"Art is never finished, only abandoned."

Ben spent the first 5 years of his life without Leia to raise him. Leia's political career as Chancellor occupied her time to much for her to be a mother, and while she did try to spent time with Ben when she could, usually on his birthday, she mostly entrusted his care to nurse, maid, nanny, and educational droids; and always seemed distant to him. Han tried to be a father to Ben, but no matter what he just couldn't connect to him. And he was plagued with distressful out of body experiences and visions of his own conception and how the Galaxy would become destroyed with him having involvement in it (i.e. he had visions of the Disney Sequel trilogy)

However Leia soon could feel that Ben was Force-Sensitive, with Luke even to confirm, and decided to entrust his care to her brother instead. And while Luke was able to start Ben off by having him bond to Grogu through the Force and become like brothers, he still knew that at the end of the day, he was Grogu and Ben's babysitter and not their proper master yet. Although he knew about the Codex of Tython, an Ancient Holocron with teachings that day back to the genesis of the Jedi, if Luke could find it then he would know what to do in order to be a proper master to them. But even with Chancellor Leia and the resources of the Third Galactic Republic to help, he wasn't able to find it in the present day. Luke's only hope then was to go through the World Between Worlds and retrieve the Codex from the past. He decided to bring Ben and Grogu with him, thinking it would be a great learning experience, however instead of retrieving the Codex, Ben rescued an elderly Force sensitive woman named Kreia from a ship wreckage.

It was soon apparent, once she was conscious, that she was a Jedi from the age of the First Republic almost 4000 years ago. Luke had previously known about Joruus C’baoth, but now he had another person he could entrust Ben and Grogu to and provide some feminine influence. Although upon trying to introducing Kreia to Leia and C’baoth, C’baoth called Kreia a witch and wanted keep away from her, and Leia was really uneasy around her, especially knowing it was her own son her rescued Kreia.

I would say from there a lot of the events that happened in the Thrawn trilogy happened here, but with some differences being that Ben and Grogu are involved in the story (with Thrawn even capturing them to become potential inquisitors) and this helps embolden Luke to become a proper master to them, and Kreia decides to take a back seat to observe what happens and at the end telling Luke, "If you had lost, then I would not have tolerated it. Nobody should be your students' master, except for you, and if died it would then be up to me to take that stead. And I believe me, I wouldn't simply let them become mere inquisitors."

Years pass and Luke and Kreia gain more students and founded a temple, Grogu and Ben have grown since. Although Luke can't help but notice a rift between his students as some of them preferred to be taught by him while other preferred to be taught by Kreia, with some of those students even asking him things that greatly troubled him. Although Ben troubled Luke the most as he was the one spent the most around Kreia, instead of training he spent his time in his quarters reading tomes for history, politics, economy, government, etc. along with some Sith Holocrons, and asked questions like "Do we need a republic?" "Couldn't other worlds sustain themselves without one?" "Do the Jedi need to serve the republic?", and when he did any amount of training Ben would more use his anger to spar than empty his mind and let the Force guide him. While Grogu and Ben were still friends, their relationship was not the same as it was in the beginning as in contrast to Ben Grogu still held steadfast to Luke and his teachings, and they debated on who was correct.

It was only going to come to a head, on Ben's 13th birthday Leia came to celebrate like she usually does, but instead of receiving a lukewarm hug from Ben she got into a long and angry quarrel with him which ended with Ben saying to Leia, "Don't you dare call yourself my mother, stranger!" This upset Leia to her core, Luke tried to comfort Leia but he knew deep down what was causing Ben to be so troubled, Kreia had turned Ben's heart, and if he wanted to save Ben's soul not only as his master but also his uncle, he had to confront Kreia. But when he did, it ended with shame and consequence for Luke as what he say in Ben were the eyes and tears of a frightened and upset boy who felt alone in the face of his masters were quarreling over him and his mother who failed him. Ben then decided what to do from there, he brought out all of the students and had them all fight to the death (including himself) saying "Only the strong survive!" with Luke and Kreia to bear witness the horror show. Only ten students survived the ordeal, and when Ben asked which master they aligned more to, only Grogu, who did not kill anyone, chose Luke saying to Ben "Do you really want to do this?". They argued over it, which lead to blows, which lead to Ben killing Grogu.

Then Ben went up to Luke, and thumping Luke's said, "Purge him! He represents the ways of the Jedi that have shown to not work! Beat him until he can't stand! Anyone who doesn't do so ends up like Grogu!" Luke while playing defensively at first, simply accepted his beating, while he survived he knew by now he was a failure of a master, and there was no turning back for his students now with blood on their hands. Ben then took Kreia and the remaining students with him, starting his jihad against the Republic, Leia tried to stop them but it only ended with her becoming crippled, from there the jihad only continued, the newly formed Order went on to purge the New Republic from the galaxy killing billions to trillions in its wake creating a wound in the Force, eventually turning it into an intragalactic deadlock between multiple worlds and factions vying for power, and Luke in the meanwhile disappeared in the face of it.

Of course I have a couple of ideas I would wish to implement within this rewrite, I really would like to make Ben very much like Paul Atreides and model Ben's character journey based on Paul's character journey up until Dune Messiah (I'd have Kreia do the Gom Jabbar test on him), and I would even say that if my sequels didn't happen Ben would have gone into exile like Paul. I'm also wondering could it be possible to involve other characters like Ezra, Ahsoka, A'Sharad Hett, and Zao? Should Ben have his "Alia"? Also, I would think of Luke's Jedi Order as acting like a general educational institution for everyone in the galaxy, not just for Force sensitives. I also have no idea how I could tell it within the Sequel Trilogy I would come up with. But what does everyone here think?

Admittedly, I have not played the game, but I watched the playthroughs of the full game--largely cutscenes, cinematics, and dialogues. It is exactly what I assumed from the very moment it was announced on E3.

I remember hearing Quentin Tarantino talking (or more accurately, written in his book) about why the 80s was the worst decade of the cinema, compared to the uncompromising 70s.

"Complex characters aren’t necessarily sympathetic. Interesting people aren’t always likable. But in the Hollywood of the eighties, likability was everything. A novel could have a lowdown son of a bitch at its center, as long as that lowdown son of a bitch was an interesting character, but not a movie, not in the eighties."

And that was what came to my mind when I was watching Star Wars: Outlaws. It's not much to do with the actual story, but the general style that irritates me. Because the premise promises this is going to be the escapist pulpy hardboiled noir. You're a morally grey outlaw with an attitude, doing a bunch of crimes in a world full of vice to survive, but it is executed in such a sanitized family-friendly style. It is difficult to describe exactly. It takes a very wide-eyed 80s Spielbergian feel to the material, and it doesn't gel. Not that every Star Wars media should be serious and dark, but there is a way to take the underworld side of Star Wars in a more quirky, stylized, and zany manner, like Cowboy Bebop. It is like promising a Star Wars version of Lupin the Third Part I, and the actual product plays like Lupin the Third: The First.

Much of the reason for contributing to this jarring tone is the protagonist. The game is an openworld, so the story is structured as episodic--sort of a crime travelogue. This means it has to rely on the "man on the mission" narrative genre rather than focusing on the tight, serialized plot. The morally ambiguous cast of distinctive suave characters and chemistry comes up with the plans, confronts the villains, and eventually outwits them. However, the burning core of why these stories work is the charisma of the protagonist. The character doesn't have to be sophisticated or complex--they just have to be "cool".

James Bond, Golgo 13, Lupin the Third, Spike Spiegel, and Lara Croft (before the Survivor trilogy) are not always sympathetic or likable. In the case of the first three, in particularly in the earlier works that came out in the 60s and the early 70s, they were like hyper-violent rapist sociopaths. They were, as Timothy Dalton put it in describing James Bond, "the dirtiest, toughest, meanest, nastiest, brutalist hero we've ever seen". These characters do what they do because they like it. They are horny for death. They are always running on the edge between life and death. You don't really get an elaboration of backstory to make them sympathetic. They are rarely moral or empathetic... yet these series were built and are still alive because of their iconic protagonists. Because the audience found their characters to be charismatic and cool, which makes their adventures fun.

In contrast, does anyone find Kay cool? Or buy her as a badass space criminal? I don't. The anti-woke grifters have been screaming how this game is woke because Kay is a girl boss or something... I hoped Kay WAS the girl boss because at least that would have been more fun to watch than whatever she is in the game. (And when did a girl boss archetype become a bad thing? Didn't these anti-woke audiences like Bayonetta and OG Lara Croft? I'm so confused lmao)

The game, presentation, and story are all designed around her character's appeal, but from her look, voice, costume, dialogues, and mannerisms, she has no rizz or charisma whatsoever. She’s a smuggler, steals shit, kills people in the vilest places in the galaxy, has to earn her way through hardship because nothing is handed to her, and she’s acting like a fish out of water goofy dork? She just mowed down a hundred people in the gameplay, and the very next moment the cutscene hits, she's like a 12-year-old trying to be tough. Not that she should be like Arthur Morgan, but I think it is disappointing when you promote your game as a Star Wars underworld simulator where you do a bunch of crimes and title it "Star Wars: Outlaws", and this "outlaw" you play as is not even edgier than Han Solo.

She might be written decently, but what a character sounds on paper and how they are conveyed are two different things. When she tries to be cool and confident, she is a wet blanket. When she tries to be smooth and funny, it comes across as awkward. Most of her adventures would have been more fun with anyone else in their center. The lie that she is supposed to be this cool, suave criminal becomes even harder to believe with the side characters who are.

It is a shame because Star Wars: Outlaws is set in the same timeframe as the Original trilogy, and it could've provided a contrast to the bright, mythical surface of the galaxy the OT explored with the underground side of that galaxy that mirrors the grits of the 70s exploitation cinema. It does try to do that, but not with the character that wouldn't be out of the ordinary in the Original trilogy movies.

Reading her character concept and imagining how it would play out in your head is much more fun, so I am thinking about how her character would have been improved if she was based on someone else. She can be the same character on the paper but executed with a different screen persona.

If they were to make this suave badass scoundrel, couldn't they make her resemble iconic character actresses similar to, let's say...

Michelle Rodriguez--Hollywood's go-to "tough chick". Famke Janssen--a bombshell femme fatale archetype. Cynthia Rothrock--who showed off a fantastic physical performance. Pam Grier--if you were to channel the oldschool 70s exploitation vibe, which would fit perfectly with Outlaws. If you were to go really old-school, then someone like Lauren Bacall. Eva Green, Kim Ok-vin, Angelina Jolie...

If you were to go for a more masculine/gender-neutral type, then Grace Jones, Daryl Hannah, Noomi Rapace, Antje Traue, Carrie-Anne Moss...

Not that Ubisoft should have called these old or dead stars to do the mocaps, but what I'm talking about is the image and presentation of the character to base on: the body language, unique appearance, attitude, line reading, and strong personality. Because without them, this Kay character concept flounders.

Was standing around at work today and had a thought cross my mind that fixed an early problem in the movie. Instead of having Poe go rogue and destroy the dreadnaught have him be a glory hound and dog fighter.

In my fixed version of the movie after Poe takes out the deck guns that would take out other fighters and the bombers he rejoins the fighters defending the bombers. They will then fly in formation defending the bombers for a moment until a First Order ace pilot flys past damaging another small ship in the formation. Poe then breaks off with many of his best fighters to follow them away from the bombers leaving them practically defenseless. Poe will then have a cool dog fight, losing multiple of his own fighters to this ace while being ordered to return to the bombers and provide support. He only returns once he takes out the ace and realizes that most of the bombers have been destroyed. Things will then play out the same from there for the most part just swapping out them being upset about him taking out the dreadnaught with them being upset with his lack of care and glory hounding.

While this fix doesn't solve the biggest issues in the movie I feel like it helps make this portion of the conflict feel more natural on all sides. Poe doing something that only serves himself and being punished works better than Poe doing something that immediately after the reprimand proves to have saved everyone's life. Plus it does the whole history rhyming thing that George Lucid likes doing by having a flyboy pilot and his squadron cut and run to chase enemy fighters while lesser skilled pilots took out bombers and other vulnerable targets. This also makes the destruction of all the bombers easier to believe because instead of taking each other out, they were picked off by overwhelming numbers of basic ties.

For Part 1, click here!

LORD willing, Mandalorian season 3 next! Because of length, this was broken into 2 parts. First part is up as well. For this, here are the ideas God, if He wills, has blessed me with for this:

PART 2

EPISODE 6:

The episode opens on a flashback of a child Obi-Wan becoming Qui-Gon's padawan. Obi-Wan is rigid, tense, hard on himself, insecure about his shortcomings. Qui-Gon, seeing this in Obi-Wan, kneels, presenting himself face to face with Obi-Wan, telling him to relax, breathe, focus. Obi-Wan is confused. Qui-Gon explains to him that Yoda has told him that Obi's very efficient in lightsaber dueling, and strong in the force. Obi-Wan is feeling fairly pleased with himself at this. But Qui-Gon then cuts that short when he tells him that his perception is different from Yoda's, from seeing the holovids of his training. Qui-Gon tells him that he can see his connection with the force, see his skills, but also sees that he can become lost in a single action, and it opens him up to unexpected attacks, lack of knowledge of what surrounds him.

To showcase this, Qui-Gon swiftly makes a move with the force, pulling Obi-Wan's legs out from under him, but stopping him from hitting to the ground, holding him just above it. Qui-Gon explains that as a duelist, he doesn't focus on the force, and while using the force he doesn't focus on his defenses. He gently sits Obi-Wan down.

Obi-Wan begins to get back up, Qui-Gon extending his hand, which Obi ignores, frustrated. Qui-Gon, seeing that, tells him that it's okay to admit that he feels displeased, then explaining to him that accepting emotion is what it means to be a jedi, that to accept their emotions is to gain better understanding of them, and better understanding of themselves as well, and that can help them control their emotion. Obi is struck by Qui-Gon's wisdom, then admitting that he was afraid that he would show himself unworthy to be his apprentice, that he'd fail. Qui-Gon tells him that that's okay to feel that, that it's okay to fail, but that it's essential to get back up, always, because you can never move forward if you don't. Qui-Gon gives Obi a reassuring smile, which he relaxes at.

Cut from that to present day, as Obi-Wan, frustrated, asks Qui-Gon where he's been. Qui-Gon tells him that he wasn't ready to connect with him. Obi inquires as to why. Qui-Gon tells him that only now was he ready to accept that what he feels is what's driving him, and that only understanding of self brings this connection.

Obi, in shame, admits that he thinks he failed Anakin by becoming attached to him, that he let this happen because he refused to accept that something was really wrong, that he thinks he broke the jedi code and this is all his punishment for it.

Qui-Gon tells him that he's carried this guilt for so long, but that it's not the truth. Obi is taken aback by this, insisting that Anakin was his student, that if he had let himself be detached he could've stopped it, that Anakin was his responsibility, is his responsibility, and that's why he must put a stop to him, once and for all. Qui-Gon asks Obi if he really believes that. Obi tells him that he has to, stating that no one else will suffer from his mistakes, that he will kill Anakin, and he will do it without Qui-Gon if he has to.

Qui-Gon tells him that he can't do this, he can't lose himself. Obi, more angry, tells him that he hasn't been here and he doesn't know him, and if he wanted a say in this he should've been here, that he should've been the one to train Anakin, that he shouldn't have been Obi's responsibility. Qui-Gon shows his remorse and heartbreak on his face, as Obi, showing his shame and guilt for what he said, walks past Qui. Qui-Gon simply whispers that for him to be mindful of the living force.

From there we cut to Luke getting dressed. This scene parallels the one from the first episode showing Leia do the same, the similarities and contrasts emphasized: Luke's clothes being more simple, but still put on the same. Luke doing it himself without servants, but also with a showcase of his disinterest in the duties set out for him.

Luke goes to breakfast, with Owen and Beru. Owen tells Luke that he wants his help fixing up the moisture vaporators in the back, as they're acting up. Luke is not happy about that, saying that they always need fixing. Owen tells him that he has to get to know how this all works, so he can fix it himself. Luke's frustration with his situation worn on his sleeve, says he doesn't want to. Owen tells him that it's something he needs to learn. Luke snaps that Owen's not his dad, he can't tell him what to do. Owen is hurt by this. Luke regrets it, but doesn't say anything, just stews in his resentment for a second, before getting up out of his chair and storming off.

Obi meets Reva on his way to her ship, her injuries still harming her. Obi is angry. Reva, feeling something emanating from the area, asks Obi what that was, who he was talking to. Obi says that he was talking to someone from long ago. Reva states that she felt something powerful. But before Obi can explain, he sees Reva is beginning bleed out more. In spite of his frustration, he asks Reva if she has a medpac in her ship. She says she does.

Obi tries to get her to it, but she's apprehensive, not sure why he's trying to help her, asking why. Obi tells her it's because he understands what she lost, that he lost everything just like her. Reva rejects what she calls his pity, saying that she doesn't need anyone. Obi asks her where that's gotten her, stating that she let empire use her to hurt others, to hurt her own, to get revenge, become no different than Anakin.

Reva becomes enraged at that, getting in Obi's face, still in pain, telling him to silence himself. Obi then asks her if she's willing to let herself be what Anakin is, help him destroy more families, more lives, put more children through what happened to her. Reva, conflicted, states that she's never put children in harm's way. Obi tells her that she put Leia in harm's way. Reva, in shame, realizes that Obi's right, and begins to accept and say that she's compromised so much, she didn't let herself see it, her getting upset.

Obi has a moment of compassion, telling her that this doesn't have to be the end, that if she understands what she's done, then she knows why she can't let it happen again. Reva realizes, and speaks it, that Obi needs her help. Obi tells her that if he fails, he dies, those refugees die with him, stating that whether he or Anakin win, he can distract him enough to ensure she can rescue them. Obi then asks her if she's willing to help him to try and fix their mistakes.

On Alderran, Bail and Breha are worried, concerned about not having received word from Obi. Bail suggests if they have been caught, Owen with Luke could be found out, as well. Breha asks what they should do. Bail says that he asked Obi-Wan to rescue the girl they charged themselves with protecting, so it's their duty, if they were caught because of that, to protect the boy on tatooine Obi-Wan charged himself to.

They're alerted by their guards that they've been contacted by a ship entering their atmosphere, telling them that Leia is on board. Bail and Breha tell his guards that they allow it to dock, but use caution. He and Breha go to the docking area with armed guards, unsure of what to expect.

The ship lands, and the doors open, Leia emerging first, running to and hugging her mom and dad. They embrace her, crying tears of joy, so happy to see their daughter.

Cody, the other children behind him, begin to slowly, cautiously emerge. He walks up to Bail with caution, to show he's peaceful. Bail recognizes that he's a clone. Cody tells them who he is and that the Path was smuggling those who fear the empire or are being hunted by them, out of their systems, telling him that a mutual friend said Bail could be trusted because these people had nowhere else to go after the empire found their base. Leia says they have to help them. Bail, with some thought, agrees. Bail asks where their friend is, if he was captured. Cody says that he doesn't know.

Vader awaits Obi-Wan, when he receives a message from the Palpatine. Vader, with some hesitancy, answers the message, Palpatine condescendingly asking about his use of resources in his vendetta against Kenobi. Vader tells him that Kenobi will pay for what he's done to him. Palpatine tells him to not allow his previous life to cloud his judgement, to put an end to this tonight and he won't be given a second chance to.

On their way to Mustafar, Obi tries to focus himself, ready himself for battle, but he struggles as it, his conflict tearing at him, as Reva watches him (after having destroyed the ship tracker, saying that mat give them some advantage of surprise), unsure what to do. She asks if he is connecting, admitting that she misses that feeling and hasn't felt it in a long time. He admits that he hasn't either, he was too afraid to, because of the empire, that anything he could do would bring danger. Now, he can't focus.

Reva is concerned, asking him if he'll be ready for this, to fight Vader. Obi tells her that he has to be, because all he has left are the futures of those Anakin could hurt, and he can never let them fall into Anakin's hands. He says that he now understands that until one of them is dead, Anakin will hunt him and could find them, one way or another and after everything Anakin's done, this is Obi's responsibility to put a stop to it.

Reva herself has a moment of compassion for Obi and asks him if he can remind her their exercises to calm herself. And this does assist Obi in his thoughts going to trying to help her.

Back on tatooine at night, Beru and Owen discuss Luke, and what to do. Beru still encourages that Luke be given something to connect to his dad with. Owen contemplates this, telling her that he knows what it feels like to not know his real mother too, as she left not long after he was born, and that Shmi was the only mother he's ever known, that he can't let Luke know who his dad was, can't let him suffer Anakin's fate, can't let Shmi's last remaining family be lost.

Luke stands outside in the open area, looking up at the stars, similar to Leia looking up at the sky in the first episode, a longing-ness presented. Biggs contacts Luke on his walkie talkie, telling him that jabba's thugs are back in town harassing people for water again. Luke's anger peaks at that, exclaiming that they just did that a couple days ago. Biggs tells him Jabba's people must be wanting to throw their weight around. Luke's frustration rises and he asks Biggs to come to his place. Biggs says sure, but why?

Obi lands the ship on the shores of mustafar and exits it, looking out at Vader's Castle. He tells Reva to wait until he's inside before she gets near, so that Vader will be distracted. Obi tells Reva that he can sense that there's no guards in the castle, so she should

He walks to the castle, enters it and, feeling Vader's presence, follows that feeling, leading into a circular chamber of cells where the people are being held (only the outer bars of cells being visible in this room, while the doors are on the other side of the cell), the glow of the lava flowing through the castle's tube system that runs to the other side of the river into the lavafall.

Meanwhile Reva enters the castle, following the hallways and feeling out where the people are.

In the castle, Obi sees a stone staircase at the back of the chamber, which Vader stands at the top of, Obi looking up at him. Vader asserts that he came as he steps down to Obi. Obi replies that he knew he would. Vader confirms that he knew Obi would be desperate to prove himself as a jedi, to prove that he wasn't a failure. Obi tells Vader that he's come to put an end to this. Vader, pulling out his lightsaber, is almost amused beneath his anger as he tells Obi that he will fail, igniting the saber, asking if Obi is finally ready to battle him. Obi holds his silence, takes out his saber, readies his stance and ignites, saying that he is.

They both attack eachother at the same time, Obi's fighting far more aggressive than usual.

Their sabers clash. Obi's aggression rising at it's peak as he hears the people in the cells asking for help, though Vader's tactics being the one to force Obi even still on the defensive in comparison, pushing him backwards onto and up the stone steps. Vader quickly makes a slice at Obi's feet, but Obi is quick to avoid, quickly stepping back, but Vader is quick too, making a lunge at Obi in the moment he's on the backfoot, but Obi is prepared, bring his saber to block it.

Obi uses their lightsaber's pressing against eachother, to turn them in opposite directions and quickly slashes at the ground at Vader's feet, making him step back, Obi then swinging at Vader's head, slashing at the side of Vader's helmet, this clearly throws Vader off his footing entirely, Obi having the clear upper hand, now being the one to push Vader back. Vigorously attacking with his saber, Obi pushes Vader back down the stone steps, and then in a quick movement reaches out to crush his control box on his chest, which slows Vader even more, him dropping his saber and forces him to his knees.

Obi sees the seemingly defeated Vader and raises his saber to deal a fatal blow, just like in his nightmare. But he hesitates, and when Vader looks up at him, the broken helmet showing his burned face, the broken damaged man underneath it, Obi can't do it, his compassion for Anakin winning out.

Obi lowers the saber, filled with remorse for what he nearly did, what happened to Anakin years ago, calling him by his name: Anakin. Vader tells him that Anakin is gone, and that he's all there is now. Obi wants to try and tells him that he's sorry, for everything, telling him that they can fix this.

For the briefest moment, Anakin's eyes show a flash of sadness, before igniting in rage, exclaiming that Obi DARES to show him mercy. Vader's rage flares within him, as he pulls his saber back to himself and slashes at the ground Obi stands upon, pushing him back, then tears stone from the walls around him, hurling them at Obi, bringing parts of the chamber's ceiling down on him (the outer walls cracking), nearly crushing him, but he avoids it, though it catches his legs, Vader slowing the fall of the stone to hold him in place rather than crush them.

Vader states that Obi is still too weak to finish things and he's so disappointing, then telling him that he will make Obi watch these people die and kill him finally.

Reva has made it to the outer part of the cell chambers, the people at first afraid of her, her telling them that she came to help. She quickly tries to get the mechanism to unlock the doors.

Obi tries to use the force to lift the rock, but his emotions are unfocused, he's torn up at what he nearly did, what Vader's going to do, and in this desperate moment asks for Qui-Gon's help.

Qui-Gon's hand extends, resting on Obi's shoulder, Qui telling Obi that it's going to be okay. Obi, emotional, tells Qui that he's sorry for what he said.

Qui says they all make mistakes, saying that Obi did feel attachment for Anakin, it's something as jedi they all can have to face in their emotions, in learning to control them, admitting that he himself became attached the idea of his responsibility, confessing that he didn't perceive the true darkness around them, didn't maintain his balance of being mindful of the living force and the cosmic force, because he thought it was his responsibility to ensure the galaxy's balance and that blinded him. Qui then confesses that that's something he took on from his mentor, and that the guilt Obi feels for making this mistake is what's tormenting him and that failure is on Qui.

Obi refuses that, saying that he failed Qui-Gon as well as failing Anakin, that he didn't train him the way Qui would've, but tried to train him as Yoda would, that he betrayed Qui's memory by doing that.

Qui states that, no, that he failed Obi, by placing a duty on him when he had no right to, by placing that responsibility he felt onto Obi, he burdened Obi and Obi has defined himself by that, saying that he's sorry for it, continuing that we all fail, but you can't let it define your life or you can lose yourself, and that is how Anakin became lost. Qui stating that he shouldn't have forced that responsibility on him, it should've always been his choice. But states that Obi's wiser than he is and knows how to let go of this, but that he's afraid to, because he thinks it'd mean betraying the Anakin he knew.

Obi has a moment of emotional swallowing and acceptance, and admits to himself and Qui that he can't save Anakin, couldn't save Anakin, that there's nothing he can do, that he can't undo what's been done, that he's powerless. Qui states that he can't, stating that to understand that you are powerless can help you to understand that you are apart of something greater, that we make choices, but can never control the outcome, that Obi can't control what will or won't be, only what he does with the path he's given, even when they fall.

Qui extends his hand to Obi, asking what is essential that we always must do when we fall. Obi's face becomes steely with resolve and he states to always get back up, taking Qui's hand, and standing up, obviously not with Qui's actual physical help, more symbolic, as Obi, now with focus, is using the force to lift the stone off of his legs, allowing him to stand.

The music rises as Obi-Wan does, unafraid, focused, certain. Vader turns back to him, saying that he's not yet broken. Obi brings his lightsaber back to himself and replies that he never will be, as he reignites it. Vader does the same and says that it's only a matter of time, making the first strike at him.

Reva realizes that she has to act fast and ignites her saber, using it to slash at the doors of the cells, releasing the people.

In the middle of continuing fight, Vader senses this, realizing that Obi brought the traitor Reva. Vader uses the force to choke Obi in that moment so he can reach out to pull down the ceiling onto the escapees, but Obi slashes at his arm as he does so, preventing it.

This allows Reva to get the people out of the chamber and out of the castle, rushing to her ship.

Vader states that there's nothing left for him to fight for, asking him what he thinks he can accomplish: No matter who he tries to help he will only fail them like he did him, destroy them, like he did Anakin. Obi admits that he did fail Anakin, he didn't see Anakin's struggles, didn't want to see them and what could happen because he loved him and he burdened him with the pressure of being a great jedi, but then states cleanly that he didn't kill Anakin though, that Vader destroyed Anakin's life, took his wife and child from him, and from that Vader was truly born, firmly stating that Vader killed Anakin.

Vader becomes enraged and lashes out against Obi at this. Obi fights back, they're evenly matched, Vader's anger bringing a formidable attack, but Obi's focus and tactics is able to hold him off. Vader makes a reckless tactic and slices at the inner chamber of the lava flowing through his castle with his lightsaber, the lava beginning to pour in, it coming between them.

Vader, enraged, eyes glowing with anger, states that Obi will burn.

Obi and Vader look at eachother one last time(Vader's eyes enflared with anger and almost sadness, Obi's eyes filled with sadness and pity) as the lava pours between them until it blocks their view of eachother. Obi uses the force to hold it back from himself, but he can't fully, that part of the castle beginning to crack underneath him, pieces from the wall falling into the lavafall below the castle.

Reva and the people get into the ship, and, sensing what's going on, decides after a moment's hesitation to go back for him, instructing the leader of the path to get the ship over to the side of the castle, which he does, her opening the cargo hatch. Reva stands on the edge of the hatch, reaching out to Obi, stating that he has to leap to her, and they can pull themselves towards eachother with the force. Obi agrees, and leaps out the broken wall, pulling towards her and her pulling him to her as well, just in time for the crumbling part of the castle he stood upon to fall off the edge into the lava.

Obi thanks Reva for this, and she thanks him. In this moment, Obi senses something in his now returned focus, that Luke is in danger, and he quickly instructs Reva that he has to get to tatooine and then she can return these people to their families.

Back on tatooine, Beru goes to check on Luke to get him for dinner, finding that he's gone. She tells Owen, both of their concern shown on their face.

Luke and Biggs are watching from afar on the side of a sandhill with binoculars as Jabba's thugs, with the water they'd taken in their speeder, drinking inside a tatooine bar. Luke shows his anger at this, and decides to get the water, so they can take it back to the people. Biggs thinks Luke is crazy, telling him not to. Luke is fired up and does it anyway.

Biggs is freaking out, but holds back. He waits a second, unsure, seeing Luke quickly creep up to the speeder, uncovering the tarp. Biggs, with begrudgement, starts to go over to Luke to help, but sees the thugs exit the bar and hides again, signaling to Luke about it, who when he sees as well, swiftly crawls into the back and covers himself up. Biggs is terrified for Luke.

Obi is now on tatooine, in town, rushing to his eopie from the landing pad. In that moment, he senses the danger Luke is in at this moment and reaches out to sense Luke's location. Sensing his distance, he knows the eopie can't get him there in time. In a moment of frustration, he looks around, seeing the speeder of the boss who shortchanged the employee in the premiere, him passed out drunk in the seat. Obi cocks an eyebrow, getting an idea.

