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Basically what the title implies. A thread where you can discuss ideas and rewrites for the Star Wars sequel trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker).
Basically what the title implies. A thread where you can discuss ideas and rewrites for the Star Wars sequel trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker).
This isn’t really a re-write idea as such, but I’ve been thinking recently: to me the sequel trilogy as part of the ‘Skywalker saga’ feels like a bit of an unnecessary add-on, partly because it calls back so much to the original trilogy instead of taking a more natural next step. George views the original and prequel trilogies as one entity, the complete story of Anakin Skywalker; I don’t really see it that way, but why don’t we run with that and make the sequels an openly new saga of their own? Hell, even make it a 6-film long epic. Something with the scope and scale of the prequel and original trilogies combined, but told in a linear way and meticulously planned out from the start.
A few very vague rewrite ideas but I might do something with at some point:
“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”
(A lot of these ideas aren’t mine, I just came across these on the Internet. I just think they’re great ideas that generally add to and improve the movie.)
The Force Awakens would retain its original title, Shadow of the Empire; this is to tie in more closely with the themes of legacy and how the actions of the Empire affects the current generation of the Star Wars timeline. It also refers to the First Order being the shadow of the Empire.
The crawl is revamped:
Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until the reigning REPUBLIC has been destroyed.
Among the few who heed the growing threat is General Leia Organa, leading a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring hope to the galaxy.
She has dispatched her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke’s whereabouts…
As the crawl finishes, the camera pans down to the forest moon of Endor, the capital of the New Republic. The scene depicts a fancy garden, a beautiful summer’s day, and a celebration. The Senate has gathered into a special session to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Battle of Endor. A massive festival is planned, and leaders from all over the galaxy are there. The Chancellor of the Republic holds a brief speech recounting the events at Endor and of the past thirty years, everyone is enjoying themselves, and talking. However, one prominent senator is suspiciously absent. Leia Organa…
The movie cuts to the surface of Jakku at nighttime, where BB-8 rolls up into the frame and witnesses a First Order Star Destroyer eclipsing its moon and releasing four First Order transports, the film showing us shots of stormtroopers inside the transports as usual. The film then progresses as usual.
Wreckages of ships from the prequel era as well as remains of battle droids and clone troopers are there on Jakku, not only to further connect the film to the prequels but to reinforce the idea of Rey living in the aftermath of what has transpired in the saga and tie into the themes of legacy.
Unkar Plutt’s line is removed from Rey’s introduction sequence; as such, there is no dialogue whatsoever, up until Rey finds Teedo, having captured BB-8.
Reinstated deleted scene of Han hanging up the dice, to signify his reclaiming of the Falcon and to set up its importance in The Last Jedi.
Snoke’s visual appearance and throne are the same as in The Last Jedi, for continuity. Also, throughout all of his appearances he is shown with the yellow eyes Palpatine and Anakin (the latter in Revenge of the Sith) were shown to have, to show that he’s fully immersed into the dark side like how the other two were.
Since Hosnian Prime is replaced with Endor in this version, Ewoks, including Wicket, are seen witnessing Starkiller’s beam as well nearing the surface of the planet.
A binary beacon from The Last Jedi can be seen in the background during Rey’s last interaction with Finn.
C-3PO keeps his red arm through the entire trilogy (i.e. he never gets another golden arm); this is to play into the scrappy nature of the Resistance.
To start off with The Last Jedi, there are no “yo mama” jokes or anything, as it feels too… “modern” for a Star Wars film. Instead, Poe fakes a surrender and suddenly is when he starts his assault upon the Fulminatrix; this preserves the idea of Hux being a fool, while also preventing the scene from feeling too “modern” for a Star Wars film.
It no longer cuts to black when Paige falls, but rather a brief flash to white and an ear-ringing sound. Cutting to black implies a time skip and ruins the momentum of the scene.
Scenes in the movie are shortened for pacing and to avoid feeling too long or exhausting.
Snoke simply chokes Hux instead of ragdolling him around, to reduce the slapstick-esque feel of it, while also preserving the meaning behind Snoke punishing Hux.
Rey hears Sith whispers as the cave initially calls out to her, to emphasize the point immediately that it’s a dark side cave that’s calling out to her.
Instead of telling Finn and Rose about the Master Codebreaker, BB-8 tells them that their shuttle is being towed. That man in the casino is not the Master Codebreaker but rather a wealthy background character with no introductory music, whose indifference to them being tazed and dragged off serves to highlight the idea that none of the rich one-percenters even give a second’s thought about what happens to the lower classes.
Tweaked Rey’s line in the second lesson scene to: “That’s not true! You’re forgetting that —” It adds to the storytelling reason and necessity behind Rey reminding Luke that he redeemed Darth Vader.
I apologize if the following change sounds nitpick-y, but even nitpick-y changes can minimize small gripes with the movie. Luke doesn’t refer to Palpatine as his Sith title during his second lesson, just simply as Palpatine; this kinda acts as if Rey would know that Palpatine was a Sith. And even as its own trilogy, it better establishes what Palpatine, of all people, could do before we finally meet him in the trilogy, as Palpatine is never referred to as Darth Sidious in the following movie, specifically.
Luke references Dooku as well during his mention of Darth Vader, to back up his point that the Jedi unintentionally bring nothing but destruction to the galaxy. He also references that the Jedi “failed his father,” to add that it affected Luke, personally. “At the height of their powers, they allowed Palpatine to rise, create the Empire and wipe them out. It was the Jedi who failed my father and created Dooku and Darth Vader.”
As these are unreliably-narrated subjective memories rather than flashbacks to the actual events, both of the first two “flashbacks” start with a hard cut to black and then a fade in to help differentiate them from the rest of the movie.
After watching him casually slice his way out of the cell, Finn and Rose notice the red plomme bloom on DJ’s jacket and recognize him as the Master Codebreaker. DJ being merged with the Master Codebreaker into the same person supports the theme that, sometimes, you’ll have to work with people you don’t like, as well as the theme that people aren’t always who you expect.
