MattMahdi said:
Metaphysical questions arose at dinner last night.
In the finale of the Special, when all parties gather at the Tree of Life, is it a literal or metaphorical renditiion? Are the Wookiees, and our heroes, actually gathered at a location in space and time, or is it a spiritual transcendence?
To me, it seems more metaphorical/spiritual. Because Han leaves to go do his thing, Chewie joins his family, and Luke, Leia and the droids are off in separate physical places as well. Chewbacca and his family gather around the table and hold their...snow globes...aloft, and we fade out to see the Wookiees making a spiritual journey into the light. After this, all the heroes (plus many other anonymous Wookiees) are united together in one place - but spiritually, not physically. And then after the ceremony, we find ourselves back at the Wookiee table with the camera pulling back from the snow globes, where the family is still gathered...having never physically left.
It's cheesey, but it is the Holiday Special after all!
--SKot