Back with Owen and Beru, they're looking for Luke, yelling for him. Biggs pulls up on his skyhopper, and, panicked, tells them what's happened. Beru and Owen are freaked out, asking where they are.

Luke is hiding in the back of the speeder, the water tanks banging back and forth. One of the tanks turns over and hits Luke, him grunting in pain at it. The thugs bring the speeder to a halt, having heard him. After getting out, they go to the back, pulling the tarp off, seeing Luke.

In anger they pull him out and throw him to the ground, asking him what he thinks he's doing. Luke is afraid, but defiant, telling them that they hurt people and that someone had to stand up to them, stating that he's not afraid of them. They, with a laugh at him, strike him in the face, knocking him out, when suddenly the lights of the speeder are blown out.

In the dark, Obi emerges into the sight of the thugs and swiftly takes them down, and then with a jedi mind trick, tells them to take the water back to the people, and tell Jabba that they lost it in a sand beast attack and never again to take more from people than they can give.

Owen and Beru, having gathered their rifles, are ready to get in their speeder and go after the thugs, when another speeder pulls up, the lights shining too bright in the dark for them to see. Owen and Beru ready their rifles in fear.

The person, getting out and walking towards them, revealing that it's Obi carrying Luke. Owen and Beru slowly lower their rifles and rush towards him, taking Luke from Obi, Beru clutching him tight and Obi standing back, exchanging a look of respect between them all.

Later that night, Luke wakes up and hugs Owen and Beru, saying he's sorry. Owen and Beru are stern, but comforting, telling Luke that they're proud of him, but that he has to be careful and can never put himself in danger like that. Luke tells them that he had to do something, he wanted to do the right thing.

Owen sits down and tells Luke that he can do the right thing and still be careful and that that's something Luke's dad knew, because he was someone who took a job on a spice freighter that was for a republic official disposal of spice, as a navigator to provide for his family, he tried to do the right thing at what was a careful job, and he died in a crash, but he was still a good man.

On mustafar, Vader stands looking out of the cracked broken front of his castle, hollow and contemplative. He's informed of another message from the Emperor. Palpatine congratulates Vader on his victory. Vader is solemn, saying he's not sure of his death, but also saying that it doesn't matter, stating he now understands that Kenobi wasn't holding him back, that Anakin Skywalker was, that Palpatine was right. Palpatine says of course he was. Vader affirms that Anakin is dead. Palpatine tells Vader to remember what he is. Vader says that he is what Palpatine made him and he won't forget that, as his fist is held tightly in anger.

The next morning the drunk boss wakes up with his speeder returned to him.

Meanwhile, Leia is getting dressed on her own, not with the help of servants this time. She talks to Bail, telling them that they have to do more to help people, and Bail agrees, him telling her that they will. Leia asks if they've heard anything about Ben, but he says not yet.

They then get a report from the security of another ship coming, this time an imperial ship, and, being cautious, they approach the landing pad, seeing Reva exit it, with the rest of the people, all those parents being reunited with their kids.

Reva has a moment of catharsis seeing these families reunited and presents herself to Bail and Breha, telling them that she's responsible for the danger their daughter was in and she accepts their punishment. But, with insistence from Leia, they forgive her and tell her that her punishment can be to ensure these families find places where they'll be safe and protect them. Reva, with much emotional gratefulness, gives the fixed lola droid to Leia, telling her that Ben is still alive and that he wanted this to be returned to her. Cody sees and hears this with relief.

Bail takes Leia on a trip to tatooine, to Owen and Beru's moisture farm, where Bail meets Owen (as Leia waits in the speeder) and tells Owen, whose not really sure who he is, that he paid off mortgage on the moisture farm and when Owen asks why, Bail tells him that he knows what it's like to be responsible for a remarkable child. Owen understands at seeing Leia, and says, that Bail is like him. Owen asks if the daughter is okay (in concern for Shmi's other grandchild), and Bail says that she is. In a moment of connection, Bail and Owen shake hands. As this happens, Luke is playing with his ship and he looks at Leia and she looks at him and they wave at eachother. As Bail and Leia leave, Obi watches from afar.

Obi packs up his cave, deciding to leave for a more secure location. He visits Owen, who tells Obi thank you for helping Luke. Obi tells him that he was right for wanting Luke's protection and Obi is going to step back, saying that he understands now that he can't control the past or the future, just what he does in the moment, so that anything Luke does will be his choice and not something he's pushed into. Obi tells Owen Luke is a good kid and that he'll still be there if he's needed, but at a distance.

In a type of montage we see: Obi connecting with Qui Gon who is teaching him, at his new home, which he mind tricked that boss into letting him stay and give people the wage he agreed to give them first. Cody, whose now the personal guard for Bail and Breha and Leia. Reva, now the protector the refugees as they're settling on a planet. Luke, Owen and Beru working on the farm together.

Then finally Obi riding his eopie through the desert and, seeing people being attacked by some raiders, has decided that he's going to help those who need it on tatooine when and where he can, no longer holding back his jedi instincts, but keeping hidden and making himself seem like some type of desert wraith. With a smirk, Obi lifts his hood up over his head and continues forward.

END.

Post credits scene is one of the lower level thugs that worked for the ones Reva hired, having been brought before someone who sits on a throne in the shadows, explaining that the heads of the spice operation were killed by an Inquisitor who was cover their tracks, so he knows very little, but he knows that this was about them drawing a jedi out. The leader stands up from the throne and walks into the light, revealing himself to be Maul and says to tell him who the jedi was.

That's it for this one! PLEASE review and tell me what you think!

I wasn't pleased with this show's development. This isn't a 100% from scratch overhaul, no real recastings and such, it refines some things in the show's structure, takes out some things and replaces them altogether, with specifically some more aggressive changes in the back half. LORD willing, Mandalorian season 3 next! Because of length, this is broken into 2 parts. Next part is up as well. For this, here are the ideas God, if He wills, has blessed me with for this:

PART 1

EPISODE 1:

I felt the previously on was forced. I felt it'd have worked more, to me, if it's used more as a nightmare Obi-Wan is having and the nightmare reaches the part where Anakin is burning alive, intercut with Padme dying and Obi-Wan agreeing to watch over Luke, Bail saying he'll take Leia, Obi-Wan giving Luke to Beru and Owen, then showing Anakin burning alive, more and more, with the music rising and getting more intense, with Obi-Wan saying he loves Anakin, and Anakin screaming that he hates Obi-Wan, SMASH CUT to Obi-Wan waking up from his nightmare, as the words "I have failed you, Anakin" echoing in his head, and then show him going on about his day. Then deal with the other stuff. And Obi-Wan going on about his day is the opener.

The Inquisitors are never on Tatooine, going after that jedi. They're on another planet, and the jedi escapes on a transport. No exposition about Reva wanting Kenobi. Unravel that more slowly.

The Inquisitors raid his abandoned ship, discussing amongst themselves his motives for making such a ruckus now when he's been under the radar for so long. Reva uses the force to reach out, finding a star chart, among other jedi objects. Grand Inquisitor deduces that they must have scared the jedi off before he was able to gather it. Reva finds a holographic transmitter that still holds the message of Obi-Wan (the message shown in Rebels and Jedi Fallen Order), staring at it.

The Fifth Brother announces that Reva has found something, to which the Grand Inquisitor questions what. She, begrudgingly, reveals it, suggesting that he may be looking for him, hence the star chart. Reva says that this is the first sign of Kenobi's potential existence in years. Grand Inquisitor dismisses it, saying that if Kenobi were alive he would've made his presence known years ago. Reva says that perhaps Vader would be interested to know this possibility, unless Grand Inquisitor's afraid at the idea he may have to face Kenobi.

Grand Inquisitor angrily ignites his lightsaber at her throat, stating that her insolence under his command will not be tolerated, before refraining his anger/retracting his lightsaber, and only smugly saying that if she thinks this worthy to bring to Vader, do so, and see what she'll get from him in return for vague theories and baseless assumptions. He then simply turns his back on her and leaves her, as she stews in her anger. The Fifth Brother chuckles at her dismissal.

Owen is in the episode more and talks with a young Luke, who has begun asking questions about his dad, knowing he's adopted. Owen struggles with what he should do here.

Beru has more weight in this, having never known her dad, she feels like it's their responsibility to support his curiosity about his family. Owen decides he feels it's their responsibility to protect Luke, to ensure they he doesn't get caught up in the same delusions of grandeur that he thinks got Anakin killed, especially considering how the jedi were killed.

At the shops on tatooine, Luke's older friend Biggs shows off his new skyhopper to Luke. Luke shows his technical interest in it, but them his attention is pulled off to some of Jabba's thugs taking water from some of citizens. He feels for them and wants to do something, but Owen steps in and tells him not to, that he'd be killed and he wants Luke safe. Luke is upset at this, frustrated, this compounds his anger at Owen not telling him about his dad.

The Owen and Obi-Wan conversation is basically Obi-Wan's main conflict for the first episode. They talk once, Obi asking about Luke, Owen shutting it down as Owen feels he's responsible for Luke, because he's Shmi's grandson, telling Obi that he'll never let Luke join Obi.

Obi is left depressed from Owen outright rejecting training Luke, the idea of his only remaining life goal having been taken from him, unsure how to move forward. He, mind clouded with uncertainty, goes back to his cave, before picking up on the jedi watching him, who reveals himself to Obi.

Obi-Wan lies to the jedi when they find him, about what he's doing there, in case the jedi would get caught, he wouldn't give information about what's going on. When he tells Obi that he was being chased by the empire, but escaped, Obi is abrasive, angry, telling the jedi that he risked lives coming here, that he could've brought the empire to him, asking how he found him. The jedi assures Obi that he slipped through their fingers on a transport and has faked a trail 3 times before coming here, stating that he remembers his training, then explaining how he found him by saying that he used the seeing stone, that his mentor taught him about, remarking that few jedi even knew about it and wasn't even in the jedi archives, so it's remained untouched by the empire on Tython, and he saw him through using that stone.

Obi, closed off, asks him what else he saw, fearful that he may have sensed Luke. He says he was only looking for him, he's all he saw. Obi lets out a sigh of relief, but then states that he can't be here, he has to leave before he's discovered and empire catches word, saying that the Hutt cartel doesn't want the empire in their business so that may either gain him them keeping quiet if he's discovered or they may silence him to prevent him gaining the empire's attention, but other criminals who may want some easy credits will turn him in if he's found out.

The jedi's confused, asking what about the mission. Obi, in conflict, says that there is no mission, not anymore, there's nothing they can do, they lost, the sith took everything. The jedi shows him another recording of his message (this being his teacher's who'd died not long after the empire rose), the words of Kenobi's past self haunting him, and he asks him about that message, what about the hope for the future.

Obi is conflicted, before telling a half truth, that he didn't know what the cost of survival would be when he made that message, he didn't know what he'd have to do to survive, curb every feeling he has, suppress every drive to help those in need, he's had to give up who he is, stating that that message was that of a man who didn't realize that in order to ensure the survival of the jedi, he had to lose everything in him that made him a jedi. Obi then calmly, but sadly, tells him to stay hidden, it's the only way, before leaving the saddened jedi behind.

After all this, he lays, trying to sleep, but unable to. Tormented by what he said to that jedi, depressed at the idea that he thinks the only way to fix his mistakes has been taken from him. He asks Qui-Gon for guidance, questioning how he can go on when he has no way to fix what's happened. But Qui-Gon still hasn't replied back. Then, from that, cut to Leia for the first time.

Leia being adopted isn't known by anyone. Though Leia herself is developed to feel out of place, without really knowing why. She tells her parents about a dream she had of a beautiful, kind, sad woman. Bail and Breha ponder that, before telling her that she's adopted. She's uncertain, wondering what this means for her, if she's still their daughter. Bail tells her that no matter how she feels, she is their daughter, an Organa in every way and that's what matters, that just because her birth parents are apart of who she is, it doesn't mean that they're not too.

Leia goes outside, looking up at the sky, wondering about her place, feeling a sense of happiness seeing it, the wide scope of the galaxy, similar visually to Luke looking at the twin suns in ANH. That's when she's taken aback, when she's someone watching her. Afraid, she steps back, in spite of him telling her it's okay, but she can sense it's not.

Meanwhile one of the alderan guards finds the body of another, alerting the others, and the King and Queen. They immediately fear for Leia. An alarm is set off, Leia hearing and the stranger's attention is taken off her for a second, her using this as a distraction start running the other way, away from the stranger, only to be snatched up by another one behind her.

Obi goes about his routine the next day, and re-enters the town, being stopped in his tracks finds the jedi dead, not by the Inquisitors, but done by the crime run mob of Tatooine, as a warning to anyone, and as a way to keep the empire out of their business.

Obi is left even more defeated by this, the struggle of trying to protect the future and the compromises he makes to do so weighing on him, the guilt of everything messing with his head, feeling responsible for everything. He goes back to his cave, despondent. He drops to the ground once he gets there, feeling lost, utterly defeated, asking for help. And that's when he's contacted by Bail.

Obi-Wan's first rejection of rescuing Leia is developed more in that he knows the empire were hunting that jedi, that they could've found his location, and that doing something could draw attention and get Luke killed/captured, maybe even draw them to Leia and her potential and that because Owen is struggling to pay off the second mortgage on the moisture farm, along with his torment about the guilt and fear that he'll fail her and Luke.

There isn't second interaction in this episode. But instead Bail's second plea with him is in the very same scene, as Bail tells him that Leia's droid Lola has a tracker on it, tracing it to the planet Daiyu before it was deactivated, suggesting that he looks there first. The reason for seeking Obi's help, and no one else, being that they're afraid Leia is showing signs of force sensitivity in memories and he's the only other person who knows about that.

That's how Bail convinces Obi, telling him that anyone else sent could see what she can do and turn her over by the empire as they offer not only bounty's but also privileges for criminals. He and Breha state that they know it's dangerous, but she needs him. Bails says that he knows that he couldn't save Anakin weighs on him, but affirms he can save her. Obi pushes himself to try and accomplish the final goal of keeping Leia safe, thinking that's all he has left, agreeing to do it.

Obi goes to an area next to his cave to dig up the lightsaber. He doesn't flash the lightsaber at the transport, but keeps it hidden.

EPISODE 2:

Padja's basic role is replaced. When Obi is given the spice, he sees the old clone veteran looking for a warm meal. Feeling sympathy, he reaches down to give him some money. The clone recognizes him and calls him by his name, General Kenobi. The clone looks down shame, apologizing to him for what he did.

Obi then realizes that the clone is Commander Cody. Obi kneels down to him and puts his hand on his shoulder, telling him that it's okay. The clone refuses to accept that, the ptsd ridden guilt consuming him. Obi tells him he knows it wasn't his fault, and that he forgives him. The clone blinks back tears of relief, as Obi gives Cody all the money he has, dryly saying to not spend it all in one place. Cody asks him if he's on a mission.

Obi is unsure if he's willing to answer, but puts that aside mostly, asking him if he can offer him any help in seeking out a gang who'd been employed for a kidnapping job more recently. Cody assists Obi in finding some thugs who are connected to a spice selling faction of a mob family and later helps him escape the planet, knowing of a planet that he's heard some go to for safe passage to the outer rim.

The kidnapping of an imperial senator's daughter is never learned about by any of the Inquisitors. The Grand Inquisitor is reprimanding Reva, instead, for her going on an unsanctioned mission, especially after Kenobi, this being how he discovers that he's there.

Reva didn't find a connection between Bail Organa and Obi-Wan in the records. It's left a mystery for now how she figured out their connection.

Leia doesn't start running away from Obi. They're attacked by a swath of bounty hunters and separated.

Leia never learns that his name is Obi-Wan. But only ever hears his name as Ben.

Leia and Obi can still bond, she can begin to trust him (she doesn't fully know how, but she can feel his emotions, his pain, sadness, the fear he has of being caught, how closed off he is because of these things and his desire to protect someone close to him and that he helps her in spite of it), he likes her (maybe her sassyness reminds him of Anakin).

There's no fakeout death for the Grand Inquisitor. She opposes him and he makes a move against her, which she fights back against, before realizing Obi is escaping in an automatic shipping crate.

Reva doesn't know Vader is Anakin.

EPISODE 3:

Obi does try to fix lola for Leia.

Obviously some changes with the little things, like the stormtrooper scenes, but those aren't really plot relevant.

Grand Inquisitor is furious with Reva, ready to punish her, but is halted when she tells him that Reva has personally contacted Vader to inform him of Kenobi's sighting. For not informing Vader immediately, Grand Inquisitor is forced by Vader to concede leadership of the mission in going after Kenobi to Reva.

Leia does wonder why Obi was sent and why he's so committed to protecting her, if he's doing this on his own, asking him if he knew her parents, if he's her dad. Obi tells her that he's not.

Obi is sighted by a probe droid. Obi and Leia meet Tala, she takes them to the tunnel.

Reva, no other Inquisitors, are led by Vader, with a squad of stormtroopers.

Obi-Wan carefully takes out his lightsaber when Vader is hurting people in the street. He looks at it, feeling the weight and pain of when he used it last, considering taking action, but, conflicted about what it would mean if he was caught (that Luke and Leia could be caught as well), he decides to hide, the pain of him hearing others be hurt shown on his face.

Obi opts to attempt a distraction to catch Vader's attention. But it's no use, Vader senses Obi and goes after him.

Obi, hiding, is faced with Vader in the quarry still. Obi carefully ignites the lightsaber, readying it for Vader, but instead slashes at pulley with it to cause a large container of gravel to tip over, the gravel spilling between them, Vader's vision being obscured.

When Vader gets a clear visual, Obi's gone. Vader calls him a coward. Obi continues to try and hide, as Vader's voice echoes throughout the quarry, taunting him, but is caught off guard by Vader's attack. Obi asks what have you become and Vader tells Obi that he is what Obi made him.

Meanwhile, Leia isn't recaptured. Reva places a tracker on the ship that Leia, Tala and Obi-Wan are going to escape on.

The Obi and Vader fight does show how out of practice Obi is, where he's outmatched by Vader, and the fight still ends with Obi being dragged through burning coals, Vader telling him he will make him suffer the same way he has.

Tala fires on a water tank, spraying the water on the coals and the droid knocking the tower down between Vader and Obi. Stormtroopers and Reva rush to Vader's side, Tala and her droid getting Obi out of there as well.

Reva begins to order the stormtroopers to go after them, but Vader stops her, asking if she placed the tracker. Reva says yes. Vader responds that that's good, because Vader doesn't want this hunt to end quickly, then saying to Obi-Wan through the force that to run, because he can hide from him no longer.

EPISODE 4:

The opening is intercut between Obi being taken, burned, injured to the bacta tank and Vader entering his hyperbaric chamber room, disrobing from his suit, and entering into his bacta tank.

Obi begins having flashbacks to events where he feels he failed Anakin.

The first of these flashbacks is a 14 year old Anakin is being given lessons about the control of emotions as a jedi in the midst of battle. This is his first active lesson on real physicality. Anakin is faced with the challenge of succeeding in controlling his emotions during a duel with Obi-Wan.

Anakin is high strung, hard on himself, constantly pushing to perfect every little detail, and when he falls short, he's insecure, angry, feeling dismissed by Obi-Wan, Anakin trying to prove himself, prove he can beat Obi-Wan. Obi is exasperated, not knowing how to handle the situation. He shuts Anakin down, telling him that if he's going to continue to not understand the point of the lesson, to not listen to him, then he should stop. Obi regrets it, and Anakin sulks away, angry at Obi, telling him that he doesn't even care if he becomes a jedi, because he doesn't care about him, stating that he's not Qui-Gon, as he storms away.

Later Obi walks up to Anakin, as he attempts to calm himself. Obi is apologetic, understanding but also direct about Anakin's conflicts, telling him that it's okay to fail, to not always succeed. Anakin tells Obi that Obi doesn't understand what he's feeling. Obi says that he may, because he's felt anger and frustration before, but that as jedi they're responsibility is to accept how they feel, what they feel, and strive to control it, that to control their emotions can help them focus, and that they have to have that focus to help others, beyond themselves.

As they scan Obi's life signs, Leia is afraid for him, feeling his pain. Tala comforts her.

Second flashback is Anakin's trials to become a jedi knight. The clone war has just begun and the jedi council suggest the need for Anakin to be placed at a higher rank for his bravery in the battle of Geonosis. Obi-Wan is asked by the council if Anakin is ready, but Obi is unsure, sensing unbalance with Anakin.

Obi confronts Anakin about his doubts, sensing an unease with him. Anakin admits to him that he went to tatooine to find his mom, discovered that she'd been freed and married someone, then telling him about Owen, then telling him that he found out she'd died. Obi is comforting of this, also feeling responsible because he ignored Anakin's dreams, but also concerned at what this means for him. Obi can sense there's more than Anakin tells him, but doesn't push. Anakin asks him to not tell the council. Obi promises he won't.

At the trial of the council to decide if Anakin's ready, Obi gives his recommendation, in spite of sensing Anakin's conflict.

Third flashback is during The Clone Wars. It's a live action recreation, in part, of the deleted scene from The Clone Wars where Anakin and Obi talk about Ahsoka leaving. Anakin misses Ahsoka, is frustrated, angry, at Ahsoka for leaving, at the council for what happened. Obi attempts to assuage Anakin's feelings, but doesn't know what to say, telling him that he knows Anakin won't fail him.

Fourth flashback is the battle of mustafar at the end of Revenge Of The Sith. Obi strikes at Anakin as he flips over him, cutting his legs and arm off, him rolling down close to the edge of the lava river. Obi tells him that he was his brother and that he loved him.

This flashback however shifts into a shared dreamstate between Vader and Obi, in their respective bacta tanks, where the ground beneath Anakin crumbles and his body slides into the burning lava, him screaming out in agony at being burned alive as Obi watches on in horror.

But Anakin then emerges from the lava, his body morphed into Vader. Vader tells Obi that if he loved him he would've killed him. Obi battles Vader in this state, briefly. Obi takes his arms and legs off again, then his Vader helmet, leaving a helpless, freshly scarred Anakin's face looking up at him, a brief moment of vulnerability showing on his face, asking Obi to please kill him.

Obi, in a moment of dark thoughts, raises the lightsaber and brings the lightsaber down in a swift strike, murdering Anakin in his mind. This moment causes Obi to jerk awake, screaming in horror at what he did, what he, on some level, wants to do, to not only prevent Anakin's pain, but also prevent all that he's done.

Obi climbs out of the tank, still feeling the pain of his burns, healed well enough, but not fully, redressing as he's confronted by the leader of the path, who tells him that as sympathetic as he is to helping them, they're going to have leave soon, as he doesn't want to risk gaining unwanted attention from the empire. Leia comes in and is happy to see Obi okay. He comforts her.

Vader, without his suit, in his hyberbaric chamber room, speaks to Reva about her goals, his face obviously obscured by his healed burns and a breathing mask. This gives Hayden Cristensen more scenes, more to do. She's taken aback by what's been done to him. Vader explains to her what his goals are, how he's in torment just to breathe, just to live and that Kenobi is responsible, and that he's going to punish him for it.

Afterward Obi is shaken, emotionally tormented by what his thoughts are, his mind consumed by the image of him murdering Anakin.

Meanwhile Vader and Reva are in a ship that's traveling through space, tracking the ship, locking in on the coordinates of Obi-Wan's location. Vader knights Reva with the title of Grand Inquisitor, as a reward for her work.

They're informed that they secured the location. Reaching it. Scanning for further life, they say that he's surrounded with other life signs.

Vader then says that that's good, because they can use them to push Obi-Wan, until he can do nothing but break.

EPISODE 5:

This episode opens with a flashback of younglings being trained by a jedi... Until they're shaken by blaster shot noises. The blastdoors open and clone troopers flood the room, opening fire without hesitation. This is the night of Order 66, the jedi purge. The jedi battles them, escaping the room with the younglings. The younglings are confused and terrified. More attack. Some younglings are killed, the jedi protecting the younglings that are left, trying to escape with them.

Fairly similar setup as the actual episode here. Vader wants to coerce Obi-Wan out by attacking the base he's in and threatening the lives of those who are helping him. The point is to make Obi sweat. That is why they don't break down the base's doors immediately. Vader is commanding this from his destroyer, sending Reva down first, to lure Obi into a false sense of security. They have the base surrounded and have the outside power cut.

There's panic, fear, even resentment towards Obi-Wan for what they think is his fault, that the empire has been led to them. Obi doesn't know what to do. He blames himself as well, though not in the way they think. They consider turning him over.

Cody is revealed to be there. He's trimmed his beard and hair. Obi's pleased to see him. Cody thanks him, because he'd forgotten what it meant to help people, be a soldier. Obi says that he was always more than that. Cody says that he took another way out of there and came across the path, them bringing him here.

Cody asks him when he knew that the clones were mind controlled. Obi tells him that it took time, but he eventually put the pieces together once he thought of it. Obi apologizes for the clones that he killed after the purge, saying that if he'd realized they were controlled sooner he'd have found another way, he should've seen it sooner, they all should've. Cody cuts him off, telling him that his brothers would've sooner died than slaughtered the jedi, it was the empire that did the real damage, not Obi. Obi is comforted by this, but also is unsure.

The path only has 2 small ships, and both of those together can only barely contain the children and parents they have, and only one of them has a functioning hyperdrive to escape with. They come up with a plan, as a way to ensure that the children can escape. But they need to open the above hangar doors, so the ship can get out, and since the power has been shut off, they need to reroute the backup power to them, which is only available through a small vent, as this place is an old and damaged building, the original entrance being cut off by a collapsed ceiling, from a battle during the clone wars.

Leia volunteers. Obi is uncertain. Leia tells him that she sees how he never gives up, in spite of the pain she can see he's in, so what right does she to not do something to help those who need it. Obi is proud of her, insisting that she be careful while doing it, and asking Tala to keep her safe.

Cody sees this, asking him who she is. Obi is hesitant to tell him, but eventually confesses that she's Anakin's daughter. Cody is almost proud, saying that that must mean that the rumor about Anakin and Senator Amidala were true. In spite of himself, Obi almost smirks at that, a camaraderie that he's missed. But the smirk does fade at the knowledge of where it led.

Leia, with instructions from Tala, reroutes the backup power.

Obi still goes to try and talk Reva down, realizing that she's hunting Anakin. Cody goes with him, just in case.

Reva tells Obi that the reason she's so aggressive in going after him is because she thinks Anakin is still out there and that Obi can lead her to him, so she can get revenge on him for the family she lost, because she was one of the younglings that was attacked during Order 66, the flashback at the opening of this episode. The jedi who protected her was killed by Anakin and she was shot over the balcony by a clone trooper. She hid among the bodies of other younglings, and was almost found as the clones searched the bodies for survivors, when Obi-Wan and Yoda entered and fought the clones, her escaping as that happened.

That's how she knew that Obi was on coruscant, but only after Bail had arrived, because she'd seen him, as Yoda and Obi-Wan avoided getting recorded to ensure they had the element of surprise and she used public records that show Bail only arrived at the senate hearing around the same time Obi and Yoda were there. Reva reveals that she was captured a year or so later and tortured until she became an Inquisitor.

Obi tells her that Vader is Anakin, that she's been working for the monster she's been hunting, being used by him. He tries to appeal to her jedi instincts, but she rejects that, saying that she only wants revenge now, stating that she now knows how to get it. Cody hears it all.

From his ship, Vader gives the order to destroy the doors as further intimidation, to push them deeper into the base. The stormtroopers set up a canon to destroy the front doors.

Cody asks Obi if it's true. Obi, pained, says that it is, and states that Leia must be protected from him, from the sith, her and her brother. Cody realizes how important this is for Obi, fully, and tells him how sorry he is for him losing his brother like that, like he has. Obi takes solace in his words.

This leads to further panic amongst the people. The doors are blasted open, stormtroopers rushing in. Obi-Wan fights them off with his lightsaber. The stormtroopers push the adults back into the ship docking bay of the building. Tala is shot, her robot taking further shots for her. Obi drags her out to the docking area.

They realize the second blast doors aren't closing. The leader says the wiring must've been frayed by the blaster fire, that's someone's gonna have to go in and have them close manually, but they'll be stuck behind them. Tala's robot takes the sacrifice, getting shot, as it closes the door manually, holding up a grenade the kill the stormtroopers around and itself. Tala's saddened, who Obi comforts, as he looks around at the injured people and feeling the loss of those who were killed.

Vader senses Obi's fear, the fear of those around him, now deciding that it's time for striking, finally taking his shuttle down to the planet, landing in front, and entering the blasted open doors of the base, to find stormtroopers and Reva, whose watching him intently, trying to use the canon on the blast doors, to little avail.

Vader orders them to leave, which they do, even Reva, Vader pulling out his lightsaber, and using it to cut through the sturdier inner blastdoors. It's a slow process, but fast enough for fear to run through the people behind them.

They pile the children, Leia included, along with any wounded, like Tala, onto the functioning hyperdrive ship.

Obi tells Leia that they'll ensure she gets back to her parents. Before she leaves, she asks if Obi at least knew her mother, to which Obi tells her that he did and her dad. She asks if they'll see eachother again. Obi says he doesn't know. Leia thanks him and when Obi tries to give her back lola which he hasn't fixed yet, she tells him to return it to her and she'll know he's okay, then as she's shuffled into the ship giving him a grateful look.

Obi tells Cody to ensure she gets to Bail on Alderran, to take them there so these children and wounded can be taken care of. Cody protests, stating that he can't leave Obi here, he can't leave him to possibly die. Obi insists, telling Cody that he has nothing to make up for by helping him now, that their pilot was just killed in the stormtrooper attack, that these people need him to fly them out, and that there is no one he trusts more with Leia's life than him.

Cody looks at the people, before finding the resolve and agreeing, telling him that it's been an honor serving him, calling him General.

Vader breaks through the doors, in time to see one of the ships take off, him stopping it mid air, beginning to pull it down.

As he does this, Reva takes her opportunity, igniting her lightsaber to kill Vader in revenge. But Vader stops her with the force, holding the ship in place, this taking all his power.

But he's unable to stop the second ship as it takes off, the children in it. They activate the hyperdrive, escaping with the children.

Vader fully pulls down the first ship, tearing off the sides, Obi-Wan being the Pilot of that one, the parents on the ship. Obi exits it and, begrudgingly, takes out his lightsaber.