Rey never narrates during the cave scene, aside from at the end when she tells Kylo Ren: “I’d never felt so alone.”
When Luke probes Ben’s mind in the flashback, Darth Vader and Palpatine’s voices are heard, breathing and laughing maniacally, respectively.
Ben uses his usual red crossguard saber against Luke upon catching him — either Snoke gave him the saber in secret, or he built it behind Luke’s back and used his blue saber to hide his affiliation with Snoke; his blue saber is still there, just on his table where he pulls his crossguard saber off of.
The deleted elevator scene with Finn, Rose, DJ and the stormtroopers is reinstated, but not in the way you’d expect. The stormtrooper who interacts with Finn is depicted as female, and would eventually become the same Jannah we see in the next movie. Rather than being comedic, this version of the scene shows that Finn feels recognized but for whatever reason the troopers don’t shoot him on the spot.
When Rey and Kylo Ren arrive in the throne room, Snoke is briefly shown in the middle of contacting a mysterious man attached to a machine. Snoke shuts the hologram off and turns his focus to Kylo Ren and Rey. The man in question is left ambiguous, only for him to be revealed as Palpatine in the next movie.
DJ doesn’t give Rose her medallion back. Why would he? The whole point of his character is that he only looks out for himself. (i.e. Rose is never seen wearing it for the rest of the trilogy, period)
BB-9E is not the one who contacts Phasma and the other troopers of Finn’s presence aboard the Supremacy; instead, when Finn, Rose and DJ are apprehended, the same trooper from earlier says, “I’m sorry,” implying she’s the one who reported them.
Snoke telling Rey she must die is replaced with: “And because of that, you are nothing to me.” It reinforces Rey’s insecurities, reinforces Snoke as the first embodiment of those, and also fits with and contrasts with the other two dark siders in this trilogy saying the same thing to her.
Kylo’s line about Rey’s parents in the throne room is altered to lean in more into them believing she was worthless and, therefore, shut all misreadings of her arc in the movie. “They were filthy junk traders who sold you off for drinking money. They’re dead, they drunk themselves to death in the Jakku desert. Your greatest fear is that you’ll be abandoned by the ones closest to you for not being good enough. Even Skywalker. As is mine. But the truth is, that’s exactly what you deserve. You have no place in this story, and you meant nothing to your parents. To anyone. You’re nothing, but not to me. To me, you’re everything.”
“Phasma’s End” is also reinstated, but not in the way you’d expect as well. Finn exposes Phasma’s role in shutting down the Starkiller’s shields, causing the other troopers, with the female trooper being the first, to point their weapons at Phasma, who shoots as many as she can down. Before she could have the chance to kill the rest, Finn engages Phasma in a fight, just like in the movie. This adds to Phasma’s cowardice and shows the first hint of Finn caring for the cause, leading up to, “Rebel scum,” while also not interrupting the main fight between Finn and Phasma.
New scene with Rey aboard Snoke’s escape shuttle, taken from in the movie’s novelization but is recontextualized to tie into her arc in this movie. She looks backwards, still saddened from her experiences, her realization that her parents, indeed, truly abandoned her, before calming down and suddenly facing the binary beacon on her wrist, with the camera lingering on it: “Home…”
Yoda’s scene with Luke is moved to right before the events on Crait, to hammer home the themes of learning from failure.
The porg scream in the Falcon chase on Crait is replaced with the one from the trailer.
I’m not posting any ideas about The Rise of Skywalker in this comment, maybe even this specific thread. That deserves its own thread, so people can have a “definitive” version of The Rise of Skywalker.
I just had a major idea yesterday for an Episode IX rewrite. Basically, I’d do that trope where are all the important are together descending deeper into a tomb or temple or whatever. In this case, the Jedi Temple. Indiana Jones does this a lot, but I can think of other examples from very different genres. I wonder if this trope has a name…
Anyway, you have Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Kylo and the Knights of Ren journeying into the depths of the Jedi Temple looking for…something, idk. At first the heroes are being kept as hostages, as is fairly standard for this trope, but eventually, they start working together as Kylo drifts towards the Light. The Knights are one by one killed off by the perils they encounter.
Eventually they reach the bottom. It’s a Sith temple (as George Lucas said was under the Jedi Temple), with a mountaintop view onto what were perhaps once lush plains. Mysterious shadows move in the distance. Who knows what lies further beneath?
Anyway, in the temple, they find none other than the Senate himself, Sheev Palpatine (as an emaciated cyborg, of course). They confront him together and manage to overpower him and they all live happily after. Maybe some of them die, idk.
I think it works better if Rey is a prequel era force user, a jedi who never became a jedi knights padawan, instead working in the republic medical corps. Shes skilled at the light side and life. and has taught herself much in a long long life. A life blessed by the force as her ally. keeping her youthful. relatively.
she is on a world, not jakku. instead this world is more forest like and full of life, the ruins of old droid ships are wrecked on the planet. it became a forbidden planet for some years until further into the era of the empire when it became a scrapper world. Older starships orbit it still, wielded together into orbital cities. Nothing special exists about this world except the cities and people that inhabit them. Rey is at home here. Until events unfold.
Poe Dameran is dispatched by Leia after the star killer base moves towards destroying hosnian prime. it has fired its blasts, they left a rippling wake as they travelled through hyperspace for weeks. starships reported them and the new republic began evacuating the hosnian worlds when it was estimated their path. They didnt know if it was a invasion or a doomsday weapon. but they could guess either way it was better to get every civilian off world. the military reinforced defense positions in orbital yards and moved their ships to defend it.
It was all pointless. Hosnian prime was destroyed, other worlds fell. and the republic evacuated. a reprisal strike was prepared but the first order sent a warning message that any world that launched a reprisal or was detected to have its fleet leaving, would be targeted next by the star killer base. the surrender of the republic would begin slowly. at a proper pace. first. the first order sent its fleets to determine where the republic would sign their fate over.
