- Luke needs to survive Episode VIII.
I actually would like this, for the same reason I’d like Ben to survive. I think Luke deserves more time to redeem himself, rather than just die from over-exertion after doing one good thing. This isn’t really feasible through editing though.
- Rey needs to be Luke’s lost daugther, that was hinted at in TFA and I still feel Kasdan and Abrams were going that way until VIII, Johnson and Kennedy derailed everything.
I absolutely hate this idea, for two reasons:
- Rey is more interesting as a nobody. If Rey just turned out to be another Skywalker, it would make the sequel trilogy seem boring and cliche. It’s much more ironic for a complete nobody to be the hero this time.
- There is zero evidence that JJ originally planned for Rey to be a Skywalker. All evidence, even before the release of TLJ, points to Rey being a nobody from the start. Terrio was the one who derailed it with his stupid Rey Palpatine reveal.
Because of that, I think Rey Nobody is the only way to go for a fan edit of the sequel trilogy. It’s by far the most interesting and thematically coherent option.
Rey is a nobody being the best option, well I disagree. The Skywalker saga needs to be about Skywalkers otherwise it still makes no sense to me. This is the hero’s journey, it spans generations of a family, classic storytelling and that is what made Lucas’ original work. The thing is, Johnson and Kennedy wanted to take turns, be radical (or stupid), but that is not what Star Wars is about. Sure there are unexpected revelations here and there, but they all fall within the confines of the classic stories, legends and fairy tales. So Rey needs to be a Skywalker since Ben is the failed Skywalker there needs to be the hero, the good Skywalker, mirroring the OT and the PT. It rhymes and that is what Lucas wanted and said in interviews before. Rey being a nobody does not make any sense within this context, at least not to me. It would undo a lot of issues within VIII and IX. It might not be clever, unexpected twist, but was this sequel trilogy ever about a twist or turning everything upside down in the first place?!
Luke needs to survive, done by Ivan Ortega in his edit, working more or less well. Rey needs to be the lost daughter, we just need a good reason why and need to show it. The ending of IX needs to be bigger, with force ghosts and with Rey realizing her place in all of this as the last Skywalker to finally end Palpatine and avenge her father and restore the balance once and for all. Her being a nobody is just pushing the identity politics agenda of Kennedy and Rey being a Palpatine might sound interesting, but it just makes the whole story of Anakin an Luke useless.
Thanks for the feedback of course, it is noted and respected!