Vader sees his fear and mocks it, telling Obi that he was wise to let Reva be used as a distraction and these people as a way to hide, lifting him up with the force and pinning him to the wall, as well. Vader tells Obi that he wants him to see this, letting Reva go and, to prove a point to Obi-Wan, duels her, beating her the same way, but better choreographed, before he stabs her, leaving her to die in front of Obi, so that he can witness the consequences of his actions.

Vader has all the parents taken by the stormtroopers, and once they've left, he tells a still pinned Obi that he knows he won't personally let the people die. Vader explains that if Obi wants these prisoners to live, he will come to him, give himself up willingly, for one more duel, and if Obi wins, he will let the prisoners go free.

Obi begs him to stop, to not hurt anyone else, calling him Anakin. Vader, enraged at the use of his name, chokes Obi.

Vader tells him that Anakin died with his wife and child, left for dead, that when Anakin lost everything, he ceased to be, and that was Obi's fault. He states that Obi will pay for that, because Vader will take everything from him, break his spirit, until he has lost all the drive he has.

Vader arrogantly states that he will give Obi time prepare, so that he can stand some chance against him, telling him that he will find him where Anakin Skywalker died.

Vader leaves Obi and a dying Reva.

Obi is angry, shaken. He's willing to confront Anakin now, he has to. In spite of this, he still patches up Reva. Reva doesn't understand why he's helping her. Obi is despondent. After patching her up Obi simply leaves Reva for a moment to himself.

Obi ponders what he thinks he has to do, the vision he had of him killing Anakin, the feelings he has right now, the idea of killing Vader, for everything he's done and everything he could do, haunted by them.

Obi reaches out, asking for help, admitting that he feels he failed Anakin because he let himself become attached to Anakin, that's what he hasn't wanted to admit to himself, the idea that he broke the jedi code, that he failed not just Anakin, but Qui-Gon as well. In this moment, he allows himself to truly connect and hears Qui-Gon speak to him. Obi opens his eyes, finally reuniting with Qui-Gon.

Part 2/finale next! PLEASE review and tell me what you think!

So we all know that the biggest problem with the Sequel Trilogy was the fact that the Disney execs did not PLAN a trilogy. This resulted in 2 different directors overwriting each other's ideas, inconsistent characters and arcs, and a lack of coherency in the overall narrative. Seeing as I am a fan and like to write and rewrite ideas, I wanted to try my hand and fixing just the general story of the trilogy.

First off, many characters and ideas will remain the same such as Rey being the main character and the First Order being the main antagonists. For some characters who were wasted in the real movies, I either changed their significance, cut down on their importance, or cut them out entirely. I also include ideas and characters from other material and rewrites while making the general ideas my own. So, without further adieu, I present:

Star Wars: The Sequel Trilogy rewrite

Episode VII: Rediscovery of the Force

The First Order are terrorists seeking to demolish the New Jedi Order, Kylo Ren leading the Knights of Ren on a Jedi Temple in Cloud City to do so in hopes to find a "powerful female Jedi". Elsewhere, Rey, a former Jedi student, hides out as a scavenger on Jakku wanting nothing to do with the Jedi lifestyle because of the pain it brought her. While Leia as the New Republic's ruling hierarchy on Coruscant enlists Han and Chewbacca to deal with the threat of the First Order, Rey meets Finn and Poe whom the First Order are pursuing and learns to open up and make friends with them. As an ace pilot of the New Republic fleet, Poe helps them link up with Han along the way in an effort to try an be a leader. When Rey discovers Luke's lightsaber as a memento Han keeps after Luke's supposed death, she relives her trauma of accidentally "killing" her best friend, Ben, from her Jedi Academy days due to her out of control Force powers. Soon she is captured by Kylo Ren who tests her Force powers and remembers her, revealing himself as Ben Solo or her friend she thought she killed. Realizing he's still alive, she and Han try to bring him back to the Light, but Han is killed in his efforts to do so, leaving Rey to fight him and try to rekindle his old feelings for her. When Ben in his growing Force powers nearly bests Rey, she regretfully must escape his grasp as the New Republic bombs the First Order base. Kylo then reports to Supreme Leader Snoke that she's the one, Snoke having deciphered that there are still other Jedi like her out there. Hoping to regain her Force abilities, Rey then chooses to reach out through the Force to find Luke Skywalker communicating with her to come find him and the others.

Episode VIII: Dark Side Rising

While grieving Han's death, Leia enlists Rey to find Luke and discover what the First Order are planning. She and Chewie eventually arrive on Ach-To where, instead of Luke being pessimistic hermit, he is hiding out with the remains of the New Jedi Order, which includes a returning Ahsoka. As Luke attempts to get into contact with his old masters' Force ghosts for guidance on what to do, Kylo Ren continues his training alongside the Knights of Ren, Snoke tasking them with fuel sources for their newest weapon, Starkiller Base, all while Kylo is the one to tap into the Force Dyad power to contact Rey. While Rey recieves shocking Force calls from Kylo, she receives training from Ahsoka who teaches her the dark history of the Empire and all that was withheld from her former Jedi training. With Luke realizing the error of withholding that info from Ben/Kylo, he manages to communicate with Force ghost Obi-Wan and Yoda (but not Anakin) to learn of the First Order's intent to wipe out star systems to siphon Dark Force energy from. Doing so, he reaches out to Leia for the first time in forever, apologizing for what happened to her and Han's son while encouraging her to issue and evacuation of the Coruscant system.

Kylo and the Knights, meanwhile, complete their mission to fuel and activate Starkiller Base, Finn and Poe assisting in Coruscant's evacuation with the latter taking part in the First Order's pre-emptive assault. Fortunately, Leia, Finn, and the rest of the main cast manage to escape Coruscant in time before its star system is destroyed, Snoke proud at Kylo and the Knights' accomplishment. However, upon Kylo learning that he won't get his share of Force energy for the power he needs, he realizes Snoke betrayed him and goes to meditate with his burnt Darth Vader helmet. In the process, Kylo receives its "wisdom" to use Rey to fulfill his new plan and she accepts, Ahoska warning her that her training is incomplete. Trusting she can take care of herself, Rey joins Kylo to take on the Knights and Snoke and they kill some of the Knights, but are no match for a powered up Snoke as the latter blinds Rey by striking her across the eyes with Luke's lightsaber. Rey then nearly surrenders to the First Order when a heroic Luke shows up to extract her and Ben, taking on Snoke himself. With Snoke's power overwhelming him, Luke goes out in a blaze of glory, leaving the injured Rey and company heartbroken. With the New Republic gone and Snoke now unstoppable, our heroes ponder what to do next. Meanwhile, the empowered Snoke makes his way to Exegol to channel the late Emperor's spirit.

Episode IX: The Final Order

With what's left of the New Republic army, resistance is scattered across the galaxy as Leia struggles to rebuild and Rey struggles to adapt to the Force with her blindness. Since Kylo was betrayed, however, he was forced to turn himself into the New Republic for questioning, hoping to maintain his dignity while they hope he'll change sides. Meanwhile, Snoke is attempting to channel the Dark Side deeply enough to resurrect Palpatine's essence, but finds that his energy, despite being a creature that awakened after the Emperor's death, isn't sufficient enough. Surely enough, the Emperor's ghost requests him to absorb the Dyad that Kylo and Rey have created. Although she cannot see, Rey can still hear Kylo when they Force call all the while Leia and Ahsoka attempt to use their Force knowledge to help Rey adapt. They eventually send her with help from Finn and Poe out on a mission sabotage what remains of Starkiller Base after a portion of it was destroyed in the last movie's final battle. With the remaining Knights of Ren guarding the place, Rey and Ahsoka take them on as Finn, Poe, and Chewie attempt to destroy the planet completely. When Finn's end is compromised, Chewie then sacrifices himself as the rest of the cast escape. Blaming herself for so many dying, Rey wonders whether she can truly manifest her old Force capacity, Leia and Ahsoka encouraging her to use what she has to her advantage.

Realizing she still has her connection to Ben, Rey confronts him in prison and manages to convince him to use his energy to assist her in one final battle against Snoke on Exegol. With Ben realizing the error of his ways, he transfers his energy through the Dyad to allow her to see more with the Force as they plus the fleet Leia has rallied -- with help from Lando -- assault Exegol where Snoke and the Final Order await. As Poe and the remaining Republic fleet pre-emptively strike at the Star Destroyers, Rey, Ben, and Ahsoka divide and conquer against Snoke and things go well before Snoke absorbs Rey and Ben's Dyad to become a complete being of the Emperor's Force energy tied with the core of the planet. With Ben and Ahsoka compromised, Rey seeks the Jedi of the past to be with her and their Force ghosts actually materialize to help her destroy Snoke's transparent body. However, the Emperor's spirit escapes to kamikaze himself with everyone on the planet. Hoping to pay for the error of his ways, Ben steps in to be the sacrifice that ends the Dark Side once and for all before Leia, in her motherly love, steps in to take his place, encouraging Ben to find a better ending. As the space battle ends, Leia gives up her spirit to contain Exegol's explosion, allowing everyone to escape. The trilogy ends with Rey and Ben reconstructing the New Jedi Order and continuing the Skywalker bloodline.

TL;DR The trilogy is more consistent.

Everyone agrees Disney can't manage Star Wars, but it sucks how much the criticisms of Disney Star Wars are dominated by the anti-woke crowd because it means people aren't focusing on actual issues. Instead, all they are talking about are "it's woke", "political", or nebulous "they hate the fans!" or other nonsensical right-wing culture war talking points. They seem to think if all the cast and Disney executives were white men, it would fix the franchise or something.

I feel like the current stagnation comes from the Disney monopoly, in a way they autocratically have a firm grasp of too many franchises to run. Like how Samsung has a grasp of 22% GDP of South Korea, Disney basically does the same thing in the media franchises. Simply put, they absorbed too much and are running too many things.

I talked about this before in a separate post, which is still relevant with the release of The Acolyte (which is basically Star Wars Wuxia I called for), but at this point, I see the only real way to fix this franchise is just to make it decentralized or open domain, similar to how Games Workshop realized that it is better to hand out the IP to literally dozens of developers because it has a better chance to pull a video game player into the hobby.

The idea of creative control of unique projects not tied down to one group is not new to Star Wars. Star Wars has a record of this when the old LucasArts was fast and loose with the IP and licensed out the Star Wars games to various game studios. Then, BioWare made a Star Wars KOTOR, largely free out of Lucas' control. Raven Software made the Jedi Knights games. Totally Games made the space battle games. Factor 5 did Rogue Squadron, Pandemic did Battlefront, The Collective did Revenge of the Sith, Traveller's Tales did Lego Star Wars...

This was the golden age of the Star Wars video games because there were great game after great game in varied genres, with varied creative styles, which drew normies into Star Wars (Many RPG players drew into the Star Wars EU because of KOTOR). Even today, this licensing system is somewhat maintained under the Lucasfilms Games system with EA making the Star Wars Jedi series and Ubisoft making Star Wars Outlaws.

Even outside the video games, some of the best Star Wars stories came from this more decentralized licensing system not micromanaged by George Lucas or Disney, like comic books and novels. Cartoon Network's Clone Wars still remains the best thing to come out of the Star Wars animations. Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars: Republic run was basically a better version of George Lucas and Dave Filoni's The Clone Wars.

This would be more difficult with filmmaking and television, but wouldn't it be a stretch if Lucasfilms just let various networks and studios take a stab at Star Wars, with the different creatives and executives, instead of doing all these things alone? Evidently, Star Wars: Visions is exactly that, and it is the best thing to come out of Disney Star Wars. Each episode was produced by various other animation studios free of the shackles of the Disney overlords. These works had pure unfiltered creativity and expression. They delve into the new territories. They tackle different genres. They are created with a certain "vision" and culture.

I would like to see HBO doing a Game of Thrones-style Star Wars drama. Or Netflix doing a Daredevil-style Star Wars show (Netflix MCU shows are still the best thing to come out of MCU for a reason). I'd like to see Ghibli Star Wars. I'd like to see the Koreans' melodramatic take on Star Wars. Or the Chinese studio doing an actual 100% Wuxia Star Wars. Or an actual Star Wars anime series. Maybe George Miller producing a Warner Bros. Star Wars film. This way, Star Wars actually becomes "diversified", creatively, and made by and appeals to different demographics rather than just the "Star Wars fans", and this limited pool of Star Wars fans will die out in this current situation.

Obviously, all these are a wet dream fantasy out of any individual's grasp. If this change of direction were to happen, it would be as shocking as the Disney acquisition in 2012. But I think this was why Star Wars shined and maintained the energy in spite of the Prequels. After the OT, some of the best Star Wars contents were made by people way more competent than George Lucas in order to make any sense of George Lucas' stuff. Because with this process Star Wars has become way bigger than any individual or group. Star Wars has become America's mythology, and like other mythologies, real-life legends and mythologies get reinterpreted, retold, and expanded all the time by various storytellers to endure the wheel of time.

This is Part 2 of 2 for this pitch of season 1 of The Book Of Boba Fett. If you haven't read Part 1, here it is:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fixingmovies/comments/1e2y7af/fixing_the_book_of_boba_fett_by_making_it_about/

Here are the ideas that God, if He wills, blessed me with for this:

PART 2

EPISODE 7:

Open where we ended the previous episode, Boba and Cad's sides stuck at a stalemate. Cad holding some of the Gamorreans on their knees at gunpoint. He threatens to execute them one at a time if Boba doesn't surrender himself.

Drash is distraught at this, trying to push Boba to do something. Boba tells her that they can't turn themselves over and they have them outnumbered, if they exited the building and surrendered there'd be almost nothing left to stop them from killing them all.

Cad asks the gamorrean if he's going to beg and it growls that he'd rather die than beg, and Cad shoots him, causing Drash to become emotional try and nearly go out herself, but Boba stops her, telling her that she has to follow his orders here. She asks why she should trust him. Boba tells her that they all still want the same thing. She states that these people mean nothing to him, it's only about revenge. Boba tells her that that's what's necessary to get the job done and that if they give up now, the syndicate wins and if that happens they'll continue and that she won't get revenge on them, as he knows she wants that too, that to achieve what needs to be done they have to be ruthless.

Mando contacts Boba for an order, before he and Fennic share a look of guilt at the situation, Fennic signaling Mando that she's going to contact Boba, asking him over her communicator about this. Boba tells her that he'll kill them all anyway and everyone else, they're witnesses and threats, the Hutts would want them gone and Cad would do it. Fennic asks if he's sure, and Boba responds that he knows him.

Cad hands off his blaster to an assassin, who murders another gamorrean (Cad's contacting the Hutts, telling them they have Boba cornered and to send them in), Drash's disgust and conflict builds and she leaves the front of the building to go into the center area where the Mayor is being held. She channels her frustration into interrogating the Mayor, demanding the location of the Hutts from him and the spice shipping port. He asserts he knows nothing.

Drash tells him that she knows what he did, that he handed the people over to Jabba to be slaves and, pointing her flamethrower gauntlet at him, tells him that she'll hold him responsible for her mom's death if he doesn't tell. He says they'll kill him and she, in her anger, asks him if he thinks she won't, as she blasts flames onto his hand, the mayor yelling out in agony.

Boba hears the yelling, and goes to check on it, to see Drash switching to burning the Mayor's other arm. He sternly asks her what she's doing. She says what they came here for.

The Mayor confesses they're on a barge outside the city, as they don't want to look weak to the other leaders due to the current dissension among them so they're close by, but not too close, to maintain the facade of them having a hands on approach, and the location of the spice shipping port.

Boba is uncertain about this when he's called up front by Cad, whose now drug out the 2 gamorreans who were his guards, telling him that he knows these 2 worked for him personally, and to come out or they'll see what loyalty to him gets them.

Boba stands by the entrance in conflict as Cad counts down from 3. Just before 0, Boba takes off the gaffi stick he's wearing, exits the building, now wearing his helmet, yelling out to Cad to stop, with his rifle pointed at him. Boba states that if he's killed the entire place goes up, and his men won't risk that, they only care about themselves. Cad, with a chuckle says, "if that isn't the quacta calling the stifling slimy.", telling him that he's walking out here like he's some type of hero, knowing that he's in no danger and then tells Boba that if he opens fire, the sniper on his friends will take them out, telling him that having so many weaknesses has put him in a vulnerable position, and some things never change, even though he taught Boba to be smarter than that.

Boba tells Cad that only really taught him how to wind up dead and alone for an empty payday just like his dad. Cad, with a smirk, tells him that that's only true for those who aren't skilled enough at the job, then saying that they can see here and now whose more skilled at it. Boba tells him that he's not a child anymore, Cad can't manipulate him. Cad says that they'll see about that, as he repositions his blaster at the head of the gamorrean guard.

Meanwhile Mando is contacted on his comms by someone and he relays this to Fennic and Boba.

In that moment, Cobb Vanth's townspeople ride in on speeders and begin to open fire on the assassins.

Cad swiftly takes his gun away from the gamorrean and to the townspeople for his defense, as Mando and Fennic take cover from the distracted snipers in the flurry, finding better vantage points for fire.

Cad takes cover, but tries to get off a shot at the gamorrean as it rushes to Boba's side, Boba firing his rifle at him to stop it, Cad avoiding the rifle fire with his cover though it does prevent him from getting his shot off. Drash and her people are back up top, engaging with the gunfire.

Boba orders Fennic and Mando to get out of here and get to the spice shipping port, giving her the location, and torch it, that should take out their entire unshipped supply. They take the order and take off on speeder bikes to the location.

Cad's forces having been pushed back into cover, no longer in a position of threat leads to Cad communicating with the outside of the town and tells them to activate them.

Boba, Drash, her crew, the gamorreans and Krrsantan, with the townspeople are outside the Mayor's building at the front, taking in the moment of reprieve.

Some of the assassins are dead, but the one that murdered one of the gamorreans is still alive, wounded. Drash walks up to him and picks up his blaster that he's trying to reach for, coldly shooting him dead.

Boba sees this and has a moment of concern, contacting Fennic and Mando to ask if they're at the shipping port yet.

But that's cut short, when they hear clanging noises heading towards them, then seeing the entering large droidekas.

Everyone immediately fires upon them, but the shield deflects it all and the droidekas open fire on everyone, them all going for cover. They destroy some of the surrounding buildings as well, civilians in them having to take cover themselves.

Mando hears the blasting and he and Fennic stop their speeders and ask what's going on. Boba tells them they sent in droidekas, insisting they get to the spice. Mando, refusing to run away from a town being destroyed by droids, tells Fennic he's going back, telling her to get to the shipping port, because if she destroys that, the Hutts operation is crippled. Fennic agrees.

Cad and his assassins step out, giving more exact shots at them while they're trying to maintain their cover, Cad contacting Boba through one of his communication channels and telling him the Hutts spared no expense to solve this problem.

Boba tells his people they have to fall back, they weren't prepared for this, they can get his ship and go after the Hutts, make them stop these things. One of Drash's crew says that they can't, the civilians could be slaughtered if they leave, telling him they're drawing most of the fire.

Boba tells them it's an order and uses the rocket on his jetpack as a distraction to give them all cover for some escape. But the townspeople refuse, as does some of Drash's crew.

Boba uses his jetpack to get to the palace, seeing it wrecked (though the hangar for his ship is still standing), then seeing a lot of gamorreans alive, but injured and unable to move, then seeing one of the gamorreans bleeding out under some debris. Boba pulls the debris off and has a moment of sympathy for the gamorrean, telling him he's sorry, and then the creature dies.

One of Drash's crew contacts Boba if Drash is with him, as she's gone. He says no. They say that she wouldn't just abandon the people. Boba has a moment of reflection, saying that he would, then realizing that she went after the Hutts. Boba goes to his ship to activate it, but he sees it's been rigged to explode by Cad Bane if he starts it. Furious, he leaves the ship, unsure what to do, then seeing the trap door under the palace, getting an idea.

Cut to Fennic reaching the shipping port, seeing a limited amount of guards there.

Meanwhile the people are overwhelmed by the droidekas, unable to get any shots off at Cad or his men, the blaster fire from the droids chipping away at their cover as it slowly moves toward them. Krrsantan is furious that they're being forced to hide.

Mando flies in on his jetpack, blasting at the droidekas, them redirecting their fire at him. He avoids the droidekas blasts at him at first, but has a near miss that knocks him to the ground. His jetpack damaged, he quickly takes it off, and takes cover with the droidekas attention now fully on him. They start firing at his cover, tearing at it, hitting him in a part of his arm that doesn't have armor on it, as he moves to avoid the blasts.

When suddenly, from behind the buildings, the rancor rises up with Boba riding it.

The rancor tackles one of the droidekas, taking them off of Mando. The blasts of the droidekas only make the rancor angry, it's hide too thick.

Mando takes the opportunity to start shooting fire and blaster bolts at the other droideka, it redirecting at him, which he avoids with cover, Mando contacting Boba on comms, telling him that the shields are too strong.

Boba questions how they're going to get them down. Mando tells him that he knows these things, their shields are meant to keep everything but their own droid construction out, he and Boba working out a plan.

Mando keeps his droideka on him distracted, while Boba pushes the other droideka with the rancor towards that one.

Cad Bane and his men start firing upon Boba and Mando, seeing that they're successfully distracting the droideka. Krrsantan sees a trandoshan distracted by firing upon them and he stalks up to him, retracting his claws to tear at the trandoshan from behind, but he's hit by stray blaster fire, which alerts the trandoshan who quickly turns and shoots him again as well.

The droidekas are pushed together, going through eachothers shields, as Boba fires at Mando's and Mando fires at Boba's, both from behind the droidekas. The droidekas turn their blasters towards eachother and blast at eachother as they're tangled in eachother's shields, Mando's destroying Boba's, this distraction and their shields being damaged by being tangled together allows Mando get past the shield and in a moment of steadiness with the darksaber he turns it on and slashes at it's legs and then slices through it entirely, destroying it.

Boba asks Mando if all the civilians and his people are out of the way and Mando confirms it. Boba then sets off the bombs he had placed, which blows up, destroying the Mayor's building, some surrounding area and taking out a lot of Cad's men. Boba gets off of the rancor, settling it for a moment, before seeing that some of his people are cornered by one of Cad's men-

The trandoshan points his gun at Krrsantan's head, as he lays on the ground badly wounded, the trandoshan about to finish him off, and for a moment a look of sadness crosses over Krrsantan's face. Boba shoots the trandoshan, killing him, and one of Drash's gang quickly rushes to Krrsantan's side, Boba getting there as well, trying to tend to his wound, but he's angry, willing to die, hating himself, saying he deserves it.

When Boba asks him why, Krrsantan tells his greatest shame, that he used his claws to harm one of his own for the sake of luring trandoshans to him so he could kill them for sport. It was the greatest crime a wookie can commit. It was punishable by eternal exile from his people and his world and all it's beauty and connection, and Krrsantan has been living in shame with a hole in his life at the loss of his home and people ever since, and he has displaced blame on the trandoshans about it, but he's now admitting to himself that he betrayed his people and what they stood for and he deserves to die for it.

Boba tells him he understands, but states that they're all monsters, they've all done terrible things, but they're also warriors and they can't change what they've done, asking Krrsantan if he's going to die knowing he's given up or if he's willing to fight to try and fix things. This motivates the wookiee and he allows the humans to help him.

Most of Boba's people are helping to get some civilians even further away, when Cad calls Boba out, telling him he has no one to hide behind anymore, that "it's just me and you now".

Boba first tells Mando and the other guy to get Krrsantan out of here, then readies his rifle and steps out to face Cad, saying that that goes for both of them, pointing out that his people have either died or ran off, telling Cad that that's what having no loyalty will get you.

Cad dismisses his claim, firing back with how he used these people for his own ends, just like Cad taught him, so he has no leg to stand on in his attempt at a moral high ground. Boba admits that Cad's lessons, what he learned in his life before that, are a hard thing to shake loose, and maybe he can never escape them, but he can try.

Cad asks him if that's why he came back to help these people, to try and prove to himself he was something he's not. Boba tells Cad that he doesn't know him anymore and maybe he never did, but he's learned that he's not gonna be caught in this trap of life that Cad convinced him as a child he had to be anymore.

Cad mocks his claim of being a changed man, stating that once you start this life, there's no changing, that Boba oughta know that, his dad never escaped it. Boba states that he's not his dad and he's not Cad Bane, he chooses who he is and he's seen what the consequences of his actions are, so he has a lot to make up for, so under his watch no more innocent people are gonna die, or be locked up, or live in fear. Cad tells Boba to prove it, to finish it right here and now.

Meanwhile Mando, as he helps get Krrsantan into a landspeeder, sees Peli Motto's shop closed up. He quickly makes his way over to it, opening it to nearly be shot by her. She at first says sorry, she thought he was a looter, asking if he came for his ship. Mando tells her that he wanted to make sure she was ok, then realizing what she said, asking if she's finished his ship already. She affirms she did.

Cutting back to the action, Boba understands what Cad wants and that's that they have a good old fashioned gunfight, Boba dropping the rifle, taking off his jetpack and readying his hand over his blaster in it's holster.

They stand on opposing sides of eachother. Close up shots of their eyes intercut, prepping the shot, their hands hovering over their blasters.

Cad gets off the first shot at Boba's throat, which Boba blocks with his gauntlet. Boba takes his shot at Cad's chest, which he dodges, quick to react, taking aim and firing at Boba at the same time. Boba is hit in the side, him quickly taking cover behind a wall of the Mayor's now near demolished building, holding the bloody wound in his side.

Cad tells him that he's still not faster than him as he strides up to the where Boba is.

Boba makes for an attempt at a quick shot around the corner of the wall at Cad, but he's too fast, firing at the wall before Boba can.

Boba looks around, searching for a way out but the entire area is blocked off by walls and building debris, then his eyes falling on the gaffi stick.

Cad Bane is confident in his victory as he sees Boba's blood on the ground in the road, then telling him that if he comes out and takes his death like a man, maybe Cad will spare him the indignity of the slow death Boba left him to.

Boba takes a moment, using his gauntlet to sync with his jetpack remotely, as Cad Bane approaches the wall. When Cad Bane gets close enough, Boba activates the jetpack with a short burst, catching Cad's attention as it's remotely fired towards his direction.

Taking his opportunity at the distraction, Boba lunges at Cad with the butt of the gaffi stick, hitting him in the face 2 times, throwing him off balance, then knocking his pistol out of his hand. Boba throws another hit with the stick into Cad's stomach, knocking the wind out him. He then uses the hook of the stick and cracks Cad's kneecap with it, breaking his leg, him collapsing backwards. And before Cad, blood his mouth from being hit in the face can even reach for his dropped pistol, Boba brings the spear of the gaffi stick down onto his arm, piercing it to the ground, severing his hand muscles, then swiftly stabbing the other arm.

Cad almost chuckles, telling Boba that using the jetpack as a distraction was a good one, he didn't see that coming. Boba says that he's learned from old mistakes. Cad asks him if he's going to end it this time or walk away like a coward again.

Boba brings the spear of his gaffi stick to Cad's throat, telling that he's going to do neither, he's going to show him the mercy he knows Cad hates, drawing Cad's attention to the republic patrol that's entering the city and is landing. Cad, realizing that Boba called them, tells Boba that he'll come back for him. Boba is stoic, as he says that he knows he has nothing to fear from Cad anymore, then stepping back as the republic patrol troopers come to take Cad Bane away, his bitterness festering.

Boba rushes to Mando, and tells him that they have to get to the Hutt barge outside the city, because Drash is going after them, then asking Mando if he has a ship. Mando affirms that he just so happens to.

At the spice shipping port, Fennic snipes the guards one by one in the knees. Then walking into the port, she shoots to kill the guards who won't stay down, telling the rest to get out of here it they know what's best for them. She checks the shipping crates to ensure it's the spice.

Meanwhile Drash pulls up on her speeder bike to the Hutts barge, which is settled on the sand. She uses a thermal detonator to blow open their entrance, killing their guards entering, pointing her pistol and gauntlet at the Hutts.

The Hutts other guards come at Drash from the side, but both are shot by Boba who enters the barge from behind her.

Boba tells her that the droidekas and assassins are stopped, she doesn't need to do this, the republic troopers are arresting the assassins, the Hutts can face justice, it's what she wanted. She says it won't change anything that they've done, they have to pay for what they did, to her mom, to everyone, asking him what does it matter to him if they face justice anyway.

Boba, with a moment of hesitation, steps up past Drash, in front of her pistol, between her and the Hutts, telling that if all she really wants is revenge now, to take it. She's confused.

Boba admits to her that he's the one who was put in charge of the mining while he worked for Jabba and ran point on the gathering of people as slaves for the spice mines under Jabba's orders, telling Drash that these Hutts she wants to murder weren't apart of that decision and he's more responsible than they are, stating that if anyone is responsible for her mother's death it's him.

Drash asks why he's telling her this. Boba takes off his helmet and says that it's because he was in the same place she's at, and he's realizes he's become the monster that he wanted to think the jedi who killed his dad was because he tried to prove to himself that he didn't need or care about anyone, and he thinks that no matter whether she kills the monster responsible for her mother's death or not he's afraid she'll end up the same way, and he wants to break that cycle, give her the chance he never took, to make peace with this.

Drash, in anger, points the pistol at Boba's head. Boba tells her that he's sorry for what he did to her mother.

Drash struggles with murdering him, dropping her arm, saying that she doesn't want to become him.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Hutts reach for weapons in hidden compartments and point them at Boba and Drash to kill them. But both Boba and Drash quickly redirect their blasters at them in self defense, firing, killing the Hutt twins.

Leaving the barge, Drash, the weight of everything hitting her, feels remorseful that she abandoned her friends and the people. Boba tells her that she has things to make up for and he knows what that's like. Drash gives Boba his gauntlet back, telling him that she's not going to forgive him. He tells her he understands that. She silently gets back on her speeder and heads off into town.

Boba takes a moment, closing his eyes and breathing as he holds his helmet under his arm, lifting up his head, letting the sun hit his face, paralleling when he crawled out of the sarlacc at the beginning of the season. Taking his helmet in both hands, he looks down at, paralleling what he did as a child.

Meanwhile at spice shipping port, Fennic sets charges on all the shipping crates. Stepping away from the blast radius, she blows them, watching the spice burn, feeling catharsis at it.