Leia Organa-Solo wouldn’t wait or stand. Poe was sent immediately on reconnaissance as Leia mobilized the fleet of New Alderaan. It was a small colony and all their people boarded the ships, rather then risk being left behind.
Poe is captured in the star killers home system. its not mobile yet. engines are being constructed so it can be moved to the center of the galaxy, so as to have its beams reach further faster and with more security of striking true.
Finn cant stand whats happening with the destruction of worlds and breaks Poe free when he says he can save the galaxy and lead a fleet back to destroy star killer base.
Finn is a First Order officer, in charge of engineering systems and advanced repair functions for star killer base.
finn gets Poe to a shuttle and use a stolen passkey, after breaking into a few lockers to find the right one.
As they flee they are pursued by a first order star destroyer with immobilizer fields. Interdiction projectors.
As they approach where they need to get, a branching path to lose the ship following them, they come out of hyper space over Reys world. and the star destroyer appears too soon for them to get into position for the next jump.
Seven well placed turbolaser shots fry out the shields and tear off a wing. The ship starts spinning and they lose alignment. breaking from their position they crash onto the planet for safety among a sprawling city, just at its edge.
meanwhile the star destroyer is now finding itself interdicted by a defense fleet of multiple destroyers and cruisers and frigates. Chaos descends as the fire fight begins. The Captains communicate and are threatened to cease fire on the first order ship or they will have their world destroyed. but that is not something this world knows of and they just scramble all long range communications into and out of the system as they begin trying to take out the star destroyers engines.
star fighters and shuttles are launched by the star destroyer with orders to recapture Poe and the Spy who broke him out. Then to leave straight back to the star killer base.
We cut to people seeing their injuries and talk is mentioned whether to bring them to a medical facility or to just get the local witch.
They bring the two unconscious from the shuttle to the witch. Rey treats them and helps them gain conscious.
They thank her and ask her help to get a new craft to get to the republic, Poe offers to have her recompensed when he arrives to New Republic space.
Rey refuses. instead she leads them to her home. A abandoned YT 1300 freightor.
As they go inside she brings them to the engineering system and has them help her restore the engines power systems and to bring everything into working order.
meanwhile in orbit the battle is decided. The orbiting ships have acquisced to the first order star destroyer after losing several cruisers and frigates. The First Order ship is severely grazed and harmed, as are the star destroyers flanking it. They agree to let them retrieve the spy and poe. but they refuse to help capture people running from them.
As frustration builds they settle for them staying out of the way and are thankful they didnt sustain further damage to the ship.
The locals didnt want to risk losing more of their fleet to bring it down. It wouldnt have brought them any good to bring it down beyond more scrap to wield into their orbital cities.
As the stormtroopers on the surface finally coerce citizens into showing them where the witch lives, local police forces get in a firefight with them over their treatment of the locals. the firefight involves several mech walkers that are brought down by first order stormtroopers and tie fighter support arrives too late to help.
as they make their way to the witches house. they find it sitting their.
The First order troopers race to the ramp to find it locked. and as they approach they are repelled by a shield.
The Millinium Falcon lifts off the ground and goes roaring along the surface as Ties chase it.
The fire fight between the Ties and the Falcon is one way.
The Falcon out maunevers and twists evading nearly all the fire. As if a Witch truly were at the controls.
Inside we find Poe and Finn trying to bring the quad cannons online but only one of them powers up. Finn begins shooting finally.
Rey continues piloting with twists and turns, following the guidance of the force as it shows her the path.
Above the sight of a Star Destroyer starts to follow them.
Rey shouts to Poe, telling him to come put in the coordinates he wants to go to.
As they work together the Falcon rises into high orbit. Spaces view of the stars greet them. The Star Destroyer fires bolts of laser cannons at them. The star destroyer is far out of range but the turbolasers slide by as Rey spins the falcon and then settles it in for a quick entry to hyper space.
Rey talks with Finn and Poe and out of curiosity studies them both. She decides to share with them brief lessons on intuition. seeing if she can sense the force in them. she does get a glimmer of something. and grins.
Finn agrees to train with her and learn about the force side by side, as compatriots rather then master and apprentice.
Poe is impressed and Rey says he could study and see if he finds some intuition to further enhance his natural abilities.
They agreeably work together and she teaches them to meditate first.
We go to The New Alderaanian fleet. Leia is being threatened by the new republic command for going off on her own and abandoning her position as General of New Alderaan. She assures them she hasnt abandoned a single citizen of New Alderaan and that they take these steps, together.
Leia sighs and studys a image of luke. she wonders where he is.
we go to luke. he is studying a hologram of the history of the galaxy. sitting on a mountain ledge. the sky full of stars above. Luke sighs and enters a deep meditation. as if seeing events unfold he watches leia and her fleet. sees the remnants of the hosnian fleets as they go to find homes for their citizens they evacuated in time. he sees Rey and a spark of hope lights in him, he sits up straighter. watching finn poe and rey meditate. its as if they can see each other for a brief moment and luke smiles deeply.
LUKE: “Finally… it’s time then.”
Sitting back Luke smiles and changes the hologram to showing a map of something else. a strange world of steps and stairs rising through the stars. it is a simulated entry in his holographic library.
Luke: “I am coming Leia. But I will be too late. For that… I am sorry. I will do what must be done however it can be done.”
the scene returns to rey as they bring the ship out of hyperspace and greet Leia and the fleet she has.
A new republic battle fleet is holding Leia’s fleet at bay with Interdictor cruisers keeping anyone from entering hyper space.
shouting on the comms erupts demanding their IDs and who they are.
Introducing themselves Leia shouts on comms that its about time.
Poe asks whats going on.
Admiral Holdo introduces herself and demands that they land on her command ship and surrender. That the New Alderaanian fleet under General Leia is being disbanded and ordered to return to their homeworlds. and that Leia is under arrest for courtmartial for neglect of duty to the republic.
