradually transforms from a hero to a leader. He's ready to step up. Finn learns an important lesson from Rose, that this war will be won by protecting what we love. EDIT: Upon seeing the movie once more, it's now obvious to me Finn has made a tremendous evolution. He was with the Resistance at first, because he was on the run and made friends with Poe and Rey. When he strikes out with Rose, it's mainly so Rey has a safe place to return to. Only during the process, does he realise where his place in all this is. It's with the Rebellion and it becomes obvious when he corrects Phasma with 'Rebel scum', when she calls him scum.
Rey has learned that the good guys also make mistakes, the way Luke did and that the Jedi order, as is, needs to die. She did take the Jedi scriptures and hopefully she will glean some insights, supporting what Luke said. Through her Force bond with Kylo Ren, she also learned that evil stems from hurt, abandonment and betrayal, much like she has experienced. Thusly opening the path, in my opinion, for a more balanced approach to the Force.

The Force and Force bond. 
It's obvious something needs to change, the Force is all about balance. There is good in the world, and there is bad. Life, death, etc. The word balance gets thrown around a lot and I believe that is were we are headed. Both the Jedi and the Sith are entirely too absolute. No attachments, no (romantic) love, no strong emotions as opposed to fully utilizing your impulses and passion to achieve your goals.
This picture is extremely important, cause I think this is definitely where they are working towards. Sometimes a bit of anger or fear is good when your life depends on it. Loving someone can be a good motivator in life, but the point is that one should be able to channel those feelings into something workable. So yes, Grey Jedi that are able to understand a wide range of feelings and look at conflict from all possible angles.

The Force bond between Ben and Rey is obviously not gone, as we see at the end of TLJ. Some believe this is Rey's final act of literally, closing the door on their relationship. I don't think it is. It's very obvious since the beginning that these two have a different vibe about them.
In the Force Awakens, Rey gets 'preferential' treatment as a prisoner. Poe gets beaten, dragged, beaten again and then interrogated by Kylo Ren. Not so with Rey, he carries her, she doesn't get 'softened up' and he actually stops 'probing' her mind once she says to get out of her mind. He also the only person who never lies to her. When she asks about her friends, he tells her honestly he doesn't know. Nor does he ever lie about Luke, her parents, his intentions, etc. I mean, even Finn lied to her in the beginning, understandably so, but he still did.
So yes, all that build-up to have it end that way? I don't think so. The connection is still alive, even after Snoke's death, so they find out. Even if he did bridge their minds in the beginning, I think only they are responsible for deepening and maintaining the bond. I even think Snoke had little to do with the bond. He sensed it through his apprentice and used it as yet another insult, another way to keep Kylo Ren small and humiliated.
So yes, there will be much soul searching and pain to live through before these two can begin to heal their wounds. But they will, and they will join up, and both will turn, but not to the dark or light, but to a balanced path that takes everyone into account.

Final battle:
The Resistance, supplemented by Rebels all over the galaxy, by First Order defectors and Ben Solo against Hux' First Order that will end up in a New Order, no ties to the Old/New Republic or the Empire, just something else.

Edit: Plus Rey makes a double bladed, staff like lightsaber. Yellow. I think.