Discussion An Idea for the basic idea/plot of Episode VII

I haven't thought too deeply about this, but just hang with me here:

Luke begins to kind of renounce the force, at least with regard to pursuing any sort of Jedi academy or anything. He sees that the force has taken everything and everyone he loves, etc. He decides to go into hiding, hermit-style, like Yoda and Obi-Wan.

He either drops off at Dagobah to check on Yoda's belongings and possibly dismantle/cover up Yoda's prior residence there. In his investigating, he finds some strange documents/holocrons/whathaveyou from Yoda's hidden personal affects or library or something...that at once directly link something from the Prequel Trilogy AND the Original Trilogy, something that explains why Yoda said certain places on Dagobah were strong in the dark side of the force.

And something there, either information that leads elsewhere, or leads to a much larger narrative, (something evil and strong with the dark side, etc.) --

Anyway I clearly haven't thought much about this, but it's just an idea. Not sure I'm even on-board with Dagobah being a link to some big greater Sith-like evil or something. Maybe getting "ancient" with the plot could be cool...

Mav Edit: Hi and welcome! We already have a thread on plot ideas that can be found HERE. There is also a link in the forum index.

 

You know, I somewhat agree with Luke not establishing this big organization. Yeah, I can see teaching Leia and her kids, but not a bunch of them that would eventually lead to a new Jedi Order.

 

I definitely think you are onto something here. I keep saying that the best narrative thread from the OT to the ST is Yoda's request that Luke "pass on what he has learned." Will Luke do that or let the Force die with him? Creates all kind of interesting personal and galactic conflicts to explore.

 

I like this concept in general, though admittedly it's not what I've been envisioning. I could see Force artifacts playing a major role at any rate, tying the previous trilogies together, while opening up our understanding of the Force even more. I've had thoughts that the Kaiburr crystal could play an important role as well (but I'm not sure a MacGuffin is the best place to take things).

 

Interesting. I could see Luke pursuing an investigation of mysterious events or artifacts as a main story line. With deep revelations about the Force happening for him and us the audience at the same time.

 

I like this a lot. What if the villains are trying to locate Force artifacts in order to help them achieve their evil goals? And they begin convincing others to follow them in order to achieve knowledge of the Force since Luke refuses to share his knowledge?

And to tie it back to the first post, what if Dagobah is the location of a powerful Force artifact?

 

A search for the grail


Live, Love, Learn & Laugh

 

Wait, what? The Force has given Luke:

His sister
His chance to redeem his father
An extended family
A more meaningful and fulfilling life than anything he would have had on Tatooine

Yes, there were some dark moments, but Luke became a better, wiser, more grounded and patient person because of them.

Remember that the two of them went into hiding to survive, and that Obi-Wan also watched over Luke as the final line of defense.

Why would Luke wait 20-30 years to do this? Why would he care about dismantling or covering up Yoda's presence on the planet at all? Yoda lived in harmony with the planet. And if the Emperor couldn't find him, then why would anyone else?

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Not trying to be Captain Buzzkill, but this doesn't make any kind of narrative sense. Now, I could see Luke shunning the postwar spotlight and being hesitant/very picky about taking on students, but it needs to build on what we already know of the situation. The Luke at the end of RotJ, the one who smiles at the Force Ghosts of his father figures, is content and sure of himself. That's his status quo. If you're going to change that, it needs to be logical and fit his character.

Finally, Dagobah served its purpose in the story. The Dark Side cave is better left a mystery, IMO, and it only exists as an in-universe way to foreshadow the Luke/Vader connection and to drive home the danger of the Dark Side in general ("This could be you if you're not vigilant"). There's no need to revisit it and add unnecessary detail to it. That's a very Lucas way of approaching things, and leads to overwrought fanfiction quality plots.

 

Wholeheartedly agree KevinM1;

1. I agree with the OP that I don't think Luke will have already started a big new Jedi Order, but for different reasons. I also think that Luke will have a hermit-like lifestyle. Spending his years studying the Force, and maybe at most taking on one apprentice. I think building the New Order might happen over the course of the new movies. In the same way that Ben waited 20 years for the force to tell him it was time to train Luke, Luke will set things up when the Force tells hims to do so. Instead of having this big Order already in play, it would be really cool to see how big things start off small.

2. I don't think that the Force, as an entity, takes anything from anyone. That's not how the Jedi look at it, I believe. IF not for the force, Luke would still be a farmer on Tattooine. His father would have never been redeemed. He never would have met his sister. Or helped take down the Empire.

3. While I like coming up with new strange story ideas for the new set of movies; I think my only problem with theories like the OP has, and have appeared on the boards in similar fashion is that it places too much of the drama and character arcs on older pre-existing characters. I don't think a ST that consists of 60+ old OT heroes dealing with sudden huge character changes will work well. Whether that's Luke suddenly renouncing the force, or Leia going Dark or being unable to forgive her father.

A movie that deals with proposed story ideas here would take up a lot of screen time and real estate, and would eventually need a fulfilling conclusion. I want the bulk of the drama, story and personality life changes to occur in new, young and interesting characters. I want to fall in love with new characters, locals and plot lines. I hope that the OT guys are in to some degree, to either set the plot in motion, or to hand the reigns off to the newer guys.

Just my personal feelings on this.

 

I think it's a given that the new movies will have younger stars in the lead roles. Any OT characters that are in it will be there in a supporting role.

 

Okay, let me clarify some things:

1. I didn't necessarily mean that Luke "renounces the force" (even though I typed it). I think he can come to the realization that, as the last Jedi (with possibly Leia being force-sensitive as well), that all this drama surrounding the Force, i.e. the nearly-killing-your-father-but-instead-turning-him-into-an-evil-deformed-monster-who-oppresses-the-galaxy-for-a-time, could lead Luke and Leia and Han and Lando and such to the conclusion that maybe it's best if the last Jedi "disappears" for the time being. Or maybe Luke decides on his own.

2. Anyway, the idea of a glowing red Sith holocron floating in a cave really turns my stomach. No macguffins. That is fanboy stuff. I guess my point was this: we know that Dagobah had places "strong with the dark side" or whatever. There are no other times in the prequels or the original trilogy that refer to _places_ as being strong or weak with the force. If we take this knowledge on its face, Dagobah is the only link to either A) some quality of the Dark Side (or the Force in general) that we don't know the details of, or B) someone or something that's giving off some dark-side force energy. At any rate, either of these could be initial clues to what ends up being an interplanetary investigation that leads to BINGO our new bad guy/plot/whathaveyou.

3. Luke might be motivated to go back to Dagobah if: A) someone visits Luke who claims knowledge of something Yoda knew but never told Luke or Obi-Wan, B) a jedi ghost like Qui-Gon visits Luke or Leia and gives a cryptic message about Yoda's dwelling on Dagobah, C) Luke or Leia have visions of Dagobah or Yoda or the evil cave or whatever D) Mon Mothma asks Generals Solo and Calrissian if they were aware of the student Yoda was training who died on Dagobah, etc...

4. I hope throughout the entire sequel trilogy Han and Leia frequently make mention of trying to have a baby but never end up having one.