Confused but not taking it sitting down. Poe grins. We wont sit down for this.
Poe has Rey fly the ship through the blockade of republic ships and make it pursued by several frigates trying to catch them with tractor beams, they fire through faster then they can pursue and dock in Leias command ship.
making their way to the bridge, all three are escorted by security. Rey offers to turn over her lightsaber. seeing it the guards are cautious yet hopeful.
As they make their way in Borsk Feylia is on the communications system shouting at Leia to surrender herself for the good of the republic.
Rey introduces her self as the Jedi Rey. Everyone turns their heads including Borsk on hologram. He demands to see who claims to be a jedi and have them put on monitor immediately.
As everything works through Leia greets them and introduces Rey to Borsk on the holo comms
I know what it means to survive under the grip of the empire… I have done it since the last days of the old republic to the last days of Chancellor… Emperor… Palpatines reign. I do not have to like, and I do not have to go through it again. I will help however I can in defeating whatever new battlestation has you frightened. If it requires I lose my life to save the galaxy from nightmares under a new empire, so be it. Why do you fear them so much? Allow us to fight, order this other fleet to come with us. Two fleets working together would make a task force to destroy any battle station surely.
Admiral Holdo comes on the Holo comms and refuses to go, shes already putting her home system in enough danger.
As the argueing and fighting unfolds Borsk nods.
Borsk: I, acting chief until a vote can take place, give you authority General Leia, to command your fleet and destroy the super weapon that destroyed the hosnian prime worlds. see to it you do not come back unless it is destroyed. our fates rest in your hands. Admiral Holdo. You will escort them to the edge of republic space to make sure they get that far. and wait there for them. you may be needed once they assault the station that holds this weapon. You should accompany them but I do not have the authority to order you to leave republic space without a vote to grant me that power. This is emergency power only to last until a new ruler is chosen, not to order fleets about. but sometimes we have to break rules dont we. Go, may the force be with you.
The fleet bursts through Holdo’s lines and Holdo reluctantly follows to the edge of republic space. watching them continue on she sighs and flips a coin in the air.
Holdo: May the force be with us all.
Leia leads the attack on star killer base coming out firing right at the base as soon as they identify its huge power source as the only identifiable station in the system beyond its defense fleets.
Seven Mon Calamari Cruisers lance straight past every star destroyer hurting laser blasts right into star killer base.
As the star fighters go straight where the mon calamari cruisers are firing, aiming to get through gaps in the shields created by the massive amount of fire. Frigates Cruisers star destroyers and even dreadnoughts accompany them all aiding with their fire power. The full force of New Alderaan. Never to let another planet be destroyed again like so many had.
Star fighters burst through the shields, some colleided with the moving shields filling in gaps. most got through with great fortune as Rey was meditating and guiding the targeting for the fleet against the shields to create as many chances for the star fighters as possible. Rey sat on the bridge of Leias command ship deep in the power of the force and guiding on a hologrid before her where the fleet should fire and for how long.
the look of Finn on his face was impressed as he watched the star fighters make their way through.
Poe was leading the assaults and making it through the shield gaps.
Torpedos and explosions ripped the surface of starkiller base… hundreds of star fighters flying all over its surface and looking for entry into the lasers power structure. finding it atlast.
the star destroyers continued pummeling their fleet and now they turned their attention and began focus firing on the star destroyers one at a time though sparing shots for others when their weapons couldnt reach the main target.
the planetary shield suddenly collapsed as more buildings went down. Poe and seven star fighters began a long chain reaction inside a vast facility burried under the surface as they flew through a reactor pit that they got to through a construction yard where AT AT walkers were made. larger ships flew over the surface pursueing the fighters, some turned to fight them. but nearly every fighter flew faster and faster to focus on ravaging star killer base. not knowing if it would blow up or just be crippled for awhile for repairs.
The critical moment came. Rey sensed it and told them through the coms.
A long chasm on its surface lead deep into it. and it was along side that chasm the critical weakness lay… shield generators not for the planets outer defenses. but shields for its inner defenses, to stabilize its vast energy it produced on a collosal level.
They blew out shields and leveled the structures around the chasm. Now the world ripped, and tore. earthquakes and volatile energy broke through its surface.
A man on its surface came running to a shuttle a distance away. leaping into it at unimaginable speeds. gifted as only force users were. he brought its engines online, and flew off as others followed him. Kylo Ren left as the planet was being torn apart.
The star destroyers had managed to destroy several mon calamari cruisers and a dreadnought. but the star fighters were back. still in the hundreds though easily missing more then 50, more then a hundred. They had no time for recriminations and only time to make the empire pay.
They cut through tie fighter squadrons that had been straffing the fleet. they flew bombing runs on star destroyers engines and shield systems. Powerful torpedos left. but soon most were gone. and pilots were reporting empty on torpedos now. only a few specialized bomber squadrons still had torpedos, due to impressive clip sizes like the B wing modifieds that Alderaanian pilots loved now. No more pacifists that would sit by as their home was destroyed. Alderaan would not ever be the same, it was gone, her people would not be the same. but most of those left to survive, would survive. and live.
The fleet gathered what was left and leapt away. The star destroyers that were not crippled gave chase with support cruisers and other ships. Star Killer Base was broken and shuddering with earthquakes, avenged for the Hosnian systems planets, but still standing. Just notfunctional without rebuilding everything from scratch.
The planet rippled and fire and lava leapt out. fields of mountains rose up.
And the system was empty of ships, except for a single shuttle, that went after the fleets that had just left. a angry kylo ren, seeking reason as to what happened to his planet
arriving in the system where Holdo was waiting, Leia turned her ships around and ordered Holdo to bring the Immobilizer fields on line. Holdo complied after getting the response she needed first. Yes, the mission was a success. Their weapon platform was destroyed. The First Order fleet arrived. Star destroyers and cruisers now looking ready to run on seeing two fleets. The fire fight broke out. Newly replenished, starfighters launched with full new payloads of torpedos.
the battle was painfully swift. For the Empires loss. Kylo Ren arrived and watched it unfold. He managed to fly out of the gravity field and leave to report his findings to a higher up.