Afterward Fennic returns to the town, being met by Boba, as Cobb Vanth's people, the patched up gamorreans, patched up Krrsantan and Drash and some of her gang are helping the civilians of the town.

Fennic tells Boba she heard about Drash, asking if she's okay. Boba tells her that he doesn't think so, but maybe some day she will.

Fennic then asks him if he's okay. Boba replies that he's not either, but he thinks he's found a way to work with that.

Mando, having been patched up himself, walks up to Boba and tells him he's gonna be going, he's got somewhere to be. Boba asks him where that is.

Mando admits that he's been afraid of going to see Grogu because he's afraid he won't be able to leave him again, but he realized when he so close to death by that droideka that he's more afraid of what could happen if something had happened and he never showed him that he cared, so he's going to go visit him. Boba, feeling a personal connection to Mando and Grogu's situation, wishes Mando a safe journey, shaking his hand.

One of the leaders of Cobb Vanth's town walks up to Boba and as a thank you for stopping the Hutts, gives him Cobb Vanth's sheriff's badge.

Mando leaves the planet, flying off in his new ship, a remodeled Naboo N-1 starfighter.

Boba is uncertain about this, but Fennic wonders if he wants to make the badge official, saying that these people may need some help, with the Hutt's crime syndicate leaders still out there and this planet's spice mines still ripe for the picking. Krrsantan offers his assistance, as he sees it as he owes Boba a life debt now and wants to honor that. The gamorrean guards aligning themselves in loyalty to Boba. Boba decides to take on that responsibility, welding the badge onto his armor.

And we end the show there.

Post credit scene is cutting to a brief glimpse of Grogu with Luke, training.

And that's it. Last episode was so long, but there was a lot to resolve. Please review and tell me what you think!

Hello. Like some, I thought this show was poorly done and wanted it changed. Some of these will be more extensive than others, and it's using the overall premise of the show that was presented. LORD willing, a The Mandalorian season 3 fix will follow this at some point (as his focus in this is minimalized by a lot and his plot with baby yoda is left to be resolved in his own show), with Kenobi, maybe even Ahsoka. Here are the ideas that God, if He wills, blessed me with for this:

PART 1

EPISODE 1:

Opening in the flashback, Boba is trapped in stomach of the sarlacc pit after nearly being killed in a stupid mistake fighting against Luke and Han in ROTJ. Boba was unable to escape, his body being burned by the digestive fluids of the sarlacc's stomach, it's tentacles wrapped around him, clutching his body to its inside of its stomach.

Trying to pull out of it's grasp only makes the tentacles grip tighter, spikes emerging from the tip that attach to his body, piercing his side, hurting him. Boba extends out the wrist blades in his gauntlets and slices away at the tentacles, trying to pull out through above but unable to (there being nothing to really grab for and his jet pack damaged), as another tentacle reaches for him. Boba slices through the inside of the sarlacc's stomach and punches into it, setting off his gauntlet's flamethrower, burning the sarlacc from the inside out.

Boba crawls out of the side of the sarlacc, bleeding from his pierced side, bursting out of the sand, crawling out, before the blood loss leads him to fall unconscious. His armor is taken by the jawas and he's found and taken by the sandpeople, who do patch up his injuries.

These sandpeople are a different tribe than some of those who attack and try to kill and torture outsiders for their existence. They've taken Boba because when working for Jabba he'd been ordered to murder a tusken who'd been trespassing on his Jabba's property, this tusken digging for melons, not knowing the boundaries of the property. Boba carried the order out.

The tuskens don't seek to murder Boba back, but are going to force him to labor for them as a repayment of the life he took from their tribe. They allow the child and wife of the tusken he murdered to beat upon Boba and force him to look upon the garments of their dead family member. Boba feels guilt for this, remembering the loss of his dad, but refuses to admit it to himself and the tuskens.

Boba tries to escape, using another laborer (someone who'd raided their camp and stole from them, using up their water reserves) as a distraction for their watchdog, throwing the other laborer into the watchdog, but is caught and beaten by the tuskens, them viewing him as distasteful for not being willing to accept responsibility for his actions, after he claims he was just doing his job and that he's not responsible for it.

They force him and the other guy (whose alive but bitter and sore) to labor and dig for melons (being kind of an equivalent to cactus, in a way), under the watch of the tusken son and wife of the member Boba murdered. A creature emerges from the sand and attacks them. The creature brutally kills the other guy and hurts Boba, then attacking the tuskens, the tusken mother shielding her child, then being hit and knocked out, it then going for the child... until Boba takes advantage of the creature being distracted and attacks it from behind, using his chains to choke the creature to death.

Boba then uses the unconscious tusken mother's keys to unlock himself and leaves, the child crying over his unconscious mother, trying to get her to wake up. Boba, hearing the crying of the child, stops and looks back at them, seeing himself as a child crying over his dad's dead body and holding his dad's helmet up to his head. Conflicted over this, begrudgingly he goes back and carries the hurt tusken mother to the tribe, with the child following him.

The child explains what happened, and the tuskens celebrate Boba's actions and helping them and set him free, insisting that, in their minds, by rescuing the child and mom, Boba has repaid his debt to them. Boba seeks the tuskens help finding what happened to his armor, suspecting the jawas, but with so many different jawa sects maneuvering throughout all of tatooine, it could take years to find out which ones took the armor. They allow him to live with them, if he continues to help them.

The basic present day events of episodes 1 and 2 are now in this episode.

Boba examines the holdings within the building, the fortune, the servants, and the Gamorrean Guards, there being only 2 left.

It's explained that the multitude of the other Gamorreans refused to work under Bib Fortuna as they had no loyalty to him and had served Jabba for so long, rejecting the control of the other Hutts as well, a few having been killed by the Hutts for refusing, scattering across tattoine and taking working jobs as grunts for hard labor. The 2 who stayed did so out fear of being killed like the few others.

Boba showcases mercy to them, releasing their binds and allowing them to leave. As a showcase of gratitude, they pledge their loyalty to him.

Boba goes into Mos Espa to proclaim his control of the Hutts territory. The Mayor of Mos Espa refuses to take Boba seriously and dismisses him, refusing the control of anyone not the Hutts, as Bib Fortuna was given control by the Hutts. In retaliation, to show his control, when the Mayor's guards raise their weapons at him, Boba kills them and then forces the Mayor to beg for his life in the town square, to showcase his strength.

This riles up the Hutt twins, who come to Boba and threaten him.

EPISODE 2:

Boba investigates the Hutt's routing of their spice movement. Because of the recent emergence of the New Republic, the Hutts' men can no longer send it directly from the spice mine to a ship. They have to ship it across the planet, before sending it off world, to avoid New Republic patrols.

Boba seeks to sabotage the spice movement to further squeeze the Hutt Cartel. In doing this, he discovers a group of bikers (not multicolored bikes, more like grungy speeder bikes) that are stealing from the sole water supplier of the Hutt Cartel's goons, causing some contention among them.

Boba tracks down and makes a deal with their leader, a girl in her early 20's named Drash, for their assistance, in his goals, after discovering her motive being revenge, as the crime syndicate has been using forced underpaid labor to mine for spice (spice being a drug) on tatooine, Drash's mom being one of the forced laborers, who'd been discarded when she become too weak and is currently dying from exposure in the mining.

At the conclusion of the episode, Black Krrsantan, a hired wookie bounty hunter, uses a bomb to blow in a wall on Boba's palace and defeats the Gamorrean Guards, before reaching Boba's chamber, whose prepared and in his armor.

Boba and Krrsantan battle. Krrsantan showcases his intense skill and strength, able to overpower Boba in this fight, though Boba prevents the wookie from getting a grip on him to avoid any loss of limbs. Drash and her group still disrupt the battle and, with Fennic, they lean it onto their side (though they moreso use their weapons on him, not being strong fighters themselves), Boba luring Krrsantan to the trap door in the throne room and subduing him just enough to trap him.

In flashbacks, Boba has ingratiated himself to the tusken tribe and they teach him how to fight like a tusken, considering he doesn't have weapons or armor, in seeking out said armor on tatooine. Having brought him in as a member, they give him the weird vision quest thing.

In this, Boba sees himself and his dad as the same person, dying like nothing in a pointless battle for a cause they had no stake in. As a result of this, Boba realizes that he's become just like his dad, nearly dying at almost the same age his dad was, and that as much as he's lived his life to avoid his emotions about it, it's ruled him and his identity. He has a catharsis over this.

Boba comes back with the stick and thanks the tuskens for the situation, that this has led him to realize how he operates has done nothing but nearly get him killed. He says that, to him, he still hasn't repaid them for taking that child's dad, tusken female's mate and member of their tribe, from them and owes them.

Afterwards, that entire tusken tribe are murdered by the goons sent by Bib Fortuna under the order of the Hutts, as a way to use their land for their spice running and avoid witnesses and potential conflicts. Boba, essentially reliving the death of his dad through this, is driven by revenge and wants to destroy the crime syndicate for this, placing all of his anger and frustration about his dad's death, how he's lived his life, along with the murder of the tuskens, onto them.

EPISODE 3:

Boba interrogates a chained in the dungeon Krrsantan for any information on the Hutts. Krrsantan maintains his silence. Boba asks him why he's still working for the Hutts, telling him that he's a warrior and that he should be given more respect than being a tool for arrogant nobles. Boba ponders him for a moment, asking him why he was exiled from his home planet Kashyyyk. This only enrages Krrsantan, who practically lunges at Boba, letting out a growl, the chains just barely holding him back.

Meanwhile Drash has followed one of the water shipments to one of the spice mines, seeing Trandoshans force the workers to mine for the spice and antagonizing something in a large animal crate next to the mine (threatening the workers with being fed to the creature if they don't work efficiently), her recording them. She stops and gets ready to leave, but is attacked by a trandoshan. She tries to fight back, but she's not as capable a fighter and has to escape.

Drash gets back to Boba, telling and showing him what she saw. Boba sees that she's been hurt and offers to train her and does so, teaching her the way he was once taught by Cad Bane.

In flashbacks, Boba, angry as a child after the death of his dad, sought revenge on Mace Windu, but was unable to gain it. After Mace Windu died, Boba was left with a feeling of unresolved rage. Cad Bane takes Boba Fett under his wing and trains him. Cad Bane was an old rival of Jango and, in some form, seeks to resolve his rivalry with Jango through Boba, seeking one day to duel Boba to the death, when he comes of age and was fully trained.

Cad Bane taught Boba the skills to become a bounty hunter and be emotionally detached, to seek only his own interests, and that to do anything else, to care about anything or anyone else and put your neck on the line when you gain nothing from it, is weakness and will get you poor and dead, and that he has to ignore those weaknesses.

Boba uses these lessons, from Cad Bane, of lack of mercy, selfishness and emotional detachment, teaching them to Drash, along with how to use the weapons he has. Though, to his surprise, they bond.

Drash tells Boba that her mom is all she has left, after her dad left when she was young, that she felt alone after it, and when her mom was taken by the Hutts she felt angry and powerless.

Boba relates to her through this, telling her that he knows what it's like to lose a parent. Drash feels a sense of understanding with Boba, in what she thinks is the loss of his dad that drives him the same way it drives her. She confides in Boba that she's afraid her mom will die before they can stop the crime syndicate, that she wants her mom to die with the peace of mind that they were stopped, and she doesn't want all this to be for nothing. Boba is effected by this, by her situation, and connects with her over it, but seeks to separate himself from it, telling her that she has to ignore her weaknesses, that they have to stay focused on their goals, their interests, because that's the only way they can succeed and survive.

At the end of the episode, Boba realizes how he can get Krrsantan on their side, showing him the hologram footage Drash took of the trandoshans doing work for the Hutts, asking if he knew the Hutts were working with the trandoshans. Krrsantan becomes enraged and breaks out of the chains, smashing the device on the hologram and getting in Boba's face, who stand completely still, unfazed by this. Boba then says that there's the warrior he'd heard so much about and Krrsantan agrees to help Boba, if he lets him have the the trandoshans for himself. Boba agrees.

EPISODE 4:

Boba continues to train Drash, with Fennic training her in more athletic techniques, as they all plan on a way to sabotage the trandoshan run mine, Boba deducing that they have a creature as a guard there because it may be a larger mine. Drash is unsure if Krrsantan's help can be trusted, but Boba explains to her that trandoshans and wookies have a long and bloody rivalry and that the trandoshans have hunted wookies for sport for their pelts and helped the empire capture and enslave a great many of them, Boba saying that he doesn't trust Krrsantan, but he can count on his hatred and desire for revenge.

Boba plans to use their attack as a way to antagonize the Hutts and cause a ruckus within the loyalties of the crime syndicate, making them look weak, pushing them to make a mistake and tip their hand. They work out an assault, with the help of Krrsantan being the muscle of a full frontal attack, Boba coming in from above, Drash and her gang being a distraction, and Fennic using her sniper techniques from afar.

They debate what to do with the spice, wondering if they could sell it to help fund their goals. Fennic objects to that aggressively, stating that it destroys peoples lives. Boba, seeing her personal involvement, sides with her.

But after that, he questions her. She's conflicted on what to say, but eventually confesses that her parents were addicts and she was raised in squalor. She can't stand the idea of letting more of that trash destroy families like it destroyed hers, it making her an orphan years before she left them in her early teens because she didn't want to deal with them anymore. She says that that helped teach her to depend only on herself though. Boba corrects her, stating that she doesn't now. Fennic shakes off her "depending only on herself" as old habits, stating that it's hard to forget. Boba agrees with that.

They go for the assault and are able to overpower the trandoshans, Krrsantan with intense rage tearing through the trandoshans (tearing one the trandoshan's arms off), but they release their caged animal before the victory is complete: It's a Rancor. Boba tells the others to clear the area, while he uses his jetpack to evade the creature. Boba then feeds the still alive armless trandoshan to the Rancor to distract it and takes this opportunity to order for it to be rendered unconscious with multiple stun shots from all of them, which they do.

Boba and his crew then releases the workers and lets them go, them thanking Boba profusely, Boba being taken aback by this, but also rebuffing the praises. Boba hands off the explosives to Fennic for her to blow up the spice mine with, which she does, leaving it destroyed for all to see.

Boba brings in a Rancor trainer (played by Danny Trejo) to look at the creature, the trainer determining that creature was hurt to make it more savage, pointing to scars on it. Boba wakes the Rancor up and, with the help of the trainer, is able to calm it, feeding it and the trainer explaining the complexity of a Rancor.

The Hutts are shown to be enraged at the loss of the spice mine, their abilities being questioned by other members of the crime syndicate, especially when Boba sends them a message, telling them he knows they had the sandpeople wiped out because they got in the way of their spice routes, having Bib Fortuna contract a local gang to do so and that's why he's doing this, for revenge.

Later Boba talks to Fennic about aquiring more muscle if they're going to be able to take down the Hutts. Fennic agrees.

In flashbacks, it's shown how Boba found Fennic, helped her and got his ship back (less complicated and less time consuming than the show gives, but parts of it are similar). His pitch to Fennic is a bit more nuanced. He insists she owes him, but also tells her that he knows someone like her, just like him, has never had real companionship, stating that people like them need to have the back of eachother. He tells her what he wants to do. She agrees when she hears he's planning on disrupting the spice trade.

EPISODE 5:

The episode starts with the Cobb Vanth scene of him finding some spice runners, the same thing happens there.

Then continues with a very similar opening to episode 5 with Mando, showing Mando doing his thing and going to the other mandalorians, the same thing happens there, being exiled for removing his helmet. Mando is conflicted. He wants to go see Grogu again, even has the chain-mail sweater built out of the spear, but he hasn't tried to go to Luke's jedi school out of here. The difference here is that Mando doesn't go back to Tatooine to get a new ship. He's called there by Fennic for the job. Though he still is seeking a ship and Peli Matto offers to have one for him quickly.

In this, Mando does personally meet and talk with Boba about the situation, and though he is wary of Boba's motives, does want to help and repay Boba for his assistance before. Boba asks if Mando can gather the help of his fellow mandalorians for assistance here, this being one of the reasons they chose him. Mando explains that he can't call on them because of his banishment from the mandalorians due to his removing his helmet, and because of that he has no way to contact them in their new location as he wasn't privy to it. Mando then states in recent days before he was called to tatooine the assassin's guild has blacklisted Boba under the orders of the Hutts, so even if he could pay for enough muscle they'd never agree. Mando suggests that he once worked with Cobb Vanth and some townspeople that could help them, suggesting that this spice running throughout tatooine may be motive enough for them to help, not just money.

Boba and Mando go to Cobb Vanth and try to convince him to help, Boba offering money for their assistance. Boba and Cobb exchange words about Cobb having used Boba's armor. Cobb is uncertain, but says he'll talk it over with the townspeople. Boba and Mando leave.

After returning to the palace, Boba feeds and further bonds with the rancor, as he and Mando discuss their other options if Cobb doesn't agree. Boba speaks to the Gamorrean Guards about the rest of the scattered Gamorreans across tatooine, Boba asking them to recruit their help, as an honor bound rebuke of the Hutts having killed some of their kind, promising them large payments for their assistance.

Meanwhile Cobb pitches this to the townspeople, who don't want to get involved, though Cobb suggests to prevent this from becoming their problem, getting involved may be necessary. One of the kids inform Cobb that someone is coming towards the town.

Cobb goes outside and sees Cad Bane walking into the town, out of the desert.

Cad demands that Cobb stays out of the business of the crime syndicate and allows the spice to run through tatooine. The same thing happens. There's a shootout, Cad guns Cobb down, killing him, warns the rest of the town's inhabitants and walks away, back into the desert.

Mando and Boba get word of what happened, and from the description Boba quickly realizes who it was.

EPISODE 6:

In the flashbacks, a now 18 year old Boba (played by Daniel Logan) is shown being trained to kill without mercy in capturing a bounty that's ordered to be brought in dead, but Boba hesitates when the bounty begs for mercy saying that he has a child, Cad coming from behind Boba and shooting the bounty when he reaches for a knife in his boot. Cad mocks Boba's hesitancy and tells him that that guy would've wound up dead anyway by another bounty hunter, so showing mercy achieves nothing, telling him that the machine always turns and all they can do is find a way to get something out of it for themselves.

They get a report on a bounty for Aurra Sing, but Cad shuts down going after it. In spite of the training he gets from Cad Bane, Boba still holds a soft spot for Aurra Sing, a bounty hunter who'd looked after him after his dad had died, even though she'd betrayed and abandoned him.

As Boba trains in his speed at firing, Cad dismisses his attempts to get faster, stating that he'll never be faster than him, when the assassins guild reports the bounty is no longer available as Aurra's been captured and set to be executed for her crimes on another planet.

Despite Cad Bane's advice, Boba seeks to rescue Aurra after hearing this. He plans an escape for her, then when he gets to the planet, he finds she's already been taken by Cad Bane, Cad using her as a simultaneous lesson to Boba and a way to push Boba to completing Cad Bane's rivalry with Jango. Cad Bane murders Aurra Sing in cold blood in front of Boba and challenges him to a duel, to force Boba to have the, in Cad's mind, what it takes, to murder him, so the duel would be fair for him.

Boba and Cad Bane, using a unique round of pure beskar (which can pierce beskar armor) he'd acquired, dueled eachother. Boba's no match for Cad's firing speed, but is able to move fast enough that the beskar round hits his head at an angle and only dents his helmet, pulling his gun at that exact moment and firing on Cad, hitting him in the side, his weapon being thrown from his hand, the force of the beskar round knocking Boba's helmet off.

Boba gets up, picks up his helmet and walks up to a bleeding and dying Cad Bane, looking at his now dented helmet, his dad's helmet, remembering himself holding the same helmet as a child after his dad was killed, then looking over at the dead Aurra Sing, then back to the dying Cad Bane, telling Cad that he was right, that caring about things, about anything other than himself, it is weak. Boba places the helmet back on his head, then asserting that it's not a mistake he'll make again. Cad tells him to finish it. Boba simply says that granting him a quick death would be merciful, then turning his back on Cad and walking away, leaving Cad yelling out at him.

As he went on he further honed his abilities, and used the teaching Cad Bane had given, always have a price, look out for no one but yourself, anything else is a weakness, doing this as a way to avoid connecting with, caring about and losing someone.

Boba Fett ponders Cad Bane being involved. Fennic notes what she sees as him looking like he'd seen a ghost.

Drash wants to head out to check on her mom. Before she leaves, she thanks Boba for helping her stop the crime syndicate from hurting the people of tatooine, for training her. Boba contemplates this, that he's using her and the others just to get revenge and stops her, giving her his wrist gauntlet, telling her she'll need a weapon in case someone comes for her, giving her his wrist gauntlet for defense, reminding her of the mechanism on it for the gas, fire and shrapnel.

Mando comments on Boba's mentoring of the girl, citing it as very mandolorian of him. Boba dismisses it, saying that his dad worked his entire adult life to be free of that bantha fodder. Mando addresses that, saying that in spite of that, his dad still sought connection in a son. Boba remarks that look where that got em, stating that he won't end up like his dad. Boba then turns the situation back on Mando, asking him about what happened with his kid. Mando states that his mission is done, the child was returned to his people. Boba asks him that's all there is to it. Mando states that he doesn't know if he will see him again, as he's on a different path.

Cad Bane reports to the Hutts the death of Cobb Vanth. He tells them that it's time to uphold their end of the bargain, that it's a win-win scenario for him to kill Boba Fett.

Boba seeks to confront Cad Bane, but is talked out of it by Fennic. Meanwhile Cad works out a scheme to weaken Boba.

Drash arrives at her home to check on her mom, who she finds in her last moments, her mom dying soon after. Drash is devestated, that turning into anger.

When she returns to Jabba's palace, Boba asks her about her mom, and Drash tells him she died. Boba is concerned for Drash because of this, asking how she's feeling. She reiterates his words, Cad Bane's words, back to him, "Ignore my weaknesses", which unsettles Boba, seeing the cycle continue.

Drash has come to suspect that the Mayor is the one who supplied to slaves for the Hutts to use in the mining, gaining word that the Mayor knows the locations of all the spice mines, which she informs Boba of. Mando suspects that this rumor being passed around may be a trap for them. Drash is adamant to confront the Mayor. Boba sees the information as too valuable in putting down the Hutts operation, for good, that it's worth the risk.

Boba then makes preparations with the many Gamorreans that have been gathered to prepare to come in on speeders from the palace, as a sneak attack from behind should this be a trap. Boba and his gang gears up, Boba even putting the gaffi stick on his back.

They scope out the area and sees The Mayor's home being guarded by several armed individuals. Using stealth, Boba, Krrsantan, Drash and her crew take out the guards and enter the home, shooting his main guard, which they do realize was actually to keep him in rather than keep them out, seeing that he's a prisoner and the Hutts betrayed him by using him for bait, over a dozen assassins, with various members of the gangs under the Hutts, trandoshans among them, surrounding the area.

Boba has prepared for this and has Mando and Fennic in sniper positions. But they're all held at a stalemate when assassins use laser scopes to show they have snipers positions on Fennic and Mando (a laser pointed at his neck avoiding his armor defense), and with Boba having prepped explosives in the surrounding buildings with a dead man switch so if any of the assassins come closer they'll be blown apart, which catches Drash off guard, her surprised at the callous disregard for the potential collateral damage it could cause from him, objecting to that, but Boba states to her that it's what's necessary for their survival, asking her if she wants to take them down or not.

But what Boba isn't prepared for is Cad Bane stepping in from the crowd of assassins. Boba is shaken.

Cad taunts him, telling him about how he's heard about his "heroic" feats in rescuing the slaves and fighting against the Hutts to free the people of tatooine from their grip. Cad reveals to his allies that Boba's been using them to get revenge on the Hutts for the killing of the sandpeople (saying that deep down Boba's still just a little boy who can't let go of his daddy), and doesn't really care about this cause, this leading to some rumblings for Drash and her crew. Cad then tells Boba to drop the act and face him. Boba dismisses Cad's confidence in this trap, telling him that he always has a backup. Cad has no fear at this, instead dragging out some beaten up and bloodied Gamorreans. Cad tells Boba he taught him everything he knows, and figured he'd find a way to get some backup with Cobb Vanth's town being intimidated into submission and it wasn't a hard guess where they'd be.

In this we see that Jabba's palace has been blown apart.

Sorry to end it there for a continuation in Part 2, but there's a limit of characters for this post.

Please review and tell me what you think!

While I liked TFA and TLJ, I admit that I didn't care about the "war" in Star Wars in either of these movies thanks to the lack of any explanations about the state of the galaxy. It took supplemental materials for me to understand everything.

In order to fix the story of the sequels, the first idea on my mind is someone telling the audience what is going on, and there was any easy way TFA could have done this by having Rey ask these questions.

Rey, our audience surrogate, is crucial in the narrative. She reacts to meeting the OT heroes as the audience would in her position. Taking it a step further, Rey should have inquired about the state of the galaxy. As an orphan who has been surviving by collecting parts for a wrecked Star Destroyer in exchange for rations, her knowledge of the outside galaxy is likely limited to what she overhears from visitors. It's plausible that she might have heard of the OT's heroes and the Jedi, but not understand the current state of the galaxy. Or perhaps she only heard the story of the OT and the Jedi before she was sold.

Simply cutting out the action set piece with the pirates, which left such a small impact that I forgot it existed, the narrative could have been improved by using by having Rey ask Han about the First Order and the Resistance. She had heard their names but didn't know much else. This would have not only provided the audience with the necessary information but also made them feel more connected to the story.

When discussing his movie, James Mangold said, “And what I really wanted to do, what I told her, was just can we make a kind of the Ten Commandments of the Force, you know? A kind of origin story of how the Force came to be known, understood, wielded, and harnessed.”

So in other words, he wants to make a movie about the first people who discovered the Force, probably featuring a single main character who “discovers” it first.

According to Disney, this movie will take place 25,000 years before the films.

It sounds neat on paper, but it’s very clearly a departure from the Legends mythos.

• In legends, 25,000 years ago was when the Jedi began. But in Disney Lore (and the EU), there were precursors to the Jedi that existed before then.
• First you had the Dai Bendu, then the Je’Daii, and finally, the Jedi. 

I’ve come up with a way James Mangold can tell his “My O.C. discovered the Force” story while being consistent with not only Disney Lore, but Legends as well.

The short answer is: the film shouldn’t be about the origin of the Jedi. 

It should be about the origin of the Dai Bendu (before the story of Tython).

Here’s the TLDR version:

• The film takes place 38,000 years ago on a planet called Thape.
• Thape is on the verge of environmental collapse.
• The main character is a woman named Ashla who discovers the Force.
• In a great migration, she leads her people off of Thape to escape its collapse and to the planet Ando Prime, where she and her followers become the Dai Bendu.
• Then the film ends with a montage showing how the Dai Bendu became the Je’Daii and later the Jedi Order.

Here’s the Full Version:

The Setup:

• The film takes place 38,000 years ago on a planet called Thape.
• Thape is on the verge of environmental collapse.
• The government is a democracy, but the planet is full of gangsters, the biggest one being a man named Bogan, who has every major politician and business owner in his pocket.
• His wealth comes from the industries damaging the environment, so all environmental scientists are either silenced or they down play the danger on his behalf.
• Thape has other moons in its solar system. The planet is one of the few in the galaxy that has developed rudimentary hyperdrives.
• The main character is a scientist named Dr. Ashla Dai who studies mitochondria in animals and photosynthesis in plants. She discovers special microbes that provide the energy for cells to split and create life - Midi-chlorians. But she doesn’t know what they are.
• Everyone on Thape is very selfish and they’re all constantly backstabbing each other. Their culture doesn’t put a very high value on selflessness.
• This includes Ashla. She’s always looking for a way to get a leg up on her colleagues — or more accurately, her competitors.
• One of Ashla’s colleagues, Dr. Midon Chlorian tries to assassinate her by causing her ship to crash in the “badlands” outside of the capital city. With Ashla “dead” he takes credit for her discovery and Midi-chlorians are named after him.

The Character Arc:

• In the badlands, Ashla is taken in by the natives of Thape, who’s society is based on gift-giving. 
• At first, Ashla is suspicious of them. “Why did you save me?” She asks, “Let me guess; you intend to use me as a hostage to barter for more territory?”
• They reply they saved her simply because she needed help and they intend to return her as soon as she recovers. They don’t want war with her people.
• Ashla is still suspicious. But she also gets an idea. No one from the Main City has seen a Thapan in thousands of years. If she captures one and brings it back, the discovery will make up for the microbe discovery that was stolen from her.
• So she plays nice and lets them continue to heal her.
• While she’s with them, she learns their culture. Gift-giving is at the center of it. So Ashla goes out of her way to socialize with the Thapans and learn what each individual likes. She gives gifts to countless individuals — to gain their trust and lull them into a false sense of security so no one will suspect when she kidnaps one of them.
• But the more she does this, she’s forced to think about what other people want and what other people need. 
• As she lives among them, they give her gifts too, and she begins to feel things she’s never felt before. No one has ever been this nice to her. And when she gives gifts to them, their genuine joy catches her off guard.
• She begins to genuinely care about them - and feels guilty that she’s going to kidnap one.
• Eventually, she’s fully healed. The time has come for her to leave them - and kidnap one — but now, she’s reluctant to do so.
• She lures the Thapan she intends to kidnap away from the tribe, to a ravine — but then a Groundquake causes the Thapan to stumble off the edge of the ravine and hang on for dear life.
• Ashla, mortified, tries to save the Thapan, but she’s not strong enough to pull him back up - and in that critical moment, as both of them begin to slip in the ravine, she pours all of her yearning for his survival into her effort — and she and the Thapan are pulled a couple of meters back to the surface by an unseen Force. Ashla is shocked. She doesn’t know what happened.
• Ashla and the Thapan return to the tribe and she’s forced to explain why they were out there. She was planning to betray and capture him — but she doesn’t want to do that anymore. The chief says, “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

The Temptation:

• Ashla returns to the city. Her previous apartment and much of her wealth is gone. She has to live a more modest life — but it doesn’t bother her as much as it would have before.
• Most of the things she spent money on before, she realizes she doesn’t care as much about them now. So even though she has less money than she had before — she has more money to spare now.
• But she learns that the Groundquake was caused by the the drilling of a state of the art factory. If that factory continues to work, it will destabilize the planet’s core and everyone will be at risk - including the Thapans whom she cares deeply about.
• So Ashla tries to speak to other scientists and the government, warning them of the dangers of this new factory. 
• This puts her at odds with Bogan, who needs that factory to stay wealthy.
• Bogan has Ashla brought to his palace and offers to give her a life of luxury if she quiets down a bit. He offers to have Dr. Chlorian assassinated and for her to be given credit for her discovery of Midi-chlorians. He offers her more money than she could have imagined. It’s everything she wanted at the beginning of the movie.
• He even offers her a place on his personal yacht in the event that there really is a planetary crisis.
• All she has to do is stay silent. And doom everyone. She refuses.
• So Bogan imprisons Ashla, telling her to think about it. During her captivity, she ponders the telekinesis that saved her life in the Ravine.
• She remains a prisoner for years, figuring out her ability. It’s difficult and painstaking because she doesn’t have a mentor to teach her. 
• Then, one day, with all of her might, she’s able to use the Force to open her cell and break out.

