- Post
- #1657378
- Topic
- Star Wars: <strong>The Rise Of Skywalker</strong> Redux Ideas thread
- Link
- https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1657378/action/topic#1657378
- Time
I was just thinking about this movie again for some reason and had some ideas.
One of the biggest issues with the structure of the film IMO is that Rey goes to Palpatine after getting a pep-talk with Luke. Before this meeting, Rey feels like she’s on a dark path, but after this there’s no chance that she will take Palpatine up on any offer. Now, I’d already considered just deleting the Luke ghost meeting since it’s so worthless and actively deflates the stakes, but that would have resulted in too many continuity problems. So what if instead of Rey going to meet Luke, it is Kylo?
Imagine: After Kylo has his talk with Han and throws away his lightsaber, he takes an advanced TIE Interceptor from the Death Star wreckage to Luke’s island, where he intends to stay and atone for his sins in isolation. He burns his ship and stands there before it. Just use Rey standing in front of the burning ship and replace it with an image of Kylo from behind. Then we can have Luke’s voice appear to him, saying ‘Ben.’ Then Ben can say ‘She’s gone.’
Cut to Poe beside Leia’s bed wondering how she was able to win, and Lando telling him that they had each other.
The music of that scene segues into a scene in Luke’s hut, where Ben pulls the rock out of the wall and reveals Leia’s saber. Luke tells him about his mother and how she believed that someone would complete her journey. Ben, off screen, says how he’s not worthy to wield it, and that he doesn’t have what it takes. Luke replies that he has everything he needs.
We next combine the scenes of D-O and of R2 getting a strange message from an old X-wing. Finn and Poe assume that this is Rey leading them to Exegol, but in fact it’s Ben in the X-wing.
Cut any shot of Rey in the X-wing, replacing them with shots of Kylo’s TIE fighter from the first scenes of the film when necessary. Rey arrives believing herself unworthy of the mission, ready only to take her revenge on Palpatine.
Palpatine says that Rey wants to kill him, and asks her ‘As a Jedi?’ She says yes, and he says 'No…your hatred…your anger…you want to kill me." And then in his mind, he continues “…That is what I want.” This unspoken thought echoes in Ben’s head as he races into the temple. Palpatine says to Rey “Kill me…” Then to Ben: “…and my spirit will pass into her. As all the Sith live in me…” then to Rey: “You will be Empress…” and then Ben hears in his head “…we will be one.”
Then later, to Rey, he says: “She will strike me down…” Then to Ben “…and pledge herself as a Sith.”
Palpatine is doing this gloating as a way of telling Ben that he has won, thinking that there is nothing Ben can do to stop him. But he doesn’t reckon with Ben and Rey’s connection in the Force.
In the scene where Ben fights the Knights of Ren, we see in one shot that he has Leia’s lightsaber on his belt but he doesn’t use it. He refuses to use Leia’s weapon, still believing that he is unworthy of it. Then he connects with Rey and together they agree to swap sabers. Rey drops Luke’s saber behind her back and Ben pulls it across space like in the film, then we see Leia’s saber already in Rey’s hand as she fights off the guards.
Then when Rey leaves Exegol at the end of the film, she’s in Luke’s X-wing for the first time.
Anyway, that’s quite a bit of work, but considering what we’re able to accomplish these days with editing, I don’t think it’s an impossible task by any means.
Apologies for the resurrection, I’ve been catching up on this thread so I wanted to add onto this.
This is a really cool idea for a scene. I just love the visual of Ben standing in front of the burning TIE fighter on Ach-To, and getting to speak with Luke. I’d really like to attempt this, I think it would be feasible with enough work.
One thing, though. How would Ben know where Ach-To is? He never discovered it in TLJ.