Rey Poe Finn and Leia all recieve accomadations from Chancellor Borsk Feylia who has been voted into his office officially now, and gained much power from Leias actions. Admiral Holdo nods and recieves a award as well.
The survivors of alderaan and Hosnian primes worlds, all cheer on holo channels this is played across the republic. and the cheering is grand.
on a strange dark world. luke sits happily seeing the events unfold. and he speaks lightly.
Luke: I am proud of you Leia. I am sorry I won’t be there in time. But I am proud of you.
The scene shifts to Kylo kneeling before someone. Snoke like. real. and very full of quiet unsettling observance. Long robes of ether like darkness drape him. 8 guards in black sit in meditation on the ground. two in red stand at the door.
Snoke: You have done poorly. your next mission. will be to train. until you are worthy to fight a jedi. I am sending you to a powerful Master from before the rise of the Empire. A former Jedi. You will learn much from him. and I expect you to be able to utilize the holocrone I present to you now, by the time you return. You will go now. And do not return without great power and knowledge youngling. I expect great results.
Leia sits quietly at a Bed side and holds Han’s hands. Hes in a coma.
Rey walks to her.
Rey: I will try to revive him. If what you say is true, that he has been in a coma for years… from a dark side attack… I will do what I can.
Rey works and works with feverish resolve and Finn watches. Finally Rey motions Finn to join her.
Together they cast powerful force abilities using tremondous will. Han twitches. Rey forces more energey through him. Revitalizing his body, waking his mind, flushing the taint of the dark side from him.
Han: father? Mother? WHo? where am I?
Leia: Han, sweet heart. your with me, your wife. I was worried about you for so long… but your back.
Leia hugs han deeply and longly before giving a grateful nod and showing Rey to Han, Finn stands by.
Leia: Meet Rey, shes a Jedi healer from the new republic it seems. a gift from the force she was. she fell into our lap in a direst of times. and she saved you. i am glad you are back honey. Now we can be whole again. a familiy. Next we have to find Luke finally. and then with him, this time… hes had so much time, surely he will turn back to us now.
Han looks like a world hit him and he comes together.
Han: Maybe, it would be like him to come back once everythings had enough time to settle. he wasnt one to quickly forgive or allow himself to be forgiven. but he has to accept it eventually. his scorn wont do forever. thank you, jedi rey. and your companion?
Rey: He is Finn, hes a defector from the Empire, he freed one of your Pilots and helped talk me into joining you. It seems he has some force aptitude so we may train together, perhaps you will have two force healers with time.
Han nods weakly.
Han: Perhaps.
Han and Leia kiss more knowingly this time and the film goes to credits.
I think mainly for ideas I have. There really isn’t much. I usually have never been one for rewrites and such but considering I am prepping for a huge Star Wars deep dive on my DeviantArt page, I’ve thought of some ideas every so often so…
Episode VII: The Force Awakens
This film to me is perfect. Not in the sense that it’s the best film mind you but it was perfect as a reintroduction to Star Wars, a nice way of easing people into this universe before doing a bunch of crazy new stuff and it showed us a ton of new elements. That being said? It does have some clunkiness no doubt brought on by them initially planning these films for May and then delaying them to December afterwards which leads to some reshoots that may not be the most seamlessly integrated. That being said there isn’t much to really do with The Force Awakens. I personally would keep everything the same but I’d tweak the TIE Fighter crash so that it’s more clear that Poe could’ve survived like say actually show him being thrown from the crash and him fainting. That way there is a genuine mystery on whether or not he actually died or could come back instead of how it is in the actual movie where due to trailers and how it is normally? Him being written to die initially is too obvious. I also would’ve kept some of the scenes with Korr Sella since they do better establish the state of the galaxy which I do feel was the ST’s biggest failing. Understandable given the dislike for the prequels but it overcorrected on this aspect. Speaking of the prequels though, another change would be that Hosnian Prime is Coruscant. I get why it wasn’t Coruscant and I also get that it would read to some prequel fans as them further crapping on them but to me? This just makes more sense for a huge emotional impact. We don’t spend much time with Korr Sella anyway and in the movie normally, the destruction scene is great though it’s the music and the fact we’re seeing what this looks like from the perspective of the planet’s inhabitants that’s doing the heavy-lifting. Making it Coruscant would be a great way to demonstrate that this is a new era of Star Wars and that the First Order ain’t screwing around by taking down a long-standing symbol of the Republic and Jedi. I would keep it to this though. Starkiller Base can be given the implication that it can destroy multiple planets but the more I think about it the more I think it skews towards over-the-top ridiculous territory when it does that so keep it to the idea that firing lasers across hyperspace is a taste of what it can do which makes it properly terrifying.
Next, just a simple one, Leia’s line of “When did that ever help and don’t say the Death Star.” would be altered to a sarcastic “Psh, because the Resistance really needs your form of help.” in response to what Han said. This line is the only one that reads as particularly awkward to me on multiple rewatches because it just comes across as a forced reference to the Death Star and it doesn’t sound like anything people would reasonably say.
Next, Captain Phasma would do more or at least would be in the story more. Have her show up for more scenes and establish that she doesn’t care really about FN-2187, believing he would just die due to the weakness she perceives in betraying the First Order which would help to also incorporate the idea that she really is more out for herself. Though to better establish that she is a part of the movie, maybe she can appear on Takodana as one of the troopers that takes Finn, Han and Chewie into custody and she and Finn share a small dialogue where she calls him rebel scum. Then Poe’s attack starts to happen and we hear Phasma give an order but noticeably the order also is for a squad to cover her as she makes a tactical retreat which again would imply self-preservation over everything else. This way when we get to when she’s made to shut down the shields? Aside from having a more obvious struggle where the likes of Han, Chewie and Finn together need to get her restrained, it makes her presence in the movie feel more like set-up to being Finn’s arch-nemesis, a representation of his former life and the horrors he wishes to escape. Other than that? Not many other changes really need to be made aside from Leia hugging Chewie or at least some acknowledgment of his pain over Han’s death.
Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
The Last Jedi really is a great movie to me. It’s my second favorite Star Wars movie ever but it does have issues. Mostly small ones I feel could’ve been corrected with ease and to start off, Luke tossing the lightsaber would be changed. I think the problem with this scene and why it comes off as disrespectful in particular is the way it’s framed. The silence before the casual tossing makes it seem like a comedic beat more than it does a proper serious moment and I think in a way it helps contribute to why the movie seems a little too jokey. Certain scenes just aren’t framed the way they probably should be so the way to alter it would be this for me. Rey hands Luke the saber and his hands slightly tremble as he reaches for it and maybe he touches it with the music going in what seems like it’s going to be this triumphant Force theme but it goes down into something more solemn as Luke shoves the lightsaber into her hands and walks off. To be fair, there’s no way you can do this scene without upsetting someone and I get what Rian was going for, the uncaring grumpy toss over the shoulder says a lot about Luke’s emotional state in one move but it is framed in an odd way. I personally would not reinstate the scene of Luke mourning Han though since to me the editing works more to keep the film moving and also it’s not like we need to see Luke’s reaction when we know what it’s gonna be.
As for the Poe stuff? I’d make it just that slight bit more clear that what Poe’s doing is wrong by having him bounce off more people and also including more scenes of Holdo seemingly planning something. The deal with these scenes to me is they’re great and they have a lot of subtleties to them like Poe’s various body movements and his intonation when he’s speaking to Holdo… but the more I think about it? They’re a tad too subtle. You have to actively tell someone to look for them when they’re rewatching it for someone to see and if they’ve already decided they hate the movie and won’t watch it again? Well that’s gonna be a problem and it’s gonna be an even bigger problem if they come out of it saying that should’ve been a bit more at the forefront. For instance, when Poe is talking with say another pilot, he brings up how they took out a Dreadnought and that it could’ve killed their whole fleet and maybe the other says something like “You ever consider that with all the surface cannons you took out and our shields that we’d be able to weather the Dreadnought’s strikes or that maybe destroying the whole thing was not necessary but perhaps the cannon was?” and maybe Poe brushes it aside because he’s the kind of guy who prefers to see the mission through to the end. It gives people more to look for and also makes his failure more apparent.
Leia flying through space with the Force should be reframed. I think the big problem with this scene comes down to showing her fly back towards the ship. I think if they had tweaked it somewhat to where we don’t see the sweeping camera movement and have instead the scenes of her finger twitching and eyes opening inserted during scenes of Poe and Finn panicking about the potential loss of Leia and we only see a little bit of her moving with the biggest scene we get being when she’s moving through the destroyed bridge? That would work out the best to me. I think it’s important to keep this for without Carrie this is the only time that we’re really ever gonna see Leia use the Force in a big way and I think the idea is sound, it just wasn’t done the best. It was one of those risks that did not succeed.
Finn’s stuff is great. I think Canto Bight works really well for his arc and I think it really needs a few line alterations here and there and a shortening of the Fathier chase to make it work and if you don’t mind me jumping ahead? I think it would’ve been better if instead of ramming into Finn to stop him from pointlessly killing himself if we either have Rose using her techniques as an engineer to hack her way into Finn’s comms to stop him or maybe when he shuts his eyes, the sound goes out and he remembers Rey saying “We’ll see each other again.” which would hint towards the Force being present in him and then his eyes could shoot open, he looks around and sees that the speeder is burning up and then he quickly forces it to either move out of the way or he opens the hatch and quickly jumps out of it sustaining some minor burns. Would that be ridiculous? Yes but it would also be more in line with the kind of space fantasy stuff you’d see from Star Wars and just the crazy stunts of action movies in general. Then you could have Rose pull up beside Finn and pick him up as she demands to know what he was thinking and he then says something about how he thought this was his way of making a difference, that this was him fighting for a cause he believed in until he realized he had more to live for or at least that’s his way of explaining it since he has no clue that what he just tapped into was the Force.
Moving back to Luke and Rey’s talks, the two would have more moments of butting heads and clashing ideas as Luke is challenged more frequently on this position he has taken and maybe we get a few glimpses of his journey to Ahch-To. Like maybe we get him telling a story about how much like Rey, he sought answers and decided to look at the history of the Jedi and what he found was a history of failure and corruption and that it was this that led to his father becoming Vader in the first place and it was at that point he felt his whole world shatter which resulted in him coming to the conclusion that if he were to pursue this path further? He’d just be playing into a loop of failure and trauma and that he wanted no part in that, maybe he even says something like “Call me a coward if you want. Say I’m a broken pathetic hermit who’s defying all that they’ve stood for, it doesn’t matter to me because I know the true history of the Jedi while you? You only know that story from a certain point of view.” to acknowledge what people said about The Force Awakens.
As for the Supremacy? Nothing really needs to be done here I’d say except the deleted scene of Phasma’s demise should’ve been kept or at least revised. We should have more of Phasma anyway like maybe references and small appearances and I don’t mind if she dies in TLJ but we should get more of her again to make her Finn’s nemesis and because of the alteration? While the rebel scum line in the movie worked as is? Here it’s more significant because it’s Finn taking ownership of being a rebel and showing he now accepts that he has something to fight for. The one change I’d make though is it happens during a clash before Finn strikes her and makes the killing blow. To me the burning pit was a little too convenient and it takes away a little from Finn’s moment. Other than that, I love what was done with Snoke and Kylo and I think we reach a satisfying climax here. From this point forward there really doesn’t need to be any change except one scene that may come across as indulgent but I feel like it’s one of those teases that would be neat to see. Have a small scene where Kylo is on the Finalizer or maybe in Snoke’s throne room and he’s mourning over Rey not taking his hand and the fact that he has failed to take down Luke Skywalker and when he’s asked on what they are to do now? He asks for someone to contact his knights. Again maybe it’s indulgent but an acknowledgment of the Knights of Ren would be nice at least.
Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
This movie is a giant mess but very much a salvageable one. It’s enjoyable on its own for entertainment, has some really cool ideas and plenty of ideas I like… but this thing was also rushed to meet a December deadline which shows in its breakneck pacing, it plays things way too safe and it’s the only film of the ST that feels like fanfiction though one of the elements that hurts this film the most is the incorporation of Leia which is very sloppy. This is a perfect example of a situation where the filmmakers knew that they could not continue with their original idea and should’ve accepted that but rather than doing that? They instead crippled the story they were writing to try and find a way to put Leia in and for the record? I don’t think Duel of the Fates is much better in that regard. Duel of the Fates has issues that I can forgive on the basis of it being a first draft and it has some ideas that are way better but it suffers from issues such as characters feeling like they haven’t learned a damn thing (Some of Luke’s dialogue about attachment and Yoda saying that Rey taught them something comes to mind.) to Colin Trevorrow’s issues from Jurassic World where some scenes just come across as overly grim and edgelordy like with R2’s almost death and Threepio ripping a droid’s internals out. And then there’s the fanservice. Just all the unnecessary fanservice and Kylo Ren is, even if it is for a little bit, relegated to being another person’s pawn. So how would I rewrite Episode IX?
First thing’s first, Palpatine stays dead, there is no Palpatine throughout this movie, he has no reason to be here. Also, no Leia though I wouldn’t have her die. That isn’t to say she couldn’t die in this story but I do agree with what one commenter stated about Leia’s death in TLJ where Carrie’s actual passing being followed up by Luke becoming one with the Force gave off, however unintentionally this vibe that all the OT heroes are just gonna drop like flies so instead, here’s the compromise. Put down in the crawl that Poe is a general and either through the crawl or dialogue in the movie it’s made clear that he is succeeding Leia who decided to retire for she genuinely has lost so much and can’t keep up the fight but she now doesn’t have to because she can tell with what he has learned and the people he has around him that Poe is good company to leave the Resistance in. Another detail that should be noted, Rey is still a nobody and also there is nothing more to do with her parentage or history. To me, it should end with TLJ and while there are great ways to have another reveal as the likes of krausfadr’s Resurgence fan-edit shows? I think it’s more important for this story that we stop trying to add to this history and instead build upon Rey’s character with the idea she feels down about the idea that she is no one, that she is just some scavenger from Jakku who isn’t equipped for this whatsoever. I loved DOTF’s message of “No one is really no one.” so I think it’d be better for a personal arc to have Rey go through this and eventually have her accept that as it would serve as a nice contrast to Kylo who rejects who he is.
Speaking of Kylo, he is our sole villain along with the Knights of Ren. He is an unstable powder keg in such a high position of power that requires a deft hand to rule that he simply doesn’t have and the worst part is? No one can argue with him on this because he now has his Knights of Ren who are basically a cult of Dark Side obsessives who enable him and will go with his plan because he’s their master and they have no reason to doubt him. Meanwhile General Hux is hard at work at both trying to maintain the First Order and also is gradually trying to work out means to try and salvage it and snatch it away from Kylo with the idea being this eventually leads to Kylo being ousted from the First Order with there being no one to side with him but the Knights of Ren. The idea behind Kylo’s character here is it keeps up with the theme of him trying to kill the past but as he slips more and more into darkness, he wants more and more power and he starts getting to the point where he really doesn’t want galactic control, he wants everything to burn and he would die a villain. He’d get attempts at redemption like having Anakin speak with him and we’d see Luke continuously come to him but he’d reject them with the message here being about how while no one is beyond saving truthfully and there’s always a chance for redemption? Sometimes tragically people make horrible choices that they stick with until the bitter end. This is so that when we get the tease of the Jedi Order being reformed (Or in this case, more a collection of monks called the Skywalkers.), the idea is that the new order will work very differently and learn from the mistakes of the past so that there aren’t any Darth Vaders or Kylo Rens in the future. As for the First Order? Well they are really just the Empire but personally and this may seem controversial, I don’t view their end as being necessary for this trilogy. There are always going to be evil groups that rise up and try to start stuff in the galaxy and the war has already been something that we’ve gone through with the previous trilogy and one thing I really liked about Star Wars was that the war was important sure but it was always the character stuff that shined through more and we know that there will be more Star Wars films after this one so I think it’s important to make the end of the Skywalker Saga not a grand finale that ties up all nine movies into one nice bow but rather a more intimate affair that sets up a future for the galaxy that’s hopeful and leaves the door for more movies but is the ultimate climax to the arc of the Skywalkers. I can even see the possibility of having an ending like when Rey defeated Palpatine by having their final duel culminate with Kylo telling her she is nothing without him and that her choice to refuse his hand will be the last thing she regrets but then when he’s finished off, she says that she does have people, no one is no one and that she is a Skywalker (Okay maybe nothing on that end but you get the sentiment.).