Ashla vs Bogan:

• Now, she’s a fugitive with no resources whatsoever.
• She walks down an alley one night and sees some low income people being robbed by a gangster. She intervenes and scares the gangster away with the Force.
• The people, bewildered, take her in, in gratitude. Over time, she begins to help more and more people, and develops a reputation as a “savior of the streets.”
• This catches the attention of Dr. Chlorian, who’s been watching Ashla very closely ever since her “resurrection.” He picks her up off the streets and takes her to his penthouse - before any of Bogan’s men can hunt her down.
• Dr. Chlorian tells her he’s fascinated by this “Force” she’s discovered. Ashla tells him they have to stop Bogan and that factory. Dr. Chlorian tells her he’ll help her take down Bogan if she works for him. Ashla says she’ll work with him, not for him. Dr. Clorian reluctantly agrees, fearing her power. He wants to help her take down Bogan so he can take Bogan’s money and assets for his own.
• So Ashla and Dr. Chlorian wage a secret war, undermining Bogan at every turn. All the while, they continue to study Midi-chlorians, learning that Dr. Chlorian barely has any, where as Ashla’s Midi-Chlorian Count is extremely high. They also discover other organisms, smaller than the Midi-Chlorians. But this time, Ashla doesn’t care who gets the credit. The Thapan she almost got killed was named Whill, so she names the microbes “Whills” in his honor.
• Ashla becomes better and better with the Force, teaching people everywhere the values of being mindful and selfless.
• Ashla’s behavior catches Dr. Chlorian off guard. She’s always nice to people. She treats others the way she would want to be treated. He grows to respect her. Eventually, he apologizes for trying to kill her and steal credit for her idea.
• Word of Ashla’s new culture spreads to Bogan’s men, who begin murmuring about it to each other. Bogan begins to become paranoid, thinking they’re plotting against him behind his back. He begins diverting more and more funds to private accounts, alienating more and more politicians and business types. He doesn’t trust any of them (or respect them). He thinks they’re all out to get him — but then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. He becomes less generous to the people in his pocket and more threatening, more demanding. Everyone under his thumb resents him more and more — and people begin going over to Dr. Chlorian’s side.
• Eventually, a coalition of politicians and business types decide it’s time to take down Bogan for good, and Ashla and Dr. Chlorian join them.
• It’s a coup. A full scale attack on the palace. Bogan tries to retreat to a secret bunker, but he’s carrying so much personal treasure in his hands, he keeps dropping it and trying to pick it back up, slowing him down.
• Eventually, Ashla catches up to him and confronts him. Enraged, he tries to attack her, but she gracefully dodges his attacks with her skills, her hands behind her back.
• She tells him, “It doesn’t have to be this way. You can just have less. The more you get, the more you want.” (He thrashes at her) “When you want stuff and you get stuff, then you’re afraid somebody’s going to take it away from you.” (Thrash!) “Once you become afraid that somebody’s going to take it away from you, you’re going to lose it.” (Thrash thrash!) “Then you start to become angry, especially if you’re losing it.” (Thrash!) “And that anger leads to hate. And that hate leads to suffering, because you spend all of your time being afraid of losing everything you’ve got, instead of actually living.”
• Eventually, Bogan tires out and is arrested.

The Exodus:

• However, it’s too late for the planet. The factory has done its damage. The planetary core is going to collapse.
• All everyone can do is prepare a migration.
• Ashla returns to the Thapans and tells them the danger. They’re still salty with her for what she did, but they believe her. Some of them go with her. Others choose to stay behind, wanting to die where they were born.
• Every ship capable of transporting people is filled - yachts, commercial travel, anything with a hyperdrive.
• They can’t go far. They find a nearby planet called Ando Prime and land.
• There, they wear robes to survive some of the harsh conditions. In a great migration, Ashla leads her people across the land. It’s an epic trek of biblical proportions, akin to the Ten Commandments.
• Eventually, they find a reasonably fertile land and start a new civilization there.
• Ashla and her followers become the Dai Bendu of Ando Prime.
• Ashla teaches her followers that pleasure is easy to achieve — but it’s only temporary. Joy might be difficult to achieve — but it’s everlasting.

The Final Montage:

• The film would end with a montage showing the evolution of the Dai Bendu.
• After settling on Ando Prime, Ashla continues to contemplate the mysteries of the Force. She went around to other planets, looking for other people who knew about the Force.
• Eventually, she discovers a planet near the center of the galaxy, a Wellspring of Life. She stays there, pondering the Cosmic Force, and eventually her consciousness becomes the Five Force Priestesses.
• In 37,453 BBY, a Dai Bendu Monk discovers one of the Tho Yor.
• Then, in 36,453 BBY, the Tho Yor gather people from mystical groups all over the galaxy and take them to Tython, a planet at the center of the galaxy with a white moon and a black moon.
• Some of these people are Dai Bendu monks. Others are mystics from the planet Jedha.
• Among all of the people brought to Tython, the most influential among them are the Dai Bendu and the people from Jedha. And so the entire organization on Tython becomes known as the Je’Daii. The story of Ashla the Selfless and Bogan the Selfish becomes a staple of their culture.
• The Je’Daii name Tython’s white moon Ashla, and its black moon Bogan, and send people to each one depending on how far they stray to either side of the Force.
• In 25,793 BBY, the Force Wars erupt and in 25,783 BBY, the wars end.
• The Je’Daii flee into space - but their coordinates get set for the Unknown Regions.
• By chance, they arrive on an ocean planet, Ahch-To. And it’s there on Ahch-To where they rename themselves the Jedi. They build a mosaic of Ashla, and they feel that Tython was destroyed because of selfishness. Thus, the Light Side is the only true way.
• The cave on Ahch-To becomes the First Jedi Temple.
• After living on Ahch-To for awhile, they repair their engines and go back to the galaxy. They visit the planet Caamas and learn even more lessons in morality from the peaceful Caamasi people.
• Finally, in 25,683 BBY, the Jedi relocate to Ossus. And it’s there, on Ossus, in 24,900 BBY, that the newly formed Old Republic first makes contact with the Jedi Order.

https://www.mycast.io/stories/star-wars-episode-vii-an-ancient-fear-2011

I took insperation for this rewrite from various youtubers.

If I wrote the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy here’s what I’d change.

The Force Awakens: Episode 7 would stay mostly the same, except all of the deleted scenes and Dialogue that were used in the novel would’ve been kept in as the certain parts of the story would make more sense and have a deeper meaning.

Starkiller Base would be different. Instead Starkiller Base being basically another Death Star, it would be similar to the Star Forge from Knights of the old republic. Starkiller Base also wouldn’t have any weak spots making it almost impossible to destroy.

The conversations between General Hux, Kylo Ren, and Supreme Leader Snoke would be the same as they were in the novel.

The Last Jedi: The Last Jedi would stay mostly the same. But I would've kept the deleted scenes and I would’ve added elements to the story that would make Ep 8 more consistent with Ep 7.

I’d have characters like Snoke, Kylo Ren, Luke, Leia, Rey, Poe, Finn, etc. mention the events that transpired in Ep 7 such as the Battle of Jakku, the Death of Han Solo, and Kylo Ren’s Defeat at the hands of Rey.

Kylo Ren would continue wearing his costume from Ep 7 in the first half of Ep 8. And he would get his second costume in the second half of the movie.

Kylo Ren’s Scar would’ve also stayed mostly the same as it was in Ep 7 and it would become healed over time.

We would see Kylo Ren’s Training being completed. Kylo’s training would take place during the first half of the film. His training would be more rigorous and there may be times where Kylo Ren almost dies.

Supreme Leader Snoke’s appearance and overall demeanor would not have changed. Instead Snoke would look the same as he did Ep 7. With his pale sunken facial features and long black and dark grey robes. Snoke would look something like this: *Not my photo* 25774cb3bf2a4d9b5dea68c54c016382.jpg (1024×1448) (pinimg.com).

Snoke would keep his gold obsidian ring because I like how it establishes a connection to Darth Vader and Palpatine. And he would still have his cold, calm, and calculating demeanor instead of behaving like a stereotypical supervillain. Also Snoke’s force lightning would be red instead of the traditional Purple/Blue color.

Characters Like Holdo and Rose Tico would be introduced in Ep 7 and they would be more fleshed out characters with better writing and narrative weight.

The Movie would begin where we left off in Ep 7 with Rey Giving Luke his father’s lightsaber. When Luke touches the lightsaber we get flashbacks showing scenes from Ep 4 And 5. We would see Obi Wan giving Luke the lightsaber, Luke's training, and Luke fighting Darth Vader. The flashback ends with the lightsaber falling down the shaft at the end Ep 5 and landing in Luke’s hand.

We would then see Luke holding the Lightsaber with a tear in his eye before throwing the lightsaber away. The rest of the scene would be similar to the original with Rey attempting to recruit Luke Skywalker to the Resistance.

Under self-imposed exile, Luke refuses to help and says that the Jedi should end. After encouragement from R2-D2, he agrees to give Rey three lessons in the ways of the Force. Outside his door, Rey tells him that she needs his help. She returns to retrieve Skywalker's lightsaber from some Porgs and spots Skywalker's T-65B X-wing starfighter submerged beneath the sea.

Later, Rey has Chewbacca break down Skywalker's door. Skywalker recognizes Chewbacca and Rey tells them that they came on the Falcon. Skywalker asks where Han Solo is.

The scenes showing resistance evacuating the planet takes place after the scene with Luke and stays the same as the original.

In the scene when Snoke is chastising Kylo Ren for failures against Rey, I’d have Snoke hint at his Identity through a single line of Dialogue. Snoke would say that even though he sacrificed a great deal of his physical strength learning the secrets of the dark side, he was still able to survive an attempt made on his life by his former apprentice *Darth Sidious*

I’d also have Snoke further mock and humiliate Kylo Ren, comparing him to the likes of his Grandfather and Idol Darth Vader, saying how Kylo pales in comparison to Vader. Snoke would even go as far as calling Kylo Ren unworthy of continuing Darth Vader’s legacy as well as saying he is unworthy of leading the Knights of Ren, pulling off his helmet and melting it with red force lightning.

Afterwards we would get a scene in which Kylo Ren retreats to his room to meditate on his own he places down his helmet next evaders and we notice they look similar symbolizing him going down Vader's path of redemption.

While he meditates Kylo puts one hand on Vader’s helmet and he’s taken into a vision. And in this vision, he is in an operating room. Kylo ren’s looks up and we watch from his point of view, as some type of black mask with red lenses is being lowered onto Kylo Ren’s face.

After the mask is lowered onto his face, Kylo takes a breath and we hear the mechanical breathing of Darth Vader. We then hear the laughter of the Emperor as a hooded figure approaches Kylo Ren and fires a torrent of face lightning at Kylo and all he feels is pain before being shot out of the vision and back into his chamber.

The scene ends with the voice of Darth Vader telling Kylo Ren to embrace his Darkness.

The Next scene on Ach to would play out mostly the same but it would start with Luke Mourning Han Solo’s Death. We would get a flashback of a younger Luke and Han solo talking about training ben. The rest of the scene and the overall movie stays the same.

The green milk scene wouldn’t happen. Instead, Luke talks to Rey, Telling her about a Sith Lord that was hidden to everyone. No one's really sure where he came from but he emerged after the death of Palpatine.

Luke starts explaining that the first order was being built in secret and no one knew about it until recently. This explains how I was able to amass power and funds even though it was a remnant of the Empire.

Luke tells her about how he failed kylo and that's all the same as it was in the movie so Rey starts being forced bonded with Kylo and she thinks it's because of her training and all that occurs in the movie is the same.

Luke explains to Rey that he believes Snoke's origins and powers are mostly related to mental tricks like Luke warns that Snoke was the person who influenced Kylo Ren and what he's been doing ever since.

Luke couldn't quite figure out what was going on at the time and now he's scared of Snoke, and he's scared that Snoke an influence his mind and that's why he's in hiding so he doesn't become a force of the dark side

against all the things he loves and wants to protect.

A key scene for Rey is the dark side mirror image scene and she sees herself being torn from her mom and the same idea from the previous movie still not very clear so she sees herself again and herself is looking back and saying we are the force she doesn't understand that and the vision just ends.

In the Flashback scene when Luke enters Ben Solo’s bedroom see Snoke in front of Ben’s bed talking to him and then Luke draws his lightsaber on Snoke.

Snoke's image then disappears and Ben wakes up and he naturally freaks out. This is how Luke explains what Snoke is and that his abilities are projecting thoughts across very long distances.

And this is where Rey is about to tell Luke about her meeting with kylo and the bond they have and what she saw in the mirrors but now she's really hesitant is Luke telling the truth is kylo telling the truth she's not sure so immediately.

The next scene is when we have the scene of kylo talking to Ray in the hut and Luke walks in it's pretty much an exact callback to what we were just shown where Snoke was talking to kylo so when Luke sees this he blows the whole hut to pieces and this makes sense because we know why he's so pissed so we find out that kylo killed all of the students and Rey is told that Snoke influenced Kylo to the dark side.

Luke gets angry and tells her to leave the island and Rey says I swore I would return with you if I can't return with you. I will try and turn Kyle back to the light. Luke says something very similar to what Yoda said to him on Dagobah: “you are not ready, you must complete your training if you face Snoke you 'll die” and Ray just ends up flying off with Chewie just like before.

The Next scene is the scene with Yoda’s ghost. This time Yoda would appear alongside Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker(Portrayed by Sabastian Shaw via CGI) they express their disappointment in luke and how he allowed himself to be corrupted by him

The scene stays mostly the same as Yoda destroys the Jedi temple. The scene ends with the spirits encouraging Luke to learn from his failure and rise before returning to the netherworld of the force.

The next scene would show Kylo Ren’s training. Kylo would return to Supreme Leader Snoke’s throne room and he would be forced to battle the Knights of Ren. To make the training more rigorous, Snoke would destroy Kylo’s lightsaber, making it more of a struggle for Kylo, forcing him to rely on his physical strength and the force.

The Training/Battle sequence would be intense and while Kylo would land a few blows, he wouldn’t leave completely unscathed. He would have more bruises and wounds than before and Kylo Ren’s robes would be damaged during his training and this would explain why he has a different outfit later on.

The Leia Space scene would stay mostly the same except the camera would pan over and we would see Kylo Ren with his hand outstretched, showing that Kylo was the one who saved his mother from dying in space.

The next couple of scenes would stay the same.

In the next scene we would see Kylo meditating in his chambers. Kylo would begin to feel a presence and Open his eyes to see the image of Darth Vader standing in front of him, which would look like this *not my photo* :bb37b333493131.56ad1ab63a1fe.jpg (1200×1836) (behance.net)

Vader would at first chastise Kylo for his lack of control, saying that while he is strong, but your lack of control makes him weak. Vader then says that though he sees Kylo‘s potential, Snoke believes that he is merely a child crying for attention and that for his ignorance, he must be destroyed as he is not fit to be a teacher of Vader’s lineage. Vader would then remind Kylo that the ignorance of Snoke is not the only thing holding him back, that his attachments to the girl have made him weak.

Vader would then tell Kylo that if he wishes to eliminate the light inside him, the girl must die. And once she is gone, the light of Ben Solo will be gone as well. As Vader fades away he encourages Kylo to Search his feelings, and within them he will find himself. And that’s where the scene ends.

This scene would set up Rey’s capture and Snoke’s death.

The rest of the movie would stay the same until Kylo captures Rey. During their Battle the voice of Darth Vader echoes through Kylo’s Head, telling to eliminate the true enemy of the dark side.

The scene in Snoke’s throne room would stay mostly the same except Supreme Leader Snoke would once again hint at his identity and reveal Rey’s origins. Snoke would reveal that he created Rey using the force the same way he created Anakin Skywalker. And that she was to be the new Vader not kylo.

After Snoke says “Fulfill your destiny!” we would hear the voice of The Emperor saying the same thing as it echoes in Kylos mind.

Snoke’s death would also stay mostly the same except when the upper half of Snoke’s body fell to the floor he would have a smile on his face and he would say “well done” as he quite literally dies laughing.

The Battle with Rey, Kylo, and the Praetorian Guards would be more brutal. I would make the Guards less easily to defeat as their armor would be a lot stronger and harder to break, giving them some advantage. The Praetorian Guards would be more brutal and they would definitely land a few blows however they’re still defeated. The scene ends the same.

The rest of the film all the way to the end would stay except when Luke returns, enters the Millennium Falcon, reunites with Leia and R2D2, and fights the First Order during the Battle of Crait; it would be the real Luke instead of a Force projection.

This would set up Luke’s death at the end as he returns to Ach To and peacefully passes away from his injuries, becoming one with the force

while meditating at Ach To. and as Luke dies he hears Obi Wan's voice telling him to let go. And of course The movie would end the same.

The Rise of Skywalker: Star Wars episode 9 would be Re-Titled “From the Darkness”. The movie would be mostly except for a few changes:

The Movie would start off the same. However I would include Palpatine’s Broadcast. The video would show the face of Chancellor Palpatine. And instead of it being about the return of the return of the sith. The message would promise hope, peace, and prosperity.

The scenes with Kylo on Mustafar would be extended. And we would see Kylo exploring Vader’s castle a little more and Kylo would see visions of his Grandfather’s past: him as a Jedi, him and Padme, him slaughtering the tuskens, Order 66, and him becoming Darth Vader.

I would also have Kylo discovering things like Vader’s lightsaber, and Padme’s necklace. I would also keep the scene of Kylo finding the Sith holocron and the scenes with Tor Valum. The rest of the scene would play out the same with Kylo finding the Sith wayfinder.

The sith homeworld would be Korriban(or Moraband) instead of Exegol.

The villain would be Darth Plagueis instead of Palpatine. After Kylo Ren says “I killed Snoke, I’ll kill you” Darth Plagueis would say “My boy… I am Snoke” Then we would hear the iconic “I have been every voice you have you ever heard inside your head” line. It would be slow and creepy like it was in the trailer. And I would add the Palpatine line from the novel which was “I was your master all along”

Darth Plagueis would go on to explain that “Snoke” was Plagueis’s original body, which explains Snoke's twisted and disfigured appearance. A mixture of old age, dark side corruption, and Palpatine’s attempt to murder him in his sleep. It would be revealed that it was planned for Kylo Ren to Kill Snoke. And after Snoke was killed, Plagueis transferred into a clone body.

Plagueis would also reveal that he used the face of Palpatine in his broadcast to deceive the Republic, using the face of someone they once trusted to avoid suspicion.

When Darth Plagueis reveals himself to Kylo Ren, we see face for the first time. Darth Plagueis greatly resembles Snoke except younger and without his scars. He would look like this: *not my photo* https://i.redd.it/4bx6kk6b5ij41.png

The rest of the scene would play out the same as the first with Kylo and Palpatine in the original film.

The next couple scenes stay mostly the same. Except Rey would Not be revealed to be related to Palpatine, instead I would stick with the idea of Rey being created by Snoke AKA Darth Plagueis the same way he created Anakin Skywalker.

The scene where Rey is at the destruction of the Death Star II would stay the same except when Rey enters what’s left of Palpatine’s throne room, she would be transported into a vision where she would witness the duel between Luke & Vader as well as Vader(or at that time Anakin) throwing Palpatine down the shaft to his death.

The rush of dark energy coming from the shaft after Palpatine exploded would send Rey out of the vision and back to the present and the rest of the scene would play out the same.

The line “somehow palpatine returned” would be given to Leia instead of Poe.

In the scene where Ben Solo returns to the light, instead of Han Solo, Ben would be talking to the force ghost of his grandfather Anakin Skywalker(Portrayed by Hayden Christenson).

When Darth Plagueis says I AM ALL THE SITH!!! The lightning flashes in the background and we see ghostly images of past Sith Lords such as Tulak Hord, Marka Ragnos, Ludo Kress, Naga Sadow, Exar Kun, Darth Bane, Darth Tenebrous, Darth Venamis, Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, And Darth Tyranus.

We watch as the Sith spirits give their dark power to Plagueis, fueling him and making him more powerful. However as we all know the dark side corrupts those who use it. We watch as Plagueis’s body begins to deteriorate under the pressure.

The same thing happens when Rey says “And I…am all the Jedi”. We would get another Lighting flash and we would see ghostly images of past Jedi such as Revan, Obi Wan, Yoda, Luke, Mace Windu, Qui Gon Jinn, Ashoka Tano, Kanan Jarrus, Luminara Unduli, Aayla Secura, and Adi Gallia.

As Rey steps forward blocking Plagueis’s lightning, we see Anakin Skywaker appear behind Rey, Appearing God-like, and clad in white robes. Anakin would smirk and say “This is where the fun begins”

The Force ghosts and Anakin raise their hands and the Force Ghosts give their power to Anakin, who in turn gives it to Rey, who uses it along with her own power to completely throw Plagueis’s lightning back at him destroying his body rendering him nothing more than a mere consciousness.

We watch as Plagueis tries to possess Rey, but Rey is too full of lightside energy, making it unusable for Plagueis. And before Plagueis tries to escape, he is overwhelmed by the immense power and with a final scream of pain Plagueis is ejected from Ray’s body and we watch as his consciousness fades away forever.

And with one final push, the sith temple is Destroyed and the rest of the scene would play out the same with Ben sacrificing his life to revive rey.

The Movie ends the same except the Rey Skywalker reveal never happens. Instead it would just end with Rey looking at the twin sunset after burying the Skywalker lightsabers as the spirits of Anakin, Luke, Leia, and Ben look on in peace.

Let's assume I'm Bob Iger overseeing the draft of the The Force Awakens. To make it harder on myself, im going to imagine I've stepped in after a test screening that got harsh feedback, and I can't do an overhaul...I'm limited to reshoots and CGI changes.

So, how I'd change The Force Awakens:

Editing trick inserts:

1. "The Resistance" is a division of the New Republics military charged with hunting down Imperial remnants. They run semi autonomously and are led by Leia.

2. Han has turned back to smuggling because of what happened to Ben as per the film today, but before that he was an instructor at the New Republic flight academy. Poe makes mention of this to Finn or Rey (or both), and it's clear he looks up to Han like a father.

"The big spend", a major largely CGI sequence:

3. The First Order has a superweapon, but it's not Starkiller Base, it's Snoke's megaship. The firing scene is replaced by a Pearl Harbour esque surprise attack on a New Republic military shipyard in the outer rim. The ship emerges from hyperspace, unleashes heavy fire, immediately destroying orbital defensive weapons. We see soldiers scrambling as things are blown up around them. From Snokes ship, star destroyers are deployed rapidly which go toe to toe with any Republic ships which manage to detach from the docking rings and begin to fight back. From these destroyers, pods are launched which attach to the surface of the Republic vessels, and boarding parties burst into the halls of the ships. Stormtroopers work their way towards the bridges, reminiscent of the corridor battle in ANH, and in once clip we see Phasma emerge Vader style. She reaches the bridge as troopers arm charges that blow the blast doors open, and brutally dispatches the captain and his crew. She makes an announcement over the tannoy to the remaining survivors instructing them to surrender or die. Then hails the other ships. Holograms of trooper commanders appear in a semicircle one by one around her. They list off the names of the ships as they capture them "[Ship name] secured"...etc etc. One of the holograms is a Republic captain who mouths off before being murdered on his side, and the commander replaces him. "Secure ma'am". Another says they're secure but is blown up and signal is lost before they can finish. We see out the window a Republic vessel blowing up as another Republic vessel fires on it. They're resisting. Phasma orders the commanders to deliver the ships to the Supremacy. We see a line of Republic ships moving towards the Supremacy, and we sse a clip of one entering an entering an enormous hangar and being secured with locks/supports. And Republic staff being matched off the ships hands above their heads. Then we quickly cut back to the star destroyers destroying more of the ships left in dock, before the Supremacy jumps to hyperspace, followed shortly after by the destroyers, who jump to follow. We linger on the utter havoc left in their wake.

Reshoots:

4. Poe uses Finn to escape but absolutely does not trust him, outing him immediately to the resistance as a stormtrooper and trying to prevent him gaining the trust of anybody else. This also results in Finn being interrogated.

5. The strategy meeting shows the ship, and possible target planets instead of Starkiller base. As they are speculating on the next target, one of the New Republic generals insists that The Resistance deploy to defend a specific planet, but won't let on as to why. Leia manages to get him to spill the beans, turns out there's an Area 51 type facility and the New Republic has been working on a starship with immense power. Despite the New Republic having outlawed research and development of superweapons, here they are fitting a megalaser to a destroyer. She's furious. They decide they now have no choice but to head to that planet. Finn is also asked to explain some intel on the first order which becomes pivotal somehow during the battle. (or perhaps Finn uses his knowledge to interrupt a signal which gives them the location of the Supremacy, and they deduce the planet they are heading to, which then sets off the general and leads to the Area 51 superweapon revelation.)

6. Kylo still kills Han as written, Rey and Finn fight an injured Kylo in the snowy woods, the sky above glows with the battle above...but when the light saber is pulled from the snow, it flies past Kylos head, past Reys head, and is caught by Luke. He clips it to his belt, turns to Kylo, "what have you done". Kylo holds his saber up to Luke "I'm doing what you couldn't old man." and immediately takes a swing at Luke. We get a display of Luke fighting defensively, dodging Kylo without even having his own saber lit. Above, the space battle that has been going on defending the planet takes a turn as the Republic fire the superweapon from the ship just as the bridge is boarded, which fires a laser straight through two destroyers and barely misses the Supremacy. Phasma gets onto the bridge just in time to see Poe zipping along the top of the ship blasting surface cannons, and buzzing the bridge top gun style before calling on his squadron to target the engines, which are promptly bombed, and the ship begins to fall into and then burn up in the atmosphere. Parts of ships are raining from the sky and crashing around the heroes below. In the fighting Finn tries to wake an unconscious Rey, but can't, he tries to carry her but her leg is pinned under a tree. He eventually decides to leave her when Chewie pulls him away and drags him into the Falcon to escape the danger, he's also very short with Finn and clearly upset. Like eventually ignites his green saber to meet Kylos, he parrys and puts Kylo down on the ground without breaking a sweat, holding him at pointe. Clearly upset, "There is still a path back to the light, even for you, even after all that you have done, (shuts down saber), there is always a way back.". He then turns to Rey, moves the branch off her using the force, he pixies her up, looks at Kylo, "always", the wind blows, Luke's theme swells in the soundtrack and woosh. He vanishes into thin air with Rey in his arms, punctuated with a slightly quiet thunderclap. Kylo looks to the ground, defeated as wreakage falls around him.

7a. The final scenes, Poe and Leia embrace and both bawl their eyes out. Chewie lands and is distraught, falling to his knees, he pushes a soldier away from him and the guy goes flying, definitely breaking a rib. Leia heads off to comfort him, Poe heads to Finn, shakes his hand and then hugs him, he's accepted him, competing the arc.

7b. Luke carries Rey on an island in the pouring rain during a thunderstorm on Ahch To, he enters a hut, clearly absolutely exhausted, barely managing to lay her on a stone slab, leaving her in the care of the caretakers. He retires to his own hut, places a hand over his head, thinking of Han as the storm settles and sun begins to rise. We end the film on a drone shot of the island, visible are the huts, a lighthouse like structure that will be revealed in the next film to be an ancient jedi temple, Luke's X-wing, just parked up, nothing fancy...and that's about it. Leaving enough there for fans to speculate on.

And that's it, that's a version of the Force Awakens that is just as fun, that solves the problems I had with it, and sets me up for the changes I'd like to make to The Last Jedi. I'd love to know your thoughts.

Instead of just being a bigger Death Star, TFA should’ve made Starkiller Base the diabolical invention of Palpatine, created to suck the life energy of every living thing on a planet. The goal would be hidden in TFA, but it would be revealed in TLJ/TROS that the energy was being channeled for Palapatines resurrection project (which is actually Palpatines Plan B after losing Rey)

I don’t know enough about force lore and theory if such a device would make any sense at all, but that might be what makes the idea something fitting for Palpatine

Look, I said this to my friend casually as a joke and in a fucking Whatsapp conversation, so don't expect MUCH detail and some things may not be in accordance (fun fact about it: I inspired a little in the Brazilian Military Dictatorship)

The New Republic (which I will just abbreviate as NR because I'm too lazy to write) could have certain economic problems, probably trying to repair the damage that the Empire did previously in the 24 years it was in power; Due to having Imperial sympathizers in NR, it would make the people (and even some within the NR government) have "Imperialist Fear", that is, the fear of the Imperials taking power back

The First Order would be a military division in the NR (with its base being in Ilum, without the Starkiller base... yet), but most importantly, the division in which most sympathizers of the Empire were concentrated, due to criticism from the people due to From the Imperialist Fear, the First Order slowly distanced itself until it became practically independent from the NR. At some point, the First Order becomes a terrorist group and starts making attacks against NR (really heavy attacks), with the main division fighting against them being The Resistance against the First Order (which will later become our Resistance that we know in the films), after several attacks, the construction of the Starkiller base, Imperialist Fear grows even more ("after all, if a military division already had supporters... what doesn't guarantee that there will be more in the government?!"), the First Order takes power from NR, which is still called "New Republic" but it's just that, a name, everyone knows who is truly in power. While this story takes place (probably in Episode VII with some small timeskips here and there), it would introduce us to Rey... and how would they present the origin of the First Order and Rey all together in 2 hours and 16 minutes?... idk, They find a way, I don't. Or they just along more the movie

After that we would have events practically the same as TFA, we have the battle of Starkiller base, where... REY LOSES! yep, she loses, I would change this fact for the following reasons:

When she sees this, she realizes "yeah guys... I need some training"and Kylo Ren would gain a little respect (because let's be honest... him losing to Rey is like seeing a person trained for war losing to a guy who only played Counter-Strike)

Some Deus ex machina happens and she manages to escape from Kylo Ren (that doesn't change the fact that she lost), then ends here the first movie. There would be a timeskip I would say of 6 years (maybe a little less... ok, maybe 4 and a few months), Rey trained with Luke, where we are shown at the beginning of Episode VIII she finishing it

Until then, the films are practically the same with some changes, such as Hux ceasing to be a spy and Rey not having anything related to Palpatine (To show that HEY GIRLS, YOU CAN BE BADASS AS ME WITHOUT A POWERFUL LINEAGE!... I say/write this from the perspective of Disney wanting to be progressive and inclusive). Making it so that at the end of the last film she said "just Rey", I would maybe put "Rey Kajuk" ("Kajuk" is just "Jakku" with the letters in different order)

Ok, in a period of 6 years (or 4 years... and a few months) there could be several series and films that take place in that period, thus filling Disney's pockets with money and for people who want more First Order content; With this, characters would be better developed, whether from the First Order or the Resistance, even showing the cruel side of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (so we can see him and think "that guy IS Vader's grandson" and not just as a crybaby lol ), I would even say in developing the Reylo novel better! Look, as much as I HATE Reylo with all my might, it could be good to have at least a DECENT development (being a kind of "neutral" couple, you know?) and not just a sudden and meaningless change, although at the first opportunity I would take that out of the sequels. I'm not saying that every new Star Wars trilogy now has to have something between them like the Prequels had with Clone Wars, but this in the sequel trilogy would help

I see so much praise for PRISMs sequels (on YouTube), much of it is excellent...but its just too big.

Often I think we are too tempted to make our rewrites the biggest, baddest, most epic star wars films ever, insane superweapons, stories spanning time and space, battles involving millions of ships, Jedi wielding mega powers like superheroes.

In my opinion going that route is a trap that the actual sequels fell into. "Do the Death Star, but bigger!", "How big is Snokes ship? The biggest ever?!", "AT-ATs, but bigger!", "A million star destroyers!!!", "Palpatine, but mega lightning!!"

PRISM spoilers

PRISM does this too in his Rise of Skywalker treatment...as soon as I heard the starforge mentioned I couldn't roll my eyes harder...then Palpatine came back?! God.

Let us not forget that the final act of Return of the Jedi was relatively small scale. A ground skirmish, a small battle group in space, and an emotional battle between father and son.

It dosent have to be EPIC to be fantastically written and emotional.

People keep talking about adapting the Thrawn Trilogy, but they keep saying things like, “They should have made movies out of them,” or “The Thrawn Trilogy should have been the Sequel Trilogy.”

• I disagree. Not about adapting it — but about how it should be adapted.
• I think condensing each book into a single live action movie is the wrong way to go.
• And while it’s a great trilogy, I personally wouldn’t want it to be the Sequel Trilogy either, as I would prefer the Sequels to take place a generation later.

In this post, I’m going to outline the approach I would take if I was asked to adapt the three novels of the Thrawn Trilogy, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.

In short, I would adapt it in two phases:

• First, I would lay the groundwork for the trilogy by adapting other stories that lead up to it.
• Second, I would adapt the trilogy itself into an animated miniseries.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume it’s 2012, right after Disney bought Lucasfilm.

I’ll leave out other movies like 7-8-9 and only focus on my approach to the Thrawn stuff.

Oh, and one more thing — this post will contain spoilers for the Thrawn Trilogy if you haven’t read it.

Here’s my plan:

Part 1 — The Groundwork

Before adapting the novels themselves, I would release one movie and a series of shorts.

• The movie would be called “Into the Unknown: A Star Wars Story” and it would be a direct adaptation of Timothy Zahn’s novel “Outbound Flight” which takes place in between Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
• Outbound Flight introduces the character Jedi Master Jorus C’Baoth, as well as Thrawn himself, both of whom are important for the trilogy. At the end of the movie, in an after credits scene, I would introduce Jorus’s clone, Joruus C’Baoth, setting him up for the trilogy.

Then, I would create a series of Star Wars shorts called “Star Wars: The Long Game,” in the same vein as Tales of the Jedi. Tales consisted of 15 minute mini-sodes that explored moments in the lives of Dooku and Ahsoka. This is the same kind of thing

• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 1 / 12 “The Invisible Jungle”
  • Timeline: 300 BBY (Centuries before the Prequels)
  • This One Shot tells the story of how the Jedi Order discovered Ysalamiri.
  • A Jedi Master and Padawan chase a criminal in their ships. They’re forced to make an emergency landing onto a wild untamed planet called Myrkr. While down in the jungle, the Jedi notice they have trouble sensing the criminal, and they discover animals they name Ysalamiri, creatures who can repel the Force. The Jedi return to Coruscant and warn the Jedi High Council of the existence of Ysalamiri. The High Council says to stay away from the planet.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 2 / 12 “The Katana Fleet”
  • Timeline: the year 46 BBY (14 years before Phantom Menace)
  • This One Shot tells the story of how, before Phantom Menace, a brand new fleet was built, but everyone on board contracted a mysterious virus that made them go insane and the ships all jumped into interstellar space, lost to time.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 3 / 12 “Hero of Cartao”
  • Timeline: the year 22 BBY (beginning of the Clone Wars)
  • This is an adaptation of the short story of the same name and introduces a very important technilogy called “Spaarti Cloning Cylinders,” as well as an important planet called Wayland.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 4 / 12 “Jomark”
  • Timeline: the year 19 BBY (right after Revenge of the Sith)
  • In this one, right after Order 66, Joruus C’Baoth senses a large disturbance in the force - the deaths of all the Jedi. In order to save himself, he boards his personal ship and flies to the planet Jomark, a place where a powerful Jedi once died, to mask his own presence. There, Joruus takes over the local population.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 5 / 12 “Mist Encounter”
  • Timeline: the year 19 BBY (right after Revenge of the Sith)
  • Based on the short story of the same name, this one is all about how Thrawn first came to work for the Empire.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 6 / 12 “The Guardian of Mount Tantiss”
  • Timeline: the year 19 BBY (right after Revenge of the Sith)
  • In this one, it’s revealed that Jedi Master Sifo-dyas is still alive; his death depicted in the Clone Wars Season 6 was only an illusion. The Emperor tells Sifo-dyas to watch over his storehouse in Mount Tantiss on Wayland. So Sifo-dyas is revealed to have been the original guardian of the mountain.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 7 / 12 “Lord of the Noghri”
  • Timeline: the year 18 BBY (one year after Revenge of the Sith)
  • This one introduces the Noghri species and how their planet Honoghr was scorched during the Clone Wars. At the end of the One Shot, just after the formation of the Empire, Darth Vader lands on their planet and becomes their master.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 8 / 12 “The Emperor’s Hand”
  • Timeline: the year 12 BBY (seven years after Revenge of the Sith)
  • This one tells the story of how the Emperor adopted the girl Mara Jade when she was five years old and she became his private assassin.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 9 / 12 “Exile”
  • Timeline: the year 1 BBY (one year before A New Hope)
  • This one begins with a montage of Thrawn butting heads with other Imperials on political matters. In response, the Emperor sends Thrawn on an indefinite “Cartography” mission to the Unknown Regions. But before Thrawn leaves, the Emperor affirms that he’s really sending Thrawn there because of his genius.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 10 / 12 “A Handy Weapon”
  • Timeline: the year 3 ABY (right after The Empire Strikes Back)
  • This one begins on Cloud City. A maintenance droid does a routine scan of the bottom spire of the city, when it finds Luke’s severed hand clutching Anakin’s lightsaber, lodged in one of the lower air shafts. The droid takes the hand and saber to an Ugnaught engineer named Groggin, the Smelting Cor’s Supervisor. Groggin decides to incinerate the hand and prepares to melt the lightsaber - when Darth Vader arrives. Vader commands Groggin to give him the hand and saber. Then, he contacts the Emperor telling him he found the two objects. The Emperor tells Vader to take them to Wayland. Vader goes to Wayland and meets the Emperor there, who takes the hand and saber into Mount Tantiss.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 11 / 12 “The Candlemaker”
  • Timeline: the year 8 ABY (four years after Return of the Jedi)
  • In this one, Joruus C’Baoth travels to Wayland, where he meets Jedi Master Sifo-dyas guarding Mount Tantiss. Joruus kills Sifo-dyas in a great battle and takes over everyone in the town on Wayland. He makes a candle for Sifo-dyas.
• Star Wars: The Long Game: Episode 12 / 12 “Inbound Flight”
  • Timeline: the year 8 ABY (four years after Return of the Jedi)
  • In this one, Grand Admiral Thrawn returns from the Unknown Regions and finds Captain Gilad Pellaeon’s ship. Pellaeon tells him the Emperor is dead, Vader is dead, and the Empire has fallen. Thrawn says, “Palpatine’s Empire has fallen. Perhaps it’s time for…new management.”

Part 2 — The Thrawn Trilogy itself

I would turn it into a TV show, a miniseries no more than 8 episodes a season.

• The novels are so dense, if you tried to squish them down into movies, you’d end up cutting out too much of the important information.
• So my plan is to take every few chapters of each book and combine them into episodes.
• And unless you want nightmare deepfakes of Luke, Han, and Leia, the series should be animated.
• I would title the TV show “Heir to the Empire.”

Heir to the Empire Season 1 would consist of 8 episodes.

Episode 1 “The Only Puzzle Worth Solving”

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 1 - 4
• (Thrawn attacking Obroa-skai, Luke, Han, & Leia in their new roles; Leia is pregnant; Talon Karrde & Mara Jade introduced; Thrawn goes to Karrde’s planet Myrkr for Ysalamiri; ends with Thrawn going to Wayland to recruit Joruus C’Baoth)

Episode 2 “Bimmisaari”

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 5 - 7
• (The mission to Bimmissaari; the heroes are attacked by Noghri)

Episode 3 “Hit and Fade”

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 8 - 10
• (The Empire attacks Bpfassh; the good guys inspect the damage; Luke learns a Bpfasshi Jedi once went to Dagobah; he resolves to go back there)

Episode 4 “Nomad City”

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 11 - 14
• (Luke returns to Dagobah and discovers the Beckon Call device; Thrawn attacks Lando’s operation on Nkllon, stealing his mole miners; Luke arrives and Joruus C’Baoth telepathically says “find me”; ends with Han & Lando deciding to take Leia somewhere safe cause there’s a mole in the Republic (code-named “Dalta Source”); Chewie offers Kashyyyk)

Episode 5 “The Error”

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 15 - 18
• (Thrawn finds out about Han’s plan via probes; Luke tries to go to Jomark to find C’Baoth, but is pulled out of hyperspace by Thrawn’s ship; Luke only barely escapes; Thrawn punishes the officer responsible for letting Luke escape, lecturing everyone on the difference between an “error” and a “mistake”; Leia arrives on Kashyyyk; Luke is found by Talon Karrde - and captured)

Episode 6 “Uninvited Guests”

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 19 - 24
• (Luke wakes up as Karrde’s prisoner and meets Mara and Karrde; Han & Lando go to Myrkr to try to recruit Karrde to join the New Republic. Karrde tries to hide Luke away before Han & Lando come. Then, Thrawn himself comes and Karrde has to hide Han & Lando away as well. Then Luke escapes into the jungle and everyone figures out Luke was there; Mara follows Luke and they have to survive in the jungle together)

Episode 7 “The Ambush”

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 25 - 29
• (Leia, on Kashyyyk, is found by Noghri again, but one of them, named Khabarakh, doesn’t kill her because he used to serve Vader and he can tell she’s Vader’s daughter; Leia wants to help his people, so she agrees to meet him at another planet; meanwhile, on Myrkr, Thrawn tries to catch Luke & Mara in Hyllyard city; Pellaeon steals cloaking shields)

Episode 8 “The Battle of Sluis Van” (Season Finale)

• Covers Heir to the Empire Chapters 30 - 32
• (The battle of Sluis Van; ends with Admiral Ackbar being accused of treason)

Season 2 consists of 7 episodes.

Episode 1 “Flickers in the Force”

• Covers Dark Force Rising Chapters 1 - 3
• (Introduction of Niles Ferrier; Han & Leia return to Coruscant to investigate the treason claim)

Episode 2 “The Judgement of a Jedi”

• Covers Dark Force Rising Chapters 4 - 8
• (Luke looks up C’Baoth in the records, Karrde tells Mara about the Katana Fleet and that he knows where it is; on New Cov, Luke is faced with a situation where he has to resolve a local conflict; escape from New Cov)

Episode 3 “Honoghr”

• Covers Dark Force Rising Chapters 9 - 13
• (Leia arrives on Honoghr; Han & Lando discover the ship the Peregrine and meet Senator Garm Bel Iblis)

Episode 4 “The Offer”

• Covers Dark Force Rising Chapters 14 - 17
• (Luke arrives on Jomark and finally meets Joruus C’Baoth; Han & Lando discover that the Peregrine is one of the Katana Fleet ships; Karrde is captured by Thrawn; Mara tells Thrawn about the Katana Fleet in order to get Karrde free; it doesn’t work)

Episode 5 “The New Empire’s Honor”

• Covers Dark Force Rising Chapters 18 - 22
• (Mara goes to Jomark to ask Luke’s help to rescue Karrde - inadvertently saving Luke from C’Baoth’s brainwashing attempts; Mara & Luke rescue Karrde from Thrawn’s ship)

Episode 6 “Discord”

• Covers Dark Force Rising Chapters 23 - 25
• (Leia, on Honoghr, learns the truth about how the Empire lied to the Noghri and exploited them; she tells them the truth; meanwhile, Han & Lando look for Hoffman, a guy who was with Karrde when he discovered the Katana Fleet, but Thrawn gets to Hoffman first)

Episode 7 “The Katana Fleet” (Season Finale)

• Covers Dark Force Rising Chapters 26 - 29
• (Luke, Han, & Leia tell the New Republic Council about the Katana Fleet and Karrde tells them where it is; they go to the Fleet’s location — but they discover that out of 200 ships, only 15 are there; Thrawn got there first; meanwhile, C’Baoth is upset that Luke got away and Thrawn reflects on how C’Baoth’s usefulness is almost over…)

Season 3 consists of 6 episodes.

Episode 1 “The Covert Shroud Gambit”

• Covers The Last Command Chapters 1 - 5
• (Thrawn uses C’Baoth to control soldiers on the Katana ships and they conquer more easily; meanwhile, Leia gives birth to Jacen and Jaina)

Episode 2 “Thieves in the Night”

• Covers The Last Command Chapters 6 - 9
• (Luke goes to Honoghr to refuel and meets the Noghri; meanwhile, Mara, on Coruscant, struggles with her desire to kill Luke; a team of assassins try to assassinate Leia on Coruscant but fail)

Episode 3 “Lightning Thrust”

• Covers The Last Command Chapters 10 - 13
• (Karrde tries to unite the smugglers; C’Baoth tells Captain Pellaeon to prepare a special cloning project on Wayland - and he hypnotizes Pallaeon to forget the request)

Episode 4 “Delta Source”

• Covers The Last Command Chapters 14 - 17
• (Thrawn attacks Coruscant and fills the space above the planet with cloaked asteroids; he makes them think there are hundreds when in reality there are only 22; Luke, Han, Lando, & Mara arrive on Wayland; Leia discovers the identity of Delta Source, the Imperial mole)

Episode 5 “A Unified Front”

• Covers The Last Command Chapters 18 - 23
• (The Republic learns that the Imperials are planning a trap for them at Tangrene; they plan to send a small force to make the Empire think they’re attacking Tangrene when reality they plan to attack the shipbuilding world of Bilbringi; Karrde tells Leia the truth that there are only 22 asteroids in orbit around Coruscant; Leia tells Karrde to take her to Wayland because she believes Luke & Co are walking into a trap)

Episode 6 “The Last Command” (Season Finale)

• Covers The Last Command Chapters 24 - 29
• (Luke, Han, Leia, & Mara confront Joruus C’Baoth, who reveals he has created a clone of Luke from Luke’s severed hand, weilding Anakin’s blue lightsaber; Mara kills this clone, satisfying her desire to kill Luke Skywalker; meanwhile, Thrawn loses the battle of Bilbringi and is killed by Rukh, his own bodyguard; the heroes return to a Republic saved and Luke gives Mara the blue lightsaber as a gift)

So my slate would be:

• Into the Unknown: A Star Wars Story
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 1: The Invisible Jungle
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 2: The Katana Fleet
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 3: Hero of Cartao
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 4: Jomark
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 5: Mist Encounter
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 6: The Guardian of Mount Tantiss
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 7: Lord of the Noghri
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 8: The Emperor’s Hand
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 9: Exile
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 10: A Handy Weapon
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 11: The Candlemaker
• Star Wars: The Long Game Episode 12: Inbound Flight
• Heir to the Empire Season 1
• Heir to the Empire Season 2
• Heir to the Empire Season 3

Ilum:

Jaina is instructing Ben to do the blindfolded saber training as Sabine did with the hologram blades. Jaina tells him he remembers the basics of the lightsaber skills, but he is unwilling to reopen his mind, adding that learning to wield the Force takes a deeper commitment. Ben is unable to use the Force because he is unwilling, for the Force isn't a physical specialty, but is tied with his mind. Ben lashes out and calls out Jaina, for she doesn't deserve to be his master when she couldn't even recover the full map. This leads to another round of family arguments, resulting in Ben abandoning his training.

A frustrated Jaina joins with Han, Finn, and Sebatyne. Han asks Jaina to deliver the map to Leia. Sebatyne asks Han to go back to his wife, for this fight is about more than any of them. Finn retorts there is no fight against the First Order, not one they can win. Sebatyne's eyes grow even larger within the goggles, impossibly huge. She is looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run. Finn goes to the item transporters to pick him up to the Wild Space. Jaina is confused and angry about him, and here, Finn reveals herself to be a stormtrooper and not to go back. He goes with the members of the delivery crew, and Jaina is heartsick.

As Ben abandons his training, he hears a calling from deep under the temple. He follows the call. In the depths of the temple, Ben finds the Skywalker lightsaber, once held by Anakin, Luke, and Mara. He touches it and has the Force visions like Rey had in the movie--such as the moments in Bespin, the destruction of the Jedi Praxeum when Mara Jade is murdered, and the destined moment when he confronts Kylo Ren. Jaina, Master Sebatyne, and Han see this. Sebatyne tells her that this is his fate--the sword is calling for him and Luke is not coming back, but the Force has many strange, strong powers that will give him the ways to find his father. Even before they have a chance to ask him about the map, Ben runs away. As they view Ben trek away, the droid follows him. She disagrees with Sebatyne, thinking Ben is too young and should be put under the blanket. Sebatyne tells her that the Force calls on him.

Moments later, the First Order fleet arrives and invades Ilum. BB-8 catches up with Ben, and they realize the First Order's arrival. The Ren ship descends, and Kylo Ren and his Knights arrive. Ben and the droid run away. The First Order deploys troops on the ground, ravaging the town and the temple. While Jaina and Lowie are off to find Ben, Han, Finn, and the security forces engage in the ground battle, fending off the stormtroopers. The Temple crumbles under the bombardment, and Finn loses his blaster. Master Sebatyne hands him the Skywalker lightsaber, and we get the stormtrooper close-quarter fight scene.

Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren take the roles of Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati--the Dark Force users chasing our heroes like Terminators. Ben grabs his lightsaber in an attempt to resist them, forced to use his lightsaber skills, but he is weak, physically. Kylo Ren realizes Ben has lost his Force power. However, Kylo Ren is weak, too, emotionally. As he hesitates to kill Ben, Jaina and Lowie arrive in time, igniting their weapons.

The stormtroopers surround Han, Finn, and Master Sebatyne, but the Galactic Alliance fleet arrives at Ilum just in time to engage in air combat. While the stormtroopers are distracted, Jaina and Lowie take Ben to flee. Kylo Ren and his Knight begin to hunt the Jedi, their blades spark against each other. As another Knight handles Lowie and Jaina, Kylo Ren is off to chase Ben. Ben tries to attack Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren apprehends him with the Force and mind-probes him, realizing Ben has seen the map.

Instead of killing him, Kylo Ren offers him the option of staying on this planet as Leia told him to or seizing the opportunity to find his father Luke--the only family that he has left. Kylo Ren takes off his helmet to reveal, to Ben's shock, he is Jacen Solo. Leia and Jaina have been lying to him that Jacen is dead during the destruction of the Jedi Praxeum. As part of the family, Jacen says the two share a common goal and appeals to his desire to be reunited with Luke. Jacen claims he is serving the greater good and invites her to come with him, for he promises that no harm will come to him and that he will be reunited with Luke. After considering Jacen's words and feeling betrayed by the lie, Ben goes with Jacen. Jacen orders the stormtroopers to forget the droid, for he has what they need.

Kylo Ren and Ben board the Ren ship to escape. This is witnessed by Han and Jaina. Jaina Force-jumps to attach herself to the Ren ship, but she crashes into the snow, wounding herself. The First Order fleet retreats and jumps off to hyperspace, taking Ben away.

Moments later, the Galactic Alliance forces take over Ilum. Master Sebatyne says she now sees the eyes of a warrior from Finn and tells him to keep it, for she senses that it will have its use in the future. Leia Organa Solo arrives at Ilum--the first time the audience and Han have seen her since ages ago. Han confesses he saw Jacen taking Ben.

Star Destroyer:

Ben Skywalker awakes aboard the Star Destroyer inside a prison cell. The ship is traveling in lightspeed. Jacen is watching over him and points out Ben's loss of the Force power. He suggests that his imprisonment would be an opportunity for reflection, something that Ben claimed to avoid. Ben reminds Jacen of their deal regarding finding Luke. Jacen departs silently as Ben angrily calls out to him. Jacen enters his room and confesses to his "grandfather" that he felt the pull to the light. The Knight tells him that the ship is approaching Exegol. Kylo Ren vows he will finish what his grandfather started. He stands and heads off, pivoting to reveal who he was talking to: the burnt helmet of Darth Vader.

A thirty-year-old Jacen Solo, played by Adam Driver and who took the role of Ben Solo from the Sequels, is a bitter husk of a man who expects the world to pay for his personal grievances. Like the movie version of the bloodthirsty nihilistic Kylo Ren, he would be ultimately undone by his own cruelty and ruthlessness. After establishing the peak of his Force power during TNJO and drinking himself with the cool aid of heroism, he blamed himself for the death of Anakin Solo. He thought he was too feeble and blamed the Jedi philosophy for his weakness. In addition, his depression manifested in his Force power. He started to be unable to wield the great power he once did (like Kiki losing her magic in Kiki's Delivery Service). He was proud to be a Skywalker, but all he could do was just angrily reach out and nothing happened. Jacen was unable to fulfill the great expectations of people like Luke, who worked as a struggling mentor. The pressures mounted, and Jacen kept failing at the Jedi abilities like conjuring up the Force or struggling to fight the training droids. This gives him an actual reason to hate Han because he believes it is his father’s fault for not having the power he deserves, and Luke for failing to train him into a Jedi like other Skywalkers. He can't get over his feelings of unfairness and injustice that he isn't special enough, that he can't be like his family. This led to him feeling a great conflict within himself and with too many questions about what the Jedi should be. He decided to embark on a galaxy travel to discover the true nature of The Force. His journey ended at the Unknown Regions. Here, he met the presence known as Tor Valum, who takes the role of Snoke from the Sequel trilogy. This motivated Jacen to turn to the dark side because Valum gave him the birthright of being a Skywalker he is entitled. As Yoda said, the dark side is "quicker, easier, more seductive." That is why he pretends to be his grandfather to show off the image of a powerful Sith to meet his delusions of grandeur. That is why he claims ownership of Anakin’s lightsaber.

This backstory creates a great contrast to his grandfather. Anakin was born as a slave, unrecognized as a free being. For all the great power he had in the Force, Anakin was powerless to do the things he really wanted: save his mother, free slaves, save his lover due to the systemic problems within the Jedi Order and the Republic. When he became Vader, he HATED it. He despised what he had become but was forced to go along with the Emperor because he had no choice. When he chose to go back to the light side and kill the Emperor, he did it for compassion. On the contrary, Jacen was born to the heroes of the Rebellion and would have been a royal prince had Alderaan been the whole. He was raised in an environment with nothing but kindness and compassion and was able to pursue whatever goal he wished, but still chose to go to the dark side as Anakin did because of his entitlement and privilege rather than disenfranchisement with the existing system. He committed atrocity for his own desires rather than lashing out at the world, killed the Jedi for the powers he wanted for himself rather than to save the one he loved, and rejected and hated his family because of he blamed them for his lack of power and jealousy. When he became Kylo Ren, he LOVED it because he could larp to live his dream of being powerful. With all his backstory set up, this naturally builds up to the twist in which Kylo Ren betrays Valum and relinquishes the Sith path, not because he saw the light, but thought they were the huddles to his path to more power.

This backstory also makes Kylo Ren an actual foil to Jaina as well. Whereas Kylo embraces the notion of being destined to become the greatest Force power user and part of the Force/political dynasty in the galaxy, Jaina has to learn to be her own self on her path to enlightenment by losing the burden the Skywalker name carries. In her arc, she learns to give her power up in a heartbeat for the friends she makes and the family she bonds with made of the people Jacen dismisses and rejects. Only then, she achieves the potential of the Force Jacen craves. Jacen can’t stand that Jaina has the power he believes should go to him.

Also, Making Kylo Ren hesitate adds to his character arc to the dark side. One of my gripes about Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens is even though his arc is overcoming the light side and embracing the dark, there is zero moment in which he does anything ‘good’. He is, from the start, too unambiguously evil. He kills the unarmed old man, massacres the villagers, and tortures people. He says he feels the pull toward the light, but we don’t see any indication of that. With Kylo's arc in mind, it was important to show his reluctance.

Exegol:

The Destroyer has arrived at Exegol and Jacen collects Ben from his cell. Jacen talks about how the First Order is full of dreams and madness as he shows over a thousand Star Destroyers are mobilized here.

Coruscant:

Coruscant is boiling with the civil unrest. Protests have turned violent. The political division between the pro-Republic and the pro-Empire sides has been exenterated by the economic depression. Flying stones and tear gas, exploding columns of fire from flame bottles, and pickets rolling on the ground. People—normal people—began to glorify the Imperial era. A worryingly significant chunk of the population misses Palpatine. Despite its efforts, the New Republic couldn’t liquidate so many remnants that originate in the Imperial era. The Empire wasn’t simply a government, nor even a superpower. It was effectively a galaxy-wide interstellar trading network. It had connected divisions and businesses in millions of worlds around the galaxy, and in many of those planets, it was the primary—the only—engine driving the economy. When the Empire collapsed, it plunged the galaxy into a financial crisis the likes of which has never been seen. Then the Vong War and its aftermath created a situation one may even be fair to say that the galaxy will never recover. Trillions of people have lost their jobs, starved, and died. Calling it catastrophic would be an extraordinary understatement. The merger between the New Republic and the Imperial remnants means the Palpatinists are still around today and influencing the Galactic Alliance politically, economically, and culturally.

In the Senate, the hologram of Supreme Commander Leia Organa stands before the senators and the Chief of State. The political side within the Galactic Alliance would be helmed by Leia Organa Solo, who would take the role of Hera Syndulla from the Ahsoka show. She earned the rank of the Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance military after the Yuuzhan Vong War and has been passionately warning the government about the constant threat of the Imperial remnants. The Ahsoka show has been depicting the New Republic as incompetent toward a rising threat and its leadership as unlikable, but if the government is the Galactic Alliance, it would make more sense for them to be unwilling to help Leia, casting her as a warmonger due to a large contingent of Empire supporters.

Chief of State Lanever Villecham--Leader of the Galactic Alliance--who was elected as a centrist bridge between the two factions, and just as Hera did in the show, Leia would clash with the senators and the Chief about the mission. Leia has been presenting evidence of the First Order's increasing threat. A detailed account of the many ways the First Order aggressed toward the Alliance systems and initiated a genocide against nonhumans based on intelligence reports. With the new testimony from the defected stormtrooper Finn and the recent attack on Ilum, she suggests all this is part of a larger operation involving Armitage Daala—in hopes of convincing the Galactic Senate of the Alliance to take harder military action against the First Order before it is too late. The senators retort that Natasi Daala was a patriot and a war hero of the Galactic Alliance in the Vong War and that the First Order is just a small radical group, branding Leia as a warmonger who is trying to make a big deal of the incident. The senators suggest Leia is conveniently using the Alliance's forces in her quest to find Luke Skywalker. The Chief and the senators mistrust the Jedi due to the crumbling of the Jedi Order. After several tragic incidents to the Jedi Order, it has fractured and corrupt, and Jedi Knights split out and often act as unsupervised space rangers. This results in much of the galaxy seeing Jedi Knights as rogue soldiers too dangerous and unstable to leave unfettered. The Chief has sworn to bring the Jedi under government control—or disband it entirely.

The Chief of State suggests those resources could be used for a more practical purpose such as improving the economic situation in helping the people of the Alliance. Leia asks the senator if he served in the Galactic Civil War, prompting the senator to reply no. Syndulla asks if the senator is waiting by the fence to see who comes on top. She calls out much of the Senate to be the Imperial sympathizers. Leia is quickly kicked out.

Galactic Alliance Fleet:

The hologram device deactivates. Leia is dejected. She has never forgotten Alderaan and all who had perished by the Empire. She orders her officer to prepare for war and assemble at the Sinta base. She decided to ignore the Senate's decision. With Finn's detailed account, she is convinced that the First Order will make a move soon. She thanks Finn and says that the Alliance will provide him with his safety, though Finn doesn't believe it.

The fleet jumps out of hyperspace and arrives at D'Qar--the Galactic Alliance base of operations. Here you can introduce the various characters who survived the Vong War. The Twins Suns Squadron and Wraith Squadron are introduced, with the characters like Jagged Fel, Piggy, and Tesar Sebatyne, making appearances as more or less extras.