As for those other people, Poe’s arc is him adapting to being general and at first maybe trying to copy Leia but finding he isn’t really the best at it. I liked those moments of doubt from him in TROS such as when he talks with Leia after her passing and I think that’s a natural build from his arc in the previous movie. It also has a role open for Finn who can learn more maybe about his Force-sensitivity but also maybe he tries his best to advise Poe but mostly because he kind of puts him in that position as he keeps looking for people to help him as he feels a little lost without Leia’s leadership, reflecting maybe the feelings of the filmmakers as they tried to continue knowing they can’t close out her story the way they wanted to. This could culminate in something like the “I’m not Leia.” scene from TROS but in a more emotional manner where he just admits he’s not Leia and that he doesn’t know what he can do and that he feels so alone and it’s Finn that picks him up with maybe some backup from Lando (Who we’d establish earlier has been working with the Resistance as a favor to Leia and because he felt he had a responsibility as he moved away from the Rebellion at a certain point and in that time… well he lost Han. Also like Finn, Poe would be looking for guidance from Lando.) if we want to go there but mostly it’s Finn and then Poe looks him in the eye and the two embrace lovingly as he thanks him and is fully rejuvenated. Because there’s no kiss with Rose? One could see this as being Finn and Poe being implied strongly to be more than friends though if this was continuing off of TLJ as-is? A couple scenes showing them working together as friends that just have additional dialogue where he kind of confides in her a little about his worry for Poe that implies the two split amicably would work well. Otherwise it’d be scenes between two friends and speaking of Rose? I really like that DOTF played off her role as an engineer by having her as a hacker to a degree and I want that to be the same here. I think it’s a good idea to have a character who is really good in an area that’s not combat and I think her just being mission control for her brief scenes in TROS was not a good use of her.
As for the central plot? It could be a combination of TROS and DOTF. Kylo Ren is silencing communication of various systems to try and quell any unrest but it’s noted that First Order attacks are starting to become not only way more erratic but also grisly as unlike the Empire which valued control? Kylo is on a clear warpath. If planets bow to him out of fear? He accepts their surrender but anyone dares to stand up to him? He decimates the planet’s leaders and leaves the civilization he attacks in a state that is close to unlivable and this is something we’d see throughout the course of the film and where we’d especially see it is in how he interacts with First Order leadership. Disagreements end initially with him doing things like holding up a finger like Han Solo and they maybe get to voice raising or a Force Choke but then noticeably it gets worse and worse as he starts killing people and because he’s Supreme Leader? No one can really do anything, no one except for General Hux. We see that Kylo is a paranoid, angry wreck of a man and that his instability makes him a threat in a way we haven’t seen in the movies before. Vader and Palpatine were tactically minded while Kylo is more unhinged but he has still his moments of vulnerability but we see him going down the wrong path. Meanwhile Rey is of course training more in the ways of the Jedi and has made a double-bladed lightsaber but she finds herself frustrated and kind of torn. Being told she’s no one really hurts and much like Poe, she feels she is lacking in guidance. Granted we see Luke pop up from time-to-time to help her but we see that she struggles even with him, maybe have her mention her concerns like how she doesn’t how a scavenger from Jakku can carry on the legacy of the Skywalkers who at the moment have Kylo as their sole living heir and we see how the discussions transpire from there. Planets for the most part would be a combination of old and new worlds, I think because Kylo is more out to kill the past, it makes sense to revisit some past planets though with it being a sequel there should be new worlds also with maybe some themes borrowed from past worlds to still tie the trilogies together with the only planet we don’t have truthfully being a new desert planet, that should just be Tatooine or even Jakku since Pasaana as a planet is just a reskin of those. We see elements from all three trilogies sprinkled throughout the story but it’s not thrown in haphazardly. In other words, we don’t just get prequel references and such because we can but rather it makes sense for the story. As for the quest, it’s not for the location of a fleet or whatever but rather it’s them trying to gather people to fight for their cause and help when they can and because Kylo has this unhealthy obsession with Rey, he’s almost always hot on their tail. During this time, another plot can happen where Finn maybe encounters Stormtroopers and kind of like a deleted scene in TLJ, they recognize him fondly but in this case, they want to know how he broke free. This is where we can say have Jannah from TROS but portrayed differently, instead we see that she’s a trooper under the employ of the First Order and that she is tired of the killing but she doesn’t know really a way to break free especially with how bad things have gotten and Finn tells her the start to it is getting a name. Then it’s a proper set-up for our Stormtrooper revolt and in a way ties into how the First Order will oust Kylo and how that will fracture them. Other ideas I’ve covered earlier but the biggest one is the ending.
I think there can be a combination of the ending of TROS and DOTF. To me the ending on Tatooine is thematically appropriate but it’s too fanservicey. Rey Skywalker I’m fine with since to me I like the implication that Skywalker effectively becomes a name that can be passed down to people than just a family name but I think it’s the combination of the ghosts of Luke and Leia, it being the Lars homestead and Rey being a Palpatine beforehand that leads to this weird feeling that she’s more snatching the name than inheriting it. So instead, we should end where this trilogy began on Jakku as we have Finn with the next generation of Jedi trying to move something with the Force. It can be a brief comedic beat where he doesn’t do it and the children giggle a bit but overall, it sets up that Finn is Force-sensitive and that maybe he’s not training to be a Jedi but rather just someone who can use the Force to show that Rey has taken Luke’s message of the Force not belonging to the Jedi to heart. Rey watches on and smiles but it’s either break time or the end of the training day and we see the kids and Finn go off with her maybe sharing a small conversation with the ghosts that ends with her looking off towards the sunset as she feels at peace. Like what Yoda said to Luke, this is the next generation that will grow beyond their masters, they are the people who learned from the mistakes of old and will forge a path towards something new. If Jakku is considered to be a bit much considering it is a desert planet then maybe have it be Ahch-To. Either way, I like the idea of an ending that closes the book on Skywalker while leaving it open for the future. Then you got three parts, the first is the PT which is about the prime of the Jedi and the start of the family, the second is the OT which is about Luke and how his father overcame evil and the third is now about their legacy and how it’s gonna play a part in shaping the future. It’s also intimate, emotional and more based on the core themes of the trilogy and Star Wars without being overblown. TROS suffered because it decided the best route to take for the story was to go bigger, even larger than what we’ve ever seen in the previous trilogies all to cap off this saga when it didn’t need that. It’s what I liked about ROTJ’s ending, it’s an intimate emotional ending to that story that retroactively thanks to the prequels feels grander with added importance and that’s how I feel the ending to the ninth film should be.
Those are of course just my ideas though.