Supremacy:

The First Order fleet gathers around the Supremacy in preparation for the attack on the D’Qar principal headquarters and the eventual wide-scale offensive on the Alliance military and civilian commands and control systems in the Outer Rim Territories. Jacen asks him about the droid, but Ben only gives him BB-8's technical specifications. Jacen tells him that he knew about the map and that the First Order had recovered the rest of it from the archives of the Empire. Jacen mind-probes him to look for the memory of the map. As he strains to resist the probe, Jacen pushes into him, brushing aside his awkward attempts to keep him out. He feels Ben's loneliness and fear. Ben grows more resistant to his mental attack and turns it against him, using the same ability to read Jacen's mind. Ben realizes Jacen intends to find him is to kill Luke Skywalker and fears that he will never be as strong as Darth Vader was. Something has changed within Ben in his stare and posture. It could be his realization or rage.

Stunned by Ben's newly found power, Kylo Ren speaks to his Master, who reacts with incredulity that his cousin resisted him. Ben is even stronger with the Force than he realized. Admiralissimo Daala tells Valum that Kylo believed he only needed Ben and allowed the droid to escape. Concerned that Leia might have the full map to Skywalker, Valum demands that Daala begin the invasion. Dala has finished the preparations. If the offensive succeeds, he believes it will solidify his Supreme Leadership of the First Order. Valum scolds Kylo Ren for his compassion for his family and orders him to bring Ben to him.

Meanwhile, only one stormtrooper is left to guard Ben's cell. Testing out her newfound Force abilities, Ben attempts to use a mind trick on the trooper in order to influence him to remove the restraints and leave the cell with the door open. The trooper is confused at first and, after his second attempt, said he would instead tighten the restraints. The third time he tries, however, Ben is successful. The trooper removes the restraints and begins to leave the cell. He also drops his weapon after Ben tells him to, allowing him to leave the cell while armed with a blaster rifle. Jacen discovers that Ben is missing and orders the First Order troops to be on high alert—the longer Ben goes undiscovered while testing his abilities, the more powerful and more dangerous he would become to the First Order.

Daala orders the entire fleet on Exegol to begin the attack. “Let the heroic images of Emperor Palpatine, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Admiral Thrawn guide you. Be worthy of the spirit of our founder Admiralissimo Natasi Daala.”

D'Qar:

A distraught Leia opens up the map in the command center. C-3PO informs the part of the map matches no charted system on record. They do not have enough information to locate Luke. BB-8 finds R2-D2, which has locked itself in self-imposed low-power mode since Luke went away. Han, Jaina, and Leia have a conversation about Jacen Solo. Only Han sees Kylo Ren as his son Jacen Solo and thinks he can revert to the light, whereas Leia and Jaina are skeptical, especially after he murdered Mara Jade.

In the movie, Han gives up looking for his son, thinking he is forever lost, and Leia takes a more active parental role, urging Han to bring their son back. Han even acts like it's not his fault his son turned to the dark side: "There was too much Vader in him." At a glance, this seems to be on point, with Han Solo being a gruffier guy and Leia being (relatively) a kinder woman. Yet I don’t believe this is how their dyanamics would play out. Many fans believe Han is the type of character who would never settle down and have a family, but that ignores his entire character arc throughout the Original trilogy. As I said before, Han’s arc in the Originals is transforming from a selfish smuggler who doesn’t care about others to a selfless hero who takes responsibility for others. On the contrary, in case of Leia, she never forgave Vader. She is still mortified about being Vader’s daughter and hates him, and is unable to see him in the same light Luke can, who witnessed his redemption. Leia was never saved by Darth Vader the way Luke was and never understood how Luke was able to forgive him. She hid her identity as Darth Vader’s daughter and identified herself as Bail Organa’s daughter. This was still the case more than 20 years after the Battle of Endor, around the time of the book Bloodlines. In Bloodlines she was disturbed when her identity as Darth Vader’s daughter was exposed to the galaxy and was practically expelled from the Senate over it. Early in the book, when she told Senator Casterfo about her history in the Galactic Civil War, she spoke of Darth Vader by his name, not calling him ‘father.’ They bonded over their shared victimisation at the hands of Darth Vader, and it was her anger at Vader that made Casterfo trust her again after he found out who she was. Leia in Legends named her third child Anakin as a way to confront her fear of Vader but she didn’t do this to forgive him and to redeem the name. Leia separated Vader and Anakin and that’s how she coped. However, she also dealt with the generational trauma of Vader being her father by seeing him through a child named after him and seeing what he could have been through Anakin Solo. This is a huge burden to give a child and Anakin Solo is burdened once he realizes Vader’s legacy. Anakin Solo’s burning desire to do good and save the galaxy is in part to become the antithesis of what Vader was. Anakin Solo dies sacrificing his life for his family and friends. While he escapes the legacy by dying, his brother Jacen turns to the dark side like Kylo Ren. Though Jacen’s turn isn’t marked as a direct result from the family’s generational trauma, it still happened. Leia coming to terms with Vader has not changed that two of her sons were dead. Leia did become an older Jedi though in Legends and that was the final step of her accepting herself and not be stuck by Vader’s memory and fear because Legends Leia had always feared having children because of what they could do, of what was in her blood and what she could do. In The Force Awakens, Leia even states she sent Ben to Luke to become a Jedi because of her fear of his son falling to the dark side like Vader, which in turn cemented Ben’s fall. The setup for how Canon did it versus how Legends dealt with Vader’s legacy and Leia is a study in how generational trauma is passed on through avoidance vs how generational trauma doesn’t go away even despite somewhat confrontation of the past. In the end, both versions of confronting the history and avoiding the history still ends with tragedy for Leia in her family life.

After Leia’s son fell through fantasies of becoming the next Vader, it would result in three things: 1) An embittered Leia is going to be angry and blame Vader for starting this familial legacy. 2) Leia is only going to get closure with her biological father because she has a direct example of a child she raised and loved falling so far to do horrific things. I don’t see her ever forgiving Vader’s crimes but I see her coming to terms with Anakin, if that makes sense. 3) Leia will cherish the memories of her son but she will hold an immense hatred toward Kylo Ren and everything he represents as she did with Vader. Leia will not be optimistic about bringing him back as she sees them as two different entities. Leia is also a politician and a Supreme Commander, and I believe she would be pragmatic about it. For her, the ideals always came first. It would make sense for her character to be someone who does not wish to take chances.

As they discuss, the First Order fleet arrives at D'Qar. The Supremacy is their ‘superweapon’, but its function is different. Instead of being another planet-destroying Death Star, the Supremacy is a battleship with the function of trapping the designated spot on the planet with the energy shield so the enemies cannot escape. It is still huge, but nothing like a Death Star and especially the Starkiller Base in the film. This Supremacy seems to be a good balance between new and old without becoming a literal Death Star 3. This puts the Republic in the defensive battle instead of the offensive battle. It is less Battle of Yavin, but more Battle of Hoth. This gives the climax diverse set-pieces from the ground battles to the air battles. This raises the stakes as it is one large evacuation mission, meaning even when our heroes do succeed at evacuating, it will not be a clean victory unlike the Battle of Starkiller Base in the movie. This sets a darker tonal shift for the sequel, in which our heroes are on the constant retreat.

Armitage Daala broadcasts his speech to the HoloNet about his intent to revive the Empire, condemning the Galactic Alliance's failure in leadership. He incites the Imperial sympathizers in the galaxy to rise up and topple their local governments. As the Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, Daala promises people to bring anarchy to an end to rebuild the post-war galaxy, gathering support from those who want stronger centralization. From now on, the First Order declares itself as the Supreme Council for Galactic Reconstruction, holding administrative authority over the Chief of State, legislative power over the Senate, and even judicial power, taking control of all three powers of the Galactic Alliance. Daala will promise to step down and return to the democratic system once the "corruption" is eradicated from the Galactic Alliance. His plan is to still have the Chief of State in name only as a ceremonial role, essentially as a hostage to show the Alliance would still be "democratic" on the surface, and when fully takes over the Galactic Alliance, the First Order will declare martial law, embracing full authoritarianism with justification to purge the Republic sympathizers from the Alliance to revive the old Empire. In a sense, Palpatine was a Hitler-like Machiavellian figure, whereas Daala would be a Francisco Franco and Julius Caesar figure.

In the command center, the Alliance officers marvel at the hologram of the Supremacy. They've built a new kind of planetary shield generator on their main command ship, but its aim is not to defend, but to trap the planet. It’s their fantasy came true—a constantly maneuvering military force driven by a dominant armada. The deflector shield has completely enclosed the Alliance base. Their communications jammed. Nothing can get past the shield. Someone suggests for this amount of power to be restrained until such time as it is released, that ship would need some kind of thermal oscillator. Finn interjects that there is one. if they can destroy that oscillator, it might destabilize and destroy the whole ship. They believe the gate shield will open occasionally to let more reinforcements into the atmosphere, and the Falcon, led by Han, Jaina, and Finn, can get through it and into the Supremacy. Lowie will lead the Twin Suns Squadron to assist the Falcon.

Jaina convinces Finn to join the team. Leia comes to Han to have the last conversation, asking him to bring Ben.

The battle begins and the plan succeeds--the Falcon infiltrates the Supremacy.

Supremacy:

The infiltration goes similarly to the movie. "That's not how the Force works…!", they capture Phasma to find the control room, overheat the oscillator. and find Ben Skywalker on the way. Jaina embraces Ben. They then head to the oscillator room and plant the bombs. One moment I would like to add is the moment of Finn has to shoot his comrade in the infiltration and deal with guilt and Captain Phasma crawls out of the garbage chute and orders his troops to the oscillator room.

Han confronts Jacen Solo on the bridge. It plays the same way as the movie. Jacen murders his father and tosses him off the bridge. Finn fires on Jacen and hits him in the abdomen. Jaina is enraged and triggers the bombs. The shield deactivates, allowing the Alliance forces to flee from D'Qar. Jaina tells Finn to take Ben to the escape pod and rocket to D'Qar's surface. In a subversion of the traditional Star Wars superweapon trope, the Supremacy doesn't blow up.

The moment I saw the Starkiller Base on screen, I knew that the climax was going to be the X-wings flying into the superweapon and blowing it up from the inside by shooting at the vulnerable parts. Happy ending. We saw that already. A movie doing the exact same thing, not for the second time but the third time (fourth if you include The Phantom Menace), cannot make the audience arms up and cheer like when they saw it for the first time. If anything, it would have been much more interesting if the reverse had happened. Toning the destruction down to just breaking the shield and letting the heroes escape, rather than the whole thing going up in flames. EckhartsLadder’s video, One change that makes Starkiller Base INTERESTING (...and Ep. 7 less of a Remake) | Star Wars, proposed this idea regarding the Starkiller Base. The Last Jedi already treats the destruction of the Starkiller Base as irrelevant by having the First Order stronger than ever. The Force Awakens would be more interesting if the Resistance failed to destroy Starkiller Base during the first engagement. The shield is gone, but the looming threat of the Supremacy is still there and extends to the next film. It is a dark twist to A New Hope because the bad guys win. It is a more bitter ending that sets up for the tone for The Last Jedi. It merges the two superweapons, the Starkiller Base and the Supremacy, into one. It makes the Supremacy way more persistent and memorable.

D'Qar:

Finn and Ben land on the D'Qar surface. The surface is covered with ashes of the bombing that resemble snow. An injured Kylo Ren has followed them. Kylo Ren Force-pushes Ben and knocks him out. Finn ignites the Skywalker lightsaber. Jacen calls out that he should have that lightsaber and Finn responds by telling him to take it. Locked in a duel, Jacen gets injured again, but he defeats Finn, wounding Finn unconscious. Jacen then calls the Skywalker lightsaber to his hand with the Force, but it flies to Ben's hand. Ben decides to fight on.

Armed with the legendary lightsaber, Ben spends most of the duel in retreat, defending himself against Jacen's advances. The two lock sabers and Jacen tells him he could train him in the ways of the Force. Ben, remembering what Master Sebatyne told him, draws upon the powers of the Force. Unaware, Ben instead gives in to hs raw power, anger, rage, and fury. He moves onto the offensive, viciously delivering several blows against Jacen. Jacen realizes that Ben has more anger than he, or maybe an emotion that he doesn't even recognize anymore. In doing so, Ben he cuts Jacen's right arm and slashes across his face. Jacen is afraid. Ben thinks about killing Jacen. One downward strike would be enough to kill him. However, Ben recoils from it. From the dark side. He turns off the lightsaber. Turning away from the injured cousin, he runs back to where Finn lays wounded.

Holding Finn's unresponsive body in her arms, Ben starts to cry. He thinks both are going to die, for the First Order won the battle and would come after them. When all seems lost, the Falcon piloted by Jaina Solo arrives. Ben takes Finn into the ship, but Jacen Solo is chasing them, holding his lightsaber with his left arm. Jacen pilots the Falcon, so its sublight drive exhaust blasts Jacen face-on. The Falcon’s engine wash floods Jacen, and eventually, he gives in. He slides away backward. Jacen tastes shame. He has failed and must tell his Master.

Sinta Base:

The Galactic Alliance fleet arrives at the Sinta Glacier from The Rise of Skywalker, which is converted into the base. Knowing Han is dead, Leia hugs Ben and Jaina, mourning a member of their family. This is viewed by R2-D2, whose eye flashes red. The droid's silence is broken by whistling not heard in years. R2-D2's sudden awakening and announcing he had a map all along was a much-debated topic and considered as a deliberate mystery box to set up Episode 8. Apparently, J.J. Abrams did explain this. ”While it may seem, you know, completely lucky and an easy way out, at that point in the movie, when you’ve lost a person, desperately, and somebody you hopefully care about is unconscious, you want someone to return.” So, it was not a mystery, it was a Deus Ex Machina, literally. A better way to justify this is having R2-D2 be conscious all the time, just in a self-imposed exile as Luke did because R2 does not want Luke to be found. R2 knows the power vacuum in dark side of the Force created after Return of the Jedi makes Luke a dangerous weapon. R2 refuses to allow further pain caused to or by his master. Then Ben awakens the Force. He nearly defeats Kylo Ren. Anakin's lightsaber has found its true heir. All these reinvigorate R2. He powers on because Ben is worthy of finding Luke. R2 wants to help her find Luke and train with Luke.

Overwhelmed by the new sense of hope, R2 excitedly reveals the remainder of half of the map. Leia inserts the other half into BB-8, the two droids merge the maps into a whole, revealing Luke's location. Cheers and spontaneous embraces fill the room with so much joy that officers who had never shown emotion hug each other. Ben and Jaina visit an unconscious Finn to express their gratitude. Jaina kisses him in the forehead, thanking him for saving his nephew. Ben swears he will see him again.

While Ben expects Leia to put him on another hideout in some other part fo the galaxy, surprisingly, Leia hands him the Skywalker lightsaber and a homing beacon.

Leia: "Your father once told me, the future is always in motion. Difficult to see. But as I am looking within the Force for a glimpse of you, Ben, it has never seemed clearer.”

Ben: “I don’t know what this is inside me, but if I keep on knowing… if I keep being afraid, something terrible will happen. I know it.”

Leia: "You won't share the fate of my son. If Master Sebatyne says you’re the only one who can reach him, then it needs to be you. I’ve come to learn she’s usually right about these things.”

Ben boards the Falcon, piloted by Lowie, and blasts off to the location of Luke.

Tython:

The ship arrives at the planet of Tython and the ocean, dotted with a sprinkling of towering islands formed of black rock: the throats of volcanoes whose slopes had long since eroded away.

Ben Skywalker embarks on the island to meet his father, and there, he finds him, standing on the cliff. Remembering, Ben reaches into his pack and removes the lightsaber that had passed from one hand to another. Taking several steps forward, the boy who possesses it now holds it out to the father who had possessed it long before. An offer. A plea. The galaxy’s only hope. Within the boy and the father and the lightsaber held between, the Force stirs anew. The promise of an adventure, just beginning…

The End.

Initially, I intended the story's first half to be The Force Awakens' first half, and the second half to be Ahsoka's second half, but the result is more of an 80% TFA with the moments from Ahsoka sprinkled in. Much of the changes were due to the size of the fleet. While I like the concept of our characters stranded on an isolated planet trying to stop the baddies, if a thousand ships cover Exegol rather than one, there is no wriggle room for our heroes to wander around on the planet. The structure of Ahsoka's long and stretching second half also doesn't fit the feature film, which should be firing all its cylinders in terms of the pacing and stakes. It also didn't make sense for Luke to be on the same planet as where the fleet is, so I just abandoned the initial plan and borrowed the structure from my TFA REDONE.

The result is generally faithful to the movie, while also, as far as I am aware, conciliatory to the Legends continuity. Just dividing Rey's character into the two--Jaina and Ben--makes the story cleaner with a sharper character goal. With Rey in the movie, the story has to pivot between the two unrelated character threads. For one, Rey acts like Han is her father and is completely devastated when he dies even though she has known him for... a few hours, and they haven't interacted with each other much. How are we supposed to feel "he's like your father you've never had" when we are never shown that? She doesn't know Han Solo, so getting that emotional feels manipulative. Then her "Jedi journey" suddenly introduced in the third act completely disconnects from the "find parents journey" from the first and second acts. She is suddenly so powerful in the Force that she doesn't have to wait on Jakku for parents anymore, and can go to Luke to train as a Jedi. As a result, none of these two "journeys" is earned.

When you make Rey into two separate characters, you have enough room to invest in each journey. Jaina's subplot is meeting and bonding with her resentful father once again, getting to understand why he left her, which is why it is a heartbreak moment for her when Kylo Ren kills him, and this leads to her taking the role of Poe, who goes through an arc of overcoming her spiteful and impulsive behaviors "you can't just blow things up" in the sequel in a more natural manner. After all, Han was literally her father, and the relationship was already established. Ben's character arc of gaining his Force power works within this narrative in terms of the proper set-ups and pay-offs. He has been staying in his place, all depressed about waiting for his father to return, but having to regain his Jedi powers and spirit and venturing out to find his father makes for a smoother arc because both "Jedi" and "father" arcs are one in the same.

If I continue this to The Last Jedi, the plot can still remain similar. The Galactic Alliance fleet is stranded with the Alliance systems joining the First Order in the American Civil War-style scenario, leading to the central government to appease it. Jaina will be paired with Finn to save the fleet. Ben Skywalker will discover the truth of the destruction of the Jedi Paraxeum.

Diagnosis of the two stories, and where they went wrong:

There have been a lot of talks about how the Ahsoka series should have been the Sequel trilogy. I am in of agreement, but not exactly because Ahsoka is a good of a show. It's because this show could have been way more fun if it starred different characters in their replacements because as this show currently stands, it does not utilize the traits of the characters in the actual story.

I have outlined my qualms about the show in the separate "fix", but to reiterate again, for a show titled "Ahsoka", there is no reason for this show to be "Ahsoka". This story is not about her nor revolves around her. Ahsoka's portrayal is not the same Ahsoka the audience fell in love with in The Clone Wars or even Rebels. She is a sanitized, washed-up version of the character, only with the same name. The show misunderstands one of the core appeals of Ahsoka's character, which was that she was Anakin's apprentice, and that makes the audience speculate how she would interact with Vader, but now Vader is gone. She didn't seem to do anything interesting during and after the Original trilogy, cast aside from the narrative crux. So what's she doing now in the stories of the post-OT? Stopping Thrawn? She was not even present when Thrawn entered in Rebels, so her motivation to stop him is feeble, relying on second-hand accounts. Her conflict is not thematically linked to the pursuit of Thrawn.

Rosario Dawson also doesn't care about actually acting Ahsoka's character. The lively Ahsoka from the animated series is gone. The Rebels Ahsoka is more in line with how an eager teenage TCW Ahsoka would grow up to become--a mature, but still, down-to-earth woman who struggles to find the right answers. She isn't a Jedi-like master because she isn't much of a Jedi. The recent live-action Ahsoka comes across as just another Jedi Master--a discerning advisor. She has none of the same personality. For a reason I cannot understand, Filoni turned her into an all-knowing wise sage, who is basically a Luke stand-in. I doubt whatever they do with her now would lead to a conclusion as satisfying and fitting as dying trying to redeem Vader.

I get that Filoni wanted to do that to tie things up after Rebels, but why the hell would you make Thrawn the Luke equivalent? Thrawn is depicted as this super powerful invisible Thanos-like looming presence, the magic piece, which doesn't fit who he is. The Star Wars books were mostly about Saturday morning cartoon-style B-novels that you read once and throw into a bin until the Thrawn trilogy revolutionized the secondary market of the Star Wars saga due to how compelling Thrawn and his "mind games" pushing heroes to the corner. He was Sherlock Holmes if he was a villain. He utilized all the tricks in The Art of War, toyed with the Rebels in the battle of wits, and thought up an ingenious strategy, outsmarted our heroes, with the charismatic attitude of taking control of the Imperial remnants. The conventional strategy of just fighting him didn't work.

So why would you make a show revolving around Thrawn in which Thrawn is not doing anything like that? He is not a character at all. Just a presence and a promise. He didn't appear until Episode 6 of the 8 Episode show, and even after that, he rarely makes any move. He is touted as a big baddie but has nothing to show for it. What's his motivation? What are his capabilities? Who is he as a character? Nothing. He was apparently just waiting on some isolated planet... staying there for more than a decade, not doing anything like some sort of a guru on the mountain. This would be like making a show about Riddler that treats Riddler like Ra's al Ghul, who does no mystery or riddle. This is enough proof that Filoni is not capable or even interested in telling stories with the level of depth and nuance Timothy Zhan's novels had.

It is a show with the galaxy-destroying stakes with the gigantic return of Thrawn, yet the stakes are unclear. The stakes in Andor feel more real and intimate to the characters despite being smaller, like the prison escape and the vault heist, whereas here, it is just all about the anticipation of "Thrawn Will Return", and it never felt tense. All he has is one old-ass Star Destroyer with the frailing stormtroopers, and are you telling me he is going to take over the galaxy with that? Normal people who have not read the Thrawn trilogy, watched Rebels, and have no idea who he is would never be intimidated by this character at all. His "We will be back, guys!" passive appearance entirely relies on the legacy reputation from the much better books.

I haven't even yet gotten into the other returning characters. Sabine is regressed into a rebellious, edgy teenager, which goes against how she matured by the end of Rebels. She then redoes her arc from the animated show with the live-action actress, which doesn't feel like a natural progression of where Rebels left off. It's like Dave Filoni doesn't watch his shows. Ezra's reappearance also lacks a proper dramatic weight and is insignificant. I have a mountain of criticisms against Hermit Luke from The Last Jedi, but at least he felt like a hermit who was banished for a decade. Old Luke was visually humanized and given new characteristics alongside the focus on body language, whereas Ezra is portrayed as just some guy.

While Ashoka is more serialized out of Filoni's outputs, the plot still feels repetitive. It doesn't feel like not much significance has progressed despite being an eight-episode show. In the first half of the series, the villains talk about how evil they are, and the good guys go somewhere and fail to capture the baddies. Repeat. Not much information has been revealed there. Very low stakes. Much of the map-hunting mystery just gets solved by... Sabine staring at it. I was like, that's it? She just stared at it longer in her room, and that's all she took to solve the mystery. The actual chase for the map has no synergy and thrill, contrasted to the intense pull-and-push dynamics from The Force Awakens--the movie this show is trying its hard to replicate.

However, I have delved into some storytelling experiments about how this show could have worked as Star Wars: Episode VII--the first and single movie within the Sequel trilogy--rather than a continuation TV series of Rebels. Lucas imagined the Sequel trilogy to take inspiration from the Iraqi Civil War--the New Republic struggling to maintain a democracy from corruption and the Imperial remnants. He also wanted the story to revolve around the Skywalker children's growth as Jedi Knights and the search for Hermit Luke. I thought about changing the roles from the Rebels cast to the Skywalkers and the OT cast, replacing some stale plotlines and set-pieces with the ones from the Sequels, and putting the setting from a few years after the OT to decades after the OT. I have come to the conclusion that a lot of the problems would have been alleviated.

The problem with the Sequel trilogy was not that the villains are the rising Imperial remnants—it also happened in the Legends timeline—but how it set up the First Order versus the Resistance to carry the nearly identical geopolitical dynamics as the Original trilogy. If you take seriously the idea that the new movies are true sequels to the Original trilogy, and A New Hope ends with the galaxy and our characters at point A, The Empire Strikes Back ends at point C, Return of the Jedi ends at E, and then the very next movie reverts the galaxy and our heroes at point D, and the only reasons the movies give are “Snoke” and "Starkiller Base". These two upend the status quo and largely do that without explanation, and most of whatever they did occur outside of these movies.

The Force Awakens has an element of the "struggling democracy" from Lucas' earlier visions for the Sequels, but it is only a backdrop the audience has to go out and read some tie-in novels to even understand why the galaxy went to a toilet and what happened to the characters in between those two trilogies. If you just watch the movie, the movie never makes anything clear. Like, who is in control of the galaxy? It mentions the New Republic, so do they rule the galaxy? If so, how did they go from ruling the galaxy to being obliterated in literal seconds? They are immediately rendered irrelevant nor play any part in the story we are watching. Did they not have any military force or administrative power other than Hosnian Prime, so the Resistance is all they have? They still have Coruscant, which has served as a galactic capital for millennia. How big is the First Order? Where do they live? How big of a territory do they have? They are supposed to be a rogue state, but they built a superweapon that eclipses anything we saw from the movies and EU. What's even going on?

History is taught as a series of wars, but the periods in between wars are also important. The Prequels, despite all their faults, understood this. Unless you read the books written by the Lucasfilm writers who had to do all the dirty work the filmmakers did not, you wouldn’t know the New Republic disarmed itself; that Leia became a Senator again, but was forced to resign when it got revealed who her father was; that there were elements in the New Republic sympathetic to the First Order who were trying to assassinate Leia, causing the Resistance to be created. When the New Republic gets destroyed, you end up feeling nothing, because you don't know what's even the political dynamics in the galaxy. You also don’t get a feel for how large the First Order was, making it all feel like a hollow story to get things to the status quo of A New Hope.

One thing I appreciate about the Ahsoka series and why I believe this should have been the Sequel trilogy is that it charges into that very story head-on. The world does feel like a continuation of where the OT left off. It does not just say the Imperial remnants just came out of nowhere and erased the Republic capital with another Death Star. You actually get to watch the political scenes that showcase the ineffectual Republic and introspection into the aftermath of war. The Republic is too tired of war to face the real threat posed by the Imperial remnants. The worldbuilding is clearer. Even though Hera is not involved in the adventure, she is still an asset diplomatically. It understands that if they're going to make the bad guys the Imperials again three decades after they beat the Empire, the political context needs to be clear.

What I am trying to do:

I have been experimenting with how Ahsoka and The Force Awakens could have merged into Episode VII in a way to satisfy the core fans and the casual fans. Ahsoka already felt like Filoni's take on The Force Awakens, so I thought it could work. I tried to complement pros and cons of both stories and borrowed much of the story elements from my TFA REDONE.

I also wanted to stick to the established continuity of Legends rather than throwing its entirety away into the fire like Lucasfilm did when Disney acquired the IP. The old EU had lots of problems, but choosing the scorched-earth approach was not a wise decision in retrospect, especially considering what replaced the old EU turned out to be worse in magnitudes. The reconstruction of a post-Yuuzhan Vong War galaxy under the newly established Galactic Alliance government is a great setting to explore the struggling democracy and the threat of the Imperial remnants. In the Legends EU, the New Republic allied with the Imperial remnants to fight off the Vong invasion. In their partnership, the Galactic Alliance was born from the coalition of the New Republic, Imperial Remnant, Hapes Consortium, and Chiss Ascendancy. As one can predict, the Galactic Alliance was reconciliatory toward the Imperials, so much so that in Fate of the Jedi Tarkin's protege Natasi Daala was elected as an unifying leader.

That level of Imperial takeover wouldn't happen in this story as it is set before LOTF and FOTJ, but the Galactic Alliance would be filled with societal tension between the pro-Republic and pro-Empire politics that would make the Weimar Republic and pre-Civil War America look stable. The post-war economy is in shreds, and the political instability is all-time high. Not only pro-Imperial fascists would wage terrorist attacks, but they would have a chance to use elections and the opportunity to penetrate civil society in order to build up political support. This way, it would not undo the victory the heroes had in the Original trilogy as pointless by making them rebels again in a shaggy dog story, but more about a lesson of how liberty must not only be won but also defended even from your own.

I believe that the Sequel trilogy could work as the "sequels" to The New Jedi Order series, carrying over the cast of characters, without a whole lot of changes, while still being accessible to the audience, who don't know anything about the Yuuzhan Vong or the Galactic Alliance. The Force Awakens barely explained anything about the Resistance, the First Order, and the New Republic, and people still managed to get through the story due to having a simple plot of treasure map hunting. If you notice canonical contradictions, you are welcome to point them out in the comments, for TNJO's lore is quite expensive to grasp even for the most hardcore fans. Here is my reimagination of how Ahsoka could have been Episode VII.

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

The devastating invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong brought the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant together for a common cause. From the ashes of the war, the GALACTIC ALLIANCE has risen.

As the two sides unify, Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the NEW JEDI ORDER is left fractured and scattered, and sinister forces are already at work to revive the old Empire.

Supreme Commander Leia Organa is desperate to gain his brother's help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy. She has sent her daughter Jaina Solo on a secret mission to search for Luke's whereabouts....

This alternative The Force Awakens is set in 39ABY, ten years after The New Jedi Order series, but retcons the post-NJO works like The Dark Nest Trilogy, Legacy of the Force, Fate of the Jedi, and Legacy. After the New Jedi Order series ushered the golden age of EU, anything afterward is considered, to put it kindly, mediocre products. This story does take some ideas from them, but they need to be erased in order to make some room for the creative freedom necessary to explore our characters and the setting.

Jakku:

Han Solo and Leia Organa's thirty-year-old daughter, Jaina Solo, would take Ahsoka's Jedi aspect and Poe Dameron's role. Jaina Solo in the EU is known for her excellent piloting skills as well as demonstrating some of Han's more impulsive, arrogant, and stubborn characteristics, so she is a perfect fit for Poe Dameron. I can imagine played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Olivia Thirlby, or Jaci Twiss.

On Jakku, she meets a Jedi Master--an old ally of Luke. If you want to tie him with the old continuity, he can be any notable EU Jedi Master, but I'm making him Kyle Katarn for the name recognition. From their conversation and subsequent dialogues, we understand that Jaina Solo is the de-facto leader of the New Jedi Order.

Jaina is haunted by the memories of the Vong War. The losses of her comrades and brother affected her, and she confided that she expected to die in the war. Her crucial character arc of choosing light or dark has already passed in the NJO, and she is a fully formed Jedi Knight by the start of this story. Whether she becomes a Jedi or a Sith isn't really a choice for her, for she has already made it. A character like this is harder to make a character arc out of, but it is possible. The events she went through in the NJO series and the aftermath made her a much more jaded, cynical person, sort of "dead" inside, riddled with PTSD. She is looking for peace and purpose while being forced to take on a difficult task to reunify the Jedi Order.

Jaina and her new droid, BB-8, receive the map to Luke's location from Kyle Katarn. At that moment, the First Order stormtroopers commanded by this mysterious figure Kylo Ren raid the village. The massacre is led by Captain Phasma, who establishes a screen presence by tossing a grenade into a house full of women and children. She takes the role of Captain Enoch. One stormtrooper is shellshocked by all this. His helmet is blood-marked by his dying comrade. Meanwhile, Jaina Solo's X-Wing is destroyed, and she reluctantly uses the ship's subspace radio to call "someone she knows" to get help. She sends BB-8 away alone to the deserts, while she tries to rescue Master Katarn. You can maybe add in the brief lightsaber fight scene between Kylo Ren and Katarn to showcase how powerful Kylo Ren can be at this point. Katarn loses and has a brief exchange, hinting at the identity of Kylo Ren. Jaina uses a blaster rifle to snipe at Kylo Ren, but Kylo Ren uses Katarn as a meatshield to block the blast. Katarn is left dead and a captured Jaina is brought to the Star Destroyer. Kylo Ren tells his troops, "Admiralissimo Daala has ordered not to leave any prisoners". The stormtroopers massacre the villagers. Only the blood-marked stormtrooper doesn't fire. His designation is FN-2178.

Star Destroyer:

Jaina, meanwhile, is the captive of Kylo Ren on board the Star Destroyer. Captain Phasma orders FN-2178 to submit his blaster for inspection.

Here, you can learn more about the First Order, as Jaina is being dragged across the corridor in the prison area, she views the nonhumans getting tortured, alluding to the First Order's xenophobia. She then gets tortured to tell where the map is. More hints toward Kylo Ren being someone Jaina knows, but Jaina doesn't explicitly call it out, for she thinks that someone she knew is dead metaphorically, replaced by the steel husk. During the torture, Kylo Ren says something like "Aliens breed mites, much like a cheese. You can’t negotiate with mites. You have to crush them", and "We get our hands dirty, and the galaxy stays clean.” Kylo Ren uses the mind probe to extract where the map is.

Admiralissimo Armitage Daala, played by Domhnall Gleeson--the son of Natasi Daala--stands outside the cell. He replaces Admiral Thrawn from the Ahsoka show and General Armitage Hux from The Force Awakens as this cunning, radical Imperialist, who has achieved a series of great victories in the Vong War to gain popular support. Her mother was a brilliant Napoleonic general during the Vong War, who had charisma and respect among the soldiers. She led the Imperial Remnants and subsequently the Galactic Alliance campaign in defending the galaxy and giving people the support they needed that the Senate ignored, which also earned him massive popularity among civilians. Daala became a household name with a strong influence within the Galactic Alliance.

Her son's birthright as a son of one of the founders of the First Order had pushed him up the chain of command at a young age and to the current rank of the Supreme Leader of the First Order and Admiralissimo of all its forces. Armitage Daala's young age and inexperience worked as poison for his successorship to his mother. Conscious of his unstable political foundation at the time of succession, Daala concentrated on concocting tricks to overcome this impasse. He saw an opportunity in the border skirmishes as an excuse to send the First Order forces to capture the territories in violation of Galactic Concordance in a way to strengthen the ideological armament of the military. Daala then staged several false-flag incidents aimed at high ranks and used them as a pretext to claim that the alien rulers of Coruscant were plotting against the First Order from within. At first, Daala opposition within the Supreme Council were caught, then the hundreds of thousands of ranks who were connected to it dragged in, including most of those who were with his mother during the founding of the First Order. Then the purge spread through the ranks, and eventually spread to all areas of society within the First Order systems. With the terrifying burden of the dictator, he is an execrable administrator whose name was committed to repugnant acts of corruption and brutality in order to expand the system and rule of the First Order.

Kylo Ren reports to him that the map is in the droid. All this is watched by FN-2187, who makes up his mind...

Ilum:

Meanwhile, thirteen-year-old Ben Skywalker takes the role of Sabine from the show, who is still distraught about the death of his mother and the disappearance of his father. He lends well to this role because Luke's son would have the most emotional stakes about getting to see Luke return again. He is grieving. So many of his friends and members of his family died. Like Sabine from the show, he is in constant turmoil, due to the anguish that he felt in the Force during the Yuuzhan Vong War and the subsequent family tragedies. It also makes sense for a child Ben Skywalker to be, you know, a brat, and do the angsty Disney Princess-style introduction.

He is currently being looked after by Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne, played by Lupita Nyong'o, on Ilum. Leia has been acting as a foster mother for Ben. She is overprotective of him after the death of Anakin Solo, his mother Mara Jade, and the disappearance of his father Luke. Ben resents both Leia and Jaina for this for constraining him here. One of the reasons for choosing this planet as a hideout is due to the planet being a main source of kyber crystals and having been utilized for the Gathering by the Old Jedi Order. Rich with the Force, it is the perfect place for Ben, because Ben closed himself off from the Force. Part of his arc is having him grow confident in his usage of the Force and become a powerful Jedi like Rey did in TFA. Jaina had been acting as a master and sister-y role for Ben to make him open up to the Force, but it has not been easy. He tries out his Force power on a cup. The cup shakes a bit, but it doesn't fly into his hand.

Saba Sebatyne forces Ben to go through multiple training sessions in the temple, but it has not been working. Dejected, Ben goes back to his room. Ben eats a polystarch bread and looks up at the sky, conveying his desire to leave, like Rey from the movie. Like Sabine watched Ezra's holoscan, Ben puts the holo-records of his parents.

Ben Skywalker is more of a conventional Star-Warsian youthful main character in the vein of Luke, Anakin, and Ezra. The "I don't care about the ritual so I'm out riding a bike like a rebel and watching a cat" attitude fits him instead of an all-grown-up thirty-year-old battle-hardened warrior that was Sabine. I imagine his overarching arc would be similar to Rey's arc from TROS, a pull from light and dark, with Kylo Ren pulling him to the dark harder. That Ahsoka-Anakin interaction from the Ahsoka show would be fantastic to repurpose with Ben, maybe replacing the Clone Wars flashbacks with the Vong War flashbacks, but it would be better to be used in the second story within the trilogy than here.

Jakku:

In the village, BB-8 is looking for a place to hide. Jakku's visuals could look more like a scrapyard similar to the early concept arts than how it was depicted in the movie, which was basically a Tatooine knock-off. Since there is no Rey, one set-piece I thought of (Inspired by a sequence from a Korean movie The Road to Sampo) is that the droid hides in a large funeral, akin to the festival from Pasaana, and pretends to be a droid belonged to the deceased boss. BB-8 plan seems to be working as the stormtroopers don't notice him among the crowd. As BB-8 moves around, he finds that there are a lot of scraps of the "dead" droids. It is revealed that all these people are scavengers, and they kidnap BB-8 to the scavenger ship.

Star Destroyer:

FN-2187 releases Jaina. Some changes: the stormtrooper lies to her that he is with the Galactic Alliance and makes up his name "Finn", Phasma is the one leading the soldiers to shoot down the TIE in the hangar to further her presence, Finn hesitates to shoot his comrades in the hangar. Finn so willingly killing his fellow stormtroopers without any hesitation has always not sat right. His past as a stormtrooper should integrate into his behaviors rather than disregarding it. Finn should see the stormtroopers as former comrades and might have a close friend or two in the trooper ranks he would want to protect. He refuses to be a part of the First Order while having trouble reconciling his need to stop the First Order. This Finn is torn by this idea, struggling with guilt and fear. Finn would be the kind of person who might go back and pull some of his friends out of that oppression, risking his life to save people. This makes Finn a more interesting character and a great hero to follow.

The TIE shoots down some of the Destroyer's turrets, but eventually gets shot down by the Destroyer's cannon and crashes toward Jakku. Kylo Ren and Admiral Daala have a similar conversation Hux had with Kylo, such as Kylo expressing his doubt about the First Order's capability "Perhaps you should consider using a clone army", Daala expressing his skeptical feeling toward his obsession with Luke Skywalker and the Force stuff in general, saying that there is a larger concern than recovering that droid, and Kylo Ren revealing his Master is adamant about finding that map.

Jakku:

Jaina and Finn awake and find themselves inside the grounded TIE sinking into the quicksand. As they seemingly fail to pull themselves out of the dune, someone else comes to help their aid, hooking the TIE and attaching it to the freighter speeder. As they thank the helpers, they are soon knocked down and captured by them. It is revealed that they are the scavengers.

As the scavengers transport Jaina and Finn, Finn asks her about the Jedi and Luke Skywalker ("I thought he was a myth"), and in this sense, Finn is sort of an audience surrogate. They arrive at the wrecked Star Destroyer, which is now used as the scavengers' home. A First Order shuttle lands, and Captain Phasma and his troops are here upon receiving the report that the scavengers have priceless bounties at their hands.

Meanwhile, Finn is, as he was in the movie, paranoid about getting out of the First Order's grasp and asks the scavengers to take him with them, for he will do any job, but they are put behind bars. There is a blaster turret in the ceiling, aiming at the prisoners, and it will trigger when the guard activates the alarm. The jail key is with the guard.

Jaina asks Finn to talk to the guards to distract, them while she uses the Force to levitate the key to her grasp. As she does that, the guards get a call that the First Order wants these prisoners terminated immediately, and one of them is a Jedi. That's when the guards notice the key slipping out of the pocket. As the guard pulls out the blaster, she opens the door and takes down the guards fast. However, one guard pushes the alarm, and the turret activates. Jaina uses the Force to "hold" the turret in its freezing position before aiming at her. Finn rushes to deactivate the alarm, and the turret dies out.

Jaina and Finn crawl through the vents. They find out that BB-8 is in this place, and Captain Phasma is here to take the droid. Jaina releases the rathars to stop them, and this sequence plays similarly to the freighter escape sequence from TFA. As Jaina and Finn rescue BB-8 and flee to the market, the TIEs come in to chase them. At the most desperate moment, the Falcon swings in and rescues them, piloted by none other than Han Solo. He was the help Jaina reluctantly called.

Millennium Falcon:

Unlike his incarnation from the movie, Han Solo is not reverted to a smuggler, but he is not part of the Galactic Alliance military. He retired from Generalship and is no longer an upstanding hero. What happened between TNJO and this story was a dark turn for him. While not part of the military, he has gone his way. He is still a fighter in his own desperate quest to find his son Jacen Solo to make up for his mistakes as a parent, and in that way, he maintains the roguish quality of an "old Han" without forgetting his character arc in past movies. Han is motivated by a personal goal while Leia is motivated by an ideological cause. Leia, who has always been a rebel at heart, dedicated herself to a cause of democracy, liberty, and justice. In contrast, Han does not much care about galactic politics; he cares about his son. This is where they were at odds with their main objectives and had a falling out. As a result, the relationship between Han Solo and his family is strained.

Since Chewbacca has been dead since the New Jedi Order series, his role is replaced with Lowbacca, the nephew of Chewbacca. Lowie was a Jedi Knight who fought as a companion of Jaina Solo, Anakin Solo, and especially Jacen Solo in TNJO, which is why he joined up with Han in his quest. If you ever wanted to see a Wookiee holding a lightsaber, this is the character. Lowbacca's combination of computer skills and biological knowledge, and desire to take on the impossible would make him an invaluable asset to our heroes, but he abandoned the Knighthood in the aftermath of the destruction of the Jedi Temple to be part of Han's crew.

We get the Falcon chase in the same way it played in the movie, except it's Han and Lowie piloting it. The Falcon flies across the desert, goes through the ruins of the Destroyer, and shoots down the chasing TIEs. Captain Phasma notifies Admiralissimo Daala that she planted a remote beacon on the droid, which allows them to track the droid.

Unknown to the characters, Jaina has a brief argument with Han, out of a sense of betrayal that she has not seen him since he left the family and the Galactic Alliance to find his son while fixing up the ship. As Jaina is off fixing the other part of the ship, Han asks where the Galactic Alliance base is. Finn hesitates and asks the droid about it. Han sees through Finn's identity.

Regardless, as Finn lied about him being the Alliance spy within the First Order, Jaina sees Finn as a crucial informant to expose the First Order's existence. Han hesitates to meet Leia again and wishes to visit Ben first.

Star Destroyer:

A First Order officer reports to the hologram of Kylo Ren of the escape of Jaina Solo, and she boarded the Falcon. Kylo Ren throws a temper tantrum and chokes the officer as he did in the movie.

Ilum:

The Falcon has arrived at Ilum. Finn bluffs himself to Han that he is a big deal in the military and asks if there could be any conspirator here. Han sees his identity through and tells him that women always figure out the truth. Jaina and Han rush to find Ben in the Temple.

BB-8 opens up the map and they see the map is only a half piece--incomplete, much to Ben's frustration. Finn asks what happened to Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker is a vanished Jedi who has left for a mysterious reason. The New Jedi Order Luke had founded finds itself battling control of the Galactic Alliance. With over half of the Jedi Order dead in the Vong invasion including Anakin Solo, the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV destroyed in an incident, the death of Mara Jade Skywalker, and then Grand Master Luke Skywalker disappearing, the centralized control of the Jedi Order had crumbled. Finn asks who destroyed the Jedi Praxeum. One boy, an apprentice, turned against him and destroyed it all. Everyone refuses to name him. The Jedi Order still exists contrasted to how it was completely erased in the Sequel trilogy but has gone dysfunctional. The Knights of Ren have been on a rampage to hunt and kill the remaining Jedi.

Jaina is the de-facto leader of the frailing Jedi Order but has not technically taken over the Grand Master rank since she still believes Luke Skywalker is alive and will return. On the contrary, Han thinks Luke felt responsible for the destruction of the Temple and walked away from everything, whereas Jaina and Ben refuse to believe that, for that is not what Luke would do. She believes he left to investigate the First Order. Ben believes he went looking for the first Jedi temple.

Supremacy:

The Star Destroyer docks to the Supremacy. The Supremacy is the largest starship ever built and the ultimate culmination of the efforts of the various military shipbuilding corporations. The Supremacy is large enough to dock eight Resurgent-class Star Destroyers—six externally and two internally. The Supremacy is seen in breathtaking view. Within its armored hull are production lines churning out everything from stormtrooper armor to Star Destroyers, foundries and factories, R&D labs, and training centers for cadets. The Supremacy’s industrial capacity outstrips that of entire star systems, while its stores of everything from foodstuffs to ore ensure it can operate independently for years without making planetfall. Its size is gargantuan, easily outclassing all known ship sizes in galactic history, including the Star Dreadnoughts of the Galactic Empire, the trophy battlecruisers used by wealthy citizens of the waning days of the Old Republic, and even the various reconstructed versions of the flagship used by Xim the Despot.

All of which is by design. Due to her background as a Grand Admiral, Admiralissimo Natasi Daala had been steadfast in creating such a ship that could work as a regime’s capital. As the First Order's mobile headquarters of operations designed for fast and efficient tactical movements and supplies, this sole Mega-class Star Dreadnought in the First Order's service acts both as a command center and a battleship. A ship that can’t be cut off from its supply lines, as it carries them with it. Such ambitions would make her easier for the First Order to reconquer the galaxy.

For a decade, the Imperial Remnants have been plotting to take over the Galactic Alliance from behind. During the war, Daala formed the First Order, an unofficial private group of military officers from the old Imperial days unsatisfied with the Galactic Alliance's leadership and its Senate's bureaucratic handling of the crisis. This First Order group eventually ballooned up as the culmination of an agenda and a conspiracy a decade in the making. In the Unknown Regions, her First Order has been constructing a massive fleet, repurposing Palpatine's secret fleet concept from The Rise of Skywalker here (without the OP superlaser thing). The Imperial sympathizers within the Galactic Alliance have been hiding it and diverting resources for the First Order in a scheme. Daala is devoted to the cause of the Empire almost to the point of irrationality and believes if he begins an invasion, the tens of millions of Imperial sympathizers would be joining her cause and harassing the rear, thus subverting the Galactic Alliance government in one easy coup. This boosts the stakes way more than sending one Star Destroyer to take over the New Republic.

The Empire hated nonhumans, and one of their central tenets was humanocentrism, but Palpatine himself had no real ideology to push. His plan was for him to take over the galaxy for his own gain. He staged a galaxy-wide war just to achieve his personal goals. He did not want to create a dynasty that would last for the ages. He did not care for his subjects. He did not really want to govern the galaxy, which was why bureaucratic duties were passed off to others. He just wanted supreme power, and most importantly, the ability to do whatever he wanted without any interference forever. This was why he researched the ability to cheat death. He would refuse to let anyone inherit his empire, rather he would burn it to the ground. He was that much of a megalomaniac. Whereas Daala's First Order would be a zealot. A more natural continuation of how the First Order would gain its footing would be exploiting xenophobia with the propaganda of cleansing the society of any corrupt nonhuman influence to renew it into a human-centric one.

Kylo Ren and Admiralissimo Daala head to the "image" of Dark Lord of the Sith Tor Valum--Kylo Ren's master. He is a Lovecraftian-looking being with taut and leathery skin that has long since healed over, ancient cuts and wounds that mar his chin and forehead, the latter scar being particularly noteworthy, and his nose is either broken or cut. But most disconcerting is his four arms and the imbalance of his six eyes. They peer out like six dark stars. He is old, wounded, fragile, and powerful, all at the same time. Shadow veils the rest of him, which only reinforces the commanding presence of his voice. Valum is angered, warning that if Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise. Daala says they have fewer resources to spare for chasing Skywalker in the middle of searching for the Galactic Alliance's principal base. Kylo Ren interjects, saying he has seen the mind of Jaina Solo. It’s on the planet D'Qar in the Ileenium system, and with their Mega-class Dreadnought Supremacy, they will trap them before they reach Skywalker. Kylo Ren believes an attack of such devastating scale on their headquarters will splinter the Alliance and a popular uprising triggering defections and rebellions.

Daala is frustrated, for Valum is not supposed to exist officially. There have been whispers circulating among the ranks about the nonhuman presence among their ranks. The First Order is more secular than the old Imperials, skeptical of the role of the Sith within the Empire/First Order. Natasi Daala believed that the downfall of the Empire was due to the blind devotion to the Sith religion, as Palpatine was wasting resources on the Death Star and obsessed with recruiting Luke that ended up dooming the Empire. The dynamics between Daala and Kylo Ren/Valum would be similar to how the Palpatine-Separatist relationship was played in the Prequels. Officially, the Knights of Ren and his Master are not in charge of the First Order nor even a part of the organization, but they are forced to join and work together for the same goal of thwarting the Galactic Alliance, at least temporarily. If Valum's existence is exposed to the ranks, Armitage Daala's already unstable support within the First Order would be crumbled.

Daala is off to prepare for the invasion of the Galactic Alliance, leaving Kylo Ren and Tor Valum alone. Valum says the droid they seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon, and the place they are headed is Ilum, the old place of the Jedi Gathering. Valum warns Kylo Ren not to fall into sentimentality, for it brought down the Empire.

I am getting a similar feeling as The Book of Boba Fett as I watch Ahsoka. Not that it is as bad as that show, but Ahsoka suffers from the same core problem.

When I heard Filoni was making an Ahsoka series, I knew the show was already on the rocky boat to begin. Filoni just can't let go of Ahsoka. She served her purpose in The Clone Wars and Rebels, but now she has to be everywhere. She is in all the shows, the comics, and the books, and she never dies. At this point, she outlives every single Prequel-era character now. Ahsoka should have died in Rebels to push Vader even further into the dark side, but Filoni loves to protect his OCs. He introduced time travel into Star Wars just to keep her alive just because she's his favorite and the enormous financial potential that Ahsoka had outweighed how her death would have benefited the story.

As a result, it robbed Ahsoka of possibly the best death she could've had. The fact that Ahsoka has been wandering around the entire timeline of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War with the Empire rising and falling, and meeting Luke--the hero and the commander of the Rebel Alliance--in The Book of Boba Fett, then going as far as to travel everywhere in this show makes no sense. Luke? Vader? Yoda? Yoda and Obi-Wan saying Luke is the final hope; Yoda saying Leia is another; Yoda saying Luke is the last one; those heavy conversations are now rendered pointless. Ahsoka's existence is an active hindrance to the emotional weight of the OT, which was made with the specific intent of Luke being the sole Jedi in mind.

But at least Filoni got to do his own show without having to attach himself to the other projects and cram his stuff in. Filoni has an idea of what happened to a lot of these characters but they have been all too minuscule to have their own live-action shows. The first season of The Mandalorian had no famous characters. Filoni used the next two seasons and The Book of Boba Fett decided to cram in as many as possible to be part of the "Filoniverse". The Mandalorian Season 3 became inaccessible for normal people and ended up destroying the show's quality by throwing a bunch of irrelevant in an attempt to tie it with the other shows. I'd prefer for him to get to do his own thing.

With Ahsoka, I thought it was going to be about, you know, Ahsoka. I thought he would use this show to answer the question "What is the point of her character after the OT?" Maybe a series devoted to a character study of her character in the aftermath of Anakin's death, how she feels about the world, how she reacts to the death of Anakin, what she transforms into, if she is still a Jedi, like what he did with Tales of the Jedi.

And when this show is about that, like Episode 5, it is good. You get the interactions that have subtlety. Characters now have "moments" in the midst of conflict, action, or conversation, letting the characters breathe without relying on another "bad guy vs. good guy" fight scene. Episode 5 heavy-lifts the character moments without flashy nonsense, focusing on all the character work. However, this is the only time it was showing what the show promised to me. It is like Dave Filoni wrote this scene first, and then held it for years until he got a chance to slot it somewhere. The show doesn't really culminate in this sequence--it just happens out of nowhere. Because most of this show is a remake of The Force Awakens with the Rebels cast.

I get that he wanted to do that to tie things up after Rebels, but why the hell would you make Thrawn the Luke equivalent??? Thrawn is depicted as this super powerful invisible Thanos-like looming presence, the magic piece, which doesn't fit who he is. The Star Wars books were mostly about Saturday morning cartoon-style B-novels that you read once and throw into a bin until the Thrawn trilogy revolutionized the secondary market of the Star Wars saga due to how compelling Thrawn and his "mind games" pushing heroes to the corner. He was Sherlock Holmes if he was a villain. He utilized all the tricks in The Art of War, toys with the Rebels in the battle of wits, and thinking up an ingenious strategy, outsmarting our heroes, with the charismatic attitude of taking control of the Imperial remnants. The conventional strategy of just fighting him didn't work.

So why would you make a show revolving around Thrawn in which Thrawn is not doing anything like that? He is not a character at all. Just a presence and a promise. He hasn't been appearing or making any move until Episode 6 of the 8 Episode show. He was apparently just waiting on some isolated planet... staying there for more than a decade, not doing anything like some sort of a guru on the mountain. This would be like making a show about Riddler that treats Riddler like Ra's al Ghul, who does no mystery or riddle. This is enough proof that Filoni is not capable or even interested in telling stories with the level of depth and nuance Timothy Zhan's novels had.

It is a show with the galaxy-destroying stakes with the gigantic return of Thrawn, yet the stakes are unclear. The stakes in Andor feel more real and intimate to the characters despite being smaller, like the prison escape and the vault heist, whereas here, it is just all about the anticipation of "Thrawn Will Return", and it never felt tense. Normal people who have not read the Thrawn trilogy, watched Rebels, and have no idea who he is would never be intimidated by this character at all. His "We will be back, guys!" passive appearance entirely relies on the legacy reputation from the much better books. It is like The Lord of the Rings, but instead of Saruman actively sending armies to the villages, it is just Sauron and Saruman just talking, and there is little to no threat to the Fellowship.

Then the show misunderstands one of the core appeals of Ahsoka's character, which was that she was Anakin's apprentice, and that makes the audience speculate how she would interact with Vader, but now Vader is gone. She didn't seem to do anything interesting during and after the Original trilogy, cast aside from the narrative crux. So what's she doing now in the stories of the post-OT? Would she do something mean to Ben and that somehow triggers his path to the dark side? I highly doubt whatever they do with her now would lead to a conclusion as satisfying and fitting as dying trying to redeem Vader.

Rosario Dawson also doesn't care about actually acting Ahsoka's character. The lively Ahsoka from the animated series is gone. The Rebels Ahsoka is more in line with how an eager teenage TCW Ahsoka would grow up to become--a mature, but still, down-to-earth woman who struggles to find the right answers. She isn't a Jedi-like master because she isn't much of a Jedi. The recent live-action Ahsoka comes across as just another Jedi Master--a discerning advisor. She has none of the same personality. For a reason I cannot understand, Filoni turned her into an all-knowing wise sage, who is basically a Luke stand-in.

If the episodes were judged individually, they could be fun. There are some wonderful set-pieces, wonderous moments, strong visual direction, and whimsy. Yet there is no story engine that drives the entire show for the audience to keep watching. It is meant to be a character-driven show in which the protagonist is one-note and uninteresting, without good acting and compelling choices characters make. Instead of being a character study of Ahsoka, it decides to be a worse version of Heir to the Empire because it doesn't know what it wants to be. And the show does little to complement the lack of the stakes. It lacks a mystery to drive the story forward. It lacks a compelling drama. It lacks a compelling relationship. It lacks an engaging thematic exploration. It barely even focuses on Ahsoka, who is the least interesting character in the cast. So what dramatic engine does this show rely on other than watching the Rebels cast in live-action?

They should have made Thrawn a more active presence to drive the show. Let's say, if Thrawn established himself in this show much earlier as a major threat, like returning to this galaxy earlier to strike back at the New Republic, that would force the Rebels crew out to stop him. For example, the ordeal in Episode 2 in which the Imperial sympathizers sabotage the Republic arms industries treated as a one-off conflict, almost like something our characters have to deal with in an episodic TV show. That should have tied into the overarching conspiracy of Thrawn incapacitating the New Republic in a plot to take over that world. This lets the story be dynamic, featuring a calculating villain at the bay on a constant basis, making the audience watch how he acts.

Instead of our characters searching to find Thrawn, it should have been Thrawn trying to find them to utilize our heroes as "keys" for victory. Have him search for the World Between Worlds. Thrawn getting there to exploit that place for his advantage would be consequential to the entire galaxy, and our heroes have to get there first to stop him. This premise would make for high stakes boosting the show.

It introduces the audience to the more mystical side of the Force and draws out Ahsoka's personal struggle. With this premise, it would make more sense for Ahsoka to be in this story. A more character-driven plot that utilizes the traits of the characters in the actual story. This would allow her to delve into her internal conflict about who she is, what her purpose is, and where she stands in the aftermath of Anakin's death, instead of Ahsoka somehow getting into the World Between Worlds for no reason.

Seems like the main one at the moment is "stormtrooper turns good and becomes a jedi".

And the reylos have "a jedi and a sith fall in love".

But are either of those the best one possible?

I have already written a "fix" on the show's Episode 4, but honestly, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series is difficult to make a post about because rewrites tend to focus on the plot. It is not just the writing the show has a problem with. Yes, dialogues, plot holes, and contrivance suck. However, my qualm with the show isn't really with the material, but more with the show's direction. It is about the visuals, acting, characterization, tone, style... all the elements don't work together. Even if the scripts were good, the show would have still been mediocre.

I disagree with the criticism that the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was doomed to fail because his arc was already complete by the end of the Prequels, and it should have been Obi-Wan doing some episodic ventures on Tatooine. If anything, Disney was caught up with The Mandalorian's "of the week" formula that they applied to a show that doesn't fit and bit too much more than they could. Better Call Saul was also initially conceived as a fun "scam of the week" show, but Gilligan wisely saw the truth in Saul's character and changed the course. I knew the fates of a majority of the characters in BCS, yet the show still felt like the characters are in real danger even though you know how it ends for the character.

Honestly, the show's premise is good, with a strong character arc and plot hook. I like that Leia was involved and the show is exploring the previously never explored territory of the relationship between Obi-Wan and Leia. Sure, the OT never states that he met Leia or Vader, but BCS also featured several retcons. Jimmy was also different from who we knew in Breaking Bad. On paper, this show should work. In execution, it felt like Marvel Studios making Black Swan. The Obi-Wan series is too big for its own good. Any emotional growth we do see has no room to breathe as we are quickly moved on to the next scene overloaded with nostalgia bait.

Obi-Wan should have focused more on... Obi-Wan--introspective, slower-paced, tender thriller. This is the series that could have benefitted from being a smaller drama with subjective visual storytelling akin to Herzog's movies, exploring Obi-Wan's psychosis, guilt, and internal journey.

Cut a bunch of unrelated side plotlines and focus on what matters. We don't need Reva. Instead of Reva, Leia should have been a character to motivate Obi-Wan's acceptance, so that her character has a point in existing in this show beyond the surface plot reason. I can very much imagine this show directed in the raw style of Children of Men, with Obi-Wan traveling with Leia into some insane scenarios on a war-torn planet, building an intimate father-daughter relationship, with Vader acting as Anton Chigar looms behind them like a chase plot from No Country For Old Men.

Go for the minimalistic approach. Obi-Wan's character needs to be crafted by using creative, and different means: cinematography, sound, visuals, pacing, and voice, all go hand-in-hand to make the character feel real. It also should tie in with the show's exploration of Vader and showing what someone with such a past is actually like by clashing him against Obi-Wan, especially when the show is exploring their mental state, and how he feels, reacts, and sees. The show needs to directly put the audience into his head. Give us a closer look into the character transition of the protagonist, making the audience wonder about what could make someone like a terrified, defeated man like him into a hopeful self in A New Hope.